Man with a plan?

I have a spiritual method, which I live by. Do you? I think it is important to have a method, at least for me. It brings discipline to my spirituality, to be sure, but it also brings some understanding, and I am quite sure it brings me some help.

I did not come up with the method I use; I learned it from a church renewal movement I belong to. It goes kind of like this:

Learn about yourself: who are you, and who do you want to become? What is your self-objective? If you do not have a map to where you are going, you aren't going to get there. It is that simple.

But knowing who you are and what your goals for self-improvement are is just the beginning of getting there. These are the pillars that I build my ideal self upon...and it is not a twelve step program. I work on these three pillars (however inexpertly) all at once, all my life.

Learn about God: who is God and how does he fit into your life, the lives of the people around you, and the world itself? What help does he offer you? There are many sources for this information. Obviously, for a Christian, the Bible is foremost amongst these, especially the gospels and letters of the New Testament. But it does not end there - you can learn about God from the lives of good people who embody holiness. You can learn about God from inspirational writers who make sense about faith. And you can learn about God by learning about the world he has created, and the environment he has placed you in.

Live in God: St. John says, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love." Three times Peter denied Jesus. But Jesus did not cut Peter off - rather, he gave Peter the opportunity to answer the question, "Simon son of John, do you love me?" This is what prayer is. There's no great mystery to this. God is your best friend, by far your most loyal friend. Just tell him you love him! You will abide in him if you heed those simple commands to love God and love neighbour - everything else is just commentary (as the great Rabbi Hillel, considered the founder of modern Judaism, once said.)

Let God live in You: Again, St. John says, "God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them." Making the internal you available for what some call the "indwelling Holy Spirit" is how you let God dwell in you. Let joy be a part of you. And when joy is a part of you, do not keep it to yourself; share it with everyone and anyone! And don't let anyone put out the light in your eyes, because the eye is the lamp of your soul. "Love one another as I have loved you," Jesus says in John's gospel (15:12.) That is really not that difficult, even if stumbling on that path is inevitable. if God is love, then you make God visible to everyone around you every time you love! You are the salt of the Earth, the light of the world.

So take your candle, to quote a hymn, and go light your world!