Manipulating God?

I am currently unemployed; have been for over a month. The RV Dealership I had been working for went out of business; a casualty of these tough economic times. This morning my optimistic view of things was faltering a bit. I went back and dug up a post I wrote in an abandoned blog. It strengthened and reinforced me. I thought I'd include it here as it was written a little over a year ago:

Recently I began a new career. I often, in this new setting, feel like a fish out of water. Because of the nature of this new occupation, I'm not guaranteed a steady income. It has been an enormous learning experience to encounter life with such uncertain parameters.

A couple of weeks ago, I found myself down to the final day of a pay period. Only one day to make enough money to make ends meet. I woke up early, worrying about it. I was concerned that I'd made a mistake in choosing this occupation. I worried that in order to succeed at a livable wage, I might have to compromise my principles. I feared that I just wasn't cut out to succeed at such work.

I concluded that for the immediate future, I had no recourse but to carry on - at least until I found another job. The pressing need was to close a deal in the next twelve hours. I decided to fast and pray to that end.

I knelt in prayer, initiated a sincere heartfelt fast and plead earnestly with the Lord to bring me success in my efforts. What happened next surprised me. It shouldn't have, but it did. I heard the Spirit whisper, "Would you manipulate God?" I was bewildered! Am I manipulating God? How? Then, in my heart I heard, "I thought fasting was an act of surrender, an expression of humility, a manifestation of your willingness to submit your will to that of your Heavenly Father. You seem to be using it, instead, to twist His arm into granting and sustaining your will."

A kind and loving Father had gently chastened me. He had kindly taught me a most wonderful principle. He had reminded me that, "His hand is stretched out" to me, would I take it and twist? Do I want things my way so badly, that I would attempt to manipulate God into granting my desires, even if they are contrary to His will?

I mentioned before that I should have known this, should have been sensitive to this manipulative tendency that I have. Years ago while reading Gandhi an autobiography, I encountered his description of an occasion that also involved fasting. Chapter 36 is called Fasting and Penance. Here Gandhi discovers that a couple of students in his Ashram have fallen into sin. He feels responsible to an, apparently large, degree. Gandhi decides to embark upon a lengthy fast, as penance for his failure. He says, "My penance pained everybody, but it cleared the atmosphere. Everyone came to realize what a terrible thing it was to be sinful, and the bond that bound me to the boys and girls became stronger and truer."

I do not doubt Gandhi's sincerity here. I am quite sure he did feel somehow responsible for the fall of the sinful ones. My concern is that his method, whether sincere or not, must surely have had the result of putting the students on a serious guilt trip. Had his penance been done in secret, God, "who seeth in secret," would indeed have rewarded him openly.

Putting folks on guilt trips is clearly manipulative and because of it's nature falls outside God's plan of agency. Manipulation is controlling and primarily done to the advantage of the manipulator. "I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it: wherefore give me thine honor." Sound familiar?

I returned to my fast, with new intentions. "I will cheerfully submit to Thy will oh, Father." Then I proceeded into my day with no agenda other than to do His will and keep His commandments.

Friends, God is entirely predisposed in our favor. His doings are always with the intent to assist us in our journey home. If that calls for failure in my current venture, so be it. All I need to do is my best and He will gladly bring me home. It doesn't matter to me what course he leads me on, to that Heavenly end. In fact it is quite an adventure.

So, I quit twisting His arm, and just took his hand.... and.... everything worked out just fine.

Book Review - The Three Deceivers - The Three Alternatives

I have never liked Richard Eyre all that much. He's married to a cousin of mine. At the one family reunion we both attended I thought him to be over the top. His were the only kids with talent and he and Linda were the only parents worth their salt or so they presented themselves. They were so self promoting.

It seemed like Richard was pretty sure that he was the center of the universe. Some of that personality appeared in this book. The book is written in two parts: First, The Three Deceivers, Control, Ownership and Independence and Second, The Three Alternatives. All through the first part Eyre invites us to guess what the Three Alternatives are. His use of the word "guess" is typical of Richard's personality. It implies that he is wise and all knowing and we, mere mortals are not able to figure it out; we're consigned to mere guessing. To top it off, he made it impossible to guess because he invented the word for one of the alternatives leaving no way to guess the correct answer, at least to Richard's satisfaction. Anyway you get my drift.

Now, before you give up and go home, I've got to add that the ideas in this book are some of the most brilliant, forward looking, visionary notions I've ever seen! This book is not only good, it is great! That is a pretty big helping of humble pie for me to eat, but it is entirely true.

I have to admit that I've wasted a lot of time over the course of my life delving into self-help books in an effort to gain more control, ownership and independence. The methods were, perhaps, sound but the objectives were flawed. No wonder there was never any satisfaction, joy or sense of enough, in those pursuits. Abandoning the pursuit of Control, Ownership and Independence for the the Three Alternatives has been and continues to be the most emancipating activity of my life! Like anything worth doing, this paradigm shift is a process and not an event. Nevertheless, Richard Eyre has made the effort clear and concise enough to make the rewards immediate if not yet entire.

Life is abundant and comes from an infinite source. This fine book has more fully helped me realize this than any other. It has also helped me realize that much of my disdain for it's author has come of jealousy. He had pieces of the pie I wanted and with my scarcity mentality, there simply wasn't enough to go around. Richard has taught me an entirely different way to look at it and through that lens, I find him a lot more likable. I find it so interesting that by simply reading this book I not only feel better about Richard, I feel better about myself. Obviously, the passing of judgment has a lot to do with the Three Deceivers; judgment of both ourselves and others.

The principles in this book are not new. It is, in fact, startling, how old, tried, true, visionary and scriptural they are. Even more startling is how entirely they are rejected in our culture, even our religious culture. I suggest you put The Three Deceivers - The Three Alternatives at the top of your reading list. Your view of everything else, will be forever changed by it!

Five Stars!

Book Review - Frankenstein - Dead and Alive

Holy Cow! What fun! After what seemed an interminable wait, I finally got to read the third in Dean Koontz's Frankenstein series.

Koontz wrote the first two with co-authors. His fingerprints were still all over them and I loved them both. Number three brings the climax of a most compelling and imaginative story. He wrote the third volume of the trilogy alone. You know I love reading Koontz's work and Frankenstein was no exception. Don't let the fact that this series was never published in hardbound throw you. This is classic Koontz and well worth the read.

Dr. Victor Frankenstein is still alive in the 21st Century! So is his monster. Consistent with Shelley's characters but set in today's New Orleans, the story reaches into our lives and times in an frighteningly poignant way.

This is a extraordinarily superior story. Even more I loved the examination of what it means to be human. While we are weak, vulnerable and full of flaws, Koontz helped me appreciate how priceless our sorrows, joys, triumphs, failures, strengths and weaknesses are.

"Sometimes Jocko thought about big issues....Big issues like why some things were ugly, some weren't. Maybe if everything was beautiful, nothing would be." I always love Dean Koontz's examination of opposites and the precarious balance between real good and real evil in the world. While his stories are not real, his examination of life is.

Enjoy the whole series!

The Noble and Donetta Petersen Reunion

A Sweet Little Video That Won First Place At Cannes