Finding peace in the midst of sadness

Someone said:

"Sometimes I think somehow the foundation of life is sadness. Or maybe it's a longing. I may find something that feels good and I enjoy but it seems there is always something more.
I'm finding that to live at peace with life and thus experience it as rich, I need to cultivate a certain detachment.
A letting go of need and want, a relinquishment to the moment so to speak, a "forced" or at least a chosen peace."

 Like what the post says, the foundation of life could be sadness or a longing. It reminds me of John O'Donohue's writing about the eternal longing and belonging. In real life, I think sadness often has the ability to connect people at a deeper level than happiness because we are touched forever when someone understands our griefs and sorrows when we experience pain and sadness. Jesus entered into people's sufferings many a times, such as weeping with Mary and Martha over the death of their brother Lazarus, and the cross is also his way of experiencing our shame, rejection, pain and fears, so that whenever in real life we go through a challenge, we can look at Jesus and know we are not alone in our sufferings, and we can take comfort in knowing someone understands what we go through because he has gone through the pain himself. In our world, whenever natural disasters or tragedies happen, people who go through similar sufferings often band together to support and care for one another.

At an even deeper level, I believe there is an immovable sense of inner peace and calm underneath the happiness and sadness we experience in life. Like what the post says, cultivating a certain detachment may allow us to experience this chosen peace. I think this will help us not to be crushed when feelings of sadness are overwhelming, especially if the tragedy is severe. I believe the reason Jesus prayed at the garden of Gethsemane on the night before he was crucified is because he needed to find that inner strength and peace in order to face such an emotionally and physically ordeal later on. When Jesus had been strengthened on the inside he was able to face the trials and crucifixion somewhat in a detached manner, and was able to focus on loving people even in the midst of his sufferings, such as comforting a dying thief on the cross. In the same way. I believe we all have that inner strength and fortitude that anchors our soul to peace even as we experience sufferings in life, which enables us to help ourselves and others find meaning and beauty in life.

I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows.
And I believe that somewhere in the darkest night a candle glows.
I believe for anyone who goes astray someone will come show them the way.
Yes I believe, Oh I believe!
I believe above the storm the smallest prayer will be heard.
I believe that someone in the great somewhere hears every word.
Every time I hear a newborn baby cry or touch a leaf or see the sky,
Then I know why I believe.

Shared by “Missr Holland”

A grace perspective of Jesus

"God sent Jesus to join the human experience, which means to make a lot of mistakes. Jesus didn't arrive here knowing how to walk. He had fingers and toes, confusion, sexual feelings, and crazy human internal processes. He had the same prejudices as the rest of his tribe: he had to learn that the Canaanite woman was a person. He had to suffer the hardships and tedium and setbacks of being a regular person. If he hadn't, the Incarnation would mean nothing."
Anne Lamott ~ "Grace (Eventually)"

I agree with Anne Lamott's grace perspective of Jesus regarding the purpose of his incarnation, which is to be a human being and participate in the fullness of the human experience with all its affections, temptations and temperaments. These would include a full range of emotions and experiences such as boredom, tiredness, sexual arousal, prejudice, shortness of temper, and so on. If Jesus had not been so attuned to the inner voice of the heavenly father (his highest self), he would probably have done some harm to others, like any other human being.

I believe Jesus knew he couldn't be a perfect human being who is prim and proper in every way, and he chose not to put himself under the law, knowing he himself would be disqualified by the ridiculous demands of the law. For example, Jesus said if anyone says to a brother "you fool" in anger, he has committed murder, and if anyone looks at a woman with lust, he has committed adultery. Come to think of it, Jesus being a full-blooded human would have been guilty of both because he has indeed called the Pharisees names in anger, and he certainly would have been sexually attracted to women even though the bible made no mention of that. I think that's why Jesus chose to live by the heartbeat of love instead of the law because love does no harm to a neighbour. Hence, when he lived by the rhythm of love (also known as the unforced rhythm of grace), he got into trouble with the law because on a number of occasions, he broke the law by healing the sick on sabbath days out of his compassion for them.

