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People are often mystified when
they look at the reality of the world we live in, and try to reconcile that with
a good and loving God. We frequently face difficulties of all kinds, big and
small; personal as well as global tragedies. Seeing this, we can't help but ask,
"How can this be? How can a loving God have created this? There is something
missing from this picture. It doesn't add up!" That's true. There is a piece
missing from our equation.
There IS
something that we are refusing to look at, which would reconcile these
contradictions in our minds and heal our discomfiture with God. We need to
understand what that is, because that missing piece is causing a breakdown of
affinity between mankind and God, and making us miserable.
This article is to help you find the missing
piece, and by doing so, heal your relationship with God, and empower you to have
a better life.
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The truth no
one wants to know, and why
The
truth is not hidden; it's not cryptic; it's not far away. It's HERE. Anybody who
is willing to be implicated by the truth can easily discover it. But friends,
there is no higher truth that does not implicate the hearer of it. If we saw the
truth about God, we'd see the truth about ourselves too, and what's wrong about
the way we live and think. That truth would hold us responsible for living much
more beautifully than we tend to do.
We don't want to know the truth that we are
enormously powerful, creative children of the Creator; that we are always
connected to God and all; and that we are truly very sensitive, loving, and
good. In God's words:
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"If you knew who you were, and
you were acting like yourself, you would naturally be responsible for everyone.
You would naturally feel love for everyone. You would naturally reach out, and
help, and heal."
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In our
current, ego-identified level of consciousness, most of us can hardly face our
ordinary human responsibilities, let alone the ultimate responsibility of living
as the Godly creatures we truly are.
Furthermore, we don't want to face the
IMPLICATIONS of how uncomfortable we REALLY ARE with our ego-driven lifestyle;
how much better we actually KNOW than what our behavior suggests; how much it
pains us to be selfish; and how many problems it really causes. We're attached
to our self-centered ideas, desires, and ways of doing things.
It is said, "Know the truth, and the truth will
set you free." But, if the price of freedom is to give up our egotistical habits
and false ideas -- which it IS -- WE DON'T WANT the truth that sets us free.
We're like a man who's married to an ill-tempered wife. She's making his life a
living nightmare, but he's attached to her. He's got a problem: He wants to keep
his wife, but if he does, she will continue to make his life miserable. The same
could be said for egotism. It causes us all kinds of problems, but we're
attached to it.
Therefore, we feel we
can't AFFORD to know the truth about God. We don't want the RESPONSIBILITY of
knowing. Now we're getting to the heart of the matter: we don't want to be
responsible. |
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God is a
victim of our war against responsibility
Isn't it obvious that, all around the world,
countless people avoid personal responsibility, or minimize it? When things go
wrong, we tend to point the finger of blame at everybody ELSE -- and especially
at God. We may admit that human beings are responsible to a degree; but usually
that means OTHER human beings, rather than, say, oneself.
Unfortunately, when we reject personal
responsibility, we also reject the truth about God. Can we be honest? Our war
against responsibility is war on God, war on our fellow man. We attack those we
blame with negative judgments -- "God is mean, and other people are mean" -- and
we hold them hostage in our minds. For example, if I think my mate is
responsible for my feelings of depression, then I resent my mate, or anxiously
try to change my mate; or at least, I'll sit with folded arms, waiting for my
mate to change.
Inevitably, in our war
against responsibility, God's reputation takes a beating. When bad things
happen, we think that God is either wrongly doing them, or wrongly allowing them
to be done. We resent God for the sorry state of the world we see. So we ask
accusatory questions like these:
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Why does God let all these bad
things happen?
Why doesn't
God make people do the right thing?
Why does God allow people to
suffer?
Why won't God let me
succeed at this or that?
Why
is God always testing me?
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All
those questions assume that God has huge responsibility for the troubles of the
world -- as well as huge responsibility for our own difficulties.
