A Graceful Instant

In the last paragraph of the Preface of my book Metanoia, Renovating the House of Your Spirit, I write about grace.

Grace is a constant that we either resonate with or not. When we resonate with grace our mantra for living includes joy, peace and justice. When we do not, our priorities revolve around possessions, power, and popularity. This book describes the sacred journey that can bring all of us into the experience of grace that in turn, transforms our priority for accumulating possessions into a priority for accruing joyful moments. It transforms our drive for power into a consuming desire for stillness and peace and our need for acclaim into anonymous actions of justice and mercy.

When wealth, power and acclaim are our priorities, life-style diseases naturally occur. When the things we treasure most are transformed to peace, joy and justice, then health and wellbeing are natural consequences. To be able to convert our priorities from the former to the latter requires us to rise above ignorance, avoidance and attachments, three states of consciousness that the Buddha called the Three Poisons. This conversion is not easy, since it goes against cultural convention. Who are you without wealth, power and acclaim in this world? People who dare to walk to the beat of a different drum have been called perculiar and are often ostracised for their choices.

To sustain our commitment to transform requires hope, given the inate challenges of any change compunded by the judgements of others. The experience of hope naturally arises from grace. In my personal experience, when I have made the decision to be committed to this conversion, and having demonstrated my commitment (faith) through adopting a willingness to listen and seek understanding, I have been blessed with a graceful moment, resulting in hope. In Chapter 14 I describe my experience of this graceful moment.

The most blissful peace envelops his body as if he (I) has been carried to an oasis of grace in a desert of fear. For an instant that seems to fill the universe, the Fool (me in this case) knows he is safe, as if cradled in the arms of a loving mother. The Fools feels comforted in his despair and maybe for the first time in his life he hears words that cannot be heard with ears. ‘Peace, be still’ courses through every fibre of his being, the sound of which resonates with every cell of his body, causing the Fool to be consumed with tranquillity.

***

The Fool now remembers his birthright and for a moment knows that the things that were once so important to him have no worth, since nothing could be a precious as what he is feeling now.

This book describes a process of transformation which enables anyone to live in grace constantly. This conversion or transformation process is what the ancient Greeks called Metanoia.

Introduction

In November 2006 I relocated from Brisbane, Australia to Monte San Biagio, Italy for the express purpose of writing a book. In August 2007 I completed the first draft and returned home to complete several edited drafts of the same book. In July 2009 I self-published my first book, Metanoia, renovating the house of your spirit. This blog will be an ongoing discussion on some of the key issues raised throughout the book. I invite anyone interested in the issues discussed to participate in the dialogue. It is my wish that this become a forum for exploring profound practical spirituality.
Having been involved in the 'alternative healing' profession for over 30 years, both as a clinician and educator, it became obvious to me that both the 'medical' and 'natural' approaches to health were deficient, particularly when it came to 'life-style' diseases. Sure there was much that they were doing to treat the disease conditions, but in terms of stemming the rapid spead of the disease, they have proven to be ineffectual.
In the introduction to the book, I propose a new paradigm of healing based on the etymology of the words health and disease. In summary, the word 'health' suggests being in a holy or sacred relationship. Disease also inferred a state of relationship, but a distanced or seperated state of relationship. I then suggest that if this meant that health was about spiritual relationship and that 'the Church' (and for the sake of this discussion the Christian Church) is the guardian of spiritual wellbeing in contempory Western society, then the epidemic of disease would also suggest that the Church is falling short in its objective.
This model of healing sits well outside of the 'norms' of conventional Western tradition. Firstly, it highly limits its association to comtempory healing modatities since it suggests that 'spirituality' is fundamental to the paradigm, and secondly, it implies a form of spirituality that is either absent or ignored by Christianity. Those arguments alone will be sufficent to marginalise this book, although I would also suspect that talking about God and strongly referencing the Tarot might also extend the margin.
Having said all of that, and assuming that you are still reading, what I present in this book requires the reader to be patient while I completely paint on all of the 'canvas'. What I reveal in Metanoia is new contempory thought. This model of healing is being presented, possibly for the first time in over 500 years. I hope that you will join me as I discuss and explore in greater detail, knowledge and mysteries that reveal a sustainable remedy for health and wellbeing.
The blurb on the book cover reads...

Drawing on his diverse knowldge of the Scriptures, the Marseille Tarot and Temple Culture, Russell weaves together a harmonious tapestry of ancient symbols, practices and teachings to reveal a sacred journey of healing. When applied personally, this spiritual map provides guidance towards achieving health and vitality, clarity of mind, reduced stress and a greater capcity for intimacy. In a broader context, the sacred knowledge revealed in Metanoia leads to a deeper reverence for Mother Earth and her environs, and a love of the Divine expressed through a contant prayer of gratitude. When practiced authentically, this formula can create sustainable personal and global healing.

I look forward to hearing your comments.
With peace and awareness
Russell Sturgess