Jesus in Gethsemane. Source: http://art-now-and-then.blogspot.com/2014/05/art-and-jesus-gethsemane.html
“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42
After being introduced to the method of affirmative prayer – and experiencing its results firsthand – there can arise in us a feeling of sneaking suspicion: that somehow this is all too good to be true and we’re not deserving of all Life has to offer. Whether it is murmurings of the old ideas that we can only please God through continual suffering in this life, that there is some saintly virtue to be gained in poverty, sickness, and privation, or that we must toil, sweat, and compete in the jungle of the marketplace to earn our daily bread it leads us to ask, “Is it really God’s will for me to prosper?” This is reinforced when we hear politicians and pundits caricature the wealthy as heartless and greedy, as well as by prophets of doom who declare that opportunity is monopolized by an insidious cabal of elitists and that the world is in the clutches of evil.
Earnest study and observation will show such notions to be patently false. The Infinite crafted all things to provide for the continual advancement of Life. If another power or powers existed to hinder, oppose, or challenge this pattern of progression there would be as one writer put it “a chaos instead of a Cosmos”, undermining the march of evolution. This logical, scientific, and mathematical Unity is made clear in the opening words of the Jewish Shema prayer, taken from the Book of Deuteronomy: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.” (Deut. 6:4) It is, as the Roman Emperor and philosopher Marcus Aurelius wrote in his Meditations, “One living being, having one substance and one soul”, behind, through, and in all material forms. It cannot act contrary to its eternal commission to “be fruitful and increase” along all lines.
In the beautiful words of Lao Tzu:
“The Tao is called the Great Mother:
Empty yet inexhaustible,
It gives birth to infinite worlds.”
The belief that God takes perverse pleasure in our suffering is nothing more than humanity’s unfortunate tendency of projecting our own foibles onto the One Source. There is nothing inherently evil in the Universe; all destructive behavior and action are the effects of faulty psychological perceptions. As Shakespeare said through Hamlet, “For there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”
God, or the Life Principle, has “richly provided us with everything for our enjoyment” (1 Tim. 6: 17), seeking ever new ways of unfolding and expressing its inexhaustible potential through us. The Laws of Life are based on growth, not stagnation, as all the processes of Nature testify. Our desire for radiant health, financial security, creativity, love, and fellowship is Life urging us forward to be, to do, and to have more. God’s will for us is that we “may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
Evil, as both Plato and Buddha pointed out, is rooted in ignorance. To sin is to miss the mark and fall into a state of error regarding the nature of Life; i.e. by believing in a vengeful, critical, and testing God or a Devil seductively whispering into our ears. God does not tempt us; neither is there a physical devil, with cloven hooves and a pitchfork, roaming the earth, goading us to commit all manner of degradation. Satan in Hebrew means adversary or deceiver. Satan and his legion of devils as presented in the Bible serve as personifications of the false concepts which assail us daily by means of erroneous sense evidence, uninformed opinions, fatalistic headlines, and fear mongering propaganda, instilling in us a groundless sense of hostility and dread toward Life. They represent aspects of the egoistic attitude that keeps us in a state of spiritual immaturity, damming up the vital current of the Life Principle within us. It is the contrarian spirit of resistance which, in the words of Aristotle, “is the cause of every monstrosity” whether illness, loneliness, poverty, war, bigotry, etc.
The archetypal theme of good vs. evil, when stripped of its literalist trappings, represents the struggle that occurs in all of us as we grow and evolve, learning to properly adhere to the laws of life. We learn the correct use of spiritual laws just as we do the laws of the physical world. If we were to place our hand on a hot stove top or leap from a ladder we would suffer the subsequent pain and harm accordingly. The same applies for our attitudes: if we are constantly irritated, angry, cynical, sad, and bitter, then we shall see those states reflected back to us in our environments, relationships, and circumstances.
It would be just as foolish to attribute our ills to God’s wrath, the wiles of Satan, or the capricious whims of a cruel Universe as it would be to say that the stove top had bad intent in burning our hand or that the law of gravity had a grudge in bringing us to earth after jumping from the ladder. These forces are impersonal and responsive, producing an equal and opposite reaction to the manner in which they were applied. They should be utilized in a constructive fashion which promotes, rather than negates, not only our own well-being but that of others, society, and Nature as a whole. But, as volitional beings, we are given the tremendous gift and responsibility of choice in thought, word, and deed:
“The word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction…
This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.” (Deut. 30: 14 – 15, 19)
Yet we are counseled to “choose life, so that you and your children may live.” (Deut. 30: 19)
The suffering incurred as we discover natural and spiritual laws is valuable in so far as it acts as an aid to growing in wisdom. Pain is a necessary prerequisite for progress: mothers undergo the trials of pregnancy and labor to bring forth new life; the dedicated athlete, musician, artist, and scientist devote years of intense practice to learning and mastering their respective fields, and the medical patient endures the short term pain of surgery, knowing that with the removal of the physical block the body will heal itself. Likewise giving up our entrenched narratives, beliefs, and behavior patterns can be a painful – and at times downright agonizing – process; the influx of new ideas into our narrow consciousness can take on the appearance of an invading army. That is why Jesus said, “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” (Matthew 10:34)
Opposing this necessary uprooting of the old beliefs will lead us to continue to sin, reengaging in the established cycle of destructive action where we suffer needlessly. It can delve into a psychological “war in heaven” between the new constructive concepts (represented by the Lord’s army of angels) and the resisting forces of limitation (Satan and his legions).
If we don’t succeed in casting out the devils born of our old ways of thinking we will find ourselves in a prison of our own making, from which we will not get out until we have paid the last penny of the coin of hard experience.
This process – a byproduct of our descent into the material world of illusory opposition from our original state of wholeness – is symbolized in the archetypal Fall from Grace. The quest, to use St. Paul’s terms, of “the natural man” to return to the estate of the “spiritual man” is as old as time, conveyed in the religious rites and myths of every culture and clime. Whether in the form of the countless tribulations which befell the children of Adam and Eve after the expulsion from Eden, the ordeals of mythic heroes such as Hercules, Odysseus, and the Knights of the Round Table, or the missions of great teachers like Jesus, Buddha, Moses, Muhammad, and Krishna, the method of return and reconciliation with our divine nature is laid before us.
Like the Prodigal Son of old we have, led by our ego driven wills and selfish appetites, fallen hard, pining for mere scraps among the swine herds of ignorance. However, having seen the depths to which our own limited understanding has dragged us, the proverbial light bulb will go off. In a contrite spirit we will begin the trek back to our Father’s house, anticipating a stinging rebuke for our utter thoughtlessness. But where we thought to find anger, there will be joy. Where we expected to encounter disappointment, there were be celebration. Anticipating a clenched fist we will be wrapped in outstretched arms, greeted with kisses, adorned with regal attire, feasted with the choicest food, and refreshed with the sweetest wine. This is the true nature of the Father’s will.
“‘You are always with me, and everything I have is yours.’” (Luke 15:31)
Knowing our true heritage as children of the Most High, we will cease to kick against the pricks of circumstance. Realizing that evil stems from misunderstanding the Laws of Life, we shall no longer actively resist it and thereby perpetuate it, but rather overcome it with right perspective, thought, speech, and action. “Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.” (Psalm 34: 14)
Then we can assume our rightful places as heirs to the Kingdom. “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom… Behold, the kingdom of heaven is within you.” (Luke 12:32, 17:21)
If you enjoyed this post, please consider making a small love offering at the Paypal link below. Thank you!
paypal.me/CMacCormack
No comments:
Post a Comment