Meeting Asciepius exercise

The exercise this week was again difficult for me to do.  I don't mean to be disrespectful to anyone at all, and I am not intolerant of others' beliefs, but to me, these exercises are not in alignment with my faith.  I believe in one God, and that his son Jesus is my Lord and Savior.  I cannot focus on another being in these exercises, not even a wise person that I know or used to know.  I tried this exercise with Jesus as the focus, but it was still difficult.  The things it said to do just didn't work for me.  I couldn't imagine a white light beaming from his head to my mind.  I know that some people can do that, and that these exercises work beautifully for some people.  That's great!  They just don't work for me.  I can only speak from my own experience.  I hope no one finds that offensive, it's not meant to be.  I have my own time that I guess some could call meditation, but it's a time that I focus on God, let him speak to me, ask for guidance, give thanks, read the Bible, and read other books that help me in my life.

To me, the saying "one cannot lead another to where one has not gone himself" means that in order to lead or teach someone, you have to have knowledge of where they are coming from.  Now, that doesn't mean you have to have actually gone through their specific circumstance.  But you have to have studied or learned about it, and had experience with it in some way, whether through someone else or in practice.  No one can go through every experience themselves.  However, if you are trying to lead someone in a certain way, then you should be following that way yourself.  No one wants to take instruction from someone who doesn't believe in what they're promoting.  Just as you wouldn't trust a nutritionist who was obese and ate unhealthy.  She may have the knowledge of how to guide you in a healthy eating lifestyle, but she is not practicing it herself.  I think it is very much the same as the saying "practice what you preach".