Starting Your Own Transformation: How to Cooperate with Jesus.
Jesus’ first words of His public ministry were: “ This is the time of fulfillment. The reign of God is at hand! Reform your lives and believe in the gospel!” (MK 1:15). And He says these same words to us today.
The time to come to fulfillment in our lives is right now! The reign of God is at hand in the person of Jesus, God incarnate, Who is with us right now and wants to bring about this fulfillment within us. But we must cooperate with the necessary re—forming of our lives; the form and content of our thinking and willfulness must change to con—form to the thinking and willfulness of Jesus. And we must believe (that is, have total trust, and confidence) in the gospel contained in the person and message (of love and service) of Jesus.
The process involved can be likened to finding a beautiful old house that has fallen into great disrepair. The lovely old architecture shines through its dilapidated conditions, and you know that if you completely gut and renovate the house, it will be a perfect home for you. We are that house and Jesus is the architect who wants to gut and renovate our hearts and minds.
In the paradigm we have been using in this book, the process involves moving out of weed and into the flower. We can think of Jesus as the Divine Gardner, uprooting the weeds and replacing them with His flowers, representing His Kingdom of God.
So let us begin the process by changing our thinking.
Jesus’ Truth: God Provides All That We Need.
True Riches *19
“Do not lay up for yourselves an early treasure. Moths and rust corrode: thieves break in and steal.’ 20 Make it your practice instead to store up heavenly treasure, which neither moths nor rust corrode, nor thieves break in and steal.” 21 Remember, where your treasure is, there is your heart also. 22 * The eye is the body’s lamp. If your eyes are good your body will be filled with light; 23 if your eyes are bad your body will be in darkness. And if your light is darkness, how deep will the darkness be! 24 No man can serve two masters. He will either hate one and love the other; or be attentive to one and despise the other. You cannot give yourself to God and money. 25 I warn you then: do not worry about your livelihood, what you are to eat or drink or use for clothing. Is not life more than food? Is not the body more valuable than clothes? 26 “Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow or reap, they gather nothing into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more important than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add a moment to his life-span? 28 As for clothes, why be concerned? Learn a lesson from the way the wild flowers grow. They do not work; they do not spin. 29 Yet I assure you not even Solomon in all his splendor was arrayed like one of these. 30 If God can clothe in such splendor the grass of the field, which blooms today and is thrown on the fire tomorrow, will he not provide much more for you, O weak in faith! 31 Stop worrying, then over questions like, “What ware we to eat, or what are we to drink, or what are we to wear?” 32 The unbelievers are always running after these things. Your heavenly Father knows all that you need. 33 Seek first his kingship over you, his way of holiness and all these things will be given you besides. 34 Enough then, of worrying about tomorrow. Let tomorrow take care of itself. Today has troubles enough of its own. MT. 6:19-34
The basic theme of this passage is our choice between God or the perishable things of this world. This gets at our deepest desires; is our greatest desire the Holy Desire to follow God and God’s way of loving service, or is our greatest desire the excessive desire to lay up earthly treasures, (or success in the world.) Jesus, of course, recommends we follow God completely, and hopes we follow His spiritual wisdom so that our eyes are good, filled with the light of divine wisdom.
If we do choose God, it becomes a win, win, win situation. First, Jesus promises that God will provide all the material things (food, clothes, shelter) that we do need to live as creatures on this earth. Second, we can stop worrying about all the things we need in life, confident God will provide them (perhaps with some effort on our part). And third, by seeking first God’s Kingship over us (that is, staying in right relationship with God), we get to participate in God’s life, including God’s peace, joy, and love.
In summary, the Truth contained in this passage, if completely believed, delivers the disciple from the bondage of the weed, with its worry (the bloom), excessive desire for things of the world (the stem), and the lie that “ I provide for me; no one else does”, (the root of the weed).
This Truth, furthermore, brings the disciple into the flower, that is, into God’s world. This is the world of Truth (God provides all that we need), Holy Desire ( I want to follow God and God’s way of loving service in all that I do), and complete happiness (sharing in God’s peace, joy and love, and loving service (helping to bring about God’s Kingdom.
The diagram looks like this:
Let us now see how we can use the weed and flower framework, along with the great Truths of the above scripture passage to eliminate worry from your life.
Example: How to Eliminate Worry By Using Jesus’ Truth That God Provides All That We Need.
