Today is what surrender to love looks like. It's not pretty from this side of heaven.
The heaviness of this day is what on a large global scale ego can do. It is the cause of all the wars, poverty, racial injustice, exploitation of the Earth, animals, water, women and children everywhere. The good news is that it is not real. Yes, it exists on the Earth, but only that which lives in eternity is really real, lasting, permanent.
Ego, as I've heard described, is a global tapeworm that gets into you and depletes your vital spiritual energy until it finally takes over your body and your life. Spiritually, it kills you. Globally, it is obvious what it has done. But, obviously, you wouldn't invite it in, so it sneaks in, insidiously disguised as a good work ethic or as a detail-oriented designer, planner, builder, banker, whatever. It is no innocent bystander. It, collectively, is killing the planet.
In most cases, it's root is in plain old ordinary worry. So, if we can practice being attentive to it when it begins, we can be vigilant and stop it from taking over our spiritual lives. We can break the cycle of competition, exploitation, thievery, control, lies before they even happen. Worry is just a mistake your mind makes because it has temporarily forgotten that worry comes from lack of faith. You just forgot. Now, you can remember to remember.
To begin with, take a deep breath and as you exhale, feel the tension dissipate from your neck, shoulders, face. You felt that, didn't you? You could feel all that tension you had only when you exhaled. Now, do it again, and again, feel the tension release, feel it flow away from you as you exhale.
Worry may be more insidious than fear because it's less obvious. Fear comes with a quick palpitating heart rate, constant anxiety, looming failure or devastation on the horizon and fight or flight reaction. But, worry, creeps up on you and while you're wondering where all your good energy went continues to wear you down and you may not even know what's happening. Meditation, prayer, doesn’t seem to help - at first, anyway. I really think that sometimes we hold onto worry and don't realize it.
Perhaps, we've set high standards for our lives, our relationships, our projects and, if we're not careful, those high standards can become obsessive, possessing our whole mind, generating their own energy of perfectionism, spinning wildly out of control on the wings of judgment and criticism. It's a downhill battle from thereon. It often fuels the ego, if we're not careful, and may reduce our spiritual energy as it symbiotically raises the ego's attention.
Worry may be more insidious than fear because it's less obvious. Fear comes with a quick palpitating heart rate, constant anxiety, looming failure or devastation on the horizon and fight or flight reaction. But, worry, creeps up on you and while you're wondering where all your good energy went continues to wear you down and you may not even know what's happening. Meditation, prayer, doesn’t seem to help - at first, anyway. I really think that sometimes we hold onto worry and don't realize it.
Perhaps, we've set high standards for our lives, our relationships, our projects and, if we're not careful, those high standards can become obsessive, possessing our whole mind, generating their own energy of perfectionism, spinning wildly out of control on the wings of judgment and criticism. It's a downhill battle from thereon. It often fuels the ego, if we're not careful, and may reduce our spiritual energy as it symbiotically raises the ego's attention.
The life of peace, serenity, joy, love and creativity flourish in an inner environment of surrender to the Spirit. When you have lived in that serenity, you will know instantly when it's gone. When worry has taken you over, you feel your inner source to Spirit closed off. It's like the well has dried up or the door has closed on your interior realm.
One moment in that stagnant place, dragged and left there cold and lifeless by worry feels like Jeremiah's barren desert to me, that metaphorical spiritual graveyard of dry bones.
Clearly there are physical outcomes of living in worry, steeped in concerns about what others think, about not having enough money, of succeeding in your career aspirations, or at being the best at anything you pursue. See, what a silent stalker worry can be? Next thing you know, your pride is puffed up and you have visions of being "better than" someone else. That is the first symptom of life in the ego.
In our ego-based world, where being best, being top dog, the ego is in charge and the consequences are rampant. How can we stay aware and alert to it. I think whenever we feel ourselves separate from another, when we try to outrun them to the bank, to the realtor, to the boss's office in whatever insane way it happens, you can be sure, you've slipped under control of the ego.
