It is your beliefs that need defending. Faith needs no defense. So, be not content with an inherited faith. To do so is like a person holding their breath underwater. It can be done but only for so long. Life will bring you to the surface of truth, sooner or later. It is there, and only there, where you can breathe freely, be yourself, dance to your own tune, not another’s. It is there you know the joy of authentic living, the power of a living, breathing faith. You will have “beliefs,” too. The difference, however, is that they are your beliefs, forged in the crucible of your honest questions and doubts.

Don’t let anyone tell you that questions are compromise or that doubts are disbelief. Your questions and doubts are the stuff of faith. Happy doubting!

Reminds me of myself. Long after the Maples and Dogwoods have yielded to the call of winter, the oak will cling to leaves.  Finally, however, when the coldest nights come in January, it will surrender to winter and its few remaining leaves will be freed to fall to the ground.

Yes, I have a little conversation with the oak about this time every year. I remind it that there’s a season for everything…a time to grasp and a time let go.  But then, just as I begin to scold the oak tree for its stubbornness, I remember that I’m just like it. I cling. I hold on. I feel insecure.  I find it hard to do what the Buddha said I must–detach.  To live in trust. To let go of ego and its fears.  So today, I will practice remembering it is time to let go…to detach…to…

• Let go of the past. It is but a memory and no matter how precious, it can never be reclaimed.  Yet, I look at the pictures on the mantle of those days when my children were young and I cry. I cannot help myself. Where did life go?  Why did they grow up so fast?  I was duly warned when they were young that they would come and go faster than the seasons of the year..that the day would come I would stand at the mantle and wonder how it all happened so quickly.  That day is here. I know it is time to let go…to…
• Let go of my regrets.  I have them, don’t you? When I hear people say, “If I could live my life over, I wouldn’t change a thing,” I think to myself, “I would.”  There are things I would not have said.  There are many things I would have said.  There are risks I would have taken.  Maybe it’s different for you but I’ve found it easier to forgive myself for the things I’ve done than I have for the things I didn’t do.  But, I know it’s time to let go…to stop punishing myself…to stop hating myself…to start loving my life for what it is…to let go of the ego that always says inside my head, “You didn’t quite make it did you?”  It is time to…
• Let go of my fears…my worries.  Do you ever worry about your children like I do? Or, about yourself? Whether your health will hold up? Whether time will ever slow down its relentless march toward death?  And, whether you’ll have enough to live on until you do die? I have so much to let go of, do you?  I must let go, I know. And, so must you.  If you wish to be free, that is.  Free to live in the awareness of Divine provision and grace.  To trust. To know that just as no leaf–think of this as you drive down the street and leaves fall like rain on the streets, on your windshield–remind yourself that no leaf ever, ever falls to the ground unnoticed.  If that is so, then how could you ever be forgotten?  Virtually all spiritual traditions remind you and me that the Universe remembers.  Every leaf I see today will remind me to pause for just a few seconds…to breathe deeply…and, as I do, to inhale the grace of the fall air…to let it replenish my fading memory…and to rekindle in me the awareness I, too, can let go…to let life alone…to fall freely into the hands of Eternal Love. Blessings to you, my friend.

1.  I know who I am…

2.  I question everything

a. The stuff I’ve been taught to believe

b. The thoughts my mind thinks A pretty high percentage of the time, both are wrong.

3.  I do unto myself as I’d have myself do unto me Everybody bitches and complains about the world and the need for change. That in you which incessantly bitches and complains IS the world that needs changing and THAT change will only come from within.

4.  I’ve let go of my regrets (and I’ve had more than my fair share) Anybody who’s been asked, “If you could live life over, would you change anything?” and they respond, “No.” Know this one thing! They’re lying through his/her teeth. Which makes them the same people who’d steal your wallet and never bat an eye. Honest people have many regrets and, given the opportunity, would make different choices.

5.  I look for the lesson in every life experience. There really are no mistakes, said Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

6.  I meditate more often than I medicate…usually!

7.  I practice living in space, not time.

8.  I am FOR – GIVING I am forgiven; I am forgiving; As a consequence, I am FOR – GIVING – if there’s a deficit in generosity, there’s a deficiency of grace.

9.  I think about DEATH daily It is only ever the ego in you that is afraid to die. The deeper you that came from God knows it will one day return to God. How could it ever be fearful of Perfect Love out of which it merged and to which it will return. The ego, on the other hand, your illusory self, what Martha Beck calls “your social self,” well it has plenty to fear but especially death. The ego dies at death. Jesus said, however, the key to life is “to deny self” (his way of saying, let the ego in you die). Muhammad put it like this, “Die before you die or you will die a thousand deaths.”

10.  I die daily, too. I’ll show you how to do the same. This is the ONLY way to, as Gandhi said, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” Jesus said, “Take up your cross daily” – that’s death daily. But, death to what?

11.  I know why I’m here. The greatest disservice our culture (and that includes the church’s culture) is to teach people, and so create within everyone the expectation, that they showed up for some grand purpose in life that only they could fulfill. Almost daily new books are written on helping you find your destiny, fulfilling your purpose. It’s a whole lot of bullshit, to put it as plain as I know how. You showed up for one purpose and one purpose only: I’ll share what that is in the book.

