Perspective!: Shifting into the Reality of Love

By Nancy Whitton

As I was walking down the road of life, if an obstacle appeared I would sometimes run right into it and wonder or question how life could be so cruel as to place a boulder in my path. I would loudly complain about the obstacle or pray to God to remove it. I dealt with life from the outside in. I wanted things to change on the outside so I could feel good on the inside. Ive come to understand that fear, anger, worry, regret, and hatred were feelings in me, and to change whats alive in me, I must go within. This is where my journey into wholeness began. I have learned some skillful ways to navigate around what I perceive as obstacles. Mostly I have learned to change the story that life is a series of obstacles. Instead of seeing life from a negative perspective filled with barriers to my peace and happiness, I choose to view life from a new perspective that allows me to see and know that life is lovingly supporting me every step of my way. What a joy it is to be in step with life!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jan 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781452589909

Nancy Whitton

Nancy Whitton has been an elementary and Montessori preschool teacher. As a Licensed Unity Teacher, she has been a Sunday and Wednesday night speaker at New Thought Unity Center in Cincinnati. Her life mission is to use her artistry, insight, and deep reverence for life to teach peace.

Book preview

Let’s Begin

I feel deep sadness; hardly any joy or happiness.

I feel like a waterfall is suspended, frozen in time,

behind my face, waiting for me to say yes to it’s flow.

I feel disconnected from God, me and others – all others!

This was my journal entry a few days before I noticed a corner of blackness in my left eye. If it doesn’t clear by the weekend, I’ll call the ophthalmologist, was my thought.

When the darkness neared my central vision, I got on the phone. The emergency visit to the eye doctor’s office confirmed I had a detached retina.

This seemed like the physical manifestation of the detachment I was feeling in my life. I was disconnected from myself and my loved ones. I was disconnected from enthusiasm, passion, peace, joy and purpose.

On Monday my eye was repaired.

As I was pulled by some invisible force through the days and weeks of my healing, fear arose in mighty splendor. Yes, I was afraid about what might happen to my eyesight. But other fears from my past and about the future, both big and small, propelled themselves into the present moment. It was as if they were all clamoring to be dealt with compassionately and openly. I made the decision to do just that.

To my relief and delight I found that the light of wisdom and love were always present to help me see my way through the darkness. The light was there to guide me through my next step which generally took me to greater peace.

These are stories of personal transformation. I wrote them to remind myself of wisdom revealed, lessons learned. I wrote them to remember how to move through my fears and return to love and a sense of wholeness and joy.

It’s important to know that we can discover helpful insights and manageable, amazing solutions to our challenges. We can discover and use beautiful practices to comfort and support ourselves through our pain and to enliven us to our natural joy and the wonder of life and living.

Gratefully and with true humility I open my heart and extend my hand to you. Let’s walk this healing path and take the journey into wholeness together.

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Grace upholds me as I move through my fears and challenges.

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Longing

I went out to garden this hot summer evening. Well, it’s not officially summer but the 90 plus degree weather makes it seem like mid July in the mid west. It’s the kind of weather where I am moist all over even before I get my garden gloves on. I feel healthy and energized. My garden is looking healthy and energized this season – the plants stand so tall and lush. It’s almost as if they are bragging about their beauty. I just smile.

I haven’t wanted to do much in the way of gardening the last several years. This season is different. With every weed I pull, with every seed or seedling I plant, I feel as if I am coming alive again. It’s a good feeling and I am curious about what this could mean.

While digging, I notice a storm brewing in the distance. The sky is dark to the north. My skin senses the temperature dropping degree by degree and I find myself beckoning to the clouds, Come this way, come over here and water my little piece of heaven! When the wind becomes fierce and the sky quite black, I reluctantly head for my house with a squeal of delight. The probability of rain is increasing with every hurried step.

Thunder, lightning and rain saturate the earth and my soul feels strangely refreshed. Sometimes, I wonder if I should just step out of the chaos of life and plant melons and tomatoes. There is an orderly pattern emerging here and I experience such comfort and safety within the confines of this little plot. All the while my heart is silently singing: There Is Only Love.

I wonder if the world would miss my song if I stayed solidly rooted in the fenced in area behind my house. I wonder if my heart could stand the isolation even in the midst of such exquisite beauty. I entreat nature to share her wisdom with me; to allow answers to reveal themselves as systematically and effortlessly as the moon appears to rise. I want to know.