Jesus is also able to sympathise with our weaknesses and feel what we feel because he was tempted in all things as a human being yet he was without sin (which I believe means that he did not forget his true identity even though he experienced temptations and failures/weaknesses - he held on to the truth that he remained a beloved son of God). Hence, when the Pharisees asked him to condemn the woman caught in adultery, he refused to do so and defended her, and later told her he did not condemn her (because he also did not condemn himself when he committed adultery in his heart) and he reminded her to go and sin no more (as in continue to remember she is still a beloved daughter of God and nothing will ever change her true identity and she can hold her head high and not allow herself to be suppressed or oppressed by religion).

It is therefore encouraging and empowering to see Jesus in the light of grace because he showed us how to be fully human and accept ourselves in the totality of our humanness with all our affections, emotions, temptations and temperaments.

Grace vs ethical rules

"There is a strong tendency within the church for people to extract and teach the ethical framework found in the Gospels. For instance, people might set up a community in which they attempt to live out principles such as giving to someone in need, turning the other cheek and living simply.
There are however a number of interrelated problems with this approach. Firstly it tends to generate guilt. In other words, the more that we hold up certain principles the worse we will feel when we fall short of them.
This leads to the second problem, namely repression. In order to deal with the guilt we will be more likely to avoid a direct confrontation with our failings. In this way we will tend to intellectually disavow what we are doing.
 ....
The trick is to create an atmosphere of love, grace and acceptance where people are not told what to do. Where people learn that heresy which claims that, while not everything is beneficial, everything is permissible. In other words, while there are destructive things we do, they can be brought to the light without fear of condemnation. In such an environment ethical acts will emanate from the body just as heat emanates from light. One will not have to be taught that they should look after their neighbour as if it were something that we need to be told, they will simply be more inclined to do so.
The desire to have ethical rules to follow tends to lead to the action they forbid. This causes the spiral into guilt, repression and disavowed symptoms. In contrast laying such ethical propositions to one side and learning to accept both ourselves and the other in grace opens up the path to what we have set aside."

- Peter Rollins (from "Stop Teaching the Ethics of Jesus!")

 I think Peter Rollins has touched on the core of the gospel, which is love, grace and acceptance, emphasising their supremacy over ethical rules. I learnt that whenever people focus on ethics, rules and principles, they are putting themselves under the law which only produces guilt, condemnation and repression. The more people try to live up to their perceived standard, the more they feel repressed and ashamed of their failures, and eventually the works of the flesh will manifest, such as envy, jealousy, outburst of wrath, and so on. Religious adherence to law and ethics may look impressive on the outside, but people are dying on the inside, by trying to stay on the performance treadmill.

Conversely, when people have a revelation of our true identity as love and perfection, made in God's image, there is no need for outward rules and regulations. We are guided by the spirit of love and grace within, even as we follow the bliss, living by the unforced rhythm of grace freely and lightly. We simply live life intuitively, not going by right or wrong, or the knowledge of good and evil. Even if we make mistakes here and there, we know there is no condemnation and we can simply pick ourselves up and dust ourselves and continue our journey while learning from our experiences. Our true identity remains the same, regardless of our performance, because we are forever innocent, righteous, perfect and blameless, and nothing shall separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Our part is to keep resting and stop doing, so to speak. The more we rest in our true identity, the more our heart is established in grace, and we will not be tossed to and fro by legalistic or condemning teachings. 

Like what Peter Rollins wrote, people need to stay in an environment of love, grace and acceptance. There is no need to worry about behaviour modification because the more people are conscious of their true identity and how unconditionally loved they are, the more true and effortless transformation will take place from the inside out, and the fruit of the spirit will result - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness and self-control. Against such, there is no law. Such transformation takes place subconsciously without people having to try to do anything in order to become something. As we all with unveiled face behold the glory of the lord (our true identity as beloved, beautiful and blameless) we are being transformed from glory to glory into the same image, even by the spirit of grace within us and not by our own efforts. 

