Freedom is NOW!

In the world we live, freedom is not a guarantee. In the United States, freedom has come at a cost, and usually a deadly cost through war and conflict.

However, in the spiritual realm, freedom is available, it's real, and it is powerful. Yet, too many of us are living our lives in a spiritually, emotionally,and psychologically self-imposed prison. We fail to see, because of our spiritual blindness, the level of freedom Jesus 0ffers us right now. There is no cost to us, except our willingness to be like a child and display a level of simpleness required to understand the ways of the Spirit.

The word simple used to conjure up negative feelings inside of me because, that must mean we are simple people with simple minds and simple ideas. And, that just won't do in this world of complexity, intellectualism, and individuality! However, I know today that response and view by me was the result of my pride and arrogance. I know today that you can still be intelligent and have a relationship with God and Jesus. I know from my own experience that you cannot combine intelligence with arrogance and false pride and expect a warm response by God.

I keep going back to Luke 19 and Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. I do, because the seed was planted by Andy Sikora, an associate pastor at Cuyahoga Valley Church during a sermon a couple of weeks ago. In that scene, Jesus rides into the city on a colt to fanfare and praise. However, Jesus weeps! Why? Because he, Jesus, knew that the people did not get the real meaning of his life and ministry. And, they were not going to get it before his crucifixion. "Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip?" This is what Jesus asked of his own disciple in John 14. If his own disciples were ignorant of who he was, then we must be careful to express spiritual pride in thinking we know him. Yet, we can know him through an attitude of unknowing. How? Through a childlike attitude that says the following, "Lord I yearn to know you, I thirst to know your ways every day, and that you will look favorably upon your wretched servant." The key is that we must never lose that passion and yearning to know Jesus, while at the same time admitting to ourselves we really don't know him. Because it's the ones who don't know that know and, well, the ones that know.......they really are clueless. This gets to the heart of humility and open-mindedness and honesty. In our natural lives we always put up a facade that gives an impression that is not congruent with what is really going on in our lives. We should be careful in doing that with God and Jesus because they already know.....they know us better than we know ourselves. We can act the saint in front of others, but we had better run home and cry out in utter ignorance that we know him completely.

Oswald Chambers writes the following in his book, 'My Utmost for His Highest.' "The mystery of God is not in what is going to be- it is now, though we look for it to be revealed in the future in some overwhelming, momentous event." This is why Jesus wept. We live our lives expecting some huge upheaval to take place that will liberate us from this sinful world. That is what the people of Jesus' day expected from him. Yet, God tells us that the freedom is here and it is now and it is not contingent upon Him doing miraculous things to be viewed in the natural world. The freedom comes when we become an empty vessel so that the Holy Spirit can take up shop. Freedom comes when we allow God the ability to perform miraculous things in the spiritual realm of our lives, miraculous things that can only be explained via the concept of numinous, not anything that can be detected by our physical senses.

He goes on to say, "We look for God to exhibit Himself to His children, but God only exhibits Himself in His children." There again, we must become childlike and display a level of simplicity that is a prerequisite for God to come in and give us the gift of the Spirit. And, we will be the last to know that we have become a spiritual person. That is the real acid test for whether or not you are spiritual! People will see it in you and define you as spiritual, not the other way around. We can never proclaim ourselves spiritual, for that precludes humility. And, humility is at the heart of spirituality.

May you all find the freedom that is available to you NOW!

Can spirituality be defined?

Trials and tribulations cultivate and nurture spirituality and wisdom. At least, this seems to be the case in my own life. I read and was enthralled with Ekhart Tolle's "The Power of Now" and how it seems to speak to one on a certain level. One day while discussing spirituality with a group of people, the thought came to my mind, "Can the concept of spirituality be defined?" I have a degree in biology and chemistry and took physics courses as a requisite. I thought back to the definition of power. Power equals Work divided by Time. Then, it dawned on me that this equation can be applied to Tolle's position. For him, the awakening came in the "now".

