November 19, 2013 | 0 Comments

Finding God in Your Best

What is “Your Best”?

We have all heard the mantra, “Always do your best!” but there is more behind this statement than you might first imagine. “Your best” changes moment to moment and over time. Doing “your best” after a good night’s sleep looks a lot different than “your best” at the point of exhaustion.

Regardless of circumstances if we do our best in every moment we will never be disappointed. By doing our best we can also avoid self-criticism and the associated feelings of guilt or shame. What is better, a well-earned “B” or an undeserved “A”? Doing our best has the power to break the spell of self-punishment because our best is always good enough for God.

Does time equal effort?

There was a man who wanted to transcend suffering so he made a long trek to a Buddhist temple looking for help. He approached the master and asked, “If I meditate for 4 hours a day, how long will it take me to transcend suffering and find happiness? The Master looked at him and said, “If you meditate for 4 hours a day perhaps you can transcend in 10 years.”

Thinking he could do better the man said, “If I meditate for 8 hours a day how soon will I transcend?” The Master thought for a while and said, “If you meditate eight hours a day, perhaps it will take you twenty years.

Shocked, the man asked, “But why will it take me longer if I meditate more?” The Master replied, “You are not here to sacrifice your joy or your life. You are here to live, to be happy and to love. If you can do your best in two hours of meditation, but you spend eight hours instead, you will only grow tired and miss the point, and you won’t enjoy life. Do your best and perhaps you will learn to live, love and be happy, no matter how long you meditate.”

This story which is recounted in “The Four Agreements” by Miguel Ruiz made me think. How often have you tried something and grown tired and missed the point? We sometimes make the mistake of thinking that the ritual matters more than what we get out of it. Regardless of what type of spiritual practice we pursue our sincerity and the benefit of the practice matter more than the amount of time we spend doing it.

Hard-wiring God Within

The purpose of any spiritual practice (such as prayer, meditation or studying scripture) is not the maintenance of that spiritual practice. The end goal is to become one with God. The spiritual practice is just the means to get there, or power for the journey. It trains our “spiritual memory.”

We are all familiar with “muscle memory”. It gives our fingers the power to fly across the keys with speed and accuracy or text without looking and get it mostly right! Similarly we can learn to ride a bike and pick it up again 10 years later without much trouble. Our bodies are incredible.

So it is with our “spiritual memory.” It takes practice over time to connect to the invisible or seemingly intangible part of our lives. With repeated practice we can hard wire our connection to God so that just like our fingers fly over the key board our hearts can connect to God in an instant.

We need the kind of practice that gives us “spiritual memory” so that in the end we do it without thinking – it’s becomes a part of who you are and how you live. We can develop a lifestyle of living together with God in a natural way. The goal isn’t to spend life in endless prayer conditions, fasting or hours of study, but to develop a lifestyle where God can be present.

Wisdom then and now

Wisdom literature points to the quest to bring God into our lives. 1 Corinthians 3:16 reminds us, “Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and God’s spirit dwells in you?”
St. Paul admonishes us to, “Pray without ceasing.”

In a profound sermon, “How to Gain Spiritual Help” Rev. Moon shares how to bring God into our daily lives. It’s a beautiful speech and can be downloaded in-full by registering your email at www.nhfaithfusion.com.

In this sermon he is encouraging us to develop our “spiritual memory” by consciously recognizing the holiness of everyday life.

“So whatever we may look at, we must search for the nobility in it, and treat it as if it were owned directly by God. Then everything becomes like an expensive antique, a God-given treasure. Each object is waiting for your touch, hoping to feel the vibration of God through you.”

“The same holds true for the people we meet and live with. When you see another person, how much do you care for him or her? How do you feel towards that person? You must really love the people you meet, because they are the temples of God. When you touch another person, feel that through your touch, both of you will be blessed.”

“Respect all things as holy things.
Respect all men as holy men.
Respect yourself as a holy person.
Respect your mind as holy.
Respect your body as holy.
Pay deep respect to all people, no matter what kind of person they may be.”

For more on this topic check out this week’s inspirational quotes.

So the key word for a life of spiritual practice is respect. This kind of lifestyle creates “spiritual memory” so that unconsciously you begin to live with God. This is why in 1 Corinthians we are told, “Don’t you know that you are God’s temple and God’s spirit dwells within you.”

Through our portion of responsibility we are meant to train and educate ourselves to develop our spiritual selves so that we can live together with God. We need to do our best in our spiritual lives. This notion of doing our best doesn’t just apply to academics or our careers but to our relationships, including our relationship with God.

Happiness and action go hand-in-hand

When we do our best we are going to be happy. When we do our best we are taking action. I am not the victim of circumstance or other people but the initiator of something positive. Doing our best is driven by my own best interest instead of the promise of some reward.

Most people perform in response to the promise of a reward. The thinking goes like this: “if I invest in my career I’ll make more money.” Most people go to work for the sake of payday. They are going to work for a reward and just thinking of getting week-ends off and living for that. Sound familiar?

Now, that is not all bad, it can be called responsible. But if our action is just to get the reward of a pay check then after a while we resist that action because it’s not satisfying enough. We cease to do our best. We have all been there.

If we invest in the action, in this case the job, for something more than a pay check, then unexpected rewards become possible. If we invest for the sake of giving of ourselves, we will reap greater benefits than a paycheck.

I have a remarkable friend. She was a part-time cashier at a grocery store and I am sure for that reason alone some people judged her as “less than”. However, she has an incredible ability to connect to people that is very noticeable. She often volunteered her help at some women’s conferences I was running.

A well-known national figure was speaking at one of these conferences and commented on how talented my friend was, and asked what she did for a living. I replied that she worked as a cashier. The speaker was visibly shocked. I explained that my friend loved her job because each day she made it her goal to look every customer in the eye and be spiritually present for that person. She devoted herself to simply trying to be there for each individual and allow God to communicate something to this precious son or daughter. I could see that from investing in that practice she had developed the “spiritual memory” to love others in a profound way.

When we have done our best there are no regrets. We don’t even judge ourselves because we know we invested everything and that is good enough.

Others notice – your best work is an indication of character

The Pirates of the Caribbean like many movies has surprisingly profound moments among all the Hollywood glitz. At the end of the movie Will Turner, wins the girl and the high ranking Commodore loses the woman he hoped to marry. Surprisingly, the Commodore is almost philosophical about it and turns to Will, a lowly craftsman, and remarks something to the effect, “I hope the craftsman who made this fine sword can invest as much into every part of his life as he did into this sword.” The commodore recognized excellence and was essentially saying “you better invest yourself to the same degree into your spouse and family.”