Five years ago on April 5, I was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Following Jesus has not been an easy thing, but I've found that the best things in life usually aren't easy. The best things in life are actually often hard, and develop your character. They make you think and reconsider what you believe. They challenge you to be better than what you are. Some of the best things in my own life - martial arts, writing, community, service - are the best only because they are means that God is using to make me more like Christ. All that we love in life is ultimately meant to point us back to the One who loves us.
When I really think about it though, the best things in life aren't even things at all - they're people. The people who love you enough to gently tell you the truth, even when it's hard to hear. The people who are there for you no matter what. The people who love you enough to make personal sacrifices for your benefit because they care about you more than themselves. People who love like Jesus loves.
Following Jesus is not easy because He is a real person with whom I have a real relationship, and quite frankly, real relationships are difficult. They take work, commitment, and trust that builds over time. Jesus is no different. He's not an idea, a dogma, a list of rules or things to do. He is a person, a man who wants to know you and love you for the person that you are, and unless you've honestly met him, you really have no idea what he's about.
So five years later, what can I say? Am I perfect? That's a big fat No. Am I better than other people? Definitely not. Am I a 'better person' from what I was? Maybe. But honestly, I don't think those are the right questions to ask anyway. What I do know is this: I am not afraid of what I once feared, for perfect love has cast out that fear. I have never been left truly alone, because He has never left me or forsaken me. And I have found Someone who is perfectly good, honest, gracious, powerful, and loving. And I can and will proclaim again that this man - this God - is worthy of following.
My entire life will be spent seeking understanding of these two verses:
"Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law? And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets." - Matthew 26:36-40
'And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me."' - Matthew 28:18
Sunday, April 6, 2014
Monday, August 5, 2013
On Running, Diving, and the Constant Movement of Sanctification
“Run run run run….dive! Run run run…dive! Dive! Run run run run….”
Some of the things that we do in martial arts require extensive explanations. Looking at the movement you think, “What the heck are they doing?” and someone inevitably provides a lecture to expound on whatever deep philosophical meaning is behind the esoteric movement. Not so with ‘Run in Place and Dive.” It's exactly what it sounds like, and it’s meant to teach one thing and one thing only: when you fall, you get back up and keep going. That’s it. The idea is that if you’re shot or stabbed, or if you just trip and fall, you do not have permission to stay there and die. You get up because you are still alive and you quite simply are not done yet. The Japanese have a saying that gets at this idea, nanakorobi yaoki (七転び八起), which means literally “fall seven, stand eight.” Some people translate that into “never give up,” but for me it has much more meaning. And though I am indeed going into philosophical expansion here, ultimately I aim to explain why we as Christians should simplify something that many of us– including myself – tend to seriously overcomplicate.
Far too often I "fall" by giving in to sin, and when I do, I am paralyzed. I am wrought with guilt and I can’t move in the sense that it's all I can think about. I’m so surprised. How could I have done this? I thought I was better, I thought I was done with that, I thought I wasn’t like that anymore – or if I’m really being honest, I never imagined I was like that to begin with. But God is not surprised by my sin. He who knows everything that I have done, and everything I will do before I do it, knew the full list of charges against me before I ever conceived them. He alone knew the entirety of the cost that needed to be paid on my behalf at the cross, and he willingly paid it. There are no limits, refunds, exchanges, or takebacks. He took me exactly the way that I was knowing full well what the sanctification process would look like for me (that’s part of the reason why marriage is so scary – you don’t really know for sure what God has in store for the sanctification of your spouse, but you’re signing up for it anyway, come hell or highwater). The promise and commitment that God makes to us is nothing short of that commitment. He looks intently at us individually, looks full into our face, and says, “I want you. I love you. And I am never, ever going to leave you or forsake you, no matter what.” He cannot renege on that promise. What’s more, he himself is actually the means by which we are made more than what we are. We grow up into him. There is no fear in love, and there is no fear with this kind of grace. There is no fear of abandonment, and there is no need to prove anything. What can you prove to a God like that, anyway? Yes, your sin is ugly. You know that. He knows that infinitely more. But he already said yes to you, and did so willingly.
Too often as Christians we over-analyze the next step to take. What do I need to do to make sure this doesn't happen again? Who can I talk to? What Bible verse can I read? How much do I need to repent until I know it’ll ‘take’? Am I repentant enough? I must not have meant it enough the first time since this is still a problem. But you know what? You’re human, and therefore you’re a sinner. You’re broken, flawed, and inherently part of the fall. And God’s working in your life to make you new. God is working on your sanctification and he’s working to eradicate the sin in your life with perfect precision and perfect timing. How long has that sin been in your life, anyway? Five years? Ten years? That’s a long time for a sin to take hold on your life, and it probably has deep rooted effects in areas of your life that you never even dreamed would be affected by it. But we get so frustrated when we repent and the sin doesn't go away overnight. But God is God! He could make it go away overnight! He says it will, right? Not exactly:
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” – Philippians 1:6
“For if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” -1 John 1:9.
God doesn’t promise a specific timeline for our sanctification, but he does promise forgiveness and cleansing. But I don’t feel very cleansed... I know. But in this instance, your feelings are wrong. You have been cleansed, you just instantly need more cleansing since your heart produced more sin. And that’s ok! The sin’s not ok, but rather your needing more cleansing. Where did you get the idea that you were going to achieve perfection in this life? We set a standard for perfection for ourselves, but that’s not God’s standard for us. He desires that we pursue perfection but he does not expect perfection of us while we are on this earth. If that were even possible, we wouldn’t have needed him or his sacrifice in the first place. We need to trust God’s timing. If something is deeply wrong within me and I need surgery to fix it, I don’t want my surgery done as quickly as possible, I want it done right. God is working on your heart, and he’s working on making you more like Jesus. And I thoroughly believe that there can be a day when you are completely freed from a sin that you never thought you would be able to shake. God can kill a sin dead.
So get up. Don’t let your failure and sin paralyze you. When a two year old falls down, they cry because it’s scary and they’re afraid that they are hurt. And sometimes they are hurt – knees get scraped and they can bleed and be in real pain. But even in those instances, the parent is there to pick them up off the ground, set them upright again and say, “See? You’re okay! Let’s get back up again and keep going.” That may sound simplistic and cliché, but I really do think we overthink things sometimes. When you fall, you get back up again- whether you are a two year old toddler or a fully grown samurai warrior. Most of the time, we’re okay! It’s jarring, but it’s okay. Even the toddler as they grow knows: the faster I get up, the faster I can go back to exploring and having fun. So get up! You’re okay! You’re not dead! You are forgiven, redeemed, and are being sanctified every day. God wants you to get up and go on. He wants you to keep running! He’s got good plans for you and you lying there paralyzed on the ground doesn't make you useful to him, and it doesn't do any good for you.
