God is real and actively participates in my life now

The Universe is a created thing and I along with it

The Universe and I are created by God

Although God is incomprehensible to my mind

I have ways to understand His will for me

I cannot thwart His will nor increase it

His will will be done with or without my consent

The level of consciousness I have of His will is my choice and my challenge

I may find great happiness in His will or great pain

Knowledge of His will is the gain.

I believe I am here to do something

I believe I will do it if it’s God’s will

Whether or not I want to do it I will

I cannot go against God’s will,

All I can do is go along with it consciously

Or, unconsciously…that is my choice

So, I look for It

Thankful for the wondrous consciousness He gives me

To witness that of His consciousness He shows me

I want to be here, working with you and playing a role in doing Good work.

I want to “be an instrument of God’s will,” as Mike has put it, if I can be. I especially want to be “in unity” with you all. Based on what I’ve heard so far I’m pretty sure we see the world and Jesus very similarly, but differently, too. I admire your fluency and faith in the Word of God. I know a fair amount about the Bible but want to learn more, especially your beliefs regarding what it says and how to apply that to helping Harborlight clients commit to and take the twelve steps. I’m open, interested and willing. I would be less than honest, though, if I give the impression that I’m without opinion or a strong belief system, already. I’ve tried to express some of that on the previous page and I hope you see there a very Christian point of view. It is to me what Jesus, as well as many other Biblical characters, was talking about. I believe the Bible represents the Truth…it is telling us the Truth, but it itself is not the Truth. It is like a painting of an apple which represents the apple, or the artists interpretation of an apple he expresses in the painting. The painting shows us the apple but is not the actual apple. One can argue about the accuracy or the character or the authorship or the logic or the authenticity of the painting, but the outcome of the argument won’t change the apple one bit. God is God. God is not the Bible. No doubt that God has directly influenced the Bible through it’s 2,700-year-or-so journey, but I do not believe the actual words in it are the message from God. The ideas and thoughts behind the words are the message. As soon as you start arguing about whether there actually was a Jewish man named Jesus who did and experienced exactly what is written throughout the Bible you’re missing the point. The point is accepting this as a created Universe and acting accordingly. If you want to know how to act, look at Jesus. If you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. If you want to talk to a person, a human being, talk to Jesus. I believe what Jesus said. I believe Him. I’m trying to make feeble attempts at doing what He would want me to do. He said “your sins are forgiven” and I believe Him. But, I must claim that grace through acknowledgement, repentance and change of heart. I accept Jesus as the Messiah, the Lamb, the Son of God. He was the perfect human and demonstrated ultimate faith, humility and obedience to the Will of God. His story in the Bible gives us hope and inspiration we can apply to our lives now. But the point isn’t the Jesus story, it’s how it applies to our life now. I guess I’m saying I may or may not believe the exact same things about the Bible you do and I may or may not explain things in the Bible the same way you might. I think we’re all pretty much aiming in the same direction, though. But, that may not be enough, I don’t know. I’ve tried to share enough here to give you some insight into my beliefs. I would be proud to be with you on this Harborlight journey, but also agree that unity is critical, so this is my testament. I will accept any judgment you may have on this and completely understand one that would exclude me from the group for non-compatibility. No questions asked. I also hope this writing indicates the seriousness with which I take this effort and how important our individual Spiritual characters are to its success.

Thanks and God be with you

PS: Here’s an example of what to me is a very Christian sentiment but phrased the way I see it… “This is an adventure we’re living not a movie we’re watching.”