On Our Own Authority

Scripture, as quoted above, tells us that we are the only ones capable of clarifying the movement of our spirits.  This is our authority, our diginity, that only we can explain fully from the knowledge of our selves in relationship to the Holy Spirit of God.  No other human has the ability nor the knowledge to express in a most intimate way to us who we are, what our purpose is, and how it is that God loves us.

There have been many occasions within the Church and the world where those who have entered into a deeper revelation of themselves through their relationship with God have had to stand up for what it is that they knew to be the truth.  Writers have recorded their speaking with an authority that appeared to be otherworldly.  Jesus was one of those written about whose noticeable difference as prophet came from His depth of understanding of the Jewish people's covenant with God and subsequent law and the way He opened up this divine knowledge with authority as one "who was God".  It is St. Paul in 1 Corinthians who expresses to all the faithful that we, too, have His same authority for our spirit within gifted to us through the grace of His Holy Spirit has the capability to enter into an awareness of our complete fruitfulness and  reason for living.

So, how is it, that on so many occasions we allow others to diminish our authority and by doing so diminish our very selves and the worthiness we have of being alive and in relationship to God, others, and the world?  How is it that we, as women, have allowed our very dignity to be distorted and compartmentalized so sufficiently that we have played a role in the enculturation of our daughters and granddaughters into this same imprisonment of spirit?  Is it that we have been convinced that a woman's life is supposed to be filled with suffering and rejection for imperfections brought about by Eve's sin?  Is it that we have been convinced that we are to sacrifice our very selves for the sake of all who appear to be in need of something from us?  Is it that we have allowed ourselves to think that God loves us just a little less than the men whom He created for we are weaker?  less knowledgeable? less powerful? I write these words and I cannot help but wonder how we have been able to take this authority of Christ and bury it for He has lifted up our worth and told us in His words that we are to "Love one another AS WE LOVE OURSELVES".  He has told us to "Rise, go, and sin no more".  He has loved us by teaching us that Mary, who placed herself at his feet to listen and to learn, was in the better place than the kitchen busy with work.  He has opened His arms to us by lifting up and affirming His mother as first apostle, first woman, healer of Eve's wounds through her "yes" in the breath of wills.  And here we stand in this most affluent of ages with our ability to know and instruct with all the authority and dignity that we have been given from God above and, instead, so many of us  choose "tidbits" of ourselves to be shared frightengingly behind the smoke screen of social media.  We have been blessed with the availability of reaching so many with so much graced knowledge of Him who loved us to His death and instead there are so many times that we focus on "selfies" and hope that others will find them worthy of the superficial relationship that they imply. How is this happening?

I suppose I can answer my own question through my theological knowledge of sin and satan's ability to address our imaginations.  He, through his cunningness and subtle ways of using tidbits of truth, can bring to our minds images of pain and suffering and disempowerment and poverty and subsequently bring about feelings of dread and fear.  What we have learned as Christians, though, is that there is nothing that he can truly do that will bring us further away from God.  It is only us, through our decisions and actions, that bring us away from the One who relieves all fear and turns us back inwards to self knowledge and the discovery of His Spirit within desiring so much to be in deeper relationship with our own.  Only then does our fear and despair diminish and we, once again, know the comfort of our loving God and the ceasing of all anguish.  

With all this knowledge of the promises of God what shall we do with these opportunities to be in dialogue with one another such as e-mail, facebook, twitter, blogging, etc.?  Ask God in your prayers today how He wants you to use these informational advancements for His glory?  Ask Him what it is that He wants for you to share in your interactions today?  Ask Him how you can use all of your powers and gifts to affect your experiences today with all of your created dignity and authority and then pray unceasingly for His protection and strength so that you may overcome the resistances and fears that you will surely encounter.  Then, go out and serve the Lord as one more fully alive in the Spirit of God who knows and loves your very special spirit for He made you in His image and likeness.  AMEN.