The Importance & Power in Reframing

Shifting our consciousness is a very important step if we want to manifest something positive.

Actually, doing this is not always easy in the real world — particularly if we feel that somebody has wronged us, or if we are in the middle of a heated dispute. Nevertheless, raising our consciousness is often a required step if we want to see our dreams come true.

During Rev. Ken Daigle’s class called UNAPOLOGETIC MANIFESTATION, we have learned how to reframe an incident or situation so that it can work for us rather than against us. It is a very rewarding process.

Interestingly, Peg and I heard a true story that demonstrates the importance and power that can come from reframing. We were at my daughter’s graduation at the University of Massachusetts, in Amherst, Massachusetts. As it turned out, we had Sunday free, so we decided to visit our good friend Rev. Christine Boylan, who is the Senior Minister at Unity of Greater Hartford, Connecticut. Christine was a fellow seminary student with me at Unity Village.

During a wonderful class at the Hartford church, a woman — call her Susan — told a powerful 'reframing story.' Susan is a prayer chaplain at the Hartford church, and she is also a chaplain at a major local hospital.

During one of her shifts, an elderly gentleman had come in with a very bad case of sciatica. It was so painful, and his medical insurance was denying him coverage. The pain level had come to such an excruciating level that all the man wanted to do was walk into the emergency room and get morphine.

Susan started talking with the man in the emergency room. He told her his sad and frustrating story about medical insurance and the hospital refusing to see him. He, of course, felt very ill used by the American medical system, and he laid out his long trials and tribulations to Susan in vivid detail.

It was clear to Susan that this gentleman was truly in what is called victim consciousness. As taught by several leading New Thought ministers — including Revs. Paul Hasselbeck and Ken Daigle — victim consciousness is essentially a mental condition where we think that everything is being “done to us” by outside forces. We keep on feeling that we’re under someone's unlucky curse, and nothing seems to go our way.

In this model of consciousness, the next step up is called victor consciousness. In this state of mind, we believe that things are “done by us.” We have the power — and we often believe that it comes from Spirit — “to make it happen.” Such recent popular books as The Secret would embody victor consciousness. Often people come to Unity in victim consciousness, and they are able to rise to victor consciousness.

But there is a step up from victor consciousness. It is called vessel consciousness, where things are done “through us.” It is the kind of consciousness where we think: "Have your own way Lord, have your own way./ You are the potter and we are the clay.” We want to be in service to a higher power.

However, there is an even higher level of consciousness in this model, and it is called verity consciousness. We truly become the higher value that we are expressing. Examples of this include when we feel one with the one, or we can say, “I am love.”

Susan’s patient was clearly in victim consciousness. She asked the gentleman if he felt that, given his current attitude and way of thinking, his problems would be positively resolved. He said that he felt it would remain very bleak and negative.

She asked him if they could pray together, and he said yes. Susan offered a very positive affirmative prayer for this gentleman, and something amazing happened. This man started reframing the situation. He said to her that a physical therapist usually just gives you exercises which you mostly do at home.

“I could go on YouTube and find out which exercises are best for my condition,” he reasoned. “You know, I think I could get better and not risk long run morphine addiction. Also, it wouldn’t cost me a ton of money,” he added.

Susan said that before her eyes she saw this man shift from victim consciousness to victor thinking. “It was amazing,” she noted.

At our Spiritual Life Center class on UNAPOLOGETIC MANIFESTATION, we had people do a very interesting and productive exercise. We first asked people to state a time when they were really in victim mode. What were their feelings, and what did they do or say?

Then we asked them how they could reframe the situation so that they were in— or moving towards — victor mode. We then spent time sharing many of our examples, and it was a powerful moment.

It is often not easy to reframe situations when we are directly in the thick of it. But when we can stop and take the time to do this, the results are often incredible. Also, practice does make perfect — and we don’t even need perfection. We just need a little progress — inch by inch, row by row, and mile by mile.

Many blessings,

Rev. Rick