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

How Firm a Foundation

It's been one of my favorite hymns for a long time, and I wrote about "How Firm a Foundation" in a post not too long ago.  You can read that here.  But it's been in my mind a lot lately, and new ideas keep surfacing.  It is time to write again.

I believe that a spirituality that is not constantly evolving, is in the process of dying.  One of the best ways for me to keep growing is to keep searching, looking beyond the things right in front of me to find other ways of viewing the world.  As I explore what's out there, I find a deeper, more meaningful approach to the things I have always known.

***WARNING:  This post is about things that may make you uncomfortable or that may even directly contradict your beliefs.  This is not about me trying to convince you.  It is about me stating what I have found and what speaks to me.

Although some sources point to Robert Keen as the author of this text, we don't really know for sure since when it was first published, in the space for the author's name there was simply a "K".  What we do know is that for a couple hundred years, this text, sung to various tunes has provided strength, solace, and encouragement to numerous people.

I remember one evening a few years ago when it spoke to me.  I was stressed and tired, and entered the church late after a long day of recitals at school.  My body hurt, but I wanted to be there.  To be honest, I don't remember any thing from that service, except for this song.  You can read all the verses here.

I'll strengthen thee, help thee and cause thee to stand...As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.  

That was what I needed to hear at that moment.

I've performed this song for three different church meetings in the last year, and each time it calls to me, asking me to dig deeper, to see more, to feel more.  In the post referenced earlier, I talked about how the song was no longer just about someone giving me aid, but how I can act, how I can be the one who is there to lift and strengthen.  And then someone asked us to share examples of how we see Heavenly Mother, or the Feminine Divine, in the everyday.  And suddenly, I saw her in this song.  Yes, these things can all be attributes of a male deity too, but I see and feel something different when I bring the feminine to this song.

The word "foundation" made me think of solid grounding on the earth.  Earth and nature are associated with the Feminine Divine.  She is also there grounding us because of our faith in Jesus Christ.

Succor.  Aid.  Relief.  Comfort.  Those are words that speak to me of a Heavenly Mother.  Succor literally means running under.  I love the image of a mother lifting a child to carry it through the dangers, "upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand".

Water and Fire.  Both life giving and potentially dangerous. We tend to read these verses more towards the danger, but I think they are also about the life-giving of our Heavenly Parents.  I see these two middle verses as the marriage of our Heavenly Parents and how they individually and collectively go about helping us reach our fullest potential.  In many traditions, water is feminine.  Water often symbolizes intuition, emotions, and the unconscious.  We have to go deep into the water (your body is mostly water), into ourselves, to find who we really are, to find our essence, our souls.  She will make the journey sacred.  She is there waiting for us. The fire is masculine, and I tend to think of it as outward refinement.  Heavenly Father won't let us be destroyed by it, but we can be purified by those things that happen to us, that come at us from the outside through no fault of our own.

The sixth verse speaks of an image that we have come to associate with Jesus Christ, that of carrying the lamb.  What I find so beautiful about this is that the image itself is full of symbols of the feminine, showing that Christ embodies the best of what we tend to think of as masculine and feminine qualities.  The lamb, a tiny helpless newborn.  The bosom, a place of safety, nourishment, peace.  Borne, carried, transported, but also the past tense of bear which means to give birth to. This verse speaks of Christ, but I cannot read it without also thinking of my Heavenly Mother.

In the seventh and final verse, I see Christ, my Heavenly Father, and my Heavenly Mother, but especially my Heavenly Mother.  I kind of see Mother Bear in this verse.  She is protective.  It is who she is.  It is what she does.  She's never going to walk away.

Is this what most people think of when they sing this hymn?  Probably not, but it's where I am today.  "How Firm a Foundation" is a call to me to be there for others that need lifting up.  It is a reminder of people, real people, that I can turn to when I feel too burdened to go on.  It is message from my Heavenly Mother reminding me that she too is there for me and always will be.

Weak Things Made Strong

I stayed home from church today to get some rest after my long week. But God, the Universe, and my own brain decided that I needed a little inspiration anyway. At a moment I least expected it, I thought these words, "I am willing to bear this burden if my doing so opens the door for other people to find what they need." I don't want to go into all the details of which burden I was considering. It's not important here. And even though the words in print look a little co-dependent, that was not the feeling at all. It was pure love.

Then I thought of two scriptures. The first is in Ether 12:27 in the Book of Mormon.

27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their^aweakness. I ^bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my ^cgrace is sufficient for all men that ^dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make ^eweak things become strong unto them.

I have always read that as meaning that if we become humble and teachable (and in this case, willing to trust in the Lord) we can overcome, even excel at the weak things in our lives. Perhaps that was the meaning Ether intended, but it made me think of Paul's words to the Corinthians. (For those of you that are not religious, simply substitute "Love" when it says "Christ". For the religious among you that think that is sacrilege, Christ is love, and love is the power through which all God does is accomplished.)

8 For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me.

9 And he said unto me, My ^agrace is sufficient for thee: for my^bstrength is made perfect in ^cweakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may ^drest upon me.

10 Therefore I take pleasure in ^ainfirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in ^bpersecutions, in distresses for Christ’s sake: for when I am ^cweak, then am I ^dstrong.

I'm not sure that I'm at the stage of glorying in my infirmities, or taking pleasure in them, but sometimes I am thankful for them. The difficult things I've been through give me unique insights into the struggles of others. I am in a position to make a difference in a way that people who have not had my challenges cannot. My weakness actually gives me an edge.

I am strong because I am weak.