Looking back at the equation, if you (your mind) can remain exquisitely in the present, time virtually disappears. There is no yesterday or tommorow. As time approaches zero, power approaches infinity! Furthermore, work and power are directly proportional. This one seems a little more tricky. However, it makes sense to me in the following way. Work equals Force times Distance. However, F x D does not always constitute work. For example, I can apply force by pushing a concrete wall. If the wall does not move, no work is achieved. It is only Potential Energy. So, work involves Kinetic Energy or the ability to generate enough force to move an object. We have the ability to implement force as human beings. Also, depending on how we use that force, we can generate positive or negative work. If we apply force in the direction of a moving object, then we increase speed and energy resulting in positive work. If we apply force in the opposite direction of an object's path, we slow the object down and decrease energy. This results in negative work. A negative "force" decreases energy and a "positive" force increases energy.

This brings me to how people refer to others as having a negative or positive "vibe". Interestingly enough, people don't even have to speak to pick up on someones negative "vibe". In the context of spirituality, I have heard people say, "get out of the way, so that God's power may flow in". I believe this statement, because we are beings run by ego. Even when we want to have all the virtues of honesty, love, purity, forgiveness, etc, our ego is there to manipulate the situation. The ego is a self preservation entity. However, it creates a delusional sense of self whereby we cannot tell the truth from the false. The ego is not interested in humility, honesty, love, forgiveness, etc. On the contrary, it utilizes arrogance, dishonesty, begrudgement, and resentments to keep "self" in a position of "superiority". As such, we are not agents of positive energy. Instead of using positive force(spiritual virtues) to help someone along "their" life path and increase their energy (sense of self worth, esteem), we typically use negative force (pride, dishonesty, greed, envy, etc.) to provide force in opposition to ones natural path of movement, therefore decreasing their energy (low self esteem, jealousy, envy, anger, etc). Therefore, "getting out the way" seems to imply ego deflation and thinking of oneself less. How do I think of myself less? One very good way is to stay active(think less as Tolle suggests) and be of service to others. My problems seem to disappear or diminish to the point of extinction if I adhere to this.

Okay. Finally, this brings me back to the work variable in the power equation. If I sit around all day by myself, my world becomes very small and my problems, ideas or wants become priority. However, if I physically get up and go help someone else, I feel better. I've always wondered why that is. It's akin to working out at the gym. I hate going to the gym, but afterwards I feel great! The same in this context. If I am honest with myself, I don't want to go help my neighbor mow his lawn. I want to work on my little plans and schemes to advance my agenda. I have to look for a job, work on a business plan, or write this blog. However, once I help my neighbor, I feel better spiritually and psychologically. This is in contrast to if I had attended to my own "important" issues which would have more likely created more stress, anxiety, fear, anger, frustration, etc. If I can be a positive impact on someone's life, then I have done good or positive work. But to do for others requires selflessness, concern and love for others, the same things asked of us by God. So getting out of the way entails squashing ego and allowing God in to display His virtues.

Wheeeew! My head is spinning. Okay, I'll try to wrap this up now. Infinite power is the result of time approaching zero and ego approaching nonexistence. Therefore, an example of infinite power may be when a firefighter runs into a burning house to rescue a little girl, a mother opts to die to save her unborn fetus, a mother or father sitting down with their child to help with homework, or the selflessness of New Yorkers after 9/11. The feeling of oneness and unity after 9/11 was powerful and it emanated out of concern for others and our country. However, it quickly faded into the distance once the divergent and ego based reality of life slowly crept back as the default way of existing on this earth. My concept of power has changed and there only exists physical and spiritual powers. I used to think that money, position, titles (doctor), connections, etc. created power. One was powerful and successful (which is another whole topic) if they had these things. At least for me, it couldn't be further from the truth. These things engender pride(pathologic), greed, and envy. Not necessarily the things required to have spiritual power. I also used to think that spirituality was something sought after to give me a sense of "awe and wonder", something only achieved through solitary meditation and isolation (sitting on a mountaintop with a beautiful landscape view and the sounds of nature abound). However, my view has changed. Spirituality for me is not something to be sought, it just "is". If you seek it, you will never have it. There never comes a moment when you can say, ahaaa!, I have spirituality. Just as happiness is a byproduct of right living, so it goes with spirituality. As for solitary meditation, it is not spirituality. It is an integral part in preparation for receving power and a spiritual position. In the morning, I sit quietly and clear my mind of thought. This act of clearing my thoughts and getting centered in the now, is a living representation of the power equation. I

My purpose in writing about this was my interest in seeing what reactions and thoughts I could get from others. Does this sound off the wall or can some of you relate to this?