Since the world is completely under its control, it’s hard not to slip now and then. But, on the big screen, slipping can mean sentencing an innocent saint to torture and capital punishment . That is what put Jesus on the Cross. It was ego that put this awesome, beautiful, holy, saint, this very son of God, on the Cross. He taught love all the way to the Cross and when he reappeared to his disciples long after his dead body was removed from the tomb, he showed us all that death is just another lie the world has taught us. There is no death and the ego is a liar. Only love is real, and since love is God's very spirit, it is as eternal as God is eternal.
We each contribute to the consensual reality matrix, the world as it is today. If every Christian on the planet unsubscribed to the ego, there are enough of us, there would be more Easters than Good Fridays every day.
Unfortunately, its very insidiousness is a big part of the problem. We slip into it, unaware. It slowly takes us over and we don’t realize it. But, you can check for it on a frequent basis and correct yourperspective . One way is to ask yourself, often, if you are in perfect peace? Do you feel joy, love, serenity, peace? Yes? Good. No? Then, get back to breathing and centering in peace, centering in God, Source, love.
As you exhale all that accumulated tension, worry's residue, you may want to surrender all your concerns, needs, hopes and desires to do a good job at whatever you're doing, to God. Exhale, and breathe into your body God's Holy Spirit, His light, His love, His guidance, His direction, His power and His peace.
Allow His love to fill you up, like a stream brimming up over the riverbanks. You might even want to begin a daily practice of intentionally releasing all your worry, all your accumulated tension, and then ask God to replace it with His Spirit and His love.
Just as tension and worry can contract your muscles, arteries and organs, equally, love can relax and heal then. I suspect that we are all carrying so much tension and worry in our bodies that we aren't even in touch with it. That first simple breath might have released the topical, obvious, first layer of tension and worry, but there may be layers and layers below that first one. Some of that worry and tension that's deeply buried, seething away at muscles and organs, may be the source of many of our illnesses. So, while spiritual healing might begin with simple release of worry, so might physical healing.
This practice might be your commitment to make a clear and intentional statement to your soul, spirit and body that you will not participate inthe matrix of darkness, worry and fear that put Christ on the Cross.
We each contribute to the consensual reality matrix, the world as it is today. If every Christian on the planet unsubscribed to the ego, there are enough of us, there would be more Easters than Good Fridays every day.
Unfortunately, its very insidiousness is a big part of the problem. We slip into it, unaware. It slowly takes us over and we don’t realize it. But, you can check for it on a frequent basis and correct your
As you exhale all that accumulated tension, worry's residue, you may want to surrender all your concerns, needs, hopes and desires to do a good job at whatever you're doing, to God. Exhale, and breathe into your body God's Holy Spirit, His light, His love, His guidance, His direction, His power and His peace.
Allow His love to fill you up, like a stream brimming up over the riverbanks. You might even want to begin a daily practice of intentionally releasing all your worry, all your accumulated tension, and then ask God to replace it with His Spirit and His love.
Just as tension and worry can contract your muscles, arteries and organs, equally, love can relax and heal then. I suspect that we are all carrying so much tension and worry in our bodies that we aren't even in touch with it. That first simple breath might have released the topical, obvious, first layer of tension and worry, but there may be layers and layers below that first one. Some of that worry and tension that's deeply buried, seething away at muscles and organs, may be the source of many of our illnesses. So, while spiritual healing might begin with simple release of worry, so might physical healing.
This practice might be your commitment to make a clear and intentional statement to your soul, spirit and body that you will not participate in
Today, we can be reminded of what we once did, as all humans have always done, which is to fall prey to the ego; and then choose not to do it anymore. We can be like the centurion at the foot of the cross who realized the error of his ways, and chose again to live in love with faith in the on-going providence of our Source of life, our God and Creator.
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