
Created for Creation
“All men will come to him who keeps to the one. They flock to him and receive no harm, for in Him they find peace, security and happiness.
Music and dining are passing pleasures, yet they cause people to stop. How bland and insipid are the things of this world when one compares them to the eternal Way!
When you look for it (the Way), there is nothing to see. When you listen for it, there is nothing to hear. When you use it, it cannot be exhausted.”
—Lao Tzu
I’m an artist and a writer.
When I create a piece of art, it is always first an idea or an image that appears in my mind’s eye and ears; from there, it flows out of me to become a creation of some sort.
I take pleasure in my creations as they are natural manifestations of my imagination.
So many creations in this world bring pleasure to the five senses, but they only offer pleasure for a little while, unless there is a deep and abiding connection to the ultimate Source of All creation and indeed, it is creation.
I used to wonder what it truly meant to be made in the image of God. In a sense, I think now, that I could say it better by saying we are created in the image of the Ultimate Creator. We were created to create, and this world, this universe, is our art studio, our playground.
DISCONNECTED
When we fixate on obtaining the pleasures of this world because we desire the power and honor they bring, we will still eventually feel empty inside, as if there is something missing. Because we have learned to love the creation more than the Creator. We have become disconnected from the Source of our very own beings.
When this disconnection continues to grow, the lusts (desires to obtain more of whatever it is that brings momentary satisfaction), greed (the unrelenting desire to have control, power and domination) and the fears that accompany greed tend to grow and grow until the world is filled with confusion and violence.
CONNECTED
However, when we focus on a deep inner relationship (not adherence to a set of religious rules and theological dogma that condescendingly condemns anyone with a differing viewpoint) with the ultimate Source of All that is, our infinite Creator, when we seek to be aligned with the Way, we develop a sense of wonder (see Psalms 8) amazement, gratefulness, appreciation, value, joy, fun, harmony, patience and peace.
Our praise, verbal, mental and emotional appreciation and adoration bring abundance into our lives. This connection to the life-giving Source of All of creation, the realization of WHO and WHAT we really are, is the only thing that can set us free from the illusions and lies that keep us running around trying to obtain what we already have.
ACCEPTANCE OF TRUTH
Jesus said that those who believed his words and adhered to him were his disciples (followers, students, friends). He said that believing his words and following his words would open his students’ understanding to the truth and that the knowledge of this truth would set them free. To be set free is to be rescued, to be rescued means to be saved, but saved from what?
Lies.
Illusions.
Lies and illusions bring bondage.
What lies? How about this one? “You’re not ________enough.” You can fill in the blank. Or this one, “God won’t accept you because______________.” Or “You are a mistake.” or “You’re not deserving.” or “You are unworthy.” or this one, “You’re not acceptable to God, unless you meet these conditions.”
And what illusions?
We needed to be rescued from the illusion that this reality is all that there is. Or, “You’ll be better if….” or “You’ll be happy if….” or “You need that person in your life because….”
But Jesus said, “If anyone loves me, he/she will keep my word (follow my teachings). My Father (eternal Source, Abba/All-Providing, ever-loving Papa or Daddy) will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” Wow! That’s a pretty great promise.
And the words of Jesus were instructions on how to walk in the Way, the inexhaustible divine goodness of the Creator.
There is no lack in the Kingdom of God but the Kingdom of God, the Way, is not the Way of this world. The Eternal Way supersedes finite manifestations of bondage. Therefore, just as artists manifest creations out of the abundance of their ideas, so too, should the pleasures of this life be manifestations out of the abundance of our connection to our creator.
Again, I say, “The Lord (Jehovah, the Self-Existent Eternal One) is my shepherd; I shall not want (lack). He maketh (causes me, permits me, leads me to) lie down (rest) in green pastures (tender grass, the choiciest homes, places): he leadeth (guides) me beside the still (peaceful) waters.” * Psalms 23:1-2
*all words in parenthesis are taken from Strong’s Concordance to clarify ancient morphology in modern terminology.