12.  I am One with all that Is – the UNIVERSE is UNI “one” VERSE or “song” So, the universe is “one song.” This is the enlightenment or, as Christians call it, salvation that changes the world. It is the profound awareness that we are all really ONE – as long as there is the feeling of separation in you to anything or anyone, that’s your growth curve. I’ll show you how to remove the barriers and build bridges. The survival of humanity depends on it. I thought about the Unity pendant being part of the design on the cover too.

Like to know your thoughts. So, what do you think? On the right track? Dump it? Keep going? New title? Other points I’m missing? I’m open to all your wisdom. (Copyright)

Such was the case most recently.

Hardly a day goes by but what I get email from people who’ve read The Enoch Factor or something I’ve written for Huffington Post or the Washington Post. Most simply write to say thanks. Others write to take issue with a point or perspective I’ve taken. But then, there are those who write whose motives are not so easily discernible.

Recently, for example, a man contacted me with two questions both of which he presented in such a way so as to suggest he was doing research in religion and that he wanted my perspectives to contribute to his investigation. So, I tried to answer both of his questions clearly and from my own personal position.

A few hours later, I received another email from him. This time, he requested further clarification on one of the ways I had responded. This went on for another email or two, each time he would press for further clarity. Each time I wrote with as much conviction as I could or would to anyone about my assessments of religion today, including Christianity, and what some of the problems were as I saw it.

Then, out of the blue, the tone of his emails changed. It was as if he felt I had personally attacked him. So, this next email was dripping with hostility. He took personally many of the things I said in response to his questions. And, he was not happy.

I was having dinner when I received the email. I was so “taken-back,” as they say, it took my appetite with it. His email was hateful, as if every question I had answered was a personal attack on him. So he released the flood waters of his own hostility. Might have been my imagination, but I felt a torrent of negative energy coming through the phone. For the life of me, I could not figure out what had gone wrong–perplexed as to why he had taken such offense at what were my honest responses to his inquiries into my background and beliefs.

I could feel my own ego defenses rise faster than a drawbridge on a castle under siege.

What do you do?

My first impulse was to react in defense of myself. In fact, I began typing a response that was drenched with plenty of reactionary hostility of my own. I felt he had set me up, tricked me into responding to what were clearly loaded questions–questions my inquirer was asking only to bait me for his attack. When I had revealed just enough about my personal history, he took advantage of my vulnerability and engaged in a tirade of charges.

Clearly, I was about to give in to my own anger when I remembered something Jesus said: “Consider yourself happy every time people put you down, throw you out, or speak lies about you…you should be glad–give a cheer even!” (Matt. 5:11-12). I remembered, too, something the Buddha said, “You will not be punished FOR your anger; you will be punished BY your anger.”

“Yea right!” I thought. “Easy for those guys…they’re like God’s or something!”

The ego in you, and in me, loves to be angry and loves a good fight. It’s one of the ways it manages to stay alive inside you, to maintain its-self–it’s identity as a victim, or one victimized, a sufferer, one who has been unjustly wronged. In fact, the ego will travel in any direction in its quest for a permanent sense of self. It will not discriminate in this regard. At one end, for example, it might think of its-self as the soldier, the priest, a king, a hollywood star, the medical specialist, a best selling author…the list of identities is virtually endless. At the other end of the spectrum, it might think of its-self as the victim, the sufferer, the nobody, the biggest loser, the only person whose always misunderstood…and again and again. And, of course, the list is endless in this direction, too.

But, the ego in you, as it is in me, is the false self desperately in search of its-self and permanency. It doesn’t matter to the ego what clothing the self chooses, so long as it has a sense of self.

The false self, the ego in you, is your “social mask,”–Martha Beck calls it…your “identity enhancer,” as E. Tolle calls it…the self that Jesus said we are to “deny,” (Luke 9:23). As we do, we feel peace and happiness return. To know this, and so act on it, is the one-and-only-way to avoid being overtaken by “the little me”–this illusory self that feels, as in my case, offended by an attacker and so wants to become obsessed with getting even and lashing out in response. When you “deny self,” however, as I successfully did THIS time but do not do all the time–isn’t some big battle you engage within yourself. Instead, it is the simple awareness that the ego is present and is reacting in you. By being aware of this, you create an instant space of stillness between you–the real you–and this false self, the “mad dog within,” as Nietzsche called it, that’s like a hound on a relentless hunt for its-self.

As I sat there, supper pushed aside, I recognized, or acknowledged, ego’s presence. “There it is in me.” I looked at it, what easterners call acting as “the witnessing presence.” By doing this, the real me, felt a space emerge between “me” and “myself.” (I know this can sound a bit confusing–even neurotic which of course it is–but IT IS ALSO how life works and the way peace and wholeness is found).

That inner space gave me an instant choice. “Do I want the ego running my life, as well as my reaction to this person? Or, do I want to be at peace? With Presence?” Well, fortunately, I made the right choice which, as I admitted, I don’t make always. Yet, I have been making this my spiritual practice long enough to know this is the way to peace…or, better, this IS peace, there is no other way to freedom beyond the destructive ego-self and the possible redemption of most potentially explosive situations.

In the end, I did not respond to his email with defensiveness…with a “How dare you?” mentality. Instead, I chose to apologize to him for perhaps misunderstanding his questions or mistakenly thinking he wanted my honest opinions when he most likely did not. I expressed my regret he felt I was attacking him. I apologized if I came across in a way that seemed as if I was belittling or seeking to attack him…that, since I did not know him anyway, I would have no reason to do so.