All fighters inevitably fall. It’s the true warriors that get back up again.
七転び八起
Some of the things that we do in martial arts require extensive explanations. Looking at the movement you think, “What the heck are they doing?” and someone inevitably provides a lecture to expound on whatever deep philosophical meaning is behind the esoteric movement. Not so with ‘Run in Place and Dive.” It's exactly what it sounds like, and it’s meant to teach one thing and one thing only: when you fall, you get back up and keep going. That’s it. The idea is that if you’re shot or stabbed, or if you just trip and fall, you do not have permission to stay there and die. You get up because you are still alive and you quite simply are not done yet. The Japanese have a saying that gets at this idea, nanakorobi yaoki (七転び八起), which means literally “fall seven, stand eight.” Some people translate that into “never give up,” but for me it has much more meaning. And though I am indeed going into philosophical expansion here, ultimately I aim to explain why we as Christians should simplify something that many of us– including myself – tend to seriously overcomplicate.
Far too often I "fall" by giving in to sin, and when I do, I am paralyzed. I am wrought with guilt and I can’t move in the sense that it's all I can think about. I’m so surprised. How could I have done this? I thought I was better, I thought I was done with that, I thought I wasn’t like that anymore – or if I’m really being honest, I never imagined I was like that to begin with. But God is not surprised by my sin. He who knows everything that I have done, and everything I will do before I do it, knew the full list of charges against me before I ever conceived them. He alone knew the entirety of the cost that needed to be paid on my behalf at the cross, and he willingly paid it. There are no limits, refunds, exchanges, or takebacks. He took me exactly the way that I was knowing full well what the sanctification process would look like for me (that’s part of the reason why marriage is so scary – you don’t really know for sure what God has in store for the sanctification of your spouse, but you’re signing up for it anyway, come hell or highwater). The promise and commitment that God makes to us is nothing short of that commitment. He looks intently at us individually, looks full into our face, and says, “I want you. I love you. And I am never, ever going to leave you or forsake you, no matter what.” He cannot renege on that promise. What’s more, he himself is actually the means by which we are made more than what we are. We grow up into him. There is no fear in love, and there is no fear with this kind of grace. There is no fear of abandonment, and there is no need to prove anything. What can you prove to a God like that, anyway? Yes, your sin is ugly. You know that. He knows that infinitely more. But he already said yes to you, and did so willingly.
Too often as Christians we over-analyze the next step to take. What do I need to do to make sure this doesn't happen again? Who can I talk to? What Bible verse can I read? How much do I need to repent until I know it’ll ‘take’? Am I repentant enough? I must not have meant it enough the first time since this is still a problem. But you know what? You’re human, and therefore you’re a sinner. You’re broken, flawed, and inherently part of the fall. And God’s working in your life to make you new. God is working on your sanctification and he’s working to eradicate the sin in your life with perfect precision and perfect timing. How long has that sin been in your life, anyway? Five years? Ten years? That’s a long time for a sin to take hold on your life, and it probably has deep rooted effects in areas of your life that you never even dreamed would be affected by it. But we get so frustrated when we repent and the sin doesn't go away overnight. But God is God! He could make it go away overnight! He says it will, right? Not exactly:
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” – Philippians 1:6
“For if we confess our sins he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” -1 John 1:9.
God doesn’t promise a specific timeline for our sanctification, but he does promise forgiveness and cleansing. But I don’t feel very cleansed... I know. But in this instance, your feelings are wrong. You have been cleansed, you just instantly need more cleansing since your heart produced more sin. And that’s ok! The sin’s not ok, but rather your needing more cleansing. Where did you get the idea that you were going to achieve perfection in this life? We set a standard for perfection for ourselves, but that’s not God’s standard for us. He desires that we pursue perfection but he does not expect perfection of us while we are on this earth. If that were even possible, we wouldn’t have needed him or his sacrifice in the first place. We need to trust God’s timing. If something is deeply wrong within me and I need surgery to fix it, I don’t want my surgery done as quickly as possible, I want it done right. God is working on your heart, and he’s working on making you more like Jesus. And I thoroughly believe that there can be a day when you are completely freed from a sin that you never thought you would be able to shake. God can kill a sin dead.
So get up. Don’t let your failure and sin paralyze you. When a two year old falls down, they cry because it’s scary and they’re afraid that they are hurt. And sometimes they are hurt – knees get scraped and they can bleed and be in real pain. But even in those instances, the parent is there to pick them up off the ground, set them upright again and say, “See? You’re okay! Let’s get back up again and keep going.” That may sound simplistic and cliché, but I really do think we overthink things sometimes. When you fall, you get back up again- whether you are a two year old toddler or a fully grown samurai warrior. Most of the time, we’re okay! It’s jarring, but it’s okay. Even the toddler as they grow knows: the faster I get up, the faster I can go back to exploring and having fun. So get up! You’re okay! You’re not dead! You are forgiven, redeemed, and are being sanctified every day. God wants you to get up and go on. He wants you to keep running! He’s got good plans for you and you lying there paralyzed on the ground doesn't make you useful to him, and it doesn't do any good for you.
All fighters inevitably fall. It’s the true warriors that get back up again.
七転び八起
Sunday, November 11, 2012
On the Grand Pillars and Enduring
Several martial arts are privileged to be the means by which ancient cultural traditions are kept alive. Kung fu, t’ai ji quan, silat, and many other arts have techniques and traditions that are hundreds of years old. The art that I practice has Japanese, Chinese, and Hawaiian lineages. Each lineage contributes practices that have been passed down from generation to generation, proven effective and upbuilding for the students who train in the art.
