The Great Truth by Janet Pfeiffer
Chapter 4: The Master(‘s)
Mind
Heeeere’s God!
In order to align one’s mind with the Mind of God, one must
first know who God is. I am not
referring to our intellectual understanding of who this Supreme Being is: “God
is the Creator of the universe and all that is”; “God is my Heavenly Father”; “God
is the first person in the Holy Trinity.” Sunday school knowledge introduces us
to our Heavenly Father and encourages a relationship with Him. We can read the
Bible and learn of His benevolence and the many miracles He performed. We are
told of His power and might, His unconditional love and unfaltering generosity.
But knowing facts about God in our heads is a far cry from knowing God. One must come to know the HEART of God in order to even begin to understand the Mind of the Father.
One of my best friends is a beautiful woman named Michelle. She
is pretty, classy, kind and generous; loyal, trustworthy, smart and a woman of
integrity. I could go on and on. Would you know who she is simply by my
reveling certain facts or perceptions of her? Of course not. You would know about her but you would not know her. To truly know who Michelle is, you would need to
experience her, build a relationship with her, witness her in her authentic personhood.
So it is with God. Intellectual knowledge does not suffice.
Spending time with Him and experiencing
Him is quite another thing. But how does one accomplish that? Where does one
even begin? Finding God is not that
difficult.
In Nature
First, God is easily found in Nature. After all, He created the
trees, streams, animals and stars. He is
Nature. Spending time alone in the environment allows us to experience the
perfection of God. Look closely: everything in Nature is flawless; nothing
needs to be improved upon. No one has to get up in the morning and plug Nature
in. No one needs to tell the sun to shine or the wind to blow. Nature
instinctively knows when to lower temperatures or raise them. There is no waste
in Nature either. It automatically recycles everything. There were no
instructions written on how to do that nor ordinances passed making it
mandatory. Nature knows precisely when to create life in one form and
transition it to another.
Nature is not jealous: nothing compares itself to another. No
one has ever witnessed a rose bush complain how unfair it is that the oak tree
down the road is much taller; or how it violates the rose bush’s civil rights.
A rose bush has never taken its case to the Supreme Court seeking a six-figure
settlement for prejudice or extreme emotional distress.
Neither is nature vengeful: because I have poisoned my parcel of
land with harmful toxins, Nature didn’t retaliate by releasing an over
abundance of snow in my yard the following winter (well, maybe with the exception
of Jan. of ’95.) It maintains its integrity and continues to do what Nature was
designated to do.
Nature does not play favorites: streams are cared for as
lovingly as spiders; mountains as tenderly as clouds; rocks considered as
precious as toadstools.
And nature has never engaged in war: it knows only harmony.
There is no animosity or prejudice, no religion or nationality, no race or
class, no winning or losing. Equality and fairness govern all of Nature’s
activities.
Perfection only creates, never destroys.
Nature does not grieve.
In all her wisdom, she fully understands the cycle of life and
recognizes that nothing ends but merely transitions form. Therefore, there is
no need for sadness, no reason to mourn. There is only acceptance of what is
destined to be.
And Nature is beauty – whether it is the dry sands of the Sahara
or the monsoons of South America; an ordinary garden snake or a rare albino
chipmunk; an odorous skunk or fragrant lilac bush. That which is created in
perfection is magnificent.
(Read “Garden of Weedin” @
http://www.pfeifferpowerseminars.com/pps1-newsletter.html#weedin)
I have always felt at one with Nature and have spent countless
hours basking in its wonder. For me, it has been fairly easy to develop a
deeper awareness of God through Her.
In Others
Nature is not the only means available to experience God. God
resides in each and every one of us. So to come to appreciate who He is, it is
imperative to see Him in those we encounter. This is not always easy as many
conceal Him behind an opaque shroud of bad attitudes and behaviors. But He
resides within regardless.
We have all encountered people who radiate love and kindness. My
mom is one of them. You cannot be in her company without feeling the presence
of God. Kind, sweet, generous, loving – there is not a malicious bone in her
body. She radiates peace and forgiveness, her life is a living example of God’s
infinite goodness. One cannot help but become a better person for having known
her. She inspires others to be more loving and has a natural ability to
effortlessly bring out the “God”ness in them.
In Children
Ring Around the (Toilet)
Bowl
I love little children. There’s an innocence about them as they
radiate God’s light. I think back to a time when my children were young: Rich
was three, his younger sister, Toni, two. Both were out of diapers when they
went into the bathroom together to take care of business. A few moments later,
I went in to make sure everything was ok. There was my little girl standing in
front of the commode crying. “What happened?” I asked. She appeared to be fine.
