Sin of Omission-The Edge of Darkness

When we think about morals it is most common to think about what we should not do. Most of us think of the Ten Commandments, for example, as a list of proscriptions. However, many of the Levitical Laws are prescriptions. “Honor your father and mother” is written as a prescribed law. The command is not “do not dishonor your father and mother,” which would make it a proscribed action.

It is easy to focus on proscriptions. It takes a lot less energy to not do something than it does to do something. It is also a lot easier to point fingers at someone doing something that we don’t do. I don’t say that to attack anybody, it is just human nature to be lazy and to focus on the shortcomings of others. There is any number of prescribed actions that we ignore. In any given day there are a plethora of things that I do not do that I should, the first usually being when my alarm goes off and the last usually being when I go to bed.

It is Benjamin Franklin who is quoted as saying, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” This is not something that comes naturally to many of us. In truth, it is my preference to go to bed early and wake up early, but I have a job that I get home from at around one-thirty AM, when I don’t need to stay late. I use these hours and the labor-focused nature of my work and the eighteen hours that I'm in class a week as excuses to say, “I need eight hours of sleep in order to function.” In all reality, a person can go thirty-two hours without sleep before they are unable to function properly, though I wouldn’t suggest driving. Also, a person only needs between two and a half hours to four hours to have a full regenerative REM cycle, though two to three cycles are optimal. The days I get three hours of sleep and get up to go to class, I am doing what I should. Days when I sleep in to “catch up on sleep,” I am really just being lazy.

Now I am not saying that we should not get the sleep suggested. I am saying, though, that we need to be doing what we can. When you have things you know you should get done during a day, and you have the opportunity, but spend that time sleeping, watching TV, or finding some other distraction, you are sinning just as much as when you do something you know you shouldn’t be.

If we take some time to look at our days, we can easily identify the areas where we are not doing what we should. Figure out what these are. Then, find a psychological tool that can help you focus on that area and ask an accountability partner to hold you to doing what you should. Most of us need to start with reading our Bibles. Find the time and do it. Don’t let yourself turn on the TV, get on the computer, make food, turn on your phone, or do any other work until you’ve done it. Use the psychological tool of location by putting yourself in an area where those things will not be a distraction.

What other sins of omission are we committing? Perhaps the greatest of all is pointed out in the common church quote that says, “It’s called the Great Commission, not the Great Omission.” We were left with one task when Christ ascended. “Make disciples of all nations.” Yet how often do we even step up to speak the Good News?

We cannot ignore the sins that we commit. Every lustful though must be checked, every dishonest and every unclean word must be checked, and every action contrary to the character of God, which above all else is love, must be checked. But, we must also check our inaction. Is it not just as great a sin to not do what you ought as to do what you ought not? Our souls can be corrupted almost more by not participating in a spirit of truth as by participating in a spirit of lies.

So we start by getting up. Wake up sleeper. Then, as we walk in the truth, Christ will shine in us. It starts with a few steps, maybe exercising or reading you Bible, and then you take more and more steps until you are on the center of the path, and not merely walking on the edge of darkness. This is my reality.

Mindset Alteration

There have been a plethora of books pertaining to the overcoming of addictions and attaining a better focus. They all have the same basic advice: recognize the addiction, admit you have the addiction, admit that your addiction hurts or could hurt others, pledge to change, and get an accountability partner(s). This is excellent advice, and has helped countless people overcome addiction. However, there has been little to no help when it comes to dealing with the addiction in the moment the temptation arises.

The problem with dealing with any addiction in the moment is that your mind is completely set on the addiction. More often than not, the theory given for this is one of self-restraint: think of the people you’re quitting the behavior for and even call your accountability partner for support and, if possible, leave the area where the temptation is. Again, this is all excellent advice, but does not help you to change your mindset.

We use mindset alteration every day. I am defining mindset alteration as changing one’s state of mind using a psychological tool. Anytime you have gotten in the car and put on your favorite music after a long day or a stressful situation, you are using the tool of music to change your sate of mind. If you go to church and they begin the service with worship music, they are using the tools of music, singing, chanting, rhythm, and dancing to change your mindset. These tools are beneficial and effective for putting our focus where it needs to be. I believe that we are commanded to fast, pray, sing, and dance because it changes our mindset. We need tools like this to refocus ourselves.

