Terry Paul Choyce
Feb. 26, 2006, Brunswick Street United Church
We are each a trinity of body, mind and spirit. When we maintain a harmony between these parts of us, we feel alive and healthy. When we neglect or abuse, or even overemphasize one of these aspects of us, we become out of balance and prone to sickness and/or depression. Our society puts a lot of emphasis on the well -being of the body and the stability and strength of the mind. Generally we ignore or minimize our spiritual needs, and thus we live in disharmony, and often with illness and distress.
I believe we are each a spiritual being having a human journey. Our spirit, or soul, has chosen to be born to experience all of the delights, and all of the tribulations, of being on Earth. So, our body and our mind are very important to our soul. But, our soul has also chosen to become less of a prominent aspect of our lives, in order to experience life more fully. Our soul is not in control of our thoughts, our actions, or our biology. Our soul is like a back seat driver who wants to enjoy the company and the view while reaching its next destination. But most of the time, we give our soul a pretty bumpy and chaotic ride. We forget what an important passenger we have on board, and we instead concentrate on getting to the next stop quickly, often taking dangerous chances in the process, or cutting people off on our way. We don't slow down to enjoy the drive, or the company in the car. In our society, we are always in a hurry and often oblivious to what is really important.
In 1 Corinthians 3:16 Paul says "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?" Your soul is a piece of God, and God's energy flows in and around you constantly. But this energy does not dictate your behaviour. You have free will. This energy flows smoothly and beautifully if you decide to let God's love be a part of your everyday life. When you decide to do things that are kind and compassionate, when you decide to see the beauty in everything, when you decide to appreciate all that you have and all that you are, God's energy helps keep you healthy and happy and whole. When you decide to live in fear, or to surround yourself with negative experiences, or to abuse your body with unhealthy eating, with unhealthy drugs, or with hurtful behaviours, you are doing harm to the temple of God that is you.
There are lots of ways to keep us aware of God's presence in us. Traditionally we have turned to religion to give us a feeling of spiritual connection and Divine guidance. The sacred books of the Bible, the Torah, the Koran, the Bhagavad-gita , and many others have inspired and instructed us. Since ancient times people have believed in one or more Gods. The souls within us have always yearned for spiritual connection of some sort. Today many people fill their spiritual needs with their love of nature, their service to others, to a spiritual practice such as meditation, to caring for animals, to expressing their spirituality through some form of art. When ever we do anything with love and with the awareness of the divine flow which helps us guide our lives, we are nourishing our soul.
What seems to be in control of us the most is our mind. What we think about determines how we feel and what we do. Our minds are extremely complicated. Each of us are pulled in conflicting ways by the wants and desires and beliefs of the mind. If your mind is always telling you that you are fat, or stupid, or poor, or unhealthy, your body will manifest those traits. There are so many books out now that tell us we are what we think. Wayne Dyer, in his book There's a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem says that "The simple truth is that by thinking good, healing, loving thoughts you can produce good, healing, loving results." Caroline Myss, Louise Hay, Deepak Chopra, and many others tell us that our thoughts affect our emotions, our stress level, and our health. If we think in negative ways, we will be unhappy and we will be sick, physically or psychologically. This is not to say that all illness is self created. I do not believe that. There are other influences such as our genetic make-up and our environment. But I do believe the nature and direction of our thoughts affects every aspect of our being, including how well we heal from our illnesses. Directing our thoughts in positive ways is our biggest challenge to living fulfilling, healthy, wonderful lives.
Iyanla Vanzant, in her book One Day my Soul Just Opened Up said "I realized that the divine activity and presence of God were always guiding me, encouraging me to make better choices and decisions, to remain open to love, not to judge myself, but to embrace all of me, and most of all, not to shift into fear when I forgot to do any of these. It finally became clear that my eyes, ears, hands, feet, and body were all divine instruments of God, and that my only job in this life was to acknowledge myself as a divine instrument and to be grateful for the opportunity to use my divine energy to create a better life for myself and others." (Page 308) I think all of us would treat our bodies better if we really appreciated how sacred they truly are.
This week I read Ruling Your World by Sakyong Mipham. The writes a lot about controlling our thoughts and our attitudes. He says "When our attitude goes through the mud, that's where all of our thoughts will go. When our attitude goes to the top of the mountain, all our thoughts will follow. Changing our attitude is the way to effect change in our life." (Page 36) He highly advocates the practice of meditation to learn how to control our thoughts and to direct them to be positive. He says spending just ten minutes a day, preferably in the morning, in meditation will make your day go more smoothly. He calls meditating "connecting with Heaven." He says meditation will bring you "peace, compassion, and wisdom." I think this happens because when we meditate we communicate with our soul, which is our direct connection to the Divine.
So, if you want to be healthy, happy, peaceful and wise, honour all of the parts of you. Treat your body well, think mostly positive thoughts, and develop an outlet for your spiritual side to emerge. Go to church, meditate, plant a garden, feed the homeless, and/or do anything which makes you feel a part of this sacred, wonderful world.
