I find thought provoking ideas in the most unexpected places.

Julia Cameron, author of the international bestseller “The Artist’s Way,” a book that has become a classic on creative discovery for countless aspiring artists around the world, wrote a follow-up book titled “Walking in this world.” A reviewer of this new volume wrote

Cameron shows us how to inhabit the world with a sense of wonder, a childlike inquisitiveness that each of us was born with. “Great artists are actually great amateurs,” she writes. “They have learned to wriggle out of the seriousness of rigid categorization and allow themselves to pursue the Pied Piper of delight.”

The words “rigid categorization” leaped off the page when I read this. “…pursue the Pied Piper of delight,” lit me up like a lightbulb.

Rigid categorization. Wow! What a concept to contemplate, I felt.

Have you ever been victimized by rigid categorization? Here’s a few examples that crossed my mind:

“But this is the way they always done it.”
“You can’t do that. It hasn’t been done before.”
“You are too young.”
“You are too old.”
“You don’t have enough education.”
“I get up. I eat breakfast. I go to work. I come home. I eat. I go to bed. That’s what I do.”
“I was born. I grow up. I earn a living. I retire. I die.”

Can you think of any others? There are thousands…

I haven’t read Cameron’s book, but I can easily relate to the concept of rigid categorization from a spiritual point of view. To grow spiritually, we must not let our thinking be paralyzed and frozen in apathy and inaction by the rigid categorization of mortal mind.

By “mortal mind” I mean all the worldly ways of reasoning that discourage worthy ambition and fresh creative endeavor.

Twenty years ago, when I wanted to go into the full-time practice of Christian Science, I was besieged by rigid categorization. “You can’t afford to quit your job. You aren’t spiritually minded enough. You’re too young. You’ll fail. It’s too hard,” and more doubts and fears worked overtime to stop my progress. I had to face them all down, and I did by knowing all things are possible with God. I followed my “Pied Piper of delight,” and embarked down a path that has taken me into the happiest most worthwhile career I can ever imagine myself in.

Are you fighting rigid categorization in some form? It’s time to wake up and protest. Break out of the prison cell of tradition and get going with your progressive idea. All the help you need is coming from God. And as you truly trust His provision each step of the way, that right idea will come to fruition.