Walk in Grace and Truth Today

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 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

~ Ephesians 5:15-16, ESV ~

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For today only. Our decisions for today only influence the way we walk. Are the decisions we make based on tomorrow's worries? Or are we making choices based on the past we have lived? If we are not rooted in our relationship with Jesus Christ, how we walk throughout the day today may determine whether we have gained wisdom or not.

Within each of us lies the qualities of Christ where we are able to make an impact. As we focus on living each day with meaning and purpose, we are not being swept away with past regrets or potential future pain. Our confidence is in the Lord and through Him, we are guided through our wilderness of life.

The best use of our time is spent in serving Him and acknowledging the love and grace our Heavenly Father bestows upon us. In the morning, we seek His guidance and counsel. Throughout the day, we turn our thoughts, concerns, and frustrations over to Him. In the evening, we return and report on the days errands we have engaged in.

We make the best use of our time through dedication in Honoring Christ's name by those actions we take.

10 Guiding Premises of Living a Focused and Mindful and Spiritual Christian Life

 2019 is a a year of Focus. What does it mean to be focused? According to the Online Etymology Dictionary the term is either used as a noun or verb. As a noun, we understand this to mean a point of convergence, or center of activity/energy. As a verb, the word focus is about bringing into clarity. This latter part has a reference to what a photographer does. He patiently brings the lens of the camera into focus in order to capture a clear and precise picture.  Based on this understanding, the idea behind this being a year of focus means: Bringing into clarity through a point of convergence and/or center of activity or energy of what it means to have a deeper and more meaningful relationship with God. 

This begins by understanding the first guiding principle of living a mindful Christian life that is spiritually enriching, possessing a sense of meaning, and having a defined sense of purpose. If you have not already read through this article on how we are invited to live out faithful each day, please do so.  Having a foundational guiding principle will help us come to fully understand all the other guiding principles that are built upon this one simple truth.

Foundation Premise of Mindful Christian Living

Christian mindfulness is coming to a place where we attach our deepest sense of self to God and seek after His kingdom and righteousness (see, Matthew 6:33, ESV). This requires us to surrender ourselves over to His divine will and grace. By being mindful, we are present focused on the moment and experiencing that moment without any prejudice or criticism. Adding to this, we are present focused on God's will and desire within those moments as we experience them without any criticism or prejudice on our part. Since we are called to seek after God and desire to do His will, we are establishing ourselves as citizens of His kingdom.

As we establish our focus on how we relate to God, and cultivating a deeper, more meaningful, and more purposeful relationship with Him, we come to realize a sense of fulfillment. We may begin to see patterns and themes emerge through our mindful approach to praying and meditating on God's word. Some of these themes will begin to emerge in how we gain a sense of worth and power, a sense of freedom and liberation, a sense of fun and leisure, and a sense of belonging. 

A Christ-centric spiritual life, where we are mindful, may reveal to us a more promising, enriching and abundant life.

What follows are ten specific guiding principles of living a spiritually mindful Christian life.

Guiding premise one - Personal and Spiritual Authenticity

One of the may essential aspects of a mindful and spiritual Christian life is one of authenticity. This focuses on the outcome of our spiritual growth and journey, as well as the means of attaining spiritual growth and maturation. Authenticity is living out what truly matters. By being authentic, we are also being transparent in how we are living our lives. Through Christ, we are sanctified to continue to live within the grace of God. We come to understand how obedience leads us toward a life of blessing and authenticity. People will see us for who we truly are:

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. ¹⁶ In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16, ESV)

Through our authentic lifestyle, we come to bless people. We are the light shining so that others may see; because, where there is light, there is no darkness. True Christian living, from a mindful understanding, is what is missing in today's society. Far too many Christians are placing yokes of doctrine, religious rites and ceremonies onto people. What appears to be lacking is any true authentic relationship with Christ.

We see this within the Gospels of the New Testament. The religious leaders and their resistance to the teachings, and life, of Christ himself. There was no authenticity in the life of those who challenged Christ. They were challenged by the simplicity of truth. Today, we are either open and receptive to God's revelations and truths, or we are blind and deaf to them.

Personal and spiritual authenticity begins by us coming to the end of ourselves, surrendering our pretenses, attitudes, beliefs, and expectations in order to be filled with God's love, peace, and presence. This requires our need to trust in God. Trust in His will. Trust in His promises. As we grow, so does our sense of authenticity increase.

