“Yielding to the Wisdom Speaking in Suffering”
By Reverend Corinne S. Ramage
...Developing the character qualities of Clarity, Mindfulness, Simplicity and Discernment...
Often we do not hear or listen when Wisdom is speaking in our lives.
We get lost in the suffering we are so dedicated to managing – and don’t realize that there is Wisdom speaking loudly within that suffering.
I have four main points to make in reference to this topic which I’ll indicate then expand on the details.
Point One
If you hold onto something beyond its time, whether it is a way of thinking, feeling or relating…you begin to suffer.
Point Two
You are not meant to suffer.
Point Three
On a deep and profound level, we are all interconnected. Consequently, we are all family and have a responsibility to each other.
Point Four
When you release that which causes you suffering, you leave a space in your life for the next lesson or gift supporting your spiritual evolution.
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Let’s begin with a more detailed review of Point One which says:
If you hold onto something beyond its time, whether it is a way of thinking, feeling or relating…you begin to suffer. This suffering can manifest in many ways. When your thinking is restricted by something you have not released, you are probably stuck in beliefs that do not serve who you are at Heart. This could be a belief in the inevitability of your failure, a belief in your innate unworthiness or a belief in the validity of a paralyzing fear. You will probably be oblivious to how others experience you because you feel justified in your beliefs. Surprisingly others will perceive you as being either confused, indecisive, dogmatic, stubborn, defensive, eccentric or egotistical in your thinking – not justified or rational.
If you are holding onto feelings, that should be released you probably appear to others as angry, apathetic or depressed. In reality you will rationalize your feelings believing that life forces you to respond with anger – or that life is pointless, nobody cares about you so you don’t care about them – or that there is absolutely no way to fix your misery and you are destined to be alone no matter how hard you try.
When you are dysfunctional in regards to the challenges in your life, you are prone to extreme or polarized thoughts and feelings – meaning your responses are usually extreme. Therefore, you may either isolate yourself or become overly attentive to others needs.
If you are in a relationship that is finished and you are refusing to let go, whether this relationship is with a teacher, a co-worker or an intimate partner, both will suffer. When a relationship becomes complicated, lacking trust, meaning or love, and efforts have been made to repair it through open communication and it is still radically broken, then that relationship is finished. There was a point when you knew this was true, but instead of letting go you began a regiment of denial that is characterized by dysfunctional thoughts and feelings – and suffering.
In a broken, finished relationship, you can feel abandoned and the sole protector of the relationship. In keeping with the possibility of polarized responses, you may feel invalidated, unseen for who you are, and manipulated – or you may, conversely, feel driven to control or manipulate the relationship you have in order to preserve what you feel is invaluable between the two of you.
In all of these instances of thinking, feeling or relating, where suffering reigns supreme, the Divine Impulse in life is being ignored. Holding or controlling manifest as false feelings of lack or over-indulgent behaviors. The illusion being perpetuated is that if you stay in control, hold on tightly enough, or are clever enough or Loving enough – all will be well. A primal drive keeps you preserving a thought, feeling or relationship, that you believe you can not survive without. You are so blind-sided by your suffering, you miss the fact that Wisdom is actually speaking through the suffering, itself. You are being told, by your suffering, to let go.
Point Two
You are not meant to suffer. Suffering is an indicator that you are not listening and that you are missing the lesson hidden in the folds of your dilemma. This missed lesson hides behind feelings that derail you, misdirected thoughts, and a disconnect from the Divine Impulse.
This does not mean you shouldn’t try hard and give a project your best effort. You are sometimes meant to meet challenges and to strive for resolution; and then depending on who you are at Heart and the situation, you are meant to employ one or more of the following character qualities to your life: clarity, mindfulness, simplicity and/or discernment. In order, then to reduce your suffering and to yield to the Wisdom speaking through it, you will have to develop these qualities.
Let’s review them more fully.
Clarity is knowledge integrated into a clear, fluid knowing. This means that everything we know should be considered when we are attempting to make a decision. Often we pick certain facts or arguments to defend our position while ignoring the information that would encourage us to choose differently. This practice continues the circle of confusion, resistance and/or dependency. All knowledge enriches us. Being clear increases our ability to make wise, self-enriching choices.
