The following was triggered by a conversation with God — yes, we speak — during a long walk this morning. He likes it when I show you what’s going on in me and my life, even when it’s hard for me to say it. So here goes.
Do you ever wonder whether you’re going the right way in your life, or doing the right thing? I do.
Even giving myself up to the will of God doesn’t relieve me of who I am or the responsibilities of the life I’ve built. And to be honest, in some areas I’ve created some interesting challenges.
Once upon a time I was a Type A lawyer doing my best to fit my round peg into the square hole of a career that didn’t want if not outright suppressed some of my best characteristics, and did its darndest to draw out some of my worst. It was the expedient path, the expected path, but one I never totally embraced.
Some thought I was pretty good at what I did. All I know is I did my best and always put my clients first. And got some decent results. Their affairs usually turned out in a way that served us both. More importantly, I made some great friends and got experiences I’ll never forget.
Around the turn of the century that it all came to a head. A significant illness led me to writing and going within, starting me down the path that has brought me here today.
And where is that?
I have opened a door to perspectives and insights I’d never dreamed of before, glimpses into an inner world that subsists this one and affects how it works and what we take from it.
Once opened only a crack, I can no longer close that door. It is now kicked in. Information that once came in a usable trickle now rushes through in a great flood, stoking an inner fire of illumination that makes me feel like a miniature sun in a self-generating process that continues to accelerate.
Yet, my life doesn’t seem to allow for all the applications and possibilities it offers. For I have not created equivalent means to allow that illumination to flow out to others.
Sure, I share what I can through this and other web sites, articles, and periodic speaking. But that information is flowing in at such a rate that those outlets are too few and far between — it’s causing that “inner sun” to intensify to such an extent that it threatens to explode.
It’s like I’m a balloon that God’s blowing up. He keeps filling me with more and more and more, leaving me to wonder how far I can stretch without bursting.
Now, superimpose upon this the winds blowing through our world that are bringing difficulties of all kinds. Some are facing severe health problems. Others are facing challenges in their financial affairs, relationships, or advancement of missions they’ve taken on to answer an inner call.
Yes, I’ve had my own, too, but I won’t go into them here. Suffice it to say I know first hand and through those who are close to me the suffering and struggle that many of you are going through.
It isn’t easy for any of us. But we do the best we can, in some moments doing better than others.
One thing all this inflow of information has shown me is that we can get through it better together than we can alone.
None of us are islands, and trying to hunker down and weather the storms alone doesn’t work very well.
My conversation with God reminded me of one very important fact — that I need you probably a whole lot more than you need me. For without someone to care for, much less to receive this in-pouring light, my life loses much of its meaning.
Just like in my law practice, it’s the people who matter to me most and how what I’ve got or acquired — by whatever means — can be used to ease their way through life.
Without YOU, I’m not sure I have a reason for being.
The books and articles I write, the programs I present, the counseling I offer, and indeed the conversations I have with many of you, are ways of doing God’s will while loving and caring for you.
Together we form the most delicious love triangle one can imagine. For in so serving you both I’m also serving me, because it allows me to release this flow before I explode. And you are kind enough to allow me to do so.
Should there be some sort of reciprocal flow involved, be it a monetary exchange or a response triggered in you, I take as a form of feedback that says you acknowledge receiving my gift and found it of value. And with that, my heart soars.
These chances to share are what give me the strength to face the challenges of my life and continue on this path to offer what God has given me.
Within your life you have ways you love and care for others, too, perhaps also inspired from an unseen source within. I hope you cherish those opportunities as much as I, for they offer you a lifeline to get through your difficulties now and ahead.
It is not just for them that you do whatever you do. It is also for the God that gives you the inspiration, and for the joy you give yourself in allowing it to flow out to the world.
I suspect as our world continues down the treacherous trail ahead, we will all need each other even more.
God willing, we’ll find even more ways to come together and join hands to give what we have and allow others to share what we need, realizing that in so doing we not only build better lives for ourselves, but a better world for future generations.
I love you, my friend. Thanks for reading. God bless you indeed. I am
john