There are a near infinite amount of psychological tools, including music (use of a melodic pattern), singing (vocally projecting meaningful words in a melodic pattern), rhythm (feeling, creating, or listening to a patterned beat), chant (repeating the same words or syllables in pattern), dance (purposely moving the body in interpretive motions), position (putting your body in a certain shape, such as folding hands, standing, crossing legs, etc.), fasting (depriving your body of something it is used to, food and water being the most effective changers because of their chemical influence), ritual (performing an action that is outside of your daily routine, or as a part of your daily routine, with a certain reason or outcome in mind), consuming (ingesting a substance out of ritual or in order to change your mindset, as with communion, alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, spices, unleavened bread, etc.), location (entering a place that is associated with a certain activity, i.e. a church building or a classroom), etc.

Most of these overlap and many are used in conjunction with others. Singing, for instance, usually involves music, rhythm, and chant (unless the lyrics never repeat) and is, in the cases of worship and driving, done in a certain location. Any combination is possible and may give different results in mindset.

Using mindset alteration in the process of fighting an addiction is simple. Just as after a stressful you may use music in the car to change your state of mind from frustrated to relaxed and comfortable, you can use psychological tools in order to change your state of mind from focused on your addiction (or any distraction) to focused on what you need to/should be/can be doing instead. At church you sing a worship song to change your state of mind from that of worrying about problems at home or at work to that of focusing on God. If you struggle with getting up in the morning you may change your alarm to a song that makes you feel energized and that makes you want to do things. An alcoholic, when wanting to drink, might start dancing to get their mindset refocused on what they can do and what other things they enjoy. People who have a hard time falling asleep often find it helpful to have a routine that puts them in sleeping state of mind.

There are several ways that we already use mind alteration in our day-to-day lives. Most of us have a morning routine and have found tools that get us focused when studying or going to the gym. People have found prayers that they will recite (chant) in order to focus their mindset. Look at what you do already and see how you can mindfully use those tools more proficiently. At the same time, though, look at what psychological tools you are using that may be having an adverse affect on your mindset. Where is the music you are listening to putting your focus? These tools are useful if you are aware of them and can be equally dangerous if you are not.

Secular Spirituality

Part 1-Introducing the Concept of Reality

Secular Spirituality is rapidly gaining popularity in the United States. The popularity of this subject has to do in large part with the one of the fundamental teachings that it embraces. This is the philosophy of relative truth. It is the belief that one person’s view of reality cannot be proven to have any greater significance or bearing than any other person’s view of reality.

It focuses on the science behind the human perception of reality. In purely physical terms, what our brains interpret as “reality” is the sum of electrical impulses created by some stimulus to the brain. While we would like to believe that our brains are delivering accurate interpretations of the world around us, there is no concrete way to say, for example, that what one person sees as red is not, in fact, what someone else sees as blue.

There is nothing inaccurate about this scientific explanation of what reality is. However, there is no reason so look at that data and then suddenly say that we can never know for sure whether what we think is real is actually real. Sure, we should be aware that we may perceive things differently than others, but there is no reason to make a leap to the statement that reality in concrete form does not exist except relative to the mind perceiving it.

Anything metaphysical is considered to be non-scientific. This would include spirits, psychic energy, God, will power, karma, etc. There are Physics researchers, though, who do work on metaphysical theories. For instance, there was a group of researchers who wanted to test the theory of independence. (Statisticians base much of their work on the theory of independence, which states that one event does not affect another. For example, flipping a fair coin and getting a certain result does not affect the probability of obtaining a certain result on the next flip.) To test this theory, the researchers shot off two electrons in different directions, altered one of them mid-flight, and then observed the other. They found that, when the changed one, the other inexplicable altered as well. This falsified the theory of independence, but, due to its inexplicable nature, the findings are considered metaphysical and not directly applicable the physical world, therefore not scientific.

If you were to ask two different people, “What is love?” One could answer that love is the result of chemicals firing in ones brain resulting in a reaction that causes one person to prioritize a certain other person because the chemicals released when that person is around triggers a sensation of pleasure. Most of us, though, would say that love is a feeling, emotion, or action of good will for another person that simply cannot be explained by science, aka it’s metaphysical. Both may be true. I say all this only to enforce the idea that metaphysical theories should not be thrown out just because their physical results cannot be scientifically tested and explained, or definitively tied to them.

When considering what reality is, it is important to recognize that the metaphysical plays a significant role in our physical live. At the same time, we must keep the physical world in mind when considering metaphysical sources. Reality includes, for instance, both the creator and the creation, both the metaphysical concept and the physical realization. In any case, definite theories, if not laws, can and should be made concerning what is real.

Part 2-Secular vs. Biblical Spirituality

Secular Spirituality is something that that frustrates me more than anything else. In its essence, spirituality has come to mean the belief in a spiritual reality but without being able to say that one religion is more accurate or better than any others. A secularly "spiritual" person is one who attempts to derive spiritual truths from all religions. I don't know how one qualifies "truth" in the spiritual sense without a clear religious base (i.e. Christianity) other than to say, "It's whatever works for you." Secular Spirituality refuses to make a clear statement of belief in order to remain nonreligious. In this light, I (a follower of the Way found in the Gospel of the Judeo-Christian Bible) am adamantly religious.

