mental health doctor
how could after noon everybody happy Friday wherever you are in the world at this time welcome to reclaiming authenticity helping you find your courage to reclaim that which has always been in you very glad to be with you here today and every Friday at 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time noon Pacific Standard time I am dr. James how can if you would like more information about me or to leave me your comments about Today Show please do what you have to do is just visit the website at www.ge.com reclaiming authenticity and stubby ww.pbs radio.com reclaiming authenticity if you would like to call in during this hour and join in on the conversation that number is eight eight eight six
76008 at 888-627-6008 and I will be taking your calls after the break little later on in the show and just in case you can't spend a whole hour with me or if you want to go back and perhaps to hear other podcast that you are now able to do that because these broadcasts have been podcast it for a while now and so invite you to go back in to listen to any shows that you might have missed and or just get caught up on what you couldn't stick around for at any given time now these podcasts are available for download on either audible or Amazon music and you can even listen to the show on station one of iHeartRadio well if you just so happen to be tuning in for the very first time just want to say welcome to the show each and every week these broadcasts are dedicated to the integration of
our spirituality and our mental health and you know it's it's quite interesting Lee the the the the call to live a more authentic life is really becoming increasingly poignant these days you know it seems like that everywhere return genuineness and authenticity are there are such rare characteristics among people who are searching for a palpable substance shall we say in relationships you know I talked to many people are just they don't play games and relationships whether they're dating or they're just casual relationships friendships it's just that they would they want a real next to it they want a genuine that's not the testing but nowadays Society is rapidly conditioning Generations I should side to question the motives and desires of others just like never before for example the Personal Image is at an all-time fave
patch as one reality show after another presents us with really anything but reality and daily we're being sold this message to that the in order to be the most socially acceptable person you know you have to find the most expensive program we have to get so many likes or how many postings and so forth and it seems as though that the more drama and the more tears that the better the front page story you know and other words who can vouch shock who who can accumulate more points than anyone else who has more guile more trickery just more cunning either by hooker by Crook and you know Cutthroat politics and religious candles have saturated our daily news as the wilderpeople and then coffee shops and bars look at each other wondering you know can it get any worse
but instead of thanking people at face value were off the now accustomed to ask okay what's the catch and perhaps as a result of a number of humiliating and painful experiences we avoid any further investigation of say the physical emotional or spiritual parts of ourselves in relationships like the last thing we want to do is really take a look at ourselves and you know as a result you know out of our own broken this we may feel that we just cannot risk being a victim to yet another example of what's a fraud or trickery or dishonesty and the past physical psychological emotional and spiritual bonding as just simply taking too much out of us leaving us to believe that other simply conspire to take advantage of our vulnerability
isn't this the Dilemma we face up to on one hand strive for genuineness of authenticity and our relationship really Demands a level of vulnerability from us and other words before we can expect and appreciate authenticity from another person we're forced to confront our own inconsistent an inauthentic ways my one of my favorite family psychotherapist's and author Virginia satir she lived or early nineteen-hundreds and died late 1900s the sentiment very nicely I thought I just love this quote she says I want to love you without clutching
I want to appreciate you without judging I want to join you without invading invite you without demanding
leave you without guilt criticize you without blaming and help you without insulting
if I can have the same from you then we can truly meet one another
well as idealistic as this kind of human interaction sounds genuineness and authenticity and relationships are tangible but it does indeed require kind of a lifelong commitment to our self-discovery and honesty about who we are with let's say all of our warts and Gibson phobias and strengths and Graces and everything else I'm unfortunately this kind of commitment as a price many people consider that's just too high to pay and not worth my time and when it be easier Shelly said to be satisfied with the status quo in and go with the flow and and just simply not question and we wouldn't we be better off
of course you know that might be the the frequently traveled road but let's not deceive ourselves this this inner desire that we have for genuineness and authenticity and relationship with ourselves and others and God is not going to go away in fact I think it's something that continues to grow in us that cry that hunger that ate just intensifies the more and more it's denied and we're over that internal logging to be more authentic and truer to ourselves yes will get stronger me really the question is how much more sleep do we want to keep losing night after night and how many more times are we going to blame others for what we don't have