John and Valerie have four children, three sons and a daughter, ranging in age from grade school to college. John runs a successful distributorship of industrial parts, and Valerie takes care of the kids and the house. The kids are all doing well in school. John and Valerie are committed Christians. The family was generally quite happy until a severe recession hit John’s business hard. John’s cash income began to steadily decline, and John and Valerie began to worry about being able to pay their bills, including college tuition. Their worries increased with each passing day.
Then one day they went to church and heard the above gospel passage proclaimed for the pulpit. They both experienced a calm as Jesus’ Words washed over them. After dinner that night, John and Valerie had a change to talk alone about their worries, which were still there and Jesus’ strong urging to “not worry.” Valerie said: “ We say we are strong Christians who have great faith in Jesus and His words, but here we are worry ourselves sick, despite the fact that Jesus is clearly telling us “ Do not worry”. John responded: “Jesus is saying that God will provide all that we need, but obviously we don’t believe Him completely or we wouldn’t worry at all. It looks like I’m providing financially for the family right now, but maybe there is more to it than we’re seeing.” “Valerie: “ Well, let’s start by looking back on our lives and see if God has provided for us in the past. When we were born, God provided for us through the efforts of our respective parents. They provided for us until we got out of school; then God provided for us through our own jobs. Now God is providing for us through the distributorship business God provided to you, which we both agreed was a great gift from God. So right now God is providing for us through the talents and energy He gave you, and the distributorship He gave you. Everyday for fifty years God has provided for us, and we still don’t trust Him. “Valerie began to weep, and silently told Jesus how sorry she was to have so little faith in Him. Then John too began to weep, feeling bitterly disappointed in his lack of faith. They sat together in silence for several minutes.
Then John got up and opened the family Bible to MT6:19, and read it out loud to the end of the chapter. After a long pause, Valerie blurted out: “That’s it, I’ve had enough! I’m sick and tired of worrying. I’m sick and tired of being an idiot! I’m going to trust Jesus—I don’t care what happens!” Valerie was truly surprised to hear those words come out of her mouth, but she liked the words, and felt a confidence that she really could trust Jesus with anything. She began to sob tears of utter relief.
John was surprised by Valerie’s words too, and felt like they applied to him as well. He was really struck by her last words, “I don’t care what happens!” He suddenly had an “ Aha !” moment. For the first time, John realized that all their worries were concentrated on the “future”, “what happens” in the future. And Jesus’ final words of the passage he had just read were: “Enough, then, of worrying about tomorrow. Let tomorrow take care of itself. Today has troubles enough of its own.”
Valerie and John discussed the notion of “future”, something they had never really stopped to think about before. They first realized that all their worry was really about “ the future.” Everything is o.k. right now; there’s food in the refrigerator, the bills are paid, they and the kids have shelter and are comfortable. God, indeed, has provided for all their needs, as God has always one for them. And they further realized that God can only provide for then now, because “the future” has not yet arrived as the present moment. They realized “future was just a concept in their heads, and further that their imaginations could spin many scary scenarios, which never tended to actually make it to the here and now. They further saw that they could easily, worry about “the future” for the rest of their lives, even while God provides for them everyday. They thought to worry that way would be the stupidest thing they could do; it would only produce continuous, unnecessary suffering. They realized that whatever comes their way, they could either worry while its coming or not worry while its coming. They decided to choose to not worry, as Jesus had recommended. They figured that this is what Jesus meant by “Enough then, of worrying about tomorrow. Let tomorrow take care of itself.” They both vowed to trust Jesus. No matter what comes into their lives they vowed to trust that Jesus would get them through. They both felt great relief and went to bed ecstatic and thankful.
The next year and a half was financially very difficult for Valerie, John and the family. They needed to get more financial aid for their daughter in college, they cut back all household purchases to the bare basics, and John’s company had to borrow money to get through. And through all of this, Valerie and John felt no significant worry, confident Jesus would get them through. And when things were better again, both Valerie and John felt it was a great blessing to have gone through this difficult time with Jesus, or they wouldn’t have learned not to worry.
In this example, it was Jesus’ great truth that God provides all that we need no matter what comes into our lives, that allowed Valerie and John to move out of the worry of the weed, and into the “no worry” and peace of the flower. But the truth alone was not sufficient. It wasn’t until Valerie and John completely believed the Truth, and had complete faith and trust in Jesus and his truthful words, that the transformation actually occurred. As stated earlier it is not sufficient to be presented with the truth (although it is a great blessing in itself), the truth must be completely believed for inner transformation to occur.
Valerie and John had been firmly stuck in the weed. They had believed the lie (the roots of the weed) that John, and only John was providing for the family through his work. This led to their excessive desire for financial security (the stem of the weed), in case anything happened to John or his business. This excessive desire for financial security led directly to their worry (the bloom of the weed), because there was no way to know what the future would bring. There was no way out of this continuous emotional suffering, until Jesus broke into their thinking with His radical truth that God will provide all that we truly need. Once they completely Jesus enough to completely believe His Truth, they were transformed in their thinking, which rooted them firmly in the flower, firmly in the “reign of God.”
Once their thinking had been transformed from lie to truth, their willfulness and emotions followed suit. Their willfulness changed from an excessive desire for financial security, to the holy desire to run John’s business in an honest, loving way, completely trusting that Jesus would make the business fruitful and their emotions were transformed from worry, to the peace of Christ.
Example # 2 How Strong Attachment Can Block Our Transformation.
The Danger of Riches. 16
“Another time a man came up to him and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to possess everlasting life?” * 17 He answered, “Why do you question me about what is good? There is One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.” 18 “ Which ones?” he asked. Jesus replied, “ You shall not kill’: ‘You shall not commit adultery’: ‘You shall not steal’: ‘You shall not bear false witness’: 19 Honor your father and your mother’: and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” 20 The young man said to him, “I have kept all these; what do I need to do further?’ 21 Jesus told him, ‘If you seek perfection, go sell your possessions, and give to the poor. You will then have treasure in heaven. Afterward, come back and follow me” 22 *Hearing these words, the young man went away sad, for his possessions were many. MT 19:16-22
Here we have a well meaning young man, who has the holy desire to “possess everlasting life,” who approaches Jesus for help. Jesus suggests following God’s commandments, and learns the young man already does so. Jesus, perhaps sensing that the young man might be excessively attached to his possessions, advises him to sell his possessions, give the proceeds to the poor, and the come and follow Jesus. In doing this, Jesus is setting up a clear choice for the man; he can choose God by following Jesus, or he can choose earthly treasure by clinging to his possessions. At this moment (I hope he changed his mind later), he chooses his possessions over Jesus, and the result is sadness. The young man is caught in the weed, with an excessive desire for his possessions which blocks him from being able to choose everlasting life and a truly happy and meaningful earthly life with Jesus.
To fully understand this encounter, we must realize that this young man could not possibly know Who Jesus is, the way that we know he is the son of God, the Messiah, God in human form. The young man probably thought Jesus was a holy man, a spiritual teacher, or a prophet at most. We should also understand that Jesus” advice to the man, if he is seeking perfection, is specifically tailored to this particular young man. He is probably a young single man with no family responsibilities. It is very unlikely Jesus would ask this of a married man who is the sole support of a wife and children.
Getting back to the story, it appears Jesus realizes that his young man is ready to take the next spiritual step in his life, so he challenges him to sell his possessions, give all to poor, and follow Jesus. This challenge reveals to the young man just how deeply he is attached to his possessions.
This was probably quite a surprise to the young man, who was obviously very holy in many ways. He doesn’t tell us his thinking that gave rise to such a strong desire to keep his wealth, but it may have been as simple as “ I can not possibly be happy without all my possessions, which I have become very used to.” Whatever his falacious thinking was, it had the effect of producing such a strong desire for wealth that it completely blocked his competing holy desire to follow Jesus. The result is that his possessions do not make him happy, but rather the very desire for the possessions made him sad (he “went away sad”). He was sad that he was unable to follow Jesus, because of his inordinate attachment to wealth.
Attachments to things of this world are a serious problem to all of us who are on the spiritual journey. It will be worthwhile to take a look at how to move from attachment to detachment.
Moving From Attachment to Detachment.
Let us begin by hearing from St. John of the Cross, a great Carmelite saint and a Doctor of the Church: “in detachment the spirit finds peace and rest because it covets nothing. Nothing wearies it by elation, nothing oppresses it by dejection. It stands in the center of its own humility.” (From The Ascent of Mount Carmel, Book 1:13)
These three sentences are full of deep insight and great spiritual wisdom. Let’s dig into them.
