This Pulse of Spirit gives us the opportunity to consciously enter the vibrational space we share—a space people are generally unconscious of. In this vibrational field, we are welcoming the connection with creative energies from the cosmos. That has implications for us individually, and it has implications for our service to the world.
This vibrational field, animated by the forces of Creation, is what humanity longs to experience, even if people do not realize it. They long to know the energies of peace and harmony with others and the natural world, and most of all with themselves. And they desire to know the ecstasy of life that is our birthright.
We sometimes use the word heaven to speak of this vibrational field in which we live. This is not the heaven way up there. It is the field of consciousness and energy right here that is often ignored.
For each of us, and for the readership of this blog collectively, there are zones within this field. There is the most intimate, which is the most proximate. There is a zone that we share with close friends and family. Then there are zones beyond that, which eventually include the whole world.
There is often stress that builds up in these fields. For Americans, there is increasing stress regarding the politics of our country. Of course, we have not cornered the market on that kind of stress. But here, a recent poll conducted by the American Psychological Association found that 77% of adults are stressed about the future of the nation, and 69% are worried about the upcoming election. Others assert that politics is the most common source of stress in this country, inducing feelings of depression, anger, and hopelessness, and thoughts of suicide. It sometimes leads to lost sleep, damaged relationships, and issues related to physical health. An article published by the Public Library of Science reports that the health impacts of politics are comparable to or worse than those associated with alcohol.
Political stress is ambient in nature, meaning that it is pervasive, like air pollution or noise pollution. It can be intensified by watching the news. (And they have studied that too.) But you do not have to watch the news to experience it.
Not everyone experiences political stress at the same level. If you are a Somali living in Minneapolis, you are likely to experience it at a higher level. Younger generations may experience it at a higher level and be more likely to have thoughts of moving out of the country.
Of course, political stress is not the only kind of stress that people experience. There is stress in the context of health, relationships, finances, work, and more. And there is an existential stress that comes to people when they experience a lack of meaning, purpose, and belonging in their lives.
I know these are not cheery thoughts. But I have a reason for sharing them—to heighten the awareness of what is in our vibrational field so it is not just parked there unconsciously.
I have named the outer context in which people experience political stress. But the outer circumstances are not the root cause of the stress. There is something else going on here that is not just a matter of external circumstance. It is not just a matter of politics or anything else. The issue is not just the fact of the thing. There is something else going on, and it relates to the energy field we share as human beings. The major stressor is in that vibrational space. It is not any single person. It is not any single fact or set of circumstances, even though it manifests through those things.
The source of human stress is the constellation of a vibrational pattern in the field that is both injured and injuring. Collectively, it is a self-sabotaging tendency that seems to have an animating energy all to its own. But the reality is that it is feeding off the life of the body of humanity. It is a harsh way to put it, but at an energetic level, we are eating ourselves alive in the vibrational space that we share.
And so, what happens? You could fight the politics of the day, and I am not against being political. I respect people who bring some vision and integrity into the field of politics. But if that is all that is happening—if you are just fighting the world of politics and not noticing what is happening in the vibrational space—you are very likely to get your legs kicked out from under you because you are not noticing what is really going on. It is not just this outer surface play. There is something else happening energetically in the space. If you do not deal with that, it will overtake you from behind.
And so it is with all forms of stress, whether it relates to finances, health, relationships, or something else. There is the outer manifestation of it. But if you are only dealing with the outer manifestation and you are not dealing with the inner stressor that is at work in your energy field, it is impossible to transform the situation.
What is that stressor? And what would it mean to deal with it? It is as a pattern and a habit in consciousness that is self-absorbed, self-serving, and self-sabotaging. That can be present at the level of the individual, but also in the collective field of a group of people, and ultimately for all humankind. With that pattern in consciousness, there is a pernicious energy feeding off the life stream of the body of humankind.
At some level, however unconsciously, we all know that is transpiring. It is remarkably familiar because it is so pervasive in our world. We were born into it.
There are superstitions about what this energy is and where it comes from, dating back to ancient times. There are beliefs in malevolent spiritual entities that tempt human beings and wreak havoc in their lives. Even today, people place belief in the devil or Satan. At some point, perhaps we realize that the comic strip character, Pogo, had it right: We have met the enemy, and he is us. We realize that what is causing the problem is not something outside the body of humankind, but within it.
I thought about where we might look to see a portrayal of what it means to enter the space, consciously face this self-sabotaging energy, and deal with it. And if I could have found something that was not in the Bible, I might have used it. But the most liberating illumination of this process I could think of is from the story of Jesus and the temptations in the wilderness.
The context within the larger story of Jesus’s life is important. This story within the story takes place after Jesus is baptized by John in the River Jordan but before he gathers his disciples and initiates his ministry.
And so, before he met the outer stressors of his world—the Roman Empire, the Jewish authorities, the resistance, and ultimate betrayal from among his own disciples—he went inside. He went directly into the vibrational space, not messing around with the outer factors. He faced the factors in the inner space, and that is what this story is about. And like any ancient story, you have to get past the author’s and translator’s way of thinking and speaking of things to understand what is going on here.
