The Square

By Gill Vriend

The shape of the square in CWF apprears first on the Understand step, and answers the questions “How are you?” and “Where are you?”. Divided into 4 quadrants, the right side of the square represents God centredness, the left side represents self centredness. The horizontal wavy midline divides the top half of the square (flourishing) from the bottom half of the square (suffering). Typically, Living Wholeness practitioners refer to the position of the quadrant to indicate where they are that day: for example God centred flourishing is ‘top right’, self centred suffering is ‘bottom left’. As individuals alive in Christ our goal is always to gravitate to top right; with our clients our goal is for them to identify where they are, often using a 1-10 scale which can be compared session by session to help us, and them, understand the depth and duration of the impact of their problem issue.

I was reflecting on what it is that pushes us as believers down from above the water line flourishing to under the water suffering. Top right to bottom right, or to bottom left. From flourishing to suffering. With awareness of God with us, or without. As one down there, how to get back up again. Recently severe flooding hit the province of Chiang Mai, Thailand, where I live. One of the most memorable pictures was of 3 elephants standing together in shoulder deep water as the flood waters rose at their river side elephant camp. All three have their trunks raised up through the dirty brown water to breathe the clean air above. What a great illustration of how to survive and stay God centred while suffering , I thought. Staying together with others who understand and respond likewise in a God centred way, as this in itself increases the capacity to endure, all the while taking in whatever healthy, sustaining ‘nutrients’ are available.

What, then, could be responsible for drift to the left, from God centred suffering to self centred suffering? I thought of the polluted floodwater, full of debris and sewer effluent swirling around the elephants. The potential for wounding, and for infection; the pus, the poison, the damaged tissues. Psychologically, the fear and lies in the mind, the pain and judgments and deception of the heart. Deep stuff. Yet familiar to probably all of us, at some time in our lives, as Kingdom workers in His vineyard. At times like that, who is with us? Who can stand with us, breathing healthy air, as it were, while encouraging us to do the same? Who can channel the peace and love and power and truth of God at times when we cannot see it?

All of us will find ourselves in ‘deep water’ situations at some point. My next question is, “How long do I stay there?”. How long does it take me to recognize where I am, and to take whatever action is necessary to enable a shift to the right? To come out of shame and hiding, or blame and accusation, to face uncomfortable and painful truths with God so He can raise me up?  The three elephants in the photograph all survived, though others did not and were drowned and swept away. Quite a parable. Let us find our place in Him, alongside trusted others (which maybe only one other), that we can endure and raise each other up in hard times. The best is yet to come!