The first thing we must clearly understand in the first sentence is the meaning of “detachment.” Detachment is a spiritual state in which the person is completely devoid of all attachments. As we saw in the story of the rich young man, an attachment is an excessive, inordinate, “way to big” desire for something in the world. We can be attached to money, sex, power, status, alcohol, drugs, doing things perfectly, approval or anything at all. Detachment is the spiritual state where there are no attachments present any more; all attachments have been eliminated. Attachments are represented by the stem of the weed, as they represent excessive desire, craving and clinging. Detachment is represented by the stem of the flower, for in detachment all our desires are now holy desires, because all disordered attachments have been eliminated. Attachments dominate in the world of the weed, while detachment dominates in the world of the flower.
Let us now look at the entire first sentence: “In detachment the spirit finds peace and rest because it covets nothing.” Here, St. John of the Cross is saying that detachment is the state of coveting nothing, and as a result of coveting nothing (except that which is holy), the spirit finds pause and rest. This is exactly what we have already said about the world of the flower. Once all our desires are holy (that is they are the same desires that Jesus wants us to have),we naturally experience the peace, rest, joy and love of Christ (the bloom of the flower).
St. John than elaborates on the summary statement he made in the first sentence. “Nothing wearies it (the spirit) by elation, and nothing oppresses it by dejection.” In the weed, where attachments (strong desires) reign, there are always two possible ways it can go; if you get what you want you will feel elated, and if you don’t get what you want you will feel dejected. John is saying both elation and dejection weary the spirit. Some might be surprised by this because many people like being elated. Your team wins, you win the lottery, you are high on alcohol or you are on a roller-coaster ride. St. John is pointing out here that elation, or thrills, are not true happiness and they can not last; and as such, they are really a subtle form of suffering. Many people run after passing thrills hoping to find true happiness, only to find nothing but weariness. This, of course, is the world of the weed with attachments as the stem, and elation and dejection as the bloom. In the flower, the attachments, the elation and dejection, and the weariness are all absent.
Finally, St. John says “ It (the spirit) stands in the center of its own humility.” What does St John mean when he says the spirit stands in the center of its own humility. The key to understanding this is to understand what he means by humility. Humility gets at the truthful relationship between the human person and God. And the truth is that we humans are totally and utterly dependent on God for everything and in every way. God created us, gave us life, and provides for all our needs, including oxygen, food, clothes and shelter. Jesus was talking about this relationship when he said, “ I am the vine, you are the branches. He who lives in me, and I in him will produce abundantly, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5. We will explore this entire passage later.) Jesus is making it clear here that we are in a complete dependency relationship with Him. If we remain in Jesus (by keeping his commandments, especially his commandment to love God and neighbor) we will live a fruitful and truly joyful life. If we willfully cut ourselves off from Jesus by purposely going against the will of God, we can do nothing “except wither and die.
All of this is getting at the deep mystery that is our “true self.” Earlier we discussed at length our “false self” represented by the deepest roots of the weed. In a similar way, the deep truths contained in the “true self” is represented by the deepest roots of the flower, thereby anchoring us firmly in the wonderful, heavenly world of the flower. We will delve more deeply into the mystery of our “true self” when we look more deeply into the “vine and branches discourse later.
For now it will suffice to understand that we are organically connected to God in a complete dependency relationship. This happens to be very good news indeed, because it means we are dependent on a God who is totally loving and totally powerful, who has promised to provide all that we need. We can all take a sigh of relief because our problems are over (if we are able to completely believe this great truth)
We can now understand St. John’s final sentence, “It (the spirit) stands in the center of its own humility.” The spirit stands in the center of the great truth that it is completely and totally dependent on a totally loving and powerful God, who will provide all that it needs. Believing this truth with complete faith and trust, the spirit can not possibly have an excessive desire, or coveting, for anything in the world because it knows it will receive from God all that it needs. Freed from all attachments by this great truth, the spirit is not wearied by either elation or dejection, and simply rests in God’s peace.
This is the truth that Valerie and John stumbled upon when they heard Jesus’ words from MT 6:19. And this truth freed them from their attachment to financial security, which had arisen from the lie that only John provided for the family. Once they believed Jesus’ truth that it is actually God who was providing for them (through John’s efforts at the moment), that truth showed up their prior thinking to be the lie that it was. Once they were rooted in God’s truth their attachment dropped away, as wee as the worry that was caused by the attachment, and their worry changed to peace.
