InSpiritry

 The God that we serve is so big

that we don’t have to be limited

by the world that we now see.

This quote by Mariama White-Hammond was part of a recent post  on the always  insightful and encouraging blog,  God’s Politics.

Ms. White-Hammond is the inspiring young executive director of Project Hip-Hop (Highways Into the Past—History, Organizing and Power), a youth-led, secular, nonprofit organization that provides a space where predominantly young people of color from traditionally low-income communities in Boston can develop and exercise their individual and collective leadership. The blog entry is excerpted from an interview with her that appears in this month’s issue of Sojourner magazine in a feature about young Christians who are making a difference in the world.

This particular quote came in answer to the question, What would you like to tell other Christians? While I think it is a great statement of faith, for me it is more than a Christian guidepost. It is a universal truth: humans, with our minds and souls, have the unique freedom to “not be limited by the world we now see.” We can believe in a Higher Power, remember things from the past, imagine events in the future, create what has not yet existed, empathize with those we have never met, even understand concepts we cannot hold. This capacity is the miracle of being human. It is what feeds our dreams and fuels our desires to improve the world. As we live with a Passion for the Greater Good, we need to draw on that limitless-ness!

It sounds abstract, but there are practical ways we can each check our own lifestyles for self-imposed limits and move beyond them. So how can you embrace a life without limits? Here’s a few ideas for starters:

Assess how past experiences, grievances, struggles and triumphs limit your beliefs.

Think of and reconsider one way you impose your particular will on your “misguided” family and friends.

Note which people expand your world and which ones add more limits.

Follow John Lennon’s suggestion to “Imagine” a world without self-interest and aggression.

Take Gandhi’s advice and “Be the Change You Want to See in the World.”

Consider current events from a “God’s eye view” seeing our hurting world “from a distance.”

Read or study ideas that are disturbing or hard to understand: science, history, religion, culture, music, politics.

Pray, meditate, paint, sing, write or dance in the spirit of the child of an unimaginably perfect God.

One more life-affirming suggestion: If you haven’t tried God’s Politics, give it a look. Written by “Jim Wallis and Friends, ” the site is a collaborative effort by Beliefnet and Soujourners. With great writing and lots of traffic, it will connect you to a wide circle of spiritually progressive people and soul-searching ideas.

For my part, I want to make sure InSpiritry  continues to support the idea that our best lives are synonymous with a belief in a world, a mission, a God bigger than ourselves.  To that end, let’s open our minds to the “unthinkable.” Let’s open our hearts to the “unimaginable.” Let’s open our souls to the “unbelievable.”

When We Move Beyond Self-Imposed Limits,

We Can Be a Blessing!

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 31st, 2008 at 11:54 am and is filed under Anne McCrady, Community, InSpiritry, Greater Good, Christianity, Spiritual. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.