As you know, if you have visited this blog before, I have no issue with God. I actually love him to death. However, I do take issue with people who claim to know God's will. What men believe God's will to be, usually coincides precisely with the individual's own desire and opinions that comes from their own ego.
Every idea that comes to us through our consciousness or imagination is not from God or necessarily his will. I think people who believe this have over-active imaginations that are wrongly directed. It takes an imagination to be a religious person, but these people can also be easily deluded. I know because I've had this experience of being deluded. I've trusted people because I thought God sent them to me to help me, but I was wrong. Sometimes our imagination can play tricks on us. God gave us reason, we should use it along with faith.
This reminds me of an experience I had the other day:
I was waiting for a bus with another man (much younger than myself) at the bus stop. I saw a bus coming in the far distance (I don't wear glasses). He was amazed that I could see the bus that far away. He asked how old I was and I told him 70. I told him that I had better eyesight now than when I was 22 when I couldn't see anything without glasses. Further, I thought that was because I have been taking Lutein (A vitamin that is suppose to help the eyes) for 20 years. He looked at me very superior-like, and said "Will just maybe God had something to do with it."
I think it was God who prompted me to take Lutein. Although God helps us in his own way, he also expects us to do things to help ourselves. I believe in going to a doctor if I'm really sick. Maybe God wants me to go to a doctor, not just to lay in my bed and die, believing that is his will. I feel this was an instance of a person claiming that God's will was his own desire and opinions. I think sometimes people don't want to spend money on something like vitamins so they tell themselves that their health is in God's hands and they can't do anything about it, so why should they spend money on something like vitamins or medicine or something that might help them. However, in reality, they are just cheap. When I was a teenager, I was told that it doesn't pay to economize when it comes to one's health, and I always believed that and practiced it. Lutein as a chemical compound that is found in the eyes, is present in leafy green vegetables and spinach, so if one eats a lot of those things, perhaps it's not necessary to take it in pill form, but until recently, I didn't eat a lot of those things.
Nothing is greater than Cosmic Consciousness, or God. His power far surpasses that of the human mind. Seek His aid alone. But this counsel does not mean that you should make yourself passive. Inert, or credulous; or that you should minimize the power of your own mind.
The Lord helps those who help themselves.
He gave you will power, concentration, faith, reason, and common sense to use when trying to rid yourself of bodily and mental afflictions; you should emply all those powers while simultaneously appealing to Him...Paramahansa Yogananda
Contrary to everything I have just said:
I have cured myself of pain through prayer, but these were small things, like aches and pains. Perhaps I just don't have enough faith for the big things, but I've never had anything big. If a big thing ever comes my way, I will find out the limits of my faith. Perhaps there is no limit, but I haven't learned this yet. However, I'm sure I will still go to a doctor. I will combine the doctor's knowledge with my own faith and see what happens.
Michelle Bachmann said that it was God's will that she run for President. I think it was she who wanted to run for President. More than likely, it was an ego thing. Who could resist such a temptation to make the history books. Not me. On the other side of this coin, she might have learned many useful things by running for President, so maybe it was God's will, even though she failed. Just because we fail at something, doesn't mean that it wasn't God's will. Maybe he wants us to go through an experience so he can teach us something we need to know. I think God teaches us through experiences. I'm just speculating here. I don't want to claim to be one of those people who know God's will. I'm totally against the religious right. Actually, anything right of middle.
Some thoughts on Death:
Since, I am 70, I have thought about death, but try not to. I would like to die like Georgia O'Keefe died. When she was 95, although not sick, she felt that death was coming. She went and checked herself into a hospital and died 5 days later.
