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We can believe in Good (or God) and still be in a lot of pain…. Like, A LOT. 

I used to imagine that people with faith were walking around living perfectly happy, completely pain free lives. Now, I know different. 

What’s the point? the cynics may say. Why bother having faith or seeking solace in a faceless deity if there isn’t some sort of absolution from the worst of the human experience? Isn’t that the deal? 

Well, first, I still feel brand new to this next level faith, so talk to me in a few years and maybe I’ll be a happy little zen master. Second, speaking from experience, it’s possible to have faith and still be making destructive choices, especially in the early stages. The annoying adage be careful what you wish for gained new meaning recently after getting some prayers answered, the results of which absolutely tore me apart.

Now, I firmly believe God (or Good) gives us gifts. We are meant to use some of them for the common Good and some of them are meant to teach us lessons. It’s our expectations or assumptions or attempts to force those gifts or force the path that lead to pain and hardship. 

I don’t know what to say about icons of our culture, such as Jeff Bezos or Lady Gaga, or other symbols of success in various industries. Either they understood their assignment from God (or Good) and did it without question or doubt, or they have operated entirely according to ego and forced a form of success that is reward on this Earthly plane but may not be on the spiritual one.

I’m not interested in judgment but I do think people who proceed with certainty and without doubt have something to teach us. What do they know or see within themselves? What is faith to them? If I had the time or the wherewithal I might consult them or at least try to suss it out through one of their biographies, but I have neither the time nor the wherewithal. I am left with only speculation.

But what is the difference between a wish and a vision? One might argue it’s only faith.  

For those that think that either Bezos’ or Gaga’s choices or behavior or cultural contributions are unworthy of or contrary to God (or Good), that’s somewhat dependent on the assumption that Good (or God) is a judgmental deity with human goals and values, rather than a source of energy that fosters growth, expansion, or abundance for whomever believes in it, focuses on it, or channels it. I tend to think the latter, rather than the former, and this work and my time is focused merely on helping people connect with and feel worthy of Good (or God) in their own lives, rather than focusing on who is doing Good (or God) better or worse than the rest of us.

There are definitely those among us who believe faith or spirituality is primarily energy, and what we focus on expands, Good or bad. At a very basic level, I agree. Does it need to be so complicated as heaven or hell? Can it just be that life improves or we succeed at our goals if we focus on yes instead of no? I wonder what Gaga or Bezos would say to that basic question. 

I think in my pursuit of faith, the goal was always to track down a little hit of the opiate of the masses for myself. I was tired of being worried and on edge all the time. I will say that while I am still capable of profound sadness, I am not really an angry or anxious person anymore. This is relatively new and I’m not sure what to make of it. All that agita over X, Y, or Z is gone. I just decided I didn’t have the fight in me anymore, and Good (or God) seemed to have a much better handle on things after decades of trying to do it better or differently by myself. 

I am definitely not perfect. I am not at all saintly. I do not have it all figured out. But I do feel better operating with faith than without it, and I do feel much more focused on yes than on no.