How nice it must be to have been a cherished child so that one can relate to god as a beaming parent, so proud of his progeny! Not all children are so blessed. Many children see fear in the faces of their parents and feel it as disapproval. Some are treated as scapegoats, receiving reprimands for that which has been inflicted on the parents by others. How do we expect for the people so wounded by their examples of parenting to relate to a parental god as love?
I have no feeling of a person of god, but I nonetheless feel a seed of the Infinite Force For Good in all of creation. I do not believe that my prayers sway god's decisions, but I do believe that I can receive strength to find the positive in every situation by keeping myself open to the lessons of life. Finding the positive often takes many years and much hurt, but I continue to be open to it. I am often reminded in my openness that I must actively seek the positive and be patient. Is this the voice of The Almighty coming out of the mouths of my family and friends?
I believe it is our gift as humans to choose to nurture and expand these seeds of the soul or to extinguish the positive with our own negative energy and encouraging that of others. Sometimes sustaining this life force is as easy as a smile or a hug. And sometimes we are called to lay our lives on the line by fighting our more base animal instincts and setting an example of acceptance and empathy. We are all asked to give our lives for The Infinite Good, not by our deaths, but by the ways we live.
