The Spiritual Battle: Vice vs. Virtue
A spiritual reflection from the fourth day of a retreat in Austria, connected to the fourth book in the speaker’s Torn Between Two Worlds series. The topic is the spiritual battle humans face on a daily basis, often without recognizing that such a battle is taking place around them.
The reflection uses a series of sculptures depicting the deadly sins as visual anchors, beginning with anger or rage. The speaker argues that when humans become angry, hateful, or rageful, they attract like beings: spiritual beings who want to experience that anger, hate, and rage. The longer a person remains in that negative state, the longer those forces remain nearby.
At the same time, rage is described as something that repels the spiritual guide or guardian angel. If a person wants to stay near their guardian angel and be guided on the spiritual path, they must learn to avoid strong negative emotions.
The primary way to reject negative energies is true forgiveness. The speaker points to Jesus on the cross saying, “Forgive them, Father, because they know not what they do.” Many people who insult, shame, or anger us do not understand the impact they are having. If they have no meaningful place in our lives, the speaker asks, why let them pull us into hatred?
The reflection also addresses love of neighbor, arguing that we are called to love our neighbor because we do not want strife in the environment where we live. A positive environment attracts positive spiritual forces.
The speaker then turns to greed, using another sculpture with a church steeple in the background as an image for reflecting on money and religion. Jesus preached poverty, and becoming rich from followers is presented as contrary to what Jesus taught.
The piece also warns against pride in spiritual work. The goal is not followers, fame, or becoming a guru. The goal is helping others find their own path and fulfill their lifetime.
The reflection ends with the great dragon of Revelation 12, understood here as the image of Lucifer, whose pride drew one third of heaven into the fall. Humanity is described as being on a path of restoration: overcoming the pull of the great dragon and the seven deadly sins, and replacing them with the seven virtues Jesus taught.
👉Download the Spiritual Consulting App :https://studio.com/apps/shawn/yourspiritualconsultant
Be First to Comment