this is part of a multi-part series on discernment. what are my ways of discerning what some traditions would call “god’s will” and what others might call in alignment with highest good for me or what deepak chopra calls communication from our nonlocal intelligence? i will use the terms “god’s will,” “highest good” “nonlocal communication” interchangeably throughout the series so look alive. click through the first post to see what lies ahead or what i’ve already brought forth–how do i discern what is in alignment with my highest good (and why might i want to)?
then he said, “go out, and stand on the mountain before the lord.” and behold, the lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the lord, but the lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice [italics added]. so it was, when elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “what are you doing here, elijah?” (the holy bible, new king james version 1 kings 19:11-13 )
it’s been important for me to learn, and re-learn, that spirit speaks to me in a “still small voice.” in one transformative workshop i took called mastering life’s energies, the teacher and creator author maria nemeth explained that what is loud in my head is worry, doubt and fear. she reminds us that a key to our success as a species is to remember what went wrong before and to not do it. i interpreted her as saying that those voices are loud because as prehistoric animals we needed to remember where the saber tooth tigers were and to not go there. the mammalian and reptilian parts of our brains are there to keep our physical body alive and our dna passed along.
my thinking is that the spiritual part of us is every bit as important but because spirit survives the body it does not have to be as loud as the animal parts of us do for its survival. its survival is not in question. it is interested in other things.
i’m currently reading love without end. in it author/artist glenda green chronicles her months of true conversations with jesus as he sits for a portrait he has commissioned. over and over the master emphasizes that many humans miss out on the power of divine love (which he says is the only true power) because they are focused on temporary human structures. among those structues are money, security, identity, physical safety and survival. the master emphasizes that these are not unimportant, its just that the focus on these structures always locks humans into polarities which keep the pattern of lack and fear in place.
every human being has been given only one really important choice in our life says jesus in love without end. That choice is to “be love” or to not “be love.” that choice is available throughout our lives. when we choose to be love, we align ourselves with all the power of source energy and the structures that we are concerned about melt away and we attract all resources to us.
because we are always at choice, spirit has no need to speak loudly to us about this choice. the choice quietly sits there waiting for us. in this passage from above from kings 1 in the jewish bible (or christian old testament), we see that god appears to (the prophet) elijah not as the wind, an earthquake or as a fire, but as a “still small voice.”
practically speaking i frequently have to remind myself that if i hear really strong insistent voices in my head that sound like they could be motivated by fear, doubt or worry, those probably are not my highest good talking. maria nemeth equates those voices with the buddhist “monkey mind” wherein the mind swings like a monkey through the trees from worry to doubt to fear again.
if i can sit and wait, i can hear spirit’s voice asking me what i am doing here? notice that it is not telling me what to do but inviting me sweetly, quietly to ask. am i choosing to be love and align myself with all power? or am i choosing something else?