SWEET SPOTS

Greetings all.  Here's #2 in my current "Spiritual Senses" series. I hope you find it helpful.


Strolling through Central Park in New York City one sunny afternoon, I heard a cellist playing Johann Pachelbel’s Canon in D. Following sound to source I came upon a college-age woman who wasn’t just smart. She was wise. She’d found the sweet spot just inside the entrance to a ten-foot high pedestrian tunnel where she could hear herself play in “real time” while--due to the echo factor--those of us passing through the tunnel thought we’d just walked into a concert at nearby Carnegie Hall. I was so flooded with an instantaneous wave of emotion (and remember I’m a Norwegian guy whose ancestors were farmers) I had to step aside from the busy path, close my eyes and just listen--chills coursing through my entire body. I could literally FEEL the music reverberating off the walls and passing through me.

Last Monday I began a 4-week series on what I like to think of as our “spiritual” senses...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, generosity and self-control...Galatians 5:22-23. These nine spiritual senses function in the same way as our five physical ones but on a higher plane. Like the cellist’s placement just inside the tunnel’s entrance, each of them is a sweet spot which can immeasurably amplify and enhance our own (as well as each other’s) daily experience of life--once we learn how to think with and through them. Further, the more proficient we are with them, the wiser we will become and the more reverberating the outcomes will be.

What I’m suggesting is that we consciously choose to use these (typically latent) senses as guides, coaches, mentors, or tools in our daily interface with the world.

Take love: If we ask ourselves, “What’s the loving thing to do in this situation?--regardless of the situation (the more difficult the better, actually)--it does two things: It proactively guides our response to a higher plane of humanness--which can’t help but positively affect our external circumstances. And second, it internally inspires and empowers us to be more of who we really are; lovable and loving beings.

Take joy: If we say, “Today, I’m going to be joy-full no matter what comes at me,” we will start and stay at a much higher level of wellbeing than the usual 10-15% on our happiness meter--just because we gave it some conscious thinking time. And everybody wins.

Take peace: What if we say, “I’m not just going to try to feel at peace all day today (Rather narcissistic, don’t you think?). I’m going to do two things: BE peace. BRING peace.”

If I believed in magic I would say these powers are magical. Not sure about magic, but I’m convinced people can--and do--change. I’ve witnessed huge transformations--including my own--and I do believe each of these nine spiritual sweet spots is given to us for that very purpose: Transformation. Like our physical senses, we just need to learn to trust them. In short, to let them lead.

TODAY.
GIVE YOURSELF & THE WORLD A GIFT
TAKE TIME TO THINK ABOUT HOW YOU THINK