The Principle of Renewal

The principle of renewal is a foundational philosophy of the Fellowship for Divine Illumination.  Our actions no matter how small affects those in our sphere of influence.  Sometimes our actions have a negative impact on the well-being of others.  The principle of renewal addresses the long-term psychological and spiritual damage our personal guilt imposes on us because of our irresponsibility.

The Fellowship steadfastly opposes the notion that the past should hold one prisoner.  A man or woman should be held liable, but not punished for their offenses.  This not meant to lessen the pain of the victim.  The principle of renewal is designed to deliver oneself from the bondage of worn out guilt arising from improper or negligent behavior.  Guilt and regret keep a person chained to the unremitting thoughts of our irresponsible behavior.  While guilt’s purpose is to create within us an awareness of our dishonest behavior, worn out and useless guilt can be damaging to the psyche.  Useless guilt is like a guest who has overstayed his or her welcome.

Guilt has far greater implications for our spiritual growth than we could ever imagine.  Stubborn guilt hinders our spiritual evolution and interrupts the reincarnational cycle.  The memories we hold of our own offensive conduct keeps us dwelling on how things would be different if we had only avoided the episodes in the first place.  Clinging to the feelings associated with these memories destroys us from the inside out.  Since everyone has made a “mistake” of some sort, it seems wrong to make any person endure prolonged exposure to guilt.

The Principle of renewal affirms  “each moment is a new beginning.”  This may be stating the obvious, but few of us recognize the wisdom of this expression.  In any moment, we can take responsibility for what we have done and start anew.  That is an important element of the principle of renewal.  In fact, we should take responsibility for everything that has come into our lives.   We have created all that exists in our personal reality.  By accepting these things, we are able to make changes to our environment.  We must do so with the intention of improving our character.  This practice feeds our spiritual growth.

The Fellowship is of the opinion that all guilt should eventually be resolved so that a person may move on with their lives.  This cannot be done without making an honest effort to repair the damage done to the injured party.  It’s not always possible to restore the victim to their former state.  The best effort rule applies here.  While compensating the aggrieved person with money often helps, there are times when a sincere apology makes things right.  Sometimes the situation cannot be cured to the injured party’s satisfaction.  Forgiveness may be withheld.  Unfortunately,  bitterness and resentment are common expressions of pain when people are wronged.  Whether the damage is the result of an accident or misconduct, a hostile response is not uncommon.  It's important to forgive yourself for your own healing.

The process of renewal cannot resolve guilt which has no proper foundation.  This kind of guilt manifests in humans for many reasons.  Sometimes a person feels guilty for what someone else has done.  One cannot start over when he or she is engaging in self-reproach.  This situation requires deep inner contemplation to root out the source of the illusory guilt. 

The most significant aspect of the principle of renewal is the idea that we are able to start over at any given moment.  The prerequisite for making the principle work is an intention to do better from that point moving forward.  The good news is that the principle of renewal works for everyone every time.