Choice and change are forever bound to one another, and together they give birth to a responsible individual. If you want to change some aspect of your life, the choices you make will make possible the change. Recently, Nancy and I made massive changes in what we eat and the time given to exercise our bodies. The result is great vitality and energy to do the things that are ours to do. 

After my body experienced the heart attack, I made a commitment to take better care of myself. I concluded my mission here was not complete, and I wanted to do the work that is mine to do with vitality. God’s work deserves our best. And so I made more than a choice; I made a commitment. 

The truth is most of us know exactly what to do, we just don’t do it. The choice is never made, and therefore the change never happens. The reason is that we have to go deeper than choice; more is required of us. Commitment is our call, and when we know we are here for the spiritual purpose of being a wick in God’s candle (so God’s light can shine), it is easier to make more than a choice. 

 

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Two things give birth to religion and spirituality: mystery and questions. We encounter the mystery of being alive, and we have questions. The questions indicate that we need answers, but perhaps the greater need is to learn to live with mystery. We can ask  questions about the mysteries of life, and we may receive an answer, but for every answer, there is another mystery. 

When religion was born, one of its roles was to makes sense of things, to make the mystery palatable. The world is so uncertain and seemingly chaotic that there had to be order, and when order was established in religion, dogma was created. The dogma revealed the way it is and was designed to bring comfort and equip us to live with the mystery.

This is the dream of religion, but like all dreams, there is a need to awaken.  

We must learn to live in the balance of doubt and faith. Where this balance is achieved, we move beyond religion and begin to discover spirituality. To our left is doubt. It extends its hand to us, and we do not want to take it. To our right is faith, and we reach out to it, but faith refuses to take our hand. Why the refusal? Because only one who embraces doubt may grasp the hand of faith.  Both enable us to live with mystery and where there is mystery, spirituality abounds. 

Religion has its dogma, but it pays a price. It fails to acknowledge doubt because it is certain that it knows the way. And where there is no doubt, there can be no faith, but where doubt and faith are wed, a child is born—spirituality. 

There are things we can experience, but never capture.  A wave on the sea, for instance. We have seen pictures and videos of waves, but you will never see one on display in a museum or art gallery. And although a wave is made of water, the water in a basin is not a wave. Light is a great mystery. It streams through the cosmos carrying information about where it has been and it origins, but no one can ride on a sunbeam. Sure, we can capture the light on film or on a digital chip, but what we see is not the wave of light that moves at 186,000 miles per second. 

Truth is precious and we are told it sets us free, but where can you go to acquire this great gift? We cannot place truth on display, but we can live it, and in the living, we experience something as elusive as the wave on the sea or a lightwave. 

Why do we try to hold on? Why do we grasp and pull things to ourselves and say we possess them when the things of greatest value can only be experienced. We do not possess them, we experience them. This is the wonder of creation. Only through experience do we know the nature of something whether it is a wave, light or truth. 

It is reported that Jesus walked on the water and joined His disciples in their boat during the fourth watch. Each evening was divided into four watches of three hours each. Jesus came late in the night. Prior to his arrival, the disciples battled the wind and contrary waves. They must have been exhausted. Imagine struggling at sea for 10 hours.  Along with their exhaustion, there was probably fear.

Why didn’t Jesus come earlier? Why is it that when we see the presence of God, it is at the last hour when we are fearful and exhausted? A possible answer…because we are now ready to be helped. During the prior three watches, we are confident in our abilities. We can do it. There is no humility. During the fourth watch, we are humbled, open and receptive.

Of course, dear friend, I am not writing about a time of day; I am writing about a state of consciousness that is ready and inclined to the indwelling God. Perhaps it can happen earlier in the day, but it will always be the fourth watch, for it is when Spirit’s work can be done.

 

I once attended a meeting where a group of people sat in a circle and shared what was happening in their lives. Then they moved to the future. Dreams, goals and aspirations were voiced. People shared what had happened and what they hoped would happen. In fact, it was imperative that the happenings hoped for come into being. 

I remember saying, “I have reached the time in my life where nothing needs to happen. The interesting thing is that since I have adopted this approach to the future and this way of living, lots is happening.” What greater freedom is there to be free of the future and therefore fully present in the moment? Strange, but it is in the moment where everything happens.

Do you have the courage to declare, “Nothing needs to happen?” Can you see that such a declaration is an invitation to possibilities?