I’m pretty sure we’ll not ever be best friends. But, I’m also certain in the exchange of subsequent emails–we’re no longer enemies and, most important to me, I’m at peace.

(Examples like this recent incident I share over and over in The Enoch Factor: The Sacred Art of Knowing God – If you have not read it, please do. It is my story of how I moved beyond religion–and it’s collective ego-insanity–and experienced a spiritual awakening).

Also, don’t forget to download to your iPhone or Android phone the FREE App – in the Education sections of the respective app stores and listed as APPLIFT – I frequently share stories, spiritual insights, etc., from the varied spiritual traditions to enrich your daily walk with God.

One more thing – I have shipped now hundreds of the UNITY pendants all around the world. If you’d like one to wear as I do to promote a more conscious, compassionate, and charitable world, I’m now offering these in stainless steel (with a chain, too) to be worn as a necklace. They’re only $19.99 (S/H is free). Go to www.stevemcswain.com/shop/

The former, on the other hand, is all about how you live — the conduct of your life; your trust in and reliance upon your capacity to enjoy “the wisdom of uncertainty,” as easterners call it; your freedom from the need for certainty and absoluteness, both of which are mere illusions.

The fact is, you can be certain of nothing, except I suppose the reality of death. Yet, when your religion is all about what you believe, know that the ego in you has taken over already. The ego is obsessed with beliefs, attaches itself to them, and so fashions an identity around them. This gives it a sense of self and feeds its desire for certainty, security. Beliefs are then more than a way of explaining or making sense of your religious experience. Instead, they take on a kind of absoluteness, and when that occurs (and it almost always does), it isn’t long before you are driven to defend those beliefs against anyone who would question them or subscribe to a different set of beliefs. The ego in you will defend, debate and disagree almost incessantly. It is the cause of most conflicts between religions and between religious people within the same religion. The word “religion” itself is synonymous with exclusivity, divisiveness, even violence and bloodshed. One could almost say that the study of history is the study of religious madness.

From time to time, I get emails from other Christians who are feeling highly threatened by my writings or the topics on which I speak, precisely because they perceive my perspectives to be a threat to their own belief system.

Such was the case with the most recent exchange of emails I had with a Christian woman from the Carolinas. In several emails, she catalogued her objections with me with precision, mixed with anger, fear and even a few veiled threats of God’s punishment for the things I had written. At one point, she asked me pointedly, “Are YOU even a Christian?” To which I responded, “Passionately.”

“You lie,” she retorted. “You’re nothing but a phony.” And with that, she trailed off on another tirade of charges, all proof to the frightened little ego in her that no one could believe as I believe and actually be a Christian.

In a way, I suppose she IS right. If, for example, you are reared to believe (as I was and many Christians still are) there is only one way to think of Jesus and that is as God’s “only begotten son” (John 3:16) — meaning “one-and-only-son” and not simply as “a unique son” (which is an equally valid interpretation of the text as any text critic knows) and so “uniquely like God” — then the ego in you would feel justified in asking, “Are you really a Christian?”

When you know, however, it is only ever the ego that attaches itself to a belief (as one of its many attachments Eckhart Tolle has rightly characterized as “ego-enhancers”) to strengthen its sense of self — and so the illusion of “rightness,” security and certainty — then you’re free to see from where this inner compulsion to cling comes. This awareness alone creates a space of acceptance in you where you are free of ego-attachments and so more capable of tolerating the viewpoints, perspectives and faith beliefs of another without the feeling you are compromising your own.

People who have given up on religion entirely, or who disdain religion as “the opiate of the people,” may be aware of the ego in themselves or are just as unaware as intolerant, fundamentalist Christians or Muslims. When they are unaware, then their disgust with religion, as well as their disdain for religious people, is just an ego-reaction in them. They may be very intelligent people. But they are also very unaware that the ego in them has managed to fashion a sense of identity for itself, too — one just as intolerant and narrow-minded, defensive and arrogant, as the collective ego observed and experienced among fundamentalist Christians and Muslims. The difference is only in the position and manner of their reaction or attack. Some react with words. Others use weapons. Both methods are mad.

The key to liberation from ego is “awareness.” The key to growth in faith beyond belief is detachment. Know that it is always easier to see the ego in others than it is to see it in yourself. When, for example, you meet a notorious critic, you are really meeting a notoriously unaware person. You criticize in others what you overlook in yourself. So, to overcome ego, develop that capacity in yourself that Easterners describe as “the watcher” or “the witnessing presence.” Christians would call this the “indwelling Holy Spirit.” I suspect this capacity goes by many names. But my point is this: Train yourself to know when the ego in you lifts its ugly head. You can be sure whenever it does — and it does so frequently — it will strike with a venom that makes victims of everyone.

This witnessing presence or “the deeper self,” about which I’ve written extensively in “The Enoch Factor,” needs no crutch upon which to lean for a sense of self or worth or distinction. It is that part of you in oneness with Life itself. Because it is, there is no feeling of separateness from others and certainly no “us” and “them” mentality — a common characteristic of a collective ego attached to a set of beliefs. As a matter of fact, this part of you knows only union with others, indeed all things. Gone is the need for permanency, rightness, security or absolutes. This part of you dances on a stage of paradox. Unlike the crippled ego-self, it is healthy — solid, yet soft; strong, yet weak; on a cross today, beyond a tomb tomorrow. And it is always at peace with differing perspectives.

