Spirituality Information |
Do You Experience God?
Connor, a man in his late 40's, has achieved everything he ever thought he needed to feel happy and secure. He owns a successful business, has a wonderful wife and two children, and a beautiful home. Yet when you look at him, he doesn't look happy. He looks empty, with no sense of vibrancy about him. His wife, Brianna. also has everything she ever wanted - a husband, children, financial security, successful work and a beautiful home. When you look at her, you see a person filled with aliveness and vitality, friendliness and joy. What is the difference? Why are these two people, each who have the same outer things, so very different in their energy? The answer is that Brianna has a strong connection with God while Connor has no spiritual connection at all. The longer I've worked as a counselor, the easier it has become for me to tell the difference between people who know and experience God and people who don't. It is the difference between Connor and Brianna. It is the difference between being full from the inside or inwardly empty. It's not that Connor doesn't want to experience God. He says he really wants to. He sees the difference between him and Brianna and he says he wants what she has. He sees his parents as empty and he says he doesn't want to end up like them, with no sense of passion or purpose in their lives. Yet Connor does not experience God, and the reason is simple: he places a higher priority on having control over money, employees, what people think of him, his wife, and his children than on being a loving human being. He says he wants to be loving, and the times he is loving he feels great, but it never lasts because his desire to control is greater than his desire to be loving. He is afraid if he is loving to himself and others his business will suffer, he will have less money, he will lose friends. His ego wounded self tells him that if he is open and loving, he will be taken advantage of, and that is the last thing he wants. So his primary intention is to protect against what he fears rather than to be loving. God is love, the spirit of love, the energy of love. That love is always here for us when we open our heart. Our heart opens automatically when our intent is to learn what is loving to ourselves and others rather than protect against what we fear with our controlling behavior. To know God is to know Love. To know Love is to know God. When Brianna looks at Connor with love, Connor feels afraid and turns away. If he opens to her love, he fears he will be vulnerable to being hurt. Maybe she won't like what she sees if he is open and will reject him. Maybe she wants more than he wants to give. Maybe she just wants to suck the life out of him like his mother did. Protecting against his fears is more important to him than being loving and sharing love with Brianna. Brianna loves Connor but is often lonely with him because he is afraid to share love with her. Connor complains that he doesn't feel good a lot of the time - he feels empty. He avoids his emptiness with food and TV, which doesn't bring him joy. Connor complains that he doesn't know how to experience God. I tell him it's not about how, it's about intent. When his deepest desire is to be loving rather than controlling, he will easily and naturally experience God. It's all about intent. Our intent is what we have choice over. Our intent governs how we live, who we choose to be, how we behave. Our intent to love and learn about love opens our heart to the experience of God. If you feel empty, consider that it may be more important to you to control than to love. If you know others who appear to be empty, consider that it may be more important to them to control than to love. Opening to love does not mean that we will be vulnerable to being hurt, manipulated, taken advantage of. In fact, the opposite can happen: in experiencing God, we receive the wisdom and strength to know what is good or bad for us, what is right or wrong for us. In opening to God, we discover what is in our highest good. It is far safer than relying on our wounded ego self. Opening to the Love that is God through your intent to learn can bring you the deep sense of fullness and safety for which your heart and soul have always yearned. About The Author Margaret Paul, Ph.D. is the best-selling author and co-author of eight books, including "Do I Have To Give Up Me To Be Loved By You?" She is the co-creator of the powerful Inner Bonding healing process. Learn Inner Bonding now! Visit her web site for a FREE Inner Bonding course: http://www.innerbonding.com or mailto:margaret@innerbonding.com. Phone sessions available.
