Yielding to the Spirit

So I had the opportunity to attend a fireside with Matt Townsend as the guest speaker.  I'm sure those in my area who attended would agree that it was fantastic.  Its rare that someone can make you laugh so hard in one moment and the then have you moved to tears in the next.  I don't usually take notes or write things down for me to ponder later, but part way through the evening he said some things that I wanted to be able to come back to at some point to feel the way I was feeling when he said them. 

For those of you who know him, his focus is on relationships and communication.  He did speak about those things but not in the manner I was expecting.  I thought I was going to come away with some helpful ideas of how to be a better spouse, mother, or friend.  What I came away with was that I'm good enough. I haven't felt good enough for so, so long.  You see we live in this world of comparing ourselves to others.  Do I measure up to the next person? 

He spoke about the body, mind, and spirit.  While the Spirit of God is perfect, our mind and bodies are not.  They compete against each other.  What if sin wasn't about the thing you do or say, but rather the state of being without the Spirit?  Why had I not thought of it this way before?   When we degrade ourselves or others are we of the spirit?  No, we are of the mind.  When we are negative, angry, annoyed, or sad, are we of the spirit?  No.  So it takes a shift of the mind to allow the feeling of the spirit. It sounds easy right?  In reality, its not.  But Townsend had us shifting back and forth between being of mind and spirit within minutes, seconds of each other.  So maybe its not as hard as I make it.  I loved one of his examples.

He talked about those little things that just eat at you.  His example was that of a 12 year old boy.  I have one of those so I totally related.  How many times do we have to harp on something?  So many times that it drives you batty.  For me its how many times have I asked him to hang up his suit or scout shirt.  Sometimes I walk by and there it is on the floor and I get so frustrated.  I've gotten upset about it.  I've chided him about it.  What is that thing your child, or partner, or friend does that eats at you and consumes your mind?  So Townsend asks us this rhetorical question that immediately sets us into that state of mind of negative thought......  And then he says, does it really matter?  Does it matter that the suit is on the floor?  Will God love him any less?  Would God come into his room and love him less because his suit is on the floor?  Or would God take that 12 year old boy and cup his face in his hands?  The image of that unconditional love being extended to my young boy took me from mind to the state of overwhelming feeling the spirit.

When we feel we are not enough, we are of the mind.  We are not in a place to be filled with Gods love and guidance.  I know that throughout my life, my darkest times are preceded by allowing myself to be closed off from the spirit.   In those darkest of hours when desperate for relief of what is ailing me, I go to my knees.  In prayer, I humble myself, and hand over to my God that thing that I cannot bear any longer.  And he takes it from me, and if I allow it, fills my emptiness with love.  The atonement is grace.  Its that thing that says you are good enough.  No matter what, he will still love you.  And this is the thing we should learn.  Do we make the people in our lives feel inadequate?  Or do we convey to them that they are good enough.  No matter what mistakes they make, they are worthy of love.  Gods love, our love. 

So how do we continually strive to shift from one to the other.  Don't try to find the spirit from a place it doesn't exist, that's like trying to stuff a turkey through its beak.  Start in the place where you know the spirit of God exists.  For, me its prayer.  For another, it might be scriptures or music, or church, or with someone who seems to carry it with them.  From there learn to be open and willing to shift to that place.  This is something that want to do.  I'm sure it will take a lot of effort in the beginning to learn how to yield to the spirit on a regular basis , but maybe over time it will be easier.  Maybe I will be a better spouse, mother, and friend because of it.