WELCOME TO THE PRACTICE OF THE WORD
Persevere
Step 3 can take a couple of days. If you are stuck, it might be an idea to talk to your Life Group facilitator or other fellow Lopopractitioners. They are there to help and, no doubt, will have all been through a similar experience themselves in their own Logopraxis work.
Helpful Advice – Resistance is an opportunity for work
What often happens when we look to implement a task is that all kinds of difficulties arise that seem to stand in opposition to doing it, including formulating the task itself. The presence of these difficulties and resistances gives us something to work with and if we do that work from our understanding of the Text, then we are in the experience of the Lord building a new will within our growing understanding of truths. Without resistance there is no opportunity provided for self-compulsion and the building of a new will in spiritual matters. So, from a Logopraxis perspective:
Freedom is the ability to compel oneself to work….
Step Three Continued – Tools
In this email we look at some tools that can assist us to read the Text in relation to our own inner states of mind. These are…
- The “In Me” tool
- Removing person, place, time and space
- Using verb primers to formulate tasks
The “In Me” Tool
In Logopraxis work we hold to the principle that all revelation is given to teach us about what exists within ourselves. Revelation is not to give us information about others.
This means that everything in the Word is relevant for us. If we can’t see the relevance, we have work to do in order to discover how what is described finds its expression in our life. From a Logopraxis perspective the spiritual world doesn’t exist outside the human mind – in fact the spiritual world IS the human mind. Logopraxis holds that everything described in the Heavenly Doctrines applies to the life of our mind. In Logopraxis we work with the texts of Divine revelation to discover how that is so.
One simple approach that can help us to think in terms of our own states of mind in the here now is the IN ME tool. It works by placing the words “in me” into the Text to remind us to focus our attention onto the application of what we are reading to our own inner life or states of mind.
The “In Me” tool is offered as a tool to help carry us from natural based thinking to more spiritual based thinking and hence to aid in task setting. In Logopraxis we need to constantly remind ourselves that to think spiritually when we engage with the Text is to think in terms of its application to our own states of mind. The following example illustrates how you might use the IN ME tool.
Example
Heaven and Hell 595
It should be known that the hells (IN ME) are continually assaulting heaven (what is good and true from the Word IN ME) and endeavouring to destroy it, and that the Lord (the Word IN ME) continually protects the heavens (what is good and true IN ME) by withholding those (states of evil and falsity IN ME) who are there from the evils derived from their (my) proprium, and by holding them (me) in the good that is from Himself.
Principle: Evils and falsities (the hells/states of self centredness) are continually assaulting goods and truths (the heavens/states of good will) in order to destroy them and the Lord (as the Word) protects what is good and true by holding the mind in what is good from Himself (the Word).
Task: Observe and take note of experiences where evils and falsities (states of self centredness) arise seeking to destroy goods and truths (states of good will). When this is seen try to remember this principle and note any shifts in the quality of my mental state.
For another example of the “In Me” tool, click the link below…
From the Logopraxis Handbook: Using the “In Me” tool
Removing Person, Place, Space and Time
In the Apocalypse Explained 1049 it states that “…in the spiritual sense of the Word there is no idea of person, place or time; but it is otherwise with its natural sense.”
The implication is that in order to think spiritually when reading the Text we need to make an effort to remove ideas of person, place, time and space from our thought. This helps us to then think in terms of more interior things that relate to our states of mind.
Example: Removing Time
Here is an example on removing ‘time’ so that what is described is read as present tense, in terms of states in us.
True Christian Religion 86
The reason Jehovah God (THE WORD) came (COMES) down into the world (IN ME) as the Divine Truth was (IS) so that He could (CAN) effect redemption.
Principle: The Word comes into my natural mind as truth, to redeem and reorder my thoughts and affections.
Task: To consider what I experience as redemption? Do I really believe that the Word can save me? To observe what demonstrates my belief in this idea and what actions and thoughts deny it?
Example: Removing Person
Here is an example on removing ‘person’ so that what is described is read as states in us.
Heaven and Hell 548
When man (THE MIND) enters the other life (PLACES ITS ATTENTION ON MENTAL ACTIVITY) he is received first by angels (TRUTHS FROM THE WORD BECOME ACTIVE), who perform for him all good offices, and talk with him about the Lord, heaven, and the angelic life, and instruct him in things that are true and good.
Principle: The Word instructs me about the Lord and heavenly life and provides the ability to discern what is genuinely good and true.
Task: To find examples each day that illustrate the truth of this principle in my life
For a further example of removing person, place, time and space, click on the following link…
From the Logopraxis Handbook: Taking out person, place, time and space
Using Verb Primers to Formulate Tasks
The following verb primers are offered here to assist Logopractitioners in formulating a task. If we remember that the aim of the task is to set up conditions to observe a specific spiritual principle, then these verb primers will be held as prompts to remember to observe, rather than outcomes that must be fulfilled:
Verb Primers
- to identify the quality of [state your task here]
- to be aware of (when) [state your task here]
- to reflect on [state your task here]
- to accept and consciously acknowledge [state your task here]
- to observe my tendency to [state your task here]
- to internally decline [state your task here]
- to notice [state your task here]
- to take note of [state your task here]
- to cultivate an awareness of [state your task here]
- to reflect on experiences where [state your task here]
- to work to [state your task here]
- to bring my attention to [state your task here]
- to observe the degree of [state your task here]
- to remember to ask the question [your question here]
- to observe any shift of state when this truth is remembered [place the principle of truth here]
- to become aware of and refrain from [state your task here]
- to consider what is my inner attitude to is [state your task here]
To review task setting and useful tools in Step Three, click on the link below…
From the Logopraxis Handbook: Step 3: Setting a Task (part 1)
Posting your Task Online
Once you have your task or work focus, you may wish to post it to the Logopraxis website online. Sharing your task can help others relate to the Text in an expanded way. Posting also helps you commit to a line of action.