MORE RESOURCES: Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting |
RELATED ARTICLES
Why The Universe Is User-Friendly After All! "Everything in the universe is a pitcher brimming with wisdom and beauty." -Rumi, 13th Century Sufi Poet and MysticIs the universe friendly?On the surface this seems an absurd statement. Evangelical Skepticism: Pursuing Your Right To Be Wrong Michael Shermer speaks with the energy and passion of an evangelist, so it's not too surprising to learn that he used to be one. What is surprising is that he has made a 180-degree turn in his approach to belief. Heroes and Heroines - Contemplating Conscious Evolution The myths of man have been with us throughout time. Since the earliest of cave drawings to modern books and film, the myths of man have been the creators of man, providing both meaning and symbolism to his / her life. Quick Reference Guide for Tarot Card Meanings Obviously, if you really want to learn about the meanings of the tarot cards and use them well, you'll spend time studying them and understanding the nuances of each card's interpretation. If, on the other hand, you're looking for a cool party game and want to impress your friends, this "cheat sheet" should provide you enough of a clue about each card's meaning that you can fake your way through a reading. 100 Steps To Eternity There is a chronology of events from creation to the eternal kingdom of God, which is distinctively presented to us within the scriptures. Like a three-dimensional picture, the more intently we focus on God's word, the more clearly we begin to see the complete picture emerge. Be Aware of the Supreme Deceiver (Part 1) One cannot read the account of Benhadad and Hazael in God's word not be overcome by a certain sense of sadness. You recall Benhadad was ill and sent Hazael to the prophet Elisha to make inquiries regarding his recovery. What is the Evil Eye? The Evil Eye has been around since the beginning of time. It simply means sending someone a thought that seems intrusive or invasive or has the power to hurt him or her. The Power Of Prayer - Gush Katif Needs You Now You can't help but feel a sense of electricity in the air. History is unfolding, make that prophecy is being fulfilled, and will continue to be fulfilled daily from now until the coming of the Lord. Developing Your Intuition: Conscious Construction Using Cosmic 2 x 4's What's a cosmic 2 x 4 you ask? It's actually a phrase that's been used in the 'new age/ metaphysical' world for the past 15 years or more. It refers to the lessons we learned the hard way when we didn't listen to our intuition. No Other gods Before Me The passenger had to be carried onto the plane and carefully strapped into a first-class seat. She said nothing. Conquer Your Fears I cringed lower into the seat of my grey metal desk, yearning for the faded yellow floor to swallow me into oblivion. A crimson heat spread from my forehead to my neck; my legs trembled uncontrollably. The End of Guilt What is the purpose of guilt?Well, let's look at it.Some would say that guilt is necessary to help us remember things we did that we should regret, so that,We won't make the same mistakes again, so that,We can feel we are learning from our mistakes, so that,We can become more moral, more compassionate, more confident, more self respecting and more virtuous human beings, so that,We can feel better about ourselves, so that,Our Self Worth can rise, and so that,Our Self Esteem can rise. The Winds of Change Humanity is entering a very critical time in its path of evolution. The winds of change began to blow over eighteen years ago at the event you call Harmonic Convergence but the only ones who felt this at first were those many call star-seeds or light workers. Forgiveness: The Other Side If we are honest with ourselves, we would have to admit that the reason we have difficulty forgiving others is because we sincerely believe we are justified in our withholding forgiveness. We become the judge of the offenders and by harboring bitterness and resentment against them; it is our distorted way of meting out punishment. Secrets of Effortless Action Action dakini gets everything done.When wanting and grasping hold swayThe dakini has you in her power. Religion and Spirituality - What Differentiates Religion from Spirituality? Religion is "absolute truth of life" of the physical manifested world. It is Religion and not Spirituality which forms the basis of the present society we live in. We Are Not Our Personalities As a Psychiatrist I spent most of my life training and researching effective therapies that would help my clients make changes in their personalities. The premise was that by making such a change the client would feel capable of doing or feeling things that they could not access before. Spirit and the Law of Cause and Effect Most of our troubles are bought about by exercising our own free will.If you have a war, there will be many people, who will ask, Why does the Great Spirit not stop it?Why does the Great Spirit not try to prevent it?The actual truth is that the people of the world are to blame. The Gnostics and Essenes THE GNOSTICS, ESSENES AND THE 'OCCULT':Throughout this book I have made reference to esoteric groups or knowledge. I have done a book called The Occult: Uses and Abuses which has twice as many words as this; but I hope this one covers enough of the issues related to the abuse of spiritual knowledge by the elites. God Versus the Gods Aristotle referred to happiness as the most we can achieve. Demons and gods were interchangeable in the time of Homer when people had far less institutionalized manipulation of their thoughts and soulful understandings. |
home | site map | contact us |