So you see, the human penchant for blame --
that is, the desire to displace responsibility -- has a major effect on our view
of God. Where the relationship to God is concerned, it is crucial to admit that
negative views of God result directly from our reluctance to take responsibility
for difficulties we and other humans create. As long as it exists, that pattern
will always foster an unfavorable view of God. To improve our view of God we
must upgrade our willingness to take responsibility. |
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The world
we create
How much better
EVERYTHING would be if we would start taking more responsibility! Because, if
the truth be told most of the events and circumstances in our life are generated
by what WE think and do.
Granted, some
of the trouble that befalls us is caused by other people, out of their will and
actions, but generally the overall impact of others' actions on our lives is
greatly exaggerated. Even when others say or do things that are hurtful, often
we are largely responsible for HOW MUCH those things hurt us. MOST of the
negative impact of others' actions results not from the actions themselves, but
from the way WE interpret and respond to those actions. For example, somebody
makes a thoughtless and offensive remark, and then we spend days hurting
ourselves by harboring resentment. Let it go! Honestly, each of us has a MUCH
larger share in the creation of our own suffering than we prefer to
admit.
The world we see is the world
we are creating around ourselves. That world includes not just the lifestyle
that we live, but also the people surrounding us, and the way they relate to us.
One man works hard to be reliable, and has the happy experience of being
trusted, while another earns distrust, and suffers THAT unpleasant experience. A
reactive person evokes negative reactions in others; then there are two reactive
people -- or a roomful. Conditions deteriorate instantly. Mayhem!
Look around at what man hath wrought:
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A
bar fight breaks out. Did God create it?
A couple argues. Did God create that
argument?
A world leader
decides to wage war. Did God create that war?
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Clearly, God is not creating those
things -- PEOPLE are! And yet, people suffering those experiences will cry,
"God, why did You make such a miserable, horrible world?" Poor God! And, poor
blaming, irresponsible, disempowered humanity! If people would take
responsibility, we'd create differently. Otherwise, we will continue to create
the 'cruel world' in which we live.
We
seem to have a blind spot that prevents us from seeing the relationship between
what we do and what "happens to" us. Could it be that we're covering our eyes
with our own hands? For example: A person steals at work, gets caught and sent
to jail. The thief complains, "The world is a cruel place -- it jails people."
But a wise voice replies, "The world jails THIEVES. You went to jail because you
were stealing. You don't do the
time if you don't do the crime." If we would admit that, we could get off
blame, and onto a MUCH better life.
It's hard to admit we're creating a cruel
world. Consequently, we're quick to defend against that realization, saying,
"How could I have created THIS? This is NOT the world I want to see!" Wisdom
would reply, "True! This is not the world you want to see; but this is the world
that reflects who you are WILLING to be." If you are willing to start a fight,
the next thing you know, you have a fight on your hands. If you're willing to
steal, you may get caught. Since that is not a world you want to SEE, those are
ways you'd better not BE. |
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Dividing up the
"why pie"
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"The love you take is equal to
the love you make."
"We make
our bed and we lie in it."
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Those
expressions remind us that we are the creators of what happens in our lives. To
understand and accept that principle is to take responsibility -- which is
EXACTLY what the ego wants to avoid. So, to make matters worse, we make our bed
and we lie ABOUT it (that is, we deny or overlook the fact that we ourselves
made it).
As long as we keep ourselves
in the dark about our own responsibility for the world we live in, we won't be
motivated to create differently. People often concern themselves almost
obsessively with the behavior of others, constantly asking, "Why do people do
this and that; and why does God do this and that?" Rarely do people ask, "What
am I doing -- and why am I doing it?" Evidently, people do want to know "why,"
but not if it means they have to eat their share of the "why pie" -- that is,
assume their rightful share of the responsibility.
Oftentimes, the "why pie" is humble pie; that's
why so many of us show an aversion to eating it. We think we're better off NOT
being responsible. But, if we give the lion's share of the responsibility to God
and others, we count ourselves out of the world we see, for all practical
purposes. We deny or underestimate our role in the creation of that world. So,
once we get the WHY -- that is, the responsibility -- wrongly allocated, nothing
makes sense any more. And, nothing works. Displaced responsibility means
confusion and delusion, powerlessness and suffering.
