Surrender:An Act of Love

Defining Surrender

The Free on-line dictionary defines surrender as follows:

v. sur·ren·dered, sur·ren·der·ing, sur·ren·ders

v.tr.

1. To relinquish possession or control of to another because of demand or compulsion.

2. To give up in favor of another.

3. To give up or give back (something that has been granted): surrender a contractual right.

4. To give up or abandon: surrender all hope.

5. To give over or resign (oneself) to something, as to an emotion: surrendered himself to grief.

6. Law To restore (an estate, for example), especially to give up (a lease) before expiration of the term.

I want to look at surrender from the perspective of a process that takes place within ourselves. At any given point in time, I see myself as functioning out of a state of Love and wholeness or fear and lack. I consider the first to be my higher authentic(spiritual) nature and the second to be the base (carnal/natural) ego nature.

My authentic nature is lorded over by Love and this is an easy leading-not tyrannical. It's based on my own desire to live freely and truthfully, in peace and in joy. Conversely, the ego centre is driven by Fear, always concerned with preserving the sensory self, led by the desire for security and manipulated by physical conditions.

All of our human life will be plagued by this conflict unless a commitment is made to, and an understanding attained of how to operate from, this higher place of Love.

So when I speak of Surrender, I refer to the soul surrendering to Love instead of fear.

Bringing Life to Bear

I personally have given birth five times. I loved it and actually wouldn't mind doing it some more. I think I embraced the process of birth because I believed, and still do, that I was purposely designed to give birth and that some part of me knew instinctively what to do even if no conscious part did.

I was so convinced of this, that it belayed fears and settled any issues of concern without my having to understand anything logically. I had wonderful birth experiences-very swift, no stitches, no epidurals, and I had clarity to enjoy my baby afterward.

I came to see that this process as a clever metaphor for creating ALL kinds of life, whether internally in my being or externally in my world. Now, I don't think I even see it as a metaphor because I surrender to a deeper part of me, trusting that it knows how to bring forth that which is needed just as my body knew how to bring forth a healthy baby.

In recent months, I've even gone as far as not needing to understand all the reasons why I've felt afraid or unsure or confused...I replaced all other "workings out" with this simple act of "surrender and breathe, believing..." in that intuitive part of myself that is Love.

Perfect Love

The bible says "perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment" ( I John 4:18) and today, I think I've understood this truth in a way I've never seen before and in a way I honestly NEVER conceived or expected to see. It was such a sweet surprise! And yet so typical of the paradox of life in the spirit.

In believing in the righteousness the bible says God gives ( aligning myself to God-Rom 1:16), I started to trust that whatever I was facing about myself or reflected in my body or circumstances as being what was required in order for me to allow Love to grow out, unhindered from my core. I've done this for years and made some wonderful progress by interpreting these things as indicators of what I needed to shift in my thinking/energy/being. I've seen ALL kinds of delightful results BUT...in the last few months, I found my deepest inner workings becoming far too intricate and complex to "get my head around", so to speak.

And I just didn't seem to be able to help myself past a point of SELF judgement that was keeping the best of my personal dreams at bay. That is, until I surrendered completely to humbly accepting the gift of righteousness offered to "whosoever will" believe, and in so doing, understand the great love God has for me even more. I know this may not make sense to those who are unfamiliar with the biblical teaching of righteousness but what this results in is a total release of ALL judgement. Where there is no judgement, there is no fear of punishment or sense of unworthiness either.

Things just got better and better. The more I chose to "surrender" over any other approach the more deeply a shift began to take place. I simply trusted that tried and proven process and applied it to everything. My mind, body, circumstance...I started viewing any hint of worry/fear as part of the process of Love, not fear-and governed by intuitive Wisdom, not personal sabotage. This grew inside me more and more.

Today, after a progression of insights and expanding understanding I realised this has led to the knowledge of how fear is dismissed. It is converted to another format-if you like. In shifting viewpoints, it becomes the servant of a greater good and is no longer a form of resistance, but of relinquishing. No longer a barrier to overcome or strive against but an ally toward success. And it isn't just a nice, pious idea to try and accept, but an actual STATE. Fear is no more when one lives in this place of utter SURRENDER. It is dissolved when trust is pure.

These words don't do the condition justice but with all my heart, I hope any reader will ask to experience this knowing.

"One thing I've come to accept now, is that there are no short-cuts through one's process. The shortest, quickest, fastest way between you and your dreams, is that which is being presented to you. I've stopped viewing the 'space between' as some chasm to traverse or some test to pass or some obstacle to overcome. It is what I've asked for: the process of manifesting my dream" Lisa Shah