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In I Corinthians, Paul says, “ don’t you know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst?”

How have so many of us missed this for so many years? And how do so many of us continue to miss this?

As I’ve journeyed, observing my inner and outer experience, as well as journeying with others, there are three things I’ve noticed, which obscure our acceptance of Paul’s statement. Note the three things intertwine with one another and make it difficult to see and accept our role as “temple of God’s Spirit.”

First, most of us are raised under the cultural doctrine of original sin and that we are someway, somehow flawed and unworthy of God’s love… and or love in any form. There are many problems with that perspective but let me cut to the chase. If God is “within” you, so is God’s love so you can stop looking outside yourself for what you already have. Jesus tells the Pharisees… you can look over there , or over there, but the Kingdom of God cannot be observed as it is already “in your midst.” (Luke 17)

In chapter 31 of the book of Jeremiah, the covenant of God is recorded as, “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,”… in our midst.

Second, since we’re always trying to fix ourselves to be worthy, we forget that the healing power of Love within us is already “fixing” anything we think may be broken. Now some of you will say… but you don’t know how broken I am. You’re right I don’t, but God does and still loves you in spite of your perceived brokenness, so much in fact that God has hidden God’s Spirit within you, within each of us.

Third, as humans we avoid risk. We are biologically speaking, survivors. Thus if you suddenly accept that God’s love is within you and that Love is so powerful that you can live your life in a radically open and loving way toward all people and all of creation… most of us would say… “that sounds amazing!” Truth be told, our humanness wants to run from that responsibility and risk. Realize that what we seek as humans is security and comfort. What God’s Love within embraces is risk, adventure, vision, fear, courage, awe, sadness, frustration, joy, etc.

To embrace what you are , “God’s temple of the Spirit”, is to turn your little self over to the Love of the universe, the Almighty who has always seen you as beloved and is inviting you into Love.

It is finished. Happy Easter indeed.

In the Song of Songs (aka Song of Solomon) it is somewhat surprising, yet quite refreshing, to read about the feminine character or spirit in pursuit of a masculine partner.

Whether you read this as human romance, cosmic spiritual Union, or inner masculine and feminine presence and values, the Hebrew Bible turns a lot of status quo thinking on its ear in this beautiful poetic writing.

In our work recently with Soul Journeys, we’ve been exploring our inner values with people as a way to connect with their soulfulness and perhaps better understand the Divine presence within.

As we’ve explored our values, one observation that seems powerful is that as people begin identifying their values, they often find both masculine and feminine values within themselves. Further, it would seem that whether man or woman, we readily accept our values no matter the label our society might place on them.

It seems that as we engage our values, we begin to engage the idea that many of us possess both feminine and masculine values, at least from a societal definition perspective. Further, the values we have within guide us deeply through life, almost like a ships rudder.

Utilize this list from Brene Brown to identify your guiding values and then think about the inner dance of masculine and feminine within you whether it be spiritually, genetically, or consciously, that enlivens and guides your life.

Let us know what you find within!

Malaise is defined as, a general feeling of discomfort, illness, or uneasiness whose exact cause is difficult to identify. In modern society we yearn for clarity, safety, control, and known-risk experiences. A known risk experience is something which brings a rush of adrenaline but is actually statistically speaking, fairly safe. Our efforts to make what is uncertain seem certain to ourselves, and to others is ultimately avoiding our inner state of the persistent malaise.

For some who have discovered uncertainty to be a good friend, you may not need to read further. For those who see uncertainty as something to be avoided, fixed, or feared, you’ve stumbled upon some writing you may need and may be ready to receive.

Certainty is based on comparison with something in our past. We think or say, “such and such must be the case because of so and so.” You see of course immediately that the current “such and such” becomes the past “so and so” in the next moment and our minds begin the inevitable inner stacking or looping which causes our brains to name and then store this “certainty” which is really a justification within to convince ourselves we are “right.”

Because we yearn to be right or correct (righteous) , we internally “catalog” and then externalize these stories of certainty which become part of the bigger story of who we tell ourselves and others, who we are.

Over time, our genetically developed desire to be right, combined with a bunch of inner stories and chapters of stories which are incomplete truths at best, combine to make us recognize our inner fiction as fact. This false sense of certainty we’ve created is a house of cards which is very fragile. So fragile in fact that there is a “house of cards inner maintenance process”, open 24-7, that is constantly repairing and fixing the constantly breaking story (house) and further telling the owner in a variety of ways, your story is righteous, carry on.

Now before you get too caught in judgement about what’s been written in this blog thus far, realize you have an inner human drive to be right so if you don’t understand what’s been written, you will want to explain to yourself that you either understand what’s been written and then try to categorize it based on something in your past, perhaps think about someone else who “needs” this piece, or you will try to dismiss what’s been written as not true or misguided.

If you are feeling a sense of uncertainty or uneasiness about what you’re reading, you are on the right track.

As humans in modern society, we want to avoid feeling a sense of malaise. The problem is that malaise is reality. We are beings built to survive and reproduce and thus are constantly interpreting and reinterpreting our environment, coming up with conclusions quickly to survive the saber tooth tiger attack … er I mean getting the best parking place at the grocery store…

Our brains evolved over billions of years to make snap decisions for our survival and for our procreation. The problem is that in modern society, all those snap decisions pile up creating a story we tell ourselves which is always based on past information which we cherry pick to reinforce the story we tell ourselves. Some refer to this as unconscious bias but be careful naming any inner experience too quickly.

Rest assured, if you’re feeling a malaise at the moment, you’re still on the right track. In fact, rest into the malaise (reality) you may be feeling and don’t try to get away from it or fix it, through a false sense of certainty. Certainty is the enemy of the present and the present is the only place and time where you will find truth.

You may be becoming aware of how your inner yearning for clarity, certainty, judgement, righteousness, etc. is the story you use to avoid what has perhaps become scary to you, uncertainty, uneasiness… the persistent malaise.

When our values lay dormant,

And the dust collects upon them.

We come to think, we only have what is here.

Injustice, strife, malice, greed, envy and pride,

Appear to own the day, and the future.

Drop into your values, they are there beneath the din.

Unearth them in all their glory in the bright light of the sun.

Envision your future, our future, their future, built on the values…

You’ve always known.

Don’t delay, know your values will not steer you wrong.

Though we may walk through dark valleys,

We do not walk without hope.

We know we walk toward our Beloved’s waiting embrace.

Get on with it we say,

Even inside.

To the sad little self.

Yet, it’s time to become,

The human, fully, you were and are meant to be

A living sacrifice, a becoming of presence

A place where you once avoided,

In order to find yourself…

Now you enter in and allow Your own death

as way to usher in

The kingdom of heaven, God, here and now.

The mystery of the ages,

Bending our own arc to the sacred curve.

Enter the lost ness of self, become One.

Inspired by
Colossians 2:13