Why? Because it thrives in an environment of detached awareness. It has beliefs or, as I prefer, perspectives, but it isn’t attached to them. As a consequence, there is an evolution of the self, what Christians would call “growth in Christ.” There is an expansion of human consciousness, not a narrowing of it, which is what you often see with Christians. Instead of being in the world but not of it (John 17:16), as their forerunner advised, they are neither of the world nor in it, opting instead to remain in church 24/7, as if to hide from the world.

An environment of ego-detachment is the fertile soil for the growth of faith–a faith that is transformational; a faith that naturally springs from a fountain of spontaneity, knowing not when it’s giving another a cup of cold water or feeding a hungry soul (Matthew 25). It is beneath and beyond ego attachments and so has no enemies. It is a faith that flourishes in a garden of contradiction, with an appreciation for the variety in perspectives and tastes.

This is why, for me, being a Christian is less about content and more about conduct. It is true I have perspectives and much passion around them. So I write with conviction. I speak with authority. But I also seek to know when the ego in me gets too attached to my perspectives and so tries to make “beliefs” out of them. I know where that road leads and I want no part of it — not anymore.

I am a follower of Jesus but it isn’t because he answers all my questions or has given me something to believe in — something the little ego in me can attach to and so feel secure. I follow Jesus because his path makes sense. It’s a way to know God, to live at peace with myself, with others and the world. But Jesus’ pathway isn’t easy. It is not paved with a cement of “certainty” or “absolutes.” If that’s what the ego in you needs, there are plenty of religions around — Jesus called them “the broad roads” — that are crowded and so presumed to be “correct.” But in the end, those roads, no matter how right they may seem, are roads that “lead to destruction.”

Why? Because, instead of forming you, you’re con-formed; instead of freeing you, you’re enslaved; instead of pointing you in the way to go, they prescribe to you the way you must go; instead of creating a more unified world, the world becomes more divided and conflicted. And in the end, the road leads nowhere, except to a world of those “like” us and those who aren’t — a world of believers and unbelievers, which really just means a world of those who believe like us and those who don’t.

I wish, instead, to walk “the narrow road,” as Jesus described it. Few travel this road because it can be lonely and unclear. Yet, it is the pathway of God. It is the pathway of faith.

There are few markers. Much insecurity. Little to believe in. But there’s lots of compassion. Much to enjoy. No judgments. No arrogance. No presumptions. None of the “Our path is right; your path is wrong” nonsense.

No, this path is just one path to knowing God. But it is the path I have chosen. And it has brought me great joy.

In eastern religions, and to a lesser degree in the mystical traditions of Christianity, meditators use mantras to center themselves and so bring health and wholeness to the inner self (or, greater unity between the mind, body, and spirit).  Benedictine monks regularly use scripture in this fashion.  For example, they might recite in meditation over and over again the words, “The Lord is my shepherd” (from the 23rd Psalm).

In my own experience, I have made it an every-morning practice to meditate and recite the following mantras.  This is the first time, however, I’ve actually written them down. This was itself a wonderful discipline.

In many respects, a New Year’s Resolution is a kind of mantra.  But, like mantras, resolutions must be practiced daily if you’re serious about them becoming your way of living.  Which is why, my first mantra is…

1. I will practice meditation every day. This is no longer difficult.  But, in the early days of becoming a meditator, it was extremely difficult to shut down the mind with its propensity to chatter almost incessantly.  With persistence, however, and with time, my mind began to slowly shut down whenever I entered a state of meditation. Today, I would no more consider starting the day without first meditating than I would to go through a day without eating.  Meditation is to my innermost self what food and nourishment is to the outer self, the body.  Pema Chodron, the Buddhist monk, said, “We don’t sit in meditation to become good meditators; we sit in meditation to become more awake in our lives.”  It is in meditating on the following mantras that the miracle of inner transformation takes place. I become that which I imagine. Or, in the slightly altered words of R. W. Emerson, “The antecedent to every behavior is a mantra.” You are what you think about. So, practice meditating on the following and see what happens.

2. I will be one with all that is. Why? Because I am, in spite of the fact that the ego in me wants to regard itself as separate or, more accurately, distinct and different.  The way some spiritual teachers put it is, “I am that; you are that; all this is that; and, that’s all there is.”  What is meant by this is that, since we are all the same, it would be helpful to practice seeing yourself, not as separate from everyone and everything else, but as one-and-the-same.  It is amazing what this sort of mindset does to your relationship to yourself, to others, and to the environment.  You are much more awake, alert, and attentive to all things, as well as people, plants, and animals.  I used to love to hunt but I could no more hunt today, even as a sport, if I wanted to. I’m not saying this is the way it must be for all. But, for me, everything, as well as everyone, is becoming more and more sacred to me. I cannot help but feel the practice of meditation is changing my view of all things.

3. I will practice forgiveness, starting with myself. Recently, an obituary in the newspaper referred to the deceased as a person who “lived with no regrets.”  For me, however, I could not imagine such a life.  I have many regrets.  Today, I’m 55, I regret not having taken better care of my health.  I wish I had quit smoking sooner.  Exercising longer. Eating healthier.  Spending more time, or better quality time and attention with my children.  I have other regrets that are too personal to share with you or anyone else.  Sometimes, the regrets become overwhelming.  So, I have to practice the art of forgiving myself.  What you do to yourself, you do to others.  What you do to others, you will also do to yourself.  These two sentences alone are enough to meditate upon this entire day.  If you cannot forgive others, let that be a clue there’s something in you that you haven’t forgiven.  Mark Twain once said, “Forgiveness is the fragrance the violet shed on the heel that crushed it.” Words have never been more beautiful.