One practice from our Chinese side that is particularly meaningful for me is the Grand Pillars. The Grand Pillars consist of sixteen different poses that the student stands in for a given period of time, holding each pose on both the left and right side for a period anywhere from 10 seconds to a few minutes. While this may sound easy enough, anyone who has taken yoga can probably tell you that poses are not to be underestimated. Going into it you think, “I’m young, I’m fairly strong, and I’m in pretty good shape. I bet I can stay pretty low and get through these fine.” And for the first few poses, you probably can. Then after a few minutes the burning kicks in. The pain travels from your quads into your calves, your gluts, and your abs. It’s front, center, and unavoidable. Once you start Grand Pillars there’s no way out. Sure, you could cheat a little bit by letting yourself raise up an inch higher, taking a fraction of the searing edge off of your quadriceps. But the thing is, when everyone in the room is holding the same pose, any and every movement is amplified. And even worse than having the instructor see you cheat is personally knowing that you cut a corner in your training. There is no shortcut for Grand Pillars and no mystical secret to getting through it. They are a test of endurance and are meant to strengthen both body and mind.
During a retreat in San Diego
The Grand Pillars are more than just a martial arts practice; they are life itself. Suffering is inevitable, and there will be times when the pain seems unbearable. All we want to do is move out of the situation that we’re in, but many times we’re not able to change our circumstances. Instead, we must endure. We endure better when we are breathing and when we are focused on something other than our own pain. By breathing, I mean more than just inhaling air (though indeed there may be times when this is literally all we can do). To truly breathe is to take in and receive that which sustains us. By focusing on something other than our own pain, I do not mean being in denial of our own pain or needs, but rather taking our focus off of ourselves and placing our focus upwards toward God and outward toward the needs of other people.
Accordingly, the Christian must understand both what sustains her and where her focus should be. Scripture says that God is who sustains and upholds us, and God himself affirms this:
Behold, God is my helper; the Lord is the upholder of my life. – Psalm 54:4
My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me. – Psalm 63:8
The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. – Psalm 145:14
…Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous hand. – Isaiah 41:10
God’s promise to sustain us is one that we can powerfully claim:
Uphold me according to your promise, that I may live, and let me not be put to shame in my hope! – Psalm 119: 116
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. – Psalm 51:12
Thus, what the psalmist proclaims boldly, God confirms with promises we can cling to, and we know that He has the power to keep this promise:
He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. – Hebrews 1:3a
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” – Matthew 28: 18
Once the Christian understands what sustains her, it is easier for her to shift her focus above and beyond the situation. Pain, discomfort, and dissatisfaction can be amplified to the degree to which we are self-focused. While we do need to honestly look our own problems in the eye, we don’t have to stare at them. On its own, dwelling on our imperfections and pain does nothing to alleviate them. But when you believe in a God who is so powerful that he upholds the universe by his word, a God who holds all authority in heaven and on earth, a God who has given his only Son to save you because he loves you so much, and a God who can give you new life and redeem any circumstance, you now have something that is truly worthy of your focus.
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on earth. – Colossians 3:1-2
When I meditate on who God is and what he has done for me, my mind is naturally drawn upward in prayer. I look up from my own suffering and see the compassionate face of Christ as He suffered for my sake. As I pray in gratitude to Him, my prayer extends outward toward other people in my life – starting with those who are enduring the Grand Pillars with me. I think about other people in my life who are suffering, and I pray for God to uphold them in the same way that he upholds me. Praying during something like the Grand Pillars doesn’t necessarily mean that they are any easier, but it does in some inexplicable way make them more enjoyable. Perhaps it’s because I come away from them feeling spiritually stronger in addition to feeling physically and mentally stronger. By praying through the Grand Pillars I am training myself to turn to God during painful times – times when I desperately need to cling to his promise to uphold me.
During the Grand Pillars, your body is screaming at you to move while your mind is simultaneously fighting to stay still. It is a literal representation of Mark 38:14, where “the spirit is indeed willing, but the flesh is weak.” Practices like this help the martial artist to bring the body further under the control of the will, so that we are capable of executing that which we desire to achieve. For the Christian, this has unique meaning in light of the earlier part of the aforementioned verse, where Mark warns to “watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation.” Our will is not naturally God’s will, and we need to train in the ways of righteousness if we are to act in a manner consistent with Christ.
Often times students practicing the Grand Pillars will drop a knee to the ground midway through. When that happens, the instructor quickly tells them to get back up- and the student rises and assumes the same position – still shaking, sweating, and wanting nothing more than to rest their muscles. But they rise again because while their muscles may have given up, their minds have not. You would think that after dropping they would just stay down, but as the student resumes their position they learn that they can continue despite the pain. They learn that they are capable of more than they thought they were, and they push themselves beyond limits they had originally set. The Grand Pillars teach a simple lesson that a wise man once told me: you’re not finished when you’re tired, you’re finished when you’re done.
I don’t practice the Grand Pillars as often as I should, but the thing about a solid pillar is that once you’ve built it, it stands strong. That there is a God who loves me, has saved me, redeemed me, and is with me every day, and that he has a greater purpose for my life: these solid pillars have truly upheld me during times of suffering. When you are suffering, I offer you these two things: breathe, and lift your mind upward to the Lord and outward to others. By this may you train in righteousness and progress in the art of endurance.
Saturday, October 20, 2012
On Power and Grace
The main martial art that I discuss in these posts is Gozan-ryu Saito ninjutsu- a familial martial art which is at once beautiful, violent, traditional and practical. My class is taught by Lance Wisdom, a guy who is genuinely one of the nicest (though also likely most dangerous) men that I know. He has taught me much about what it means to stand at odds with an enemy and what it really takes to defeat an enemy should there be need to engage.
One of Lance’s specialties is improvised weapons. He once spent an entire class teaching us how to fight with pens and books. He demonstrated a certain technique on me; one minute I was standing upright, the next minute I was held upside down, pinned against a wall, with a pen dug into my knee in a way that I quite simply did not understand in any manner other than it would hurt very badly should he apply full pressure. It is important to note that he never applies these techniques out of anger and he is not trying to show off how tough he is. He exposes us to (gentle) pain to help us mentally prepare for real world conflict, and he teaches us carefully because he cares about us and would never want anything bad to happen to us. We know that Lance is very strong, and we respect him for how he uses that strength and shares it with us.
In my first year at UCLA, our class had a visit from Sensei. For those of you not familiar with martial arts, sensei is a respectful term for a master of the art and the teacher of the teachers. Our sensei, Sensei Kawika, was and is Lance’s teacher. His biography is extensive, including work with the SEALs, the CIA , degrees from Ivy League schools, and oh yeah- he’s an ordained Episcopal priest (more on that later). As those of us in the class listened to Lance introduce Sensei with a great deal of respect, we too prepared a respectful attitude for a man who has authority as a master.
