Rules to Live By
By Julia Fairchild
As an exercise in a Transpersonal Psychology class at Antioch University, I was once asked to write down my spiritual beliefs, those rules by which I live.
As a used-to-be member of a church with many rules, I balked at the idea. . .until I began to question what rules I do live by, and write them down as I drove home from Santa Barbara one evening. These are my rules, as they flowed from my scratchy pen on the seat beside me.1. There are no rules! If you need a rule, make up one to accomplish the purpose for which you perceive the need.
2. Look always to that which draws you, which will inevitably be the Light, the highest good for your Self.
3. It takes one to know one. So, anytime you admire or look up to another, claim that trait as your own, and expound upon it. Any time you look down on another, find what trait of yours he is graciously mirroring for you, and love it to death.
4. Teach your children to see the light in others, as you see it in them. And remember to see in others and your Self.
5. Turn every joyful or painful experience into a stepping stone. Find the gift in every occurrence, especially the painful or frightening ones.
6. Joyfully anticipate and mindfully appreciate abundance! Live by the knowing that you are as rich as God!
7. Appreciate and take joy in that which you receive to the depth of your yearning for it. This prevents us from acting like a kid at Christmas, tearing open the packages, moving through the gifts like a race horse, and asking for more.
8. Assume, discover, and honor the noble intent of every human action of yourself and any who affect you – which is, of course, all.
9. If you must choose between care and nourishment of your body or your soul, choose your soul; continuing in this choice will eliminate the need to choose by providing all for both.
10. Build faith on every good thing as evidence of your connectedness to the care of the divine.
11. Seek daily guidance from within and "without".
12. Love is a verb! Love continuously. Learn the definition of love by heart, and live by love. My definition of love is as follows:
Love is patient and kind. Love is joyful when others succeed. Love knows no one is better or worse than anyone else, including himself. Love is not easily angered. When love is offended, he searches his own heart for the cause. Love looks for the best in others until he finds it. Love finds no satisfaction in the mistakes of others. Love takes no part in gossip, except to defend the truth of another’s worth. Love assumes that every soul has noble intent.
Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things, for he knows that all things work together for the highest good of all. To learn to love is the soul purpose of life. Love is the pure love of Christ, and the strongest power on earth or in heaven.
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