Cease striving and know that I am God
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By Francis Frangipane
Among the many complex and sublime faculties of the human soul, one attribute functions as a servant to all: the nature of the soul is porous. This means that in addition to latent strengths and talents, the soul is also shaped and developed by external stimuli: we learn customs and language, habits, virtues and vices largely by importing reality as it surrounds us. Indeed, the marrow of life itself, as we subjectively know it, is created by the inward flow of these outward realities.
Thus, the soul, while it is born with innate powers, it is also the product of its times and circumstances. Because we live in unprecedented, prophetic times, individuals born during the last five or six decades are impacted, not only by the common struggles and joys of life, but also by the unspeakable disasters as they occur around the world. As a result of live media coverage, we vicariously experience repeated participation with human suffering. We see the actual faces of those traumatized by earthquakes and tsunamis, famines and wars. Again, because of the porous nature of the soul, when we view life’s terrors, we are repeatedly absorbing these fearful realities into our consciousness. We cannot help but be affected.
How do we erase from our minds the faces of earthquake and tsunami victims? How is it possible to forget the horrific memory of people leaping to their deaths from flaming windows high on the Twin Towers on 9/11? What happens to our souls when we view news reports of Iraqis and Israelis being blown apart by terrorists’ bombs?
If you are an intercessor, or even one who possesses just basic, human compassion, the flood of sorrow and terror rising from terrible disasters cannot be stopped by a levee of human intellect. Life’s pains, even when they aren’t our own, are still absorbed at some level into our soul, and more so if we know the one suffering.
To cope with our vulnerabilities, we have created some positive remedies: hospitals, relief agencies, first responders and charitable giving all are relatively new means of dealing with human sorrow. We are compelled, not only to help the victims, but to help ourselves digest and respond to the emotional overload of our times.
(Read this insightful article in its entirety at the Ministries of Francis Frangipane)
Among the many complex and sublime faculties of the human soul, one attribute functions as a servant to all: the nature of the soul is porous. This means that in addition to latent strengths and talents, the soul is also shaped and developed by external stimuli: we learn customs and language, habits, virtues and vices largely by importing reality as it surrounds us. Indeed, the marrow of life itself, as we subjectively know it, is created by the inward flow of these outward realities.
Thus, the soul, while it is born with innate powers, it is also the product of its times and circumstances. Because we live in unprecedented, prophetic times, individuals born during the last five or six decades are impacted, not only by the common struggles and joys of life, but also by the unspeakable disasters as they occur around the world. As a result of live media coverage, we vicariously experience repeated participation with human suffering. We see the actual faces of those traumatized by earthquakes and tsunamis, famines and wars. Again, because of the porous nature of the soul, when we view life’s terrors, we are repeatedly absorbing these fearful realities into our consciousness. We cannot help but be affected.
How do we erase from our minds the faces of earthquake and tsunami victims? How is it possible to forget the horrific memory of people leaping to their deaths from flaming windows high on the Twin Towers on 9/11? What happens to our souls when we view news reports of Iraqis and Israelis being blown apart by terrorists’ bombs?
If you are an intercessor, or even one who possesses just basic, human compassion, the flood of sorrow and terror rising from terrible disasters cannot be stopped by a levee of human intellect. Life’s pains, even when they aren’t our own, are still absorbed at some level into our soul, and more so if we know the one suffering.
To cope with our vulnerabilities, we have created some positive remedies: hospitals, relief agencies, first responders and charitable giving all are relatively new means of dealing with human sorrow. We are compelled, not only to help the victims, but to help ourselves digest and respond to the emotional overload of our times.
(Read this insightful article in its entirety at the Ministries of Francis Frangipane)
