Living in the spirit

I truly think that the place to start is to focus on what creates peace. Thus, before you think, speak, or act, ask your SELF if what you are about to do is going to bring peace. Ask your SELF, for example, if what you are about to do is out of love and compassion, as opposed to being right or seeking fairness (which is based on the ego). Love and compassion always lead to peace, and thus Oneness with our Maker and with each other. Love and compassion are the essential elements of acting in the Spirit.

The message of unbridled love and compassion was the core of Jesus' teachings. That was the pistis Christou that Paul talked about... the "faith of Christ".

Note that love and compassion don't always "appear" to bring peace in the here and now or to you and those close to you. You have to think of peace in a broader, timeless and more Spiritual sense. You have to find a way to disassociate your SELF from your physical body and mind. You have to believe that your true SELF is not your body and mind, but rather your Spirit.

Ultimately, this way of fully realizing your Spiritual nature and being able to think, act and do in the Spirit, rather than in the interest of your ego, is the journey that each of us must undertake. I believe that this is the purpose of our physical lives... to reconnect to our true SELF, our essential Being.

Scripture provides some helpful guides, but I do not think it provides all the answers for everyone. You can often tell when Scripture is written from an ego-centric perspective, rather than out of love and compassion. When you sense that, that is when you should be concerned that the guy(s) or gal(s) who wrote the piece may just have missed the point.

In the final analysis, I believe you have to trust your true SELF, your Holy Spirit. You have to listen. You listen through contemplative prayer, meditation, and silence. And you practice unbridled love and compassion every moment you can, as if that moment were the last here on earth.