If you are one of the 5 people who follows my page, you know that I’m doing 22 goals for 2022. I guess I should have called it 22 goals in 2022 … and going forward (otherwise I’m almost done LOL). It’s time for #21; and as I reflect on this year and the (many, many) challenges and what has gotten me through them, I realize that I want to strengthen my relationship with God. 

Mysteries Of The Universe

I realize that not everyone believes in God, and that’s fine. Not everyone has to believe what I believe. I’m not even certain of what I  believe God “is.” The only thing I am certain of is that there is no way that what I (or what anyone else) believes is truly and completely correct. I am very aware that my understanding beyond this world is limited by being part of this world. There is no way that an ant could understand the ocean or a fish could understand the internet. Anyone who thinks they have it all figured out is either incredibly naive or incredibly arrogant. 

But I believe that we are so much greater than our wealth and possessions and status and careers and ties to things held only in this world. We are only a tiny blip of life on a planet among many in our solar system, among many solar systems. The universe is vast and it holds secrets that are not within our grasp. I believe that there is MORE, beyond what this body experiences and what this life contains. 

So, whoever and whatever God is, I want to experience a deeper relationship with Him.

This is sort of about praying, but not really. I don’t want it to be about saying words I’ve memorized. And I don’t want it to be about asking for things. And I definitely don’t want it to be about blaming God for everything that is wrong in the world. If you had a kid who only ever talked to you when he wanted something or wanted you to fix something or wanted to complain to you about something, how would you feel? I mean, sure, you would still love him. But, you’d probably think that he needed to take some personal responsibility, learn some important lessons, and show some appreciation. You’d probably also think he was quite the PITA. 

I don’t want to think of God as my personal genie who will grant my wishes, or my personal magician who will fix everything wrong in my life, or my personal purveyor of justice. That doesn’t mean that I won’t ask for help. I need all the guidance and strength and hope that I can get. But I will try to see the path that I am supposed to take and the work that I am supposed to do to learn the lessons that I am supposed to learn. 

Life Has Meaning

I believe that we all have a purpose in this life. And I think if we can tap into that, it will in some way better the lives of others and/or make this world a better place. But I don’t think it is supposed to be easy. I think we all have challenges we are supposed to face, and if we take the easy way out we will be presented with other opportunities to experience them. I think it is a mistake to think that God will help us avoid those challenges – I think we need His help to get through them. But we still have to do the work.

I hope to better understand my purpose. I want to be a stronger person to better face the challenges in my life.  And, I believe that in building a stronger relationship with God I will learn to more clearly see the path and opportunities presented to me. I want to quiet the noise and nonsense in my life that distracts me from clearly hearing God voice. 

I think there are so many opportunities to hear God speak to us. But I think that first we need to learn how to listen. 

“The quieter you become the more you can hear.” ~ Ram Dass