Susan Schulte – Page 26

May 16, 2018April 15, 2020

Day by Day

I like the simplicity and beauty of this prayer:

Day by day,
Day by day,
Lord, Dear Lord, three things I pray:
To see thee more clearly,
Love thee more dearly,
Follow thee more nearly,
Day by day.

The melody of the song that was created with the words of this prayer has been “playing in my head” recently–a prompting perhaps to write about it in my blog.

The words “day by day” remind me both that each day of our lives matters and also that how we choose to live each day matters. The choices we make, the actions we do, how we spend the time we are given. The words “To see thee more clearly” bring to mind the idea of hearing our inner voice that guides us–sometimes it is clearer than at other times. It is important that we strive to hear it because in doing so we will “see more clearly” what we are to do.

When we love our Lord more dearly, we become more able to love other people and to show that love through our interactions with them. We also become more able to love ourselves. To “follow thee more nearly” makes me think about trying to follow the teachings and examples of Christ and also about the Jungian idea of becoming more conscious which is what makes it possible for us to be more the person we were created to be.

May 16, 2018April 15, 2020

Doing Nothing Is the Wrong Choice

I respect Mahatma Gandhi because he lived what he said. One of the things he said is “You may never know what results come of your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results.” I sometimes become disheartened when I read news stories about people who suffer because of other people’s injustice, violence, and greed. And I question whether there really is anything I can do to help. Thankfully, I have the belief that no matter how much is wrong in the world there is also a great deal that is right. There are many instances where there is justice and nonviolence, and where much is being done to benefit others.

Sometimes it works out that we see the positive results of something we have done and that, of course, is a special experience. It’s important when that happens that we keep in mind our ability to do whatever positive thing we did was a gift and to have a humble and thankful attitude about it.

But what I especially like about Gandhi’s words is that what we do matters whether we have the opportunity to see the results or not. What matters is that we make the effort, that we give of ourselves because we care. What matters is that we keep in mind that doing nothing is the wrong choice.

April 16, 2018April 15, 2020

The Gift of Life

Here is another excerpt from Dr. Terry Chitwood’s book How to Defend Yourself Without Even Trying: “It is important to remember that it is the power of the universe that nourishes your spirit and keeps you alive. Without that energy, your breath would cease. It is a gift to live even for another moment. Show your respect for your gift of life by only using your power for the benefit of mankind and not for personal gain.”

In our busy lives, as we go from task to task, be it at work, at school, raising children, and so on, it is easy to forget the miracle of our existence. That we did not create ourselves and give ourselves life. And we do not sustain our lives. I appreciate how Dr. Chitwood expresses these truths.

And I appreciate his reminder about using our gift of life to benefit others rather than for personal gain. Modern western culture emphasizes personal gain. We see it in movies and TV programs, advertisements, all kinds of media. It is not uncommon for people who focus only on themselves to feel empty. It is people who use their gift of life to help others, especially when they’ve been able to discern their unique purpose, who find a sense of fulfillment.

April 9, 2018April 15, 2020

It’s the Journey that Matters

An elderly man who I cared about very much passed away about ten years ago. He had cancer and during the last few months of his life he was bed-ridden. Once when I was visiting him, he told me he wondered why God designed life so that people grow old and die and at the same time babies are born. And the babies, as they grow, need to go through life experiences and learn the many things that the person who has died spent all those year experiencing and learning. My friend said he wondered why God doesn’t just let people who are already here continue to live and not have more people be born who then have to start from the beginning. I’m sure my friend was feeling sad that he would be leaving his wife of many years, that he would no longer be here to help her and be her companion. And perhaps he was starting to grieve the ending of his life on earth.

Later when I thought about what my elderly friend had said, the thought “It’s the journey that matters” came to me. The creator has created each of us and put us on this earth, and we are given the opportunity to make choices and act on those choices as we live each day. It has been my experience, and I believe the experience of most people, that the right choice in a given situation isn’t always obvious, and we need to try to discern the Creator’s will for us. Sincerely making that effort is also part of the journey, as are realizing when we’ve made a mistake, doing our best to accept challenges, and trusting that the Creator is always with us. By trying to live in this way, each of us will know we tried our best as we’re nearing the end of our earthly journeys.

April 9, 2018July 16, 2018

Change from Within

Mahatma Gandhi said, “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” Gandhi certainly lived what he said. Living according to one’s values and beliefs is more easily said than done, and it takes courage and perseverance and listening to one’s inner voice.

Gandhi’s words remind me of the Jungian concept of individuation, the inner process where a person grows in consciousness and becomes more whole. For each of us to be the change we wish to see in the world, we need to model qualities that we would like to see valued by more people and societies. They include being more accepting of differences, treating others with respect, being generous, and having empathy for people who are suffering. In order for these and other positive qualities to become more a part of who we are, there needs to be change from within. Individuation brings about these changes. The ego by itself cannot make this happen, but the ego can follow the inner direction it senses through intuition, paying attention to dreams and synchronicities, and prayer.

April 4, 2018April 15, 2020

Nonattachment

An author whose books have meant a lot to me is Terry Chitwood, a Jungian psychotherapist and writer. In his book How to Defend Yourself Without Even Trying, Dr. Chitwood says this about nonattachment: “Everything in this world changes. To resist change is useless and time-consuming. In order to live effortlessly and happily, you need to flow with your changes. The only other choice is suffering.”