Sensei spoke for most of the time, but he did demonstrate a few techniques on Lance. Now, I’m not sure how many of you have ever watched one full grown man throw another full grown man across a room, but let me tell you, it is humbling. We watched as Sensei did to Lance as Lance does to us- putting him into submissions and locks with the same ease with which he might open a door. It was an odd thing to watch a man that I know to be so strong be that vulnerable at the hands of another. My logic went like this: Lance is more powerful than I am, and so I have a healthy fear and respect for him. Sensei is more powerful than Lance is, and therefore my fear and respect for Sensei should be proportionally greater. And indeed, it was.
At Sensei’s beckoning, Lance rushed full speed at Sensei. Sensei’s reaction happened very quickly, so much so that I don’t think I can describe it with much accuracy. What did happen was that Sensei shouted (ki-ai’ed) and lifted his hand into a uniquely shaped fist that stopped on a dime, poised directly in front of Lance’s eye. I believe Sensei’s foot had trapped Lance’s foot and planted it on the earth, stopping Lance dead in his tracks- a fitting expression given that Lance’s eye was literally inches away from the hand that could effortlessly thrust through his eyeball and into his skull.
It was at that moment that Sensei said something that I will never forget. With one hand poised lethally, he pointed down at his enemy with his other hand and said that the best thing that would ever happen to our enemy would be that they had attacked us and not somebody else. He said that his faith taught him not to kill, and that he did not want to take any man’s life. However, it is only by having the power to take a life that you have the power to refrain from doing so.
This was how Sensei started to explain why some of the first things students are taught in this art are techniques to kill in combat. I was especially listening to this, because it was one thing that had always bothered me about this art. I am a Christian, and God instructs that I am not to murder. Yes, I want to know how to defend myself, but I don’t think I would ever want to actually kill another human being. And here is the Sensei of this art, teaching these techniques and yet also an ordained priest in the Christian faith. How is my faith- our faith- to be reconciled with this art where techniques to kill are taught right from the get go? If that is where we start from, to where do we progress?
The answer, I came to realize, is that we progress toward mercy. In his demonstration with Lance, Sensei was completely confident in his control within the situation. He knew that he could end the threat at any time, and having this power meant that he also had the capability to make a conscious choice of whether to kill or not kill. In other words, he had the power to exercise mercy. I thought about that in light of all the martial arts training I have had. I pictured what my reaction would actually be if I were to be attacked by someone with the express intent of harming or killing me. Under ideal conditions I might be able to gracefully land my blows and escape, but life is not lived under ideal conditions. Even with hundreds of hours of training, I would still have adrenaline coursing through my veins, and I would still be terrified to a certain extent. And if I wasn’t careful, if I wasn’t in control, it would be entirely possible that in my panicked state I could end up harming that person far beyond what I would normally feel comfortably inflicting, and possibly even killing them. Because I would not have control or power, I would not have the capability to exercise mercy. This is what Sensei and Lance aim to give us with our training- not only power over our enemies, but power even to the point of showing grace in the form of mercy to our enemy.
As powerful as Lance is, and as powerful as Sensei is, they are but men. Their power, my power, your power- any height or degree of power to which any one person can attain is still infinitesimally pathetic in comparison to the power of the living God. God created us, fathomed us even before the beginning of all things. He created the universe out of nothing. He sees all things and knows all things; he is present in every single situation simultaneously. God doesn’t just feel confident that he has control in a situation, he actually does have constant and complete control over every atom in the universe. With a single word, he could destroy us in an instant. If there is anyone who is worthy of our fear and respect, it is the living God himself.
And yet, notice what this all-powerful God has done: though we gravely offend him in the vilest of ways, though we violate every command from the source of pure goodness and truth, though we have spit in the face of our Creator who has the absolute power to annihilate us- he offers us mercy. Our sin against a truly perfect God is eternally insolent- infinitely more offensive than any transgression that one human being can commit toward another. But because God is completely powerful, he is able to show complete mercy to his enemies (us). Instead of instantly delivering the death blow that he is fully justified to give, God reaches out to us and offers complete forgiveness for all of our sins toward him. By accepting Jesus Christ and believing that He paid the ultimate price- the death that you deserve for your offenses against God- you cease to become an enemy of God. You surrender to the one who is more powerful than you, and he extends to you an unfathomable amount of mercy. Not only do you cease to become an enemy, but you are adopted as a son into the family of God- taught, cared for, and loved with the compassion that a good father shows toward his son.
Things to consider:
Things to consider:
-What kind of power do you ascribe to God? What is your place before God in light of this? What is your justification for this?
-Would you be prepared to face God as an enemy?
-Most importantly: if God were extending his mercy toward you, would you be willing to accept it?
-Would you be prepared to face God as an enemy?
-Most importantly: if God were extending his mercy toward you, would you be willing to accept it?
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
On Tunnel Vision and The Bigger Picture
God drew my attention to something this week that is perfectly fitting as a follow up to this blog's previous discussion of awareness.
One of the trademarks of ninjitsu in the form that we practice is its fundamental understanding of how real world violence happens and what the natural human response to that violence is. We consider how an enemy might attack, what our likely response to the attack will be, and how we can best prepare ourselves in light of this. We always make two basic presumptions: that there are multiple attackers and that any/all of them are armed with weapons. Multiple attackers with weapons significantly raise the stakes of any encounter and in a sense represent the worst case scenario. By training for the worst case scenario, we hope to gain the skills and the confidence to handle whatever kind of confrontation comes our way.
Weapons in particular introduce a phenomenon known as tunnel vision to the confrontation. Tunnel vision occurs when the enemy draws a weapon, such as a knife or a gun, and the defender's field of vision focuses in on the weapon to the point that they are not necessarily paying attention to the rest of their surroundings. When someone draws a deadly weapon, our natural reaction is to concentrate our attention- all of our attention- on the weapon and nothing else. The weapon itself becomes the threat as opposed to the situation as a whole. When tunnel vision occurs, we aren't looking around us. We aren't considering the possibility of other attackers. Instead of seeing the situation in its entirety- and possibly an easy escape route- all we can see is danger. All the techniques, all the training, all the things that we know to be effective have the potential to go out the window when we resort to panicked responses that leave us even more subect to danger.
