There was a time, in the history of our species, when we communed with love and walked with God. A time before the barriers that we have created in between ourselves and God were erected. Before we walked away from God, and separated ourselves from the wholeness of ourselves. Before what the bible called "the fall", before the entrance of fear, separation and competition as our default reaction.
We experienced and lived life in an utterly fulfilled and happy wholeness of spirit, and an expression of the creator which we have forgotten today. A freedom of being, a freedom of spirit and a freedom from stress and anxiety, the expression of life that was completely free of, and utterly unacquainted with, fear. We walked in the cool of the day, sharing completely freely and hiding nothing from the creator in whose image we were created to be, and express.
Today we live with the mistaken perception that the drama, and the struggle for survival, is who are. The world may be a stage but, we've forgotten that we are actors, writers and produce of our stories, the masters of our own destinies. Fear has led us to create religions out of distortions of life's (God’s) truths, creating instead complex rituals, rules and regulations, control mechanisms and stories to try and restore our perceptions of control and certainly.
All of these things have had one effect, and it's devastating our lives, and it is preventing communion with our origins and with our true selves. We've been doing this for a long time now, believing that the story is real, and then forgetting that you and I truly are made to communicate, commune with, and express our hearts connection the divine.
All of our fear based cultural/religious rituals are there to help us control our fears (although, they only seem to exacerbate them) and to try and maintain control over the circumstances of life by of all things, the continual fearing of God. We are told that Agape (unconditional acceptance/love) is the essence of the almighty, and yet we relate to him with fear. Acceptance, we are told is our natural state of being, we are after all created in the image of that which accepts, and yet fear and separation is still predominant in our lives.
Superstitions are nothing else but fear filled little rituals designed to restore our sense of control, small and sometimes large, annoyingly habitual practices, which restore our perceptions of control and safety. But, again, all they do is maintain the thoughts of fear.
Daily life is dominated by, and saturated in, fear based reactions. Mostly, unconscious culturally re-enforced reactions, learnt reactions, to life's apparent lack of control. The ritual of worrying about life and about what might happen, what might not happen or, about how you would cope with this, that, or the other usually imagery scenario manifested suddenly or unexpectedly in your life.
Life is full of "what ifs", potentially calamitous events are waiting around every corner, and we even believe that to behave responsible is to worry. Again, all this ever archives is our continued separation from original source, from God's gentle acceptance and from our true selves.
Life is so stressed, full of a zillion things that you must, must be, do, have or need in order to survive, and be able to feel secure or successful. There are lists upon lists, do's and don'ts, rules and regulations, principles and step by step plans, all of which guarantee fulfilment and success. Again, all this ever archives is our continued separation from original source, from God’s gentle acceptance and from our true selves.
The very things that are meant to return us home (to God) have been hijacked by fear and ritualised, defeating and defying their origins and their purpose. I know, I keep returning to religions, and its complexity can't be discussed here. But religions are the institutions that were meant to return us to God, but for the most part and for most of us, they've failed. Instead of banishing the fears that continue to blight our hearts and our minds, they seem to be reinforcing the manifestations of those fears, strengthening their grip not loosening them.
I know, I know, I just might have put the cat amongst the pigeons here and upset some people, but it seems to me that most adherence to religions don't reach or fulfil their potential. They have rules and regulations that are rooted in fear, that's not what our species spiritual journey is meant to be used for, and it's not what our relationship with God is meant to be about.
Again, we have rules and restrictions, rituals designed to mollify sense of fear, of separation and of anger. These rules and restrictions are also, dare I say, indoctrination systems of control, (another cat amongst the pigeons, I know) used by those persons who are even more deeply entrenched in fear than the rest of us. Again, all this ever archives is the continued experience of separation from original source, from God’s gentle acceptance and from our true selves.
So, how do we change the status quo? How can we return to the intimacy and fulfilment of God, for which we so deeply yearn?
Well, as I've been saying, we all carry an enormous amount of baggage when it comes to our relationship with God. There's the parent / child relationship paradigm of the misbehaving child, and the authoritarian, angry father to be considered. First of all, the manifestation of life (God) that apparently pervades religious thinking is not true; he's not going to throw a tantrum if you haven't got everything just right.
This simply isn't true, fear based reactions have no place in your relationship with God, God loves you unconditionally, no stings attached, it really is that simple. You are accepted by life, God needs nothing of you, has no requirements of you, demands anything of you or any other attachments to the way you should be performing.
This realization of God’s heart removes a large number of the obstacles to the realization of who you are; it takes away so much of the aforementioned baggage and opens the door to our peace and tranquillity. We can, and we should, be able to stand up, walk or even dance with the creator in complete freedom and with joyfulness.
Who are these humans that he would walk with them?
Jesus considered it not blasphemous to think of himself as equal to God, and neither should you! The whole of him, the whole of life itself literally resides in you, and in fact is you. Being made in the image and likeness of God doesn't mean that we are mere reflections, poor copies of the almighty. We are ALL literally his image, and his manifestation, in the world. All of life, not just humanity, is in essence an expression of his glory.
As Gandhi once said:
"God has no religion."
