This song might have changed my life. I listened to it daily for a week. Then I forgot about it. Typical. You probably know the song - Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven is a Place on Earth.” An 80’s classic. But her 2017 remake of the song brought new life and meaning to the song for me. For your listening pleasure, I included the spotify link below.
I have two Dr. Phil quotes swimming in my head as I write this: “How’s that working for you?” And “You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.” Am I winning any credit with you for starting this post off by mentioning Belinda Carlisle and Dr. Phil?
Ok, how about I mention Jesus then? Jesus kicks off his ministry with “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matt 4:17). I grew up thinking repent meant to feel sorry for whatever sin I committed and to not do it again. In other words, be good. So I would not fight with my brother (or try not to), I would not lie to my parents (ok, maybe once), and I would do my best in school (and NEVER cheated!). Then I grew up and still believed essentially the same thing. Be good. Do good. And expect others to do the same.
“Good” looks nice on paper and serves one well for a while but it won’t stand the test of time. As we age, we get set in our ways. We acquire a history, develop our personas, develop stereotypes, expectations, and we seal ourselves (and everyone else) in these little boxes. Many of these ideas operate under the surface at the subconscious level because the mind craves order and security. And this modus operandi gets us through life. Now let me ask, “how’s that working out for you?” Are you happy? Do you feel blessed? How are your relationships? Do you feel like the kingdom of heaven is at hand? Or are you just scratching by until you reach your final destination? (capital H heaven).
Now I’ll throw in a Greek work, metanoia, which means “to change one’s mind.” Our bibles use the word repent but originally the word was metanoia. Hmm. That makes a bit of difference (to me, at least). Allow me to rephrase Matthew 4:17 - “The kingdom of heaven is here now and readily accessible to you. Just change your way of thinking.” READ: Get out of your own way.
All thoughts, ideas, and actions are generated from our minds. Sin is generated in our minds. So don’t always go blaming the devil! If I refrained from fighting with my brother but continued to harbor contempt of him for annoying me, I didn’t sin per se, but I definitely missed the mark (recall my other gem of a post about archery?). Suffering and pain are also generated in our minds. The Four Noble Truths of Buddhism talk about suffering - a lot! (P.S. Suffering is in the eye of the beholder)
It starts with our mind. If you keep coming down with a fever, wouldn’t you want to know what the cause is? If you continually suffer, re-evaluate your thinking. If your your glass is always half empty, check in with your thinking. If people continually annoy you, check in with yourself first. If you want to bring the kingdom of heaven to you, renew your mind. Grow, learn, change, evolve. Shift your energy. If the energy of your mind is bad, it will be reflected in your words, actions, your physical body, and your relationships. And that certainly doesn’t sound heavenly! To be clear, I am not talking about toxic positivity, glossing over grief, or making excuses for poor behavior, I’m talking about true shift in thinking, seeing, and believing. Understanding. Peace.
So Deidre, how does one do this exactly? Change the mind and gain understanding? Well, besides prayer, I don’t have a good answer but I’ll tell you what gave me tremendous insight into my own default operating mechanisms and gave me more compassion for others (husband, kids, friends, coworkers included) - The Enneagram. If you haven’t looked into it, I highly suggest doing so. It can help us see yourselves and others with new lenses and give us the key to unlock the boxes we live in. *Truly - Lord, forgive us because we don’t know what we are doing 97% of the time.* The Enneagram gives you access to understanding and compassion and allows you to better know and love yourself as well as others. AKA Grace.
“You can’t change what you don’t acknowledge.” Step one, acknowledge your blind spots, challenge your assumptions, and your typical reactions. Then invite change. The kind of change that will bring you closer to love and closer to heaven, now, here on earth. Because a change like this is both humbling and empowering. It will make you impervious to insults and immune to patterns of this world because you will truly understand that what someone said or did really has nothing to do with you, but them. And forgive them. They know not. Love them anyway. Because that’s what we will do in heaven. So start practicing now.
When I listen to Carlisle’s song now, instead of hearing a song between lovers, I hear this as a love song … between God and me. And yes, I am just beginning to understand the miracle of living.
The kingdom is at hand and accessible. Doesn’t that sound heavenly?
Put it into practice:
Inhale: I am
Exhale: learning
Inhale: I am
Exhale: growing
Inhale: I am
Exhale: love