4. I will be kind, even when the impulse is to be right. In the past, I have found myself in frequent arguments with my spouse or someone at work.  It’s not the problem today that it used to be, fortunately.  And, I think it has something to do with the practice of kindness, as well as the practice of meditation.  I now realize, for example, when I’ve been in an argument in the past, it was nothing more than the ego in me feeling under threat and so lashing out or defending its illusory position or point of view. None of this is necessary and none of this is helpful. So, as someone once framed it, “If you have a choice of being right or being kind, practice choosing kind.”

5. I will judge or criticize no one, not even myself. So much of my unhappiness in the past has been the constant self-judgment, second-guessing that went on and on in my mind, almost without ever stopping.  Again, you only ever do to others what you frequently do to yourself.  What this means is this: whenever I meet a person who is constantly judging others or situations or criticizing others and complaining about how things are, I know I am meeting a person who has very little regard for him-or herself.  Knowing this helps me to be more understanding and less judgmental myself.  For me, I’ve learned that to overcome the habit of judgment-making, I have to practice awareness-enhancing.  That is, when I catch myself judging others or some situation, I simply acknowledge the judgment in me.  That’s enough.  In the early days of my spiritual practice, however, I would catch myself judging others and then turn that judgment in upon myself.  That never helped much.  Then, it wasn’t two  person or situation I was judging, but two – the person or situation creating the upset in me and the self-judgment for being judgmental.  Pretty insane way to live, if you ask me.  Don’t catch yourself judging others and then judge yourself by saying, “You idiot, there you go again judging others.”  Instead, just observe the judgment in yourself. The observation alone is enough to cause it to diminish and, eventually, to disappear.

6.  I will resist nothing. Practice the art of acceptance.  The Buddha reminded us, “All suffering is resistance.”  In other words, whenever you feel discontent within, or unhappiness, or just an underlying feeling of unease, meditate and go within.  There is something in you, most likely, resisting something outside of you – some circumstance, situation, person, and so forth.  See if you can identify what it is.  Then, ask yourself, “Is there anything I can do to change this situation or make it better?” If there isn’t, then practice acceptance.  It takes practice but, if you can do nothing to change the situation, or remove yourself from whatever it is that is causing the inner upset, then acceptance is the only way to move beyond the suffering.

7. I will practice presence. This is the secret to worry-free living.  Learning to be present–truly present–in this moment is the greatest gift you could ever give yourself.  I saw a woman interview recently on television.  She has a rare form of cancer and her prognosis is not good (but, of course, this is a judgment I am making – how do I know what is a good or bad prognosis?).  She has elected not to undergo additional treatment because the medical people are telling her that the cancer will eventually take her life in spite of their efforts to the contrary.  In response, she said, “If I have learned anything from this illness, it is to treasure each moment of life–in other words, life for me is more like brief snapshots of the present moment and I take great pleasure in each snapshot, studying it carefully and living it fully.”  I was amazed as I listened to her.  And, then, it occurred to me, “But, does it take going through a life-threatening illness to wake up to this present moment?”  It need not.  When you learn to live in the present, there is no worry or anxiety.  It disappears.  Worry is a thought with emotional and physical consequences.  It’s the price your emotions and body pay for thinking thoughts about the past you cannot change and the future that does not exist.  The past is over. The future, whenever it does materialize, will materialize only as this present moment.  So, live in this breath.

8.  I will think about death every day. This may seem the strangest of mantras.  But, really, it isn’t.  Death is not the opposite of life; it is the opposite of birth.  Which means, just as you were born, you will die.  All the great spiritual masters throughout history and in every tradition have taught us to contemplate death.  It is only morbid to those who deny it is their REAL destiny.  You were born to die.  Death is not the consequence of the first couple’s screw-up in the Garden of Eden.  It wasn’t God’s punishment on their, or your, wrongdoing.  God no more intended for you to live forever on this plane of existence than she did any of the other things or persons in creation.  Life is preparation for death and whatever may be beyond it. So, think about death.  It’ll do two things: For one, it’ll make how you live your life more meaningful; and, two, it’ll make the way you face death less fearful. Leonardo de Vinci said, “All my life I’ve thought I was learning how to live; now I see I’ve really been learning how to die.”

9.  I will look for the synchronous events of life. The late E. Kubler-Ross, who gave us the wonderful psychological insights into the “stages of grief,” said just before her death, “There are no mistakes. All of life is a blessing given to us to learn from.”  Carl Jung coined the word “synchronicity,” to refer to those “acausal connecting realities.”  In other words, Saint Paul said, “All things work together for good to those who those God” (Rom. 8:28).  Imagine the difference it would make to your daily life and happiness if you viewed everything that happens, not as a conspiracy out to steal your joy, but as “planned by One who has your best interest at heart” (A Course in Miracles).  Look for the Divine in everything and everyone.  When you do, then you can do the following…

10. I will be thankful for everything. Gratitude, as I’ve written about extensively in The Giving Myths: Giving then Getting the Life You’ve Always Wanted, makes you generous and generosity is not something God wants from you, it’s something God wants for you.  Make it your practice to give every person you meet a gift.  Could be as simple as a smile, a kind word, a handshake or greeting that is warm and personable.  I try to live my life in such a way so as to view every person and situation that crosses the path of my daily journey as no accident.  So, whenever someone asks me for a dollar, I try to give them one, or two, or whatever I have available. I remember one day my daughter objecting, “But, Dad, how do you know that man won’t go buy drugs with it?”  I responded, “I don’t.  He might.  That’s the risk I’m willing to take to live from a place of thankfulness and generosity.  If I am going to err, I wish to err on the side of grace.”

