The Grammar of Affirmation — All. We. I.

It has occurred to me that affirmation describes the actual practice we should consider as a sort of default. Someone says are you religious and the answer is not so much. But you are spiritual. Well, being affirmative is almost the essence of what that’s all about.

Even if you are a serious seeker and trying to plumb the depths of consciousness, affirmations are key. You may call them maxims, quotes, or mantras, but their purpose is to somehow affirm a connection beyond the solitary self.

It is also becoming clear to me that affirmations are not something one person writes and another consumes. I think everyone is best off crafting their own spirituality. The only justification for what I am doing is that there is value in suggesting a sort of grammar that may help someone craft their own statements.

The most obvious example is that an affirmation is most beneficial when it is inclusive, when it proceeds on the placing of others first or on an equal plane. This is what Jesus does in advancing the great commandment — the part that commends loving neighbor as self. This extends to universal love in other statements of Jesus. How we treat others is how we treat him. The last shall be first.

One way to approach this is to create statements that come in three short sentences. The first starts with “All”. the second with “We” and finally with “I”.

We are then placing everyone, then those we know, and finally ourselves in the mix. “All rise, we rise, I rise.” That is the form. “Well being to all, well being to ourselves, well being to me.” “All need love, we need love, I need love.”

These are illustrations only. The idea should be clear. The benefits of affirming universally as a matter of course are potentially immense.