People are often mystified when they look at the reality of the world we live in, and try to reconcile that with a good and loving God. We frequently face difficulties of all kinds, big and small; personal as well as global tragedies. Seeing this, we can't help but ask, "How can this be? How can a loving God have created this? There is something missing from this picture. It doesn't add up!" That's true. There is a piece missing from our equation.

There IS something that we are refusing to look at, which would reconcile these contradictions in our minds and heal our discomfiture with God. We need to understand what that is, because that missing piece is causing a breakdown of affinity between mankind and God, and making us miserable.

This article is to help you find the missing piece, and by doing so, heal your relationship with God, and empower you to have a better life.

The truth no one wants to know, and why

The truth is not hidden; it's not cryptic; it's not far away. It's HERE. Anybody who is willing to be implicated by the truth can easily discover it. But friends, there is no higher truth that does not implicate the hearer of it. If we saw the truth about God, we'd see the truth about ourselves too, and what's wrong about the way we live and think. That truth would hold us responsible for living much more beautifully than we tend to do.

We don't want to know the truth that we are enormously powerful, creative children of the Creator; that we are always connected to God and all; and that we are truly very sensitive, loving, and good. In God's words:

In our current, ego-identified level of consciousness, most of us can hardly face our ordinary human responsibilities, let alone the ultimate responsibility of living as the Godly creatures we truly are.

Furthermore, we don't want to face the IMPLICATIONS of how uncomfortable we REALLY ARE with our ego-driven lifestyle; how much better we actually KNOW than what our behavior suggests; how much it pains us to be selfish; and how many problems it really causes. We're attached to our self-centered ideas, desires, and ways of doing things.

It is said, "Know the truth, and the truth will set you free." But, if the price of freedom is to give up our egotistical habits and false ideas -- which it IS -- WE DON'T WANT the truth that sets us free. We're like a man who's married to an ill-tempered wife. She's making his life a living nightmare, but he's attached to her. He's got a problem: He wants to keep his wife, but if he does, she will continue to make his life miserable. The same could be said for egotism. It causes us all kinds of problems, but we're attached to it.

Therefore, we feel we can't AFFORD to know the truth about God. We don't want the RESPONSIBILITY of knowing. Now we're getting to the heart of the matter: we don't want to be responsible.

God is a victim of our war against responsibility

Isn't it obvious that, all around the world, countless people avoid personal responsibility, or minimize it? When things go wrong, we tend to point the finger of blame at everybody ELSE -- and especially at God. We may admit that human beings are responsible to a degree; but usually that means OTHER human beings, rather than, say, oneself.

Unfortunately, when we reject personal responsibility, we also reject the truth about God. Can we be honest? Our war against responsibility is war on God, war on our fellow man. We attack those we blame with negative judgments -- "God is mean, and other people are mean" -- and we hold them hostage in our minds. For example, if I think my mate is responsible for my feelings of depression, then I resent my mate, or anxiously try to change my mate; or at least, I'll sit with folded arms, waiting for my mate to change.

Inevitably, in our war against responsibility, God's reputation takes a beating. When bad things happen, we think that God is either wrongly doing them, or wrongly allowing them to be done. We resent God for the sorry state of the world we see. So we ask accusatory questions like these:

All those questions assume that God has huge responsibility for the troubles of the world -- as well as huge responsibility for our own difficulties.

So you see, the human penchant for blame -- that is, the desire to displace responsibility -- has a major effect on our view of God. Where the relationship to God is concerned, it is crucial to admit that negative views of God result directly from our reluctance to take responsibility for difficulties we and other humans create. As long as it exists, that pattern will always foster an unfavorable view of God. To improve our view of God we must upgrade our willingness to take responsibility.

The world we create

How much better EVERYTHING would be if we would start taking more responsibility! Because, if the truth be told most of the events and circumstances in our life are generated by what WE think and do.

Granted, some of the trouble that befalls us is caused by other people, out of their will and actions, but generally the overall impact of others' actions on our lives is greatly exaggerated. Even when others say or do things that are hurtful, often we are largely responsible for HOW MUCH those things hurt us. MOST of the negative impact of others' actions results not from the actions themselves, but from the way WE interpret and respond to those actions. For example, somebody makes a thoughtless and offensive remark, and then we spend days hurting ourselves by harboring resentment. Let it go! Honestly, each of us has a MUCH larger share in the creation of our own suffering than we prefer to admit.

The world we see is the world we are creating around ourselves. That world includes not just the lifestyle that we live, but also the people surrounding us, and the way they relate to us. One man works hard to be reliable, and has the happy experience of being trusted, while another earns distrust, and suffers THAT unpleasant experience. A reactive person evokes negative reactions in others; then there are two reactive people -- or a roomful. Conditions deteriorate instantly. Mayhem!

Look around at what man hath wrought:

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Clearly, God is not creating those things -- PEOPLE are! And yet, people suffering those experiences will cry, "God, why did You make such a miserable, horrible world?" Poor God! And, poor blaming, irresponsible, disempowered humanity! If people would take responsibility, we'd create differently. Otherwise, we will continue to create the 'cruel world' in which we live.

We seem to have a blind spot that prevents us from seeing the relationship between what we do and what "happens to" us. Could it be that we're covering our eyes with our own hands? For example: A person steals at work, gets caught and sent to jail. The thief complains, "The world is a cruel place -- it jails people." But a wise voice replies, "The world jails THIEVES. You went to jail because you were stealing. You don't do the time if you don't do the crime." If we would admit that, we could get off blame, and onto a MUCH better life.

