Good Thoughts, Good Words, Good Deeds

As cognitive systems, the outer world is not as important as our inner world.

Our first and most important task in our spiritual walk is to quiet our inner selves. It is to fully Accept the Seamless Whole and to incorporate our lives within Him.

This is not always an easy task, and we will find many times in our lives when we may fail to do it. That is a mistake, and the consequence is a painful and anxious separation from God. So it is important to always seek to accept the Will of God, no matter what it presents itself to be.

Fortunately, we are blessed with influence. We can change our conditions in life. But the first and most important condition we should change is the erroneous desire to control our environment in order to quiet our inner selves. It is the other way around. We will find that when we quiet our inner selves - when we desire to accept God's Will - we are much more able to influence our own lives and be happy. We are taking our first steps out of Hell.

This acceptance is often difficult because we find things in our lives that are unacceptable to us. We make the mistake of believing that if we could change outside events, we would be happy. It never occurs to us to change the way we view those outside events.

So this is the first step. We must accept that there is a Singular God - The Seamless Whole, and that we are but a part of it. We are not in control. We find that once we have realized this simple fact, we are better able to conduct our lives in a way that is pleasing to us. We are better able to properly respond to events in our lives.

It does not matter if you are the president of a large nation, a manager of a thousand people or an individual who cleans the messes of others. In fact, you are more likely to understand this spiritual truth if you are the latter. What is important is that you accept the fact that while you may have influence in your environment, you are never in control of it.

Once you have begun to master this principle, your thoughts will begin to become more good and less filled with evil. Put another way, it could be said that you will see things more accurately and will be less deceived or prone to error. It will then be easier to make better choices and do better deeds. Your life will become better and you will be happier. It is a cycle with positive reinforcement - better thoughts will cause better actions which make for more good thoughts. It is an inside job, which is consummated by the walk that is started by this first simple step.

Admission that there is a Singular God must be accompanied by immediate action to consummate the process. If you fail to act in ways that enhance your relationship with God - If you fail to prove your acceptance of God's Will - then you will fail and will fall back into Hell. You are proving to yourself and setting an example for your fellow man when you act on your beliefs. You are effecting positive reinforcement and becoming stronger. Besides, what good are your Good Thoughts if they are not accompanied by your Good Words and your Good Deeds?

Things that we find troublesome are usually of our own making. Whenever we find something in our environment that is a problem for us, the solution always lies within ourselves. Many things are simply consequences of our own actions in the past, even if we are not aware of the immediate cause. And even the situations which we have not directly or indirectly caused - The fact that we are troubled means that we are failing to accept our situation as being exactly the way it is supposed to be at the moment. Everything that happens is the Will of God. Everything is part of the Seamless Whole.

This does not mean that you are to act in ways that edify people even if they treat you badly. It would not be appropriate to accept unacceptable behavior by another. But it does mean that in those situations you see that they are living in Hell and uncomfortable. You may try and understand their plight. You will not want to change them or preach to them. You might remove yourself from them if you are discouraged, and set a good example if you can.

In some cases, you will have to exert influence that could be seen by others as damaging to them. In some cases, you might just walk away. In either case, your influence should be one that strengthens yourself and that may have a positive effect on them as well. What is important here is that you honestly assess the situation. You should not act in retaliation because control of the situation is not yours. You should act in ways that will make your world a better place.

As with all other things, there will be consequences of your actions. If you fail to assess the situation and act inappropriately, there will be consequences that you will not like. Even if you act entirely correctly, there will be consequences. In this case, all will be good for you in the end. Even if things appear to go poorly for a time, if your choices are good then consequences will prove to be good. But always take actions that you feel are just and good and leave the outcome to God.

Even if things appear to go badly, you will gain. If you have made a mistake, you will learn a lesson. If you have done well, you will reap the benefits of your good deed. In the end, there will be good things if you have made an honest attempt to influence your surroundings in a positive manner and left the results to God.

Trust God. This is an important part of accepting the singularity of God. It is more pleasant to God to have good deeds from each of us, and from Tiamat, than it is for us to fail. God is always there and God never fails. You can always depend on the rock solid nature of His physical and spiritual laws. You just have to discover what they are and how to apply them to your life. Seek them and you will always be shown the answer.

Sometimes we have to face a difficult situation and we are uncomfortable to trust God. We will find that even when we know that all is well in the end, we are so concerned with the outcome of a particular situation that we find ourselves anxious and afraid. We know that this anxiety is a separation from God, and we are ashamed by it. But we find ourselves unable to become unafraid.

The answer truly is prayer. A simple prayer, something like this: God please help. Nothing more, nothing less. In this prayer, we are acknowledging that we do not know the Will of God, but that we are prepared to accept it no matter what it is. We are not expecting specific guidance and are only wanting help with the matter in whatever way is best.

We may find that it is good to verbalize these things in our prayer. It is good to say in the prayer that we wish God's Will to be done. This reminds us and says to Tiamat that we wish for our will to be in alignment with God's Will. And then we will want to let go of the problem and let God handle it.

We will find that with the passage of time, this gets easier. If our actions clearly show that we are honestly seeking to grow spiritually, then our Faith - our trust in God will grow as well. We will not be as anxious when troublesome situations arise because we have already experienced times in the past when we have trusted God and everything has turned out well.

Life does have some bitter disappointments. It is also in these times that it may be difficult to trust God. The same prayer applies. God please help. Often times, upon honest reflection, we find that our disappointment is that of a small child who has just lost a precious gift. The child cries, sometimes even angry. The child may have a temper for a while or may become depressed. But the child grows and becomes attached to other things. When nurtured by loving parents, the child will survive losses and grow to become a healthy adult. It is this way with spiritual growth too. We are always part of the Seamless Whole.

