Posted by Brother Jerry (Geno) Berry
July 14, 2014 -
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944 views
The Real Reason
Why People Blame God
The truth noone wants to know, and why
God is a victim of our war against responsibility
The world we create
Dividing up the "why pie"
Wake up at the wheel
God-seeking is fruitless without responsibility
People are often mystified when they look at the reality of the world we live in, and try to reconcile that with a good and loving God. We frequently face difficulties of all kinds, big and small; personal as well as global tragedies. Seeing this, we can't help but ask, "How can this be? How can a loving God have created this? There is something missing from this picture. It doesn't add up!" That's true. There is a piece missing from our equation.
There IS something that we are refusing to look at, which would reconcile these contradictions in our minds and heal our discomfiture with God. We need to understand what that is, because that missing piece is causing a breakdown of affinity between mankind and God, and making us miserable.
This article is to help you find the missing piece, and by doing so, heal your relationship with God, and empower you to have a better life.
The truth no one wants to know, and why
The truth is not hidden; it's not cryptic; it's not far away. It's HERE. Anybody who is willing to be implicated by the truth can easily discover it. But friends, there is no higher truth that does not implicate the hearer of it. If we saw the truth about God, we'd see the truth about ourselves too, and what's wrong about the way we live and think. That truth would hold us responsible for living much more beautifully than we tend to do.
We don't want to know the truth that we are enormously powerful, creative children of the Creator; that we are always connected to God and all; and that we are truly very sensitive, loving, and good. In God's words:
"If you knew who you were, and you were acting like yourself, you would naturally be responsible for everyone. You would naturally feel love for everyone. You would naturally reach out, and help, and heal."
In our current, ego-identified level of consciousness, most of us can hardly face our ordinary human responsibilities, let alone the ultimate responsibility of living as the Godly creatures we truly are.
Furthermore, we don't want to face the IMPLICATIONS of how uncomfortable we REALLY ARE with our ego-driven lifestyle; how much better we actually KNOW than what our behavior suggests; how much it pains us to be selfish; and how many problems it really causes. We're attached to our self-centered ideas, desires, and ways of doing things.
It is said, "Know the truth, and the truth will set you free." But, if the price of freedom is to give up our egotistical habits and false ideas -- which it IS -- WE DON'T WANT the truth that sets us free. We're like a man who's married to an ill-tempered wife. She's making his life a living nightmare, but he's attached to her. He's got a problem: He wants to keep his wife, but if he does, she will continue to make his life miserable. The same could be said for egotism. It causes us all kinds of problems, but we're attached to it.
Therefore, we feel we can't AFFORD to know the truth about God. We don't want the RESPONSIBILITY of knowing. Now we're getting to the heart of the matter: we don't want to be responsible.
God is a victim of our war against responsibility
Isn't it obvious that, all around the world, countless people avoid personal responsibility, or minimize it? When things go wrong, we tend to point the finger of blame at everybody ELSE -- and especially at God. We may admit that human beings are responsible to a degree; but usually that means OTHER human beings, rather than, say, oneself.
Unfortunately, when we reject personal responsibility, we also reject the truth about God. Can we be honest? Our war against responsibility is war on God, war on our fellow man. We attack those we blame with negative judgments -- "God is mean, and other people are mean" -- and we hold them hostage in our minds. For example, if I think my mate is responsible for my feelings of depression, then I resent my mate, or anxiously try to change my mate; or at least, I'll sit with folded arms, waiting for my mate to change.
Inevitably, in our war against responsibility, God's reputation takes a beating. When bad things happen, we think that God is either wrongly doing them, or wrongly allowing them to be done. We resent God for the sorry state of the world we see. So we ask accusatory questions like these:
Why does God let all these bad things happen?
Why doesn't God make people do the right thing?
Why does God allow people to suffer?
Why won't God let me succeed at this or that?
Why is God always testing me?
All those questions assume that God has huge responsibility for the troubles of the world -- as well as huge responsibility for our own difficulties.
So you see, the human penchant for blame -- that is, the desire to displace responsibility -- has a major effect on our view of God. Where the relationship to God is concerned, it is crucial to admit that negative views of God result directly from our reluctance to take responsibility for difficulties we and other humans create. As long as it exists, that pattern will always foster an unfavorable view of God. To improve our view of God we must upgrade our willingness to take responsibility.
The world we create
How much better EVERYTHING would be if we would start taking more responsibility! Because, if the truth be told most of the events and circumstances in our life are generated by what WE think and do.
Granted, some of the trouble that befalls us is caused by other people, out of their will and actions, but generally the overall impact of others' actions on our lives is greatly exaggerated. Even when others say or do things that are hurtful, often we are largely responsible for HOW MUCH those things hurt us. MOST of the negative impact of others' actions results not from the actions themselves, but from the way WE interpret and respond to those actions. For example, somebody makes a thoughtless and offensive remark, and then we spend days hurting ourselves by harboring resentment. Let it go! Honestly, each of us has a MUCH larger share in the creation of our own suffering than we prefer to admit.
The world we see is the world we are creating around ourselves. That world includes not just the lifestyle that we live, but also the people surrounding us, and the way they relate to us. One man works hard to be reliable, and has the happy experience of being trusted, while another earns distrust, and suffers THAT unpleasant experience. A reactive person evokes negative reactions in others; then there are two reactive people -- or a roomful. Conditions deteriorate instantly. Mayhem!
Look around at what man hath wrought:
A bar fight breaks out. Did God create it?
A couple argues. Did God create that argument?
A world leader decides to wage war. Did God create that war?
Clearly, God is not creating those things -- PEOPLE are! And yet, people suffering those experiences will cry, "God, why did You make such a miserable, horrible world?" Poor God! And, poor blaming, irresponsible, disempowered humanity! If people would take responsibility, we'd create differently. Otherwise, we will continue to create the 'cruel world' in which we live.
We seem to have a blind spot that prevents us from seeing the relationship between what we do and what "happens to" us. Could it be that we're covering our eyes with our own hands? For example: A person steals at work, gets caught and sent to jail. The thief complains, "The world is a cruel place -- it jails people." But a wise voice replies, "The world jails THIEVES. You went to jail because you were stealing. You don't do the time if you don't do the crime." If we would admit that, we could get off blame, and onto a MUCH better life.
It's hard to admit we're creating a cruel world. Consequently, we're quick to defend against that realization, saying, "How could I have created THIS? This is NOT the world I want to see!" Wisdom would reply, "True! This is not the world you want to see; but this is the world that reflects who you are WILLING to be." If you are willing to start a fight, the next thing you know, you have a fight on your hands. If you're willing to steal, you may get caught. Since that is not a world you want to SEE, those are ways you'd better not BE.
Dividing up the "why pie"
"The love you take is equal to the love you make."
"We make our bed and we lie in it."
Those expressions remind us that we are the creators of what happens in our lives. To understand and accept that principle is to take responsibility -- which is EXACTLY what the ego wants to avoid. So, to make matters worse, we make our bed and we lie ABOUT it (that is, we deny or overlook the fact that we ourselves made it).