Heavenletters

This comment will be a long one and will partly be about me as well as about my reaction to this letter. If you don’t like long comments and particularly if you tend to view my comments as “hot air”, you most definitely will want to skip this one.

First some background about me.

I started out as a rebellious child. I’m not sure there is such a thing as a rebellious newborn, but it wouldn’t surprise me if I was one. My earthly father, while being very loving in his own way, didn’t help matters. He was aloof and distant and believed firmly in the sentiment: “Spare the rod and spoil the child.” I remember the awful, sickening fear of being forced to bend over and hold the porch stairs as my bare bottom was beaten with his belt. This was his idea of guidance at the time, but it only strengthened my determination to resist and not get caught the next time. I became rebellious to the point of being what was then called a “juvenile delinquent.” Luckily I got through that period of my life without going to jail.

I also rebelled against the religious doctrine of my upbringing. If something didn’t make logical sense to me I rejected it. I accepted the idea of God being all-powerful and all-loving, but I couldn’t get this to be compatible with Him casting some of His children into eternal fires as punishment. I have always had a deep abiding faith in a loving Creator, especially the loving Father portrayed in the New Testament. But while I have studied most religious teachings in some depth, none have satisfied me.

This rebelliousness seemed to come into play when I read certain Heavemletters concerning the concept of “surrender.” The word surrender carried connotations of giving up my autonomy and free will and becoming subservient. The more I have explored this concept in the letters, the more accepting of it I have become, but today’s letter is a huge leap forward.

I feel like whole books could be written about the many insights piled up in today’s letter, but I want to focus now on one particular aspect: what it says about the nature of God. To me, this letter contains insights into questions like: Who is God? Why does He do what He does? Why did He create us? I believe this letter contains whole new dimensions and depth relative to these questions.

God says:“I am a purposeful God, and I serve a purpose. I serve you.” Later He says about His purpose in creating us: “Nor did I design you for your usefulness to Me.” I guess I always assumed that what I had been taught about God was correct, He created us for Him. If this was not the reason, then, what was the reason? At first this was quite confusing, but eventually I began to see that the answer was subtly included in the rest of the paragraph. “I Who am a Giver also know how to receive. My heart swells with the love you give Me. My heart swells with the love We exchange, as it were.” What I am hearing here is that we were not created purposely by God to fill a need of His, we were created as an expansion of His loving Nature. Our creation, then, was out of the spirit of giving and, in giving us our being, God received an expansion of His love.

This may seem like splitting hairs, but it seems to have powerful implications about who we are. We are not so much a separate creation as we are an essential expansion of our Creator. We are inextricably part of Him, not some sort of separate creation He cast off from Himself to lead an independent existence.

Another potent idea in this letter is closely related to this question of why God created us. He says about both us and Him: “We are destined to carry love and spill it everywhere. We are lovers of love, and there is nothing anyone can do about it.” What? He includes Himself when He says there is nothing we can do but: “carry love and spill it everywhere.” I always thought being all-powerful meant there is nothing He can’t do, but apparently there seems to be limits of sorts. God has said before that He cannot not Be, now He is saying He cannot not be loving. Again, this may seem like splitting hairs, but, again, I think these statements have powerful implications, especially in what they mean in regards to surrendering our will to God.

If God cannot Be anything but loving, and His Will is always in service to His loving Nature, this also says a lot about us. If we are part of Him, then our will is part of His Will. Our “surrendering” to His Will is actually only getting back in touch with our own will. Surrendering, then, gives up nothing. It only adds to our life since it means at long last beginning to realize what we always wanted deep in our heart. Since this surrender is an ongoing action and constantly a choice, it does not abrogate our free will. It can only add, never detract.

So where does this leave rebellious little ol’ me? It speaks to deeply held uncertainties, especially so when it affirms: “I am the Splendor of Your Heart.”

Obviously, you’ve stuck with this comment a long time. Hopefully, my meandering thoughts have added a little to this superb Heavenletter.

Love, peace and fulfillment to all…….Chuck