“Spirituality and Activism”

February 17, 2017

Can spirituality and activism co-exist?  Some say, “no.”  Some say, “Yes.”  Some say, “Most definitely, Yes!!! They cannot be separated.”

In light of the inauguration, the Women’s March, resistance groups popping up all over the place and protestors making their presence known throughout DC and across the country, what is ours to do?  How are we to be?

Some people who describe themselves as spiritual shy away from being an activist because they align being spiritual with being a pacifist and believe that they can be both a pacifist and an activist at the same time.  Jesus was most definitely spiritual, a pacifist in that he certainly seemed to believe that there is no justification for violence, and yet was a powerful activist not hesitating to speak his word. An activist is defined as a person who campaigns to bring about political or social change.  He took a stand for people he felt had been marginalized. He took time alone to commune with God … and he used affirmative prayer boldly in the company of thousands.  Is He not a great example of being perfect blend of pacifism AND activism? He was most definitely assertive: he frequently shared his forceful personality.  Yet he was not aggressive.  He confidently confronted inequities and injustices when there was provocation, but not with hostility or violence.  He was a passionate, compassionate, non-aggressive, assertive activist-pacifist. He is quoted as having said, “These things and greater shall you do.”  Was He not calling us to do as He did as well as do as He said?

Last time I wrote (before a bit of a break due to family responsibilities), we were delving into personal cosmologies. Your personal cosmology is all about living your spirituality or not.  Your personal cosmology establishes the platform for how you show up in the world.  It is the conglomeration of your beliefs woven into the tapestry of your life.  One of the wonderful distinctions of a personal cosmological tapestry is that you can reweave it at any time you genuinely shift your beliefs.  So, at your core, what do you believe?  Here are some points to ponder … to investigate personally … as courageously and deeply as you are willing to go!

Do you believe there is only One Cause or Source of all creation?

OR do you believe there are competing forces responsible for creation?

Do you believe that we are all interconnected?

OR do you believe that we are separate – isolated beings?

Do you believe that you have the power to change your life?

OR do you believe your lot has been cast and you must endure it?

Do you believe that Heaven is inside you and all others?

Or do you believe that you must strive in this life in order to earn a better hereafter?

Do you believe in Hell?

OR do you believe that you are quite capable of creating your own personal hell here on earth?

These are just a few questions that reveal your core beliefs – those beliefs that position you to be you!  There are untold riches to be gleaned from peeling open your own world view or cosmology.

There are other ways to reveal your deeply held beliefs:  You can become your own mindful observer.  You can watch your behaviors and examine your experiences.  This feedback, provides insights into your closely held values and beliefs.

When things seem to go wrong …

Do you feel like a victim and blame circumstances or others?

OR do you observe how you may have contributed to the situation?

Do you take responsibility knowing you have the power to change AND change your relationship to what is going on?

OR do you use the situation to guilt and/or shame yourself? Do you bash or demean yourself with words like “stupid”?

Examining feedback is a wonderful way to reveal what you have hidden inside so you can befriend or change as needed in order to have the sorts of experiences you desire.  What you discover can be astounding.  You get to be the chooser!  You get to select … rather like a treasure hunt … what you glean and what you discard.  Sometimes the choices are simple.  Other times, they may wrench at your humanity when you find that following what’s called “your soul call” pulls you away from the old routine way in which you have “always shown up.”

Such may be the case, when Spirit as you, declares, “This is mine/ours to do!”  Such may be the call when it gives you the proverbial Divine kick in the posterior that requires you to be visible and/or vocal.  Such may be the opportunity when suddenly you find that your presence is essential to progress … perhaps your leadership may be necessary to facilitate the emergence of the “greater good.”

You may feel like “Yikes!  Who?  Me?  Why me?”  The answers are made known when we are willing to get centered in the stillness, and listen … deeply surrender to listening.  In that stillness, there is a lifetime’s worth of learning.  Listen with your whole being, not just your ears.  Open all senses in the stillness and gathering in what Spirit is imparting to you, within you – as you.

There’s an often quoted expression that claims, “God won’t give anyone more than they can handle.” It’s actually a slight misquote:  In 1 Corinthians, Paul states that God won’t tempt us beyond what we can bear.  However, elsewhere in the Bible, we find that God apparently did put people to the test … to test their faith.  In the book of Job, God allowed Satan to test Job to wit’s end to see if Job would buckle … to put him to a test of faith.  If we agree with Ernest Holmes who said, “All of the power of the universe is with you. Feel it, know it, and then act as though it were true,” how could circumstances test our faith?

Evicting entrenched beliefs is not a complicated process yet it’s not necessarily easy … especially if you truly want to dispose of the beliefs permanently.  Your beliefs are woven into the fabric of your being.  To completely remove them and the habitual behaviors that help them stay in place requires diligence and commitment.

Although this transformation requires alertness, perseverance and determination, I promise the result can be beyond your wildest, most fabulous dreams.  Change always comes bearing gifts.

Are you ready to let the world see and know your true identity?   Then listen deeply to the words of Dr. Holmes … embrace them … let Spirit run your life … lean into your greatest yet to be, knowing, “The highest attitude of mind, from which all else springs, is one of perfect calm and absolute trust in Spirit. The one who can with perfect confidence look into the future and with perfect ease of mind rest in the present, and who never looks backward, but who has learned to be still in his own soul and wait upon Spirit, he is the one who will most completely demonstrate the supremacy of spiritual thought over all so-called material resistance.”

To be a spiritual activist calls you to show up AS SPIRIT.  You may discover that you are being called to be a “passionate, compassionate, non-aggressive, assertive activist-pacifist” in the pattern of Jesus.

This entry was posted in Latest News, Ministers Musings on February 18, 2017 by CSL Metro.