Walking The Path of A Minister, Healer, Teacher & Spiritual Leader

Lately I have been spending time reading and learning from other spiritual teachers around the internet. In general this has been a very interesting experience as I believe we never stop learning and we can discover much about ourselves and our world by opening our views and exploring other ideas and knowledge. But I also noticed that many ‘ministers’ feel the need to categorize people in to the do’ers vs. those who refuse to see.

I don’t understand the need to pass judgment over a group of people simply because they don’t fit into ‘our’ paradigm of what a spiritual person is or should be. Everyone is in the right place and time for their path. If you believe that, then how can you justify passing judgment on others? Perhaps the judgment needed is of your own thoughts, actions and reactions.

Now that perspective is itself a judgment. I’m not saying that making judgments of others is a bad thing. We do that everyday from judging the weather and deciding what cloths to wear, to judging a situation and determining how to proceed.

The judgment I’m talking about are those made that condemn others for their choices by individuals who claim to be spiritual leaders of their chosen belief system. A minister of any faith, be it a Pagan Priestess, a Metaphysical Minister or, in my view, anything in between or outside those paths, inspires and empowers.

Whither you agree with where a person is in their life or not, it’s not your place to say or judge or condemn their choices. As a minister of faith, your job is to empower, support and provide guidance WHEN ASKED. One of the best teachers I was privilege to know often said to me “A teacher doesn’t teach, until the student is ready to ask the question.” It took a little time for me to truly understand this concept as a student. With experience I realized that you can ‘preach’ to someone until your blue in the face, but if they are not ready to listen your energy and frustration is futile. When they’re ready to make changes in their life, they will ask for assistance. Until then showing them compassion and support is often all you can do. Of course I’m not talking about situations where a person is doing harm to themselves or others. Whither you follow the path of a healer, teacher or Spiritual Leader, you will not be able to learn lessons for others. You can’t make others listen to you when they’re not ready to hear. You can’t heal those who don’t want to be healed.

The biggest lesson of any minister is learning discernment. When do you try to help, and when does brutal honesty need to be provided. It’s not a fine line. There are plenty of wide gaps between the two. But in that discernment of what to say, there’s also the discernment of what to think. As your thoughts will come through your actions. It will show up in body language, facial expressions, reactions and even in the tone of your voice. If you’re trying to show compassion, but you’re thinking “how destructive and selfish this person is”, that thought will be felt. Remember thought is energy and what you put out, others will ‘see’ and you will receive in response.

As a perceived expert it’s important to keep in mind that you don’t know within 100% of certainty what a person’s spiritual lessons are, where they are on that path, or what karma they have to redeem or pay. And you don’t need to know. All you need to do is be ready to hold out a hand in compassion and love when someone comes to you for help. Be ready to offer a message that uplifts their soul and gives them the strength to face their fears and adversity. Empower them to seek their own path that’s right for them and at their own pace. Even if that path takes them away from you.

What Is A Spiritual Expert? – Part II  – A Title Is Earned. Not Taken.

© 2012 Springwolf, D.D., Ph.D. Springwolf Reflections / Spring’s Haven, LLC. All Rights Reserved.