"Awake to your innocence and remember who you are. You are the music, you are the melody, you are the song. You are a workmanship created in love." - HM

Beginning in the Beginning ~ Rob Bell

I agree with the essence of Rob Bell's message about how it is important to tell and understand a story especially in terms of how it begins and how it ends. While I am aware that the bible is only a collection of books written and put together by ordinary people such as you and me, and some books such as the gospel of Thomas could have been added, I agree with Rob Bell's perspective that if we were to use the bible (however imperfect and questionable it is) as a platform to tell the gospel story, it makes sense to start with Genesis 1 and 2 (the garden where everything is created good and perfect), and end with Revelation 21 and 22 (the new city with gardens and rivers where everything is recreated good and perfect).

I think that is an important point because like what Rob Bell has observed, many a times in evangelical christian circles, preachers tend to tell the gospel story by beginning with Genesis 3, instead of Genesis 1, and the result of such preaching is that their message focuses on the "removal of sin" and "disembodied evacuation of earth", hence out came the doctrines of "original sin" and "rapture in the last days". As we know, this kind of message created a whole lot of problems because people develop self-loathing tendencies when they are told they are "sinners" and they need to evacuate from this earth one day by receiving a so-called perfect body, and going to a so-called perfect place.

As Rob Bell pointed out, there is nothing wrong with the original creation, because god/creator/source created everything good, including human beings whom he declared to be very good. Our original state, therefore, is shalom (peace, health and wholeness). The good news therefore is a "restoration of shalom" - to return to the experience of our original state of being, as co-creators and participators of love, peace and wholeness (holiness = wholeness). This gospel empowers us to believe in the truth of who we really are, instead of the traditional evangelical teaching that puts a heavy burden on people to try to perform in order to become acceptable.

I like this quote by Walt Whitman who said "Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul."  Yes, we can dismiss those condemning messages we used to hear in the past in evangelical christian circles that insult our soul, and instead hold on to those messages that affirm our original innocence and perfection, and build us up.

Recently, I read Jan Coetsee's post in facebook and I agree with his message.

Jesus IS NOT the justification of the unjust .. Jesus is the proof that mankind has always been just (righteous) .. ♥
Ephesians 1:4 Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes .. ♥

Yes, our true identity has always been righteousness, innocence, and blamelessness, which has been unveiled in Christ.

Finally, I agree with Rob Bell at the end of the above video that resurrection is not about the hope of leaving the earth to somewhere better, but about the hope of staying and overcoming challenges and tribulations in the here and now. The gospel empowers us by affirming the goodness and innocence and perfection of god's creation, including us human beings (or spiritual beings on a human journey).

Here's sharing this nugget I came across in facebook.

"The universe.. all that exists.. seen or unseen
Was.. is.. and will be. It has no beginning.
In its essence.. it is both energy and consciousness.
Here lies the secret of life.. without boundless knowing.
...In Silence.. Divinity reveals itself from our depths.
The sacred.. lies within every human being...
appearing through simplicity.
~ Ilie Cioara "Life is Eternal Newness"

Yes, the sacred lies within every human being. The resurrection, according to Carlton Pearson (in his book "God is not a christian, nor a jew, nor a muslim, nor a hindu - God is in us, with us, around us, as us"), is forgetting who we are not and remembering who we are - divinity and humanity as one. We are both energy and consciousness in essence, and unconditional love is our nature.

Don't let others try to dictate that path to you, no matter which label they currently subscribe to

"Be careful when you leave the herd that you don’t simply find a new one that suits your opinions better. You haven’t really changed. You’ve only switched.
Tweaking is the favorite pastime of the spiritually discontent.
Switching is the hobby of ego enthusiasts.
Waiting patiently, alone, to find your own self and path… now that takes courage!"
~ David Hayward

 Isn't there such a thing as social liberation?"
"Of course there is," said the Master.
"How would you describe it?"
"Liberation from the need to belong to the herd."
~ Anthony de Mello

It takes courage to find our own self and path because it can feel lonely at times. But it is worth being true to ourselves as no one else can walk our path, and the answer to our life's mystery lies in each of us, and we understand and experience it in our own way. Being free from the need to belong to a herd allows us to continue to find our own voice, and find our place in the universe - that is the university of life, as I learnt from Matthew Fox. We can enjoy communing with those whose paths may coincide with ours for a season, and we can continue to eke out our own paths when it diverges from theirs, without feeling obligated to belong to their group or any other group.




