Suffering

The effect of

suffering, upon us,

depends on what we

love

Thomas Merton

Something to share

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From Thomas Merton!

My soul does not find itself unless it acts. Therefore it must act. Stagnation and inactivity bring spiritual death. But my soul must not project itself entirely into the outward effects of its activity. I do not need to see myself, I merely need to be myself. I must think and act like a living being, but I must not plunge my whole self into what I think and do, or seek always to find myself in the work I have done. The soul that projects itself in the work of its own will is like a madman who sleeps on the footpath in front of his house instead of living inside where it is quiet and warm. The soul that throws itself outdoors in order to find itself in the effects of its own work is like a fore that has no desire to burn but seeks only to go up in smoke.

The reason why man is so anxious to see themselves instead of being content to be themselves is that they do not really believe in their own existence. And they do not fully believe that they exist because they do not believe in God. That is equally true of those who say they believe in God (without actually putting their faith into action) and of those who do not pretend to have any faith.

In either case, the loss of faith has involved at the same time a complete loss of all the sense of reality. Being means nothing to those who hate and fear what they themselves are. Therefore they cannot have peace in their own reality (which reflects the reality of God). They must struggle to escape their own true being, and verify a false existence by constantly viewing what they themselves do. They have to keep looking in the mirror for re-assurance. What do they expect to see? Not themselves! They are hoping to see some sign that they have become the god they hope to become by the means of their own frantic activity – invulnerable, all powerful, infinitely wise, unbearably beautiful, unable to die.

When a man constantly looks and looks at himself in the mirror of his own acts, his spiritual double vision splits him into two people. And if he strains his eyes hard enough, he forgets which one is real. In fact, reality is no longer found either in himself or in his shadow. The substance has gone out of itself into the shadow and has become two shadows instead of one real person.

Then the battle begins. Whereas one shadow was meant to praise the other, now one shadow accuses the other. The activity that was meant to exalt him, reproaches and condemns him. It is never real enough. The less he is able to be the more he has to do. He becomes his own slave driver – a shadow whipping a shadow to death, because it cannot produce reality, infinitely substantial reality, out of it own nonentity.

Then comes fear. The shadow becomes afraid of the shadow. He who “is notâ€� becomes terrified at the things he cannot do. Whereas for a while he had the illusions of infinite power, miraculous sanctity (which he was able to guess at in the mirror of his virtuous actions), now it is all changed. Tidal waves of nonentity, of powerlessness, of hopelessness surge up within him at every action he attempts.

Then the shadow judges and hates the shadow who is not a god and who can do absolutely nothing.

Self contemplation leads to the most terrible despair of a god that hates himself to death. This is the ultimate perversion of man who was made in the likeness and image of the TRUE God, who was made to Love eternally and perfectly an infinite good – a good (note this well) which he has to find dwelling inside himself!!!!!

In order to find God in ourselves, we must stop looking at ourselves, stop checking and verifying ourselves in the mirror of our own futility, and be content to be in Him and do whatever He wills, according to our limitations, judging our own acts not in the light of our own illusions, but in the Light of His reality which is all around us in the things and people we live with

Humility and Pride

As we walk the path, seeking the Kingdom of God, there are many virtues that we must fully develop to achieve a full life in Jesus Christ and ascend beyond the need for the worldly kingdom. At the top of the list is Love: unconditional, selfless Love for yourself and all beings that exist. Humility moves hand in hand with Love, and it is this virtue that we will share now.

Humility is the state of being without pride. It is where we deny the worldly kingdom its power and allow Love, our spirit (the Christ within us), to guide us. Our pride is the part of us that seeks always the attention and approval of others, that seeks to enhance itself with spiritually valueless material objects and empty achievements, that feels hurt or wronged by others, that wishes to judge and argue with others to prove its rightness, its worthiness.

The Worldly realm exists by constantly attempting to prove its worthiness. It fears our salvation as it fears death of the physical body. Because at the point of both it ceases to exist. It is pride that separates our spirit, the God within us, from all Creation. Pride is an illusion: that which keeps us from finding the Kingdom of God. It is pride that prevents our natural state of humility or any other virtue of Love, from being constant, in prayer, and connection to the Spirit.

It may seem, at times, the path of salvation is a struggle between our spirit and the worldly kingdom. When we allow pride to be in power, the mind is not clear, nor focused, one may feel negative emotions toward the self or others and places blame or passes judgement. In turn the physical body is present in a state where discomfort or pain is allowed to exist. When our Spirit's existence is stronger than our prides, the mind is clear and able to focus with ease, one feels Love and respect for the self and others and the physical body is comfortable and full of energy. It is in this state, in Jesus' Spirit, that the beauty of humility is experienced.

Humility truly is a beautiful and miraculous state to dwell within. In the state of humility we see the beauty and truth within every being, silently respecting and honouring the spirit of all, even if these others are experiencing the power play of their pride. Humility allows us to be confronted with the pride of another yet silently says " I understand, I have been within that struggle. " In a truly humble state we allow the other being to go on learning their lessons, as it is often the Will of God, without judgement for their experience of pride, and with the knowledge that their truth, their spirit is beautiful and perfect. In the god like state of humility, we can be confronted by another's pride and still show kindness and love to that one.

