Last time, (see Letting Go of the Mask 2), we looked at one way of practicing meditation, as one of the that tools we need, to help us find our way back to the way God made us, before the world stepped all over our grace.
Prior to that, (see Letting Go of the Mask), we looked at how we need to be willing to bend to God’s will as well. The next tool we will examine, is a combination of ‘steadfast awareness and inquisitiveness.’
You were born an image of God. Then you became ‘worldly conditioned.’ In that conditioning, you attached meanings to events that were hazardous to your health. It’s not your fault. It was a meticulous assault, directed by the devil himself (see Revealing the Hurt). Everyone else’s souls were manipulated with the same poison.
However, it is your total responsibility to uncover what happened, what the nature of reality really is, and to determine how it is possible to return to your Creator – essentially, unfettering yourself:
Definitions change as knowledge increases. Carlos Castaneda
Everything about how your life has been lived, and who has been in charge, must come under acute scrutiny. In that process, you will deconstruct your false self: setting yourself free from your old opinions, turning off your autopilot, and take the helm of your life’s direction.
What it is not, is a one-on-one battle to try to silence that critic in your head. It doesn’t know how to be neutral. Ego is hard-wired to be on the attack, because its very survival is contingent upon you being dependent upon it. It hates you, because you are necessary as a ‘host’ for its parasitism.
However, it can be neutralized with the power of truth. For example, it might accuse you of being stupid. Instead of kowtowing, ask your heart (not your head), ‘Is that really true?’ Your heart will answer, ‘No;’ and your heart never lies.
Focus on what happens to you physically and emotionally, when you have lived in agreement with the lies fluttering about in your head. Respond to that apparition, saying, ‘I’m far better than that.’
The voice in your head will hiccup in disbelief.
Ask yourself, ‘What would my life be like, what would I be like, if I didn’t believe this lie?’ ‘What would happen if I instead focused upon the wonder of how God made me?’
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous – how well I know it. Ps. 139:14 NLT.
The voice gulps.
Commit to being kind and loving with yourself every time that inner critic barks. Do something that you don’t think you deserve, e.g. be still with yourself for 30 minutes, take a walk on the beach, get yourself a root beer float.
Let’s say ego tells you not to go to a party that you’ve been invited to, because, it says, the people will make fun of you because you’re such a geek. Moreover, it appears to be empathetic towards you, saying it knows just how you feel; and then suggests that you reach for that bottle of wine in the kitchen, to make yourself feel better.
What if you said to yourself, ‘Who says I’m a geek? It’s just that old lying ghost in my head. I don’t need a judge in my life anymore. It only brings me grief. I’m not every believing anything it ever says again.’ And, you go to the party!
Ego moans.
However, what if you gave in to the voice? It will definitely berate you the following morning about your drunkenness – that same behavior it suggested you indulge in.
Instead of offering your backside to be scourged, what if you responded with, ‘Yes, I did something that was not in my best interest. I’m going to forgive myself for my unconscious behavior and act differently for my greater good?’
The voice begins to dissipate…
You see how much more powerful it is when you exhort yourself, give yourself another chance, and hold out for love and hope?
That can only happen when you stop judging, hating and punishing yourself. Instead, continue to ask powerful questions to help dethrone that mental tyrant.
For example, ‘Can I allow myself to decide that I’ve been punished enough?’ Could I let go of wanting to punish myself? Will I let it go? Wouldn’t I rather be free? Can I stop from planning any more punishment against myself in the future? Could I let these feelings go? When will I do these things? Is there any reason that moment can’t be right now?’
Questions are powerful! That voice in your head cannot stand up to honest inquiry; nor can it conquer love. If it says that you have a monster inside of you, tell that villain to show it to you. It can’t, because the monster doesn’t exist – it never did.
Everything your ego tells you is a lie. Whatever it says, answer with ‘Who cares?’ And shower yourself with the truth, a response opposite to the accusation. Always ask yourself, ‘What is real, true and important here?’
When you become aware of your old ways of being, and choose to do otherwise, (taking on God’s ways), you will have real freedom…
And a great road will go through that once deserted land. It will be named the Highway of Holiness. Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be only for those who walk in God’s ways; fools will never walk there. Is. 35:8 NLT
So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 1 Pt. 1:14 NLT
The final tool we must utilize to get our lives back, is ‘action.’
‘Transforming moments’ consist of revelations (ah-ha moments of truth) that can literally change your life. However, they can only do so, if you implement them. You cannot wish your problems away. You must reach out to God and challenge your inner adversary. He will move on your behalf, but you must act first.
When you do that, it opens the way for you to create something new – a life that you want, by putting your faith in your God-sent transformation moments and acting upon them. You must participate in getting back the life that you were meant to have.
You have a personal responsibility to get right with God.
Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body. 1 Cor. 6:19, 20. NLT.
Because you are God’s house, He holds you ultimately responsible for the state that it’s in. If you allow or facilitate it to dilapidate, you are forcing that dilapidation onto Christ, mocking His sacrifice for you. You must clean God’s house, which includes disinfecting your thoughts, because the mind can pollute the body:
“For from the heart come evil thoughts…” Mt. 15:19 NLT.
So, let’s do this! Let’s bring all our tools to bear, to root out all the elements of our past that we’ve created, embellished and latched onto; and free ourselves from who we are not. We begin by sleuthing through the muck or our nebulous, ego-assisted constructs – wherever they may lie, and whatever they may be.
They may lie within the realm of what we think we know, (i.e. our Life Story), or in the dominion of the things we know that we don’t know, (things we could have sought after to create a better life, but didn’t, because we were too attached to our false beliefs), or within the sphere of what we don’t know that we don’t know, (those things that can only be perceived through conscious awareness).
We are on a quest to eradicate our misery and suffering, which can only be accomplished if we discover how we first built our prison, and the reasons why we felt that we had to. Then, we can understand the extent of what it has cost us, so that we can be motivated to tear it down. That way, we become the conscious cause of how our lives are turning out, rather than being at the effect of our unconscious actions.
Yes, we’re talking about change, and change is work; but the alternative is to keep living lives of suffering that have a propensity for an early and final death. Or, our lives can become living paths to joy, peace and love, when we return to the perfection that Christ sacrificed His life for.
So, let’s take a leap of faith and leave our assumptions behind, as we search our inner and outer selves – always lathering love and compassion upon ourselves, no matter what we find…
STEP ONE: THE VOICE JOURNAL
Get yourself a journal and keep it with you for one week. Pray for clear-cut discernment every morning as you begin your quest. During this time, write down everything that that voice says. How do you know when it speaks? It will consist of every thought that doesn’t exhort, exalt or love you.
In addition, write down what you were doing at each moment the critic assaulted you, a description of the environment you were in, what you told yourself, how you reacted, and how you felt about it.
At the end of the week, read your entire journal; and you will have a crystal-clear picture of how your relationship with that devil in your head operates. I can assure you that there is nothing redeeming about it, and you will be extremely motivated to get this thing out of your life.
LISTEN UP! HAVEN’T YOU HAD ENOUGH? DO THIS THING. IT’S FOR YOU. YOUR LIFE IS AT STAKE. YOU MUST BECOME AN ACTIVE PARTICIPANT IN THIS WORK, OR YOU WILL REMAIN TRAPPED IN THE PUTRIDITY OF YOUR UNCONSCIOUSNESS.
We will discuss your revelations next week…
Goodnight and God bless.