I read a post recently from a Facebook inspirational page that says when we follow the crowd, we will never be able to go further than the crowd. But when we walk our own path, we find ourselves going places where no one has been before. Indeed, we are designed to be eagles traversing the endless skies from horizon to horizon, and a chicken coop or aviary is too small and limiting for us. I learnt that each of us is born with our own spiritual DNA and we are meant to soar in our own paths, even as we exchange notes and learn from one another and encourage and build up one another in love along our journeys.

Spiritual activities and interpersonal skills

According to this blog "The Bait and Switch of Contemporary Christianity", "spiritual" activities (such as praying and reading the Bible) do not necessarily enhance one's interpersonal skills. In fact, if one is not careful, doctrines and books tend to influence his mindset to the extent of discriminating others who do not think or believe like him. Therein lies the danger of organised religion, which perpetuates the illusion of separation and "us" versus "them". 

I have come to realise that life is not about doctrines; life is all about relationships with people. If those who are still being influenced by religious teachings treat us unkindly, we know it is because of their attachment to doctrines and not because of us. We can only keep resting in our belovedness and perfection, and love them from afar, like what Jesus said "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do".

We are a perfect workmanship created in love, and how others treat us does not define us because we are defined by our original identity. How someone treats other people does not define them; it only reflects him. If he chooses to treat others like enemies just because they disagree with his views, his actions are only a product of religious conditioning from the Christian fundamentalist circles, and he knows not what he was doing. We can rise above the way such people treat us, and we can continue to fly high as eagles.

There is a book written

"There is a book written... not in print, but written in the souls of humanity... some read it, some don't, but this book is deep within all... and life is designed to draw our attention inward to this book". - Joshua Guild

Yes, there is a book written not in print but in the souls of humanity. Each of us has a life story and we create the chapters with our thoughts and live accordingly. Perhaps this explains why many of us like to read books because we find much of the stories written in the books mirror our  own stories written in our souls, and we can relate to them and learn from them as well.

This also reminds me of the verse that says we are living epistles, open and read by people. At the esoteric level, we are the good news, as our life story is hidden in Christ our true identity, and our book cover bears the image of god or divine unconditional love. When we take time to be still and meditate, we are reading the book written on our heart that reminds us of who we are - the I Am. Page after page reveals to us the infinite measure of our worth and the depth of our belovedness, the full extent of our completeness and perfection, the glory of our innocence, and the  beauty of our unity and oneness with the universe. The book of our soul is a page turner, hard to put down once we start reading it as it is spiritually enlightening, intellectually stimulating and emotionally fulfilling.

Our true identity - Christ in us the hope of glory - have done so many things such as doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil (ego or false identity) that if they were written one by one, even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written, as John wrote in his gospel. I believe that is also because the works of Christ are still being written today in our hearts - they are a neverending story since God is all the while expressing His love through us His beloved children.

The narrow and hidden path

"To judge others is a wide path, easy to access and get carried along upon. But to love others is a narrow path; hidden at first glance, in fact it takes time to even discover its trail, but blessed are those who seek it out and journey upon it."- Mick Mooney

The above quote on the wide and narrow paths reminds me of Jesus' words on the mount of beautitudes. It is interesting to see that the narrow way that leads to life can be referring to a non-judgemental approach to living life. I believe it not only promotes inner peace and well-being but also enables people to experience eternal life, which is knowing our highest self and our true identity as one with god/divine love, and one with one another.

I suppose the wide path, on the other hand, leads to destruction in the sense of destroying the sense of unity and harmony when people judge one another, which we all tend to do from time to time as part of human nature. But as the above quote says, the narrow path is a hidden path at first glance, and it is worth seeking this path of our divine nature, for its reward is life (peace, wellbeing, unity and harmony with self and others). This is a timeless reminder, and I believe each person can discover and re-discover this hidden and narrow path that  leads to life through contemplative living in stillness and silence, as well as reminding and exhorting one another.