As the beings of this world are largely controlled by their pride, it is in the pattern of the worlds mass consciousness to behave this way. Thus, when we find ourselves falling under the control of our pride, we join the pattern of energy of all who are playing out the worldly role upon the Earth. In other words, our consciousness joins with the worldly kingdom consciousness and we are easily drawn into fully acting out our prides energy, whether it be anger, sadness, jealousy or any other negative pattern of expression. This pattern of expression is enhanced by the energy of the mass that we have joined. Thus it is often difficult to move from a state of pride back to our natural state of spirit; in Christ; Love and Humility. I will add, that this is changing as the world, as whole, moves closer to salvation and our consciousness is filled with thoughts of Love.

It is prides reaction that we have to learn to quell if we are to maintain or attain the state of humility. So the question would be; " what causes our pride to react and how do we quell this reaction? Pride reacts to anything that it feels threatened by to a greater or lesser degree. It reacts through thought, emotion, word and action. Thus the secret of conquering our pride is to observe our thoughts, emotions, words and actions. If we notice that they are less positive, ask ourselves this question; " Why does my pride feel threatened? " The answer will come from the Christ within and the Holy Spirit. They can remedy the situation if we choose to listen and take their advice. If we cannot answer this question, it is that our pride is in the way. We can perhaps encounter this with prayer; knowing our pride is feeling threatened, but our Spirit in Christ is not. Our spirit in Love is truly humble. This may allow the way to be opened for the Holy Spirit to communicate for us.

There are two situations where humility is most difficult to maintain.

1 When we are directly and unexpectedly confronted by another's pride and our pride wants to react.
2 When another unconsciously does or says something that threatens our pride and it wants to react.

To attain true humility in these situations, or any situation for that matter, ask the help of Jesus and try to act like one who is humble even if we are not feeling humility inside. In doing so we are over ruling our ego; not allowing its response to come forth. This takes much self discipline at first, but it will eventually become easier as we change our habit pattern. As a result we will not only bring the virtue of humility more fully into our being, but will experience less conflict and increasing peace in our daily lives.

Humility never brags or boasts. We have all been taught since childhood not to boast about our achievements, or brag about our personal skills etc. But, what about spiritual achievements? How many times have we had a wonderful meditation or a clairvoyant vision or spiritual encounter of sorts and were bursting with excitement to share it? Did it happen that instead of sharing it with the one person we shared it with half a dozen or more? The first sharing may have been out of joy and excitement but were the following sharing's laced with a little pride or spiritual pride as it is often called? Be honest with ourselves and ask; " Was I looking for recognition and approval? " It has been said that if you share a spiritual experience with others, especially many other people, that we slowly give away or release the energy that the experience brought us. I would agree with this and add, that it is often best to keep our experience to ourselves for a few days, not only to reap the full benefits of the energy that is ours, but to remain humble. It is humble also to share our experiences only when a topic or incident comes up that truly relates to them, for it is often at those times that the experiences are meant to be shared.

Watch also for the desire to boast about our good deeds. A truly humble soul will show kindness to another and keep it so his or herself rather than be seeking to be upheld as a kind or generous being. It is pride that boasts to gain approval from others. Our spirit needs no approval as it knows that it is perfect and beautiful. If we do however find ourselves or another boasting do not be harsh or judge them. Recognise that the pride is feeling in need of approval and that what is needed is connection to the Spirit, The Spirit of Jesus. Remember also that if we are continually kind to others, the kindness and Love will shine through as humility without need for words.

Bring to mind a popular saying; "Actions speak louder than words." Just as a master will not seek approval by praising him or herself, neither will a master seek approval by falsely or overly praising others. A humble soul needs no approval. Silence is action in itself.

To summarise, humility is silently recognising the good, Christs Love, the God in others and yourself. It is respecting that beauty, even if it is not always clearly evident, and treating others and yourself with Love. It is not allowing the pride to react, and instead always trying to be the Spirit that we truly are. Remember there is strength in silence. Humility needs no recognition. Have faith in Christs Spirit of Love.

Inspired by - Ephesians 5: 8 - 10

Everything that is real or permanent (of God), manifest only goodness, righteousness and truth. The Spirit of God cannot manifest anger, pain, lust, cannot be cruel, vain nor spiteful,  in fact nothing which is negative or not born of Love. If we see something abhorrent, to our eyes, and are full of anger, justifying anger by spouting scripture - we are not in a state of Light and Love because our fruits are not goodness, righteousness nor truth. We, in a way, use the Word of God for an evil purpose because we see with the eyes of the carnal mind and not that of the Spirit of God.

Walking as children of Light, being his hands proving* what is acceptable to God, we do not judge as we think God would/should Judge, but we are simply Being - His hands - His instrument of peace and Being in that moment, or situation, what is needed as directed by the will of our Holy and Loving Father. If you feel and express anger you are not doing Gods Will but that of the master of darkness and confusion. We are not to judge but to be lights and shine the light of truth and show evil for what it really is  powerlessness in the Light of Goodness  it is nothing!

*(as in the proving of dough) to rise to a specified Lightness

- to test the truth, validity, or genuineness.