Make these your mantras, or come up with your own.  Then, meditate.  In fact, if you have only one resolution this New Year’s, make a resolution to meditate every day.  Your mantras will manifest on their own and in their own good time.  Blessed journey.

2.  As a matter of practice, make sure you say “Thank You” for member support at least three-times as often as you say things like, “We need your help.” Send quarterly “thank you” letters to members that are addressed to them personally (ie., “Dear Bob and Mary…”), along with their statement of giving for that quarter. Make sure the letter highlights a specific ministry/mission accomplishment for the previous quarter (ie., faith conversions, new members, a facility that just went “green” or was painted, updated, or the number of households served by the church’s food pantry, a mission team report, etc.). People give to people and to projects they deem worthy in serving the cause of Christianity. Put a “face” on these letters so that members are reminded that their generosity is making a difference in someone’s life.

3.  Make use of “generosity testimonies” throughout the year, not just a budget promotion time. Listen for those stories from members who are facing hard times but remaining faithful in their giving and finding God’s presence and provision to be adequate. Enlist them to share their story. Guide them in preparing and delivering it to the church/parish. Be sure their story is shared, not only in worship, but through church publications, the church’s website, etc. A spirit of generosity is caught more often than it is taught.

4.  Many churches report their giving totals for the previous week/month in their parish bulletin or newsletter. These churches typically report the AVN “Average Weekly Need” as well (AVN is the total annual budget need divided by 52 weeks or 12 months). As a consequence, often the weekly/monthly receipts appear to be short of the average weekly/monthly need.

In time, this reporting method creates the perception that the church is always behind in its giving. Most churches have the best quarter of giving during the final quarter of the year and will often “catch up” and close out the year at or near budget projections. However, by reporting weekly receipts against the average weekly need, the perception is nurtured that church is always behind. And perceptions, once fixed in people’s minds, are hard to change.

Here’s what to do. Church expenses are not equally distributed throughout the year. The utility bills, for example, are likely to be higher during those months of intense cold or heat than at other times of the year. Instead of reporting the average weekly receipts against the average weekly need, why not calculate the average weekly expenses based on the last five year’s expenses for that same week?

This will take a little time. Once set up, however, in an Excel spreadsheet, or some other program, it will be easy to maintain. Simply average all weekly or monthly expenses for the last five years. This will give you a weekly/monthly average of expenses that is much more realistic and accurate. Then, when you report the weekly receipts with THIS average, the receipts will more often meet or exceed the weekly average need. In time, the perceptions, as well as the congregational attitudes, will change and become more positive, accurate, and optimistic about the church’s financial health.

5.  Teach generosity, and do so regularly. Consider opening a Financial Counseling Center. Most churches have one or more lay persons who have skills and training in this area, as in bankers, accountants, investors, insurance and financial advisors, etc. Offer classes in financial planning, debt and money management, and planned giving. Invite a speaker who specializes in motivating people to live beyond fear and anxiety and more by faith and generosity. It is true that generous people are the happiest people. Teach and preach on Biblical giving. Consider a teaching series or a series of homilies/sermons designed to expose the myths about giving prevalent in virtually every church in America.  Try reading the book by that title: The Giving Myths.

6.  Ask the right questions…

Since people give to vision, or human and spiritual needs; What is your church’s vision? How well are you communicating it? If it is unclear, or cannot be stated by most members in the pew, it may be time to lead them to discover a new vision for the future, a re-defined mission and vision for the church’s future.

Is your financial support declining, or flat; Why? Do local unemployment and other economic factors explain the decline or are there other reasons for it? (ie., No vision? Low Vision? Fear? Internal conflict? Distrust, suspicion, or a lack of confidence in leadership?)

Whether real or perceived, are more of your church’s resources being spent within the church walls than on missions and mission projects beyond the church walls? According to Empty Tomb, Inc., an Illinois-based Christian research organization, most churches spend 85 percent or more of their financial resources on salaries, utilities, and brick-and-mortar maintenance. If so, this trend will likely be protested, either verbally or quietly, and a turn-around necessary if giving trends are to ever change.

What counsel, guidance, and active prayer support is your church offering to members, as well as those within the community, who are unemployed and/or under-employed? What about debt counseling or financial counseling? Has your church hosted a “Jobs Fair,” or a “Resume-Writing” Seminar? Does the church offer guidance to those completing applications for unemployment assistance? In other words, how do your members “perceive” the level of your concern as a church for the difficulties they are facing?

7.  Before undertaking a new building or expansion campaign, renovation project, or capital campaign, it is imperative to conduct a pre-campaign readiness assessment (or, feasibility study) by a third-party professional firm. This will help church leadership evaluate whether members are willing support the effort (that is, how they really feel about it beyond any church vote) and, equally as important, whether their financial support will be great enough to prevent the church from mortgaging its future with an unmanageable debt.

