Firing on All Cylinders

Spiritual growth is a hands on endeavor, make no mistake about it. If we relegate ourselves to one hour a week of someone else's thoughts and views on God, how will we ever form our own? How will we know what we truly believe, how will we ever hear from God ourselves? We must seek, we must knock, and we must answer our own doors. God wants to talk to you one on one. Your life is multifaceted and uniquely your own and you must take a hands on approach or you will never achieve its fullest fruition. When you are willing to accept and recognize the three fold nature of man, when you are willing to take the reins and responsibilities for this life you've been given, when you are ready to give up on the passive approach to spiritual life, then and only then will we see miraculous changes in our lives. We as Christians are asleep at the wheel. We are satisfied with the reader's digest version of the word we receive every Sunday, letting God speak to us only through our pastors or priest. This is a recipe for disaster. Yes it's all right to lean on the wisdom and strength of another individual, to seek Godly council and direction, but that must be balanced with a striving for self-reliance and personal strength. The natural progression of a student is to learn from the teacher and go beyond, always onward, always forward. Then you will become the teacher and your students ( your circle of influence ) feed off you. You possess within yourself a power and a strength few are fully aware of. We are quick to use the crutch of others and to develop the limp that they have. Strive to be your own person, your own city on a hill. Ralf Waldo Emerson one of the worlds most incredible minds said, " We lie in the lap of immense intelligence which makes us organs of its activity and receivers of its truth ". In his essay called Self Reliance he states, " It truly demands something God-like in him who has cast off the common nature of humanity and has ventured to truth himself for a task master. High be his heart, faithful his will, clear his sight, that he may in good earnest be doctrine, society, law unto himself that a simple purpose to him be as strong as iron". Learn from every source, hear God in the wings of the wind but most of all for your benefit learn to stand on your own two feet. That with the exercise of self-trust, newer powers shall appear a new respect for the divinity in man and a revolution within your soul. Sing a new song your own song, renovate your life and never worry about being misunderstood or scoffed at for you will find yourself in tremendous company. Socrates, Plato, Newton, Galileo were all misunderstood. Jesus Christ Himself was the most misunderstood, to be great is to be misunderstood and remember greatness always seems to appeal to the future. Be a pioneer for yourself and don't just tread water or tread the same ground as others. Your potential is immense and you will never be satisfied till you blaze your own trail. Couple yourself with your inner presence and what you forge you will not forge alone, and will have everlasting implications for you and all those around you. Philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once wrote, "All truth passes through three stages. First it is outright ridiculed. Second it is violently opposed. Thirdly it is excepted as being self-evident. Remember your potential is limitless. The possibility of a thousand forests is contained in a single acorn.