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WE AFFLICT OURSELVESs
5-30-10
I was recently reminded that the worst punishments we can ever
experience are those we inflict on ourselves.
Tammy Greene of
Sand Mountain sent me a great article by Diadra Price on “An Awakened
State of Grace.”
She wrote, “As grace awakens deeper levels of
understanding, application of these eternal principles is not optional.
Once truth is known there is a double whammy to those who do not apply
the truth. The consciousness of ‘knowing better’ generates a sense of
guilt. Guilt registers in the mind as a need for punishment. On a subtle
level you will bring punishment on yourself.”
Like the Prodigal
Son we can simply return to the “home” (Truth) we abandoned, We then
celebrate embracing the Truth and allow Grace to restore us to our
original understanding.
In my opinion, this makes hell, as
commonly taught, unnecessary. We punish our own selves. There can be no
place that does not allow restoration. Our Creator’s very essence is
grace and love. I grew up in a church that taught endless punishment and
even as a young child I thought, “That does not sound like a God of Love
to me.” If there is such a place Jesus will be there because he always
chose to be with those who were suffering.
I joined a church one
time and they insisted I come to “orientation.” In that class I
discovered they had such beliefs although they no longer preached them.
I immediately had my name removed from the roll. They urged me to stay
and just ignore that part of their teachings but I said, “I do not want
to lend my influence or money to giving people such misinformation about
God. To me, that is taking God’s name in vain and dishonoring our
Heavenly Parent.
In his infamous sermon “Sinners In The Hand of
An Angry God” Johathan Edwards (who believed in predestination) said,
“There are babies in hell no bigger than the span of your hand.” Someone
asked John Wesley what he thought about that and Wesley said, “His God
is my Devil.”
As Diadra Price said, there can be no worse
punishment than losing awareness of the sweet juice of Truth and Grace
in our daily lives. Truth is so powerful that it frees us from anything.
When Jesus said, “You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you
free,” He definitely knew that even a small Truth, if there can be such
a thing, will set us free from something that binds us.In living it our
hearts and minds can be free as a mountain breeze.
A few mornings
ago I went over to Chickamauga Lake for a short meditation walk and was
so enthralled by the beauty I sat down a while and got real still. The
cool breeze off the water healed my spirit and I thought, “To be without
the peace I feel right now would be the worst fate I could ever
experience in life.”
All other forms of punishment pale into
insignificance compare to losing he awareness of peace and the Presence
in our lives.
The best definition if “sin” I have ever heard is
“Self Inflicted Nonsense.” Anything that comes between us and our joy is
self-inflicted nonsense.
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