well how is your heart today I hope your heart is well I hope you are well and I hope that if you're struggling today that you will find the rest and peace and comfort you need so welcome to Today Show transcending Humanity's mental scaffolding
and I'm certain that at one point or more in our lives we've walked past the construction site and we've noticed the scaffolding its various shapes and forms and sometimes it's made out of metal and and depending on what's being constructed sometimes you know bamboo issues for a strength and durability and we just going to stand there and we Marvel at the way you know these construction workers just kind of shimmy up and down this after raddest with the greatest of these is kind of stand on the two boards that are stretched across and they are building or renovating you know whatever needs to be done and just no fear and you know this is kind of you know from a distance we see how scaffolding kind of obscurus you know what's being built or how something is being improved and interesting Lee I don't know if we've ever looked at it
play but despite its strength now this this scaffolding this structure is only temporary you know because it needs to be replaced by something stronger and more permanent
and as soon as the building or Renovations are complete the scaffolding comes down piece by piece and we're left with something better and would like all that's what they were building now it becomes clear or they really did a nice job and cleaning up whatever the building yeah whatever needs to be done you know it's just like that is kind of hidden from the scaffolding but once the scaffolding comes down it's like okay now we see it yeah that is definitely something better
well this metaphor of scaffolding is often true for our very lives that we often use Scaffolding in the way of let's say rituals or ceremonies in order to build something better more effective in our lives such as the rituals involved in weddings or baptisms or bar or Bat Mitzvahs graduations and funerals and Etc and often times these observances and traditions do not necessarily Market in point to our lives but rather they Mark the beginning a commencement a place that which points us to something better something larger than ourselves and often filled with mystery and uncertainty
and every day we have the opportunity to see and experience something new
and when we experienced such events we also become transformed into something that we've never experienced before we come away with the greater appreciation of Greater awareness of Greater liking or just the Adept in our gratitude and so forth but we have to be able to dismantle the so-called mental scaffolding which has brought us to that moment and experience ourselves from a more open teachable life-giving space within ourselves instead of clinging to the form or the structure hoping to recreate the memories and the transformation that we once experienced it's got like the old saying you know we keep doing the same things over and over again expecting different results
Gail what are we cleaning to are we cleaning to the form or we at cleaning to something better
but does the rapper come a point when we find ourselves clinging to the form of something temporary and totally missed the fact that there is something better just waiting for us to see it
out there's a wonderful book out there I don't know if you've ever seen the title or if you've ever written it's written by a man named westerhoff and the title is this will our children have faith will our children have faith and pretty much sum up the book for you and that he wrote about the shaking paradigms of religious education in fact in passing on one's Generations Faith to the up-and-coming generations in other words simply put the old ways don't cut it anymore so therefore will our children have faith
well I have to tell you the number of times I've discussed this very topic with others who insist that in order to ensure children and grandchildren just to ensure the fact that they will have faith the the onus is on the older generations to model what right or correct Faith looks like it out at that if they'll just keep doing the things the way we did things they'll be fine
now it's it's kind of like hoping that the up-and-coming generations will just be content to Avail themselves to the way things have always been and done now it's it's this cookie-cutter expectation like in other words if it was good for us it's going to be good for them and this no pun intended here and this recipe has always stifled creativity and growth and vision and depth of spiritual transformation and succeeding Generations
and like I said I've had many discussions with people about this book and this very topic will our children have faith in and this is you know and in the discussion this is why I raised the question why do we assume that future Generations have to fit another person's mode in order to find faith
why do we assume that future Generations have to fit another person's mode in order to find faith
I would rather begin with the fact that every generation has Faith because it's already in them
but that they go about enriching that Faith than growing in their relationship with others and God or the Divine differently than what's been done before
and I'm finally that every generation for centuries has done this but every generation has to have the wisdom to release the outward forms so to speak that this mental scaffolding and focus inward where genuine transformation and Transcendence occurs
