THE REST OF THE STORY

In my post yesterday I wrote, "More and more I’m believing that the way to no more arguments, up to and including wars, is to be the one to agree first."

The rest of the story is that self-willing agreement just to be the first is just another self-determined objective. I've believed for some time now that there is no God in self-determined objectives.

Sidebar: I hope it is obvious that there is a mountain of difference between self-determined objectives and personal goals. Self-determined objectives as mentioned here relate to human relationships as per the Sermon. Personal goals are self-explanatory.

The joy living the Sermon brings, the "agree with your adversary quickly," "turn the other cheek," "resist not evil," cannot be found through self-willing any part of it. To happily live the Sermon, or any spiritual principle for that matter, we must realize, surrender to, a power greater than ourselves.

The hardest thing life is ever going to ask of us, according to me, quite simply is to change our mind.

We are taught that it takes great love and/or great suffering to ever realize, even partially, the love of God. The few stories I've read of the lives of some of the  saints surely make that point. I'm reminded of Mother Teresa whose diaries and letters set out her great torment at her own lack of faith. I always figured she had extremely high standards for herself...but maybe that's our problem, too. The answer is not to lower our standards, it's to change our mind.

We must needs remember that God's good is by God's own standards. On its face, God's good rarely, if ever, comes to us looking like rainbows and roses. It may look to our reasoning mind like dog dung...to our reasoning mind, it may even smell like dung.

Leave that reasoning mind behind...rise up, rise up! We go beyond reason to love.

Thank you.

ON GETTING OVER OUR OWN SELF

More and more I’m believing that the way to no more arguments, up to and including wars, is to be the one to agree first. I'm guessing that the biggest impediment to our willingness to agree first is our projecting the final worst-case result. Which, of course, is fear of looking like a loser.

I say "looking like" because in God's world, there are no losers. And there it is. That is the concept we must needs grasp, or we'll live at war forever.

We need to learn to think small...to project smaller...to detach in a word. Detach from our own opinions, from our own fears.

In growing spiritually, we learn to distrust the reasoning mind for, led by ego, it will always legislate for itself. Those who have made the decision to seek still more spiritual growth are learning to legislate for others...we are learning to give over, or just get over ourselves actually.

We learn to keep our imagination reined in to our Self...right now...in this moment. This is the only place God is to us...within us now, this instant.

Same goes with Putin/Obama right this minute. Ditto our friend/sibling/parent/spouse /boss/co-worker who may or may not be giving our ego fits. God's got it...God cannot not "got" it.

According to me, that is the way to no more wars. Each of us learns to turn within and humbly ask for the knowledge to do our higher power’s will, whatever that may be, then be ready to accept that it will not be to our ego’s liking or for our ego’s benefit. It will always be for the benefit of another...seemingly.

It is by the sense of joy we experience when we give over to another that we understand that God is always on our side. With God, we are never left out. That's what makes ego deflation in depth painless in the end...and chances are the ego, being self-centered in the extreme, will think it's done good and won't even know it's been had! 

God loves us so much.

Thank you.

IT IS GOD'S, AND IT IS DONE

Some years back, I had a friend whose college-bound son did not want to go to college. My friend suspected drugs, she suspected a lot of things actually, and her suspicions were making her nuts. She finally realized and said that she would just have to hug him and kiss him and let him go.

I've used that phrase as a reminder to myself ever since...whenever I get up in my head, directing the traffic of my recalcitrant thoughts, I consciously hug 'em and kiss 'em, and let 'em go.

I'm reminded of that this morning for my "God Calling" is all about our very need being God's call. It is in the very need that our healing is completed. Completed! I've underlined that in many colors with exclamation marks out to the side, and yet it seems every year that I'm blown-away in delight when I read it...as if I never read it before.

And here's the gift...the new way of thinking: At one time that would have been depressing to me...that I could read the same thing every year and it seem like news to me each year. "When will I ever learn?" would have been my lament. My realization now is this being news to me each year is proof that I am still growing in the right direction...I will have needs until three days after I'm dead if I'm doing it right. So every year on this day, my need of the moment is abated...with delight. What a priceless gift.

Which brings us again to the fact that there are two ways of looking at everything...materially (reasoning mind) or spiritually. The reasoning mind is fairly cynical (it dare not hope), so how is every year there's a need driving us a good thing? Those of us who rely on the reasoning mind will find that hard to love.

Yet, those of us seeking still more spiritual growth can rest in the reminder that our very need is God's call...it is not ours to fix, it is God's, and it is done. And that is hard to hate.

Thank you.

THE OTHER SIDE OF DREAD AND FEAR

Praise is such a fickle bitch. That's all we need to remember when we're worried about looking good in public as opposed to showing our butt in public...neither being a particularly fine state of consciousness, but they pretty much comprise the human condition. Seems like to me at any rate.

