Armor Up: The Shield of Faith

This little project turned in to something much bigger for me.  I anticipate one or two posts, not a post per part of the armor.  But I was thinking a lot and writing a lot and it was a good focus for me. I had some nice insights, but now it's time to wrap it all up.  Hopefully, I'll be done this weekend.  We just have shields, helmets, and swords left to talk about and then we'll finish with a little insight I had this morning.  

The Shield 

When you think about shields as part of traditional armor, they're actually pretty amazing.  They're movable.  Assuming you're well trained and fast enough, a shield can provide an extra layer of protection over any vulnerable point of the body.  One source explained it this way:

The shield moves with the attack, no matter the direction.  

The usefulness of this type of shield is limited by its size and shape and the fact that most people just carry one so the other arm can hold a weapon.  (I'm much more interested in the sci-fi energy shield that basically just put you in a bubble that nothing can penetrate.  But, since Paul didn't know about those and since "nothing can penetrate" goes back to the draw-backs of armoring up that Brene Brown talks about, we won't go there today.)

Faith

Faith is one of my problem words, the words I can define, and give you scripture references for, and maybe even inspire you to have more, but I don't really get it.  (See this post for more information on concepts I struggle with and why.)  I think one of the reasons I struggle with faith is that I equate it with trust and at various points in my life, I have had major trust issues.  

In Alma Chapter 32, we read about experimenting on the word by planting a seed. If it's good and true, that seed begins to grow and we can recognize the truth of that thing by what it does.

It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me.

At this point in my life, I'm choosing those three criteria for how to proceed with faith.  Does it enlarge my soul or does it crush my spirit?  Do I feel enlightened (love that word!) or burdened and confused?  Is it delicious to me in a way that makes me want more, or does if feel like I have to choke it down whether I want to or not?

I find it very interesting that the answers to those same three questions are why I continue to study, practice, and teach tai chi and qigong.

The Shield of Faith

When used as a shield, faith creates a buffer zone between us and the enemy's attacks.  It covers those places that the basic pieces of armor don't.  It moves with you.  You can put it wherever it is needed the most.  Faith fills in the gaps.  (And there are oh so many gaps in our understanding.)

But this faith, like a shield, is still limited.  It's not perfect knowledge.  And you can't do the shield thing with both hands (all your time, energy, etc.) You still have to live your life and all that that entails with your other hand.  

Maybe the shield of faith is about learning to work with both real life AND faith at the same time, both interacting and protecting.  

All the other armor is something that I put on (or that someone puts on me), and I hope it works.  But the shield is something that I either pick up, or accept when someone hands it to me.  It's operation is not automatic.  I must do something to benefit from this piece of equipment.  The breastplate itself will lesson the effect of a blow to the chest just by being there.  But I am in charge of where my shield of faith is and which blows I attempt to block with it.  

The Shield of Faith as Energy

When I think about how energy ties into this shield of faith thing (and actually all the armor of God), I think about zipping up.  There is not a way to explain this quickly and easily that doesn't sound a little crazy, but this link has a fairly simple version.  Energetically, zipping up is about protecting you from the negative energy around you, deflecting the blows and arrows that the world throws at you (intentional or unintentionally).  "Quenching the fiery darts" seems like another great description.  In theory, you can block the negative energy and prevent people from drawing away your energy, and still be open to receiving love and feeling compassion and empathy for those around you.

Faith is belief with some trust mixed in.

In qigong we sometimes talk about "Yi dao, qi dao," which means where your intention (or attention or awareness) goes, qi (energy) follows.

Perhaps faith is intention.

Armor Up, Part II

To read part one of this blog, go here.  

As I started digging and writing, I realized that the first nine words of this scripture could have a lengthy blog post of their own.  Armor Up is now a series, so you don't have to commit a lot of time in one sitting.

Previously on Armor Up

My scripture study is most effective and enlightening when I pull in information and comparisons from other sources, especially those that at the surface don't seem very related.  Armor provides protection, but armoring up can also cut us off from relationships, creativity, insights, and truth.  If we view our armor as a Wei Qi field that interacts and communicates with energy fields around us, we are looking at something very different from the rigid, solid, armor that lets nothing touch us.  Now we move on to the specific pieces of armor, what they look like, and what they can do for us.  

"Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth"

Stand

Stand.  Not sit.  Not run or walk.  Stand.  

There is something in this word that implies grounding, finding our strength from being solidly centered in one place.  We sometimes call tai chi moving meditation.  There are also still forms of meditation that involve standing.  Through a point in the bottom of the foot called the bubbling well, we can draw up energy from the earth.  It is our connection to the earth and earth energy.  

The scriptures are fully of examples of standing in holy places.  Here's one:

But my disciples shall stand in holy places, and shall not be moved
Doctrine and Covenents 45:32

Loins Girt

Girdles or belts can represent many things.  The literal and historical usage of this from the times of the Bible was to take the belt that secured the tunic and use it to tie up a person's garments between the legs to make it easy to work or do battle.  I find it interesting that an item that I normally think of as constricting or holding something in, was actually used to create more freedom of movement.  Someone whose loins were girt was prepared and ready for action.  

If you want to explore more of the biblical use of girdles, this article is good.  

The belt or girdle as part of armor serves to protect the lower organs.  It also secures other pieces of armor.  A utility belt, as worn by a police officer or carpenter or Batman, serves as a storage place for items essential to the wearer that he or she may need to access quickly, easily, or frequently.  A belt might indicate rank or status.  In literature and mythology, we find belts that protect, belts that strengthen (Thor's belt doubled his strength), and belts that give some kind of power.  Belts may also represent purity and chastity.  

For Mormons, probably the most familiar usage of these terms comes from the beloved hymn, "Come, Come Ye Saints":

Gird up your loins; fresh courage take.
Our God will never us forsake;

It's the refrain of "you can do it!" that the pioneers sang across the plains. We sing it to honor them and to remind ourselves that we are not alone.  I don't think it is by mere chance that the poet chose to link preparedness, courage, and trusting in God.  

I also like to think of girding my loins as gathering energy into my lower dan tian.  It's not an exact equivalent to loins as far as anatomy goes, but as the main storage place of energy in the body, I do think it serves that same purpose as the belt of helping us prepare and be strong.  

Truth

So we are in a position of strength (standing), prepared for what lies ahead (loins girt), but what is it that actually gives us that strength?  Truth.  

Talking about truth can get messy.  It's not as black and white as we would like it to be.  Not everything is either pure truth or pure falsehood. Philosophers have fought over the meaning of truth for centuries. Who am I to give the definitive answer?  

Here is what I believe.  There are some things that are objectively and absolutely true.  I believe that there are natural laws that exists outside of and independent of God's power.  He may know them well enough to work with them or around them, but even he is limited by them.  I believe that those things are truths.  

Buddhists believe in cause and effect (which is actually what karma is all about.)  Every action has a consequence.  Right thinking and right actions are those that lead us to a place of more compassion and less fear, hate, and attachment.  (Yes, I know that this is super simplified, but remember I'm trying to keep this short.) To me, that is truth.  

I think truth can also be very personal.  My own life experiences are my truth.  Recently it has become very important for me to share my story, to speak my truth, and to encourage others to do the same.  Telling our stories creates openness.  It allows the world to see who we really are and what has shaped us.  It creates vulnerability, yes, but it is only through vulnerability that we can connect to others.  While exposing our own vulnerability, speaking our truth opens up a place of safety for others.  

Whether truth is an eternal unchanging principle or our own experiences and personal convictions, the value and strength that come from truth is unlimited.  I've never been particularly fond of this hymn, but  today, it popped into my head and I realized how profoundly it addresses exactly what I want to say here.  I've underline my favorite parts.  

1. Oh say, what is truth? 'Tis the fairest gem
That the riches of worlds can produce,
And priceless the value of truth will be when
The proud monarch's costliest diadem
Is counted but dross and refuse.
2. Yes, say, what is truth? 'Tis the brightest prize
To which mortals or Gods can aspire.
Go search in the depths where it glittering lies,
Or ascend in pursuit to the loftiest skies:
'Tis an aim for the noblest desire.
3. The sceptre may fall from the despot's grasp
When with winds of stern justice he copes.
But the pillar of truth will endure to the last,
And its firm-rooted bulwarks outstand the rude blast
And the wreck of the fell tyrant's hopes.
4. Then say, what is truth? 'Tis the last and the first,
For the limits of time it steps o'er.
Tho the heavens depart and the earth's fountains burst,
Truth, the sum of existence, will weather the worst,
Eternal, unchanged, evermore.