my otherwise what is so desperately being clung to because of the way it's always been well the more it's going to start to crumble beneath our feet and slip through their fingers
and perhaps I thought about this just a little bit more you know prior to this broadcast but perhaps this is the purpose behind one of the Ten Commandments you know that thou shalt not make unto yourself any graven images of God and when you think about it it's it's true it's like perhaps God knew that first of all there's just no way to capture the very essence of God in a single image even though we might try and secondly we as human beings we would get stuck on the form and image of God and totally missed the point that God is Spirit God has vast God is without limitations and God is beyond our time and space understanding
but at any rate the future generations to discover their faith and find new transformative ways to connect with god with a sense of meaning and purpose
what is going to be vastly different than anything that we have seen it looks take for example religious and spiritual rituals and ceremonies and observances and let's just to say that they've always been an outward sign of an inward transformative Grace and other words what we do on a daily basis is an extension of what's going on inside of us
and these rituals ceremony observances and so forth always have always pointed us to something greater something better something that cannot be contained by our mental scaffolding
we may begin with the form and structure of the rituals and the ceremonies and the proper way to do things but we must also at some point transcend those things to see the greater lesson that the greater transformative work
let me toss out another example here I bet and counseled many people who if it's were not by the grace of God and their sponsors and various addiction recovery support group meetings they would have never been able to achieve and maintain their sobriety or whatever it is that they're trying to overcome for many many years and wonder when people stand up in these meetings and I say hello my name is and I'm an alcoholic or I'm a compulsive Gambler or I'm a shopaholic or sex at it or whatever it is
if let's say by some chance the people who attend these very worthwhile has support group meetings if by some chance are they able to see themselves as something more
I mean I've been transformed from what once was and have they translated into something far greater and more Life Giving then a label that is so easy to identify you don't like I talked to a couple of friends who are been in AA for 30 plus years and they constantly see themselves as once an alcoholic always an alcoholic okay I understand the program and so forth but I keep asking them at what point can you get beyond that at what point do you think you know not that you are okay to have a drink but that you begin to describe yourself in let's say a healthier way or a more Life Giving way instead of what you were and that's all you're ever going to be
you know and that leaves us some pretty incredible depth conversations I should say
well perhaps before we dismantle these mental and or spiritual scaffoldings shopping site perhaps just a few questions I got this will take a Edward to really see you know how the scaffolding or the rituals or different things that we do the form really point us to something greater okay so the first one is how does this structure or this form serve me
How does the structure of this form serve me cuz that's Rowlett they did they do they do serve a purpose it's just going to be just going to come a time when we're going to need to transcend these but we often today is like if I let go of the form I don't have anything out
and for that matter the second point is just exactly what is the form what is this structure and where has it taken me
is it something that I need to continue with or is it something I need to integrate and place that structure within me to see the the greater good to see the depth where I can really take me
and lastly you know how you know is it nursing how are these forms and structure is nourishing my inner life or have we become accustomed to the familiarity of it in which we you know let's be honest here maybe we've become complacent but we don't have to think anymore we can just do and well that's good enough
but if we really want to see that inner growth in our lives going to have to let go of those structures in those forms because as good as they are
they're limited because they're temporary they point us in in a direction of something greater but in order to get to the something greater more Life Giving we have to let go of it and be glad you to buy something more in-depth so therefore you know such a shame I can't obviously a psycho spiritual transformation in other words how we draw close to God how do we live out that relationship with ourselves and others are God on a daily basis means that we will automatically have a life-changing encounter you know that comes with all the bells and whistles and miracles we met and we may not
attack the opportunity to be transformed by God might occur when we least expect it
another short story of mine actually comes from the story We counted by the friar Thomas of Shawano and he lived in the 1200s and he died around 1265 and the story news regarding Francis of Assisi and his encounter with a man with Leprosy and little did Francis know that when he transcended or went beyond is personal limitations and assumptions he went from saying a miserable wretch of a leprous man to embracing a person full of dignity and worth
tell the words he could no longer hold back the spiritual transformation that was unfolding in him