I'm convinced it is the human condition that we must loose our hold of...the excuse of the human condition, really. "Fear is the human condition so don't beat yourself up for feeling fear." Since fear is the basis of every human defect of character, according to me, it seems to me we can accept our human condition, but, if we are to find peace (for it is impossible to live at peace in fear), we seek spiritual solace in that human condition. In other words, instead of excusing ourselves we seek a different perspective in order to change...specifically, to change our mind.

Since there are two ways to view everything...from the reasoning mind perspective and/or spiritually...we know we must go beyond reason to love...to live at peace within ourselves.

I am reminded of the story of St. Francis, who, on being asked how to find perfect joy, explained that perfect joy does not come from the adoration of others, or being able to heal others, or by doing great charitable works. He went on to explain the secret of perfect joy:

Brother, suppose we go to that monastery across the field and tell the gatekeeper how weary and cold we are, and he calls us tramps and beats us and throws us out into the winter night. Then, Brother, if we can say with love in our hearts, 'Bless you in the name of Jesus,' then we shall have found perfect joy.

There. That explains to a T why we stay stuck in the comfort of the human condition. While Francis's way is spiritual, noble and holy, it surely sounds very, very uncomfortable.

And that is the paradox of still more spiritual growth...from the reasoning mind's standpoint, you just know it is going to be hard, and it is going to hurt, probably a lot. But it is in the doing, the walking with God to the other side of our dread and fear, that we find perfect joy. Which the human condition can never deliver.

Thank you.

GOD CAN AND WILL IF SOUGHT

I lived a miracle recently. I did nothing of mine own self. That's how I know it was a miracle.

I had it in mind (I was obsessed with the idea) to set straight my friend Gertrude (who has been a royal pain, and I have forgiven her enough already). Being not entirely stupid, I knew very well that would be heading down that wrong road again, so I knelt (yes! on my bum knees!), and I thanked God for the opportunity to get over myself with regard to Gertrude. I assured him he was going to have to do the heavy lifting because if I could've, I would've by now. Thank you and Amen.

Here was me, consumed in the night with thoughts of what I "needed" to do and how I "needed" to do it...and the next morning the first friend I met, literally the very first, was Gertrude. The second friend I met was a friend of ours who came walking by at that very same time! She was delighted to see us both, and we all had a group hug right there on the street.

We all laughed and scratched and hugged and went to brunch together. And I was supremely unconscious of the irony or the grace of it. It just was, and I enjoyed it as did the other two.

I had not another thought about my all-consuming resentment, and yesterday afternoon Gertrude called to say how much she enjoyed brunch, and we agreed to do it again soon.

As I fixed dinner for Ruckus, I was lit by the fire of realization. I recognized the miracle, but more important, I saw that it came only after I had made my decision to throw in with God on this and had told us so in grateful prayer.

God can and will if sought. We say it so often...we hear it said even more often. I'm kinda glad it's still a surprise when it proves true.

Thank you.

THE GRACE OF SURRENDER

Blinding flash of the obvious: To be misunderstood is truly of God for nothing drives the ego harder, resisting. That resistance drives us to our knees, and, lo, there's our angel aborning.

This is innate knowledge that comes back to us only through "great love or great suffering."  This is where we make our U-turn...away from self back to God. We realize that our one instruction at birth was to return free of self. We learn...slowly...that can only be accomplished through care and concern for others...the pearl of great price.

Thus when we are sent to our knees, in realization of our own powerlessness, we go in gratitude for being misunderstood. We choose peace rather than a useless, fret-filled ego victory where we can only come out the loser...even if we win. Especially when we win.

To win is to have to fight the same battle again...and again...for it is only in our reasoning mind that our ego wins. We will refight the same battle endlessly until our reasoning mind gives up the fight...we crash and burn so to speak.

It is when we declare our self the loser that we find joy. We know grace for we are free. There. That, Beloved, is what is known as surrender. And we realize there was never a fight to begin with...there was only God.

Thank you.

TO FORGIVE? OR TO ANALYZE?

I awoke this morning with one thought in mind..."I want to live this day with a forgiving heart and head."

My second thought..."or would it be head and heart?"

I'm guessing I need go no further in explaining what I've been pondering ever since...three full hours later. Not even how to have a forgiving heart and head...or head and heart. Just which comes first...a forgiving head to order the heart, or a forgiving heart to whisper to the head?

It doesn't take Jung to spot the missing link. Forgiveness itself. I'm so busy analyzing which one, head or heart, goes first that actually forgiving is forgotten.

And there's my gold! That being true, it follows that I haven't had a thought as to whom in my head I want to forgive.

I'm going to let that be close enough to perfect for me.

Thank you.