Divine Audacity: Dare to Be the Light of the World

INTRODUCTION

Oddly, I, a minister serving a church community, have become less and less religious through the years. I would have expected otherwise; however, the more I have studied and meditated, the less I have relied upon religious constructs for my experience of the One Power, One Mind, GOD. Frankly, I have sworn off separation. We—the collective we—have perceived GOD to be an inaccessible superhuman, which locates GOD outside and beyond us. We have believed this GOD rewards and punishes, gives and takes away, requiring human suffering and sacrifice. We have thought ourselves to be unworthy of GOD; therefore, we are always striving but never succeeding to please a mostly disapproving GOD.

I propose that there is no such GOD.

My purpose is to transcend religion and to flatten spirituality, to level the field of thought and experience so that there is no higher and lower, no more spiritual and less spiritual. I want that we realize our oneness with GOD. Instead of identifying ourselves as only human, I believe we free ourselves from our limited human perspective by identifying our nature as divine. I want that we revel in our Divine Identity! I want that we create our world and experience life from this realization. In a consciousness of only One, our conscious, intentional thoughts and actions arise from the One Power, One Mind, GOD. In this awareness, our mundane concerns become as spiritual as our lofty pursuits.

We have been convinced that we need to strive for divine approval, to earn our way into the heavenly kingdom. Post-religious teachings change the destination but retain the requirement: working toward enlightenment and learning our lessons. Consider, though, that our only-human striving for spiritual progress discounts the truth of our oneness with the One, the One that is the eternal, irrepressible, immutable All. GOD is all that, and we are one with GOD; therefore, moment by moment we are capable of being all that GOD is. Moment by moment, not by crawling and climbing, we are GOD living, loving, giving, and celebrating.

Enlightenment is temporary. It is moment by moment. Have you noticed that in one moment you can be totally connected, heart-centered, and free; but a moment later when a driver swerves her car into the parking spot you have been waiting for, you become . . . let's just say enlightenment comes and goes.

Practice makes moments of enlightenment more likely. Practice builds neural pathways that increase the likelihood of enlightened moments. Nevertheless, the most-practiced masters fall off the enlightenment wagon from time to time. Conversely, those who have had little or no education about their Divine Identity are known to have experienced sublime moments of awakened consciousness. Every one of us is capable of expressing, in any moment, something of the nature of GOD. Practice makes us more able. Practice makes progress.

Perfection is not the aim of practice. Athletes practice to build skill, and they must continue to practice in order to continue to excel in their sport. Injured basketball players rarely return to the game at peak performance after rehab; as they resume practice, their abilities resurface. They recall the mentality and posture cultivated through earlier periods of practice. Like athletes, we engage in spiritual practice in order to saturate our minds with the truth of our spiritual capacities. We build spiritual muscle to express our Divine Identity effectively, with increasing ease. With practice, we instinctively know what to think, say, or do to amplify the light of life, love, and all our spiritual capacities in any circumstance.

Any circumstance! Post-religious, New Thought teachings sometimes give the impression that we can get spiritual enough to eliminate all unwanted circumstances. This is not the purpose of spirituality, though. The greats—Jesus, Gandhi, Mandela, for example—never managed to eliminate unwanted circumstances. They were not exempt from human circumstances, and they did not promise us we could become exempt. Instead, they walked through unwanted circumstances as the light of the world, expressing from GOD, the One Mind. My intention is that we become so aware of our spiritual nature and capacities that we walk through unwanted circumstances in the same way we walk through wanted circumstances, shining the light all the while. Our Divine Identity can be our first resource rather than our last resort.

Within these pages, I intend to describe the indescribable GOD. In all places throughout the book, except in scriptural and other quotations, I use all capital letters for GOD to distinguish GOD, the One Mind, or Source, from the deity God. I describe GOD according to twelve recognizable attributes, lights, or powers that are our capacities by virtue of our oneness with GOD. Cultivating these capacities, we spiritualize our lives in fulfillment of our divine purpose to be the light of the world.

Although the twelve lights or powers are related and are, in fact, various aspects of the One Mind, it is not necessary to study them in order of their appearance in the book. One is not a prerequisite for the next. I recommend studying one light or power each week. Or, study one each month, focusing each of the first three weeks on each of the three aspects of the power and then integrating them during week four. Afterward, keep the powers active by selecting one or two each morning to consciously practice throughout your day. Reread the corresponding pages, practice the meditations, and call forth your powers during the circumstances of your day. You may want to set an hourly alert as a reminder.

