No Natural Barriers

“Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.” John 7:24

In my book, The Complete Soul, I state that there are no natural barriers to the soul’s expression. It would make no sense for the Divine to put obstacles between us and the peace and freedom we desire. Accepting that this is true means that our executive faculty of judgment is naturally optimistic, biased toward all possibility.

The problem is, there are plenty of unnatural barriers to our soul’s expression. We are constantly evaluating our circumstances either as friendly or hostile. As a spiritual teacher, Jesus is giving a simple but very important reminder to his audience. We are judged by our own judgment. The choices we make in our mental and emotional responses to appearances, determine the quality of our inner experience.

Jesus also said, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is single, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22). The eye, in this case, is the way you see things, your mental and emotional disposition. The body is the whole of your life.

When perceived barriers to your peace and freedom crop up, one way of keeping your eye single and your life full of light is to remind yourself that, despite this appearance to the contrary, there are no natural barriers to your soul’s expression. In other words, you have a choice. “Choose this day whom you will serve” (Joshua 24:15).

I remember a person once suggested that when Jesus said to not judge by appearances, he was the first to say, Don’t confuse me with the facts. I think he was saying that if we let appearances set the standard for our internal quality of life, then we will never experience the peace and freedom we desire. He didn’t say, ignore appearances. He was saying there is always a deeper truth than our snap judgments may indicate. Learn to tap into this deeper truth.