Meditations on God

Our Purpose Defined

From time to time, we all experience the fear that we do not or can not know our life’s purpose.

Our purpose has already been laid out for us, however.

We have been told to love God with all of our hearts, souls, and minds, and to love each other as ourselves.

But, as simple as this sounds, it is often quite difficult for us to accept.

This simple purpose is difficult for us to accept because, in its perfect expression, we receive none of the credit for our actions.

This purpose was not our idea.

Nor will we receive any of the glory for fulfilling it.

There is no egoistic satisfaction in loving God or our fellows and that makes it very difficult for us to fully process in our minds, embrace in our hearts, and manifest in our lives.

No matter how humble we are, there is always some part of us that wants the credit for our good thoughts, words, and deeds.

This is the part of us that we are attempting to transcend through our contemplative practices, but it will haunt us to some degree or another until the day we die.

In spite of this, our job is to return to our purpose over and over again no matter how many times and in how many ways we stray away from it.

This act of returning to love time and time again is the essence of what we call the spiritual path.

May 30, 2021

acceptance, ego, god, love, purpose

Love Heals The Sharer

When in doubt, love one another.

At times, life can be difficult and confusing.

We can struggle to find purpose and meaning.

We are not alone in this.

Others struggle also.

Some may struggle more than us.

Some may struggle less.

But, no one is exempt from pain, suffering, and strife.

Given this fact of existence, we could all use a little bit more compassion and patience.

When we are feeling down, while it may be difficult to see past our challenges, we will be well served by turning our thoughts toward others.

The world needs more love.

We all need more love.

Instead of waiting for someone else to be the one to bring love into our lives, there is no reason we cannot be the ones to bring love to others.

Not only will this help the person or persons we direct our attention toward, but it will also help us to overcome our difficulties.

Love shared is also experienced by the sharer, sometimes even more so than by the recipient.

When we are feeling lost, confused, or are experiencing irreconcilable pain or grief, even if we feel that we have nothing to offer anyone, we can always offer love.

This is because we are not the source of love.

We are merely its vessel.

Love, coming from an infinite source, never runs out.

We need only to tap into it and to share it.

May 29, 2021

caring, healing, love, sharing

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is that, if we let down our guard, if we drop the facade of our ego, and open up our hearts to the love of God, that it will not be there to greet and comfort us when we do.

We fear that, on the other side of vulnerability, we will find nothing, that we will be alone, and through this experience, we will lose all hope.

So we cling to our beliefs, opinions, prejudices, and all of the other aspects of what we consider to be our identities as a way of maintaining the perceived security of our existence.

But, if we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that this ego-driven existence, based on the purely superficial aspects of who we are, is ultimately a shallow one.

There has to be something more to life, especially to our internal life, than merely what we think about ourselves and present to others based on those thoughts.

Still, if we have never experienced anything other than the dubious security of self, we have reason to be afraid that there is not.

That is where faith comes in.

Without some degree of fear, doubt, and worry, we would not need faith in the first place.

We cannot know that God’s love will be there for us unless we first let go of our selves.

This means walking through our deepest fear as if God’s love will be there after we do because this is the only way to find out.

If either our curiosity or our suffering is great enough, we will step into the unknown and our question will be answered.

May 28, 2021

ego, faith, fear, god, identity, love, security

Love’s Light On Fear

Fear can convince us to do the exact things that will cause our fears to come true.

Fear is insidious and deceitful.

It is a trickster and a thief.

It is a powerful force that can control and destroy us if we allow it to.

And, we may not even know that it is happening until it is too late.

This is why we need other people in our lives who hold us accountable, keep us honest, and who tell us what we need to hear even when we do not want to hear it.

We need people in our lives who recognize when we are being driven by fear, people who love us enough to not let this happen without speaking up about it in an attempt to stop it.

By ourselves, we are partially blind.

For better or worse, we cannot see all of the truth about who we are or who we are becoming when it is just us.

That is why fear wants us to be alone.

It wants to keep us blind and in the dark.

But, our relationships, if they are healthy, bring light into our lives.

This light kills fear and keeps it at bay because the light of these relationships is the light of love and, where there is love, fear cannot be sustained.

May 27, 2021

community, fear, friendships, love, relationships

Shared Joy

Joy is sweeter when it is shared.

While we can and should find joy on our own, it is much easier to sustain and grow this feeling when we do so with and for others.

Our joy is not meant to exist purely in isolation.

Joy is intended to be a shared experience.

In fact, the more we help to create joy in the lives of others, the more we, ourselves, experience it.

This is why a life of selfishness turns sour so easily.

When we live a life based purely on selfish interests and intentions, we find that joy eludes us.

The more we we try to take for ourselves, the farther away joy seems to get.

If we continue to take and take, the emptiness inside of will continue to grow.

Nothing will satisfy our needs and wants, and we will be in constant conflict with ourselves and others.

The alternative is to give freely of ourselves in exchange only for the satisfaction that comes from doing so.

We cannot expect our investment in others to be returned to us.

That is not why we are giving.

We are giving of ourselves because others need what we have to offer and because some deep, empty part of ourselves is filled when we do so.

We give because that is where a meaningful, long-lasting sense of joy is found.

In giving, we find satisfaction and fulfillment.

In sharing our gifts, we discover our true selves and, for our true selves, joy is a fact, not something that needs to be sought after, collected, or consumed.

May 26, 2021

joy, satisfaction, sharing

Our Purpose Defined

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Love Heals The Sharer

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Our Deepest Fear

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Love’s Light On Fear

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Shared Joy

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