Part of this blog is sharing my spiritual journey, lessons and discoveries. With me taking a spirituality-based class at church, we all have much to benefit. (for legality purposes, know that none of this information is used for or meant to be used for financial/personal gain)
From what I’ve gathered so far (not just from this class but from every spirituality book I’ve ever read), we have to sit in quiet — whether it is in zazen or contemplative prayer — for as long as we can each day. Sometimes three minutes is all we have. Mother Teresa would pray for four hours.
To figure out where you are going, you have to know who you are, who you are meant to be (which is who you are already but haven’t realized yet). The first part of the Journey to Authenticity class I am taking is about discovering your spiritual gifts. You have to have the right tools for the job, right? It’s good to have goals, to know where you’re headed.
The first exercise was this:
- List at least 10 of your heroes/heroines. Don’t have heroes, per se? List people you greatly admire.
- Underline 6 of those.
- For each of those 6, list three characteristics that embody that person’s greatness to you.
- For those 6, now describe more specifically how that person has exemplified, lived into and through those characteristics (i.e. Mother Teresa was compassionate, self-sacrificing, and wholly spiritual through her service to the poor, ultimately living into and through the will of God.)
Now, it’s best to do this kind of work in groups, to share with others your heroes, their descriptions. Many found, as they described those they admired, they were overcome with emotion. Sharing the descriptions of your heroes out loud/in writing helps more fully to revive those characteristics that speak to you.
The punch line, of course, is that these characteristics you admire are within you. These are you at your best. This is what you need to be doing to be living at full potential. This is a close glimpse of what God has in store for you.
Don’t believe it? Sit in silence/prayer a while each day and see what happens.
Peace be with you.