Guiding Premise Two - The Highest priority of a mindful Christian life

The two greatest priorities of a mindful Christian life rests upon what Christ revealed in scripture. It is simple truth that has caused profound stumbling blocks for many people today. The very foundation of the Christian life is based on the bedrock of love.  What this means is what Christ revealed when he was asked what the greatest commandment is.

But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together. And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend on all the Law and the Prophets.”

The bedrock of our faith in Jesus Christ rests upon the foundation of Love toward God and love toward others. These two truths formulate the highest priority of a mindful Christian life. Reason being is because without love, we are left to our own selfish will, our own selfish and innate desires, and we live according to the dictates of our passions and carnal mindset.

Godly and divine love is what brought the Savior into the world. Godly and divine love is what cost Christ his life on the cross. Godly and divine love is what brought forth Christ's resurrection. Not love toward Himself, love toward us.

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8, ESV)

Love is the power that allows us to walk in obedience. Love is what empowers us to honor and respect one another. Love is how we are to treat our enemies. It is through love where we may find complete joy in life (see, John 15:10-20, ESV).

Guiding Principle Three - Living in God's Will

Today's Christian message is all about Grace. It is all about what God is capable and only able to do for the individual. Yet, when it comes to discussing obedience, many Christians balk at the idea as being anathema to the doctrine and gospel of grace. Many times, they cite verses from various Pauline epistles as justification for the doctrine of Grace. What they forget is that Christ constantly called His disciples to walk in obedience. Not only to walk in obedience, to also call all men to repent, become disciples and walk in obedience to the commandments of God. Christ, himself, even said that He walked in obedience and accordance to God's will.

What does it mean to walk in obedience to God's will? It means we are present and focused on hearing His word. We are in tuned to His spirit. We seek His daily guidance and counsel. Christ said, I did not come to do my will, but to do the will of the one who sent me ( see, John 6:38, ESV).

What is God's will and how do we live in it? Simply to know who God is and to know who Jesus Christ is:

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. (See, John 17:3, ESV)

Therefore, we walk in obedience, according to God's will and desire, because it is how we come to not only Know Him (and Christ), it is how we are able to build our faith and trust in Knowing God is faithful and just toward us. 

Guiding principle four - Take full responsibility for our own Christian Life

A mindful Christian life means we take full responsibility in how we live. Prior to coming into the "way", we may have taken some responsibility for our own behaviors and actions. However, and if we are brutally honest with ourselves, there are some moments where we passed the buck on responsibility. Coming to Christ means we have put to death the old man. This means we no longer live by our own rules. We no longer operate under our previously held beliefs, attitudes, passions, and desires. Instead, we take full responsibility in living our lives in the manner that is a reflection of Jesus Christ himself.

Our spiritual growth and maturation is not for anyone else. It requires for us to take responsibility for how we think, how we behave, and how we perceive and understand the world around us. By focusing on how we live out a Christ-like life, we are bringing into clarity of what it means to minister to other people, to love them, to show grace and forgiveness as God shows grace and forgiveness toward us. We are called to put off the old man in order to live within the newness of life (see, Ephesians 4:22 and Colossians 3:9, ESV).

Guiding principle five - Surrender to God's will and desire

Our spiritual journey and growth is centered on the reality of surrendering. Happiness, success, sound and healthy relationships depend on our ability to move out of the illusion of control. We come to the end of ourselves in order for us to be fully emptied out of our own will and desire. We are then filled with God's will and desire. We have no control over outcomes, over the way other people receive us, or how people think and behave. Christ declared that just as much as it rains on the just, it also rains on the unjust (see, Matthew 5:45, ESV).

The giving of sunlight and rain reveals to us God's divine character toward those who love him and those whom are his enemies. Prior to this, we are called to love our enemies as this reveals our relationship to God. In short, we exhibit the character of God by being mindful and understanding we are not fully in control over other people. They operate under their own sense of moral agency in how they decide to live their own lives.

Our decision to surrender to God means we are giving up any sense of control we have over our own lives.

Guiding principle six - A deep and enriching sense of spiritual reality and truths

Our spiritual growth is interdependent on our love and obedience to God's will and desire. What this means is that as we grow spiritually, in relationship with Christ and the Father, greater is our insight into spiritual truths and reality. We no longer stand in conflict with our old sense of being and our new, created, sense of self. Because our true identity is anchored on the reality of knowing who Christ is, and therefore the Father, we come to receive divine insight, spiritual counsel, and wisdom.