“I dropped my ring in the toilet”, she sobbed as she pointed her tiny finger
towards the porcelain bowl. “Don’t worry, sweetheart,” I said. “I’ll get you another
one next time we go to the supermarket.” (The plastic trinket came from a
gumball machine at Pathmark.) But before I could dry her tears, her big brother
valiantly reached in and retrieved her prized possession. I gasped in horror as
he pulled her gumball jewelry to safety! Her face lit up with glee. “Thanks,
Rich,” her tiny voice echoed joyfully. He shrugged his shoulders as though it
was no big deal. This is what big brothers do – rescue their little sister’s
treasured belongings.
"Except ye become as
little children, ye will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven." ~ Matthew 18:3
So it is with God’s love for us: in the great toilet bowl of
life, no matter how much sh*t we get ourselves into, He will reach in and save
us without a moment’s hesitation. Never would it enter His mind to pull the
handle and “flush” even the least of us, no matter how “plastic” we behave. For
in His eyes, in the Mind of God, we are all equally as priceless as a VSS
diamond from Tiffany’s. (Ok, maybe not the best analogy but you get the
picture. Sorry if I grossed anyone out. No more potty humor, I promise.)
"Never will I leave
you; never will I forsake you." So say with confidence, "The Lord is
my helper; I will not be afraid." ~ Hebrews 13:5, 6
Children have a great advantage over those of us who have been in
this life for ….well, a very long time. In their innocence they are still very
much connected to the Divine and exemplify His pure nature. They live with
carefree abandon, love freely and effortlessly, are eager to please and quick
to forgive. They are eternally optimistic and believe in the unseen and the
impossible (ever known a child who didn’t think they could fly?). They marvel
at the most mundane things (a dandelion puff) and see beauty where adults label
yucky (centipedes). They hope in all things and imagine the unimaginable. They
find humor in everything, especially belching, and sadness quickly dissipates
with someone tripping over their shoelace.
Either Way It Spells Love
And then, of course, there are dogs. (You do know that DoG spelled backwards is GoD? That’s not a
coincidence by the way.) There is so much one can learn about God
by observing His canine alter-ego. To know a dog is to know Love. There are no
limits to their capacity for affection. One of my canine babies, Halle, was
rescued from animal research. Abused and left caged 24/7 for the first seven
years of her life, Halle came to me in the fall of 2003. Malnourished,
terrified, dirty and with sores all over her body, she embodied God’s perfect
Love. From the moment I met her, she showered me with unconditional devotion
and loyalty. I never questioned her love for me. No matter how badly she
had been treated prior, her past was quickly replaced with her intense desire
to love and be loved. Nothing else mattered to her (with the exception of
food). She never complained about the unfair treatment she received, sought
revenge on those who brutally tortured and experimented on her, or harbored
resentment. Like most dogs I’ve met, Halle’s eagerness to give love and be
loved was her primary concern. If the activity wasn’t fun, happy or tasty,
Halle didn’t engage in it.
So how does any of the above assist us in knowing God?
First, look at Nature:
she’s fair, confident, forgiving, peaceful, radiates beauty, celebrates every
facet of life, and loves equally.
Others: they
reach out to total strangers when natural disasters strike; donate hours of
personal time to volunteer work; choose helping careers to improve the lives of
others; contribute billions of dollars to charities and non profits.
Children: love freely and effortlessly, are
eager to please and quick to forgive. They are optimistic, carefree and find
wonder and beauty in everything imaginable. They forgo sadness for humor in
every instance.
Dogs: forgiving, lovable and loving, playful
and loyal to a fault; never complain, are eager to please and will lay down
their life for the one they love. (Remind you of anyone you know? Hint: begins
with the letter J.)
Thus is the nature of God. His mind contemplates all that is
good, holy and pure. Anything and everything “love-based” resides within His
Mind.
Is It Me?
Let me clarify: it is important to remember that the question
is, “Does This Please God?” not “Do
I Please God?” God is always pleased with me. After all, I am His child,
the love of His life. He adores me without reservation. My behaviors, choices
and actions, however, are quite a different story. God is certainly not pleased
with some of the shenanigans I’ve pulled during my life, like the time I pushed
my little sister backwards off the swing.
She wouldn’t give me a chance on that particular one. When she fell to
the ground, hitting her head and losing her breath, I felt awful. I hurt her
and made her cry. The fact that there were three other identical swings on that
frame didn’t matter to me. I wanted that one
and in my immature mind if she didn’t give it up I’d just have to take it.
In the New York Times #1 bestseller, The Shack (Wm. Paul
Young), the main character, Mackenzie speaks with God who reassures him that
because God has no expectations of us other than what He already knows about
us, we can never disappoint Him. (Like a parent who knows his child hasn’t yet
perfected walking –there is no disappointment when the child falls.) So it is
with Father: always pleased with me, not so much with the way I act.