Lately I've been seeing tunnel vision happen in my life, though thankfully not in the sense of attackers with deadly weapons. Rather the "threat" that I've seen myself focusing in on is my lack of income. I've been unemployed now for almost 3 months with little to no income coming in. When I left my old job (due to disagreement to business practices) I had planned ahead of time, saving enough money for a few months rent, bills, etc. I knew that things would be hard and that it would take me a while to find a job, but I had full confidence that God would provide a job for me. But as the weeks passed by, and then the months, I found that confidence edging away. My thoughts would continually come back to the fear that I wouldn't find a job, that I wouldn't be able to pay my rent, that somehow God wouldn't keep his promise to take care of me. And try as I might my mind would circle back to my bank account, to my expenses, and to Sallie Mae's impertinent emails. The threat of not having a dependable income bypassed all my other concerns and seemed the most imminent priority to deal with.
My tunnel vision got to the point where I couldn't even appreciate all of the amazing things that God is providing for me or blessing me with in other areas of my life. Instead of seeing how my free time is enabling me to support and be there for my friends, I would feel guilty that I wasn't doing something "more meaningful" than blessing other people. Instead of recognizing my volunteering hours as an opportunity for growth and further service, I would feel slighted that I wasn't getting something more lucrative out of my time. And instead of being grateful for my health, my lovely new apartment, my safety, my loved ones, and for crying out loud my eternal salvation through redemption in Christ's blood, I found myself subconsciously resenting God for not giving me what I really need (as if I were to know what was in the first place). In my tunnel vision, I was sinning against the living God. And the potential damage of this is far more serious than any physical consequence that might result from a lack of income.
Tunnel vision in the physical and the spiritual sense are alike in that they remove us from the bigger picture of what's going on. For every one element that we narrowly focus in on, we're missing out on one hundred other elements that are simultaneously and significantly impacting us. And without seeing that bigger picture, how can we possibly expect to react appropriately? Truth, and the truth of where we are (in every sense of the phrase) is all encompassing, and our vision of it needs to be accordingly comprehensive. We must never lose sight of the bigger picture.
So how to we avoid tunnel vision? We train. We train and train until we come to believe and to trust that the techniques we practice without a weapon are exactly the same and just as effective in a situation with a weapon. We practice with substitutes for weapons until the martial arts techniques replace even our natural tendency toward tunnel vision. Indeed, the art itself becomes our instinct and what we act upon first and foremost. This is not to suggest that we will be without fear when someone draws a deadly weapon on us. No amount of training can prepare you fully for a life threatening situation. But in the instance that it does come, we turn first to what is proven beneficial instead of to what is unknown and fear driven.
If someone comes at us with a knife, we need to trust that all of the training we've ever done is still effective and beneficial for our situation. If we're facing hardships, we need to trust that all of God's promises are still just as true as they ever were. Whatever the threat may be, it might change our situation but it does not change the truth. God alone is the Creator, and he alone is sovereign over this universe. God never breaks his promises. Ever. He is unchanging from eternity past to eternity future and we can trust that the truth of the Gospel will never change. God is the rightful king to the ultimate throne and the entirety of our lives should be lived in light of what he has done for us. We must train in righteousness according to this truth, putting into practice our trust in the Lord and his ways, so that however trying our circumstances may be our natural response will be faith in the Lord.
Yes, I need a source of income. God knows this. But his word tells me to seek first His kingdom, and I will trust that this really is what I need first and foremost. God has already resolved the biggest problem that I could ever face- atonement for my sin- and in light of that bigger picture, there is no reason to fear.
Are you able to see the bigger picture in your circumstances?
What do you have tunnel vision on right now?
One of the trademarks of ninjitsu in the form that we practice is its fundamental understanding of how real world violence happens and what the natural human response to that violence is. We consider how an enemy might attack, what our likely response to the attack will be, and how we can best prepare ourselves in light of this. We always make two basic presumptions: that there are multiple attackers and that any/all of them are armed with weapons. Multiple attackers with weapons significantly raise the stakes of any encounter and in a sense represent the worst case scenario. By training for the worst case scenario, we hope to gain the skills and the confidence to handle whatever kind of confrontation comes our way.
Weapons in particular introduce a phenomenon known as tunnel vision to the confrontation. Tunnel vision occurs when the enemy draws a weapon, such as a knife or a gun, and the defender's field of vision focuses in on the weapon to the point that they are not necessarily paying attention to the rest of their surroundings. When someone draws a deadly weapon, our natural reaction is to concentrate our attention- all of our attention- on the weapon and nothing else. The weapon itself becomes the threat as opposed to the situation as a whole. When tunnel vision occurs, we aren't looking around us. We aren't considering the possibility of other attackers. Instead of seeing the situation in its entirety- and possibly an easy escape route- all we can see is danger. All the techniques, all the training, all the things that we know to be effective have the potential to go out the window when we resort to panicked responses that leave us even more subect to danger.
Lately I've been seeing tunnel vision happen in my life, though thankfully not in the sense of attackers with deadly weapons. Rather the "threat" that I've seen myself focusing in on is my lack of income. I've been unemployed now for almost 3 months with little to no income coming in. When I left my old job (due to disagreement to business practices) I had planned ahead of time, saving enough money for a few months rent, bills, etc. I knew that things would be hard and that it would take me a while to find a job, but I had full confidence that God would provide a job for me. But as the weeks passed by, and then the months, I found that confidence edging away. My thoughts would continually come back to the fear that I wouldn't find a job, that I wouldn't be able to pay my rent, that somehow God wouldn't keep his promise to take care of me. And try as I might my mind would circle back to my bank account, to my expenses, and to Sallie Mae's impertinent emails. The threat of not having a dependable income bypassed all my other concerns and seemed the most imminent priority to deal with.
My tunnel vision got to the point where I couldn't even appreciate all of the amazing things that God is providing for me or blessing me with in other areas of my life. Instead of seeing how my free time is enabling me to support and be there for my friends, I would feel guilty that I wasn't doing something "more meaningful" than blessing other people. Instead of recognizing my volunteering hours as an opportunity for growth and further service, I would feel slighted that I wasn't getting something more lucrative out of my time. And instead of being grateful for my health, my lovely new apartment, my safety, my loved ones, and for crying out loud my eternal salvation through redemption in Christ's blood, I found myself subconsciously resenting God for not giving me what I really need (as if I were to know what was in the first place). In my tunnel vision, I was sinning against the living God. And the potential damage of this is far more serious than any physical consequence that might result from a lack of income.
