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Today's
Meditation:
What
are spiritual exercises, and why do so few of us partake
in them? Why is it difficult for us even to
recognize them for what they are? I believe that it
may be because of the many years of very repressive
religious teachings that relied on dogma and threats to
keep people "in line"--we grew to see the word
"spiritual" as a frightening word, one that gave
us unpleasant thoughts and fears to deal with.
And
even though we're willing to exercise our bodies in order
to improve our cardiovascular systems and increase the
size and strength of our muscles, few of us make an
attempt to exercise our spirits, or our awareness of our
spirituality. Let's face it, though--could there be
any more positive time for us to spend than to make our
spirits stronger, more peaceful, more loving?
When
I don't exercise regularly, running a mile is hell, pure
and simple. When I run regularly, though, a mile is
really nothing to me--I'm just getting warmed up at the
end of a mile. And a mile at an easy pace is an
extremely pleasant, peaceful experience for me.
When
I don't focus on my spirituality, the curveballs that life
throws at me are difficult to deal with. Job
setbacks, relationship difficulties, financial obstacles,
or just about any other problems can take away my peace
and balance almost instantly.
When
I'm in touch with my spiritual realities, though--my
appreciation of life and living, my feelings of unity, my
feeling of connection with the infinite that's in all of
us--such problems really mean very little, and they have
almost no power to disrupt my life.
"Continual
spiritual exercises" are very important to us when we
keep in mind the fact that, as many people have said, we
are not humans seeking a spiritual experience, but spirits
having a human experience.
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