Become a member of the audience
“A Member of the Audience” is a passage from the book, Stake Your Claim: Exploring the Gold Mine Within, written in the early 1950s by New Thought spiritual leader Emmet Fox.
Like most personal development books, Stake Your Claim's overarching topic is achieving greater self-acceptance and living open-heartedly toward others. A Member of the Audience is my favorite passage, and I want to share it.
“There is no shortcut to Heaven and the way to the Higher Consciousness is by taking yourself in hand. If you are in earnest, begin to watch yourself. Get off the stage of your life and get into the audience. Watch yourself and be impartial in your judgments. Do not make excuses for yourself but do not be too harsh either in your opinions.
It does not matter where you stand today. The fact that I is watching me means you have taken one of the greatest steps forward. When you see yourself doing things that are useless, or perhaps even mean or petty, stop them. When you find that I can laugh at Me, it means your life is commencing to change for the better. Finally, you will find that Me is beginning to get in step with I, and when that happens, you are truly on the road to having dominion over your life.
There are no shortcuts to Heaven but you can have fun changing your life if you become a member of the audience.”
I appreciate Mr. Fox’s use of metaphors, regarding our life as a stage, and as a member of the audience, we become objective observers of our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. I looked up the meaning of his old-timey phrases “taking yourself in hand,” and “if you are in earnest.” Respectively, they mean “taking charge to improve a situation or a behavior,” and “to be serious about accomplishing something or have sincere intentions.”
Heaven is the best metaphor for self-love and its rewards—
compassion and empathy for self and others, resilience in the face of challenge, and esteem untethered to other’s opinions. His advice to stop doing useless, mean, and petty things brings to mind ruminating over matters outside our control, hours of social media and news feeds, and accepting self-criticisms as truth.
Mr. Fox encourages us to lighten up and take ourselves less seriously, as it benefits our health on all levels and helps to shed the cloak of insecurities.
Twice, he iterates that there are no shortcuts to Heaven, and isn’t that the truth? For many, achieving greater self-acceptance is a journey with peaks and valleys; without a “hack” to make it easier, not all are inclined to take it.
Starting the day by reading this passage focuses me on the things going well in my life and helps foster a positive mindset that I bring to my work and my interactions.
What are your thoughts about A Member of the Audience? I’d love to hear your interpretations and how its message resonates with you.
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Slipstream
This passage is such a great reminder about how important it is to take a step back and really look at ourselves. I love how Emmet Fox talks about life like a stage and watching ourselves from the audience. It’s a simple way to remind us to be honest but not too hard on ourselves. Thank you for sharing this—it’s a great way to think about growing and becoming happier with who we are. Thanks for sharing Emmet Fox with us. He's not the first "go to" book these days.
Serenity Township
This is wonderful! What I really like about it is that it’s something that can be easily done once you decide to start monitoring “me.” Thank you for bringing this to light.
Wilsons Grave
If you look in the mirror and always see egg on your face, you'll see it on everyone else's face, too. Those who see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil, (about themselves or others) are the only ones who can truly experience heaven on earth.