The HeART of Spirituality – Journey from Dark to Light

Here’s a synopsis of what we explored at the last HeART workshop at Tapestry Unitarian (scroll down for the pictures):

No one like to hear this, but pain is a necessary ingredient for growth.  It’s what motivates us to change, learn and grow.  Without pain we strive to maintain the status quo.  

God created  “negative” neurochemical emotions for physical survival & spiritual survival:

• Anger – protection from hurt
• Sadness – to reflect on past actions to learn and make increasingly correct action in the present
• Fear – to protect from future harm/extinction
• Disgust – to steer us away from what would harm

Happiness and “Positive” neurochemical emotions guide us towards right action and connection to God’s love:

When we are neurochemically flooded with fear/anger etc it is a powerful spiritual test to NOT respond to or behave on those feelings and instead find understanding and connect to love which lead to fulfillment, happiness and spiritual growth.

We explored a painful experience, the coping mechanisms and strengths that helped us survive that experience and the spiritual lessons learned.

It was a really wonderful group of women who came together for 4 hours to explore their own personal experiences of pain and spiritual growth through process painting and visual journaling.  Take a look!

“Everything in life ministers to our development. Our lesson is to study and learn… Tests are either stumbling blocks or stepping stones, just as we make them.” Abdu’l-Baha, The Baha’i World Faith

We don’t look forward to pain but when we look backward at it we cans see what spiritual lessons we learned.