Guiding principle seven - Coming to live an abundant life

Reflecting on the words of Christ, we come to realize the heart of God's promise and will for our lives - I came that they may have life and have it abundantly (see, John 10:10, ESV). Through a mindful Christian life, we come to realize the abundant life Christ promises. This does not mean we are not going to experience adversity. On the contrary, through Christ, we are capable of living a life that has meaning, a life that has purpose, and a life where we experience Joy in the Lord.

Through our growing relationship with God, we come to develop confidence that He consistently and continually guides us. We only seek Him and his counsel daily. This is accomplished through our established times of solitude. A time where we enter into mindful prayer and meditation.

Guiding principle eight - Enhancing peace of mind through Christ

The more we grow in our daily sojourn with God, the deeper and more intimate we come to experience peace of mind. Today's society has men's heart failing them. We are constantly worried about things that have already happened or anxious about things that are yet to come. We fail to appreciate the present moment and lose sight of all that we are experiencing.

Pain leads to joy. Suffering leads to overcoming. Life is a pilgrimage of either losing ourselves to obtain the treasures and accolades of the the world; or, we lose ourselves in obtaining a knowledge and relationship of God in order to find our worth, power, and sense of belonging (see, Mark 8:34-38, ESV).

Guiding principle nine - Living a mindful Christian life requires daily commitment

It is not enough to just merely confess Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is not merely enough to simply believe. Scripture reveals that even the demons and devils believe and shudder (see, James 2: 19-3:2, ESV). While it takes faith to come to understand and confess in Christ, it takes great commitment to take upon us the name of Christ and live as Christ lived. 

What this means is that our divine relationship with Jesus Christ, and our Heavenly Father, is not a mere happenstance. It is not one of passivity. It is not one where we "come and go" as we desire and please. There is a reason Christ said to the disciples and multitude - if any man were to follow me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Christ committed himself to walk according to His father's will and purpose. He committed himself to understanding and knowing what His life meant. Christ committed to walk in purpose. All of it focused his attention, not just on the Cross of Calvary, but focused on the plan of Salvation that God had presented prior to the creation of this world.

God's divine plan and desire is to see to the immortality and eternal life (see, Moses 1:39) of those who come to believe and follow after Christ. And, through Christ, we make our commitment in taking upon ourselves the name of Christ. This is due to the reality of the following spiritual truths:

• It is through Jesus Christ where we are redeemed and granted eternal life
• The expectations and standards of living a Christ-like life is a daily discipline we take upon ourselves
• Through Christ, we are capable and empowered to endure to the end

Living a mindful Christian life is not something we enter in with passivity. It is a serious covenant relationship we are committed to living. 

Guiding principle ten - We become active sources of Godly attitude of grace, forgiveness, and gratitude

Most Christians tend to shy away from the term of Transcendence. Yet, there is a real simple truth to walking a spiritually mindful Christian life. Through Christ, we are sanctified and transformed to His likeness and image. Through this process of sanctification, we may mature and grow spiritually to where we transcend the normal confines of the present world. Meaning, we have come to a place, in our relationship with God and Christ, where we no longer live according to the expectations and standard rules of modern society and living. That does not mean we are superior to other people.

Faithful Christian living means we have come to a place where we achieve a greater sense of purpose and meaning for our own lives. Something that many pastors and teachers of God's word focus on. I take heart in what Paul wrote to Timothy:

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing. (See 2 Timothy 4:7-8)

The Apostle Paul realized he came to the full sense of meaning and purpose for his life. While he was called to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles. While he suffered much. Having established Churches and written to those churches on various teachings, instructions, and Gospel-centric truths. The one thing he reveals to Timothy is that by his commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and living out that Gospel within his own life, he kept the faith and will be judged righteously whereby he will receive a crown of righteousness.