Mindfulness, another character quality we might want to develop, encourages us to be fully conscious of the gifts the mind has to offer. If we are fully conscious and aware then we have the potential to touch deeper wisdom beyond the boundaries of who we are. When we are mired in suffering, our answers are outside of what we know – and we will never access the information we need to be discerning unless we believe in the limitless potential of our mind. We are all infinitely capable of accessing clear, concise information to assist us in making our choices. We have to trust in a larger, grander reality than we can imagine, one we haven’t created to date, one outside of what we know today.
The next character quality we may want to develop is Simplicity. When complexity overrides our decision making, Simplicity must be our goal. If we have gotten lost in excessive justifications for our thoughts or actions, then we must employ the energy of Simplicity in our lives. If we are plagued with too many choices, we must simplify the process by wisely reducing our choices. If we are overwhelmed by the dynamics of a problem, we must simplify our analysis of What Is. Simplicity allows us to have a vision for where we are going. Without it, we can not see beyond the confusion to the path that would be best suited for us. Although, we can not expect to always be happy, we can expect to feel fulfilled or complete. The choice that creates resolution or that fulfills us is absolutely within our potential to self-discover.
When we employ Discernment, our last character quality, we are following the Golden Thread of the Divine that weaves through our lives. Discernment allows us to hear our Heart speaking. Our most clear and definitive choices come from our Heart. When we are discerning, we hear the correct choice within us and we hear the incorrect choice just as loudly. There is a voice within that speaks to us. This voice guides us towards revelation or closure. It is the Divine Presence Lovingly contacting us through our Heart. This voice can be audible, an over riding feeling or an instantaneous, crystal clear Knowing driving us to respond in a certain way. We know we have listened to the Wisdom speaking and not some misaligned, personal intention, if we feel complete and fulfilled.
How we develop these character qualities in through intent and focus. Intend to grow these qualities in yourself and focus on completing this promise to the best of your ability.
Point Three: a spiritual overlay
Another important consideration as we further examine our suffering, is our interconnectedness to each other. On a deep and profound level, we are all interconnected. Consequently, we are all family and have a responsibility to each other. We are connected spiritually, at Heart and on an Essence level. We share a fundamental need to Love and to be Loved. We want to protect and nurture those we are closest to, and we strive to live a meaningful existence ourselves. Our commonalities allow us to see each other and to truly understand each others’ deepest concerns because they are our own. All of this makes us uniquely qualified to assist our fellow human beings.
We may look and sound different. We have different personalities and different abilities. The way we approach life is different but we have the same goals. We are dissimilar on the surface but in the other 90% plus part of who we are, we are profoundly alike. This obligates us to share what we have learned and acquired. What one of us knows, the other must also. We are a family with spiritual goals at Heart – the very basic pursuit of Love and the aspiration to live a meaningful life. It is against the Divine order of things for one of us to withhold that which is for all of us.
That being said…then if you hold a thought, a feeling or a relationship longer than is Divinely intended, and you do not learn your lesson, then someone else, “downstream” of you, suffers as a consequence. This may be difficult to grasp but think of it this way. You are an integral part of the story of What Is. You are a viable, important part of the weave of What Is. When you hold onto that which is not yours, someone else lacks what you have. The balance of What Is shifts, wobbles and becomes disharmonious with your over-indulgence. When you understand this energy dynamic, you know you must let go of what you have learned or acquired, and this must be passed to the next person, waiting to receive it.
This could mean you must release your confusion so someone else may aspire to learn clarity. It could mean you must pass on your misery for someone else to rise above and so grow their inner strength. It might mean you are to release yourself from a relationship that has caused you suffering because this person is intended to continue their personal growth with some else as you are. In addition, it may mean that in order to find closure or meaning in your life, you will have to share your knowledge with others through writing or lecturing.