We would be wise to develop a taste for why
pie. It's good for us -- really! Any displaced responsibility robs us of a
portion of our actual power and control. And in our minds, it makes God and
everybody else responsible for our well-being and happiness. Then, when we find
ourselves to be miserable -- because it's impossible for God or anyone else to
make us happy if we don't do our part -- we feel like victims. We complain that
God victimized us, or everybody else victimized us. But the fact is, we have
victimized ourselves. We've defaulted from our own, rightful, God-given
responsibility.
Friends, that's how
God, among others, got in the doghouse. And until we take true responsibility,
that's where they're going to stay. They have to, because we keep putting them
back there, every time something goes wrong. It's up to us to let them
free.
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Wake up at the
wheel
Just as spouses sit in
counseling waiting for one another to change, people sit waiting for God to
become less mean; or to stop allowing bad things to happen -- or to make sure
more good things happen. But, in fact, we -- the people waiting for God -- hold
the steering wheel. And if we are looking to God, or to others, when we should
be watching the road, we steer ourselves into a ditch with our own
hands.
God can't do anything about the
fact that human beings are creating so much pain. We're doing it with our own
free will. We've got to wake up at the wheel. We've got to pay attention to
what's really happening. We've got to see how WE'RE creating the pain we suffer.
We've got to take control ... and responsibility.
It is wise to control your whys, and tragic NOT
to do so. Don't say, "They made me feel this way, or act this way." That's
blame. Instead, take responsibility! Simply and honestly say, "I have
capitulated to culture. I have capitulated to my husband. I have caved in to
expectations. I did that. That's my responsibility. I have displaced my why to
my mate, to common culture, etc., instead of authentically sourcing my own
existence. I need to take my power back; and the only way I can do that is by
being who I am, and taking responsibility for what I do."
Then take responsibility! Admit and correct
your mistakes; but more than that, start creating BEAUTIFULLY. And do it all in
a joyful, loving, Godly way -- as is fitting for a child of God -- not in a
reactive, fiercely independent way, as a martyr or a bitter victim would do.
(That would still be blaming and harvest all of blame's bad results.) If we
would embrace our responsibility in a good spirit, we'd find nothing left to
blame God for -- and MUCH to be thankful for.
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God-seeking is fruitless without
responsibility
This world is
full of seekers who would like to see God, but too often, their motivations are
related to blame. "I'm glad I finally got to meet You, God, because I've got
some grievances ..." Or, "I'm glad I finally got to meet You, God, because I've
got a few problems I'm hoping You can fix for me." Relying on God's help is not
necessarily a form of blame -- in fact, it is appropriate to depend rightly on
God. But dependence on God reflects blame if we put all the responsibility for
fixing our problems on God, and take too little responsibility
ourselves.
It's a given, in the world
of ego, that people hate taking responsibility, or being accountable for their
lives. But until we stop displacing our problems on God, how CAN we rightly
understand God? We can't. How can we succeed in loving, knowing, understanding
God, when we are constantly putting God in the doghouse by blaming God for the
results of OUR choices.
Only if we
will stop blaming God can we SEE the beauty of God, and the beauty of ourselves.
Our world will not be beautiful until we take responsibility for being beautiful
-- as we ARE, as God made us. When we stop blaming God, and start living as we
ARE, we will finally see heaven on earth, where heaven really already
IS.
God is waiting for each and every
one of us to take responsibility, so that our relationship with God can be
fulfilled, and so that WE can be fulfilled. So, stop being an irresponsible
person looking for a scapegoat. Stop making yourself miserable that way. Get
back to responsibility. Back to power. Back to control. Only then can you know
the truth about yourself. And others. And God.
This is the truth: God is love. God loves you.
And God only wants to help you see a better world -- the world GOD
created.
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