Song by David Kisor: Bend Willow Bend

Bend Willow Bend by David Kisor

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Bend, willow bend

Till your branches touch the ground

Fly, snowbird fly

Till a warmer home is found

Turn, seasons turn, burn, wildfire burn

Take me with you as you go

There’s so much I don’t know

There’s

Reviews for Perspective!

[jd234512 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This book only makes me want his upcoming book on Paul as part of his Christian Origins series even more. Through his work here, we discover so much in Paul that is so rich and comprehensive because he opts to understand Paul and his message within the framework of his culture and the different areas, but also within the larger narrative that is the Bible. We find out that Paul was not as concerned with the idea of battling legalism as is generally thought, but rather in conveying that eschatology was actualized through Christ's work and we can no longer life the same in light of that. This is not to demonize or make light of Judaism, but to rather expand on it and allow room for a new life that is found in faith through Christ. Once again, Wright is able to convey a richer vision of Jesus' mission as well as Paul's in light of that and has enabled me to further appreciate the magnitude of this information. I am endlessly thankful to him for bringing this invigorated passion for understanding more in regards to Scripture than I ever have.

[tonymilner · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In this relatively brief volume Wright seeks to present a synthesis of his ideas about St Paul. After an introduction he goes on to arge that Paul's contribution was to rethink his Judaism in the light of his belief that Jesus was the Messiah. To do this Wright first sketches a worldview shared by Paul based on three related sets of pairs. The first is creation & covenant - the God who calls Israel is the Creator God, and for Paul, as for some strands of Judaism, the purpose of Israel's call and covenant was ultimately to bring everbody into God's kingdom. In the next chapter on Messaih and Apocalyptic Wright argues that, given the plan of creation and covenant have not gone to plan because of Sin, God needs to act in some way to restore things. This was a widespread Jewish belief, even if there was dispute over the modality of that intervention. For paul, of course, Jesus is that messiah (Wright argues against those who suggest that Paul mostly uses 'Christ' as a kind of surname for Jesus) and so God is intervening. The particular evidence of this is the gift of the spirit (hence there is at least an implicit trinitarian dimension to Paul's viusion). The third pair is Gospel and Empire. Although Paul famously urges obedience to wordly authorities, this does not represent an aproval of the idolatrous dimensions of Roman civic life, and Paul in various places shows that the only tru Lord is Jesus Christ., occasionaly with clear anti-imperial flourishes.In the secon half of the book Wright goes on to outline how thinking about God, God's people, and Eschatology are transformed in the light of Jesus and the spirit, thus providing an alternative and (Wright would argue) better framework for Pauline theology. I found the book engaging and interesting, though I found the frequent repetition of "I've dealt with that in greater detail elsewhere". The coloquial style betrays its origins as a series of lectures (at Cambridgw) which Wright deliberately retains. Wright in seversl places appeals to Colossians for support, which will undermine his case for some (though not me). Less useful was his occasional appeals to Ephesians and even Acts. Overall a good book if you want a sketch which you can read and digest in a day, but less helphull if yopu want the detail of the argument. For that you will have to, as Wright says, go to his other books

[erikssonfamily · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

"Paul: In Fresh Perspective" is a great supplement to Wright's earlier work, "What Saint Paul Really Said." Both books look at various aspects of Paul ministry and theology. "Paul: In Fresh Perspective" is broken into two parts. The first part looks at various themes that run through Paul and other second temple writers, the second part examines how these themes play out in Paul's own writing and thinking. I highly recommend this book for anyone who needs to look at the New Testament in a refreshing way. However, be aware of the controversy of "justification by faith." N.T. Wright discusses, but not in detail, his perspective on the issue. I personally do not understand the whole debate, but I am reading more on it.

[bsanner_3 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Historically, the Apostle Paul found himself at the crossroads of Greek, Roman, and Jewish perspectives. While his writings clearly interact with each of these traditions, Paul must be seen primarily as reworking historical Jewish theology (esp. creation, covenant, messiah, apocalyptic). Wright argues that Paul’s theology, ecclesiology, and eschatology are drawn directly from the Old Testament, but are redefined along Trinitarian lines (i.e. how the Messiah and the Spirit reshaped our understanding of each). What is more, Wright argues, all the while Paul must be seen as contrasting Jesus to the rampant paganism of Greco-Roman culture (e.g. emperor worship). While his conclusions have upset many, who claim that he has devalued Paul’s emphasis on salvation by faith, Wright’s scholarship remains solid throughout the book (although Wright will find little support from church history). In all, Wright offers an engaging read with much fodder for further thought and conversation. A