8.  If your church has a large debt, it would be wise to consider conducting a capital campaign for debt reduction/elimination, even if you have just completed a capital campaign for new construction. Why? Remember, people are becoming more and more debt conscious. At first, the suggestion of “another” capital campaign for debt reduction will meet with resistance from some. But, this is due mostly to campaign fatigue. Once members see that, if the church does not reduce debt, it will pay $________ (this amount can be calculated from the amortization schedule on the church loan) in interest money alone over the next three years. Merely seeing this number is generally enough to lead them to reconsider. Interest money spent on debt service is really ministry money the church is needlessly throwing away.

9.  Normally, a capital campaign for debt service will yield only about one to one-and-one-half times a church’s annual budget in three-year commitments. In other words, a church with an $800,000 annual budget will likely receive $1.2 million in revenue for debt elimination/reduction over a three-year giving period. This example assumes the church is using the services of a professional fundraising firm. Normally, those churches attempting capital campaigns for debt reduction without the assistance of a professional fundraising/stewardship firm will not do as well. They can guide you in avoiding pitfalls and in designing a successful campaign for debt reduction/elimination that will make sense – even in today’s economic climate.

9.  If your church/parish has conducted a capital campaign in recent months, when was the last time information on the status of the campaign, as well as the progress of the worthy cause, was shared with members? While many churches conduct successful annual and capital campaigns, too often what happens after the campaign concludes could be summarized in one word: Nothing. In an annual stewardship campaign, for example, some aspect of the church’s ministry accomplishments should be shared at least every six weeks.

Generally speaking, all that most churches do is post in the weekly/monthly bulletin the giving totals from the previous week (or, month). In capital campaigns, there are few churches that successfully implement a Follow-Up program that keeps members abreast of campaign/project progress. These same churches often do little to introduce and encourage new members to participate. Good communication will keep the campaign momentum and contributions going forward.

10.  In the end, make sure that the church, and its lay and professional leadership, is practicing what it preaches. Jesus said, “Seek first the Kingdom…and these things will be given as well” (Luke 12:32). Know that the Kingdom is not the church. Nor is it some future place or destiny. The Kingdom, as Jesus referred to it, is within you (Luke 17:21); that is, within each follower of Christ. In other words, it is that deepest place within every follower, where none other than God himself dwells. So, what does this mean when applied to the economy?

The central thought in a capitalist economy is the “principle of scarcity,” where it is assumed there are not enough resources to produce all the goods and services people need and want. The central thought in a Kingdom economy, however, is the “principle of abundance.” Where God is, there is plenty.

The problem in today’s world is not a deficit of resources but the distribution of resources. On one hand, a scarcity mentality creates fear and competition. This, in turn, fuels greed, ego-based decision-making, and a misguided, competitive bigger-is-better philosophy. This collective leadership ego has led churches to over-build, over-extend, and mortgage their future in excessive debt. A Kingdom mentality, on the other hand, creates trust. It nurtures sound, God-based not ego-based decision-making. In this leadership environment, there is confidence in the church’s leaders, joy among its members, and a spirit of generosity.

Since there is no such thing as scarcity in God’s Kingdom, members should feel the church’s decisions are not being dictated by the economy but by leaders who are wise, spiritual, in-touch with the God within, and interested only in building the “real” Kingdom—the Kingdom within each follower. Where this prevails, the church prospers.

I wasn’t expecting much.  I got to the first scene, however–the one where the author, Elizabeth Gilbert, cries out to God in prayer–and I was hooked. In a marriage that isn’t working, Gilbert is an emotional train wreck waiting to happen. Since her life makes no sense to her whatsoever, she does what many of us have done when we can’t think of what else to do–she prays.

“Hello, God.  How are you? I’m Liz. It’s nice to meet you…I’m sorry to bother you so late at night…but I’m in serious trouble…I’m not an expert at praying, as you know. But can you please help me?…I don’t know what to do. Please tell me what to do.”

Who hasn’t prayed this prayer?

It’s appeal is in its familiarity. But, what hooked me most is the fact that this first prayer, or cry, to God, isn’t Gilbert’s last, as it is with many in circumstances equally as troubling. Rather, it is the first of many prayers she offers to God–prayers that evolve into an on-going conversation in a year-long journey through Italy, India, and Indonesia.  Each prayer is but the next step she takes in the search for herself and a life that matters.  As she journeys and converses, the consequence is self-discovery, self-acceptance, and an awareness of the Sacred presence.

Not a bad spiritual practice, if you ask me.

If a spiritual life is really about learning to accept yourself, learning to live compassionately, and becoming so aware of the Sacred presence within you that you converse with this Presence the way two friends would sharing a fine wine in a corner cafe, then Eat, Pray, Love could be a guide to any seeker after a sacred life.

Gilbert prays the way Jesus prayed.  The Buddha, too.

So, what kind of praying is this?

Silence. Stillness. Some call it meditation — the kind of praying Jesus instructed his followers to practice (Matt. 6:6).  It’s also the only kind of praying we ever see Jesus doing (Matt. 14:23; 26:36ff).  Yet, strangely, go into almost any church, synagogue, or temple today and you’ll hear plenty of public prayers (in spite of Jesus’ discouragement against it – Matt. 5:5); but, little or no provision for silence, stillness, or meditation. Most worship is distinguished by its chaos — loud music, continuous chatter, lots of substance but little sustenance.

