I once had a car repossessed. That’s a personal piece of information I typically wouldn’t share but it ties into to the subject I'll be discussing which is the power of agreement. Having a car repossessed is an awful experience. I woke up and my car was gone. The tow truck quietly slipped in during the wee hours of the morning and snatched that joint.

I couldn’t be mad at the repo guy or the lien holder, I got in over my head and I wasn’t able to make the car note, and because of the contract I entered into I made the agreement that in the event I fail to make payment, the rightful owners may seize the property at their discretion. The repossession was perfectly legal. It was legal because of the contract or the agreement that was in place.

The word 'legal' generally means “permitted by law”. A contract is an agreement and inversely an agreement, of any kind, is a contract, and a contract is binding. This is why you have to be extremely careful about what you agree too because whatever the outcome, whether it serves you or does you a disservice, it is legal, it is justified.

I’m going to base this discussion on the work of Mexican author and spiritual teacher Don Miguel Ruiz whose most famous work is his book The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. To summarize the essential theory of the book, Ruiz submits that a person’s life is governed by the agreements they have made with themselves, the world around them, and with other people. He asserts that whatever we accept to be true becomes an agreement.

The problem occurs when we agree to opinions, thoughts, and ideas that work against us. He gives the example of the little girl who loved to sing but after her mother, who comes home from a very bad day at work, angrily tells her she has an ugly voice, she never sings again. The little girl believed what her mother said and in that moment she made an agreement. She suppresses her joy of singing and even develops an overall insecurity about expressing herself. Ruiz says, as children we readily accepted opinions and beliefs from the adults around us.

Once you make an agreement, the results of that agreement is correct (legal). The results of the agreements you enter into, knowingly or unknowingly, are correct and true to the terms of the agreement. If you don't like the results of an agreement, you should make a new agreement.

When we agree with words and opinions spoken against us, we admit those words and opinions into our heart (our belief system). Back in the day, when someone took a comment or an experience particularly hard it was said that the person "took it to heart".

Since The Word (our ability to speak and thus create) is a force, literally a magick force, those who intentionally and calculatingly use it to destroy, or create hate, havoc, chaos, and calamity are malevolent magicians. Don Miguel Ruiz says words are pure magick and the most powerful tool that we have as human beings.

I want to remind you that your words are the code for your life. In the same way computer code (which is a language) produces specific output. Your words are the input and the reality of your life is the output. If you know you need to turn your life around, start with your word. You can start by telling yourself, your going to succeed.

Right now in American society there seems to be an epidemic of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, fear, disconnect and alienation, all of this in addition to mounting hatred and division, which those of us who survived the killings-fields of the American South have already known for centuries. Hatred cannot be compartmentalized when it is a way of life, when it is a part of a culture.

As we move through this toxic social-order, or what Don Miguel Ruiz calls, "the dream of hell", I want to leave you with a few agreements/mantras/power-thoughts you can use to reinforce your will and courage; agreements you can use to establish new beginnings.

• I trust the highest part myself to provide direction. By stepping ever-closer to my fears I confirm my faith in the courage and ability God has given me.

• I have purpose and the unfolding of my purpose will fulfill all of my needs.

• This is a new day and a new beginning. I love and respect myself. I forgive myself for any mistakes I have made and I give myself permission to begin again.

• When I am ready, the relationships and the community I need will appear.

The human experience has its own distinct world of politics which I liken to the concept of the Human Condition. I believe all the conflict and unnecessary suffering amongst the Human Family is primarily due to these anthropolitics. The “truths” within social-constructs are purely a matter of consensus or agreement.

I once had a car repossessed. That’s a personal piece of information I typically wouldn’t share but it ties into to the subject I'll be discussing which is the power of agreement. Having a car repossessed is an awful experience. I woke up and my car was gone. The tow truck quietly slipped in during the wee hours of the morning and snatched that joint.

I couldn’t be mad at the repo guy or the lien holder, I got in over my head and I wasn’t able to make the car note, and because of the contract I entered into I made the agreement that in the event I fail to make payment, the rightful owners may seize the property at their discretion. The repossession was perfectly legal. It was legal because of the contract or the agreement that was in place.

The word 'legal' generally means “permitted by law”. A contract is an agreement and inversely an agreement, of any kind, is a contract, and a contract is binding. This is why you have to be extremely careful about what you agree too because whatever the outcome, whether it serves you or does you a disservice, it is legal, it is justified.

I’m going to base this discussion on the work of Mexican author and spiritual teacher Don Miguel Ruiz whose most famous work is his book The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom. To summarize the essential theory of the book, Ruiz submits that a person’s life is governed by the agreements they have made with themselves, the world around them, and with other people. He asserts that whatever we accept to be true becomes an agreement.

The problem occurs when we agree to opinions, thoughts, and ideas that work against us. He gives the example of the little girl who loved to sing but after her mother, who comes home from a very bad day at work, angrily tells her she has an ugly voice, she never sings again. The little girl believed what her mother said and in that moment she made an agreement. She suppresses her joy of singing and even develops an overall insecurity about expressing herself. Ruiz says, as children we readily accepted opinions and beliefs from the adults around us.

Once you make an agreement, the results of that agreement is correct (legal). The results of the agreements you enter into, knowingly or unknowingly, are correct and true to the terms of the agreement. If you don't like the results of an agreement, you should make a new agreement.

When we agree with words and opinions spoken against us, we admit those words and opinions into our heart (our belief system). Back in the day, when someone took a comment or an experience particularly hard it was said that the person "took it to heart".

Since The Word (our ability to speak and thus create) is a force, literally a magick force, those who intentionally and calculatingly use it to destroy, or create hate, havoc, chaos, and calamity are malevolent magicians. Don Miguel Ruiz says words are pure magick and the most powerful tool that we have as human beings.

I want to remind you that your words are the code for your life. In the same way computer code (which is a language) produces specific output. Your words are the input and the reality of your life is the output. If you know you need to turn your life around, start with your word. You can start by telling yourself, your going to succeed.

Right now in American society there seems to be an epidemic of anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, fear, disconnect and alienation, all of this in addition to mounting hatred and division, which those of us who survived the killings-fields of the American South have already known for centuries. Hatred cannot be compartmentalized when it is a way of life, when it is a part of a culture.

As we move through this toxic social-order, or what Don Miguel Ruiz calls, "the dream of hell", I want to leave you with a few agreements/mantras/power-thoughts you can use to reinforce your will and courage; agreements you can use to establish new beginnings.

• I trust the highest part myself to provide direction. By stepping ever-closer to my fears I confirm my faith in the courage and ability God has given me.

• I have purpose and the unfolding of my purpose will fulfill all of my needs.

• This is a new day and a new beginning. I love and respect myself. I forgive myself for any mistakes I have made and I give myself permission to begin again.

• When I am ready, the relationships and the community I need will appear.

The human experience has its own distinct world of politics which I liken to the concept of the Human Condition. I believe all the conflict and unnecessary suffering amongst the Human Family is primarily due to these anthropolitics. The “truths” within social-constructs are purely a matter of consensus or agreement.