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Prepared by Marie Ann Shea, TSM Chaplain

"The Lord is my strength and my song" - Psalm 118:14

by John Robert Shea, TSM Director

Jesus chose twelve Disciples who served in His ministry. Each Disciple represents a faculty or aspect of The Christ that dwells within all people. As we develop our Christ Faculties we grow to wholeness as the spiritual beings God created us to be. The development of each faculty enables us to come closer to emulate and follow in the foot steps of Jesus Christ.

During the month of March we recognize the Disciple Andrew who represents the Christ Faculty of Strength. As a reminder to help us remember our meditation on this aspect of Christ we think of the color light green that we find in the new growth of spring. As we develop our faculty of Strength we grow spiritually stronger as we open our receptiveness to the positive power of all the spiritual faculties. 

Andrew represents the Faculty of Spiritual Strength because of his recognition of Jesus as the Messiah and his willingness to immediately share that knowledge with others.  During the first year of His ministry, Jesus was an obscure figure, slowly coming into prominence. After overcoming a period of temptations, Jesus came to the banks of the Jordan River where John the Baptist  was preaching. Two disciples of John the Baptist were Andrew and John. As Jesus approached, John the Baptist turned to his followers and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36). When John and Andrew heard this they immediately left John the Baptist to follow Jesus.

John the Baptist represents illumined intellect; that moment when one has a sudden uplift in understanding (a quickening) that impacts and opens the way for a dramatic change for the good in one's life; the "budding" and strengthening of new possibilities. In this very positive and open awakened state of mind we are compelled to seek even greater understanding, much like one who has been lost but has suddenly seen the path that leads home.

As John and Andrew followed after Jesus, He turned and asked them what it was they were seeking. They answered, "Rabbi, ... where do you abide?" Jesus said, "Come and you shall see." (John 1:38,39) 

When one first encounters the Presence of Christ it is not yet clear to the mind just what or where Christ is. Jesus has issued an invitation, "Come and you shall see." We accept the invitation of Jesus by turning our mind and heart to Spirit; to come to the abiding place of Spirit within, yet we are often reluctant to make this a normal pattern in our living. Why?... Because in this world we desire both material and spiritual blessings and there is an erroneous sense that the material must be set aside if we are to take up the spiritual. Yet, as we strengthen and increase our spiritual blessings, we find that temporal material blessings transform into more permanence and stability in our every day living and affairs. This is the natural Law of Right Action as we, spiritual creations of God, abide fully in the harmony of Creation. This is abiding in the Kingdom of God. The invitation of Jesus to "come" is an inward spiritual journey. We must trust the inner spirit if we are to know the indwelling Christ.

Once Andrew discovered Jesus he hurried to find  his brother Simon Peter and immediately shared his experience. He exclaimed, "We have found the Messiah!" (John 1:41). Simon Peter went with Andrew to follow Jesus. When Simon said to Jesus, "Thou art the Christ; The Son of the Living God," he was expressing the basic spiritual faculty of Faith. This is why Jesus answered and blessed him by saying, "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my Church." The Greek word "petros" means "rock." Jesus proclaimed the foundation of spiritual consciousness (represented by "Church") begins with Faith. When we affirm our faith in God, the faculty of faith is firmly established as the rock upon which our spiritual consciousness is built.

The faculty of Strength is associated in the physical body within the "small of the back." The center of all human strength, both physical and spiritual, is Christ. We access this faculty through spiritual awakening.  The body has many "brain" and nerve centers, through which the conscious mind awakens and acts. Consciously we use only the brain in the head. We should think through every cell in the body, and consciously direct every function in building up the body. When one has attained the mastery of these various bodily functions through thought, the activity of the brain center that stores the vital energy of each particular faculty affects the healing process and the body is perpetually restored and strengthened.

Strength is often thought of as physical stamina, strength of purpose, and moral character. Spiritual Strength is the faculty of spiritual stamina; that which enables us to overcome negative experiences. Just as one builds physical strength through a program of proper exercise, discipline, and diet, spiritual strength is developed through spiritual exercise, spiritual discipline, and spiritual diet that raises spiritual consciousness.

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