The Light in the Woods

2/19/10 Spiritual Presentations        

For quite a while now I haven’t believed heaven to consist of anything other than pure joy. To me this means that nothing of our earthly lives is needed to complete our heavenly lives – friends, relatives, pets, or places that we loved on Earth. Even if you discount that the presence of acquaintances must cause disruption as well as joy, just as they did on Earth, it still seems that they would not be necessary and therefore would be redundant.

It’s my intuition that only God’s presence is necessary for complete joy. But there is something endearing about the possibility of being greeted by loved ones as we approach heaven. After all, the fear of death makes us cling to the thought that we will be helped into the transition by people we know and trust. Yet it doesn’t ring true to me, as the concept of “God is All” is so ingrained in my mysticism, and wishing for something else in heaven seems sacrilegious.

I guess there would be no harm, though, in speculating about these wondrous things, much in the way we review what we would do with a million dollars if we won the lottery. I think it’s human nature, since we don’t know for sure about something that’s inevitable, to make up what we would like to be true just as an exercise.

Tonight as we were ice fishing we were discussing how the people in the stories we tell all seem to have passed on. I mentioned that I’m old enough that I think I know more deceased people than living ones. This got me to thinking that the moment of death must not be too hard to handle, since so many have done it. From there I began to reflect on how people might envision their entry into heaven.

There standing on the huge expanse of lake, the enormity of God’s work came to mind. As wondrous as it is here, how awesome it must be in heaven, where we get the full effect of God. I began to play with thoughts of what I’d like to witness as I pass over, even though it’s my theology that the presence of God will comprise my ecstasy and that alone will be enough for me. I went from being able to eat whatever I want without fullness or guilt to having unlimited opportunity to spend my own time however I want. I thought of the things on Earth I didn’t like and gave some thought to how it would feel to not have to worry about them.  I envisioned a lack of responsibility; the freedom to have my head in the clouds instead of on worldly considerations.

At the end of this exercise I looked out onto the lake and was struck by something I don’t remember ever having noticed before. I never realized how beautiful the smell of warm snow is when the sun starts to go down and the cold starts to bring all the senses into sharpness. It’s like a prayer, a gift, and a comfort from God that all is well because He wills it to be. When we see how God presents beautiful things like the smell of snow to us here on Earth, we can be comforted that He really does want only good for us and is capable of providing it in His mercy – now and on into eternity.

11/12/09 Inspirations              Imagine if there was no such thing as time or space. You would look out on the world from where you stand and say to yourself — ”This is what is. What is here and now is everything there is, just as it is.”

That’s the way things are in Reality – in God’s kingdom, the world as it is without the scales that cover our eyes. In God’s kingdom, this eternity – life without time or space – is the beautiful sum of God’s love. But to us, infinity is frightening because we have become used to the illusion of time and space, and we cannot really imagine existence without them.

And so we try to imagine heaven but fail in that we keep returning to the earthly measurements of time and space. “OK, so there’s heaven and it’s wonderful and it never ends. Except, everything must have an end!” No, just when you’ve expanded your mind to include a life that goes on forever, you’re already imagining the end that must come. You circle around infinity, trying to both embrace and erase within your understanding the concept of endlessness, but you can’t do it, and this frightens you to the point where you can no longer contemplate heaven without unease. But you’ll be back, because as frightening and incomprehensible as eternity is, you would rather face it in consciousness instead of in the black and silent nothingness that would be it’s alternative.

This is why humans, all humans, are pre-programmed for trust in the Creator, whether we acknowledge it or not. We with our minuscule capacity for knowledge can only be immobilized by fear or comforted by faith.  Without this faith that something higher than we are will make everything all right, we are lost in our own home and afraid to leave it.

There are some who claim that when a person finds comfort in faith in God, that in itself is evidence of their delusion; in “real life” we don’t get what we want by wishful thinking, we get it by luck or hard work. But those with faith in God are functioning above and beyond this temporal, worldly life, and worldly measurements do not work there. On this higher plane we do get what we want by wishful thinking. It’s called prayer, and if we pray to be in sync with God’s master plan, we will of course be comforted. The mightiest prayer is “Lord, Your will is done – help me be content in that and I will have comfort in all things.”

