Midweek Faith Lift
March 19, 2025
The Power of Will and Commitment
Rev. Deb Hill-Davis
Spiritual Passages
February 17, 2025
Now that they were retired, a long time married couple was discussing aspects of their future. “What will you do if I die before you do?” The husband asks the wife. After some thought, she said that she’d probably look for a house-sharing situation with three other single or widowed women who might be a little younger than herself since she is quite active for her age. Then the wife turned to her husband and asked, “What will you do if I die first?” He replied, “Probably the same thing.”
After many years of struggling to play the accordion, a man decides it's time to let it go. He parks his car on a busy street and leaves the instrument in plain view on the back seat with the doors unlocked. As he walks off to do some shopping he envisions someone opening the door and taking off with it. When he returns a few hours later, he sees his window smashed and a second accordion in the back seat.
Affirmative Prayer for today: Infinite Spirit, as we explore what it means to free our will, we lift our consciousness to the understanding of spiritual will, choice and the energy of commitment. What do we hold to and what do we let go? Show the way, God show the way….Amen.
And so we laugh at the two stories that reflect the energy of choice and commitment that are part of the spiritual power of Will. Last week, when we considered the power of choice, we noted that it was a two-step process that involved the awareness of infinite possibilities and the capacity to select one. We also learned that much of the energy of our free will is to actually free our will from impulses and reactions and fear so that we are empowered to make a choice that is in alignment with our highest and best good, our higher, Christ-self. And that is not easy…..it requires us to tune out the distractions and listen within. Airplane mode is much easier on my phone than in my head!
It is clear from our opening stories that making choices and then staying the course are part of our divine/human journey that is confoundingly complicated and frustrating, right!? The couple, who have been together for many years, have remained faithful to their commitment while realizing that it clearly meant passing up relationship options that might have seemed more desirable. He is certainly willing to explore that once his wife is gone! When we choose a mate, we make a commitment that we honor for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer until death us do part. And about 48 % of Americans do not stay the course….kind of like the guy with the accordion. So what’s with this commitment dance anyway?
We are all in a process of being and becoming, no matter our age, material wealth or overall health and well-being, we are in process. We open to grace to allow the energy of Spirit that is commitment to grow and change us at depth so that we are the best possible version of ourselves that we can be. Commitment, long-term commitment means that you stay the course, even when the course is challenging and frustrating and not what you really thought it would be. When I worked in the schools in Des Moines, I observed a lot of teachers in my 30 years as a school psychologist. There were many incredibly gifted and flexible, creative teachers with lots of experience and it was a joy to watch them work with kids.
Then there were the teachers who had one year’s experience 30 times. Nothing had changed for them and they had not allowed the kids to change them. They were the least happy for sure and the most likely to really complain about the kids, the job, the principal and so on. The power of will that is commitment, spiritual commitment, brings us joy, not resignation and resentment. That is the power of will that we aspire to in this Divine human dance that is our spiritual growth. I love this Native American proverb that describes this process: “Between who you once were and who you are now becoming, is where the dance of life really takes place.” – Native American Proverb
The Power of Will and the aspects of choice and commitment are so right on for a day that is Membership Sunday, here at Unity of Ames. As we welcome these new members, we also renew our own commitment to the path of spiritual growth and our Unity of Ames spiritual community. Clearly, our newest members have made the choice that Unity of Ames is their spiritual home. What keeps them here is as individual as each one of them and each one of us. I do believe it is the energy of commitment, a desire for spiritual growth and dedication to exploring what it is that enhances that growth that keeps folks coming back.
It is not a completely smooth and easy path, because despite our high aspirations and best intentions here at Unity of Ames, we are a community of well, people, very human people for sure, with all that entails!! Over the years there have been many who have come and stayed, finding a true connection and spiritual energy here that really matters and means something to them. And then there are some folks for whom Unity is an accordion, and it just does not resonate. That is fine! True commitment that brings joy and staying power comes from an energy that resonates with your heart, it sings in your soul even as you might wish that it did not!
What is true is that once we make that commitment to our spiritual growth, then the path becomes clearer as our focus becomes sharper. We begin to understand what truly works for us and what does not. We don’t waste energy that regrets our choice, we embrace the clarity commitment brings. What true commitment does is ground us in the present moment and allows us to be with what is. Rev. Linda says it this way on p. 68 in Divine Audacity:
We commit to the path itself, rather than to a future point of completion of the goal. Commitment erases the past and places our attention on each footfall on the path, here and now.
Please note that she does not describe this as a fixed and rigid course from which we never stray. There are times, for sure, that we will stray and those times also have something to teach us. They may show us what is our accordion! They may also reveal what brings us joy!
From Hinduism and the Bhagavad Gita we read:
"Perform all thy actions with mind concentrated on the Divine, renouncing attachment and looking upon success and failure with an equal eye. Spirituality implies equanimity."
That is a powerful statement for sure about commitment. It is not easy to look at our success and failure with an equal eye, is it? We want to spend time berating ourselves for failure and also at times overselling our success. I for sure have done both of those….without equanimity! While we applaud the commitment of our long-married couple, what is more telling is to honor the growth and change that they have supported in each other. The path of the relationship and the mutual love and respect that are evident in the marriage bring the true joy and delight that we can see and celebrate.
When we fall short, we are learning and growing. When we fall short, we pause and notice what happened and how we showed up. There are for sure things to release if we are to truly free our will to its highest expression. When we find ourselves trying to play the accordion and it just doesn’t sound right or work for us, we take the sour notes not as a failure but as a sign that we need to let it go. That is also the power of choice, of freeing our will. We lift our consciousness to that which is greater than we are and we begin again, continuing to bless, celebrate and embrace our power of will to do so. And we do this again and again and again, as long as we are alive!
It is with our mind concentrated on the Divine, letting go of attachment to outcomes, heart and energy fully present to whatever is before us right here and now, that we fully embrace the power of Will that is commitment. There is a Scripture that speaks to this constant connection to our true Divine nature and reminds us that God never abandons us. It is in John 15:1-4
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. (NRSV)
When we lift our will to God consciousness, then it becomes clear what we need to release and what our path truly is that will bear fruit. When we keep our energy and focus on what is the highest and best good for us individually and for all, then our commitment is clear and we can keep it with joy and delight even when we don’t!
Blessings on the Path,
Rev. Deb