Certainly truths can be found in other religions, but let me be clear as to why. Truth is that which reflects God's character or design. When God (Yahweh of the Judeo-Christian Bible) is reflected in another teaching, or when the teaching of God and His Prophets are repeated in another teaching, there is no harm in gleaning that truth in that perspective. In fact, it can be greatly beneficial to see it from a different perspective in that it may aid our understanding of the nature of that truth. However, this should only be done provided it is qualified by a Biblical premise.

The reason I am so frustrated by Secular Spirituality is that it is, quite frankly, a lukewarm, uncommitted belief system. This is many-fold more dangerous to one's spiritual life than, for example, atheism. I have long said that I would rather converse spiritual truths with an atheist than with an agnostic for the simple reason that an atheist is definitive in what they believe.

This is a Biblically supported point of view. In John's Revelation, God says that He would rather us be cold or hot, and that if we are lukewarm He will spit us out of His mouth. In other words, an uncommitted belief system is repulsive to God. Why? Because it is incredibly dangerous, and more of a lie than a straight rejection of God.

Secular Spirituality attempts to please everyone by saying, "Do what feels right for you." It's no wonder that this sort of belief system has gained the popularity it has in the United States. The one thing that most secularly "spiritual" people have in common is that they, more often than not, ascribe to an eastern belief system to some extent, usually Buddhism or, to a lesser extent, Hinduism; though, it is not uncommon to find Secular Spiritualists in the United States and throughout the Americas that ascribe to Native American belief systems or, to a lesser extent, African belief systems. Many of these belief systems are summed up in saying to live in harmony with everything. Similar to what Jesus said when He said, "The greatest law is this: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets rest on these." And when Paul said, "Whenever possible, live at peace with everyone."

Looking at the first, “greatest,” law, though, there is no room for error. The greatest, most important law is to love the Lord God (Yehovah Eloheem) with absolutely everything. This is complete commitment. The word used for strength is more accurately translated as vehemence. Jesus stated this even more clearly when He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." It's not a matter of preference, or my truth versus yours. It is about The Truth. This is my reality.

Spiritual Truth

Spirituality is something that that frustrates me more than anything else. In its essence, spirituality has come to mean the belief i n a spiritual reality but without being able to say that one religion is more accurate or better than any others. A "spiritual" person is one who attempts to derive spiritual truths from all religions. I don't know how one qualifies "truth" in the spiritual sense without a clear religious base (i.e. Christianity) other than to say "it's whatever works for you." Spirituality refuses to make a clear statement of belief in order to remain nonreligious. In this light, I am adamantly religious.

Certainly truths can be found in other religions, but let me be clear as to why. Truth is that which reflects God's character or design. When God (Yahweh of the Bible) is reflected in another teaching, or when the teaching of God and his Prophets are repeated in another teaching, there is no harm in gleaning that truth in that perspective. In fact, it can be greatly beneficial. However, this should only be done provided it is qualified by a Biblical premise.

The reason I am so frustrated by spirituality is that it is, quite frankly, a lukewarm, uncommitted belief system. This is many-fold more dangerous to one's spiritual life than, say, atheism. I have long said that I much rather converse spiritual truths with an atheist than with an agnostic, for the simple reason that an atheist is solid win what they believe.

This is a Biblically supported point of view. In John's Revelation, God says that He would rather us be cold or hot, and if we are lukewarm He will spit us out of His mouth. In other words, an uncommitted belief system is repulsive to God. Why? Because it is incredibly dangerous, and more of a lie than a straight rejection of God.

Spirituality attempts to please everyone by saying, "Do what feels right for you." It's no wonder that this sort of belief system has gained the popularity it has in the United States. The one thing that most "spiritual" people have in common is that they ascribe to an eastern belief system to some extent, usually Buddhism. I am very familiar with the story of Sadartha Ghatma and the teachings of the Dali Lama. Many of their belief systems are summed up in saying to live in harmony with everything. Similar to what Jesus said when He said, "The greatest law is this: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and strength. And the second is like it: love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets rest on these." And when Paul said, "Whenever possible, live at peace with everyone."

Looking at the first law, though, there is no room for error. The greatest, most important law is to love the Lord God (Yehovah Eloheem) with absolutely everything. This is complete commitment. The word used for strength is more accurately translated as vehemence. Jesus stated this even more clearly when He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." It's not a matter of preference, or my truth versus yours. It is about The Truth. This is my reality.