This reflects the teaching of Christ where we are asked not to lay up treasures in this life and according to this world. We are to lay up treasures for ourselves in the coming Kingdom. Therefore, our focus, while living out our lives today, ought to not only be on the promised eternal life we have through Jesus Christ; our focus ought to be on finding how we are empowered to live a Christ-centered life where we are:

• Mindful of His desire, will, and love for us
• Mindful of our commitment in obeying Him daily
• Mindful of how we love ourselves and others that is a reflection of Godly love
• Mindful of His grace and mercy toward us
• Mindful of our time and desire to cultivate a deep and enriching relationship with Him

Let us strive to focus on living a deep, meaningful, and purposeful relationship where we find a life that is abundant and full of joy.

 

Spiritual Maturity through the Steps

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One of the greatest blessings is working with people who suffer addiction. Sitting in counsel with them and discussing presenting issues they are facing. And, coming up with a means to provide support, encouragement and hope for them is a very unique opportunity. An opportunity to see how a life transforms over time to where they become healthier individuals. I relate to my clients the following:

Recovery is not about abstaining from the use of alcohol and/or drugs. Recovery is about how one lives in a moment-to-moment of transformation from an active addictive lifestyle to an active sober lifestyle.

This is very true in Christianity. We are literally transforming our lives from the old life and living in a manner that produces a whole new life. A life that is centered on Jesus Christ and his sacrifice on the cross. It is abandoning and moving away from old habits, thought processes, how we relate to others and what we come to believe and value in life.

One of my own personal struggles has always focused on "I believe in God, yet do not seem to see my life really changing to reflect what I know and believe to be true." Disappointment and frustration arise.

This all changed when I personally began to study the practical meanings of the 12-steps of recovery (originally developed for Alcoholics Anonymous). My purpose in studying the practical meanings behind the steps was to better educate and inform my clients a way to utilize these as tools for their recovery. Through this process, God has spoken to me and revealed to me what I've been missing all these years.

Approaching the steps - not from a recovery standpoint, however, from a spiritual application - a greater sense of inspiration has come about. This, I would like to share with my readers as a means to provide another tool that will hopefully develop a greater sense of authentic Christian living in their lives. In fact, the first statement in step twelve is this:

Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps....

This is the heart of the Christian message and biblical worldview - to come to a place of spiritual awakening through Jesus Christ and to become living sacrifices through Him. It is a process that occurs throughout our entire lives. It is not something that occurs overnight.

Yes, we are saved by God's sovereign grace. Nothing in this life will earn our place in Heaven. And it is God who chooses us while we were yet sinful. However, there is greater work to be done in our lives from the moment of regeneration and justification. That begins at the moment we confess our belief in Christ Jesus and receive him as our own personal Savior.

If you have struggled with how to become spiritually mature as a Christian, struggling with sin, or simply finding yourself lacking in faith, then I ask for you to carefully read and ponder these thoughts and do what you are able to implement them in your life today. These steps were developed in the 1930's and many people have found hope by working these steps continually in their lives. I believe we are able to find greater hope in working these steps in our own spiritual lives as we continue to come unto Christ and follow after him.

Facing Your Goliath on the Battlefield

"...for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands."

(See, 1 Samuel 17:45-47 in context).

NOTE TO READERS: This article is an adaptation from a previous article I had published at another blog, and a teaching given by Mormon President Thomas S. Monson. The relevance shares insights in furthering our understanding in facing the challenges in life. Whether one wants to admit it: life is a battle we are engaging in. We either let it defeat us, or we rise and continually prove to be the victors in managing and directing our own life.

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"I... like to think of David as the righteous lad who had the courage and the faith to face insurmountable odds when all other's hesitated, and to redeem the name of Israel by facing that giant in his life - Goliath of Gath." President, Thomas S. Monson.

 

What Goliath stands between us and our happiness? 

The story of David and Goliath is a very profound story of facing one's greatest enemy. The courage to stand alone with only a simple weapon at hand. With faith in Israel's God, David stood face to face with the giant warrior of the Philistines. A shepherd with only five stones and a sling against a Giant clads in battle armor and brandishing weapons of war. To the onlooker, David appeared foolish. Appeared to be on a suicide mission. Yet, there he stood, a young boy facing the greatest enemy of his people. As the account goes, David not only slays Goliath, but he also decapitates the giant's head.

Many people, today, face their Goliath. Whether it is substance use, abuse, traumatic experiences from childhood, rejection, broken-heart, death, or any other significant loss. Armed with only simple means of defending oneself proves to be vital in our fight to continue to endure and overcome our own obstacles in life.

