The Greatest Good

“Benefit or advantage to someone or something.”

- Dictionary definition of good

With God's wonderful timing I joined a Women's Christian Faith group and the topic of our discussion today was "Two Steps to Knowing Gods Will" a topic I have wrestled with for some time now.   The two steps to know God's will were to first admit that you need guidance through prayer and second to ask God in faith for directions.  The discussion sheet written by Rick Warren pointed out that we make many of our decisions without asking God for guidance, but he will always respond to our prayers.  During our discussions, I asked the other women "How does God communicate his will to you?"  I had to laugh when one woman said God shouts "NO" in her head, because two weeks earlier God had done the same thing to me.  Some of the women said that once they prayed, they could make a decision and a peace came over them.  One commented that when she had made decisions not guided by God, they ended in disaster.  She realized that when consulting God and followed his guidance she made decisions that prepared her for events yet to occur in her life.

I asked the faith group what is the end purpose of "God's Will?"  Most answered it was for their own and family's happiness and well being and to prepare for future challenges in their lives.   This week I posed the question to God and he answered me telling me his will is for "the greatest good."  

Because God knows all, following his will and direction will result in the "greatest good" which is impossible for us to see on our own volition.   In the past month when I was ready to move on from a job, God said no and asked me to wait.  I realized when he finally released me, that I had fulfilled his purpose for me and I was at peace.  God often uses us to plant seeds in others or fight spiritual battles that will blossom in the "greatest good" for others and us.  Sometimes fulfilling his will is not always easy, but when we are finished, God says "well done my servant" and will release us to a state of peace and well being.

Chess and the Metaphysical

“I'm a chess piece. A pawn,' she said. 'I can be sacrificed, but I cannot be captured. To be captured would be the end of the game.”

― Paolo Bacigalupi, Ship Breaker

Twenty-five years ago I was "a pawn" caught in a physical and metaphysical "game of chess" at a corporation trying to protect people I loved.  Someone once commented later to me the corporation was a "gilded cage."  I didn't understand how money, prestige combined with fear in the corporation kept each us in a snare unable to fly and fulfill God's purpose for us.  At the time, working at this corporation was considered "the best game in town."  Employees spent their time calculating how to out maneuver others in a political chess game in order to gain power and money to create their "vision" of the corporation.  Years later, the corporation self destructed from an inner moral sickness and was bought out. Thousands of employees lost their jobs in the process.

No metaphysical game which affects our physical environment can be fought like a chess game with some believing they have more power than God, who is love.  Because God is omnipotent and perfectly good, he results in the greatest power.    In God's eyes we all have equal but unique positions.  When we are consistent with God's purpose for each of us and make our choices based on love, we can create the Kingdom of God on Earth.   We can also rest in not knowing "how the pieces fit together," because God always does and he works for the greatest good.

Dwelling in the Shelter of the Most High (The Love of God) Psalm 91

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High

    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,

    my God, in whom I trust.”

Surely he will save you

    from the fowler’s snare

    and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers,

    and under his wings you will find refuge;

    his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night,

    nor the arrow that flies by day, 

nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,

    nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side,

    ten thousand at your right hand,

    but it will not come near you. 

You will only observe with your eyes

    and see the punishment of the wicked. 

If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”

    and you make the Most High your dwelling, 

no harm will overtake you,

    no disaster will come near your tent. 

For he will command his angels concerning you

    to guard you in all your ways; 

they will lift you up in their hands,

    so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 

You will tread on the lion and the cobra;

    you will trample the great lion and the serpent. 

“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him;

    I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 

He will call on me, and I will answer him;

    I will be with him in trouble,

    I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life I will satisfy him

    and show him my salvation.”

This week I prayed on Psalm 91.  I was afraid for someone who I believed had been caught in the fowler’s snare.  Many theologians interpret this passage as Satan capturing souls through deception so we will sin.  But I believe the insidious purpose of the snare is to instill fear or to preoccupy us so that our minds and souls are caged and cannot experience the “joy of flight” and happiness as we are meant to, resulting in our inability to fulfill God’s purpose for us.   But by dwelling in the Lord, who is love, we are protected and can observe behavior and act independently without fear.  By doing so, our soul soars in flight towards heaven no longer caged escaping the snare of the fowler.

"Heaven Has Different Signs to Me"

Heaven Has Different Signs to Me – A Poem by Emily Dickinson

"Heaven" has different Signs—to me—

Sometimes, I think that Noon

Is but a symbol of the Place—

And when again, at Dawn,

A mighty look runs round the World

And settles in the Hills—

An Awe if it should be like that

Upon the Ignorance steals—

The Orchard, when the Sun is on—

The Triumph of the Birds

When they together Victory make—

Some Carnivals of Clouds—

The Rapture of a finished Day—

Returning to the West—

All these—remind us of the place

That Men call "paradise"—

Itself be fairer—we suppose—

But how Ourself, shall be

Adorned, for a Superior Grace—

Not yet, our eyes can see—

Pillow Dreams

 “You know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams.”

― Dr. Seuss – Author

Last week Lisa, a friend of mine, walked into a hospital gift shop with me.  She made a beeline directly to a set of four pillows titled "Its a Wonderful Life", "You are My Sunshine", "Home is where the Heart Is", and there is "No Place Like Home."  She picked up the "It's a Wonderful Life" pillow and hugged it close to her chest for what seemed like an eternity.  She didn't want to let go.  Finally, she put it back on the shelf and said "maybe I will come back for it later."  Her husband is an engineer who is not crazy about decorating with pillows.  The next day she was still talking about how much she loved that pillow.  Lisa is in her second marriage and I can clearly see how much her new husband adores her and her three children when they are together.  Even though she didn't "possess" the pillow, she felt her life with her new husband was wonderful.  Lisa has a special light of love and kindness about her.

A pillow symbolizes dreams and I loved the messages on pillows in the gift shop too.  All the words held a special meaning for me when I saw them and it is what I longed to experience last week in person.   My dream is to write about symbolism and synchronicity as reflected in God's grace at work in the world and to have a family.   Like Lisa, I can't let go of my dreams and I know these pillows are God's grace at work in the world even when my dreams are put back on the shelf.