I once worked for a hospital management firm whose president
was a Mormon or Latter-Day Saint believer. He brought the famous author,
teacher and Mormon Bishop Stephen Covey to speak at our annual management
conference in Portland, Oregon. As we gazed at the awesome Mount Rainier
glistening white in the distance we heard the author of the bestseller, 7-Habits of Highly Effective People, talk
about our strength and perseverance when faced with difficult circumstances and
people. I wish that I had kept the transcript of his talk, but I do remember
vividly, as does my wife who also attended, the idea of avoiding “aura
suckers.” These are people who take and do not give. They are the ones who look
at the dark and not the light. They complain and grumble about everything and
argue about anything. Do you have some
or know some of these people in your life? I suspect we all do.
Covey talked of having a very strong sense of your
priorities or “first things first.” He spoke of being centered in faith and not
being easily distracted by the whims and rantings of others. Clearly aura
suckers will bring you down. Their intent is not to build up but to have
company in their misery. This place or pit is dangerous and will steal all of
your energy. Once joined these aura suckers will attach and take all they can
get, leaving you with a sense of having been used or more strongly abused or
even raped. Typically they do not have a sense of boundaries, but will overflow
into yours without warning or with great purpose.
Typically aura suckers are very needy and sad people who
feel the world is not appreciative of them and their talents. They feel or are
unloved, primarily because their perspective will repulse others, unless
captured in their webs of woe.
So, now do you recognize someone in your life like
this? I think that I once had some of
these bad attributes of negativity and darkness. My good wife of now 46+ years
strongly admonished me about 18 years ago that they must go or she would. This
was one of the turning points in my life as I began to turn over the bright
side of the leaf with God’s help. I had not known how much my childhood in an
alcoholic family had rubbed off and tarnished views of life.
It was during this same period that we reevaluated a number
of our friendships that seemed to be toxic and moved away from them. It seemed
that this periodic review and cleansing of negative or even toxic relationships
is a healthy exercise that will not return void, but bring light and
healing. Covey would call this part of
the “principle of balanced self-renewal.”
I believe that all of us need to look critically at
ourselves on a regular basis to find things as Covey says that might dull our
saw. We need to find people and practices that “sharpen our saw.” There are
people and practices, even work that exhausts us and enervates like an aura
sucker. We need to be connected to those things and people who energize us. We
need to build endurance, strength and flexibility in our lives. For me this
comes from spiritual disciplines. I recently taught a large men’s group with
guys from a dozen churches about gaining strength from the Lord. The theme
verse from Nehemiah 8:10 was, “The joy of the Lord is my strength.” We need to draw on those things that lift us
up and inspire us. For me the following
is a list of interrelated and mutually reinforcing spiritual disciplines that I
have intentionally been doing in my life to help persevere.
·
Daily devotional time
·
Daily aerobic exercise, coupled with Scripture
recitation and praise singing
·
Daily confession and repentance
·
Praying for God’s guidance
·
Meditation on God’s word, the Bible
·
Meeting with an accountability brother regularly
·
Silence and solitude
·
Journaling
·
Weekly Bible study
·
Writing Christian essays
·
Blogging Christian essays and sermons
·
Reading spiritual books
·
Rest
·
Retreats
·
Serving as hospital chaplain
·
Worship
This list of spiritual disciplines and their work in me is
inside-out. They work together toward my personal victory through the light of
God over the darkness. “We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.
We are spiritual beings having a human experience” as Pierre Teilhard de
Chardin, French philosopher and priest said in the mid-20th century.
This is a journey of discovery and challenge through enlightenment and
suffering. There is truth in Scripture as an anchor in the storms of life. The
One who gave us this truth will hold even as the world churns and has lost its
bearings. Don’t let it suck the energy from your soul and spirit.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts.