11. What Is the Relationship Between Belief and Practice?
Sometimes belief leads to practice. Sometimes practice leads to belief. Either way works.
Some people need to understand something before they are willing to try it.
They ask questions.
They examine the reasoning.
They consider whether the teaching makes sense and whether it agrees with what they already know.
And when they become convinced that something is worth trying, they begin putting it into practice.
Other people learn differently.
They need to experience something before they can believe in it.
They may not understand every principle.
They may not agree with every explanation.
They may not even believe that what they are doing will make much of a difference.
But they try it.
And something changes.
Perhaps they begin treating themselves with more Kindness.
Perhaps they recognize a harmful pattern in a relationship.
Perhaps they establish a boundary and discover that they can survive someone else’s disappointment.
Or perhaps they begin noticing opportunities for Joy that they had previously overlooked.
That experience gives them a reason to continue.
And as they continue practicing, they begin developing confidence in what they are learning.
Belief can inspire practice. Practice can inspire belief.
Neither approach is superior.
And neither requires someone to surrender their judgment.
God Provides Both
Within Christian Essentialism, I believe God understands how people learn.
He knows what they need.
He knows what they have experienced.
And He knows what may help them begin living through the Lens.
Sometimes He provides instruction.
Someone encounters a teaching, considers it, and decides to follow it.
They begin practicing Empathy, Truth, Joy, Kindness, and Anti-Greed.
They observe what happens.
They make adjustments.
And through that experience, they may develop a deeper understanding of the principles they are practicing.
Other times, I believe God sends people to teach, guide, protect, or simply demonstrate what living through the Lens looks like.
People like myself.
I listen.
I answer questions.
I explain what I believe.
And I try to demonstrate the Lens through my everyday life.
Sometimes I do that well.
Sometimes I stumble and bumble my way through it.
I make mistakes.
I become frustrated.
I discover that something I believed needs correcting.
And then I work through the Lens to understand what happened and decide what to do next.
I do not present myself as someone who has perfected Essentialism.
I am practicing it.
And that is part of what I want people to see.
You do not have to become perfect before you begin.
You do not have to know every answer.
And you do not have to understand every aspect of the theology before you can experience something good.
You can begin where you are.
The Lord will meet you where you are.
Save Your Faith for God. Ask Me Questions.
This is something I tell people regularly.
“Save your faith for God. Ask me questions.”
I mean it.
I do not want people to believe something simply because I said it.
I do not want them to accept my explanations without considering whether those explanations make sense.
And I certainly do not want them to surrender their judgment to me.
Ask questions.
Challenge what I teach.
Consider whether my explanations agree with the principles I claim to practice.
And when something does not make sense, say so.
Truth is one of the five virtues of the Lens.
A teaching that depends upon people being afraid to ask questions would contradict that virtue.
Empathy also matters.
People approach new ideas with different experiences, concerns, and levels of understanding.
A question that seems obvious to one person may be difficult for another.
Someone may need more explanation.
Someone else may need time.
And another person may need to see a principle demonstrated before they can understand it.
That is all right.
Kindness means allowing people room to learn without humiliating them.
Joy means remembering that learning can be interesting, satisfying, and even fun.
And Anti-Greed means refusing to turn teaching into a means of acquiring unnecessary authority over another person.
A teacher should not need unquestioning obedience.
Nor should a teacher make someone permanently dependent upon their approval.
The purpose of teaching is to help people develop their own understanding.
Do not simply believe me. Prove it to yourself.
Because It Works
Now, here is something I find particularly interesting.
I have observed people who disagree with me—or whom I understand to have opposed me—using language and practices that resemble things I have taught.
Sometimes they present those ideas without acknowledging where they encountered them.
I cannot know every reason someone adopts an idea, and I do not need to.
What interests me is that people may find a principle useful even when they reject the person teaching it.
And that is entirely consistent with Essentialism.
The Lens does not belong to me.
It does not belong to a church.
It does not belong to the Shaman States of America.
And it does not require someone to accept Christian theology before they can benefit from practicing it.
People can discover the value of Empathy without agreeing with my understanding of God.
They can practice Truth without adopting my religious beliefs.
