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A man approached his Spiritual Teacher, saying,
“I am very confused, for I came here to change, and you are saying,
'Spirituality means being yourself.' I don’t like myself.” The Teacher replied,
“No, you do like yourself. The self you don’t like is not yourself.
Quit acting like you are that self, and you will find that being spiritual is loving yourself.”
“But,” protested the disciple, “that sounds selfish.” “Loving yourself
is selfish only when trying to love the self that is not your true self.”
Dallas Willard, in The Divine Conspiracy, writes, “‛Spiritual’ is not just something we ought to be. It is something we are and cannot escape, regardless of how we may think or feel about it. It is our nature and our destiny.” Salvation is not becoming someone other than who you already are; reconciliation with God means being reconciled to our true selves, as derived from and existing with and in God.
Spiritual Exercise
1. How might our feelings and thoughts not be aligned with whom we truly are?
2. How does the following saying apply to our spiritual being and destiny, as set forth by Willard? Like parent, like child.
3. How might religion and spirituality, as often practiced, be an avoidance of our true self?
4. In what ways does Jesus show us what our true self is like?
5. Has your religion helped or hindered you in loving your true self?
6. How do religious leaders and persons, when they are not leading and teaching from the true self, shape theology and practice that leads to persons denial that their essence is divine and in union with the Creator?
7. Did your religious upbringing teach you of the innate goodness of the true self or that you were sinful and unworthy of the Love of God?
8. How would accepting the teaching given in this writing shape your understanding of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus?
9. What in this article attracts you?
10. What in this article do you resist as being true?
Prayer
Spirit of Love, sometimes I find it easier to love others than to love myself. Lead me to that point of the true self, where you and I are eternally in Love. Transform anything in my thought and action that does not honor the true self in all others, as well as in myself. Love, Your Friend. Amen.
-Brian K. Wilcox
OneLife Ministries is a pastoral outreach and nurture ministry of the First United Methodist Church, Fort Meade, FL. For Spiritual Direction, Pastoral Counseling, spiritual formation workshops, Christian meditation retreats, or more information about OneLife, write Rev. Dr. Brian K. Wilcox at briankwilcox@comcast.net.
Brian's book of mystical love poetry, An Ache for Union, can be ordered through major bookdealers.
Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors
The People of the
United Methodist Church
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