Great Blog From My Friend, Dena

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

http://shalomdena.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-about-gods-will.html

What About God's Will...?

God's will ... what is God's will? Both in general, and specifically?

What have you learned over the years about God's will? Here's how I was previously taught to view it - your mileage may vary:

- There is only one good and right way to do a thing (any thing) - I must find and do God's will - or else!

- If I do not find and do God's will, I will face dire consequences (in the temporal, that means God will have to punish me to teach me a lesson; in the eternal, that may mean that God will have no choice but to send me to the endless torment/separation of "hell").

- Of course, the problem is that God's will is elusive ... there are seeming contradictions within Scripture (not to mention within Christianity!), which can lead me in various "biblical" directions -- and I have to figure out what God's will is for me, now -- and there's always a looming deadline (at some arbitrary point, when God runs out of patience and long-sufferingness, that it is *too late*..!).

- If I miss God's will, then I'm doomed to living a life of "Plan B" ... being regarded by God, and all those folks who successfully discovered (whether by cleverness or accident) God's will, as a spiritually second-class person. Being continually reminded by God (& all those God's-will-finders) that I *failed*... enduring their looks of pity and judgment for having "missed God's will."

- Since God's will is so hard to find, I'd better listen to "spiritual authorities" and do what they say, in order to be "safe" (i.e., fear will serve to keep me safe).

- God's will is something that I can thwart, either by commission or omission, to my detriment, devastation and even destruction.

LIES!!! (she says, with gleeful conviction!)

Changing from that perspective into the perspective I now have, was a process. No momentary theophany, nor sudden revelation, but a slow series of encounters with the Real God - replacing the god I had created in my own image (yeah, we keep doing that -- the Bible is *full* of examples of humans doing that, which we then turn into "doctrine"!).

I remember reading a little booklet put out by Frank Viola, about rediscovering the will of God ... he said that most of us had the notion that God's will was akin to "finding the right parking space" ... but that God wanted us to know that HE owns the entire parking lot, and He delights to allow us to choose to park where we desire. Even to change parking spaces, at will. In other words, it's all His -- we can move freely within those very-broad boundaries.

That was a new and startling concept to me ... it began to unravel the fear-knot I had about God & His will ... it began the process of seeing God through new and astonished eyes.

Much has happened since I read that ... many experiential encounters with the Living God which have shown me who He really is, and thus who I really am (more connected than I had ever dared to fathom!). To me, life is more about being connected (Spirit), than about being correct (ego).

Here's where I am now, with regards to God's will:

I see God's will and my will as one and the same.

Yep - I said that. Does it strike you as blasphemous..? ;)

(all truths, I notice, first appear to be blasphemies ...)

I see God's will being about lavish freedom -- rather than God saying, "you'd better figure out what I want," I experience God asking, "what do *you* want?" I hear Him saying, "I am in you, and you are in Me -- we are One -- I have given you and all of humanity this wonderful gift called life, to be lived out on this glorious planet. In this context of relativity, you may freely explore ... you may discover, through the gift of trial-and-error, what works, what doesn't work so well ... what defines you and what no longer does ... what is helpful and what is harmful ... what draws you closer to Me and others, and what causes you to *feel* separation (even though you will eventually realize that there is no separation from Omnipresence, nor from everyone to whom you are connected as One) ... the point being for you to learn from your choices and the naturally-occurring law of consequences (as real as the law of gravity) ... to dive headlong into live, and live - really live - (trusting-through-experiential-discovery that I really *have* put My/your very desires within you!) ... to discover the Abundant Life that I've provided for you, here and now, in My Presence, here in My Kingdom, which, while you may not *observe* it, is far more real than anything tangible you can physically see ... to realize that I am with you, that nothing can separate you from Me (including yourself!), that the outcome (union with Me) is assured ... that you have nothing to fear but your own delusional fears ... that life is not about win/lose, pass/fail, heaven/hell (except in your perceived experience - for have I not said, "Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds " and have I not called you to renew your minds, replacing your perspective with My own?) ... that you can move out of the egoic-duality of your thinking (derived from the tree of the knowledge of "good" and "evil" - each determined by your own illusions & judgements) into the liberating mystery of Divine Dichotomy, wherein all things are good from My ultimate perspective ... and merely need to be worked out in your own unfolding journey, as I continue to show you just how VERY much you are made in My own image ..."

(OK, so maybe you hear Him differently, but I've discovered that God speaks through my feelings, thoughts and circumstances ... and so too is His/my will revealed ... AS I live my life, AS it unfolds before me, AS I hear and respond to the inner Voice which leads me, as me, the REAL me, which is spirit/Spirit, and not my ego, which is only masquerading as me, sneaky 'lil thing that it is ...!)

I've learned that God's will is revealed in what *IS*. God comes to me, cleverly disguised as my own life.

And so, I do not any longer experience His will as something elusively-beyond me, something to seek, find and lay hold of (& force myself to *do*), but that which will emerge, because of what I experience with Him (& not because of any concepts/doctrines I have studied). The former is on the Spirit level - the latter is on the egoic level.

I experience the will of God as the very air I breathe, the very life I live, the very steps I take ... for in Him I live and move and have my being. He is nearer than breath, closer than hands and feet ... He is HERE, NOW ...!

Breathe Him ... taste Him ... hear Him ... see Him ... experience Him -- all around and within you.

Shalom, Dena

P.S. Word-of-the-Day (composed by my main-squeeze, Mark):

Oppor-unity - The potential for people, with differing perspectives, to enjoy the experience of Oneness, anyway.