Facing a well-protected giant

Goliath appears to be more powerful when we appear to be suffering. For the individual - it is the courage and faith to stand alone to battle and overcome. Meaning, it is not merely enough to slay - it is to overpower and subdue one's fear. To decapitate it. How is this accomplished?

Just like in the story of David and Goliath, David recognized that the enemy he faced was not merely going to be slain by his own hand. David recognized that it took a greater power than himself to stand there and face the giant of the Philistines. "I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty God" is what David declared.

Higher power and divine inspiration

Recognizing the need of a higher power is not so much about having a sense of religious conviction or experience. The need for a higher power is the recognition that it is going to take something greater than ourselves and greater than the power of our adversity over our lives. We may be armed with simple tools, yet when placed in the hands of one who seeks to rely on their higher power, those simple weapons turn into the greater blessings of defense against the constant slandering of our Goliath. What are these simple tools? The Shepard boy went to the stream and carefully selected five specific smooth stones.

 

Selecting our smooth stones from the stream of life

Stone of Courage

There are two courses in life we may take up our journey. The first is an easy road, well-traveled, conforming to social standards, and easily paved by other individuals who made the journey. It is not our chosen path. The second path we may take up is a journey where we are required to forge our own path. It appears to be impossible, impenetrable, and raises a sense of hopeless. We either surmise it is difficult and opt for the easy, well-traveled path, or become courageous to forge our own path.

The stone of courage gives us the strength to face and overcome our fear and sense of helplessness in life. It provides the means in which, despite our fears, we move forward toward our own sense of purpose and meaning.

Stone of Effort

This stone is two-fold. It is our mental effort and our physical effort. Mental effort in that it takes energy to silence the critical voice in our heads. The voice of judgment, ridicule, criticism. The effort here is capturing our thoughts and challenging them. Physical effort reflects our ability to physically push through to continue toward the realization of our goal. Working to save money, climbing out of our own sense of suffering, endure hardship.

Stone of Humility

This particular stone recognizes our limitations, our weaknesses, and shows our sense of gratitude toward something that is more powerful than our own volition and ability to overcome. It is our ability to recognize the need to surrender and give our own will over to something that provides personal revelation and guidance in our own lives. For the Christian, this is God. For others, a higher sense of consciousness.

Stone of Prayer and meditation

Through our sense of humility, we come to recognize the need to consistently meditate and enter into prayer. It helps keeps us humble, ground us, and connect us to a higher sense of purpose and revelation.

Stone of Duty

The final stone we select is duty. Engaging in facing and overcoming our own adversity and obstacles that bar us from achieving a life of meaning and purpose requires a sense of duty. We continue to follow through with our commitment, whether we may like the presenting circumstances or not.

The Sling of Faith and staff of virtue

These five stones are not enough. We need to have the power the sling of faith offers. Couple this with the staff of virtue, we are steady and ready to face whatever obstacle we may face.

So, how do these stones help bring down the Goliaths in our path?

• Stone of courage destroys our fears
• Stone of effort destroys indecision and procrastination
• Stone of humility will destroy pride/ego and envy
• Stone of prayer and meditation will destroy obstinate
• Stone of duty collides with and destroys anything that threatens our self-respect

Decisions are to be made purposefully

It is when we face adversity in our lives that decisions to go one way or another make a difference. We face battles daily. Our victory does not happen by default. When we move toward a more conscious understanding of living life, we understand that we are to anticipate any challenges and decisions needing to be made.

Do we hide, tremble in fear, or take up the staff of virtue, the sling of faith, and carefully select our stones that will help us defeat whatever Goliath stands in our way?

Premise Two | Emotional intelligence and our Human Experience

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Human experience and conscious living develop through our awareness and need for authenticity. As we continue to explore this concept for a more intentional way of living, the truth behind authenticity segues into our need for emotional intelligence. As we evolved from our primitive roots, our survival depended upon one fundamental truth: society. We are innate social beings. Not only are we social beings, but we are also emotional beings. This is the second fundamental truth. Since our human experience is comprised of the need for social interaction, our interaction within social contexts is based on our emotionally construct.

Through understanding emotional intelligence, and how it relates to conscious living as part of our human experience, we develop a heightened sense of happiness, peace of mind, and our approach in treatment towards others. It is our own personal journey getting to the core essence of self, as well as recognizing the core essence of others.

