Warning! Danger on your pathway!

There is a potential danger on your pathway!

It’s easy to fall into a pit if no one warns you that there is a great big hole in the pathway ahead of you. I am here to warn you that there is the potential of danger ahead.

When you want to walk the Pathway of Wisdom, there will always be a naysayer around to discourage you. The naysayer might be the Intruder. The distracting voice might be someone else. But the unkind jerk might also be your own brain!

An all-expense paid holiday

Imagine, you’ve been invited to an all-expense paid holiday. As you settle in on to your beach side cabana to the joy and the freedom, someone starts to try to convince you that you should enjoy yourself less. You should do extra stuff. Maybe you should scrub the bathrooms with a toothbrush. Or head into the kitchen to do the cooking. Probably you should skip that beautiful and educational tour to sharpen the tools in the tool cupboard. At the very least, you shouldn’t soak up the experience with gratitude.

In a holiday scenario, we can recognize the absurdity of doing all the jobs that aren’t ours. In our faith it might not seem so clear. God is the one who initiates the relationship. The Divine Family is at least as loving as the most loving family you have ever encountered or imagined. And they don’t invite you into relationship so that you can earn your own way with unkind judgements, climbing stairs on your knees, or fainting from lack of self-care.

The danger of your pathway

In our relationship with God, there will always be a voice trying to tell you that you don’t belong. That voice will try to convince you that you aren’t doing enough. It will shout that the good news of God’s love for YOU can’t possibly be true. And after it has levelled its judgments on you, it will turn to judge all the others around you.

The ancient promise of God is that there is an overflow of blessing for all nations, all people. There’s no one group in and another group out. The labels that have followed us around can be released and we can name ourselves:

BELOVED
BLESSED
ENJOYED and ENJOYABLE
THE APPLE OF GOD’S EYE
WORTHY

Whether the voice the chides and derides comes from inside you or outside you, the lies it tells are not your birthright. Don’t fall in the trap. I’m waving the flag and pointing right at that big, old hole. Be quick to avoid the old scams that try to separate you from relationship. Sidestep it and walk out your truth. You are dearly loved by God! The barriers to relationship have been removed!

A practice to deepen the feeling of being loved by God:

A simple melody accompanied by the words thank you is one way to deepen your ability to trust God’s love for you. Thank your body for the gifts it has given you today. Thank the natural world around you.