However you choose to approach Divine Audacity, may your study and practice enrich your life. May you audaciously shine the light of love, life, wisdom, and all spiritual powers moment by moment, choice by choice.

Note: Unless otherwise noted, Bible verses are from the New Revised Standard version. The Gospel of Thomas quotes are translated by Stephen Patterson and Marvin Meyer (www.gnosis.org). The etymology of words in Bible passages are from James Strong, The New Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1990).

PART ONE

YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth and thick darkness the peoples, but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will appear over you. Nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

—Isaiah 60:1–3

In December 2012, Kenyan Abel Mutai was about to win a cross-country race in Navarre, Spain. Just behind him ran Spanish athlete Ivan Fernandez Anaya, for whom a win would mean a place on the Spanish team for the European championships. Anaya was surprised when Mutai came to a stop ten meters short of winning, mistaking his stopping point for the finish line. Anaya caught up with his competitor and astonished onlookers when, instead of taking advantage of Mutai's mistake, Anaya guided Mutai forward to win the race.

Belleville, Michigan business owner Bob Thompson sold his road building company in July 1999. When the deal was done, he notified his 550 employees that they would share in the $128 million proceeds. Thompson gave hourly workers generous amounts, in many cases exceeding their annual pay. He presented salaried workers, who had no pensions, $1 to 2 million each in certificates available upon their retirements. To ensure they received the full million or more, he also paid the taxes on their windfalls. Bob's rationale? I wanted to go out a winner and I wanted to go out doing the right thing.

Kyle Maynard has competed in wrestling and mixed martial arts, set records in weight lifting, and reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro—all without forearms and lower legs. Kyle was born with a congenital quadruple amputation. An inspiring author, athlete, and motivational speaker, Kyle encourages wounded warriors to stretch beyond physical limitations and achieve their goals. Kyle's mantra, and book title, is No Excuses.

Many years ago, a young woman, Chloe, was approaching death from the ravishing effects of multiple myeloma, cancer of the plasma cells within bone marrow. Chloe was in excruciating pain. As her minister, I visited Chloe hours before she died. I walked into her hospital room just as a few other friends were departing and a nurse was closing the blinds on the window next to Chloe's bed. I heard Chloe tell the nurse, in a whisper, Please leave the blinds open. Overcome by the feeling of love and caring in the room, I said to Chloe, How loved you are! This is your work right now, to let yourself be loved. Despite heavy medication and her body's agony, Chloe glowed like the sun and her eyes pierced my heart as she replied, No. I am not here to be loved. I am here to be love.

Biographies of the greats—you know their names, Gandhi, King, Mother Teresa, Mandela—thrill us. Their relentless pursuit of justice and human dignity motivate us to treat others as equals. Their leaps over hurdles and their tenacity in the face of adversity stir us to be braver. Our larger-than-life heroes change the world. They display divine audacity. So did these four: Ivan Fernandez Anaya, Bob Thompson, Kyle Maynard, and Chloe, whose last name I do not recall.

What Is Divine Audacity?

Divine audacity is bold spiritual living, living under the radical premise that I AM divine. My nature is one with divine nature or GOD. I am able to boldly express the highest spiritual principles in the middle of everyday situations. I am courageously responsive. I am fearlessly self-reflective and self-corrective. I am intentional in large and small aims. I valiantly champion the goodness within myself and within each person I encounter. I hold myself accountable for thoughts, words, and actions that are in integrity with my Divine Identity. I dare to ignore the way things are and what cannot be done, bringing about the seemingly impossible. I suspend belief in the limitations that seem inherent in human existence to stretch beyond my known capacity. I disregard appearances to hold a vision of what can be so steadily that it must manifest. I overlook history, deriving my sense of direction instead from the source of life, love, and wisdom. I am not crushed by the weight of my commitments; rather, I passionately fulfill my sense of purpose. I uphold the world, all beings, and all intentions in the light of magnificent possibilities. I lift up rather than tear down. I believe in the inherent goodness of all people.