They can experience Joy, offer Kindness, and reject Greed without identifying themselves as Essentialists.
The benefits are not reserved for people who approve of the teacher.
And that brings me to something I have been trying to explain throughout this catechism.
When people discover something that genuinely improves their lives, they often want to continue doing it.
Not because someone has ordered them to.
Not because they are afraid of punishment.
And not because they need to prove their loyalty.
They continue because they recognize the benefit.
They want more peace.
They want healthier relationships.
They want to understand themselves.
They want to experience Joy.
And as they practice, they may discover additional ways to apply what they have learned.
That creates a cycle.
Belief encourages practice.
Practice creates experience.
Experience deepens understanding.
And understanding encourages further practice.
Or the cycle may begin with action.
Someone tries something.
They notice a difference.
They begin to believe that the principle has value.
And they want to explore it further.
Either way, the motivation develops through experience.
Essentialism does not demand devotion. It cultivates the desire to continue through the goodness people discover for themselves.
And yes, I am enthusiastic about this.
Because I know how good this life can be.
I have experienced the difference.
I have seen what happens when I examine my choices through the Lens.
I have experienced the relief of recognizing that I do not have to keep punishing myself for every mistake.
And I have discovered that a life does not have to be grand to be good.
Sometimes the improvement is quiet.
Sometimes it is an ordinary afternoon without unnecessary suffering.
Sometimes it is the ability to enjoy something without worrying about whether someone else approves.
And sometimes it is recognizing that I can make a mistake, correct it, and continue living.
Those experiences matter to me.
They are why I continue practicing.
And they are why I want other people to have the opportunity to discover what works for them.
The Order Is Not My Responsibility
There is another distinction I want to make.
When I teach Essentialism, I am not responsible for deciding which experience someone needs first.
That is not my lane.
Within Christian Essentialism, I believe God knows what each person needs.
For one person, the beginning may be learning to treat themselves with Kindness.
For another, it may be recognizing a painful Truth.
Someone else may begin by experiencing Joy.
And another person may first need to recognize how Greed has affected their relationships.
I do not have to decide which lesson comes first.
I do not have to manufacture an experience.
And I do not have to control the order in which someone develops understanding.
My responsibility is to teach, listen, answer questions, and demonstrate the Lens as well as I can.
I can offer assistance.
I can explain what I have learned.
I can acknowledge my mistakes.
And I can encourage people to examine their own experiences.
But I cannot make their choices for them.
Nor should I.
Consent and free will remain essential.
A person may try one practice and decide that it is not helpful.
They may disagree with my interpretation.
They may need more information.
Or they may discover something valuable that I had not considered.
That is part of learning.
The purpose is not to make everyone arrive at the same conclusion through the same experience.
It is to make room for people to examine their lives through the Lens and decide what they will do with what they discover.
Belief and Practice Strengthen One Another
This is why Essentialism includes both teaching and practice.
Belief can give someone the confidence to begin.
Practice can give someone a reason to believe.
And when the two begin working together, they can reinforce one another.
Someone who believes Kindness matters may begin treating themselves more gently.
As they experience the benefits of that change, their confidence in Kindness may grow.
Someone who practices Truth may discover that acknowledging a painful reality allows them to make better decisions.
That experience may deepen their commitment to honesty.
Someone who begins recognizing opportunities for Joy may become more interested in protecting those opportunities for others.
And someone who practices Anti-Greed may discover that they do not need as much status, control, or approval as they once believed.
Each experience can create an opportunity for further understanding.
But the process remains voluntary.
No one has to become an Essentialist to deserve Love.
No one has to agree with my theology to practice the Lens.
And no one has to accept my authority to discover whether these principles improve their life.
Within Christian Essentialism, I believe God provides both instruction and experience because He loves humanity and wants people to have the opportunity to flourish.
My responsibility is to make what I have learned available.
Your responsibility is to decide what you will do with it.
And the order in which understanding and experience arrive?
That is not my lane.
So ask questions.
Try what makes sense to you.
Examine the results.
Make corrections when necessary.
And decide for yourself whether you want to continue.
Save your faith for God. Ask me questions.
Because you do not have to take my word for how good this life can be.
You can discover it for yourself.
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