Unity of Birmingham Spiritual Writer's Club Series:
By Jacob Gross
When I first found unity, I was on the rocks. I was told about the church by a friend in recovery, and I went for my first service before I left for my second rehab. When I came back, I got immersed, but something wasn’t clicking. I could believe phrases like “I am the light of God” or “God is within me,” but it wasn’t sinking into my heart.
In part, my substance abuse was my attempt to cope with mental illnesses, while the church I was raised in swept it under the rug. Bi-polar was almost a dirty word. I had never been taught spirituality in a way that celebrated the Spirit within and offered immense healing. It was a challenging year from there, but... Unity is re-molding the way I look at my diagnosis and offering hope for my life!
So, for my first article for Unity of Birmingham's Spiritual Writer's Club, I wanted to affirm anyone else who may be struggling...“the Kingdom of Heaven is within you.”
Often, when going through a mental health crisis, heaven can be hard to find within. Or if you're like me and prone to mania, I can believe I’m in heaven when I'm in hell. However, that doesn’t make the statement any more or less true. Often, with mental illness, I can get so lost in focusing on the negative that the truth doesn’t resonate. I’ve found persistence is key in turning my doubts into positive results, primarily through denial and affirmation. In “Positive Prayer,” Hypatia Hasbrouck writes about denying a negative appearance of a situation or perception once, while we do the affirmation multiple times. At some point in our journey, if we don't continuously deny (the external) and turn our attention towards the positive, it gives more power to the external world than it truly has.[1]
This was extremely difficult at first to implement for me. My brain was focused on the negative for so long that turning my prayer life only into a place of good seemed foreign to me.
...But, like any spiritual practice, it is a practice. One that has produced great results recently with my anxiety and attention.
With my meditative journey, I often face the darker side of myself. But I’m grateful for meditation because without it, I have no awareness of it, and it manifests into suffering, both for me and others. Also, in meditation (however elusive they may be), I’m getting glimmers into my personal doorway to the kingdom of heaven.
With these spiritual practices, I’m learning to reclaim my birthright of peace.
I’m also learning, experimentally, why the Greeks thought bi-polar to be a divine gift[2]. They knew it to be linked to immense creativity and intelligence, which the body could not handle during heightened states at that time. I have learned that through my own experience. My body and brain are vehicles for my own personal growth and transformation.
As I’ve been healing, I’ve been reconnecting with my art, music, and literature; I’ve also been experiencing a heaven within me through those avenues.
So, if you're struggling with mental health, you're not alone. Unity does not require any prerequisites for mental clarity and offers principles and practices designed to help you heal.
[1] Hypatia Hasbrouck , Hypatia. “Denial and Affirmation .” Positive Prayer , pp. 18–19.
[2] The Ancient Greek’s thought that bipolar was a divine gift https://ibpf.org/the-ancient-greeks-thought-bipolar-disorder-was-a-divine-gift
Jacob Gross is a 21-year old writer from Chelsea, Alabama who enjoys painting, playing music, and reading. He studied English for a year at Montevallo before switching majors to Social Work. Jacob fell in love with yoga and meditation, and his current work explores personal growth and transformation.
References
(Bipolar article)
(AdHD article)
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