thanks and here's the story when Francis was a young man and after he had decided that he did not wish to be a cloth Merchant like his father after his dream of Knighthood had been crushed by a prolonged illness and before he discerned his vocation in life it's told that Francis was walking along the road on the outskirts of Assisi what this friendly out when he thought he heard a bell and a distance it wasn't the bright sound of a church bell but it was rather a core flat tone like a cowbell
and Francis was frightened by the sound because it was unpleasant yet it was familiar
and to his surprise the sound started to come closer and closer and get louder and louder
and almost immediately his friend Leo realized what that sound meant let's get out of here Francis we have cried but Francis not knowing exactly why stood his ground
Leo play it again but Francis now trembling wouldn't run
and suddenly over the hill just a head there appeared a deformed figure with a clanging Bell around his neck
and at this point Francis is heart pound
his his nostrils burned with a the pungent smell of Rotting Flesh
the figure even though still some distance away tried to wave him off but Francis didn't move
this man is a leper he thought to himself I've always been repulsed by the sight of lepers and how much I have feared their dreaded Contagion
I'm a leper kept coming closer and finally he said have you not heard my bell
do you know I'm forced to wear the spell to warn you that a leper is broaching
Francis remained motionless and he even tasted his own fear as he swallowed
and suddenly filled with the strength which you know he didn't know where that came from Francis ran toward the leper now morph right then
and surprisingly Francis embraced the leper kissed him on his festering cheek and he he just decried allowed rather leper forgive me forgive me for neglecting you
then purchased a split of a moment you seem to wear a crown of thorns and to bleed from his wounds in his hands and feet and his side's he looked at Francis with love and then just as suddenly the leper vanished from sight leaving Francis weeping on the silent Road
and it was at that moment Francis found his calling
can you and I look past the Forum
in order to see and take on something far greater and more Life Giving
well I tell you what I would really love to hear your heart and what's on your heart about this subject so again if you would like to call in that number is 886-227-6008 and I'll be taking your calls after this break so again you are listening to reclaiming authenticity I'm your host dr. James how I'll be back with you in one minute
welcome back I am dr. James how can you are listening to reclaiming authenticity I just want to give you a little heads-up about next week's shelf I'll be sharing the ways in which we in the past have often measured our mental and spiritual growth in our lives but how we are called to transcend these developmental parameters so it's kind of a continuation of today's broadcast but we're going to go a little bit deeper with this okay so invite you to turn in tune in to not turn into it's been into next Friday as we continue looking at how we transcend how we measure our spirituality and our mental health what are we on the show I was talking about the fact that through ordinary events and experiences and rituals and observances we have to become transformed into something
that we've never experienced before you noticed in like a blink of an eye very fast just like I share right before the break the story of Francis in the leper and as something that have repulsed him for all those years or work for the most of his life up until that moment he then started to see the beauty that dwelled Within
but you know we have to be able to dismantle these so-called mental scaffoldings which we build and we stand upon and quite frankly the structures have it brought us to where we are in our lives and experience ourselves from a more open and teachable life-giving space within us but how many times do we cling to these the scaffolding that's formed hoping to recreate the memories and the transformation that we want to experience such as always going back to the same place year after year the same vacation the same people hoping that well things will be different. It's like we keep doing the same things over and over again and we expect different results okay well when considering
cremation in Transcendence I always used to wonder just what comes first is a Transcendent as its transformation it's kind of a chicken-and-egg question and do we experience transformation first and then does that move us that door nor allow us to transcend our surroundings and limitations in personal boundaries or maybe it's like Francis when we transcended these limitations is it when we're doing that that we are transformed well regardless of whether we have experienced a of spiritual transformation before transcending our boundaries which could be self-imposed or otherwise or we have experienced Transcendence prior to spiritual transformation of the two are intertwined and connected
you don't have to stub to spiritual relationship always reminds me of a tango and I which has been described as this energetic passionate and playful dance filled with artistic expression and in in both modern and traditional Tango Styles once the dancers have mastered the moves involved they can spend endless hours just lost in this vibrant dance in the fact that the beauty of watching the Tango is the fluidity of the dance no two dancers magically become one on the Dance Floor I have tried to master the Tango sorry I am very much a beginner at heart my feet are very heavy there is no way that I am late on my feet but I'll keep trying but it was a nice way to take a look at the whole Transcendence