With very few exceptions, religious leaders almost universally overlook this kind of prayer and it is likely because they know little about it themselves. It is this kind of praying, however–and perhaps only this kind of praying–that results in self-awareness and Divine consciousness. The Buddha said, “He who meditates attentively will attain abundant joy.”

Jesus said, “The Kingdom of God is within you” (Lk.10:27). If that’s true, then to know yourself, as well as to know God, you must make it your spiritual practice to go within. The rabbis say, “God has but one tabernacle–the heart.” It is there, in the secret place (what Jesus likened to a “room” – Matt. 6:6) that you practice slowing down the mind, (that virtual stream of thought-making) and to relax and rest in the Sacred presence.  The psalmist put it like this, “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).

“Is it easy to learn to pray this way?”

Ask Liz. If you make this your spiritual practice however, the discoveries will mirror those made by Elizabeth Gilbert and will be equally remarkable.

Then, if you ever visit Italy, India, or Indonesia, you’ll do so for different reasons.

Dr. Steve McSwain is the author of The Enoch Factor: The Sacred Art of Knowing God (2010, Smyth & Hewlys). For more information, please visit www.stevemcswain.com.

For an interview or to receive a review copy, contact Tolly Moseley at Tolly@prbythebook.com or (512) 501-4399 x708. Visit us at www.prbythebook.com or www.twitter.com/prbythebook

Admittedly, there are some dramatic differences.

For the most part, my spiritual life is a whole lot less about beliefs and a whole lot more about faith. There is a canyon of difference between the two.  Like most religious people, I had confused belief for faith for decades. For example, there are many people who believe in Jesus but, in terms of living by the way of Jesus—that is, living by the example and teachings of Jesus—they do not.

Take this one example, although there are really many examples I could give you.  Jesus said, “Love your enemies.”  What that really means is “Have no enemies.”  Yet, many churchgoing people—perhaps even the majority of them—who would vigorously defend the US war in Afghanistan and in Iraq.  There was a time when I could have, too.  Now, however, I find it very difficult to live by Jesus’ teaching and try to justify war, any war, at the same time.  I suspect that’s why most Christians throughout history have looked to St. Augustine and his “Just War Theory” as a way to circumvent the rather clear teaching of Jesus.  For me, now that I regard myself as more Christian than ever before, feel, if I am going to say I’m a follower of Christ, then I must truly follow Christ and his teachings, instead of looking for some clever way to explain away his hard teachings.

For most of my adult life, I thought that being a Christian was about believing certain things about God, Jesus, and the Bible.  That being a Christian was about living a certain way – which usually meant ordering your life around some arbitrary but cultural standards somebody concocted as a definition as to what it meant to be Christian.  For Baptists in the south, where I grew up and with whom I attended church, being a Christian meant you walked a church aisle – hopefully soon after reaching the “age of accountability”—whatever that is, said you believed in Jesus and renounced your terrible sins (which were many at the age of seven when this “salvation” event occurred for me), and then promising you wouldn’t “drink, cuss, smoke, or chew or run with girls who do.”

There were a few other things that defined the “right” or “good” Christian—attend church regularly – the really, really good Christians came on Sunday night, too, and again on Wednesday—be patriotic, salute the flag and don’t cheat Uncle Sam, and, of course, pay your tithes and offerings.  If you did not do that…well…you might not go to hell but you’d smell like you’d been there.

Now, however, I know, as Deepak Chopra once put it, your “beliefs are a cover-up for insecurity. You only ever believe in the things you’re not certain about.”

Faith, on the other hand, is the capacity to live in ambiguity; or, to step confidently in the face of uncertainty.  It is to live with an inner sense of security, knowing that, since nothing could ever surprise the Divine, you can live without fear, without stress, worry, or anxiety.  You can live without religion, too.  That being a person of faith has very little to do with what you believe and a whole lot to do with how you live.  To be a person of faith is to not just to believe in God or Jesus, or even to know a lot about God.  It is, instead, to actually know God for yourself, as yourself, and to walk in the joy of her ineffable Presence.

As an educated scholar, theologian, and religious leader, I knew much about God. I could argue and debate with anybody about what I believed. But, in terms of those beliefs making any real difference in my life…well…I cannot say that those beliefs made any difference.  You can’t argue God’s presence into your life.  Clinging to a set of beliefs, no matter how correct they may be, won’t change the human heart.  Jesus said as much to the religious leaders of his day who, like many today, believed that they had to believe the right beliefs to be right with God.  It was insanity then and it is insane today. You only argue and debate about the things you do not know.  When you really know God, what is there to debate?  Or, to put it another way, when people set out to prove that God exists, it could only ever mean that they do so because they secretly fear she doesn’t.

You don’t believe in the sun, do you?  You don’t argue and debate whether it really exists.  The notion would be absurd.  What’s there to believe in or to debate about the sun?  You know the sun. You see it hanging in the heavens, feel its warmth by day, and observe its effects on earth.  Similarly, when you know the reality of the Eternal Presence—and that inner knowing could only ever occur when you exchange beliefs about God for faith in God—then you cannot but see God everywhere, in everyone, as well as in everything.  All of life becomes to you the sacred sanctuary of God’s eternal presence.