What I Learned In Church

Current mood: inquisitive
Category: Life

Yesterday was first communion and baptism day. Accordingly the verses pertained to Jesus preparing the Holy Spirit to live in us. "On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. ..."

The Holy Spirit or (The Spirit of the Truth) CAN live in us. Catholics take communion. Muslims pray five times a day. Buddhists chant. All so that we can accept that inner voice speak.

Then it is our responsibility to always speak that truth in the gentle and reverant manner of Jesus, Gandhi or Buddha.

I am going to butcher William Cross' Five Levels of Nigresence (If you want to check out the real one - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professor_William_E._Cross,_Jr.) and turn it into the five levels of SELF. In terms of self awareness, we do the hard part and realize our inner selves but many of us stop growing after the realization. Using the five stages, that leaves us at only the second or third stage.

Stages of Self

1. Pre-Encounter Stage
In the first stage, individuals downplay the importance of self in their lives and focus more on their membership in other groups (e.g. religion, social class, sexual orientation). Here we identify ourselves through our associations with the outside world.

2. Encounter Stage
The second stage of the Self experience in which individuals encounter an experience that causes them to challenge their current feelings about themselves and their interpretation of the condition of the inner self. The experience is often one in which individuals face a life examining event. The encounter experience is one that is so foreign to individuals' previous view regarding self that it forces them to rethink their attitudes about self.

3. Immersion-Emersion
In the third stage, individuals immerse themselves in the inner self and feel liberated; they have more positive feelings toward themselves. Despite this immersion into the inner self, individuals have not psychologically committed to a new identity.

4. Internalization
The fourth stage is described as a psychological change wherein individuals learn to balance their inner self with their outer image.

5. Internalization-Commitment
The final stage of the Self model, in contrast to previous stages, this stage involves commitment to a plan of action, and individuals begin to live in accordance with the new self-image that they have developed.


How often do we stop to check out our inner self development? Are we satisfied with the progress we've made so far? Are we in harmony within ourselves as well as with the rest of the world?