By Dr. Alan Carden, D.Min.
We all came to this earth plane as infants. What we were taught, depending on the location of our upbringing, had much to do with our belief system. It could have been religious or non-religious. I was raised in a very religious evangelical setting. As I became older, I began to rethink the belief systems I was being taught to believe that were founded in biblical narratives. I attended a bible college and eventually a Baptist seminary obtaining two master’s degrees. I eventually chose to attend a non-Baptist seminary acquiring a Doctor of Ministry degree in counseling. Before my Doctor of Ministry degree, I made the decision to enter chaplaincy training in a hospital in the deep south of the United States. Much of my training was centered around patients who suffered from alcoholism, drug abuse and psychiatric issues.
Perhaps the most important issue that continues to guide my earth journey was delivered by one of my chaplaincy supervisors. This is what he shared, “when you are visiting with a hospital patient, you simply listen for the pain and when you hear it you go to it, not to fix it, but to walk alongside them.” The hopes for this “walk alongside journey” is to aid the patient to become aware of what those painful situations can teach them. It is an awakening process. I have experienced a lot of painful situations throughout my earthbound journey. I have discovered that working through those painful situations is very necessary. I tell my students that if you have yet to work through your own painful situations, when confronted with some one’s painful stuff, you will try to fix them rather than walking alongside them.
There is a biblical passage in the New Testament book of Matthew chapter twenty-three that speaks about the difference between exaltation and humility. It even comes with various examples of how exaltation is described and who is practicing the exaltation. The verse that I wish to point out is verse twelve. It reads, “If you exalt yourself, you will be humbled, but if you humble yourself, you will be exalted.” When I discovered those who were practicing exaltation were bent on control because of their place in society, I made the decision to choose humility over exaltation. Then I became aware of the role of exaltation. The exaltation one receives through humility is for the expressed purpose of lifting others up. It is not about controlling others but loving others. The need to control is built in the spirit of fear. The Source of creation has not given anyone the spirit of fear but of Love and Power and a Sound Mind. Power is not about controlling anyone or anything. Rather it is about awakening to the sound mind that is already within each human being to lift them up so they can do the same for others and when that is successful those “others” will begin lifting others up as well.