The essential truth of emotional intelligence is one's ability to balance feelings and reason. It is the heart of empathy and compassion through the recognition of our own emotions as well as the emotions of others. This is two-fold:

1. Recognize and understand our own emotions
2. Recognize, understand, and influence the emotions of others

There are five categories' researchers have identified:

Self-Awareness

Becoming aware of our own emotions in the present moment requires one to "tune into" our true feelings. Recognize the impact and effect they have on us and on others around us. We evaluate our emotions through the lenses of self-worth and confidence as it relates to our own capabilities.

Self-Regulation

In a conversation that is recorded in the beginning pages of the Bible, a profound statement is made. The Lord notices the affect Cain exhibits. In the dialogue, we read that God recognized the anger within Cain. This anger is attached to the sacrifices Abel, and he presented. Abel's was acceptable and pleasing to the Lord, while Cain's was rejected. At this point, Cain has a choice, learn to manage his presenting emotional state and learn to "rule over it" or allow his present emotional state to rule over him and cause him to sin: "and sin is crouching at the door" (Genesis 4:5-7, ESV). 

Since emotions are part of our human experience, we have limited control over how, and when, we may experience our emotions. What we have the capacity to do is manage our emotions:

• Limit impulsive/compulsive decision making
• Maintain healthy standards of honesty and integrity
• Taking responsibility
• Being adaptable and flexible
• Being innovative and receptive

This is important to understand when we experience emotions that are labeled negative (e.g., Anger).

Motivation and empowerment

Emotional intelligence is a drive for our need to progress, evolve, and move forward with innovative ideas.  This requires motivation to achieve specific goals and having the appropriate attitude toward realizing those goals.

• We become driven to strive for excellence and improvement to our quality of life by meeting particular standards
• Our commitment to align with the particular goals of others (work, school, community, society)
• Taking initiative to act on any available opportunities
• Optimism in pushing past any barriers, obstacles, and overcoming setbacks

Setting and achieving goals, whether personal or communal, empowers and motivates us to strive toward becoming more and more enriched with our own defining of authenticity and intentional living consciously.

Empathy

The ability to discern how others are feeling appears to be another integral component to our human experience and conscious living. It goes beyond merely attempting to understand how a person feels. It is developing a sense of understanding their presenting emotions, how it influences your own emotions, and the ability to respond in healthy ways. This appears to look like:

• One's ability to anticipate another individual need and be of service in meeting those needs
• Developing and influencing others by seeing their need to progress
• Leveraging and networking through diverse people to cultivate opportunities to collaborate
• Ability to read another individual/group emotional currents
• Having an understanding of other people through discernment of their feelings behind needs and wants

This is where conscious living is anchored.

Social Skills

This feeds back into the fundamental truth that part of our human experience centers around social interaction. We develop interpersonal skills - or, how we relate to others and how they relate to us in defined relationships. What this looks like is:

• Influence - essential the fine art of persuasion

• Ability to communicate clear messages

• Guiding and inspiring other individuals

• Initiating change, or, providing a catalyst for change to take place within others

• Ability to engage in conflict management and resolution

• Nurturing and cultivating genuine relationships with others

• Working with others in a collaborative environment to achieve common goals

• Creation of synergy within a collective consciousness to meet collective goals

Without healthy relationships that are consciously cultivated, we falter in developing the ability to empathize, understand, and negotiate.  (Adapted from What is Emotional Intelligence (EQ)). 

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Daniel Goleman's is a recommended book to further explore the idea of Emotional Intelligence. It is groundbreaking in presenting an understanding of how our rational and emotional components of perception and success in our personal lives. It delves into how we relate to others based on the idea of Emotional literacy. 

By purchasing this book through the link above, you are supporting continued publication of relevant, thought provoking, and inspiring articles and essays on presenting political, social, and religious issues facing us today.

Premise One | Authenticity is Essential to the Human Experience

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To begin understanding how authenticity is essential to the human experience, we first may want to establish an understanding of what the human experience is all about. Many people offer different ideas as to what the human experience is all about.

In the introduction to his article, The Human Experience, Robert Firestone, Ph.D. writes:

Human beings, unlike other species, are cursed with a conscious awareness of their own mortality. I believe that the tragedy of the human condition is that people's awareness and true self-consciousness concerning this existential issue contributes to an ultimate irony: Human beings are both brilliant and aberrant, sensitive and savage, exquisitely caring and painfully indifferent, remarkably creative and incredibly destructive to self and others. The capacity to imagine and conceptualize has negative as well as positive consequences because they predispose anxiety states that culminate in a defensive form of denial.