Jesus declared

I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 14:6

George Herbert wrote these words (and Ralph Vaughan Williams set them to music)

Come, my Way, my Truth, my Life:
such a way as gives us breath,
such a truth as ends all strife,
such a life as killeth death. 

I love that.  "Such as truth as ends all strife."  Wow.  

I also found this nugget of wisdom from our friends at wikipdedia.

Thus, 'truth' involves both the quality of "faithfulness, fidelity, loyalty, sincerity, veracity",^[5] and that of "agreement with factor reality", in Anglo-Saxon expressed by sōþ (Modern English sooth)All Germanic languages besides English have introduced a terminological distinction between truth "fidelity" and truth "factuality".

Fascinating.  

Truth ends bitterness, anger, violence.  Truth is the only access to the Father.

I'm not exactly sure how to describe what I think about truth in terms of energy.  If all thought and all matter are actually energy, perhaps truth is the energy that is vibrating at the highest frequency.  Whatever it is, it holds an element of purity.  It gives us strength. 

"Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth"

The first thing I must do when I armor up is open up. I open myself to be receptive to the good in the world, that which restores and renews. Through stillness (or simple motions) I draw in the energy of the earth and the sky. I store that energy in my lower dan tian. I honor my own past and wrap the lessons of that past around me giving me strength as I look toward the future. I am prepared. I am ready to put on the rest of the armor and anchor it in this strength. 

 

Coming Soon: Armor Up Part III, The Breastplate of Righteousness

Armor Up, Part I

A quick review of the Gospel according to Jeannine

I'm a huge fan of Nephi's advice to make the scriptures relevant to our own lives. 

... for I did liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.
1 Nephi 19:23

Scripture study can be approached in many different ways. 

First:  It's important to understand the context in which that scripture was written and/or revealed.  Reading with only the perspective our own experiences limits what we can learn from that scripture.  Understanding the culture and language of the original text gives us the clearest picture of the original intent.  

Second: But, if we never ask, "How does this apply to me?  How is my life experience similar to what I see described here?" we miss out on a lot of personal revelation. 

Third:  We also need to explore what has been revealed in modern times about those scriptures.

Fourth:  Reading or listening to the views of others (leaders, teachers, scholars) gives us more perspective. 

Fifth:  And then you get the Gospel according to Jeannine (a variant of #4), which is basically coming at it from a completely different perspective.  I acknowledge and use the other options, but I don't limit myself to them.  

Here's an example:

28 ¶Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek andlowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30

This is one of my favorite scriptures.  I've always loved it, but a few years ago, I had a little epiphany.  "Light" in this context means not heavy, not something that will weigh us down.  When yoked with Christ, our own burdens are easier to bear.  I doubt many people would see anything else but that in that word.  But I'd been exploring light as energy, light as physical illumination, light as mental and spiritual enlightenment, and the idea that those are the same thing.  So when I read this verse again, light wasn't an adjective describing the burden, it was the noun equivalent of burden.  When I take his yoke upon me, I  am agreeing to take on his light, to become "A city that is set on an hill."

I "cannot be hid." (Matthew 5:14)

I am becoming a candlestick, giving "light unto all." (see Matthew 5:15)

You will probably never hear that taught in a Sunday School class, but it made this scripture far more powerful and meaningful to me.

Armor

So now that you understand how "the Gospel according to Jeannine" works, we move on to the real topic of this post:  Armor. 

I know it's weird, but even though I have a huge aversion to any thing violent, especially war, I also have a strange fascination with armor and weapons, specifically swords.  We can blame it on my love of Camelot and all things Arthurian.  (And then, because I'm such a nerd, of course I have to know what that armor evolved from and how armor has changed since then, so generally, it all fascinates me.) Where this fascination comes from is not as important as what I can learn from it.  

Armor is protection.  Armor gives us confidence.  Armor allows us to do things too dangerous to do unprotected.  Armor literally saves lives.

But…
(You knew it was coming.)

Even the best armor has it's drawbacks and limitations.  The lightest versions still add a burden of weight to the wearer.  Some armor limits movement or vision.  Armor sometimes gets in the way.  And we've yet to invent armor that can protect 100% of the body from every type of assault.

