As promised, I wanted to follow up the previous post with a brief description of the book, Manifesting Michelangelo, which I read about 8 months ago and reread last weekend. It is written by Joseph Pierce Farrell who is an energy healer. He is unique though because he works closely with Western medical providers to foster “integrative healthcare” that includes mind, body, and spirit. He founded Global Health Institute which is a “medical education and research foundation that is composed of a cross-disciplinary group of healthcare professionals.”
The book, though, isn’t about his current work so much as it is about how he got to where he is. I reread it because I recalled that in the last few chapters of the book, he gives advice about finding and following your calling. Here is what he had to say about “callings” :
Our true nature, the sacred inheritance I have talked about throughout this book, is what we need to bring forth so that we can identify with it and I’ve lives that are aligned with who we are on the deepest level. By doing that, we not only make ourselves happier and more fulfilled but also spread that happiness to everyone around us… The second reason…is, of course, to repair the world, or what is called in the Jewish tradition tikkun olam.
Last weekend, I updated you on my current in feelings about my calling. In short, I feel some discontentment with what I am currently doing with my time and energy and I am keeping the faith that my true (or perhaps, next) calling will blossom in time. So I was curious. What did Farrell say about the steps he took to find, or to maintain, his connection with his “true nature?” (Granted, he had something of a Saul moment where an inexplicable light overtook his every faculty and he was swept into a trancelike state before reemerging with new understanding, enlightenment and healing ability. Does anybody else out there ever wish something like that would happen to them?? *hundreds of hands raise* heehee.)
But no matter what the vehicle, Farrell emphasizes that:
Many of the world’s spiritual traditions teach that each of us possesses a divine gift inside, a gift that we were born with. This gift takes many forms, and our task is to locate and identify our inner passions and dreams, because when we do that we will discover what we’re supposed to be doing in life.
In the final chapters of his book, Farrell offers 5 steps for finding your life’s purpose and changing the world by just being what your soul longs to be. As I list and describe them, I challenge you to think about which steps you have taken, which ones have you yet to take, and which ones maybe need a tune up.
Step 1 is Look. By this he means:
Be alert to whatever messages come to give you a clue from your soul to your true calling. The clue may arrive at any time and in the most unlikely place: sitting on a bus, walking or driving to work, watching television, taking a shower, or sitting on the john in the morning.
Step 2 is Decide. Farrell encourage us to listen to “deep within” to decide the steps to take toward our calling. Once you have decided to step toward your dream–possibly leaving a more comfortable path–people and events will come into your path to encourage you along.
So one you start paying attention to your subconscious or strong emotional responses to people and events, what do you do? First, see if these messages connect back to some with or desire for change that you discovered while working on Step One. After you look…you will probably identify one or more areas for possible change, either in yourself or in the larger world.
I love the next step. Step 3 is Connect, which as you know is a concept so near and dear to the hearts of our authors. Farrell’s sense of connection here refers to connecting with a higher power, or what he calls Source. Farrell does this through meditation, qigong, and other practices. It is in these moments of connection that Farrell encounters the unconditional love and compassion that he then transmits to his patients through his thoughts, hands, and intentions. For me, this connection to God is where I find the clarity of thought, the insight, and the wisdom to understand and accept where I am while believing that the future is unwritten and full of promise.
The most important thing to keep in mind is this: that the journey to connect to Source is not an intellectual pursuit. You don’t connect through your intellect. … One way to begin opening the heart center is by sending out feelings of gratitude for all that you have received. … So you allow your heart to swell until it expands to the ineffable presence of the Divine, and in that moment you are connected to the Divine. …At that point, I am no longer doing anything. …I become a conduit and surrender to a higher power. … Once you acknowledge the force and begin to play with it, you can master it and use it for many things. One of those uses, of course, could be healing individuals of physical ailments. but you can use the same force for healing social ils or the pody politic, changing where you live or the kind of work you do.
Step 4 is Act. Someone reminded me recently that sometimes when we have come a long way in our growth, the universe allows a big challenge to be put in our path in order to get us up to the next level of growth. I can sense that my next “act” is beginning to peck its way out of its little egg. Farrell says that taking action is crucial not only for personal fulfillment but also, and more importantly, to repair the world we live in.
We have all been given gifts. What we decide to do with those gifts is our gift to God, but how we act on them is our gift to humanity. We all have a choice to stand by and watch or to be among the noble spirits who manifest change on this planet for their larger family.
Finally, Step 5 is Manifest. This step has to do with the “wakes we leave behind” that reach into the lives of others that we may never meet.
What we need to understand is that we all have that same potential to create wakes that can smooth the way for others and leave lasting benefits. Sometimes those others may consist of our families, our local communities, our colleagues at work, or maybe just one other person — a spouse or partner, a parent or child, a friend in need. But as we manifest our change, the wakes we leave behind spread out just as a boat’s wake does on the surface of the water. We start out by changing our lives and the lives of loved ones, and then they change someone’s life, and the effect ripples outward until many more people are affected by what we have manifested.
Revisiting these ideas even as I now write has reinvigorated me and reassured me that, just like each of you, I am right where I need to be. That’s why I love the blurb that I included at the top. It reminds me to be grateful to be me. I hope that this has given you some food for thought. And I hope you will join me in taking steps toward meeting and walking in our highest calling.
