Last week we looked at a bit of history and asked ourselves who deemed themselves the top of the food chain so-to-speak that had the right to interpret scripture in only one way. This week, I invite you into an experiment that allows those who are interested in naming their own authority for themselves, but are not fully committed for one reason or another…
DO YOU WANT TO TRY ON SOMETHING NEW?
While I can tell you exactly how I found my own authority once and for all, this is actually way more then I can go into here, and something I am going to keep for the memoir (sorry to do that to you!).
I also believe that we are each on a unique journey and have to find our own way (back) to our self-acceptance and self-authority. We are each WHOLE, CREATIVE and RESOURCEFUL in and of ourselves…and we can trust ourselves to know ourself the best.
As humans, we have amazingly huge imaginations and the insatiable curiosity of children if we allow ourselves to tap into these resources. I am asking you if you would like to tap into these now, with me as we venture into this series. Can I invite you on a field trip with me that will allow you to try out your own authority and see how it fits?
This field trip will be an interesting one for sure, for you might find that you stretch yourself in your capabilities to believe two things as equally valid at the same time…and this might just rock your world. Yet, and I will remind you of this again and again, you are always welcome to return to “school” and the safety of your old beliefs anytime you feel you need to.
If you are ready, here are two things to prepare you for our trip:
1) SIGN YOUR PERMISSION SLIP: I do believe we have to be given permission to do this since that is what Patriarchy does to us. It tells us that we have to have an outside authority.
This stems from one little fact about our human psyche: we cannot imagine an inward structure different from what we see being used outwardly. Since our governments, businesses, most families, etc. are still run in a hierarchal form, most of us accept this as “natural” law and therefore assume that our inward soul structure is the same. Therefore there must be some outward authority telling us how to act, be, think, feel, etc. right?
Yet, what if I told you that you are your own authority? That you get to chose for yourself what you believe, and if something is no longer serving you to be your best Whole, Creative and Resourceful self right now – you get to choose to change that belief? Do you believe that? If not, what is holding you back from believing that? Do you want to believe it? (Note, this is not a “what should” you believe but a “what do you WANT to believe”.)
If you need someone’s authority that has walked the path before you, then I will gladly give you that permission slip you need to get going. So here you go, get going on your field trip and see what you find out. You can ALWAYS come back to the “safety of school” and of your old beliefs at any point.
2) REMEMBER YOUR IMAGINATION:
While many in the Evangelical world will tell you that God knows you better then yourself, I am going to ask that you do an experiment for a bit and suspend this belief in favor of a new one, which will take a bit of imagination:
First, try on the belief that you do know your own experience, body and soul better then anyone else in the world for you are the only one living your embodied experience in your body.
Next, try on the belief that you can trust your own inner voice to tell you the truth about your body and your experience, your reality and your world.
Yes, this means that you might have to put some boundaries up and tell others to please step out of your body and experience and back into their own.
Yes, this might mean you need to ask God to give you some distance and let you imagine you can believe this about yourself…and I have a hunch that he would respect that for he is an all loving God, right?
Yes, this might mean you need to ask God to give you some distance and let you imagine you can believe this about yourself…and I have a hunch that he would respect that for he is an all loving God, right?
Yes, this might feel uncomfortable at first. But that doesn’t mean you need to abandon the experiment all together. A lot of experiences in life feel uncomfortable at first: exercise, going out to a party, a new routine, sex….yet with time and more experience they become more comfortable and perhaps even pleasurable.
Yet, I will say this again: this is just a field trip, an experiment and one you can return from at any point.
So what are you waiting for? Grab your permission slip and get on the bus!
So what are you waiting for? Grab your permission slip and get on the bus!
