{"id":318,"date":"2011-09-07T19:35:55","date_gmt":"2011-09-08T03:35:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/?p=318"},"modified":"2011-09-07T19:35:55","modified_gmt":"2011-09-08T03:35:55","slug":"optimal-effort-32","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/?p=318","title":{"rendered":"Optimal Effort: 32%"},"content":{"rendered":"

The other day a friend wrote on an email, \u201cWhen we open our hearts, God opens our minds!\u201d This got me thinking\u2014okay, so,  if<\/strong><\/em> this were true, how would it work? First, let\u2019s imagine, just for fun, that there are angels and that they manage meaningful coincidences, known as  \u201csynchronicities.\u201d I use this \u201cbig if\u201d to explore the question: What is the optimal effort that we must make in order to get the most from Divine Grace? And what occurred to me is that either too much passivity or too much effort to make personal desires happen the way the ego wants them to just doesn\u2019t generate the optimal energy exchange. Of course this is extremely speculative, but it isn\u2019t too far out as an intuition.  I\u2019ve checked it out with several people who seemed to flow with the Tao\u2014though they wouldn\u2019t call it that. Some are good Christian souls who live into their faith; others more New Age. <\/p>\n

The point is that there is a \u201cjust right-ness\u201d for the degree to which folks need to  \u201cstep up to the plate.\u201d Some fall short: they don\u2019t engage fully, sincerely. Their laziness, passivity, dependency (expecting God to do it all), half-heartedness, etc. leads them to do, oh, between 2 – 20% of what must be done. The angels or spiritual source can\u2019t \u201creach\u201d them\u2014they aren\u2019t themselves really reaching out in the right way. <\/p>\n

In the other direction, there are those who try to micromanage what happens\u2014they try too hard, get over-controlling, specify or try to make happen over 40% of what needs to happen. Their \u201cego\u201d gets in the way. That\u2019s the meaning of the phrase \u201cdon\u2019t push the river.\u201d <\/p>\n

The optimal energy exchange operates when people make an effort regarding their needs at about the 28 – 35% range. Make a moderate, sincere, intelligent effort and then allow a spirit of faith-filled surrender, let go. When it\u2019s supposed to work, the angels help, things open up with strange but meaningful coincidences\u2014the aforementioned synchronicities. Sometimes it doesn\u2019t work. The idea of letting to isn\u2019t meant as a manipulation. If it doesn\u2019t work, it\u2019s time to open to the possibility that whatever you were planning may not be ripe at that time—or perhaps never. <\/p>\n

So, the old saying, \u201cLet go and let God\u201d saying begins to make sense at the upper limit, while at the lower limit of this range, the other line, \u201cGod helps those who help themselves\u201d is more applicable. <\/p>\n

If you think about, though, this ratio where the \u201chelpee\u201d (i.e., the person being helped, child, student, camper, client, patient, etc.) really does a third of the work also applies to many real human relationships in which helping occurs\u2014with parents, teachers, therapists, friends. If you really open to it, helpers really try, put some energy into it, and often know more about what\u2019s needed than you do, so it tends to click. But there are helpees who are slackers and others who are over-controlling, and the helping just doesn\u2019t click. I don\u2019t know, but it seems that this theory of Grace resonates with a mature understanding of what goes on in ordinary life, if folks could really see it. <\/p>\n

The implications are clear: Do all you can, don\u2019t expect it to be done for you\u2014AND\u2014be open to and subtly ask for help. Matthew 7:7: \u201cSeek, and ye shall find; knock, and the door shall be opened to you\u201d is consonant with this general idea. But you need to do your part, you need to knock, sometimes persistently. There are many subtleties here, no short cuts, and some mysterious elements. <\/p>\n

Here\u2019s another fantasy. In a couple of centuries, this activity of working with the \u201chigher powers\u201d becomes standard in many ways, from physical to social healing. Some day most people will get this willingness to live into faith with humility and courage balanced. And kids will pick it up the way they pick up reading and writing: The more they see grownups enjoying it and get the sense that everyone can learn it, the more they open up to wanting to learn this balancing skill. In other words, seeing it demonstrated and feeling the love-faith from people they love\u2014\u201cthis is the way it’s learned," many kids will naturally pick up skills that to us now seem like near magic\u2014the knack of letting go, healing, and letting be in the service of inspiration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other day a friend wrote on an email, \u201cWhen we open our hearts, God opens our minds!\u201d This got me thinking\u2014okay, so,  if this were true, how would it work? First, let\u2019s imagine, just for fun, that there are angels and that they manage meaningful coincidences, known as  \u201csynchronicities.\u201d I use this \u201cbig if\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-318","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-psychotherapy","category-spirituality-and-philosophy","category-wisdom-ing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=318"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=318"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=318"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blatner.com\/adam\/blog\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=318"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}