information or the transformation and Transcendence it's just you can't have one without the other I'm convinced of it the two go hand-in-hand and so it is a both and phenomenon that I think is initiated by God that requires an active dance partner shall we say and why was true that the ongoing transformation comes in God's timing
we're going to have to Avail ourselves and what John Wesley referred to as the means of Grace and what he meant by this phrase that means of Grace is that once we've experienced God's spirit in our lives we therefore live in the light of the spirit on the daily basis as we devote ourselves to say practices such as prayer and fellowship and Outreach and meditative reflection or the study of scripture spiritual ceremonies participation in the sacraments or we're going to go to weekly worship or other acts of devotion
but when we open ourselves up sometimes simply by just showing up to hear God more clearly in our lives God extends this grace for us to be further transformed and as we transform weight recently transcend previous limitations which prepares us for further transformation and Transcendence and more transformation than more Transcendence and so forth
now transformation in the the sphere of mental health and spirituality shouldn't be limited to a purely psychological Endeavor I am in fact a few in society attempt to educate the masses shall we say into believing that the empirical scientific method of of knowing god is the only verifiable and I made for the other way that the only way of proving the legitimacy of a person's relationship or experience with God is to only be confirming through quantitative or measurable data over the subjective topic of spirituality is therefore not been ridiculed or it's dismissed by SIA since it does not fit so neatly into certain criteria
and yet there are legitimate ways to measure spiritualities effects on how people live out this Awakening of their souls and I believe the keyless Endeavor is that in reclaiming our authenticity is that we must also realize that our soul has also a journey to make in terms of finding peace and satisfaction given its home in an inauthentic world for example thirteenth-century Theologian and Scholar Bonaventure he made note that the word for journey
in Latin is itinerary on which means and itinerary or a plan a journey in general or making a pilgrimage to let's say the holy land and what's important to note is that this itinerarium always expresses an action that expresses a plan or a prayer of our hearts and our soul and our mind searching for God
and as a result Bonaventure precise that no person can be happy unless they transcend or rise above their own self-interest
and that's a key understanding
no person can be happy unless they transcend or rise above their own self-interest
and then furthermore Transcendence is only possible with God's help which is available to all who seek it from their heart
they seek it in their heart and fervent prayer and it flows unforced from a desire to see others experience the same thing so as previously mentioned drawing close to God even having the desire to draw close to God is the best way I can put it risky it's risky because perhaps we fear we just might discover that we do not necessarily have got all figured out
but at first blush shall we say you'll God just might not be for us who we want God to be or behave for us that we think we know God but we don't we assume things to be a certain way but in the end when we call upon the Lord as I always say get ready strap yourself in and hold on tight
give me the courage to know God beyond the limits of our senses really shatters whatever man-made scaffolding that we've kind of built around God
attract as we are reclaiming our authenticity you know this the shattering that we say or just dismantling you know it is of our of our preconceived ideas of God is certainly inevitable
I'm in the mind and of course our entire being undergoes a a shaking or a shattering or a transformation in every conceived for because these perceptions only represent a very very very limited understanding of who God really is
text me when you get right down to it our human language more often than not greatly limits our ability to explain what God has touched in us we just we lack the words we don't know how to talk about it we may not know how to draw about it we may not know how to put music to it it's just a limitation because it is just that goes beyond our ability sometimes to be able to do these things
but you know personally I don't believe God shows up in our lives by accident you know if I act like I you know I believe that that God loves the use of irony and so too does God love to show up in the ordinariness of Our Lives you know when we're not used to seeing the hand of God in our lives we often Marvel at the times when God becomes visible through what we refer to as Miracles well in Buddhism there's a famous painting that the tells a story about how an AUX hurt her follows the path toward Enlightenment or his own spiritual awareness I'm sure you've seen this times but maybe it was never explained to you cuz it's just kind of there and pictures now to the Western mind it didn't was I said it might be difficult to first see ourselves and the image of this Oxford her who is seeking
spiritual awareness which is represented by the ox okay however once we understand this concept I think we're going to be able to see that attaining Enlightenment or spiritual where is not a passive event
