By DR. PETRA WELDES
This article appeared in the April 2017 issue of Science of Mind magazine
They say “ignorance is bliss” and that “you can’t unknow what you now know.” What they don’t say is that along this beautiful and joyous path to a deeper, more authentic life, there are powerful (sometimes perilous) initiations we all go through. And because we don’t necessarily talk about these moments from the pulpit or in Science of Mind courses, we may be blindsided by them. We may find ourselves surprised at how difficult or painful the passage to a more reliable Divine Power and connection can be. Should we go back to sleep or find an easier way? In this series, we will explore six significant spiritual initiations and how to navigate them. Wherever you are along your spiritual path, I trust this map will serve as a powerful guide.
YOUR PERSONAL GOD
There comes a moment in spiritual evolution when you may ask yourself whether you really experience the Presence of God or if you are just making it up. What happened to your personal relationship with God that you had growing up? This is a powerful initiation — a rite of passage into a deeper belonging — experiencing Oneness as your constant companion. When you hear the term “God,” what image comes to mind? Growing up in Christianity, I immediately conjured up an image of a fatherly, white-bearded man stretching out his hand to us or seated on some clouds with a ledger book. While many of us as adults are challenged by this notion of a Divine Father, we may have found comfort and solace in a parent who loves and cares for us. These images are etched into our minds, along with a lingering belief than anything other than this is blasphemous. Coupled with this idea of God comes Jesus the Savior, who, we were taught, loved us so much that He sacrificed Himself to cover our mortal sins.
The message, even if you feared God, is that you are loved so much that the life of God’s Son was given so that you may have eternal life.
As our spiritual journeys unfold, we might explore a new idea of God. We begin to use different words for God and open previously unchartered vistas in our consciousness — words like Spirit, Universe, Divine Mind, Presence and Principle. We are invited to create a new language and metaphor for this Divine Reality. We learn God is an indwelling Presence, our own essential nature. Dr. Ernest Holmes teaches that “the highest God and innermost God is One God.” So our relationship with Jesus also evolves as we learn to focus on this indwelling God, understanding that when Jesus said, “I and the Father are One,” He was stating the deepest truth within each of us. Jesus no longer serves as savior or loving intermediary between human beings and God. He becomes the example of what we ourselves can become through living in Christ consciousness. In studying the Science of Mind, we come to embrace the Law as God, the “power for good in the universe” that we can use, as Holmes discussed. The whole nature of how we pray transforms. Now, we are the ones responsible for what answered prayer looks like based on our use and belief in the Law, rather than some loving (albeit potentially capricious) Divine parent who hears and responds to our pleas. A longtime community member at Center for Spiritual Living Dallas would often complain to me that this teaching left him cold and lonely. He grew up reciting, “Jesus loves me, this I know” and Matthew 6:26 (“Even the very hairs on your head are all numbered”). He would ask me, “If God isn’t out there, where is this God who loved me? And If God is just a Law, where is the God who loved me?” Right here with these questions, we are at the heart of the passage — the initiation from our outer-directed, separate God to something profoundly different. To find that new Divine Reality and to experience our Oneness, we release our need to have “a personal relationship” with God. We outgrow a parental God and embrace the Presence of God. As Meister Eckhart did, we can learn to say, “I pray to God to rid me of God; that I may find God.” This is the doorway to a new experience of the Divine Reality. Yes, it can feel lonely when we long for arms to hold us or ears to hear our cries. Yes, it can feel cold when the impersonal Law must create from our false beliefs, limited thinking and fear-based actions and is not moved by our desire to be forgiven. Yet, I would deliberately guide you to the heart of this “lonely” place and invite you to strip away the old names and descriptions so that any notion of being limited or separate may be replaced by something far larger, vaster, richer and deeper. As you move through this sometimes uncomfortable initiation, rest in the knowing that on the other side of the door is a vibrant Presence. This is the Oneness — an immensely loving force for Life, a living heartbeat that is the Universe. This is the transcendent mystery that incarnated us all. You are not only loved, you are Love made manifest. It is in this profound knowledge that a sense of belonging and an experience of Presence never leaves you, not for an instant. Now you truly live in the unconditionally loving God, always.
5 PRACTICAL TIPS to help navigate the loss of a personal relationship with God
1. Use other terms for God in conversation and affirmative prayers. Allow yourself to imagine and embody the words through your mind and emotions. 2. Use Meister Eckhart’s simple prayer to set your intention and facilitate the passage: “I pray to God to rid me of God; that I may find God.” 3. Remember that fear and discomfort are natural in the process. 4. Develop a practice that allows you to feel and sense your connection with the whole, whether it’s meditation, walking in the woods or gazing into the eyes of your beloved. 5. Trust the passage. The only way out is through. Know that you will rediscover a personal experience of Love and Oneness beyond anything you’ve felt before.
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