Jim Palmer's Blog, page 71

Off the grid

“When I went off the grid of organized Christianity, I went through this blackout period when I could not stomach hardly anything to do with God, Christianity, the Bible, prayer, etc… An interesting place to be for a former seminary grad and successful Senior Pastor. Didn’t go to church, didn’t converse about God or Christianity, didn’t pray, didn’t read my Bible, didn’t listen to “Christian music”… nothing! It was during this period when I, in many respects for the first time, became deeply connected to myself, others, the divine, and life, and became a new foundation for forging ahead, including my interests in Jesus.”

- Jim Palmer, Notes From (over) The Edge

There was a way that art opened me.

“There was a way that art opened me. It was the poets, painters, photographers, musicians, dancers, writers, tattooers, playwrights and performers who emboldened me to plummet the depths of my own soul, and travel the distance of my deepest feelings.”

- Jim Palmer, Notes From (over) The Edge

“I am the truth.”

“Jesus said “I am the truth,” which we mistakenly turned into some kind of a theological proposition about God, the gospel, eternal life, etc… Jesus confronted this mentality when he scolded the religious leaders for burying their heads in the scriptures while missing the truth that Jesus was… lived… expressed. Jesus’ words “I am the truth” have so many layers of profound significance that many Christians never discover because they plug these words into some sort of formula for “being saved” or theological litmus test. We have pressed no further than the foot of Mt. Everest, when it comes to these words of Jesus, and speak as though we have reach the summit.”

Jim Palmer, Notes From (over) The Edge

I came to a decision.

“I came to a decision. Whatever anyone said they believed, including myself, if it didn’t produce love, freedom and beauty, I didn’t want to have anything to do with it.”

- Jim Palmer, Notes From (over) The Edge

God is not a belief-system.

“God is not a belief-system.

Jesus is not a religion.

Christianity is not a check-list.

Church is not an address.

The Bible is not a book of doctrines.

Community is not a meeting.

Grace has no exceptions.

Ministry is not a program.

Art is not carnal.

Women are not inferior.

Our humanity is not the enemy.

Sinner is not our identity.

Love is not a theory.

Peace is not a circumstance.

Science is not secular.

Sex is not filthy.

Life is not a warm-up for Heaven

The world is not without hope.

There is no “us” and “them.”

Tattoos are not evil.

Loving the earth is not satanic.

Seeing the divine in all things is not heretical.

Self-actualization is not self-worship.

Feelings are not dangerous and unreliable.

The mind is not infallible.”

Jim Palmer, Notes From (over) The Edge

A silent understanding

Sometimes it’s a silent understanding, and adding any further thinking or explanation is unnecessary and unfortunate.

You don’t have to wait…

Consider for a moment that happiness, well-being, and freedom is not dependent upon any set of conditions or circumstances but it is a choice available in every moment. Holocaust survivor. Viktor Frankl, wrote, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” Consider that life is not something that happens TO you but that it’s a dance – what shows up in the moment, and what you do with what shows up. In other words, you are creating your experience of life through what you choose in that “space” Frankl referred to. Decide that you are going to fully participate in your life. What that could mean is:

1. Be tuned into and attentive to what is happening in the present moment, and simply respond as the situation requires or as you are led.

2. Take an action in the present moment that supports or is an expression of the intentions you have about the life you want to live.

3. Consider every moment an opportunity to choose happiness, well-being, and freedom.

4. When a moment comes when you become aware that you have not been doing the above, consider even that moment a gift of awareness.

5. Sometimes participating in your life is an opportunity to care for yourself, or to allow others to care for you – to receive the encouragement, support, love, compassion, kindness, generosity, and understanding of others.

You don’t have to wait for all the conditions and circumstances in your life to line up in such a way in order for you to know happiness, well-being, and freedom. Think of it not as something “that happens” but as something you choose.

Know thyself.

The Ancient Greek aphorism says, “Know thyself.” But it is very difficult for us to identify our fundamental essence or identity. Perhaps you have to back into knowing yourself through a process of elimination:

I have a body, but I am not my body.

I have possessions, but I am not my possessions.

I have roles in life, but I am not my roles.

I have a mind, but I am not my mind.

I have thoughts and feelings, but I am not my thoughts and feelings.

If you go far enough with this it seems you eventually get to… well, nothing! When you’re there, you are really close to identifying what you really are. It feels like “nothing” because your mind can’t comprehend it. But just because your mind can’t comprehend it doesn’t mean it’s “nothing.” It’s just something that your mind can’t fully comprehend.

Checking In

I appreciate all of you who subscribe to my blog, leave comments and contact me on the side. I wanted to pass along to you a couple other places where you can find me online.

Especially as it relates to my first three books, you can explore more about them on my Goodreads Author Page.

My personal Facebook Page maxed out in terms of friends, and so I started another Facebook Page where I am doing a lot of posting and sharing.

My publisher sent me a couple cases of Divine Nobodies, and Wide Open Spaces. For the month of May, if you make a $50 PayPal contribution to my spiritual crisis counseling work I will send you a signed copy of each book. Also, as a reminder, there is a Kindle version of Being Jesus in Nashville.

This summer I will be finishing the fourth book, Notes from (Over) the Edge. I’ll keep you posted.

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“The miracle of Jesus was his humanity. It takes guts to be human the way Jesus was.” – Jim Palmer

 

Joy, peace, and freedom are not about pursuing pleasure and shunning pain.

“One person walks out their front door, and notices a brilliant morning sky. They stop for a moment, take it all in and feel joy. The next-door neighbor, preoccupied with the day ahead, sees the same sky as he walks out the door but it has no or little effect. Same sky, different experience.

One person has a vacation planned at the ocean, and the day of their departure their flight is delayed for several hours because of a weather situation in the city where they are making a connection. They are disappointed, frustrated and stressed and the entire day is a nightmare. Another vacationing passenger on the same flight rolls with the punches and gets started on a new book that brought with them to read while on vacation. Same dilemma; different experience.

Consider that in your moments of pleasure or pain you will inevitably find that it is not in the thing itself that is pleasant or painful, but the situation of which it is a part, namely the relationship between the person and the thing of pleasure or pain. And the essence of it is acceptance. If it is acceptable, it is pleasant. If it is not acceptable, it is painful. Acceptance is the decisive factor. When it comes to difficulty or hardship, not denial of pain, or shrinking back from pain, or hiding pain, or theologizing or spiritualizing pain, but acceptance, which will look different in every situation.

Joy, peace, and freedom are not about pursuing pleasure and shunning pain. Accept both as they come, enjoy both while they last, let them go as they must. Even in hardship, acceptance of pain, non-resistance, courage and endurance – these open deep and abiding source of real happiness and true joy.”

- Jim Palmer, Notes from (Over) the Edge