The antidote for fear is faith. If you trust in the goodness of an all-wise and all-powerful Creator, what is left to fear?

10/26/09 Insights from Study                          In demanding self-determination, mankind has gotten what it’s asked for – something less than the perfection of God-determination.

That’s how it is; it cannot be changed by us and it will not be changed by God. Life is the hell that we get and keep, and the best way to get through it is to be able to hope for what lies on the other side of it – the perfection of heaven. This can arrive as an unexpected gift. More often, though, it comes to pass by us going to the One Who Knows and asking for perception. This honors Him and allows His grace to give us a glimpse of life to come; a return to the reality of life as God meant it.

Communication from Reality happens all the time, but without the divine grace that makes us able to hear it, it doesn’t provide its full benefit. To listen for God’s word in every piece of creation He has set before us is called “practicing the presence of God”. To desire this lifestyle is to worship the Creator perfectly. God is goodness itself, and as long as our prayer is that we honor God in desiring His will for our own, we will perceive goodness even through the worst of life’s hell.

This is the hope that makes life livable. We realize that here is not reality; that reality lies beyond the nightmare. We see the absurdity of agonizing over something that is not eternal. We see that life can seem better when we are able to see beyond it. We see the love of God at work and know that one day that is all we will see.

10/8/09 Inspirations             It’s come to me to understand that life on Earth is life away from God – living hell; the imperfect state that exists outside of heaven, which is in contrast the perfect state of being with God in His full glory. This Earthly state of being is all we can now perceive, and so we naturally tend to perceive it faultily. When we are able at death to let loose of this illusion, we will have in heaven the perfect perception of reality. Only then will we witness for ourselves that God is indeed perfect goodness; His will is always and only for goodness.

There is no suffering in the Creator’s desires, and therefore none in reality. But we certainly see it here in our disillusionment, and it certainly feels real. What then is God’s place in our Earthly nightmare? His place is to allow us to exercise our free will, yet guide us toward His desires — that is, the rightness and goodness that is the reality we can’t now fully experience on our own.

Though God guides, He never insists that we decide against our own free will. What He will do, and what He does very well, is gift us with the grace to want our free will to match up with His as much as possible.

For each of us who decides for God, there is no lack of those who decide against Him, using free will in ways that don’t glorify the Creator. This is not the same thing as God creating suffering – suffering is illusion created by our demand for autonomy and exercise of free will.  Our demand for a right to sin makes it necessary for us to live in a sin-filled world; there’s no sense in blaming God for the consequences of our seeking to be free from Him.

We choose between evil and good. If we choose good it’s because we are attracted to God’s desire to reclaim us. If we choose evil it’s because we reject God’s desires. We are in control of our free will, but in no way can we change reality through what we do; all we can do is affect this illusion apart from reality – this imperfect state of being we live in. But once we exercise free will, God can use our decision to affect His push toward goodness. This doesn’t mean God uses some of us as instruments of good and some as instruments of evil. It means we decide which role to play and consequently God uses that to fit His own purposes.

As one example: Every time the need to control power makes a war break out, it causes people to flee for safety. Every time there’s a gathering of refugees, there’s an opportunity for others to help bring God to the forefront of their lives.  The warmonger and the helper are what they are not through God’s wishes but through their own free wills. What God does is use the circumstances of their decisions in ways known only to Him and those with whom He wants to share this knowledge.

9/11/09 Insights from Study          How could you improve if you had no opportunity to work at it? Why would you learn how to fall safely if you could always walk perfectly? What would be the purpose of patience in the face of bliss, compassion in a world of universal joy, prudence if angels were always holding you upright, fortitude if you had an army at your side? When would you feel relief if there was no suffering, satisfaction if there was nothing to be done, love if there was no one to love you, peace if you were not free to order your life, or something to look forward to if life on Earth was all there is?

