Why we as a people owe it to ourselves to do our own spiritual healing
This blog was inspired by a Bible study I had with my girls as we covered Pastor Mike Todd’s Anchored: Mark my Words. The conversation was edifying and transformative. Please note that I do not speak for an entire group, but from an opinionated stance. The discussion brought me to what you’re about to read. Should you have insight on the topic raised and would like to discuss, let’s do so respectfully through a Contact form submission. I am not a licensed professional and everything stated is my opinion. Should you need assistance please contact your professional advisor.
We as African, Black, Brown or African Americans have to do a better job at establishing our own connection with our higher power. “What are you doing to help yourself become aware?”, is a question that I always tend to raise when the discussion about biblical or spiritual faith comes about. As African Americans we have a general wealth of emotions and reactions to things that are relatable. Often times during a service or a praise and worship song we are easily moved and our spirits are filled up. This is a beautiful thing, until we allow the emotions to take over and not do our own footwork in getting what our spirit needs.
A lot of the time messages are picked from several different chapters, scriptures, books etc. and formulated to produce a message that is applicable, relatable, and can be applied practically. There’s one thing that’s often missed when taking these words literally. The true message, that, whatever higher power you’re studying, is trying to convey. So, I raise the question, how aware are you really? Are you becoming reliant on your pastor or leader to deliver you the message or are you taking their perspective as reference and formulating your own?
There are so many disconnected from a spiritual connection, because of what man has said, done or created for them in the image of their spirituality, but you have to sit with the question, is this my story or did I let someone create a story for me and not seek my own understanding? We have to get to a point of independence that we are able to open the Bible, Quran, Tanakh etc. and read things for ourselves. We can be misled by what the message is by picking one scripture and going with it. We cannot allow the church to capitalize off our emotion, but rather do our efforts to build and strengthen our own spirituality with our higher power. God is the God I serve, and I serve Him in a better state now, than I ever did before because I no longer allow what religion or doctrine has to say take away my relationship with my God. Older religion tends to miss the mark of the transparency that God truly gives us. It gives so many do’s and dont’s; a lot of which aren’t biblically stated or they are misconstrued to make it fit the objective or message that is being pushed. This makes a spiritual journey exhausting and quite honestly understandable as to why people shy away from the church. I support a few Pastors, because they break context down, but I still have to do the work myself to get what my spirit needs.
We also have to stop arguing with opinions and dive into facts. Going back to ancestral days, the reality is that we were kept from reading and some of us, not all of us, stay in a position of, “Because I get the message on Sunday or Wednesday, I don’t have to do my part in diving in to understand what has been written and what God has said.” Don’t get me wrong, on Sunday, I’m tuned in to Bishop Jakes to hear his message, but I find myself going back into that word to get more of what I may have missed to formulate my own perspective. When you are reading the word take the time to read a couple of chapters, and if you don’t understand what you read, read a different version that you can understand for yourself, because what good is it to read something and you do not understand what you have read?
Self love, self connection, self affirmation. Getting to know you will help you along your journey of connecting with your higher power. I state this because no matter what you believe in, you have to be grounded in that belief in order to not sway with what ever may come your way. No matter who you serve the idea is to see yourself the way they see you and that’s walking in your most highest power or version of yourself. How important is it for you to ground yourself in your own spiritual journey? Connecting with whatever higher power it is you believe keeps your soul from experiencing intrusive thoughts, ideas and behaviors. Tapping into our highest powers is ultimately up to us. Christians or followers of Christ it is imperative that you formulate your own relationship with God because we cannot continue down a path of ignorance. Shaming people because of the things they choose in life goes against everything God stands for. Correcting and helping people see a different light should be the aim, but not forcing what we believe to be true or twisting the word to make it fit the agenda we are trying to push.
Moral of the story, I want my people to understand that spiritually you owe yourself to find your own connection and you owe yourself the need to be anchored, or else you’re allowing your soul to be anchored to anything that sounds good or feels good for the moment. Peace. Love. Blessings.