Spiritual interpretation of the scripture

Any god whether it be a Yahweh, an Allah, a Jesus, a Mother, or a Father is a manifestation of the subconscious mind to establish security in a perceived 'unsettling' world. I am Yahweh, the God-Man standing, Allah is my anatomy (Arm, Leg, Leg, Arm, Head), Jesus is my Self-deliverance from Sin (ie, the lower nature). My brain is Mother and Father (Right and left); the Mother being my creative nature; the Father being my analytical mind. It's all me playing 'hide-and-go-seek' on myself. — with Silas Rodriguez.

I agree with my best friend on the spiritual interpretation of the passage from the scripture about "honouring one's father and mother, that it may go well with you" that it is actually about honouring both sides of our brain - the creativity and intuitive aspect as well as the logical and analytical aspect of our brain. Indeed, the letter (literal interpretation) kills (or condemns), but the Spirit (metaphysical interpretation) gives life.

On a similar note, it occurred to me recently that the passage in 1 Corinthians about honouring God in our body and in our spirit is meant to be interpreted spiritually as well. Committing spiritual adultery is to be under the law (system of do's and don'ts). Hence, we are exhorted to stay under grace and be attuned to our true identity in Christ, that is not attached to any label or false identity such as prostitutes or murderers. Our true identity is divine unconditional Love, which is eternal and will never change. Yes, it is interesting to see scriptures in a new light that brings freedom, hope and life into our life.

Some thoughts on loneliness and spiritual abuse

I can relate to the feeling of loneliness because I have experienced it before many times, especially when I was in my 20s and early 30s. It is like a “spiritual attack” on our mind, which afflicts all of us at one time or another. It was almost like there are “voices” in my head, trying to convince me that I was not good enough and that other people are enjoying their lives and not caring about me. Loneliness is not a pleasant experience at all. So I can understand the bouts of loneliness people are going through, especially when they are living all by themselves. If I were them I would probably be facing the same situation. It is a perfectly human and normal thing and I can understand that.

On another note, I have just come across this insightful blog “We Are Spiritual Abuse Survivors“, which was written by a spiritual abuse survivor. Although I haven’t been subjected to any severe form of spiritual abuse in the past since I was attending a fairly grace-based christian church institution for several years, I can relate to some of the things shared in the blog. I have seen and heard some of the examples of spiritual abuse mentioned in the blog (in varying degrees). I am sharing the blog here as the readers who may have been spiritually abused before may find comfort in knowing they are not alone.

Among some of the things I can relate to in the blog are:

“We all experience vulnerability in difficult emotional times.  Most people find some sort of support to see them through.
…
We thought we were specially called by God.  We learned later that we were just a means to an end, with the end being the elevation of our leader.
Or we were rigidly raised to believe that everything on the outside of our group was bad.  That only our group alone understood God, salvation, and the keys to living rightly.
We were taught or reconditioned to fear everything that contradicted our leaders’ edicts.  We believed dissent to be wicked, evil, and Satanic.
And then we learned something about our leaders that made us question all that we built our lives upon.
We learned that there are a lot of people claiming that they are God’s exclusive one-and-only end time prophets.  They all have their own franchises, and they all seem to know exactly when Jesus is coming back.
…
We learned that some of our phobias have been granted to us by leaders who manipulated us into believing that the world is really a terrible, horrible place.
Of course, our leader’s group is wonderful and the only good to be found in the world.
Or is it?
And then we learned that asking these questions makes us expendable to the leader and the rest of the group.
When we raised objections about our leader, we were called dangerous, rebellious, demonic, or apostate.  People distanced themselves accordingly.
And when we left, or when we were banished or shunned, we became a part of ‘the world’ that we so feared.  We were disfellowshipped as pagans, heretics, and anathema.  (Disfellowshipped is a fancy term for ‘kicked out with no home and no place to go.’)
We were as good as dead to everyone who once claimed to love us.
We believed that eternal punishment was inevitable.
We believed that we left the hidden truth, the narrow way, and the only light.  That we could either repent, delude ourselves, or suffer in silence.  Alone.
…
Because of the Internet and our Googling late into the night when we can’t sleep, we’re learning that we aren’t the only ones.  Because of the anonymity that the Internet affords, we’re getting braver.  We’re telling our stories.
We’re speaking out.
We are still fish out of water.  We care deeply about other hurting people because we know what it means to hurt.
We don’t have demons.  We aren’t possessed.
We’ve experienced trauma.  And it has never been nor will ever be our fault.
We have to convince ourselves of this sometimes.
We’re healing.  Slowly.”