Heaven is the place for perfection, and there perfection is possible because we can at last look upon God in total and experience Him in His fullness. In the meantime, here on Earth, we need to utilize the bad things to cultivate our spirits. This means using free will to power ourselves through our trials, reacting to them in a way that pleases God and inspires His guidance. It’s a waiting time, getting ready for eternal life, and purposefully living in a right-relationship with God amidst our suffering is the strategy that allows us a bit of heaven here on Earth.

It’s not hard to do – once you begin to give up ego and human nature, the challenge becomes a labor of love. Spiritual benefits are always more satisfactory than the stroking of the ego, the indulgence of the body, or the accumulation of things that must only eventually be left behind.  If heaven is the fullness of God’s presence, it stands to reason that joy on Earth consists of experiencing as much of God’s presence here as is possible.  To this end, I want to take my trials, turn them into occasions of loving God, and cultivate my spirituality through God’s help.

Nothing on Earth compares in importance to heaven. We do well to take Earth’s adversity and use it to get close to God’s over-arching of our limitations. For we are headed to a place where we no longer will have adversity, trials, limitations or imperfections. If the presence of God in heaven is what God deems as perfection, we cannot go wrong by seeking what we can of the presence of God here on Earth. This is what mystics believe and what they do in response to this belief.

8/20/09 Reflections              We’re so arrogant to think that just because we can’t understand a thing, that thing cannot be. Those who don’t know, or refuse to acknowledge, God’s master plan, cannot see beyond Earthly death, so they assume there’s nothing. Always we look at things with the imperfect eye of humanity, but because that’s all we know, we think there’s nothing else to know.

God is waiting for us with a life of perfect peace and joy. He isn’t offended when we don’t come to Him to claim it and then blame Him for the painful consequences of our inactions. He keeps it offered and he hopes for our acceptance, because that’s what’s good for us and what’s good for us is what God wants for us.

But we are afraid of faith the more science takes over our interests. We turn to science and away from spirituality when we need to satisfy ourselves that humans are in control. In the matter of death, we know we are not in control, but we place our hope in science to one day discover the fountain of youth. We would like science to discover a way for us to live forever. We hope for human control because we don’t understand divine manifestation.

Even if human control over death were possible, I would definitely want to opt out. Why would I want eternity on Earth when eternity in heaven is already offered?

6/10/09 Inspirations           I don’t remember my Earth birth, but I’m looking forward to my birth into heaven. I’m moved to understand that when I enter the eternal kingdom, I will remember no more of my life on Earth than I remember of the events of my birth. If we are not meant to remember this, then how much of it really matters?

We do things, of course, in support of those who live on, but it would be nice if we could understand in the here and how how big an influence our Creator has on us and on those we love. God takes care of us and that’s all we need in this life and in the next. What would you take to heaven with you out of this world? Nothing, there is nothing here you need. Was it worth what you went through to get it? We strive for so little when we strive for a place in the world. For most of us, the realization will come too late that life itself is our reparation for sin; that once this life is over there is no remembrance of its pain or its joys, because there is no more need for them.

Yet it’s in the here and now that we could benefit from knowing about eternal life, for it would bring beautiful color to our experience as we wait for the perfection to come. But failing that, at least we could take comfort in the fact that we are blessed with God’s care for all of our existence, and learn not to stress ourselves with things that don’t matter. Neither does it pay to worry about what might come to pass, because God is there as well.

If you would pray, pray for the perspective that allows you to enjoy life on Earth as much as possible by making yourself right in God’s eyes and reaping the benefits of the joy and peace that comes from that. And pray in thanks that this relationship is made possible on Earth, in a glimpse of how we will stand when all knowledge of God is ours at last. At that time, our lives on Earth will be a matter too trivial to reflect upon, but if we could, we would reflect upon how we should not have held it in such high esteem at the expense of our relationship with God.

4/10/09 Insights from Study          If Jesus died for the salvation of sinners, then He died for the salvation of all of us, since we are all sinners.

