Years ago I worked with a Negative Nell who continually whined and complained. Often, my co-workers and I heard her mutter, “SSDD [Same Sh**, Different Day].” We rarely escaped a meeting without her bemoaning her lot in life and her railing against God for all the misfortunes she faced. No matter what any of us said or did to encourage or support her, we heard the same thing: “Why bother? It’s always the same old, same old.”
Perhaps, Blessed Reader, you know the type: Someone who not only can’t see the glass half full, but can’t even see the glass. Who believes that God is some kind of wicked tyrant or capricious ruler, condemning them to a life of woe and suffering. Who wants everyone and everything else to change, but who doesn’t know how and/or isn’t willing to think or behave differently.
As a pastor, I realize: Some people haven’t yet heard the message that on this spiritual journey we call our lives, we have numerous, divine opportunities for transformation. These people don’t yet know that God isn’t a master puppeteer in the sky pulling our strings, giving us more than we can handle or doling out gifts to a favored few.
I want them to know this instead: God is Divine Creator of all things, including us. God is Ever-Abiding Grace, Infinite Compassion and Unconditional Love, everywhere, all the time. Therefore, we are divine creations, born with all the faith, strength and wisdom we’ll ever need within us to live glorious lives.
Furthermore, as divine creations, we’re also free agents, which means we have free will to align ourselves with God, to choose who we’ll be, what we want, where we’re going and what we’ll do. So, no matter what we may have been, thought, done, or believed before, we have the power to transform our lives. Especially if any of our self-talk sounds like the same old, same old.
The truth is: We can choose to transform ourselves, because transformation begins with us. Only when we choose to change ourselves and do “it” differently, whatever the “it” is, do we reach the place where transformation is possible.
Rather than believe that we’re automatons which must react in the same old ways, as if we run on only one internal program, we can delete the self-defeating, life-draining mantras and re-wire our thinking and adjust our behavior. Inevitably, though sometimes slowly, this allows us to alter our circumstances and enjoy new, more enriching outcomes and experiences.
Ultimately, transformation requires trust; first in God, then in ourselves. And, as we discern and travel our faithful life journeys, we discover wondrous things are unfolding through us and for us, one sacred step at a time.
© 2016 – Rev. Jennifer L. Sacks. All rights reserved.
“We can choose to transform ourselves, because transformation begins with us. Only when we choose to change ourselves and do “it” differently, whatever the “it” is, do we reach the place where transformation is possible.” Reading that line, I thought about the parable of Jesus and the fishing net: Jesus sees his friends (disciples) fishing in a boat offshore. He calls out to them, “how’s the fishing today?” They say, ” Lousy! We haven’t caught a thing.” He tells them to pull up the nets and carry them over to the other side of the boat, and toss them in. They do so, and pull up a net full of fish.
It’s like our thinking: if life isn’t working out the way we want it to be, we can change our strategy, or actions, but let’s not also forget that we can change our thinking. Cast your nets on the other side of the boat. What a concept!
Yes. And that scripture is additionally meaningful, as I used it for “Into the Depths – Part 2” in May. A continued journey of discovery. 🙂
It is a joy to walk the path of faith as illuminated in Truth teachings! In my life I find so many people walking a positive, consciously hopeful path, and there is a sparkle in our interactions that feeds my soul. Those who find affirmation in the negative (by that I mean denial of the life-affirming, ever-present Good that my path with Unity has offered me) are also plentiful, and they tend to dislike me! I am okay with that, but sad that they appear to have inoculated themselves against the positive energy I would share!
Thanks, Rev. Jen, for your blog posts. I do enjoy reading them.