Here is the story as it is told in the fourth chapter of the Book of Matthew:
Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.
And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred.
It is clearly portrayed that this experience was motivated by the spiritual urge within Jesus. He was led up of the Spirit.
And why would anyone deliberately desire to be tempted by the devil? This is best understood as facing the temptations of the devil. And it becomes clear that these temptations are not for food, alcohol, sex, or anything else at that level, per se. They were temptations to become subject to the pattern of pernicious energy in the field.
Who is this devil Jesus is facing? It is that pernicious energy. Later in the story, he is called Satan. The origin of the name is from Hebrew, and it means to show enmity to, oppose, or plot against. The word can be translated as the adversary. This is a dust bunny of negative energy in the field of human consciousness. So we could look at it superstitiously, or we could look at it as a pattern in the human vibrational field that undoes us if we let it, that is an adversary to life itself.
This was the vibrational stressor present in the field of ministry he was about to enter. He was dealing with it.
And who wouldn’t be hungry after fasting for 40 days? This was all part of intentionally confronting the factors in consciousness and in the vibrational field.
And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.
Famously, there are three temptations here in the story. Do you think there are only three temptations in human experience? This is just three of many. There is a long list of temptations that could have shown up and maybe did. We hear about three here. And this one is, Make these stones bread. Does that ever come to you?
Perform some miracle that creates a flourishing situation out of something that isn’t that way. What’s the matter with you that you had this happen to you? What’s the matter with you that you’re hungry, that you have a need that’s not being fulfilled, that things aren’t going right? If you’re so great, make it all good. How come you’re not the perfect father, perfect mother, perfect leader, perfect sister, brother, lover? Make these stones bread. What’s the matter with you? You’re an Emissary.
How come you’re feeling these things? Make these stones bread. Make it all better. Wave a magical wand.
Jesus answers:
It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.
It is interesting how Jesus answers the temptations. In each case, there is an affirmation of what is true that he speaks into the field. He doesn’t fight with the tempter. He recites scripture, in this case Deuteronomy 8:3.
In the face of the lie that he is encountering—whether in his own consciousness or in the larger field of consciousness, however we want to think of it—he affirms what is true. He speaks what is true into that field so that the vibration of truth is now moving in the field.
Here is the second temptation:
Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,
And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.
So now the devil is quoting scripture, Psalm 91. It is not uncommon for the mental processes that are the undoing of people to twist elements of truth and use them to assault the person. In this case, the devil is suggesting that Jesus forsake responsibility for his own life and ministry and leave it to the Divine.
Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.
Once more, Jesus answers by affirming what is true, quoting again from Deuteronomy.
Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;
And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
So here it is, this self-promoting, inflated sense of human importance, saying you could have it all if you abandoned the inner urge to create and lead a life of service and serve me—serve yourself.
You could be rich, you could be famous, if you just follow the ways of the world. You could use all these spiritual things you’ve learned, and you could make money with them. You could be someone. If you just follow me, the human sense of identity, disconnected spiritually from its core.
Here is Jesus’s reply:
Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Get thee hence. Hence is a good Elizabethan word we don’t use today. It means away from here. Essentially, Get out!
So the third time has come around, as it does in stories. Initially, he is speaking affirmations—not engaging, just speaking truth into the field. And finally, it is time to expel what does not belong in the vibrational field. And it’s dealt with.
Then the devil leaveth him, and, behold, angels came and ministered unto him.
The angels came after he dealt with the matter. He had to deal with it in his vibrational field, as do we all. So whatever stress you perceive in your life, it is telling you that there is work to do. There is a vibrational place where the adversary is present and needs to be dealt with. It begins with holding the line.
That is a way to talk about what Jesus did. He held the line. He did not crumple in the face of all this, even after forty days of fasting. He deliberately went into the space, faced what was there, and held the line. And his holding of the line was consistent throughout his ministry and throughout his life. He never stopped holding the line, but that did not guarantee that the people around him would. And they didn’t. But he held the line. And it all started right here—not facing Pilate, the authorities, or his own disciples. It started here, in this internal space where he had the victory in the vibrational field.
The Book of Revelation is a prophecy of today. In it, the Apostle John speaks about war in heaven. Is there war in heaven today? All this reported political stress is evidence of a war in heaven. So what is the answer?
John references higher spiritual powers in the vibrational space. He speaks of Michael and his angels appearing in this war. And then there was the dragon, who was Satan, and his angels, who prevailed not. And as in the story of the temptations, they were cast out of the vibrational space.
Here is a depiction of the remedy to the great stressor of the inner life of humankind. That remedy is simply consciousness. We become conscious that we are living in a field of consciousness and energy we share in common with other human beings. We become conscious of a pattern of self-centered, self-willed, self-absorbed human thought and energy. We speak truth into that field and become aware that the Presence and Power of Being is in the space and has ultimate authority over it. Michael and his angels are present. The adversary is cast out. The war in heaven ends.
This is how we dispel the unseen source of stress within humankind and welcome the ecstasy of life that is our birthright.