How often this is turned around to mean that Christ’s salvation only works for you once you’ve accepted it! Who are we to accept or reject God’s work? The sacrifice is made – God has declared a new covenant with humanity. It’s finished; our free will doesn’t extend to the power to undo the mercy of God.

It’s for this reason that there can be no eternal damnation, and therefore heaven is not the reward of only a select few. To know this is to know there’s no need to attack others for the glory of God. God’s glory is of His own making – you may choose to welcome it and so experience God’s joy in this life, but an assault on others in His name doesn’t make you more Godly and deserving of heaven. God, manifesting Himself as Jesus, accomplished your place in heaven for you. The proper gratitude is love, and love is within the reach of all of us. Christians are to be recognizable by their love. But not all Christians love, and not all that love are Christians.

The irony is that the brilliant arrangement of God’s plan – salvation for all and knowledge of what’s good and fine to reside in every heart – gives us all the proof we need of His existence, whether we accept Him or not. Knowledge of right and wrong goes hand-in-hand with intuitive need to do what’s right. A strictly biological being, unaffected by a supreme plan, would not base its actions on anything so subjective as holiness and evil, but on what bodes best for its survival.

Without the divine plan over-riding survival instinct, shame and guilt and fear of reprisal could never play a part in propagation of the human species, as these emotions repress the dominance of the ego and its self-purposes. Without the divine plan over-riding survival instincts, love and charity and humility would be unknown, as these virtues fly in the face of survival of the fittest; of self before all else.

In fact, all emotions could be counterproductive to raw survival since they benefit others over self. Yet we cannot deny we have these emotions. Where do they come from, if not from divine providence? If the soul is useless and even dangerous to the body and its needs, where do emotions come from and why haven’t they been lost to evolution? Could the knowledge of right and wrong and our propensity to choose right and suffer from the consequences of choosing wrong truly indicate that there is a Master and a master design that provides for us, protects us, and guides us with loving care? And wouldn’t this plan by definition include salvation for every being?

I thank You, Jesus, for Your part in the master plan. May I see how blessed I am through You now and for always. May I spread Your word in the way You intended – by my actions melded with what You desire for me. Thank you for the promise to bring us all home to You.

4/5/09 Insights from Prayer         In theology, the religious tend to live out of a love of God and fear of everlasting damnation, while the spiritual tend to live out of a love of God and gratitude for the promise of everlasting life with Him. Religious believe scripture holds all we need to know; spirituals believe it’s possible to know beyond that by listening for inspiration from God Himself. For example, “Ask and you shall receive” appears in scripture, but a spiritual person knows what that really means because they have asked and received. Scripture contains seeds for understanding; God provides the understanding itself.

You can be both religious and spiritual, but in this day and age faith has become controversial and so we are ever more likely to take a stand within ourselves. The world has begun to experience religious bigotry on a grand scale, and we each may realize that some of that bigotry is ours. So well we might run away from it, straight into the arms of God, Who will gladly teach us what He wants us to know. Mystics get it – if you go to God for care and comfort, God is not too mighty to communicate with you personally.

Many religions give this lip-service, but think of it as blasphemy. They preach God’s mercy, but don’t affectively accept it. They pronounce God’s glory, but keep as far away from Him as possible out of feelings of unworthiness. Church service and calls to prayer are lovely rituals, but you are not spiritual until you can call God by name while you’re signing autographs, lounging on the couch, or rolling in the gutter in a drunken stupor. You have religion, but you live spirituality. You keep your humanity shame-facedly hidden with religion; with spirituality you celebrate your divinity by living with God every second. You know what scripture means when it says “Pray without ceasing” because you stepped away from the book and had a conversation with the author. It’s not about your agenda; it’s about God’s. Yes, we’re sinners and yes, we’re unworthy in our own right, but fortunately our right-relationship with God isn’t up to our abilities but to God’s gift-giving.

I don’t disparage another’s path as long as it’s the will of God, for each of us must be different in order to fulfill God’s plan. But I find I have to defend my spirituality against those not so open-minded, and explain why it’s the better way for me and possibly for them too if they would open up their minds to it.