So we cooperate with Jesus in our own transformation by actively looking for opportunities to change our thinking and willfulness until they are in alignment with Jesus’ thinking and willfulness. Remember any afflictive emotion is telling us we have a wonderful opportunity to help Jesus transform us. We should sit down in prayer as soon as we can and begin to deconstruct the weed with Jesus. Start with the emotion(s) you are feeling, because emotions will be much more conscious to you than either your willfulness or your programmed thinking, both of which tend to be in the unconscious. Once you have named the emotion, move down to your willfulness and look with Jesus at what you wanted so much in the situation that caused the afflictive emotion. You will find an intense wanting or resisting of something. State this intense desire in words that both you and Jesus agree are accurate in this case. Then write the words by the stem of the weed. Then proceed down to the roots and look for the lie in your thinking. What were you thinking that led to such a strong desire! Again, put the thought into words that both you and Jesus agree are accurate in this case, and then write the words down next to the roots of the weed. The next and final step is to ask Jesus what he thinks is the truth in this situation; Jesus’ truth will show up your thinking to be the lie that it is. Jesus may let you know the truth right away, or he may not. If not, it will come in time, perhaps from a scripture reading, or perhaps from just thinking about what Jesus did when he or someone else was in a situation like yours. When the truth does come to you, write it down next to the roots of the flower, and try to believe the truth completely. Once you have complete faith in the truth, the corresponding lie will gradually fall away, and with it the attachment and emotional suffering it caused. You will have completed another step in your transformation into Christ.
Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection on Spiritual Transformation
We just heard from the Carmelite monk St. John of the Cross. We now want to learn from another Carmelite monk, Brother Lawrence of the resurrection. Brother Lawrence, who lived in seventeenth France, developed a somewhat unique spirituality. The most unique part of it was his practice of continual conversation with God. He called this the “practice of the presence of God.” Brother Lawrence would talk to God about everything he was doing or thinking, no matter how small or unimportant it might seem. This constant conversing kept Brother Lawrence aware of God’s constant presence.
Brother Lawrence recommended two other practices to bring us into closer union with God. The first is to abandon ourselves completely to God. This is the faith, belief, trust and confidence in God and His words that we have talked about, and that is required if we are to really believe Jesus’ words and fully enter His world of truth. Brother Lawrence is adamant about this as his following words indicate.” ”We must trust God once and for all and abandon ourselves to Him alone,” “It is necessary to put our complete trust in God,” “ We should surrender ourselves in things temporal and in things spiritual, entirely and with complete abandonment to God,” we have a God of infinite goodness who knows what we need.” In other words, “Just Do It”! That is what “abandonment” means. Just trust God completely, and see what happens. What generally happens is that you will join Brother Lawrence in the world of the flower; and Brother Lawrence almost never worried about anything, his trust was so great.
Along with complete trust in God, Brother Lawrence espoused a complete acceptance of whatever comes into our life. Trust and acceptance, of course, go very well together, because the great trust in God makes acceptance much easier. Knowing that God can and will get you through anything that happens in your life, naturally leads to not caring so much about what is coming your way. These two practices anchor you firmly in the flower. Totally believing the truth (roots of the flower) that God will provide for you and get you through whatever happens in your life, naturally leads to a willingness (the stem of the flower) to accept whatever comes along. When this acceptance is complete, you have reached the state of “detachment” that St. John of the Cross was talking about. In the state of complete acceptance and detachment, all the attachments, coveting, clinging and resisting, which are characteristic of the weed; are absent; and therefore absent are also the afflictive emotions which they cause.
Brother Lawrence has three wonderful spiritual practices here, and each reinforces the others. First, start a continuous conversation with God. Pick the person of the Trinity with whom you are most comfortable (God the father, Jesus , or The Holy Spirit, and start sharing everything you think or do with that person. At first you may frequently forget to talk to God for a period of time, but as soon as you remember, start up the conversation again. The more you do this, the easier and more natural it becomes, until it just happens all your waking moments. Of course, when talking to a human person, focus completely on that person, but when you finish that conversation, immediately start conversing with God again.
Second, make the decision to totally abandon yourself to God right now! Tell God right now that from now on you will trust God completely in every matter that comes into your life now and in the future. We are talking here about complete faith in God, which is ultimately a gift from God to us humans. But to receive this gift, your mind must be disposed to receive the gift. So making the mind shift right now to trust God completely disposes the mind to receive this gift. The mind that uses its free will to put its trust in money, success, status, prestige or its own abilities and talents is not disposed to receive this most precious gift. And you can not do this once and for all, because the false self wants to take this commitment back. So each day, we must make this decision anew and tell God again that you will trust God in all things; and ask God to give you this total faith and trust in God. And if my experience is any indication, be careful about trying to have it both ways; that is the thought that says “I trust you completely Lord, but please give me lots of money in case you don’t come through for me.” Jesus and I have had more than one laugh after spotting this thought in my mind. Jesus had made it abundantly clear that we can not serve both God and money. If you serve money, you will be in the weed with its constant emotional misery. If you serve God unreservedly, you will be in the flower with Jesus’ peace, joy, and love. You decide. Now!
