Session 3: Next Mindify Yourself! |
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Session Outline:
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Next Mindify Yourself?
In the previous session we began to look at the call of John the Baptist and Jesus to “Repent and be baptized.” In that session we looked at the word “baptize.” Now we need to look at the word, “repentance.” The original Greek is metanoia, which literally means to change one’s mind, to change the direction of one’s mind, and thus one’s life. In fact, metanoia also translates as “beyond the (normal) mind,” or “the next mind,” and the force of the verb indicates going beyond our normal consciousness or way of thinking into a deeper, bigger mind, the “mind of Christ” as Paul calls it in Philippians. You could legitimately translate what Jesus and John say as “Next-Mindify yourself!” Metanoia, or repentance, then, means redirecting our lives from our small self-centered minds into the Bigger Mind of God. John preached about immersing oneself in repentance, or metanoia. John says Jesus will come to immerse us in the power of the Holy Spirit.
So, Jesus comes down to the River Jordan to meet John. If you are like me, you probably ask, “Why did Jesus have to repent?” But remember, metanoia means to move into a bigger mind in order to start over, and Jesus comes to symbolically demonstrate that he embraces this bigger mind of God. In essence, he is embracing his divine mission to show us a path to God, which is a consciousness of God, a perspective of life based upon the perspective of God.
The path of Jesus is nothing less than a path into a bigger mind, an expanded consciousness, the metanoia John preaches. Our minds literally have to be changed from our present mind into our Next Mind. But this is no easy task. Anyone trying to escape the clutches of addiction or trying to heal from an abusive upbringing, or recover from PTSD knows that “changing one’s mind” is not like changing the sheets or changing one’s clothes. It actually entails changing the very quality and content of one’s mind, and changing the configuration of the neurons in the brain. It involves developing a new mode of thinking and perceiving the world. It involves literally an expansion of consciousness. Paul called it having the mind of Christ, Jesus called it the Kingdom or Realm of Heaven (or God) that is within us and in our midst.
This is what Jesus came to help humanity realize and develop into. But there are a lot of things that have to be deconstructed, taken apart, disassembled, in order to be rebuilt and reconfigured in our mental landscape. This is the work of the Spirit within us. And that is what Jesus immerses us in – the power of the Holy Spirit. And this transforms us. It transforms our direction in life, it transforms our focus in life, it transforms the world around us by the things we do, and it transforms our very reality. This is why the first Spiritual Life Practice is Centering Prayer. It is this practice that works to center us in the life-transforming presence of God.
We Begin with Reality.
Reality – our present reality, is our beginning place. We tell the truth about our world, and about ourselves and actively seek to engage healing processes in ourselves and our society. In order to tell that truth truthfully and completely will force us to face uncomfortable truths about ourselves, and our participation in systems of oppression and exploitation. But the work begins there. Jesus insisted upon telling the truth. Telling and knowing the truth sets us free.
Think of it in medical terms. Frequently the only way to rid the body of cancer or extreme disease is to do surgery. Any surgery is invasive in some form, and can be painful (thank God for anaesthesia!). But in order to save our life, we submit ourselves to surgery, and the painful healing process that follows.
In order to extricate ourselves from the deep psychological, emotional, and behavioral entanglements of these systems, we use the scalpel of truth-telling and inquiry into social and psychological systems that are oppressive, dysfunctional and destructive.
The basic process of dismantling and disentangling from oppressive, dysfunctional, and destructive Life Operating Systems (LOSs) is as follows:
Yes! Next Mindify Yourself!
In the previous session we began to look at the call of John the Baptist and Jesus to “Repent and be baptized.” In that session we looked at the word “baptize.” Now we need to look at the word, “repentance.” The original Greek is metanoia, which literally means to change one’s mind, to change the direction of one’s mind, and thus one’s life. In fact, metanoia also translates as “beyond the (normal) mind,” or “the next mind,” and the force of the verb indicates going beyond our normal consciousness or way of thinking into a deeper, bigger mind, the “mind of Christ” as Paul calls it in Philippians. You could legitimately translate what Jesus and John say as “Next-Mindify yourself!” Metanoia, or repentance, then, means redirecting our lives from our small self-centered minds into the Bigger Mind of God. John preached about immersing oneself in repentance, or metanoia. John says Jesus will come to immerse us in the power of the Holy Spirit.
So, Jesus comes down to the River Jordan to meet John. If you are like me, you probably ask, “Why did Jesus have to repent?” But remember, metanoia means to move into a bigger mind in order to start over, and Jesus comes to symbolically demonstrate that he embraces this bigger mind of God. In essence, he is embracing his divine mission to show us a path to God, which is a consciousness of God, a perspective of life based upon the perspective of God.
The path of Jesus is nothing less than a path into a bigger mind, an expanded consciousness, the metanoia John preaches. Our minds literally have to be changed from our present mind into our Next Mind. But this is no easy task. Anyone trying to escape the clutches of addiction or trying to heal from an abusive upbringing, or recover from PTSD knows that “changing one’s mind” is not like changing the sheets or changing one’s clothes. It actually entails changing the very quality and content of one’s mind, and changing the configuration of the neurons in the brain. It involves developing a new mode of thinking and perceiving the world. It involves literally an expansion of consciousness. Paul called it having the mind of Christ, Jesus called it the Kingdom or Realm of Heaven (or God) that is within us and in our midst.
This is what Jesus came to help humanity realize and develop into. But there are a lot of things that have to be deconstructed, taken apart, disassembled, in order to be rebuilt and reconfigured in our mental landscape. This is the work of the Spirit within us. And that is what Jesus immerses us in – the power of the Holy Spirit. And this transforms us. It transforms our direction in life, it transforms our focus in life, it transforms the world around us by the things we do, and it transforms our very reality. This is why the first Spiritual Life Practice is Centering Prayer. It is this practice that works to center us in the life-transforming presence of God.
We Begin with Reality.
Reality – our present reality, is our beginning place. We tell the truth about our world, and about ourselves and actively seek to engage healing processes in ourselves and our society. In order to tell that truth truthfully and completely will force us to face uncomfortable truths about ourselves, and our participation in systems of oppression and exploitation. But the work begins there. Jesus insisted upon telling the truth. Telling and knowing the truth sets us free.
Think of it in medical terms. Frequently the only way to rid the body of cancer or extreme disease is to do surgery. Any surgery is invasive in some form, and can be painful (thank God for anaesthesia!). But in order to save our life, we submit ourselves to surgery, and the painful healing process that follows.
In order to extricate ourselves from the deep psychological, emotional, and behavioral entanglements of these systems, we use the scalpel of truth-telling and inquiry into social and psychological systems that are oppressive, dysfunctional and destructive.
The basic process of dismantling and disentangling from oppressive, dysfunctional, and destructive Life Operating Systems (LOSs) is as follows:
- Confession: Tell the truth, listen to the truth
- Admit the hold those systems have over us
- Recognize the Divine Source that empowers change, growth, and development, and actively engage with this Source, using time-proven practices to manifest change within ourselves and our societies and communities
- Seek guidance and companionship of experienced and engaged persons
- Make amends for the harm we may have caused, and acting in solidarity with persons subjected to oppression, injustice, bias, hate, discrimination, abuse, trauma.
- Learn to live a new life with a new code of behavior;
- Help others who suffer from the effects of oppressive, dysfunctional, and destructive LOSs.
Yes! Next Mindify Yourself!