Michael Neill surmises three universal principles related to the human experience. He observes that these universal principles have been observed in science, philosophy, and religion. He provides a brief description:

The Principle of Mind:
There is an energy and intelligence behind life. This is ever present but is not ‘in control’ – it has no inherent morality or apparent point of view. It simply ensures that but for the interference of external circumstance, acorns become oak trees, cuts heal, and life begets life.

The Principle of Consciousness:
The capacity to be aware and experience life is innate in human beings. It is a universal phenomenon. Our level of awareness in any given moment determines the quality of our experience.

The Principle of Thought:
We create our individual experience of reality via the vehicle of thought. Thought is the missing link between the formless world of pure potentiality and the created world of form.

From a more practical, and appropriate spiritual viewpoint, the existential question of the Human Experience becomes even more precarious in teaching and discussion. This is because various religious philosophies attempt to prescribe a "right way of thinking" in regard to the nature of the Human experience.

Spiritual Authenticity and our human experience

There is a vast difference between religious belief and spirituality. Religion, and religious belief, is based on specific dogma's, rituals, requirements of membership into the specific community of believers, and acceptance to particular doctrines that are deemed acceptable. Religion basis the belief, doctrines, and teachings on particular sacred texts. Spirituality, on the other hand, focuses more on the practical aspects of living out specific values and beliefs. Within a religious context, it is the person living out the values and beliefs espoused by the community of faith one belongs.

Spiritual authenticity is the ideology of an individual living out what they have come to identify as core values and beliefs. It moves beyond mere membership within a faith-based community. It transcends religious rituals and rites of passages. In some ways, spirituality is the self-actualization and transcendence of an individual.

It is noted that humanity has always had an innate desire for the spiritual. Meaning, part of our human experience in this life is to have some form of belief where we seek guidance, sustenance, develop faith in, and a hope for something far better than what we may experience in the present moment.

In his article, published at Psychology Today, April 2013, Dr. John Chirpian, Ph.D, Th.D. provides 12 characteristics of inauthentic religiosity. He then prescribes 12 characteristics of authentic religiosity that may shape our own human experience. His recommendation, review the two list and see where one may reside in relationship to inauthenticity or authentic spiritual awareness and spiritual authenticity.

So, how does spiritual authenticity help shape our own human experience? And what does it have to do with living consciously?

Authentic and conscious living is courageous living

Through spiritual authenticity, we no longer live in a spirit of fear. We also, no longer live in a spirit of control. These two great illusions prevent us from fulfilling our own sense of happiness and well-being. What this means is: when we live in fear, we are living a life we do not believe we are capable of overcoming. When we live in the illusion of having control, we may become rigid, unable to be flexible, and experience greater and greater disappointment, as well as suffering.

Giving up our illusion of control. By facing our fears, we are capable of empowering ourselves to live close to our key values and beliefs. We move from faith to faith, hope to hope, and we experience all that life has to offer. We have the empowerment to accept life on its own terms, find the value in our own adversity, and develop resilience to press forward.

Success only happens when we come to realize who we truly are, understand our own purpose and meaning, and utilize our experience and knowledge in order to serve other people. Success is tied to self-actualization and transcendence. It is not about what rights we have or seeking justice for harm or injustice done. It is living by what we believe to be important to ourselves, to others, and the rewards of service.

We live by the truth of our values. This appears to create transparency within our lives. What we believe internally, as we live out those spiritual truths, become manifested externally.

In the Christian faith and scriptures, Christ teaches that it is by the fruit of man that we shall know him (See, Matthew 7:16-20). The goodness of our heart is cultivated. It is carefully nurtured. In it's season, fruit is produced. Likewise, as we strive to cultivate a sense of authenticity, and living consciously, in its due season, people around us will see our values and beliefs.

It takes courage to face our fears. It takes courage to identify, live by and up to our core values and beliefs. It is not easy because we have to forge our own path, take up our own journey. No one is capable of living out our lives. We are responsible for living.

Therefore, living a conscious and authentic life is the journey to discovery and self-actualization of our own human experience.

