Seabrook Island
“God, please set aside
everything I think I know about myself, this life and you so that I can have a
new experience today….” - variation of
the Set-Aside Prayer
“I already know
everything I know – and I don’t know what I don’t know.” - Anon
I cannot grow spiritually,
emotionally or mentally when I am in the mindset that I have “arrived” and have
grasped what I need to know about life.
When I am vulnerable and desperately need guidance it is easy to humble
my ego, get on my knees and ask for guidance and strength. But when I follow the guidance and things
fall into place in my life I tend to “ease God out.” I hit a “plateau” as for a
while the spiritual work I have done puts me in a position that life’s turns
and twists are acceptable. Then little things start cropping up. I am getting frustrated by traffic. Things that I had come to accept about people
in my life start irritating me again. I
start worrying about next month’s bills and thinking through all the potential
disasters that might come to pass next year.
Old grudges I thought I was past crop back up, and the next thing I know
I am back in familiar pain. When the
pain gets strong enough I will finally stop and think – what has changed?
Inevitably I find that I have been
slacking on my morning routine – after all, I already know what I am supposed
to do today, so why waste the time to pray and quiet myself so that I can tune
in to intuition? Or I may be doing my
morning routine but my mind is far from where I am – I am already thinking
through and putting into place what my plans are for the day. I stop asking myself how I can be of service
to the person in front of me and start mentally critiquing what they are doing
or how they are doing it. I become less
willing to atone for my errors – I am quick to justify and rationalize my
behaviors. And just like that – anger,
anxiety, resentment and pride creep back into my life. I heard someone say that this is exactly how
we get back into EGO – we Ease God Out.
The outcome is always the same. In letting go of what I think I know I have
gotten used to a life of serenity, peace, honest relationships and freedom and
suddenly I find myself “back in charge” and invariably discontented. And the solution is always the same. It starts with calling a few people I know
that are further along on the spiritual path and telling on myself. They remind me of what works and help me
think through the current “circumstances” that I find unacceptable. Invariably they help me find where I have
gotten off track and what I can do to become better attuned and work for a
better outcome. Then I get quiet and ask
myself if a return to insanity is really what I want. The answer invariably is no, and so I do what
it takes to return to living in the moment and being willing to take the
necessary actions to follow the guidance I have received. Honesty, willingness to be teachable,
willingness to take appropriate action and surrender of my self-will. The answer is always the same, but somehow it
seems new every time. I wish I weren’t such
a slow learner.
Today, may I
know humility.
Happy Friday
all !!
David
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