Strengthening the Spiritual
Immune System
An excerpt from a forthcoming book
by Rev. Judith Baldwin.
Pay Attention
Paying attention is one of the greatest, oldest and deepest spiritual
masteries; and very few of us have achieved any significant degree of
proficiency in it.
The simple task of observing, and acknowledging, which thoughts,
words, emotions, and actions one is choosing, is not only life
enhancing, it makes life credible. When I am fearful, I am harmful. When
I am loving, I am helpful. Love joins; this is healing. Fear separates;
this is traumatic. What could be clearer?
Consequently, with everything I think, say, do and feel: I am always
either contributing to the light or adding to the darkness of this
world. What a (potentially) wonderful or disastrous responsibility!
The keystone of protection is the ability to pay attention. Only if
one is cognizant can she be conscious of what is around her, or coming
towards her. How can she declare "Stop! I do not give your permission to
approach" if one is oblivious or herself and her surroundings?
Most of us live in a kind of trance. We're pretty much running on
automatic. In our "overcrowded" lives, we are scarcely able to recall
what we did yesterday, much less be aware as we are doing it. Therein
lies the problem. Until we are paying attention we cannot measure our
spiritual expertise. Thus we cannot know accurately where we are on our
journey to spiritual expertise; usually we give ourselves more credit
than we deserve.
Homework: Commit to paying attention one day per month. At the
end of the day tally how well you did.
Thoughts
We are a product of thought. All thoughts, our own, other people's,
and the collective world thought, affect us.
Thoughts are things. Until we fully comprehend that the power of our
mind is sufficient to "create" the world we live in, we can delude
ourselves into believing that so long as we don't realize what we are
thinking, or doing, we will be spared the consequences of those
thoughts.
Christ said to pray unceasingly. All thoughts are prayers. All
thoughts call for a response from the universe. All our thoughts will
either contribute to our healing, and therefore the world's healing; or
they will postpone healing. Such is the power of our God-created mind.
Consequently, we must recognize what it is we are praying for. When we
focus our thinking on what we would avoid, or what is destructive, or
fearful, or dreadful, or painful, to ourselves or another, we are
actively praying for the unwanted to occur. Thus does our "prayer"
empower those things which are contradictory to well-being, or which
oppose the integrity of our being.
Homework: One day per month commit to observing one's
thinking. Notice how much is "stinking thinking." Keep score.
Declarations
We may not think of speaking as a privilege. In this moment consider
the power and the consequence of the spoken word. Frequently we neglect
the discipline of intentional, careful use of our words. For the most
part we pay little heed to what we say, how we say it, or when we say
it. Such a lackadaisical attitude regarding the power of our
declarations has sometimes gotten us in trouble.
At one time, all agreements were contracted by a person's word. What
one said had substance, and people were categorized by whether their
"word" was good or bad (which meant meaningless). Now, however, we don't
seem to take our words as seriously as we once did. Every day we say
things which we do not mean, or what we mean, we do not say. In
emotional outbursts we blurt out cruel words, vile words, words which
compromise ourselves, and any others in the path of those words.
This is a mistake. Words are still as potent and meaningful as ever
they were; and like all volitional proclamations, the consequences of
our words remain one of our great prerogatives. For we can have the
fruits of our pronouncements, or will suffer the consequences of them.
For this reason, we must not allow our wounds, fears, or weaknesses
to "speak" for us. Unfortunately, this is often what we do.
Homework: One day per month commit to observing the quality,
or lack thereof, of the day's declarations. Take note of "foul mouthed"
(as in stinking thinking) words and what they produce.
Actions
How many times have we heard: "Your actions speak louder than your
words." To know what we truly believe, simply watch what we do. We may
talk differently, but we always do what we believe. Our behavior will
tell the truth about who we really are.
There are not enough good intentions or sweet words to cover up the
actuality of what we do. Right action is an important part of the triune
law of life: purity in thought, word, and deed. We are foolish if we
believe we can bypass any of the three parts of wholesome spiritual
living. We are measured by our actions.
Homework: One day per month make your words match your actions
and thoughts. Speaking aloud what you think and what you do will force
you to take not of your "real" beliefs. Keep a record.
Beliefs
In my experience, fear can be summarized within three main
categories:
- I will not get what I want.
- I will lose what I have.
- There is not enough to go around.
Though we may not realize it, a disproportionate amount of time we
are involved in some kind of fear thought. It is shocking to discover we
live as fearful primates. Fear is the single most effective tool of the
dark. Without our fear the darkness would have very little influence on
us.
Honest examination of one's mindset, (as defined on p. 54) will
likely lead, directly or indirectly, to a hidden coffer of fears. Fear
is a universal condition. It is the great barrier to human growth. As we
grow older we learn more and more fears so that by the time we reach
maturity most of us are loaded with them. Unknowns create fears. When
these unknowns are commonly and regularly exposed, the fears seem to
diminish and disappear. In most cases this is but a temporary repression
of what was never reconciled, only exposed. Thus does the buried fear
putrefy and spread like an infection of the mind.
The trick is not to deny the presence of fear, nor to attempt to
banish it by force. Rather admit to fears, as well as mistakes or
shortcomings, and acknowledge them openly. "Confessing" this way is
sufficient to unplug the emotional charge of fears and inadequacies
which undermine calm, clear thinking. Confession can be an intensely
empowering act of self-reclamation. "Unfriendlies," whether they be self
saboteurs or the DFEs, use our secret fears and guilts as effective
tools for twisting self worth into self loathing. Fear of exposure must
be active in us in order for DFEs to use these secrets and fears as a
weapon against us.
Ask yourself: Am I thinking, or am I fearing? Fear is anything unlike
peace, love or well being. Therefore all worry, concern, anxiety, doubt,
uneasiness, revenge, guilt, blame, condemnation, resistance, and so on,
is fear. No matter how slight the disturbance, it is nonetheless fear.
Just as a female cannot be a little bit pregnant, so also we cannot be a
little bit fearful. With our thoughts we are either "growing" fear and
thereby adding to the darkness; or we are "growing" peace and thereby
contributing to the light. It is that simple. That clear. That
unequivocal. There is no middle ground of fear.
Homework: Daily ask yourself all through the day, am I fearing
or am I thinking? Before retiring, think about: How am I growing my
fear?
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