Transformation through Testaments

Doing so has changed me.

Diving into Scripture thousands of years old has nourished my soul anew.

Here’s how to worry:

• Focus on everything outside of our control

• Rehearse worst-case scenarios repeatedly

• Consistently express how bad events will be

• Absolutely do not exercise

• Certainly do not connect with others

• Definitely do not pray nor meditate

• Breathe shallow breaths rapidly

• Concentrate on ourselves only

• Talk about “I, me, & my” as much as possible

• Ruminate on stressful situations until negative fantasies cause bitterness, frustration, and resentment

Here’s how to relax:

• Pay attention to and control the controllables

• Allow clouds of negative thought to pass

• Practice honest, uplifting self-talk

• Take action and move to change our moods

• Reach out to and talk with loved ones

• Pray and give thanks to God

• Hypoventilate, breathe with longer exhales

• Care for, help, and serve others

• Connect with a like-minded community

• Write down anxiety-provoking feelings and emotions rather than bottling them up; journal responses to the question: “What’s the plan?”

Our brains hate uncertainty. Mixed with complexity, ambiguity triggers doubt. Hesitation gives way to incertitude, indecision, and eventual panic. Like a tourniquet during a bloody emergency, a plan transforms brooding into understanding. Who overcomes worry? Assured with clarity and confidence via preparation, a man or a woman with a plan can.

Plan: “a formulated method, scheme, or set of actions designed in advance to achieve a specific goal or future outcome.”

Here’s the best plan ever written: the Bible.

365 days ago, I had a vague grasp of Judeo-Christian ethics. I figured Jesus Christ had died for my sins and resurrected three days later as the ultimate archetype and legend of redemption; however, I did not consider the characters who and circumstances that existed before Him. I did not consider critical anecdotes throughout the Old Testament, which teach invaluable lessons about God’s anger and grace, enormous evils and landmark leaders, as well as never-changing narratives of nobility and paragons of hope. I did not consider the preludes to, adversaries against, and martyrs for Christ to the extent I do now.

My ignorance was not bliss; it was a miss. My insight at this moment, since reading every chapter of The Word, makes me want to master my own motivations, chosen crafts, and God-given talents.

“Be a blessing and you will be blessed.”

—

There are four stages of learning anything, from the Bible to our crafts here on Earth:

1. Ignorance: unconsciously incompetent, we do not know how to do something and we do not yet know that we do not know

2. Awareness: consciously incompetent, we become cognizant and informed of something; however, we do not know how to do it ourselves yet

3. Change: consciously competent, we evolve at accomplishing something yet it takes deliberate intention and thought to do it

4. Mastery: unconsciously competent, we accomplish something ourselves on a repeated basis without thorough thought

* To master is to know that we know *

Nobody becomes a master without being a jester first.

Are we willing to be bad at something before we are average at something and then good at something before eventually great, excellent, and masterful?

That willingness could also be called courage. Courage involves risk, high probability of failure, and intentional exploration into the unknown. It’s initiated by faith, sustained through tenacity, and realized after-the-fact. Similar to a muscle, courage grows over time through frequent failure (FAIL: First Attempt In Learning). Like a skill, we get better at courage via awareness, consistent debrief, and reiteration. What did we do well and what could we do better next time? Akin to any adventure, courage is necessary at the beginning and strengthens through progress. We are all called to the adventure of our own authentic lives — that call is from God — and we answer it with courage.

A year ago, I opened the Bible courageously as a beginner. I saw myself in many of the personalities described throughout it. I found myself questioning, “Would I have done the same thing?” I wrestled with my own life’s story as I read about individuals who gave into temptations, human beings who cried out for help, and people who remained faithful regardless of hardships. The Bible pulled almost every possible emotion out of me. It made my head tilt often, my heart sink at times, and my mind wander constantly.

The most remarkable aspects of the Bible, outside of reading the passion-death-and-resurrection of Christ, are the patterns of various identities.

• What are the ethical, optimal, or right ways to live?

• Which habits lead to demise and destruction versus creation and restoration?

• Who embodies evil and who are the consummate role models?

For example, we ought to aim to be more like Abel and less like Cain. We have to follow the fruits of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and to avoid the moral failures of King David, Jacob, and Peter if we wish to attain peace. We should show others the compassionate forgiveness seen in Joseph, the loyalty incarnated by Ruth, the integrity of Daniel and the unwavering faith of Job. Every person we look up to or look down upon on Earth is similar to a character in the Bible. Everything that happens to and for us on Earth already happened analogously in the Bible. Each of us, including our greatest qualities and insecurities, lives within the stories of Scripture.

We have thousands of thoughts per day. Roughly 95% of thoughts we have today are ones we had yesterday. Thoughts, when charged with emotion through repetition and personal experience, become beliefs. Beliefs become behaviors. When those behaviors are repeatedly rehearsed, a deep knowing kindles within us. That knowing transforms who we are now into who we could be. Possibility, through courageous and consistent action, manifests in our physical reality.

The Bible provides the doorway to our fullest potential — by entering it, we self-discover.

Now that I finished reading the canon cover-to-cover, there’s only one thing I must do: begin again.

To realize our best, the best plan must be executed every day.

— MG