“But for the Grace of God go I” 2018

Walking the way we talk. When we espouse one thing but act in a contrary manner not only does it make us look untrustworthy but also opens the door to all manner of spiritual disease and a disconnect from reality. Wishing to be happy but seeding unhappiness, wanting to be loved but unwilling to demonstrate love, demanding respect while being disrespectful, holding truth and fairness as essential while speaking falsely and treating others unfairly are all examples of spiritual disease, a demonstration in conflict with stated intention. These are gross examples, easily identifiable and addressed if an individual truly wishes to change.

Then there are the more subtle forms; condescension and self-aggrandizement couched in seemingly well-intended verbal asides, comments and actions. One of which, which I found particularly painful since I had used it often was “But for the grace of God go I.” The phrase always made me a little uneasy, though for years I could not suss out why. When the truth finally hit I became physically ill and spiritually unsettled. Consider the full import of the phrase: it implies there are those beyond God’s grace! And fortunately I'm not one of them!  Really? That some are “chosen” in some way, greater in God‘s sight than another? How could that be possible? I wrestled with this for a time, looking for a loophole to crawl through, but they all ended in the same place, base condescension and the spiritually corrosive “holier than thou” sensibility.

Wayne Dyer suggests we “think from the end.” Applying this concept here, no one stands above another and if we believe that in anyway anyone is beyond Grace, then we set ourselves up for a life of disharmony at odds with the truth of being.

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

Miracles Of Recovery, The Secret, Wayne Dyer, Recovery, Addiction, Zen, Emmet Fox, Opioids, Four Agreements, Chopra, Heroin, Einstein, AA, Healing Path, Law Of Attraction

 

Concrete Action

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

Miracles Of Recovery, The Secret, Wayne Dyer, Recovery, Addiction, Zen, Emmet Fox, Opioids, Four Agreements, Chopra, Heroin, Einstein, AA, Healing Path, Law Of Attraction

Concrete Action

How many Spiritually based websites or pages do you follow? How many spiritually themed books are on your bookshelf, by how many different authors? Perhaps Chopra, Fox, Dyer, Gibran, maybe Schuler, Wilkerson, Grizone and Warren are a few of them? How about the heavy hitters, The Bible, Vedas, Torah, Bhagavad-Gita, Koran or the Book of Mormon. All these apps, pages and books are helpful, but without action, demonstration in purpose, nothing of any lasting value is achieved, any more than reading about diets results in weight loss. Being informed and inspired is a first step, but nothing concrete happens until we take action. Knowing when to stop seeking and start doing can be a difficult and often fearful transition. Commenting on the play very different from being on stage.

When I wore a younger man’s clothes and was far more impressed with myself I would look at my bookshelves loaded down with spiritual tomes with a sense of self-important satisfaction. Believing knowledge equaled demonstration, I had convinced myself that I not just talked the talk, but walked the walk. I could not have been more wrong. When the truth finally hit, it was devastating. I had a head full of knowledge but had put precious little of the “great truths” I said I believed in into action, and what I had put into action was inconsistent and haphazard at best. I was the antithesis of spiritual truth, talking the talk but not walking the walk consistently.

So participate in and study the things that sing to you Spiritually, but instead of always looking for something new, return to an old friend and give it a look with the new pair of “glasses” your living experience has provided you.

Today I “keep it simple.” I revisit a small group of authors who have touched me over the years. Some of these books I have read for decades and though I have traveled their path many times, I continue to find fresh insights for my spiritual vision, as yours, improves with age and action in purpose.

© Vincent Lee Jones Living In Spirit All Rights Reserved

Miracles Of Recovery, The Secret, Wayne Dyer, Recovery, Addiction, Zen, Emmet Fox, Opioids, Four Agreements, Chopra, Heroin, Einstein, AA, Healing Path, Law Of Attraction