Tunnel vision in the physical and the spiritual sense are alike in that they remove us from the bigger picture of what's going on. For every one element that we narrowly focus in on, we're missing out on one hundred other elements that are simultaneously and significantly impacting us. And without seeing that bigger picture, how can we possibly expect to react appropriately? Truth, and the truth of where we are (in every sense of the phrase) is all encompassing, and our vision of it needs to be accordingly comprehensive. We must never lose sight of the bigger picture.
So how to we avoid tunnel vision? We train. We train and train until we come to believe and to trust that the techniques we practice without a weapon are exactly the same and just as effective in a situation with a weapon. We practice with substitutes for weapons until the martial arts techniques replace even our natural tendency toward tunnel vision. Indeed, the art itself becomes our instinct and what we act upon first and foremost. This is not to suggest that we will be without fear when someone draws a deadly weapon on us. No amount of training can prepare you fully for a life threatening situation. But in the instance that it does come, we turn first to what is proven beneficial instead of to what is unknown and fear driven.
If someone comes at us with a knife, we need to trust that all of the training we've ever done is still effective and beneficial for our situation. If we're facing hardships, we need to trust that all of God's promises are still just as true as they ever were. Whatever the threat may be, it might change our situation but it does not change the truth. God alone is the Creator, and he alone is sovereign over this universe. God never breaks his promises. Ever. He is unchanging from eternity past to eternity future and we can trust that the truth of the Gospel will never change. God is the rightful king to the ultimate throne and the entirety of our lives should be lived in light of what he has done for us. We must train in righteousness according to this truth, putting into practice our trust in the Lord and his ways, so that however trying our circumstances may be our natural response will be faith in the Lord.
Yes, I need a source of income. God knows this. But his word tells me to seek first His kingdom, and I will trust that this really is what I need first and foremost. God has already resolved the biggest problem that I could ever face- atonement for my sin- and in light of that bigger picture, there is no reason to fear.
Are you able to see the bigger picture in your circumstances?
What do you have tunnel vision on right now?
Saturday, August 6, 2011
On the Death Circle and Engaging the Enemy
When I started taking ninjitsu at UCLA, I didn't know anything about the philosophy of the art. I'd taken other martial arts classes before, and there was a lot of the same content across the board: being aware of your surroundings, reacting to your attacker, putting up a good defense, etc. I guess I figured that ninjitsu would probably involve something along those lines, maybe with some nunchucks incorporated in somehow.
So I was quite surprised when my instructor, Lance, began one of our first classes by teaching one of the main principles of ninjitsu.
"Alright, today we're going to learn about something called the Death Circle."
Excuse me, what?
The Death Circle, for those of you unaware, is the distance between your fingertips and your body when your arm is outstretched in front of you with your hand held flat, palm toward the earth. The concept is simply this: that should any person enter that radius with the express intent of seriously harming you, you must expect to fight to the death- and the person who dies will not be you. You need to be so continually aware of your surroundings that the enemy is never able to enter your Death Circle. However, even with the best decisions things can and do go wrong sometimes and if the enemy does come that close to you, you must be prepared to fully engage.
Lance went on to explain that this wasn't intended to be just some scary concept to sound bad-ass. Rather, the term is a reflection of the traditional roots of the art. Ninjitsu in this form evolved as a natural defense of commoners against the pillaging samurai who would violently raid villages during their final years of declining power. If you were a villager and some warrior was coming at you aiming to take your family, your livelihood and your very life, you had to be ready to fight to the death against him. You could not let the enemy into your Death Circle or you would die.
"Notice how I'm saying 'enemy,' not 'opponent,'" Lance continued. "'Opponent' implies a game, but we don't play games." He described how a ninja perceives the enemy, engages with the enemy if needed and gets the job done. No flashy moves. No admiring your work. Just do what you need to do to get home to your family.
Hm. Not quite what I'd heard in any other martial arts class.
I thought about that a lot after class. My main question was, now that I don't have to worry so much about rogue samurai raping and pillaging West LA, what does this no-nonsense recognition of/engaging with the enemy look like for me?
Enter the concept of spiritual warfare.
When I was a little girl, I was taught that spiritual warfare was happening on the earth. My parents taught me that there were things in the spiritual realm that humans can't see, both good and evil, and they were fighting for influence in this world. The message I got was that as Christians, we were to stay away from things that the Bible said was evil, and as long as we followed God we would be safe from spiritual evil. Now as a child I believed whatever I was taught about God and the concept of spiritual warfare was no exception. However, it wasn't something that I particularly wanted to dwell on. I mean, what was I supposed to do with that? Good and evil are having some sort of battle and I'm supposed to do something about it? It was a lot easier for me to just believe all of the nice, fluffy aspects of religion as opposed to trying to wrestle through some kind of spiritual contention that was happening in a realm I couldn't see.
As I got older, I started to appreciate the existence of the spiritual realm. I started to see more of the evil that I had been warned about, and not all of it could be explained through human actions and emotions. They were simple things, really. The look in a stranger's eye that inexplicably sent chills down my spine. An insidious little voice in my head telling me self-deprecating things that I knew weren't true. Hearing about horrible things that people did and trying to understand how one human being could possibly do things like that to another. These things added up and it got to the point where personally, I couldn't deny any longer that there truly was a presence of evil in this world, and there was a very good chance that part of that evil existed in the spiritual realm. But even then, I didn't see what all of this had to do with me. My physical, mental and spiritual health seemed alright to me, and I figured I'd satisfied whatever general requirements there were for "good" that those evil things were probably going to leave me alone.
As with so many other things in my life, learning the Gospel changed my entire perspective. I learned that God was the supreme source of good, and that he had created all things good originally. I learned that God had an enemy, Satan, who was very real and that this enemy's deception incited humans toward committing original sin. Sin was introduced into this world, with death being the ultimate consequence. Every ugly, torturous, mean thing that somebody ever said or did to somebody else was caused by this sin. I realized that rather than being a "good" person, I was a sinner just like everybody else and that I had acted very evilly toward other people and toward God. I saw that Jesus, through his death and resurrection, conquered death once and for all and that he took the punishment for all of the sins that anyone had ever committed- including me. And because I believe that is true, I will get to be with Jesus for eternity. Satan knows that Jesus has the power to defeat all evil, and so it is the devil's desire that people not come to believe in Jesus as the Savior.
