Developing a Spiritual Vision

 It is with the understanding that our creator is not completely understood and that available religious text is not complete and or not completely understood, that I present this perspective on spiritual vision.

It is been many times said that religion is a personal experience. Developing spiritual vision is the process of experiencing and responding to events and actions in a spiritual context based on your own understanding. The result should be thoughtful introspection with applied spiritual understanding, fostering continued spiritual growth.

"You'd be surprised how little I knew even up to yesterday"

Jack Kerouac

It is observed that although we know much, our vision is limited. We are unable to comprehend the size and origins of the multiple universes and can only hypothesize of how life began. And, as finite beings, it is almost impossible to grasp the timelessness of infinity.

The meaning of our lives and our faith are unique and based on time, origin, environment, experience level and capability. It must be accepted that we do not have a true command of our physical surroundings and spiritual certainty through experience. By understanding and accepting that we are not "all knowing" we are able to open ourselves up to the possibilities of continuous experience and growth.

We are blessed with a spiritual potential and capability to develop an understanding of our creator or higher power. This desire may be towards truth, beauty, a higher intelligence or a personal relationship with a loving and personal spiritual reality. Whatever our vision or name of this higher power we mysteriously seek; it is our willful decision to undertake this path.

Ponder that thought for a moment; it is your willful decision to seek higher ideas and spiritual realities. Congratulations, you seek something beyond yourself, something selfless and something beautiful and good. With that, think of the thoughtfulness of the creator that enables you to seek and recognize such things as truth.

"Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into."

Mohandas Gandhi

Faith is a belief and it is with great faith that we pursue our willful desire to selflessly grow, to know our creator and to seek beauty and goodness. Intent is purpose and as long as you have the intent to seek and to know your loving creator and truth and beauty; you should feel free to pursue this path earnestly and in a manner which is true to yourself. To truly grow we must be free to admit we have doubts and uncertainties in the midst of our faith. Having this freedom allows you to truly pursue truth as you need. And, if you become confused and are worried if you are on the path of truth, do not forget; ours is a long journey, we will not immediately find the entire truth. Your foundation is your intent. If your intent is to truly discover beauty and goodness or provide service to others or to better know your creator or to do the will of God or all of these things; your spiritual growth is assured. This is where your journey begins.

In review, we understand that we do not know all and have willfully made the decision to seek higher truths and spiritual values in an honest way, true to ourselves. We begin this journey knowing that we have great faith with uncertainty, we know we will falter but not cease and we know our intent, our purpose, is pure.

The following are suggestions to help you develop spiritual vision now that you have willfully made the decision to do so:

Make time for thought and contemplation. Life is full of distractions, usually we rush out of the door to go to work, get stressed at work, rush home, prepare and eat dinner and try to relax watching TV or movies,only to fall asleep and repeat the same thing, day after day, month after month and year after year. If you have the responsibilities of children, this only compounds your responsibilities. Time must be set aside for spiritual education and contemplation. Take at least twenty minutes a day to read some form of spiritual text that interests you and another 20 minutes of quiet that will allow you to be still, and think and or meditate.

Spiritualize your thinking. Instead of responding to situations as you always have, start to analyze situations with a spiritual perspective. Remember, every one you come in contact with is also another who has been created, loved and valued by the creator as much as you are. Remember that each person you encounter has their own perspectives, struggles and insecurities; do not be rocked by the trivial pettiness wrapped in day to day activities. Begin to search for eternal spiritual values in people and lessons through experience. You will begin to see a difference in yourself. Slowly you will become more stable in the face of adversity as you become more concerned with spiritual realities and better understand the insignificance of day to day pettiness.

Develop a personal relationship with your creator. Any friendship you have has taken time to develop; apply this thought to your creator who waits for you to willfully approach. Remember, you are a creature of free will and you have chosen to know your creator. Do this in your own way, be always conscious of your creator, ask to know, seek help and love. Remember, it is your intent that will be heard.

Be thoughtful and introspective. Never be confused, you are who you choose to be. Oftentimes people repeat behaviors and become convinced "this is who I am" and believe they are unable to change. The reality is, you are a mindful thinking person with spirit who chooses who they want to be. If you want to be more kind, have better temperament, more disciplined or anything else; work to be that way. Think of things you have done and why, both good and bad, think of situations and go beyond the immediate communications. Think of what lies underneath, think of how you would approach a situation based on the spiritual values which you believe. Slowly your actions will become guided by your blossoming spiritual beliefs.

Be open to change. You are reading this because you are searching, I am writing this because I am searching; we are the same in many more ways than we are different. In the future we will have grown and through experience and introspection our views will change, be open to it. Not all of our choices will be correct but in our wrong decisions there is value. Be open, earnest and dynamic in what you seek.

Take care of your physical body. It is much harder to effectively think when our body is sick or polluted. In as much as you can, try to eat fresh fruits vegetables and water in abundance. Try to decrease all foods that clog and pollute the body.

Be kind to yourself. We are imperfect and it is oftentimes hard to do the things we know we should. Be patient with yourself as well as you would with others. Forgive your own transgressions and use any failures as experience to help others who also struggle. Be humble and realize any truth you discover is just a small piece of something we cannot yet perceive. Never cast judgment on anyone, in any way.

Developing spiritual vision is a great foundation to begin your journey. I sincerely hope some of the ideas presented reach you and that you are able to expand on them in your own way.

R. Joseph (Joe) Brenneman is a freelance writer who works in information technology and has an extensive background as a writer and musician. As a writer with varied interests, Joe has written articles on such subjects as Project Management, Emotional Intelligence, Existentialism, Spirituality and Politics.

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