Human Authenticity and Conscious Living

How does one create a life full of passion, full of meaning, and full of purpose? Pick up any book on the subject matter. Preform a google search on the subject matter. Pilfer through the pages of books, articles, research and studies: And yet, one still comes away with an unsatisfactory answer. 

How is it possible that so much has been written and taught over the centuries continues to escape the grasp of many people today? Compound this with competing religious ideology as to "which church is right and true?" 

People are hungering for true authentic human experience yet seem incapable of finding genuine happiness in their lives. We tend to further complicate the issue with political viewpoints. Supporting the right politician, for example, tends to create derision and contention. As a society in America today, we are ever grasping yet never achieving a sense of authenticity. We have essentially lost sight of true human authenticity and conscious living.

In the introduction of his book, 365 Daily Inspirations for creating a life of passion and purpose (available for purchase at Amazon by clicking the link). author Gay Hendricks provides ten provocative premises for living a conscious life. He calls these "...foundation ideas on which anyone's journey of conscious living is based..." They are as follows:

Guided Premise One: Authenticity is essential. A truthful life is both the outcome of the journey and the means of getting there. A successful life is an authentic life. Happiness and creativity rest on a foundation of transparency to yourself and others. Knowing your own heart and speaking clearly to others keep you on the path.

Guided Premise Two: Things that [may] be felt and seen - peace of mind, happiness, and the humane treatment of others - are higher-priority goals than religious concepts such as original sin or beliefs about life after death. The journey of conscious living is based on getting to a deeper level in yourself than beliefs and opinions, in order to experience the essence of what unifies people, not divides them.

Guiding Premise Three: Conscious living depends on finding out what goals are important to you and moving toward those goals at a pace that allows you to feel vibrant.

Guiding Premise Four: The journey of conscious living begins when you take full responsibility for your life, and slams to halt when you avoid responsibility for anything

Guiding Premise Five: Happiness, success, and sound relationships depend on letting go of controlling things that are beyond your control. Examples of things you cannot control are the feelings of others, the future, the past, and whether or not other people like you.

1. Who am I?

1. What is my purpose?

1. How may I be of service toward others?

Guiding Premise Six: Spiritual growth comes through a deep embrace of reality; not through flights of arguable fancy: Transcendence is best accomplished by thoroughly acknowledging - rather than ignoring or denying - such human realities as emotions, sexuality, and conflict.

Guiding Premise Seven: It is possible to make rapid shifts in consciousness - from scarcity to abundance, from defensiveness to openness, from fear to love - and these shifts in consciousness will change the outer circumstances of your life.

Guiding Premise Eight: Peace of mind comes ultimately from making your deepest creative contribution to the community around you. When you make your full contribution, you feel happy; fulfilled, and at ease. When you don't, you don't.

Guiding Premise Nine: Commitment to certain key values - honesty, responsibility, gratitude - not only gives you an inner flow of harmony but also rewards you with an authentic form of power that can be recognized by others. Authentic power comes from authenticity; false power comes from control and ego-aggrandizement.

Guiding Premise Ten: You [may] choose to become the source of attitudes such as gratitude and responsibility (rather than waiting for the events of life to inspire you to adopt them). If you wait for events to trigger those attitudes, you remain locked in a consumer rather than a producer mode and keep yourself trapped in scarcity.

These may serve individuals well in a secular and social context. However, there is greater concern on the more spiritual level of human existence. This greater concern rests on the reality of something far greater than we when it comes to human authenticity and conscious living. The departure from Hendricks is more focused on the power of the spiritual sense of authenticity as it relates to how we interact with others, base our key values and beliefs on, and engage in the social climate of today.

Therefore, we will examine each premise in a more sacred and spiritual application to further anchor the foundation as to what human authenticity and conscious living looks like. The attempt here is to restore and revive the heart and message of spiritual revival and awakening in the heart of humanity, and hopefully, in order to move toward a more sacred sense of transcendence.

Each premise will be given attention in their own essay as to the spiritual and sacred connotations, applications, and development for a more "enlightened" sense of reality. This also requires individuals to take an honest examination of themselves by answering three fundamental questions:

These are three definitive questions we want to wrestle with. In answering these three questions, we are able to lay the foundation for our own sense of authenticity and conscious living. Upon reading, meditating, and honest search of the heart, may reveal how a true and authentic Christian life is based on these ten pillars of truth.