That is, if you're taking every cue on this from culture.
I'm talking about how you might engage your spiritual health. It's easy to think that because everyone takes a different approach that we're supposed to clap for theirs and hide our own. Other times we may stay quiet because we somehow believe our spiritual journey is a "point-based system" - where we hope your good deeds outweigh our bad deeds, or that our morality ends up better than others - and if we somehow don't "measure up" it's "probably easier" to not talk about it in the first place.
Maybe your soul needs more attention than that?
It's easy to opt for a private faith that we keep hidden from others.
It's healthier to opt for a personal faith that we grow through community with others.
The secret is finding people in life who won't just share opinions or traditions they hope are true, but who are willing to dig deeper and find Truth so they can then become transformed by Truth.
It's kind of odd how in our culture we're so free and eager to make public so many details from our lives. We share opinions through reviews, preferences through posts, and beliefs on... almost.... anything. Over time we've determined that the things that are inherently controversial "shouldn't" be talked about.
Spiritual health must be more than comfort, or else it will never grow nor be accurate.,
I hear a story about a set of trees that were allowed to grow in a bio-dome. Without any force of wind that would occur in a traditional forest, these trees easily fell over because they were never given the external challenge for their roots to deepen. It's a great reminder that we benefit as well by placing ourselves into community with others who will challenge us in love.
So I offer you a handful of ideas on this - each is an action step, which means that you have to decide if you'll do one or just move on from this challenge without taking a step. Yet again, I dare you in this.
By the way - that's another one for my top ten...
6. I don't regret inviting people to reconsider their deepest opinions and beliefs, even if I appeared forward in doing so, because at the end of the day there is a Truth about who we are and we're more than what happens beyond the day we're born and the day we die.
Here are some of the challenges:
- Be Aware: Get out a piece of paper or a journal. Draw a line down the middle of the paper. On the left side, write down 7 things you know are absolutely true... whether they are facts, common sense thinking or things you've come to realize through experience. On the right side, write down 7 things you hope to be absolutely true... whether they are ideals, dreams or more. When you're done, look at your lists and just pause. How and why did your list become what it became? After you write down a few observations, share this with someone else and ask them for their thoughts (and maybe to do the exercise, too).
- Do Compare: It's often claimed in casual conversation that "all religions are the same." Have you ever taken the time to investigate the differences? Is there anything outstanding about one of them when compared with all of them? Try [ this link ]. Look into what some of the overlap may be, as well as what makes each distinct. Likewise, consider what questions any of this raises for you. For example, another claim people make is because there are so many religions that they're either all right or that they're all wrong. Is that true? Wouldn't that be like saying "Because there are so many liquids in the world, they're either all water or none of them are water?" Or might there be an element of water in each one - just as there may be an element of truth in each religion, but maybe one is the actual truest of them all?
- Yes, Share: Lots of people believe different things, but that doesn't mean we can navigate Truth together. [ This ] is an incredible page of ideas (scroll down) of how to speak with different people from different worldviews.
Again, you can opt to keep your faith private and hidden... or you can make it personal and let it grow through community and Truth. I know the temptation to blend in, but I also know the impact of letting something genuine happen in your soul.
I make no apologies for being a Christian (despite having to apologize for my flawed life and the flawed lives of others who have also claimed Christianity). If you want to know more about how I got to this point or what the difference is between religion and relation, email me back.
Take on a challenge above, if not all 3. Looking forward to more of the 2020 Reset with you!