When I think of “flowing with my changes,” I’m reminded of those times when what I was doing felt exactly right and as if it was being supported by the universe. What I was doing wasn’t based on choices my ego made but rather was my ego being in the service of a presence larger than it. As much as I believe that, based on my personal experience and reading, trying to discern life direction from dreams and synchronicities is essential to living a meaningful life, I often have to deal with my resistance when the direction I discern requires making changes. There is that part of me who wants to hold on to the familiar. And holding on, of course, is the opposite of nonattachment.

And yet each time I recognize my resistance and, in spite of it, try to follow the direction I’ve been given, it feels right again. And I am given the gift of flowing with my changes.

March 5, 2018April 15, 2020

A Lesson in Humility

I’d like to share a dream I had with you: I’m in an office conference room with a lot of other people. The president of the United States is seated at the end of the long conference room table and people are seated all along both sides of the table. Because the chairs are all taken, several more people in the room are standing, including me. The president is speaking in a way that is totally different from how he speaks in physical reality; he has a humble tone. My impression is he has learned he has a serious illness and will live only a few more months, and knowing this has caused the change in him. At the end of his talk, people go up to him and shake his hand or pat him on the shoulder. Because of all the things the president has done and said in the past that make me dislike and not respect him, I don’t go up to him. I’m surprised to see that a friend of mine, who has been very vocal about what a terrible man he is, walks up to him and gives him a kiss on the forehead.

This dream made me think about several things. There is the striking contrast in the personality of the president shown by the way he speaks with humility in the dream compared to the arrogant, bombastic way the president in physical reality speaks. There is another noticeable contrast in the image of my friend who responds to the president in the dream with caring and affection by kissing his forehead compared to her usual disapproval and criticism of him. According to Jungian dream theory, the characters who appear in our dreams symbolize aspects of ourselves. I believe the dream was given to me to remind me that my egocentric part needs to become more humble and the critical part needs to show caring, especially, I think, when the person who was the object of the criticism has changed in a positive way.

The other person who appears in the dream is me. Of the three main characters in the dream, I’m the only one who doesn’t change. My attitude toward the president stays the same even though he has changed, and I’m surprised and disappointed at my friend’s change of attitude toward him. The dream shows me that I have a degree of rigidity and a tendency to make decisions by using only my logical, thinking abilities and not taking into account the promptings of my intuition. It takes humility to try to listen to my inner voice and to believe it will guide me.

February 23, 2018

Caring in Action

The other day I was walking to the library during my lunch break and saw a man who walked with a limp heading toward the library from another direction. A couple of seconds after I entered the library, I heard a groan, turned around, and saw that the man had fallen a few feet before reaching the entrance door. A young man who was nearby immediately went to the man who had fallen, asked him if he was hurt, and helped him stand up.

It was a meaningful experience for me to witness this kind of caring response. The young man who went to the man who had fallen responded without a moment’s hesitation. Another example of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us. Another example of how we need one another.

February 23, 2018

Paying Attention to Synchronicities

This morning was unusual because several things happened that caused delays on my way to work. The traffic moved considerably more slowly than it normally does. The clerk at a store where I had hoped to make a quick stop couldn’t figure out the code to enter from a gift card and continued to make the same mistake even after I showed him the code on the card. The supervisor the clerk called for assistance stopped to talk to another clerk and was in no hurry to help us. And when I finally was at the entrance of the building where I work, a young man wasn’t paying attention and was blocking the door. I was about to say something when he noticed he was in the way, apologized, and moved. I try to keep things in perspective, and I realize these delays didn’t cause major problems. But it struck me that there were this many delays in a relatively short period of time.

When something happens that catches my attention, I try to discern whether it is a synchronicity and, if so, what it is telling me. Synchronicities are meaningful acausal occurrences. It didn’t take me long to connect the four delays I had experienced with my having put off something I’ve needed to take care of. Realizing this, I made a phone call as the first step in what I’ve needed to do and I resolved to make it a priority to complete the task.

The slow traffic, the slow cashier, the slow supervisor, and the young man not realizing he was blocking the door all occurred in outer reality. And yet they also had a dreamlike quality; I can imagine them happening in a dream and myself in the dream being frustrated and feeling helpless to speed things up. Just as the symbols and stories of dreams help us to learn about ourselves, to become more conscious, and to give us direction, so do synchronicities. Like dreams, synchronicities can give us the push we need to take steps we need to take.

February 8, 2018

Two People I Admire

Sometimes when I run errands during breaks from my job, I see a man who uses a motorized wheelchair. This man’s body is the size of that of a 10-year-old boy but his head is the size of an adult’s. I assume he works in one of the offices or businesses near where I work. I don’t know him and I’ve never spoken to him except to say “hi,” but I am so impressed by him. I think of how much more difficult and time-consuming it is for him to get ready for work each day than it is for me. And to commute to work, and to do his work, and so on. Writing this reminds me of another person who impressed me. When I was in graduate school, one of my instructors had multiple sclerosis. During the first couple of classes I sometimes had trouble understanding what she said because her illness affected her speech. But before long I was able to understand her fine; it was similar to getting used to hearing someone who speaks with an accent different from mine. She was an intelligent, knowledgeable, and capable teacher. And at times I would think about the challenges she faced each day because of her illness.

In my writing, I often emphasize the importance of making choices to maintain and improve our health: good nutrition, exercise, not smoking or using drugs, etc. I believe good health is a gift from the Creator, and we should do our best to take care of this precious gift. But sometimes people are given the challenge of health problems they did not cause or to which they did not contribute. Very likely my teacher and the man I’ve referred to were born with their disabilities. When I feel lazy, I think of them. Thinking of them helps me to be motivated to do what I need to do and also reminds me to be thankful for my gift of good health.