As we embark upon the eighth week of quarantine, I, without real intention, begin to loosen my spiritual practice. I believe that I have rigorously walked the narrow path the past two months, but now that we begin re-opening, however that is going to look in the months ahead, I find myself very much "in the world". I have allowed myself to feel the societal pressure of "Let me out", and "Are we there yet". I have even noticed once we arrived in May, people have been feeling a lot more confident of going out, and that in itself is contagious.
All of this change in my inner and outer world had reminded me to focus on what matters the most - my relationship with God. If I don't place my spiritual practice first and foremost, I will be readily swayed by the masses, and I will be easily confused in what I believe to be true. As I return, almost begrudgingly, to decry worldly standards, as I begin to reconcile the impatience I have found myself giving into, I realize that I can channel that energy into something that can help strengthen me, and in this case, my faith.
I have been using this special time in quarantine to assess what I have been placing my resources into, and one thing I have decided to stop using my time and energy on is the Word of Faith movement. I have been aware of the problems that conventional Christianity has experienced the past decade regarding this sort of charismatic evangelizing that ultimately has roots in New Thought, but other than a brief rampage last summer, it hasn't been anything that I believed to be conflicting with my values.
This notion however began to change after I noticed how uncomfortable I felt when watching a megachurch sermon on antenna television during the first week of quarantine. I felt almost a physical repulsion to what was being said. I finally had no desire for wealth and status, because I finally saw that when it truly, truly mattered, money and prestige wasn't going to restock the shelves in the stores. Riches and influence wasn't going to stop a few people in power to shut down the economy and destabilize an entire country. I knew I had to get right with God and with my place in my community, and that meant I had to admit I was powerless. And in such, I finally had to lay the Word of Faith movement to rest.
As I finally understood the self-will behind positive thinking, or "manifestation", I began to see not only a flimsy foundation for a meaningful life, but also that it made my discomfort MY fault. Now, this is not to say that I don't want to take responsibility. Part of my daily practice is to promise God that I will safe-guard my thoughts, and that I will not entertain anything that can stand in the way of my usefulness to Him, which usually is carried out through my interactions with others. Rather, the Word of Faith movement teaches us to safe-guard against thoughts that God has not in fact promised, and then adds insult to injury by making it our fault, our will, and not God's permissive will, when we struggle.
One thing I learned in this pandemic is that life is not as easy to control as I was meant to believe by so many various schools of thought, both religious and secular. This is not said to discourage a pursuit for a comfortable and purposeful life, but rather to consider the idea that life being made of struggle and pain doesn't have to be a bad thing, and that maybe giving our lives to God through sacrificial living isn't as unattractive as we have collectively decided it is.
"Name it and claim it" is a self-centered ideology that serves no one in times of crisis, and even when in good fortune, I believe that we must remain constantly vigilant over possible emergency. And while the Word of Faith movement will suggest that such crippling circumstances are an illusion that we can think our way out of, and that to admit defeat is to have a weak mind, our global circumstances has proved other. For me, it's a blessing to finally have the backbone I couldn't seem to strengthen by my own terms.
What would happen if we declared what is valuable to be through love of our communities, instead of love of our individual households. We often can't even imagine this, because we haven't laid the right support to build from. The Word of Faith movement comes directly from a place of lack, so the first step is to realize that giving to others, whether it's through not hording, through not alienating, or through not being resentful, will not endanger our safety or diminish our effectiveness in our communities. Caring for others, however we might demonstrate that, doesn't mean that we put our own ambitions aside. Once we start to see that no one is better than or less than, our definition of success becomes drastically more profound, and life becomes a lot less hostile.
All of this change in my inner and outer world had reminded me to focus on what matters the most - my relationship with God. If I don't place my spiritual practice first and foremost, I will be readily swayed by the masses, and I will be easily confused in what I believe to be true. As I return, almost begrudgingly, to decry worldly standards, as I begin to reconcile the impatience I have found myself giving into, I realize that I can channel that energy into something that can help strengthen me, and in this case, my faith.
I have been using this special time in quarantine to assess what I have been placing my resources into, and one thing I have decided to stop using my time and energy on is the Word of Faith movement. I have been aware of the problems that conventional Christianity has experienced the past decade regarding this sort of charismatic evangelizing that ultimately has roots in New Thought, but other than a brief rampage last summer, it hasn't been anything that I believed to be conflicting with my values.
This notion however began to change after I noticed how uncomfortable I felt when watching a megachurch sermon on antenna television during the first week of quarantine. I felt almost a physical repulsion to what was being said. I finally had no desire for wealth and status, because I finally saw that when it truly, truly mattered, money and prestige wasn't going to restock the shelves in the stores. Riches and influence wasn't going to stop a few people in power to shut down the economy and destabilize an entire country. I knew I had to get right with God and with my place in my community, and that meant I had to admit I was powerless. And in such, I finally had to lay the Word of Faith movement to rest.
As I finally understood the self-will behind positive thinking, or "manifestation", I began to see not only a flimsy foundation for a meaningful life, but also that it made my discomfort MY fault. Now, this is not to say that I don't want to take responsibility. Part of my daily practice is to promise God that I will safe-guard my thoughts, and that I will not entertain anything that can stand in the way of my usefulness to Him, which usually is carried out through my interactions with others. Rather, the Word of Faith movement teaches us to safe-guard against thoughts that God has not in fact promised, and then adds insult to injury by making it our fault, our will, and not God's permissive will, when we struggle.
One thing I learned in this pandemic is that life is not as easy to control as I was meant to believe by so many various schools of thought, both religious and secular. This is not said to discourage a pursuit for a comfortable and purposeful life, but rather to consider the idea that life being made of struggle and pain doesn't have to be a bad thing, and that maybe giving our lives to God through sacrificial living isn't as unattractive as we have collectively decided it is.
"Name it and claim it" is a self-centered ideology that serves no one in times of crisis, and even when in good fortune, I believe that we must remain constantly vigilant over possible emergency. And while the Word of Faith movement will suggest that such crippling circumstances are an illusion that we can think our way out of, and that to admit defeat is to have a weak mind, our global circumstances has proved other. For me, it's a blessing to finally have the backbone I couldn't seem to strengthen by my own terms.
What would happen if we declared what is valuable to be through love of our communities, instead of love of our individual households. We often can't even imagine this, because we haven't laid the right support to build from. The Word of Faith movement comes directly from a place of lack, so the first step is to realize that giving to others, whether it's through not hording, through not alienating, or through not being resentful, will not endanger our safety or diminish our effectiveness in our communities. Caring for others, however we might demonstrate that, doesn't mean that we put our own ambitions aside. Once we start to see that no one is better than or less than, our definition of success becomes drastically more profound, and life becomes a lot less hostile.
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