Detox!

Lent is the Springtime of our lives!  Lent is a great time to 'detox' spiritually from whatever it is that is poisoning us.  Many people spend alottabucks on detox programs or fasts to purify their bodies, but what about purifying our souls and spirits from accumulated poisons?

Each year, I always begin teaching my students that we are spirit - soul - body.  And that our energy flows not from our bodies, but from our spirits, the part of us that is most in contact with God's own energy, His Spirit.  Whatever is deepest in us, whatever we are receiving (or not receiving) from God flows from our 'inner man' to our souls -- our minds and emotions.  The mind and heart are controlled by the spirit.  And the spirit is controlled by our connection with God. 

Whatever is in our minds and hearts, in turn, affects our bodies.  If we are depressed, or blocked in our flow of energy, it will show in our bodies.  The body is a mirror to our mind and our spirit; whatever we are feeling inside will be reflected externally.  A calm and peaceful mind and spirit will radiate outwards on our faces and in our levels of energy. 

Who we are is an intricate system of mind, body, and spirit.  When we are rooted firmly in God, our Divine Source, our energy flows as a blessed stream to those around us.  On the last and greatest day of the Feast of Tabernacles, the day which celebrated the water flowing from the rock in the desert, Jesus stood up and said, "Whoever is thirsty, let him come to me, and from his belly will flow streams of living water."  He spoke thus of the Spirit, which was to be given to all those who live in His resurrected life.

Can we imagine anything greater than to live as a flowing stream of blessings to those around us?  In Hebrew, the words for 'flowing stream' [berekah] and 'blessing' [berakah] are separated by a single vowel, and the words are used interchangeably as puns for one another throughout Genesis.  If we assume that whatever lies deepest within our spirits will inevitably flow out of us to others, would it not be in our best interests to detox the stream of water that flows out of us to those around us?

The command God gave to Abraham was "Be thou a blessing," not only to his own family, not only to his own tribe, and eventually his nation, but to all the nations of the world.  His command to us is exactly the same -- Be thou a blessing-- a pure, clear stream of water flowing from the inner man.  In Oriental philosophy, it is the 'belly,' or 'chakra' from whence all energy flows, not what we call the "heart," or center.  If we, as Western civilization, have a 'knot in our stomach,' we tend to ignore it and keep going, but that 'knot' means that our spiritual energy is being tied up -- we are toxic!

Here are some suggestions* for ''de-toxing' our spirits, and allowing our energy to flow purely once again: 

(1) Find sources of inspiration throughout the day -- every day!  Even driving to work in New Orleans traffic can be the occasion of finding peace on a Christian radio station, a music CD, a glorious sunrise, or a prayer for the guy who is cutting you off in traffic.  My daughter used to carry a disposable camera in her car to "point and click" at things which amused her, inspired her, or captured her attention -- a guy riding his bike through the Quarter, a woman feeding her cats, etc.  Some of the pictures taken while driving were terrible, but it didn't matter; the act of 'pointing and clicking' impressed them on her brain.

(2) Exercise -- strengthening your body helps clear your mind and boosts your mood.  When my children were just down the block at Jefferson Academy, I used to run down to school and back if they forgot their lunch, or a signed permission slip, etc.  I was lucky to be so close to the school, but it was also the only time in my day I could find for exercise. 

(3) Find moments of prayer throughout the day -- I used to pray in the elevator on my way to class on the 3rd floor when I could no longer walk up three flights of stairs.  Red lights on Veteran's Highway were times of connecting with God, as were the moments of walking my dog.  There is no moment in our lives when we do not have to supercharge our batteries -- and prayer is the way to do it.

(4) Detox --  for one week, avoid all negative and unhealthy people if possible, all negative and unhealthy tv programs and books.  Notice what happens to your spirit.  Feed on the positive, the true, the nourishing and beautiful.  Visit a park, a museum, or a radiant spirit.

(5)  Keep a gratitude journal -- if we make a habit of collecting moments of gratitude and writing them down at the end of the day, we can change our mind-set entirely; it can indeed change our very lives.  Our "inner man," clogged up by negative toxins, begins to flow freely and purely, with praise and thanksgiving -- and people will come to us for the pure water of the Spirit of God that flows from us. 

One September, after a summer hiatus from teaching, I returned to school.  One of my friends, a gay man (you need to understand who he was to understand why he was so free to say this),  came up to me and said, "Thank God you are back; it's like water in the desert!)  He startled me when he said this, but I think he was expressing gratitude for a de-toxed spirit in a world full of poison and negativity.  I had no idea the contrast was so obvious, but when we work, we know how poisonous the air can be around us.  We often go on vacation to cleanse our minds and spirits from the stresses of daily life, but going on 'vacation' in our spirits to connect with the Pure, the True, the Holy Spirit of the Living God can happen whenever and however we choose throughout the day.  I thank God that He, through Jesus Christ, has freed us from the demands and rituals of the Law, and has given us the freedom to run, not walk, to our Father's arms at any moment of the day or night!

*Note:  the suggestions here come from St. Anthony's Journal, Jan. 2013.  The article "Living Simply" is by Rachel Zawila.  The commentary is my own.