As Jesus walks this week toward His sacrificial death, let’s remember what killed Him – slavish adherence to a set of rules God never requisitioned. This too is part of God’s plan.  Easter Week is time for all Christians to rededicate their dedication. So Christians can encourage all of the world’s people to rejoice in the gift of God’s personal relationship to each of us and all of us – our spirituality.

1/9/09 Inspirations            I’m able to see the big picture. I don’t know how it happens; I don’t know why I was singled out for it. But my glimpses of immortality tell me what to expect of heaven in this way – it’s so far more glorious than we can imagine that it doesn’t make sense to apply what we know as a way of imaging what we don’t.

As far as I could ever explain, heaven is a state we’re in; a state of euphoria where we need nothing and seek nothing. This doesn’t sound heavenly to our bodily priorities, which are all about acquiring things, but fortunately we won’t have bodily priorities in heaven. We will have spirit – the pure state of divinity freed from all else. No time, no space, no comparison, no decision, no need, no fear. What this means is that anything we speculate in this life about heaven will fall short of reality, because the reality of heaven will have no substance comparable to what exists for us here.

And yet there are clues. I’m so sorry if you think this infused certitude is my pride talking. Ironically, if you knew what I know you’d see it as just exactly the opposite of pride. I only mean to praise God for having glorified my spirit to the point where I can be of service to Him on your behalf. I really have no choice but to say this, but I say it knowing it’s at the risk of you’re hating me because it may go against what you believe or what you hope. From within the backdrop of infinity, I don’t know much more than anyone else, but what I do know brings great peace and joy. I intuit that it’s this peace and joy, a little heaven on Earth, that will do more to bring us the hope of everlasting life with God than any human-conceived tool we employ to ensure all humans have the rewards of goodness as their goal.

God’s message is that life on Earth is a small, close to meaningless, obstacle on the way to everlasting glory. In heaven there is no pain remembered; no anguish recalled — human things unreal; the whole Earthly experience a bad dream unredeemable and inconsequential. God’s message is that we should therefore not put much importance onto the things of the Earth. This includes everything of Earth, though created by God Himself, including faith and family and country and the welfare of the world. He wants those things to be taken care of as a result of our living with the presence of God first and foremost in our minds. Those things can cause despair if not placed in proper perspective, and it’s this despair that grieves Him, for it’s proof that we have misplaced the vision of life everlasting that should be sustaining us. God is pleading with us to let Him run the world according to His own purposes — priorities unknown to us. We place too much importance on the fleeting pleasantries of the world and our own machinations necessary to get them, and we become disillusioned with life itself when these favors fall short of our spiritual longing, a God-given gift which sustains us in our very essence.

Heaven is God’s love pure and complete; heaven is populated by every spirit His mind has ever conceived. How could it be otherwise? Some will be shocked by what I’ve seen. Where is the resurrection of our bodies? Where is the separation of the sheep and goats? The hope of being greeted by loved ones who have gone on before? All unnecessary – all concepts altered for human-limited worldly consumption. Bibles, sacraments, prayers, precepts, rewards? All unnecessary – all designed as temporal tools outside the realm of reality. It has ever been so – we’ve all lived in delusion because we are none of us God’s love – the only reality there is. The process is the stripping away of our humanity so that all there is in existence is divinity, by which we can experience God fully. Nothing of man’s life on Earth matters in the big picture; it’s man’s presence in the mind of God that counts.

What is heaven like? Not anything we can envision without help from our Creator. And yet it’s uplifting to dream, as long as it draws us to what is truly important to God and to ourselves. I would like to sit down with God at a banquet table and have Him answer every question I’ve ever wondered about. So go ahead and dream of what heaven could be, but please allow me to tell you this: It will be infinitely more awesome than you’re capable of imagining. Don’t limit yourself to the human concept of what is important in any aspect of life on Earth. Praise God from within that He has goodness planned for you that is far beyond the fears and cheers of in this world. Keep the importance of this world in perspective as you gaze upon the eternity of the next one.