We will lose dear loved ones in death. In this case, we long for the love and company of the departed. We will grieve and this is normal. But when possible, remember the gift we have enjoyed with the benefit of their presence. Perhaps we believed that we were to marry someone and were certain they were the perfect mate. Then later we found that it didn't happen even when we were so good. This is another loss that we will grieve. But God will provide another if we give Him a chance.

This is the nature of things. We will always exert our will on our environment - it is the only will we have to give. We do not ever really know God's Will, only our own. God's Will is always presented to us on a daily basis. We only really know God's Will as things happen. We can be relatively assured that a loss of gravity on our planet is not God's Will today. It is unlikely that we should begin to do harmful things to our spouse. But there are many things that we just do not know until they happen. And along the way, there will be disappointments.

So the important thing for us to do is to honestly assess each situation as it presents itself and to do what we think is right. Leave the results to God and learn to trust that the outcome is good in the end. It does become easier with time.

One of the most important things we must do is to truly know ourselves. It is not enough to know who we want to be, who we want to appear to be, or what kinds of things we like. It is important to know who we are. So the next important step for spiritual growth is Self Awareness. Just like a store keeper must keep track of their inventory to know what things are needed, a person must keep track of their spiritual inventory to know their strengths and weaknesses.

This is very important, because all too often we are tempted to expect too much of ourselves where we are weak. Sometimes we will boast unreasonably about our God given surplus, in order to cover these weaknesses. Neither of these things is good because neither is accurate. The fact is that as part of the Seamless Whole, we are exactly where we are supposed to be at the moment.

There are probably some things that we could stand to improve. But it is not as bad to have some spiritual defects and to be aware of them as it is to have the same defects and to try to hide them. In the latter case, we are less likely to ask for help from God to improve and more likely to expect everyone else to compensate instead. If we try to hide our defects, we will be tempted to blame others for problems caused mainly by our own inabilities as a result of these defects. And we will not be a true friend to our fellows because we have not made them aware of our liability. They may then depend on us for things which we cannot provide.

This is why honest self appraisal is so important. When we know who we really are, we know better how to conduct ourselves to be beneficial to all. Tiamat is strengthened and so are we.

It is advisable to share our innermost selves to another person. This should be a person who is trustworthy and loyal. It should be a person who is comfortable with this kind of honest self appraisal; Perhaps someone who has been through this process before. And perhaps most importantly, it should be someone who understands that this is not the time to consider what can and should be done to improve - A person who will not act as judge. After all, you are part of God and exactly where you are supposed to be at the moment.

During this sharing process, you will want to describe moments in your life that had particular significance to you. You will want to share the event and the effect you feel that it had on you. You will find things that have strengthened you as well as things that have weakened you. You will probably find a pattern and perhaps certain character traits. This is who you are.

There are two reasons that you will want to share this with another. For these reasons, you will find it much more beneficial to share self appraisal with another. The first thing is that there are probably things in your life that you don't see clearly until after seeing the impact your sharing has on another. Your chosen person will act as a sort of spiritual barometer. Some of the things which you find most offensive and the things you are most embarrassed about are common to many others. We are all very much the same. Your "secrets" are probably things that your chosen has endured as well.

Another reason that it is important is you will feel less anxious about the events that have made up your life. Not only do many of us see ourselves unclearly, but we judge ourselves harshly. This action will help you to become less anxious and more confident. Tiamat will become stronger in you. She will become better and more likely to be one with God's Will.

You have made the world a significantly better place by doing this. Tiamat has gained important information and so have you. You are able to help by stating clearly who you are. Since you are no longer deceiving others about who you are, you are better able to place yourself in positions that are appropriate for you now. Others can trust who you are now. You are much less likely to say one thing and yet do another. You are less likely to confuse intentions with actions.

At this point, you have found who you really are and can again ask for God's help. This is when you will begin to find freedom from anxiety and the help you ask from God is to improve your weaknesses. Now, you have not only admitted the singularity of God, but you have admitted exactly who you are. God already knew this, but Tiamat did not. You will now ask for help for improvement.

Remember that you are asking for God's help to improve. You have accepted who you are and are depending on God to present you with situations that will help you grow. These things will come.

You are now ready for the important process of Restitution of any harms done. Tiamat is certainly made better by this and you will become much stronger. It is usually uncomfortable to consider restitution, particularly if the parties involved acted poorly towards you at all. But it is important for you to consider only the harm that you caused. The other persons involved may or may not make their own restitutions and that is none of your concern. You are only responsible for your own spiritual growth. You cannot be hurt by, or take credit for, the spiritual condition of another. That is entirely their affair.

Restitution is the process of correcting an injustice. It is righting a wrong that was done. It is fixing something that you broke. Restitution is not simply saying "I'm sorry."

Sometimes, restitution is done by just living right from now on. Sometimes it is done by making a payment or performing services. Restitution may be made by staying out of a person's life that you have continually harmed. The best policy here, as in all other cases, is to honestly assess the situation and act appropriately.

You certainly do not want to do something that will hurt the other person. This is not the time to "purge your soul" by admitting something that will cause pain. It is not appropriate to open an old wound. If either of these things might result from a restitution that you are considering, you probably should refrain from contact. Perhaps your best action is to remove yourself from this person. You may want to consult someone that you trust.

These actions will greatly enhance your spiritual growth and make the world a better place. Tiamat becomes more aligned with God. In all things, you will want to live your life by these principles. As you grow in these ways, you will find that you have become much closer to God. You will find peace and strength in Tiamat. Other people will see this strength and peace and want to draw nearer to you. You will be filled with joy and fear nothing.

You will feel as one with the Seamless Whole and be anxious no more.