John 17:11-19
In today’s passage, Jesus says his disciples “do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.” I have always found much of this gospel difficult to understand, but, as an amateur contemplative, I try. Here, I do not believe Jesus declares that the earth is literally bad–after all, the Bible emphasizes that God created the earth. Instead, Jesus refers to a state of existence that imprisons many people. Instead of being imprisoned, Jesus and anyone who has obtained the enlightened awareness of heaven are free: I believe what Jesus is really describing here is a healthier state of mind.
With all of the miracles and challenging parables, the central message of the New Testament is that we should change our mindset? It sounds too easy, doesn’t it? On the one hand, the recipe for spiritual enlightenment is simple: just change your thinking from a self-centered perspective to a loving, selfless perspective. Quit focusing so much on yourself and instead help others. Many churches try to adopt this spirituality-is-simple approach. They repeat week after week a message of simple Christianity, but there is a serious problem with this message: changing the way you think is not easy. In fact, it is just about the toughest thing you can do.
I need to make a confession here. Negative thinking is the natural state of my mind; for my entire conscious life, even during my childhood, I have lived with the expectation of the worst outcome, and I suspect my mind will always suffer from this condition. Adopting the optimistic (and courageous) view that Jesus advocates throughout the New Testament is very difficult for me.
Jesus’ mindset is one that accepts peace will ultimately vanquish all suffering. This does not mean people who achieve a healthy state of mind will no longer suffer, but they understand there is an ultimate good that comes out of the pain all humans experience. There is also good that comes out of the joyful moments in life. Good is within every particle that makes up life in this universe, and people with a healthy mindset understand that all evil that exists in the surrounding universe will be vanquished.
This healthy mindset can only be achieved through selfless thinking. It requires the conscious act of focusing on others instead of yourself, and it requires constant practice. Many preachers try to make this change sound easy, a quick transformation that happens with little effort and results in a neverending euphoria, but the truth is very different. Focusing on the needs of others instead of yourself takes diligence and work.
The effort yields many rewards, however. Selfless acts fill me with a unique happiness, and I do not need to describe the joy that I feel when I do something out of love. In the end, the spiritual realm that Jesus refers to is one made of love, and this love has to be worth all of life’s struggles.
A New Mindset Equals a Rebirth
John 17:11-19
11And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 12While I was with them, I protected them in your name that you have given me. I guarded them, and not one of them was lost except the one destined to be lost, so that the scripture might be fulfilled. 13But now I am coming to you, and I speak these things in the world so that they may have my joy made complete in themselves. 14I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 15I am not asking you to take them out of the world, but I ask you to protect them from the evil one. 16They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. 17Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.
Contemplative Living 