To be fair to yourself, realize that any time you let go of anything that you are accustomed to and misaligned your Truth or Faith with, you will need to grieve that loss. It is very important to honor your personal process of growth by allowing yourself the time you need to grieve. During your grieving time also remember to celebrate your clarity, your courage to choose to hear the Wisdom speaking in your suffering. It is also always recommended that you offer sincere Gratitude for what you have learned – even if you are not completely clear on what that is. Here is a sample of Gratitude prayer you can use for such a practice.
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Here is a prayer to support a simple Gratitude Practice. It can be said as often as feels comfortable for you. Prayers are most effectively felt when you read or say them while focusing on every word. When you recite the prayer, be sure to hear and feel it within you.
Suggestions:
1) Light a candle.
2) Relax down into yourself.
3) Consciously slow down your breathing before starting. Take a few minutes to do this.
4) Read the prayer softly out loud to yourself
5) Be fully present with your experience.
6) Optimally perform this practice twice a day.
Gratitude Prayer
I am Grateful for where I am with my thoughts and feelings today.
I now realize how misaligned my thoughts have been.
My suffering had become the norm for me.
Now I feel Hopeful,
and I see the Promise of the new and the fulfilling
on the horizon.
With each day,
I trust more and move towards the unknown
where answers, revelations and joy wait for me.
I know my answers are outside of what I know today
or I would not have been suffering.
I celebrate the steps I have already taken towards deeper understanding.
I trust my Heart and the Divine voice within me
to lead me towards fulfillment.
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Suffering grows character…as long as you self-discover the Hidden Teachings buried just beneath the surface of that suffering. When you don’t release what you do not need, you impede your own growth and the spiritual evolution of others. This could be someone you don’t know and is an anonymous companion in life or someone you Love dearly.
Point Four
Lastly, when you release that which causes you suffering, you leave a space in your life for the next lesson or gift supporting your spiritual evolution. If you Trust completely, the Divine will fill this space with What Must Be. If you don’t Trust, you move into another lesson about the consequences of control and manipulation. The Divine doesn’t judge unwise choices but patiently assists you through another learning phase of life that will necessitate a trek through suffering. It is, then, very important for you to develop a growing relationship to the sacred principle of Trust.
In closing…yield to the Wisdom speaking in what you don’t understand. If you are suffering, listen to what it is telling you about your choices. Choose differently employing clarity, mindfulness, simplicity and/or discernment to your thinking and emoting. Let go of that which is complete. And, lastly, allow the Divine Plan of your life to unfold by Trusting in What Must Be.
Here’s one final thought…You can not make a mistake. Your journey is infinite, and you are continually guided towards revelation, patiently and Lovingly by the Divine. Sometimes you suffer along the way, for periods of time that may seem endless, but you are never alone as you journey through life.
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Thank you for your participation in “Yielding to the Wisdom Speaking in Suffering.” The concepts referred to in this lesson such as the dedication to suffering, the development of a Gratitude practice, your relationship to Trust, Self-Love, the voice within, the Divine Plan of your life and a Loving Divine Presence – are all expanded and fully studied in the Spiritual Healthcare program.
Visit http://Spiritual-Healthcare.net (Or press "Home" in the left margin) and review the many materials available to enrich your spiritual journey.
My blessings to you and those you Love…and may you yield to the Wisdom speaking in your life through your suffering…Corinne
The Spiritual Healthcare Network
Touch Stones to True Wellness
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TESTIMONIAL: "I was so glad to read and listen to the Yielding to the Wisdom Lecture. The profound clarity and wisdom you possess and have brought forth in a Divinely prolific manner is easy to absorb. Your words express the sub commitment, if you will, we all hold on to at some point in our lives, unconsciously thinking it as a safety net of some sort or another. You, have 'mastered' the explanation--so needed to be expressed for all to receive the knowledge of Truth from which you come. I was in a state of complete calm, when I read The Gratitude Prayer, and it flowed like a gentle stream, refreshing me as though I was bent over sipping from a fresh water stream. Thank you for sharing with an open and good
heart, as you only know how."
God Bless You and Love, Carol from Cary, North Carolina