From the spiritual perspective, the Death Circle is still a relevant concept for today. We may not be villagers on guard from warriors, but whether we like it or not we are standing on a spiritual battlefield and good and evil will continue to contend in our lives regardless of our individual stance on the manner. The crux of the matter is this: evil exists. The devil exists. And if you are a Christian aiming to spread the Gospel and give God glory, the devil does not like what you are doing. As a matter of fact, he will do anything he can to make sure you are not doing those things. The devil is your enemy, and he will engage you with the intent to kill.
So imagine you have a real enemy who is actively trying to deceive and ultimately kill you, by any means necessary. How would you react to that? What kinds of things would you want to know in order to prepare? What are the implications of choosing not to believe that this enemy exists?
Once you recognize an enemy, how close do you let that enemy get to you? Are you letting them sit at a 'safe' distance or do you let them into your Death Circle, where the real damage can be done?
Finally, when the enemy does engage you, how do you react? Or do you react at all?
"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." -1 Peter 5:8
So I was quite surprised when my instructor, Lance, began one of our first classes by teaching one of the main principles of ninjitsu.
"Alright, today we're going to learn about something called the Death Circle."
Excuse me, what?
The Death Circle, for those of you unaware, is the distance between your fingertips and your body when your arm is outstretched in front of you with your hand held flat, palm toward the earth. The concept is simply this: that should any person enter that radius with the express intent of seriously harming you, you must expect to fight to the death- and the person who dies will not be you. You need to be so continually aware of your surroundings that the enemy is never able to enter your Death Circle. However, even with the best decisions things can and do go wrong sometimes and if the enemy does come that close to you, you must be prepared to fully engage.
Lance went on to explain that this wasn't intended to be just some scary concept to sound bad-ass. Rather, the term is a reflection of the traditional roots of the art. Ninjitsu in this form evolved as a natural defense of commoners against the pillaging samurai who would violently raid villages during their final years of declining power. If you were a villager and some warrior was coming at you aiming to take your family, your livelihood and your very life, you had to be ready to fight to the death against him. You could not let the enemy into your Death Circle or you would die.
"Notice how I'm saying 'enemy,' not 'opponent,'" Lance continued. "'Opponent' implies a game, but we don't play games." He described how a ninja perceives the enemy, engages with the enemy if needed and gets the job done. No flashy moves. No admiring your work. Just do what you need to do to get home to your family.
Hm. Not quite what I'd heard in any other martial arts class.
I thought about that a lot after class. My main question was, now that I don't have to worry so much about rogue samurai raping and pillaging West LA, what does this no-nonsense recognition of/engaging with the enemy look like for me?
Enter the concept of spiritual warfare.
When I was a little girl, I was taught that spiritual warfare was happening on the earth. My parents taught me that there were things in the spiritual realm that humans can't see, both good and evil, and they were fighting for influence in this world. The message I got was that as Christians, we were to stay away from things that the Bible said was evil, and as long as we followed God we would be safe from spiritual evil. Now as a child I believed whatever I was taught about God and the concept of spiritual warfare was no exception. However, it wasn't something that I particularly wanted to dwell on. I mean, what was I supposed to do with that? Good and evil are having some sort of battle and I'm supposed to do something about it? It was a lot easier for me to just believe all of the nice, fluffy aspects of religion as opposed to trying to wrestle through some kind of spiritual contention that was happening in a realm I couldn't see.
As I got older, I started to appreciate the existence of the spiritual realm. I started to see more of the evil that I had been warned about, and not all of it could be explained through human actions and emotions. They were simple things, really. The look in a stranger's eye that inexplicably sent chills down my spine. An insidious little voice in my head telling me self-deprecating things that I knew weren't true. Hearing about horrible things that people did and trying to understand how one human being could possibly do things like that to another. These things added up and it got to the point where personally, I couldn't deny any longer that there truly was a presence of evil in this world, and there was a very good chance that part of that evil existed in the spiritual realm. But even then, I didn't see what all of this had to do with me. My physical, mental and spiritual health seemed alright to me, and I figured I'd satisfied whatever general requirements there were for "good" that those evil things were probably going to leave me alone.
As with so many other things in my life, learning the Gospel changed my entire perspective. I learned that God was the supreme source of good, and that he had created all things good originally. I learned that God had an enemy, Satan, who was very real and that this enemy's deception incited humans toward committing original sin. Sin was introduced into this world, with death being the ultimate consequence. Every ugly, torturous, mean thing that somebody ever said or did to somebody else was caused by this sin. I realized that rather than being a "good" person, I was a sinner just like everybody else and that I had acted very evilly toward other people and toward God. I saw that Jesus, through his death and resurrection, conquered death once and for all and that he took the punishment for all of the sins that anyone had ever committed- including me. And because I believe that is true, I will get to be with Jesus for eternity. Satan knows that Jesus has the power to defeat all evil, and so it is the devil's desire that people not come to believe in Jesus as the Savior.
From the spiritual perspective, the Death Circle is still a relevant concept for today. We may not be villagers on guard from warriors, but whether we like it or not we are standing on a spiritual battlefield and good and evil will continue to contend in our lives regardless of our individual stance on the manner. The crux of the matter is this: evil exists. The devil exists. And if you are a Christian aiming to spread the Gospel and give God glory, the devil does not like what you are doing. As a matter of fact, he will do anything he can to make sure you are not doing those things. The devil is your enemy, and he will engage you with the intent to kill.
So imagine you have a real enemy who is actively trying to deceive and ultimately kill you, by any means necessary. How would you react to that? What kinds of things would you want to know in order to prepare? What are the implications of choosing not to believe that this enemy exists?
Once you recognize an enemy, how close do you let that enemy get to you? Are you letting them sit at a 'safe' distance or do you let them into your Death Circle, where the real damage can be done?
Finally, when the enemy does engage you, how do you react? Or do you react at all?
"Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." -1 Peter 5:8
On Awareness
About a year after I began taking ninjitsu classes, I started joining my instructor to help out with the self defense classes that he taught on campus. We would get there early, warm up, discuss what would be taught, and watch as the students filed in. Most of them were a little nervous and not sure what to expect. Some of them were really excited at the prospect of learning how to punch, kick, throw, etc. As we got started it was usually clear that everyone there was ready to start their training in some bona fide kick-assery. But I don't think any of them ever anticipated how each class would begin.
