ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING IT

The Word is alive, dynamic, deep, profound and wonderful. And we are always seeking new ways to communicate it. Here is one more attempt:

They're at least two dimensions in life: the material and the spiritual. The spiritual has to do with our will; our ability to make conscious choices—choices that we are aware that we are making—unlike instincts that we have also, and that other creatures live by exclusively [as far as we can tell].

Things happen in the world that impact us; and we respond to those things. At the instinctual level there is an automatic response—a knee jerk, unconscious reaction. In the Spirit something is inserted between the outside action and the internal [and external] response. That “Something” is extremely important. It is Truth, or awareness of Truth. Thanks to the Spirit, we are not victims of what happens to us in the world: the things, and people, and things about the people that we cannot control. We are definitely affected by these things that happen to us; sometimes deeply wounded by them. But we can without doubt overcome them, rise above them, allow ourselves to be shaped into better human beings because of them. This truth is borne out in the history of our spiritual ancestors who have not only overcome but have prospered in the worst situations imaginable. When we consciously seek the Truth about how to respond to life events, we always respond rightly, and we experience a growing inner peace, gratitude and joy.

One aspect of sanctification—our psycho-spiritual evolutionary process—is to practice this insertion of Truth between every life event and our response to it until this becomes more of our natural way of being in the world. This process is never complete in our earthly existence; but this does not bother us in the least; in fact we are thankful for it. This Truth is the Holy Spirit of Christ Who guides us into the correct responses and Who keeps us in peace, and keeps us safe for others and for our selves. He keeps us safe from reacting badly to the difficult—sometimes extremely difficult—things that happen to us in this world. He reminds us that we are not “of” this world, only temporarily in it, with an opportunity to bring some Light into it—a joyful obligation to do so. He reminds us that some will receive this Light and be set free, while others will seem to cling to the darkness of things and ways-of-being that create unhappiness and unnecessary suffering. And He reminds us that we are not responsible for what others do—even those we love the most in this world. We are responsible only to Love them in Truth, and to never allow ourselves to be distracted from this Pathway of Love and Truth, and from the Peace that He perpetually gives to us. We realize ever more deeply that we are not victims of tribulation, no matter how severe. In fact, we are conquerors—more than conquerors—over all of it, including death which is our final victory.

All this comes with a sincere faith in and devotion to Jesus Christ, Who is always more than you thought Him to be.