A Challenge: Let's Meet God Halfway

I've had a very bad ten days or so.

Friends being cruel, family problems, stress so bad I've had migraines every day.

It's tempting to reach out to God, to pray and beg for things to change.  It's tempting to hand responsibility for my life, my choices, and those of others over to God.

Most faiths preach that's exactly what I should do.

Yet, I believe that God wants us to solve our own problems.  I'm not saying prayer isn't beneficial; countless people have been helped from the wisdom in religious books and from spending as much time as they could praying for guidance. 

Yogis meditate.  Most people of the big the big four religions (Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, Christian) pray.  People of faith all over the world say practicing regularly brings you comforting peace, soothing relief, and mindfulness about our actions and our choices.

I do not encourage any particular form of moments of silence.  That is neither my purpose nor my point.

My point is, simply, that after your moments with God or the Universe or whomever, it is important to take the peace you have found and form your decisions from that place.  It is important to meet God halfway.

I see signs.  A few months ago, during a period of intense heartbreak, I told God I needed help.  I needed something to point the way.  I need a light at the end of the tunnel.  A little while later, it arrived.  God, the Universe, or, if you believe, happenstance, gave me the sign I needed.

The signs are tricky.  They are sometimes hard to catch if you're not paying attention.  Sometimes we blow them off as coincidence.  Sometimes we blow them off because the signs we see are in opposition to our beliefs.

Faith in God, in any form, requires accepting there are answers; there is guidance.  It requires trusting that you have a place in the world, a purpose.  It requires listening, seeing and believing the signs coming to you, without hesitation. 

Being a person of faith, and an agnostic, I do not know if there is a God at all, but I believe in neither mistakes nor accidents.  I believe the way is shown to us, the answers come; we figure it out. 

It requires patience to wait until we reach a point when the signs become obvious.  It requires courage to follow through.

Meeting God halfway is not an easy task.  Following the signs you see, especially when they seem in opposition to your beliefs, takes heart.  You must be brave.  You must believe in faith and act on it. 

If you ask God for an answer, you need to be prepared to follow the path, no matter where it leads, no matter what you have to sacrifice.

I have faith in people, in our connection, in our brave attempts to create a world of peace and light.  Except for the small-minded and immature, who cannot see beyond themselves or their rigid beliefs, I think everyone is trying to create a better world for themselves and their children.

Not knowing if there is a God is rational.  Having faith, of any kind, is to believe in what Abraham Lincoln called, "the better angels of our nature," whether it is rational or not.

There are many conflicts in my life, in every one's life, in the world. I pray that God will guide all of us through them.  Yet, I know to do so, he requires my cooperation.  And yours.

If we are to ever bring about a world of harmony, we must put aside our differences, as many religious leaders and prophets have advised, and have the strength, the heart and will to collectively meet God, and each other, halfway.