by William Cooper
Talking Things Over with God
Jesus in his prayers as a youngster would just talk to his heavenly Father in the fashion he used with Joseph, who was a very attentive and caring mortal Father. He would talk, ask questions, “listen”, discuss, and interpret his impressions. It was embarrassing to Jesus’ parents that Jesus did not observe the forms and fashions of prayer for their religious culture and he was open and obvious about it. Like us, Jesus was often not certain exactly what God’s response was, but he was sure that God was responding.
As Jesus matured and began to understand who he was, he continued to relate to the I Am in informal discussion mode. He was using this mode of prayer when he prayed repeatedly in Gethsemene. Talking things over with God makes God very real and near, which he is. God will respond to even the faintest indication of faith. I think that attempting to intuit God’s responses to us is more than a faint flicker of faith. To attempt such is an extremely appropriate application of faith. God would never fail to respond to such an act of faith. Seriously, try it. This prayer practice promotes a rich and constant relationship with God, Spirit and our cosmic family.
Commitment to Spiritual Family
Jesus tried to teach his followers that he was here to establish the Family of God on earth. They were too much caught up in the concept that the Messiah would come and found a material kingdom. So, Jesus altered his approach to talk in terms of a kingdom. He taught that the kingdom he came to found was not an earthly kingdom but rather it was/is a kingdom in the hearts of people who follow the leading of the spirit within each person. This inner kingdom he described as presided over by a loving and patriarchal king. And this is true, but it is not his preferred concept. He wanted us to see the spiritual reality, that engulfs our material reality, as a family that has our personal and collective welfare as a central and constant concern. To Jesus, family was not merely a kinship, it included a purpose of taking care of the family enterprise of pursuing God’s plan. God’s plan is to knit together the cosmos by the attraction of the love and goodness of God. This plan includes high adventure of our being a growing and serving part in expanding the inhabited and unified cosmos. It includes participating actively in our deity parent’s plans and thereby advancing in becoming like God, deity ourselves.
Jesus said if you believe that God loves you with an infinite love and follow the leading of the spirit within your heart, then you are in the family of God. That sounds kind of cool but what are the consequences, expectations and opportunities?
Let’s stop just a minute and consider the difference in the way we feel first when we see our eternal destiny to be a loyal servant of God the good king. (Pause) Is that exciting to you? Now, second, feel what it is like to look at yourself as a beloved and privileged child of God and of the vast, loving family of God, whose destiny is to choose a personal path to grow up to be like his / her parent. Now, is that exciting to you? (Pause) I hope you can feel the difference. I certainly can. Now back to the expectations, opportunities and consequences of this status.
One consequence is the opportunity for an eternal life of service to God’s ongoing adventure with love. I call God’s adventure of fostering and proving the truth of the effectiveness of love via experience,” the family business”. This is what God and all creation are currently doing. This has been going on for trillions of years and will continue into eternity, will never end. We will never run out of important things to do. Ours is not a static job or a bit role to play as a servant at a king’s court. The family of God provides progressively more and more responsible roles for all of its members. As recipients of Adjusters and of personality, there is no known limit to how far we may progress in eternity. Our progress entails study, service, mastery of power, responsibility, loyalty to God’s will and all of these with the love, graciousness and generosity of our divine parents.
The Family of God is so vast that we lack words for the number of its members but everyone in the family who is pursuing the family business is devoted to achievement of God’s good, gracious, generous and merciful goals –infinite love permeating everyone, everything and every action. In committing to God’s family business, we are committing to join all other family members in humble efforts to achieve love, to enthusiastically pursue the way of love and to institutionalize it as a living, enlarging practice for all. Joinder in this family and its business is God’s plan for us all.
There is a great deal more that can be said about spiritual family. It can be, after all, the core around which each of us can form our philosophy of living. But the last observation I want to make in closing is that all of the members of the spiritual family want all of its members to succeed in doing and fostering God’s way of love and will help each other achieve that goal in any way consistent with God’s will. Just ask and then listen and follow expectantly.
Exercise
Letter to and From Mom and Dad
Now let’s take about 5min to write a quick note to Mom and Dad about their spiritual family. You might want to be grateful. You might want to explore with them what spiritual family means to you. How do you feel about being a member of such a vast, purposeful and mutually supportive spiritual family? Examine the extent of your desire to participate. [Allow 5 min.]
Time is up.
But don’t put your pen down. Now take 5 min to write what seems to you to be the response Mom and Dad would make to you.
Exercise
Developing Relationship by Conversation
Ask key and/or immediately relevant questions. Use a form of question and answer dialog. You ask the question and you imagine an appropriate answer from the Spirit Within and you make notes.
In circumstances usually of quiet contemplation I ask how to take known macro principles of God’s will and interpret them to fit my immediate micro needs. Some examples are:
- How can I be loving to this person or even this thing?
- How can I truly forgive disloyalty or betrayal?
- Contempt and anger must go or at least be diminished. How can I do this?
- How can I contribute love, mercy, truth, beauty and goodness to improve this situation?
- What higher value do I need to apply here to adjust my attitude or that of another?
- How would applying acceptance, inclusion and respect help this situation?
- How can I be courteous, generous, trusting and charming in anticipated difficult circumstances?
- From where I am right now, how can I make good come from this?
- In the face of apparent failure, what can I learn from this?
You may say, ”But Bill I already ask myself these things.” And I reply, “That is wonderful, but do you ask these as questions to your human experience and wisdom alone or as questions explicitly directed to your spiritual guides and tutors, of which there are many.” There is a strong spiritual quality, even an urge to action, when you address your spiritual helpers and seek to be sensitive to their responses. This ask, listen, interpret and act/respond process builds relationship that becomes very real, very revealing of truth, beauty, goodness and Love.