Forms of Holy Resistance
One example of Holy Resistance is when we avoid setting aside time to quiet the mind so that we can hear the still, quiet voice of God. It is so easy to slip into familiar patterns of distraction, being sucked into the busy demands of life. Slowing down isn’t something that is valued in our culture. It almost feels un-American. The American Dream measures success by pulling yourself up by your bootstraps, hard work, and the accumulation of wealth. This is a belief system that has been culturally reinforced to the point that it is no longer questioned. And because so many people have internalized this belief, the idea of committing time for regular contemplation almost feels like an imposition rather than a break or renewal.
Yet, most people feel better when they take time for reflection and restoration. So why do we bring so much resistance to doing so? Is it because we’re afraid we’ll get bored or that difficult feelings we may have been pushing down will come to the surface? Is it because we believe we are wasting precious time by not being productive? Wasting precious time? Is being in communion and contemplation with spirit a waste of precious time? When the question is presented in this way, it is easy to see the fallacy and the cost to our well-being.
The belief that our value is determined by what we produce is one of the major contributors to a form of Holy Resistance that discourages taking time for contemplative practice and time for rest. For many people, rest can lead to feelings of guilt and self-recrimination, which in turn creates pressure to perform. Busyness or productivity without a larger purpose looks like a bunch of chickens running around frantically trying to escape slaughter. As spiritual beings, most of us need reminders, even permission to slow down.
Slowing down creates an opportunity to become gentle with ourselves, rather than pushing ourselves and believing we should feel guilty or inadequate when we aren’t doing enough.
Exercise/Contemplation:
Take ten minutes to stop. Sit in silence or listen to relaxing music. Let your body relax and your mind drift.
Think about something you could cut from your list of things to do today. Think about putting it off until tomorrow or asking for someone else to do it.
Visualize how eliminating that one thing might slow the pace of your day down enough that you can allow your body to relax a little more. Imagine seeing your body going through the day at a fraction of a slower pace.
Then, think about what it would be like to eliminate another less-than-critical thing tomorrow. Imagine your pace slowing down just a fraction more.
Feel what your body or your soul is saying to you about this slower pace.
The soul is fed by silence and rest—which then allows you to take the time to notice the wonder around you.
What is it that we can learn about integrating the spiritual and psychological parts of the self into a more harmonious balance so that we may submit or surrender to the light? Be sure to read, Holy Resistance and Surrender and Control, which offer different snapshots of what Holy Resistance looks like. By presenting various pictures, it is my goal that these very normal human behaviors will help you to recognize aspects of your own struggle. Hopefully, this recognition will be met with humility rather than self-contempt, because the desire to do this journey perfectly is the greatest roadblock or resistance of them all.
Learn more about Spiritual Integration HERE.