My point is that all of the thoughts, the rules, the regulations, and the rituals are man made attempts at regaining our place within heaven. The hoops we jump through, and the mental, spiritual and physical gymnastics we perform and the struggle we go through are all our way to (from the perspective of fear) cajole love into loving us again, in essence we're desperate to get into God’s good books and to be free of fear. Making it ironic, not to mention insane, that we tend to use fear filled tactics and actions to remove the things that we're most afraid of.
So at this point, you're probably asking. Well, come on then, tell me. What do I have to be, doing, get or need to return home to God, and to be free of fear?
Consider the following possibilities:
Firstly, there is nothing you can do, or for that matter, could do to get control of and/or make happen through certain ritualised actions, threat of any kind (imagine threatening, God) that could ever trick God into letting you in heaven.
Why? Not because he's an angry God like some would content, and not because you are so irretrievably sinful, either. But because there is nothing you need to do, have to be or needed to become and for that matter, nowhere to go or place to be. You don't need to be accomplished in this discipline, or know the right or best answer to every question, or memorise every scripture or worry about following the correct doctrine. Heaven is waiting for you, it doesn't need to be earned, he loves you - you are there now, right where you are. You are with God in his presence and literally in him and with him, he is closer than you could imagine. Now, live with the knowledge that you are already home.
Doctrines are man made attempts to understand the needs of God. A way to figure out how God wants you to behave and what he wants you to believe, it's all about feeling safe and being correct, it is figuring out God’s rules and regulations. God’s needs, by the way are nonexistent, divinity by definition is without need. And since you and I are in his image…? Well…?
Secondly, is it possible that the only thing that separates us from God’s light, his love for us, and his consciousness is our fears? Our fear based culture and the fear entrenched thoughts we have fed our hearts on for so long? Well, think about it. Is it?
This world is amazingly unaware of the almighty, he's everything everywhere and (here's where I upset people, again) he is a part of everyone (he couldn’t be omnipresent, and therefore divine if he didn’t reside within all of us) and yet we don't see him, and we (for the most part) don't know him. He is right here with you, always available, always accepting. There is nowhere you can go to in the whole of the physical universe to be apart from him. He's literally closer to you than your own skin, and he's waiting, waiting for you to recognise, receive and acknowledge his voice.
"There's nothing you have to do, really, except get out of your own way."
~ Neale Donald Walsch
Thirdly, get out of your own way! We, or rather our thoughts and emotions, are a hindrance to our peace. Our egoism is fed by fear and the overly confident believe in our separateness and individualism. Somehow the ego is terrified of letting go; it's terrified of ceasing to exist. But, you don't have to remove the ego just ask it to step aside, take authority and tell it to take a back seat, and no longer let it be in the driving seat.
"This above all: to thine own self be true."
-William Shakespeare
We are all constantly being something that we are not, actors in the story we call our lives. Stop stand still, listen to the divine, he's right there within you. Not being who you are here to be is as natural a small bird trying to bark like a dog, and about as easy. Listening to the music of life, the song of your heart's desires and following its gentle melody is all about the finding of your joy and doing it.
Being someone you're not is both tiring and time consuming, but being your own self is invigorating and freeing to express, experience and explore. As I've been saying, loose the world's worries about the future, and dump all the stuff, the baggage we drag around. What can man do to you anyway? You're made from God stuff, literally, that's what being made in his image means!
So, it's time we delved within ourselves to rediscovered and remember ourselves, and remember our true connection with the divine. You and I truly are made to communicate, commune with, and express our hearts connection with the divine. All of us, all of life, are freedom of expression, an expression of the creator which we had forgotten, we are the free - essence of love - love is the essence of us all.
Life is meant to be fun, whilst we are travelling in life with each other, relationships were intended to provide fulfilment and joy. We have separated each other and from God’s gentle embrace the manifestation of life's joy is lost, replaced by life's trials. It's time to replace the nightmare with a treasured dream; it's time to drop the pretence and illusions of this world.
Walk free of fear, go out in joy and be lead forth in peace, sore on wings as eagles! Acceptance of your heart's desires and your deeply felt true selves is here. Again, lose the fear of what is nothing but an illusory creation, a creation that is shaped by your predominant emotions, by the way, and allow your ego to fade into the background.
Get back to the garden, stand tall in the cool of the day allowing love to be the predominant emotion and once again communion with the depths of God’s heart. You are His love expressing itself, you no longer have a need for all the intervening noise of life to stifle it's, and your wholeness, from freely being lived.
I know that it is difficult to break free of fear. Daily life is dominated by the words of fear, but be persistent; one step at a time, form new habits and renew your mind. Be very choosy about what you allow into your home and your heart, your dream waits, you'll get there, we all will.
Ephesians 5:8
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.
It's finally time to drop the pretence and illusions of this world, the torment and the cultural paradigm of fear. It’s finally time to replace all our culturally re-enforced reactions, learnt fear responses and the struggling to get control of our lives. Again, dump the baggage and remove the barriers to peace and love freely, be utterly open to the realization of who you are. Life is on your side, life will conspire to get you to wherever you choose to go, and bring to being whatever you choose. Choose carefully, choose deliberately, choose wisely and choose with love.
