Stress, Spiritual Crises, and Spiritual Opportunities

According to research, work is the biggest stressor in most people's lives. It only makes sense that it would be as that is the place we spend the majority of our time. BIG stressors in life include death, divorce, finances, illness.


However, I think it is the little things in life that probably eat at us and wear away at us in a big way. A child's cold, a teenager out way-past curfew, the dirty dishes in the sink, the neighbor's dog endless barking, your dog's endless barking, being late for work and stuck at a train crossing, a parent's call that you never call any more, family differences over finances, your significant other and you at odds or out-right fighting (probably because of the STRESS in both of your lives).

The experts tell us that stress is a normal part of life and some of it is even good for us. It keeps us on our toes whether you are preparing for a job interview, managing your family and work life, or training for a marathon.

Reviewing Carolyn Myss' notes from ANATOMY OF THE SPIRIT, I read, "All human stress corresponds to a spiritual crisis and therefore is an opportunity for spiritual learning."

[Read that one again....]

Knowing this, believing this, one should never again lead a normal life. If you believe that the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being, Genesis 2:7, and that he was created in God's image, Genesis 1:27, then, you and me have something divine in us that needs to be honored.

Quite a consideration: a potentially divine person having a spiritual crisis.
Considering this, maybe we've been trying to deal with stress in all the wrong ways.
Something to think about....