IN TEST OF LIFE ARE 'CURSES,' AND THE WAY WE DEAL WITH THEM IS BY SENDING LOVE

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From time to time we all deal with curses, whether we know it or not.

Usually, we don't know it.

Do you feel "tripped up"? Are there blocks in your life? Do you feel like there is too much oppression, bad "luck," a dark cloud?

We all go through this because we all have to deal with one another. The cause in most instances: negativity. When someone is negative it is the minus sign. It takes away. It subtracts. They generate a spiritual force that can rub off, and if negative thoughts are powered by irritation, anger, obsession, or jealousy -- especially jealousy -- they can cause us real dilemmas.

That's called a curse and it doesn't take a witch doctor to throw one at you, just someone wishing us less than the best.

Scripture makes it clear that curses exist and that jealousy is potent.  "Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous; but who is able to stand before envy?" notes Proverbs 27:4.

Most of the time, folks don't realize what they are doing. They will sit at a dinner table and there is a jealous undertone and they think it goes unnoticed but there is often an aftereffect -- a tangible aftereffect: a grinding feeling of pincer electricity: what the Bible would describe as a fiery dart, or a nettle. A  thorn. A deep antagonism in the spirit.

It causes a spiritual "attack."

We're uncomfortable around someone. We feel less than ourselves. We're self-conscious. We can't seem to say the right thing. Our every move is watched. Afterward, there is aridity, and things just don't go (or don't seem to go) right.

If you even think of someone, pause in your routine, and say to yourself, "That Larry is a jerk. He's just no good," you've just sent negative energy. You have in a way cursed the person. When we die, we'll find out how powerful our thoughts were.

"Picture the effects of a curse as if you were outlining a picture in a coloring book," says one expert on curses. "You'd take your black crayon and go over the lines of the drawing. The more you went over them, the darker and thicker they'd become. Once you become outlined with negative energy, it becomes easier to attract more negative energy. Every time people have had dark thoughts about you or wished you ill under their breath, the negative energy around you becomes stronger, denser, and more powerful. No matter what kind of curse is involved, it will always affect at least one of three areas: money, health, and relationships."

We might add a few more. We know a "curse" is around when there is an oppression. We suspect one when a person has no luck in marriage. We look for the possibility too when there is repeated illness. Some experience headaches; others feel queasy and have stomachaches in reaction to jealousy. Christ showed the physical effects when He cursed that fig tree!

But He also gave us the total cure -- the way to prevent such things to start with.

"To you who hear, I say, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you," Jesus told His disciples in Luke 6. "To the person who strikes you on one cheek, offer the other one as well, and from the person who takes your cloak, do not withhold even your tunic."

As soon as you love and forgive and attempt to help whomever may be wishing you less than the best, you have broken the hold. Great joy and peace follow. There is release!
 

If you suspect someone has been throwing the wrong kind of thoughts toward you (call them "anti-prayers"), there is a solution, and once more Jesus gave it to us. It is to bless those who may be cursing you. It is to send love. Loop it all around with His positive Force.

Pray for the person who may be "cursing" you and this will create a "bubble" of protection. Respond not with anger. It gives a curse energy. When we don't forgive -- and hold a grudge -- a curse can remain and cause a spiritual infection (if we keep reacting to it).

Instead, break the curse in the Name of Jesus, cast it out, send it to the Foot of the Cross (for disposal according to His Will), seal yourself against it with that simple request, commanding (in the Name of Jesus) that it never return.

Then ask the Holy Spirit to come through your entire being, healing any injury or damage.

You are free! And so is the person who is cursing you -- for unknowingly, they had cursed (and bound) themselves.

And yet in love we want them out of bondage. Forgive. Build a bridge. Speak not of it. Give it no glory. Simply deal with it by tapping into the best of another -- even someone who wishes you ill.

Remember this: "hidden in the heart of even the most hardened sinner, right next to all the meanness, is an untapped reservoir of goodness." A priest said that recently.

Tap into that!

[resources: Onward Catholic Soldier and Catholic Warrior]

[Michael Brown spiritual retreats: Cincinnati September 20, South Florida October 11, and Nevada November 8.