I don’t know if there is such a word as cocooning, but there is certainly a aspect of life we can call cocooning. It is when we spend time alone for a divine purpose. In order for it to be true cocooning and truly a divine purpose, the “outcome” must be more than for self. In other words, if we are looking only for direction for our life, we are not cocooning. 

Cocooning is a silent offering. We offer ourselves rather than open ourselves to receive. It is giving, not receiving, but most likely, much will come to us…peace, insights, directions, strength, etc., but they are added things. 

Have you ever wrapped yourself in a cocoon? Let silence emerge from your soul and cover you, so only God can see you? I wonder if enough of us were of one accord in this matter that a Day of Cocooning could be declared for the world.  I wonder how many would join us. Would it make a difference? I suspect it would. 

I recently posted a random series of eight words: Observe, Faith, Lift, Listen, Trust, Detach, Focus and Wait and asked my friends to put them in an order that established a pathway for prayer and meditation. There were wonderful replies. I promised that I would give my response and order of words through my blog with some explanation of why I picked a particular word order.

My first two words are focus and lift. Nearly every form of prayer/meditation focuses us and lifts us up in consciousness.

Next, I picked observe, detach and accept. Sometimes we do a prayer/meditation practice at our spiritual community in which we observe with our eyes open. We do not pass judgment on what is seen. We are detached and accepting of what our senses bring to us. Then we close our eyes. This is where it gets interesting. We are now observing our consciousness with its thoughts, feelings, memories and images. However, we maintain a consciousness of detachment and acceptance of the experiences of our inner world.

 

Now we enter the heart of prayer and meditation. We wait and listen inwardly and trust what we experience. We trust it enough to act on guidance and insights and experiences that come to us.

The great challenge of the inner journey is waiting, but this is where we spend most of our time…waiting upon the “Lord of Our Being,” listening for the still, small voice and trusting what comes enough to let the prayer/meditation become our life. This is the moment when we can declare one of my favorite truths—My life is a prayer that God is praying. More on this subject in a later blog.  

You would think that people would be delighted to discover that there is no devil/evil entity causing chaos in the world. What joy should arise when we know that the devil is the personification of our collective irresponsibility, (“The devil make me do it”) that the devil is not an entity of immense power nearly rivaling our omnipotent God, but instead a part of ourselves that believes lies. 

This realization combined with our determination and willingness to become responsible individuals should be a source of immense joy, but there are those who insist on the devil; they insist on irresponsibility and the world continues as it is rather than as it could be. It is amazing! 

However, there are those of us who are not only stepping into our own future, but taking a constructive step for the whole human family. We are not seduced by the allure of irresponsibility and blame.

The devil is a part of us that we are now casting out. If there are problems, the root is in our human consciousness, and therefore we are not at the mercy of outer forces.

We assume responsibility for our thoughts, attitudes, beliefs and actions. Now that is something that is truly amazing! Please join me in casting out the demon of irresponsibility and blame we have inflicted upon ourselves.  

 

You would think that people would rejoice to know that God is not separate from us, that Spirit is a part of our very being, that God can be experienced now rather than after death, but instead many people cling to what they have been told and refuse to adopt the way of the explorer. Why do you think this is so? 

You would think that people would rejoice that God does not us punish in eternal flames, but loves us unconditionally; that hell is not a physical place, but a consciousness of separation and a symbol of the important part of the spiritual journey called purification. But instead people cling to hell and the unreconcilable belief that God that is Love Itself can also inflict eternal pain upon Its creation. Why don’t members of the human family rejoice in this new understanding of hell and God’s love? 

Sometimes it is easier to cling to the illogical and to hold to the beliefs of ancient people than it is to explore the possibilities that new insights provide for us and demand of us. It is amazing, isn’t it? 

There is much that confuses us…for instance, God’s will. Most of us want to know if what we want is what God wants for us. We want our will and God’s will to be aligned. And to make it more confusing, we usually think that God’s will is circumstances. It is God’s will that I work at a certain place or be married to a particular person? But what if God’s will is the same for everyone? What if God’s will is not circumstance, but a way of life? 

This I am prepared to believe. Please consider with me that God’s will is joy, oneness and thankfulness. Imagine the forces of the universe aligned so I can experience joy, a consciousness of oneness with all, and gratitude. 

An idea like this one needs to be put to the test. This I am doing. Please join me. I accept nothing less than a life of joy, gratitude and oneness, and none of these qualities of soul require a particular life circumstance. They are God’s will for me. This is enough. 

How grateful I am, how joy filled I am, how one with you I am…the confusion is lifting because God’s will for you is the same as God’s will for me.