Spirituality Classroom Blog

Today I continue to write about Brené Brown’s 3^rd Guidepost, which is “Cultivating a Resilient Spirit:  Letting Go of Numbing and Powerlessness."  Last week I wrote about Resilience, so this week I’m writing about Numbing and Powerlessness.  The book I'm referencing is listed at the bottom of this blog.¹

When adversity hits, it’s hard for most anyone to be resilient in the middle of the pain, vulnerability, or struggle.  What happens for many of us is that we want to find something to take the edge off of the pain and discomfort.  Many of us run quickly to whatever would make it all more tolerable.  Some take refuge in addictive behaviors, which only make it worse.

The problem is that when we take the edge off of the pain, vulnerability, anxiety, or struggle, we rob ourselves of the power to do anything that would really help. What we don’t realize is that when we numb a negative emotion, we also numb the positive...

How many Scripture verses can you recite from memory?  Perhaps you know a verse or two from Psalm 23 – you know – “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want…” Or maybe you know the whole Psalm by heart.  Or how about this verse from Psalm 27:    “The Lord is my light and my salvation, of whom then shall I be afraid?” 

When we know Bible verses from memory, they become part of our mental furniture, and they go with us wherever we go.  And when we need comfort or strength, there is that verse popping up in our mind.

What about this Scripture for comfort and strength from Matthew 11:28-30.

“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”  

Many Christians have memorized...

Life has a way of confronting us with difficult challenges.  Suffering spiritual abuse in a church is one of those challenges.  When we’re thrown into an intolerable situation, our emotions play havoc with us.  The shock of such behavior from the perpetrating Christian that we trusted, can truly devastate us.  

In the middle of it all, it’s easy to focus on the emotions that we’re feeling, because they’re front and center.  If we’re not careful, we will have let those feelings rule the day.  While we do need to pay attention to the anger or sadness or exasperation, or whatever the feelings are, if we only behave in the heat of them, then there’s a day coming when we may well wish we had reacted differently than we did.

Invite Jesus into Your Emotions.

The key to finding the first value of a broken heart is inviting Christ into our emotions from the beginning of the difficulty.  A lot of our...

Why do you suppose I chose the phrase "Pray Always.  Laugh Often.  Grow in Christ."  to be the logo for Spirituality Classroom?  

Each of those short sentences means a lot to me in the way that I maintain my own spiritual wellness.  So let’s take a look at each of them.  Perhaps you'll glean meaning from them too.

Pray always.

Does it seem possible or impossible to you – to ALWAYS be at prayer?  If you’re thinking, “No, it’s not possible, then why would St. Paul tell us to do exactly that – to pray always?  Yet which of us, even on good days, manages to pray all the way through any set of waking hours, even when we haven't been hurt badly? 

Spiritual abuse can cripple our faith at a deep and basic level, affects the health or dis-ease of our prayer life.  When it seems as though we can’t pray any more, then is it absurd to talk about praying always?  I think not.

 In the...