"Ok, let's get started. How many doors are in the room? How many windows?"
Immediately heads turned to look around, but the students were instructed not to "cheat." The point of the exercise is to test your awareness of your surroundings, and not letting the students look was a way to get them to realize their failure to pay attention to the room they were in. After the point set in, then we considered together all of the doors, windows and any other possible escape routes from the room. Once that was done, the real curveball got thrown.
"Ok, now where's the tiger?"
A puzzling look descended on the students' faces and you could see the question on their minds: what tiger? Usually at least one astute student would proudly say, "There!" and point to a small stuffed tiger perched in a corner or atop another object in the room. The tiger had been hidden before class began in a spot that was not in direct line of sight but still out in the open. The instructor used this teachable moment to talk about how awareness and instincts can be tied together. We need to be able to identify when there is something unusual or "off" in our surroundings so that we can be quickly alerted to cues for danger. While the stuffed tiger posed no danger, an unattended box or knapsack may not prove to be so inocuous depending on its location in public.
Most self defense teachers I've talked to say that if they could, they would spend the entire self defense class talking about the importance of paying attention to surroundings and discussing good strategies for how to do so. The only problem is that if they did that, no one would ever stay for the classes because people want to learn the physical techniques associated with self defense. Most people consider these to be the "real" tools to use in the face of danger. Yet the importance of self awareness cannot be stressed enough. I don't care how proficient I become at a technique to break a choke hold, I would rather never have to use the technique at all and avoid any situation where I would ever need to break a choke hold. And that starts with smart decisions: do I need to walk down this dark path, or can I take the more brightly lit path one block further? Do I need to listen to my iPod and block out the noise around me right now, or can I wait a few minutes until I'm in my car to hear music? Do I stare down in my purse hunting for my keys and cell phone as I walk blindly, or are those objects I can have in hand before leaving my initial location? In order to make the best decision for the situation you're in and to really avoid danger, full awareness of your surroundings is absolutely imperative.
In the same way, we must constantly be aware of our spiritual surroundings. If our physical surroundings affect the amount of danger threatening our bodies, then likewise our mental and spiritual surroundings will affect the danger threatening our psyches and our souls. While we often consider the safety of our bodies to be of utmost importance (and indeed it is a significant matter, not to be taken lightly), the fact remains that no matter how safe our paths are, our bodies will inevitably die. The soul, however, is eternal, and to disregard its safety would be foolish at the least and fatally tragic at worst.
Spirital dangers are harder to observe, and they will differ for each of us. The following are a few things to consider regarding recognition of mental/spiritual dangers:
-Where are you at spiritually? That is, what do you believe about your own soul? If this isn't something that you've ever seriously sat down to think about, I'd encourage you to take the time to consider that now.
-What are you surrounded by? What's talking to you the most during the day? What are you looking at for most of your day? Everything around you is sending you a message of some sort; it is worthwhile to consider what those messages are.
-What do your instincts tell you about your surroundings? How do you react to those instincts? For instance, if you're in a situation where your instinct is to be angry or afraid, stop and consider- why do I feel this way? What is the source of my anger/fear and what I should be doing in response to this?
"Ok, let's get started. How many doors are in the room? How many windows?"
Immediately heads turned to look around, but the students were instructed not to "cheat." The point of the exercise is to test your awareness of your surroundings, and not letting the students look was a way to get them to realize their failure to pay attention to the room they were in. After the point set in, then we considered together all of the doors, windows and any other possible escape routes from the room. Once that was done, the real curveball got thrown.
"Ok, now where's the tiger?"
A puzzling look descended on the students' faces and you could see the question on their minds: what tiger? Usually at least one astute student would proudly say, "There!" and point to a small stuffed tiger perched in a corner or atop another object in the room. The tiger had been hidden before class began in a spot that was not in direct line of sight but still out in the open. The instructor used this teachable moment to talk about how awareness and instincts can be tied together. We need to be able to identify when there is something unusual or "off" in our surroundings so that we can be quickly alerted to cues for danger. While the stuffed tiger posed no danger, an unattended box or knapsack may not prove to be so inocuous depending on its location in public.
Most self defense teachers I've talked to say that if they could, they would spend the entire self defense class talking about the importance of paying attention to surroundings and discussing good strategies for how to do so. The only problem is that if they did that, no one would ever stay for the classes because people want to learn the physical techniques associated with self defense. Most people consider these to be the "real" tools to use in the face of danger. Yet the importance of self awareness cannot be stressed enough. I don't care how proficient I become at a technique to break a choke hold, I would rather never have to use the technique at all and avoid any situation where I would ever need to break a choke hold. And that starts with smart decisions: do I need to walk down this dark path, or can I take the more brightly lit path one block further? Do I need to listen to my iPod and block out the noise around me right now, or can I wait a few minutes until I'm in my car to hear music? Do I stare down in my purse hunting for my keys and cell phone as I walk blindly, or are those objects I can have in hand before leaving my initial location? In order to make the best decision for the situation you're in and to really avoid danger, full awareness of your surroundings is absolutely imperative.
In the same way, we must constantly be aware of our spiritual surroundings. If our physical surroundings affect the amount of danger threatening our bodies, then likewise our mental and spiritual surroundings will affect the danger threatening our psyches and our souls. While we often consider the safety of our bodies to be of utmost importance (and indeed it is a significant matter, not to be taken lightly), the fact remains that no matter how safe our paths are, our bodies will inevitably die. The soul, however, is eternal, and to disregard its safety would be foolish at the least and fatally tragic at worst.
Spirital dangers are harder to observe, and they will differ for each of us. The following are a few things to consider regarding recognition of mental/spiritual dangers:
-Where are you at spiritually? That is, what do you believe about your own soul? If this isn't something that you've ever seriously sat down to think about, I'd encourage you to take the time to consider that now.
-What are you surrounded by? What's talking to you the most during the day? What are you looking at for most of your day? Everything around you is sending you a message of some sort; it is worthwhile to consider what those messages are.
-What do your instincts tell you about your surroundings? How do you react to those instincts? For instance, if you're in a situation where your instinct is to be angry or afraid, stop and consider- why do I feel this way? What is the source of my anger/fear and what I should be doing in response to this?
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