Know that behavior is not who we are. It is a learned response
to a situation. It is an outward expression of what we are dealing with
internally. Behavior expresses what I am
feeling but it is not who I am.
Intrinsically I am perfect. (Remember we have all been created in the image and
likeness of the Father who is without fault.) My behavior may be inappropriate
or offensive but I can unlearn what is not acceptable and relearn something far
more suitable.
This is a critical distinction to make because it enables us to
be less judgmental of others. “He’s an idiot!” becomes “I’m really angry at
that ridiculous statement he made.” (‘He’ devalues the individual; ‘what he
said’ addresses the behavior.”) How often do we diminish one’s self-worth and
fail to recognize it is what they are saying or doing that we are upset about?
Judging others contradicts God’s nature. He does not judge. He understands our
imperfections just as a mother who patiently waits for her child to learn how
to drink from a cup without spilling the contents.
“Judge not lest ye be judged.” ~ Matthew 7:1
Avalanche of Esteem
Questioning whether or not God is pleased with me can take its toll on one’s self-esteem.
If I, for even one moment, doubt God’s unconditional love and acceptance of me
then my mind tells me there is something innately wrong with me - Janet - the
person. And if God cannot love what He has created and who is an extension of
His glory, then who in this imperfect world could ever love me? People
continually find fault with one another and are overly critical at times. So it
is imperative for my emotional well-being to know, unequivocally, there is one
Supreme Being who recognizes my worth despite the mistakes and errors I make.
I am a mother of four, grandmother of a lot and still counting.
I see the beauty and wonder in each of my children and their children. Nothing
could ever cause me to turn away from them. But I have witnessed some behaving
in ways I am not always pleased with. I’ve seen them make choices I would have
preferred they didn’t make.
I have lost my patience and become angry with them at times.
That is part of my human deficiency. But nothing diminishes the love I feel for
them nor the value of who they are. That remains constant and unchanged. They could
never do or say anything that would ever cause me to love or cherish them less.
And the love our Heavenly Father feels for us is infinitely greater than that
which we feel for our own children.
“Praise be to God, who
has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!” ~ Psalms 66:20
God’s In Love
God’s mind is always Love-oriented and sees goodness and beauty
in each of us. It is reminiscent of one’s state of mind when they fall in love:
all that person sees is beauty. They are giddy with amore, infatuated with
passion, blinded with adoration. The mere thought of their paramour causes them
to smile incessantly. Excitement and joy
bubble over at the very mention of their name. The thought of their loved one
suffering causes them to shudder with contempt. If anyone were to harm them
they would risk everything to protect them for they do not deserve to suffer -
ever.
So it is with God: endlessly infatuated and giddy with love for
each of His precious children; wanting only what is best for them. The mere
mention of your name fills His heart with ecstasy and causes Him to smile with
delight.
God’s mind is incapable of bitterness, fear, jealously,
resentment, arrogance, etc. Negative
emotions are reserved for the human experience and are not inherent in Divine
Nature. They do, in fact, cause separation between the minds, ours and Divine,
and disconnect us from our Source of Oneness. One must synchronize their own
mind with the Mind of the Divine in order to live in harmony.
Violins, Ponies and Surfing
Think of it this way: an orchestra consists of many different
instruments, each playing their own part of the symphony. If each musician
thinks as an individual, separate and apart from the unit, then violins and
clarinets are competing in a cacophony of noise, loosing sight of the function
of orchestra. Only when each performer listens to and aligns their instrument
to that of the whole does the composition resonate in perfect harmony.
When I was a teenager, I spent many years riding horses. My
instructor, Sgt. James Gannon, trained horses for the NY City police department
and also worked with Olympic equestrians. Sarge instructed us to become one
with the horse; to align our mind with that of our steed. In that way, we
function as one unit, in perfect harmony as opposed to two separate entities at
odds with one another.
One mind, single purpose, effortless
motion.
My son, Rich, (yes, that Rich) is a surfer. Relating his time in
the ocean, he explained that in order to be proficient as a surfer one must become
one with the waves and think as a wave might think. In that way, the ride is exhilarating and
glorious. To disconnect can prove disastrous.
Align with the Divine
A simple reminder to always think and be at one with God is to
remember to “Align with the Divine”. When I reside in Oneness, I am whole and
happy, life is effortless and I reap limitless rewards. Only when I disconnect
and choose to think and behave in my humanness do I create pain and suffering
for myself and (most likely) those around me as well.
"The kingdom of God is within you." ~ Luke
17:21
~
“Align with the Divine.”
~
“As the mind of God thinks, so does
mine.”
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