Faith Acronyms

By Sue Fabian

I recall a story about a man who had only one line to remember in a play. Upon hearing the boom of the cannon, he was to say, “Hark, I hear the roar of cannons yonder!” When the cannon boomed, he turned in fright and heart-thumpingly blurted, “What the hell was that?!”

When the cannon blasts of stress hit our hearts, we react in much the same way. How can we remember our lines in the heat of the moment?

I’ve found acronyms to be a powerful faith tool. Imagine trying to remember twenty-four areas of law much less federal and state distinctions in them to pass an exam that becomes your ticket to pay off your mushrooming student loans (laden with interest) and also provide the economic means to live. That’s what I was faced with when taking the bar exam. Acronyms were my passport under extreme stress.

Life is the bar exam for all of us. Swedenborg says that planet Earth is the hardest planet of all upon which to live. I have no problem believing that. Can acronyms play a role in helping us on our difficult journeys? 

In the heat of the moment, keeping it simple is the imperative golden key. In fact, there’s a well-known acronym for that! Keep It Simple Sweetie. Acronyms are a tool in Twelve-Step Programs because of their effectiveness. So, I want to pass along some that have come to me that have been of help.

ACCEPT 

Allowing Creation Conception (time to) Express Potential & Truth

I’m reminded to step aside and allow my higher power (Creation) time to work, to express, to allow a potential to manifest that I might not have seen so that I can more clearly see the truth.

PATIENCE

Practicing Acceptance, (divine) Timing, Inhaling, Exhaling, No! to impulsivity, Contemplative meditation, and Embracing the moment.

Oh, how hard it is to have patience. Here I’m reminded to breathe, to consider, to give the divine its own time, and to embrace rather than force the moment in my own haste.

PRAY

Proportioning Rest And Yearning Petitioning, Receiving, Accepting, Yeasting 

I couldn’t decide which one I liked better, so I let both be. I like the idea of balancing my yearning with resting in the situation. Certainly, prayer can aid this. I also like the more basic version where I make a petition, then receive a reply by way of feeling or an image or idea (sometimes I get a blank), accepting what feels right in what I’ve been given, then putting the reply in motion by yeasting it in my life through contemplative action.

FAITH

Fostering Acquiescence In The Highest (or Holy)

Faith, for me is a combination of accepting, patience and praying. This puts it all together. Then it’s for me to remember that my Higher Power, the Universe, Creation, the one who created the cosmos, the oceans, the mountains, all creatures great and small, and breathed life into me and continues to do so with each heartbeat knows far more than I ever could hope to dream. I often forget this, feeling that I know what’s best for my life. In a sense I do, for I am responsible to create, to help, and to manage the life that I’ve been given. Yet there is one that is greater; my maker. S/He knows what makes me tick, my strengths, my weaknesses, my passions, my hopes, my dreams, my dreads… Who best to turn to! I need to constantly remind myself of this.

Which leads me to my last (for now) acronym:

TRUST

Total Release Unto Supreme Teacher

I’m not great at trusting but I get better at it. Learning to trust something I can’t see or touch or experience with any of my five senses is really hard for me. I figure this goes beyond my five senses into a sixth sense, a spiritual muscle that I’m given to develop. So, incrementally, I practice trusting that which I cannot see. And how I do that is another story.

Whether you borrow one from this list or create one of your own, I encourage you to put the tool of acronyms in your backpack to aid you in your journey, for life indeed is a trip!

Read the full issue of the January – March 2024 Messenge