Inferno for example the first of these pictures to pick the man sitting out setting out on search of an ox and then he proceeded to follow the ox by following the footprints in the snow and then he discovers the oxy so it's okay there it is and he gets ready to catch it and after this the man is riding The Oxen means playing a trumpet have caught the ox yeah yeah okay and this picture most likely is the picking that the man has successfully obtained the ox he's made peace with it
and then the next picture shows the mandilon sitting down left behind once the aux had left him now the next picture frame shows nothing suggesting that the both The Oxen the man have now transcended and the ninth picture out of the 10 shows a tree most likely depicting Paradise that the man has achieved through his conquering of the ox and now the last picture shows him teaching his method to others showing them that you know how they too can accomplish what he had
as previously stated this I mean you'll have to look it up Google this to get the the picture but this this picture story is as a symbol for a person's path to Enlightenment and which the aux is a metaphor for Humanity's struggle finding their inner self and The Taming of the ox in the story is a depiction of a man coming to terms with his authentic self which allows him to advance in the path of Enlightenment or spiritual way
and once he has fulfilled this objective in life he's at peace and he transcends into full spiritual awareness and as a result of his obligation now is to teach his ways to others aiding them and their path to Enlightenment or spiritual awareness earlier this week had a conversation with someone a regarding Maslow's hierarchy and this is another great image that many people are aware of its in the shape of a triangle and if you've never been aware of Maslow's hierarchy it's something that Maslow set out to just to take a look at our hierarchy of needs we're at the bottom which you know the base of the triangle with a base of the pyramid shall we say is are both our most basic needs of food
clothing shelter just the basic basic basic but then as we keep going as we go up the pyramid we now move into issues such as security and then later on maybe contentment or peace or satisfaction and relationships in other words what he is demonstrating to us is that once we have found the basics in our lives we continue on to find meaning and purpose so what begins with you. Having our basic needs met such as food shelter clothing that then allows us to transcend or go higher up the pyramid if you will into thinking about matters of security matters of inner peace and so forth shall be psychic and then looking at relationships and then our own personal fulfillment
and we're ultimately we find you know our daughter self-awareness or self-realization and
I like Maslow's hierarchy I just think it's limited because there's so much more to us than just a tanning needs and there's just a vastness to ourselves but Maslow's hierarchy and every other shall we say model that we have out there if it's this form if it's this structure fix this scaffolding this metal scaffolding that we have that sooner or later are we able to transcend it to the point where we're not worried about so much of checking a box to say okay am I happy peaceful content than so for it but we go through life and we are able to have these things because this is how we live our lives and we have found our peace and of course Maslow's hierarchy didn't point this out but again I feel is like once we have
reach the top shall we say of the the top of the pyramid we do have an obligation to go back down and to help others find their peace find how they can meet their needs how they can grow and their relationships how they can move towards meaning and purpose in their lives so that once they find that then they are able to then come back down the pyramid and help others and it continues so on and so on and so on so Maslow's hierarchy model is good it's just it's it's limited because it's in other words it it does remind us of scaffolding it helps us get to a point but when we dismantle the scaffolding what is left but what we have internalized what we have integrated and truly that's where a transformation
has occurred and KT
well understanding you know this whole process is really vital to embracing our desire to live authentically I mean we we may not imagine ourselves as herders chasing after an ox but I do believe that we can appreciate the need to pursue the desires for genuineness in life and more over once we are engaged in the search for our own authentic self and reclaim it for ourselves we are then obligated to Aid others in the quest as well so you should know by now if you've been listening to me for you know weeks or months or even going into the second year of this you should know by now that one of my favorite books is the Alchemists and one of my favorite quotes from the book is that when you want something
the whole universe conspires in helping you to achieve it each thing has to transform itself into something better and to acquire a new personal until Sunday the soul of the world becomes the only thing
but you know later on in the book there's another great quote that really sums up people's fears that they carry in their hearts even to this day and it's when the main character Santiago is is having a discussion with his heart and just wouldn't know the end of the book and he is trying to come with terms with the fears that he feels deeply and as he's talking to his hard and as he listens to his heart he then here's his heart say that people are afraid to pursue their most important dreams because they feel they don't deserve them or that they will be unable to achieve them