It's hard to admit we're creating a cruel world. Consequently, we're quick to defend against that realization, saying, "How could I have created THIS? This is NOT the world I want to see!" Wisdom would reply, "True! This is not the world you want to see; but this is the world that reflects who you are WILLING to be." If you are willing to start a fight, the next thing you know, you have a fight on your hands. If you're willing to steal, you may get caught. Since that is not a world you want to SEE, those are ways you'd better not BE.

Dividing up the "why pie"

Those expressions remind us that we are the creators of what happens in our lives. To understand and accept that principle is to take responsibility -- which is EXACTLY what the ego wants to avoid. So, to make matters worse, we make our bed and we lie ABOUT it (that is, we deny or overlook the fact that we ourselves made it).

As long as we keep ourselves in the dark about our own responsibility for the world we live in, we won't be motivated to create differently. People often concern themselves almost obsessively with the behavior of others, constantly asking, "Why do people do this and that; and why does God do this and that?" Rarely do people ask, "What am I doing -- and why am I doing it?" Evidently, people do want to know "why," but not if it means they have to eat their share of the "why pie" -- that is, assume their rightful share of the responsibility.

Oftentimes, the "why pie" is humble pie; that's why so many of us show an aversion to eating it. We think we're better off NOT being responsible. But, if we give the lion's share of the responsibility to God and others, we count ourselves out of the world we see, for all practical purposes. We deny or underestimate our role in the creation of that world. So, once we get the WHY -- that is, the responsibility -- wrongly allocated, nothing makes sense any more. And, nothing works. Displaced responsibility means confusion and delusion, powerlessness and suffering.

We would be wise to develop a taste for why pie. It's good for us -- really! Any displaced responsibility robs us of a portion of our actual power and control. And in our minds, it makes God and everybody else responsible for our well-being and happiness. Then, when we find ourselves to be miserable -- because it's impossible for God or anyone else to make us happy if we don't do our part -- we feel like victims. We complain that God victimized us, or everybody else victimized us. But the fact is, we have victimized ourselves. We've defaulted from our own, rightful, God-given responsibility.

Friends, that's how God, among others, got in the doghouse. And until we take true responsibility, that's where they're going to stay. They have to, because we keep putting them back there, every time something goes wrong. It's up to us to let them free.

Wake up at the wheel

Just as spouses sit in counseling waiting for one another to change, people sit waiting for God to become less mean; or to stop allowing bad things to happen -- or to make sure more good things happen. But, in fact, we -- the people waiting for God -- hold the steering wheel. And if we are looking to God, or to others, when we should be watching the road, we steer ourselves into a ditch with our own hands.

God can't do anything about the fact that human beings are creating so much pain. We're doing it with our own free will. We've got to wake up at the wheel. We've got to pay attention to what's really happening. We've got to see how WE'RE creating the pain we suffer. We've got to take control ... and responsibility.

It is wise to control your whys, and tragic NOT to do so. Don't say, "They made me feel this way, or act this way." That's blame. Instead, take responsibility! Simply and honestly say, "I have capitulated to culture. I have capitulated to my husband. I have caved in to expectations. I did that. That's my responsibility. I have displaced my why to my mate, to common culture, etc., instead of authentically sourcing my own existence. I need to take my power back; and the only way I can do that is by being who I am, and taking responsibility for what I do."

Then take responsibility! Admit and correct your mistakes; but more than that, start creating BEAUTIFULLY. And do it all in a joyful, loving, Godly way -- as is fitting for a child of God -- not in a reactive, fiercely independent way, as a martyr or a bitter victim would do. (That would still be blaming and harvest all of blame's bad results.) If we would embrace our responsibility in a good spirit, we'd find nothing left to blame God for -- and MUCH to be thankful for.

God-seeking is fruitless without responsibility

This world is full of seekers who would like to see God, but too often, their motivations are related to blame. "I'm glad I finally got to meet You, God, because I've got some grievances ...." Or, "I'm glad I finally got to meet You, God, because I've got a few problems I'm hoping You can fix for me." Relying on God's help is not necessarily a form of blame -- in fact, it is appropriate to depend rightly on God. But dependence on God reflects blame if we put all the responsibility for fixing our problems on God, and take too little responsibility ourselves.

It's a given, in the world of ego, that people hate taking responsibility, or being accountable for their lives. But until we stop displacing our problems on God, how CAN we rightly understand God? We can't. How can we succeed in loving, knowing, understanding God, when we are constantly putting God in the doghouse by blaming God for the results of OUR choices.

Only if we will stop blaming God can we SEE the beauty of God, and the beauty of ourselves. Our world will not be beautiful until we take responsibility for being beautiful -- as we ARE, as God made us. When we stop blaming God, and start living as we ARE, we will finally see heaven on earth, where heaven really already IS.

God is waiting for each and every one of us to take responsibility, so that our relationship with God can be fulfilled, and so that WE can be fulfilled. So, stop being an irresponsible person looking for a scapegoat. Stop making yourself miserable that way. Get back to responsibility. Back to power. Back to control. Only then can you know the truth about yourself. And others. And God.

This is the truth: God is love. God loves you. And God only wants to help you see a better world -- the world GOD created.

by David Truman

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