Sorting out spiritual priorities part 2

Now, if I keep my focus on God, God’s love and God’s will, can I trust that life will take me where God wants me to be? I think that this is a fairly important question, so I suggest that you read it again. Go ahead! If you do, you can skip the last four sentences of this paragraph and skip to the next one. It will only take a couple of seconds. And you’ve already wasted a couple of seconds reading my nagging about the opening sentence. So why not waste a few more? And unlike these last four sentences, which are just a bunch of nonsense, the first sentence actually communicates something that at least I deem important.

So, why is this question important? Because many people seem to answer it with a big “no”. And because it has to do with our ability to trust God.

Maybe in the end it all comes down to what I out my time and energy into. 

All of this is so difficult. There are so many questions. For example: What beliefs do I hold for other reasons than because those are the ones that I have the best reasons to hold? What beliefs do I hold because they are part of a self-image that I don’t want to let go of? What beliefs do I hold because they are safe? How far can I trust my own experiences? My own memory of my experiences? How much, in general, do my fears and wishes govern my beliefs?

Just now, I realised that maybe I just haven’t found my place entirely in God’s plan.I know that I’m neither the monk nor the blue-collar family man, that I used as examples in part 1. And even though I wouldn’t mind being one, I’m no rock star either. 

What I do know is that I love books, creativity, meditation and that I’m very interested in how I and other people function. Maybe I should run with that and peel away other stuff from my life and see what happens.

But I was also almost missing something. This something is nothing that I have not thought of before. But since I’m trying to get my priorities straight here, this has to go into it. It wasn’t as if I didn’t touch upon this in the first post either, but some more clarity seems vital. The real question asked here after all, would be: What do all people that aspire to live with God need to have and/or develop in their lives?

Something that the monk, the blue-collar family man, the rock star and anyone else that wants to live with God have in common. We need to develop character and do our best to remove those things from our lives, that keep us from God. All of this means of course that we need grow in the kindness and compassion that we show for other people. There is in all this also a call to transcend our lower desires, egoistic wishes and wants. 

It can all probably be boiled down to “follow Jesus’ example”.

And in all of this, maybe I don’t need to make such an issue about certain things. And maybe if a certain idea or way of looking at reality helps me to be a better person and live a better life, I can at least explore it and use it, until I find something concrete that tells me that it’s not a to do so. Of course with as much discernment as I can muster up. I must be vigilant and not close my eyes to how different things make me feel inside. 

The question is: Does this bring me closer to- or further away from God?