and then we either hearts become fearful just thinking of loved ones who go away forever or of moments that could have been good but weren't where Treasures that's might have been found but we're forever hidden in the sands
or in other words
what dies inside of a person while they live in the Oglala Lakota tradition Frank fools Crow he taught that in order to become holy that is one through whom the great spirit could work in and through to heal others a person must become like a hollow bone
about Frank fools Crow believe that people are not to seek transformation for their own power and honor but instead to be a pipeline that connects God to the people in this process of becoming a hollowed bone really began when it when people ask God to rid themselves of anything that would impede them in any way such as doubt or questions or selfishness or reluctance
and as a result this cycle psycho spiritually transform people would then need to see themselves as unobstructed shall we say conduits through whom God could work to bless others
and you know this this hollowbone image is a powerful symbol for Anthony and ourselves of everything that hinders
that everything that hinders and impedes the life of God's spirit at work in our lives as we are taught in Biology class bones provide our bodies that. Only with the physical Fray watching the way the scaffolding does around the building but also within themselves contains marrow this this flexible tissue that is responsible for producing blood and supporting the immune system however in understanding this concept of becoming a hollowbone we have the first acknowledge our need to metaphorically speaking die to ourselves
and ironically a hollowed bone is both dead in that it doesn't contain any blood or marrow and yet at the same time it's a live because of its the spirit of God flowing freely in and through us for the benefit of others and this act is not a one-time event I mean if I'd rather it's an ongoing process of examining and letting go of ourselves in order to take hold of something better for the sake of humanity
God speaking all the time
what what's keeping us from hearing God's voice
I'm about through contemplation through meditation we finally need to stop our mind's chatter you know that that monkey mind us just jumping around all over the place but also to open our hearts regarding how we see and listen for God
where do we see God and all things
are we able to see God in the beauty of a Sunset and the sunrise
three focus on hearing God's voice in the cries and laughter of others
how do we feel God when you know when we're out and we're amongst the wind and the rain
do we hear God in the sound of a say the owl the eagle or the hawk or the birds in the morning
summerly we should not also look for God in the tears of a child or listen for the voice of God and every heartbreak but we can also find the voice of God giving us voice to our most devastating losses and pain
Ali Faisal who was a holocaust Survivor he was in a concentration camp for quite some time he's the author of the book night and I ght and then copy I have a written somewhere around early two thousands and he shares a story about you know just we look for God we cry out for God and by God where is God a different moments in our lives and what does it take for us to see and hear God and he writes that the one day we came back from work and we saw 3 Gallo's rearing up in the assembly Place three black crows row call SS we're all around us machine guns were trained the traditional ceremony three victims in Chains and one of them the little servant was a sad eyed angel
DSS seemed more preoccupied or more Disturbed than usual now to hang a young boy in front of thousands of Spectators was no light matter and the head of the camp read the verdict and all eyes were on this little child he was livid Lee pale almost, and he was biting his lips we got was through its shadow over him however this time the lagerkapo refuse to act as the Executioner and so three SS replace thyme
the three victims were melted together on the chairs their necks were placed at the same moment the same time within the nooses and Long Live Liberty cried two adults but the child was silent
where is God where is he somebody behind me asked
how to sign from the head of the camp the three chairs tipped over
total silence throughout the camp
and on the horizon the sun was just starting to set
bare your heads of the head of the camp his voice was Ruckus and we were all weeping cover your heads then the march-past began the two adults were no longer alive their tongue swollen and data blue tinge to them but the third rope was still moving being so light the child was still alive and for more than half an hour he stayed there struggling between life and death dying and slow Agony under our eyes
and we had to look him full in the face
and he was still alive when I passed in front of him
his tongue was red his eyes were not in yet glazed and behind me I heard the same man asking where is God now
and I Heard a Voice Within Me answer him where is he
where is God
he is here
he is hanging here on this gallo
Eye Doctor James how can you have been listening to reclaiming authenticity I invite you to spend another hour with me next Friday afternoon 3 p.m. Eastern Standard Time in Pacific Standard time or you may catch these podcasts at your own time and your own leisure in the meantime until we spend the next Friday together may you find that peace may you find that moment in which God that captures your attention and may God Hold Us firmly and calmly in the palm of God's hands it take care bye bye
a book by dr. hope it's all there just to calm and we'll see you next on PBS radio TV