Life is measured in teaspoons

How every aspect of our lives creates spiritual unity.

Story: Helena Judith Sturnick

Do you ever open your daily calendar and, gazing at how many seemingly inconsequential events are entered there, wonder what you are accomplishing with your life? And if or how your life matters? Do you feel, like J. Alfred Prufrock in T.S. Eliot’s poem, that your life is measured in teaspoons? These questions reflect two desires: to take meaningful actions in the world, and to find our spiritual identities in those actions. Because the real issues are not complicated; the motto, “Keep it simple, stupid” (KISS) is the best advice.

Acknowledging that premise validates the following simple precepts for connecting our actions to the greater benefit of our world and the spiritual world. Our actions, as I define them, encompass every aspect of our lives: careers, relationships, social actions, spiritual practices, and so on. Although many results have to be taken on faith (however we define that term), on occasion, we are given the gift of seeing the results of our actions. Parents, for example, find numinous rewards from watching their children grow to adulthood, just as teachers at every stage can evaluate the intellectual growth of their students. The point is that our relationships, careers, spiritual efforts, and all other activities are inextricably connected both to this world and the next. Since all creation is spiritual at the core, all constructive actions benefit both realms by multiplying the positive outcomes in both worlds.

Prayer is an awesome example of this. Perhaps you remember reading the true story of a severe auto accident that tied up traffic for hours on a California interstate. Though many drivers were angry or distraught, one woman stalled in the long line used her time to pray for the unknown victims’ welfare. Months later, a young woman recovering from the accident spoke to her doctor, pastor, and family about strongly hearing and feeling the energy of someone’s prayers as she was being removed from her car. The story ultimately received national attention (eventually, a reporter even tracked down the identity of the praying woman). In this case, both the spiritual world and our human realm benefited from prayer in action.

We can become more aware of the spiritual effect of our actions on both worlds in many ways. Here are four concepts by which various aspects of our actions and intellects can benefit the spiritual world:

THE POWER OF OUR THOUGHTS. As metaphysicians have taught for eons, the world we see is the world our thoughts create. How astounding is the concept that we create our own reality by how we think about that reality! As the artist Picasso said, “Everything you can imagine is real.” Or, as metaphysical teacher Mike Dooley puts it, “Thoughts become things.” A direct link exists between the energy of our thoughts and inner beliefs, and the existence of Universal Intelligence. The more positively our thoughts are manifested, the greater the benefit to both worlds. More than that, it is through positive thoughts (prayer, for example) that we make our living connections with spiritual realms, and since Universal Spirit is everywhere, everything we think and do is an act of creation or destruction.

THE POWER OF INTENT. intentions are of crucial importance in this context. We can define this word as a strong focus, aim, or purpose. The words of late author Carlos Castaneda put it in an interesting way: “In the universe, there is an immeasurable, indescribable force that shamans call intent, and absolutely everything that exists in the entire cosmos is attached to intent by a connecting link.” Clearly, the stronger the positive intention, the more forceful the positive outcome.

THE POWER OF CHOICE. Through this concept in which we choose everything in our lives, we consciously select positive or negative realities (thoughts). In the former, we benefit the human and spiritual worlds by affirming positive creation. In so doing, we choose the option of participating in prayerful partnership/positive creation with the Universal Divine.

THE POWER OF MINDFULNESS. Although a great deal has been written about this concept, it can be clarified as “conscious awareness.”

I define and link all four of these points as “consciousness abounding”: conscious creation of reality (thought), conscious purpose, conscious choice, and conscious awareness. Each of these powers is essential to manifestation, ting our physical world and the

ABOUT THE WRITER → Dr. Helena Judith Sturnick is a trained scholar, published author, university professor, national and international leadership