Third, we need another mind shift to radical acceptance of whatever comes into our lives. Drop the thinking that says “I can’t possibly be happy, unless reality gives what “ I Want.” Take on the correct thinking that says “I can be truly happy all the time, no matter what comes into my life, because I have God and God is the only source of true joy in the universe.” This change of thinking uproots the like, which is the root of the weed, and roots you in the truth, the root of the flower.
The spiritual practice of catching your mind thinking a lie to be true is a very powerful practice, not only for acceptance but for complete spiritual transformation. We detailed this practice in earlier chapters. It’s the practice of uprooting the entire weed, and establishing roots in the flower.
The Practice of “YES!”
There is another very powerful spiritual practice that inculcates acceptance and detachment which we have not yet discussed. This is the practice of saying “Yes!” to everything that comes into your life, especially those which you don’t want to come into your life. The definition of “YES!” is “I will allow reality to be just the way it is right now.” In other words, I will accept whatever happens, I will let it be as it is, even as God and I do whatever we can to bring about a better world. This practice is done right on the spot, right when something has just happened that you don’t want to happen.
If you are alone, you should shout out “yes!” and pump your first for emphasis.
What you are doing is dropping your desire that things be different, right on the spot—right now. You need to emphasize your “YES!” because your false self is jumping up and down inside you saying “ NO, NO, NO—I hate this”, like a child having a temper tantram. A strong and firm “YES!” will overcome the false self. If you are with other people, say your “YES!” interiorly and pump your fist interiorly, and it will have the same effect. The effect will be that you will stop the arising of afflictive emotions, lite irritation, annoyance, anger, hurt, embarrassment, and the like. You will be able to remain in the peace of Christ.
The practice of “YES!” stops the mental process, represented by the weed, at the level of the stem (which represents desire or willfulness). A lie will still be present in the roots, but as the resultant desire is set off, you immediately drop the desire with your “YES!”. If you are able to completely drop your desire on the spot it will be impossible for an afflictive emotion to fully arise in you, and you will remain at peace. Once you have completely uprooted the lie involved, you won’t have to say “YES!” again, because the disordered desire cannot arise without the lie.
The two practices of “YES!” and moving from the weed to the flower should be done together. You do “YES!” right when something “bad” happens; then later that day, sit down with Jesus and go over what happened. Work down the weed with Jesus in order to discover the lie that your mind thinks is true. Then ask Jesus what the truth is in that situation and believe the truth Jesus gives you. Then you will be free from one more weed. As long as any lie remains, keep saying “YES!” when things happen that you don’t like, and those things won’t have the power to upset you. Constantly saying “YES!” tends to dry out the weed, especially the disordered desires that the weed produces. The desires tend to become less and less intense, and can dry out completely.
The “YES!” practice is the most popular spiritual practice among the participants in my workshops. I think the reason for this is that it is simple and easy to do, and has remarkably powerful effects. The spiritual practice of uprooting the weed and rooting oneself in the flower is the most powerful spiritual practice for bringing about total transformation into Christ. But it requires more time and effort with Jesus, including the examination of one’s actions, emotions, willfulness, and beliefs. This is deep spiritual work, and some resist the challenge. In truth, I find it fun and actually quite easy to do, but others I think may be afraid to look deeply into themselves. If you do it with Jesus, the fear will fall away and you will begin to enjoy the process of discovery.
Two final thoughts on “YES!” so that there will not be any misunderstandings. In saying “YES!”, we are asking to fully accept what comes your way, but we are not necessarily asking you to approve of it. If someone is abusive to you we are not asking you to approve of the abuse, but we are asking you to completely accept it, so that you don’t add emotional suffering yourself to the situation. We are also not asking you to do nothing in such situations. After you have completely accepted the situation, you can discern with Jesus what loving action is appropriate for the situation. By accepting the situation, you can remain at peace and respond lovingly (e.g. “love your enemies”) If you refuse to accept the situation, you will experience anger and fear, and your response will be abusive.
In the next chapter, we will continue the topic of transformation to its culmination of living out of the True Self.
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