I like the conclusion of the blog:

“Some of us have found God since the abusive experience, and some of us have not and may not.  Some of us will get there eventually.  We need to be free to experience whatever path we choose.  We are valuable regardless of the road we take.
…
We’re complicated, but we’re worth it.  We’re passionate, brave, creative, thoughtful, loyal, benevolent, enjoyable, beautiful creatures that have been through something hard and lived to tell the tale.”

Yes, I admire the courage of those who have gone through spiritual abuse in institutional churches to face their ordeals, and share their experiences with others for their encouragement. I agree that they are passionate, brave, creative, thoughtful, loyal, benevolent, enjoyable, beautiful creatures that have been through something hard and lived to tell the tale.

Nuggets of encouragement (Feb 2011)

The more we talk and meditate about the gospel, the more we are conscious of and walk in the victory and freedom Jesus has accomplished for us at the cross.

God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit share with us the same divine nature of love and non-violence.

Emmanuel - God is always with us and He has equipped us with everything we need to prosper and have good success.

God gives His beloved sleep.

What is desired in a man is kindness, grace and mercy.

Keep expecting good things to happen, for surely His goodness and love chase my beloved and I and our family down all the days of our life.

Jesus is wild and untamable - He is the epitome of power, love and sound mind. It's fun and exciting to flow with him.

Allow ourselves to be pampered and cared for by the Lord, and He will give us the prayer of our belief system.

God's ways are ways of grace and mercy.

We are God's poetry in motion, created for his pleasure.

Jesus came to redeem us from identity crisis, and restores to us our original blueprint of His image and glory.

With humility comes wisdom and honour. God gives grace to the lowly.

Jesus came to serve. We are blessed serving, ministering and building up one another.

We are defenders of the weak, comforters of the weary and healers of the oppressed.

We live by your grace. We rest in your all-sufficient grace. Your strength is made perfect in weakness.

We create as we speak - blessings and glory and honour and goodness and love!

Speak to the rock about who we are in Christ and what we have in Christ.

God is one with us. He does not dwell in duality.

Redemptive imagination about our oneness with God is the power to heal the world with peace and love.

Today we choose life by putting on the mind of Christ by aligning our thoughts with God's, and we will live the abundant life.

Our strength is to lift up the weak, and our wisdom is to set the oppressed free. We are blessed to be a blessing.

Enlightenment. Awakening. Realising we are all one with God in Christ and there is no duality.

Dare to speak our mind for liberty's sake. Don't care what people think. Don't let the seed of blessings die unborn. We create what we speak.

When we are flowing with love, joy and peace, others are also set free from oppression and bondage.

The best things in life aren't things. We can do no big things; only small things with a big heart.

We may be only one person to the world, but we can be the world to one person.

True freedom is found in serving faithfully my loved ones - that's blessed captivity.

Why we fall prey to dogma

 

"We fall prey to dogma because we are living in fear and seeking security, seeking to be "right" and "correct"; but the most we accomplish with dogma is to keep our minds buzzing with ideas and confirmations, constantly guarding what we've learned, constantly defending positions, fearful of what we hear, of what we see. Thus, dogma is simply a religious path formed of ego, it's footing established through fear of eternal punishment and desire for eternal security."
~ Bobby Hinkle (from Free Believers Network)