Yesterday I watched this wonderful Brené Brown video.  She researches shame, courage, and vulnerability.  In the contexts of creativity and relationships, when we armor up, we block ourselves off from things that will hurt us, but we also block ourselves off from the things that can give us the most joy and insight.  If you don't have time to watch the whole thing, just watch from 9:45 to 11:40.

When you armor up against vulnerability, you shut yourself off.

Read it again.  

When you armor up against vulnerability, you shut yourself off.

The Armor of God

Yay! We finally got through all the set up to the actual point of the blog!

I'm a pacifist.  Even in defense of who and what I love, I have trouble causing pain for anyone or anything.  It's so extreme that I don't kill spiders.  I catch them and then release them outside.  I believe that when you fight against something you give it power.  Going to battle emboldens the enemy.  I much prefer to promote what I love and believe than to try to destroy what I don't like.  So when we boldly sing, "Behold a Royal Army," the musician part of me loves the energy and the catchy tune, but the pacifist part of me cringes at the metaphor.  

I think that is one of the reasons I have never really appreciated Paul's exhortation to take on the whole armor of God.  Even with my fascination with armor, the war imagery was too strong and kept me from seeing what Paul was really talking about.  

I have a friend who is a Reiki Master and a Mormon.  I told her that I wanted to pick her brain sometime about energy work because I am very interested in pursuing that further in my own life.  In the course of that short conversation, she said something that totally clicked with me. She views putting on the armor of God from an energy perspective.  We didn't get a chance to discuss that more, but my brain took it and ran with it.

In qigong classes, I've learned about the Wei Qi field.  This is a good general explanation of the Wei Qi field from The Healing Qi Institute. I added the underlining for emphasis.

All living bodies generate an external field of energy called Wei Qi (pronounced "whey chee"), which translates as "protective energy." The definition of Wei Qi in Classical Chinese Medicine (CCM), Chinese Energetic Medicine or Medical Qigong is slightly different than that of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). In classical TCM texts, the Wei Qi field is seen to be limited to the surface of the body, circulating within the tendon and muscle tissues. In Medical Qigong, however, the Wei Qi field also includes the three external layers of the body's auric and subtle energy fields. This energy originates from each of the internal organs and radiates through the external tissues. There the Wei Qi forms an energy field that radiates from the entire physical body. This field of Qi protects the body from the invasion of external pathogens and communicates with, as well as interacts with, the surrounding universal and environmental energy fields.
Both internal and external pathogenic factors affect the structural formation of the Wei Qi. The internal factors include suppressed emotional influences (such as anger and grief from emotional traumas). The external factors include environmental influences when they are too severe or chronic, such as Cold, Damp, Heat or Wind, etc. Physical traumas also affect the Wei Qi field.
Any negative interchange affects the Wei Qi by literally creating holes within the matrix of the individual's external energetic fields. When left unattended, these holes leave the body vulnerable to penetration, and disease begins to take root in the body. Strong emotions, in the form of toxic energy, become trapped within the body's tissues when we hold back or do not integrate our feelings. These unprocessed emotions block the natural flow of Qi, thus creating stagnant pools of toxic energy within the body.
Medical Qigong consists of specific techniques that uses the knowledge of the body's internal and external energy fields to purge, tonify, and balance these energies. Medical Qigong therapy offers patients a safe and effective way to rid themselves of toxic pathogens and years of painful emotions that otherwise, can cause mental and physical illness. This therapy combines breathing techniques with movement, creative visualization, and spiritual intent to improve health, personal power, and control over one's own life.

The following thoughts and opinions (and those in Part II) are mine alone and do not necessarily represent the thoughts or beliefs of my church, my friend, or my qigong teachers.  They may have very different ideas about these things, but this is where my exploration took me.  

Everything is energy.  Thought.  Matter.  Spirit.  All.  

There is absolutely no reason that strengthening my Wei Qi field and strengthen my spiritual preparedness should not be one and the same. Plus, when I think of my armor as my Wei Qi field, it is no longer an impermeable barrier keeping me from love, connection, and creativity.  It interacts with energy fields around me.  

A Wei Qi field

• Protects.  
• Interacts.  
• Communicates.  

That's the kind of armor I'm interested in building.  

Part II of this blog will explore the details of my very non-Mormon approach to understanding the Armor of God.