With divine audacity, I AM the light of the world, shining brightly. In my presence, others remember their Divine Identity. In my presence, others heal the illusion of separation. In my presence, others stand tall and behave humanely; they snap back from self-pity and self-derision to claim their spiritual capacities. In my presence, others sense, and act from, their essential goodness. In my presence, others come home to themselves, to the Self that is not their personality but their Divine Identity.

You don't have to be a superhero to express divine audacity. You don't have to be a superstar, or a super-anyone. You only have to attune to your essential nature, which is goodness, or GODness, and follow its lead in all things. Divine audacity is not reserved for life-or-death situations or singularly religious matters. Divine audacity is relevant in the nitty gritty situations we face every day.

Divine audacity is displayed by your open-hearted relative who dares to remain connected with you, reminding you of your inherent value when everyone else in your family has shunned you.

Divine audacity is displayed by the merciful parent of a murdered child who courageously asks for leniency in punishment of the offender.

Divine audacity is displayed by someone who wholeheartedly disagrees with another's point of view but champions the other's right to her viewpoint and seeks to understand.

Divine audacity is displayed by the aspiring musician who, knowing she stands little chance but that she must make music, auditions along with hundreds of contenders for twelve slots in the orchestra.

Divine audacity is uncommon valor in the midst of common human circumstances. The petite mother who lifts a 4,000-pound automobile to rescue her child pinned underneath it later exclaims, I don't know where the strength came from, but it was the only way to save my child.

Engaging films and television shows portray characters navigating common human circumstances. Our fascination with them, I believe, stems from their relatability. The tension in such stories arises from a character's dilemma: Shall I behave honorably or dishonorably; shall I tell the truth or lie; shall I lift up or tear down?

A running story last season on the NBC show Parent-hood involved Kristina Braverman's internal integrity struggles during her contest for public office. Kristina's opponent stooped to character denigration and innuendo. Kristina strove to take the high road, holding her tongue even though she could have revealed information that would have derailed her opponent's campaign. Kristina lost the election, but I imagine I was not the only viewer who sensed she was the real winner.

Divine audacity is fearless overcoming of only-human tendencies in order to do, or say, the right thing: that which unifies, harmonizes, strengthens, or uplifts. With divine audacity, you dare to be the light of the world.

What Does It Mean to Be the Light of the World?

You are the light of the world. Jesus' audacious statement reveals a truth embedded within a metaphor common in his day that still remains applicable today. Let's examine light in Judeo-Christian tradition.

Metaphors about light, related to GOD and humanity, are prevalent in scriptures of every tradition. The ancient Hebrew word owr, translated light, appears 123 times in the Hebrew scriptures constituting the Christian Old Testament, King James Version (KJV). In the New Testament, also KJV, the Greek work phos translated light appears 70 times. A few sentences into the first book of Genesis, we read that light was established by GOD, the source of light: Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness (Genesis 1:3–4).

Although many Christian denominations interpret the Bible literally, Jewish tradition and modern scholarship explain that the characters, stories, statements, and chronicles contained in the Bible were not intended to portray historical accuracy or be taken literally. They were written by ancient Middle Eastern people for whom metaphor was a valid means of communicating truths. Therefore, we read of a God that acts much like a human, at times a superhuman. In this early account of creation, the Source, GOD, brings light into being.

In scripture, the literal meaning of light is conveyed in many passages, but in many others the word light is used figuratively. Light connotes a nonmaterial quality of being and conveys intelligence, consciousness, and understanding:

The sun shall no longer be your light by day, nor for brightness shall the moon give light to you by night; but the Lord will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory (Isaiah 60:19).

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? (Psalms 27:1).

The Hebrew word for Jehovah, translated in these scriptures as Lord, means the self-existent one. Think of Jehovah, or Lord, as the I AM or spiritual consciousness at the heart of you and me. The I AM is our Divine Identity, our unity with the Source. The I AM is our eternal beingness. This spiritual consciousness arose most notably in the character of Jesus, the central figure in the New Testament. Jesus is equated with GOD, with I AM, with light. Therefore, Jesus becomes known as the light of the world.

Stunningly, Jesus does not regard himself alone as the light. He acknowledges GOD is the origin of the light, the Father of Lights, and he recognizes himself as GOD's light. He also says to you and me:

You are the light of the world. A city built on a hill cannot be hid. No one after lighting a lamp puts it under the bushel basket, but on the lamp stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father