A Child of God
As we walked along the road Peter came to Jesus and said,
“Lord, in giving service to God I am frightened by the duties I may have to do.”
You fear for yourself alone and abandon the Spirit.
Peter looked alarmed. Jesus smiled and said,
Surrender to the Spirit; you will become as the wind and fears will be specks of dust.
“But how do I escape the limits of myself that I may join with the Holy Spirit?”
You live now in the Spirit, just like the fish in the sea. They see not what sustains them. They do not know that without the sea they would not exist.
“Is it truly so, my Lord? Am I like the fish unable to see that in which I live? What must I do to know the Spirit?”
Peter, for what do you ask: to escape limits you fear, or reveal the strength you have?
Jesus paused some moments as Peter thought on this.
Be as one who knows they live within the Sea of Spirit; enjoy it as a blessing. In time, you will know the strength and power you have within.
The blessings that grace your life will show that you live and breathe in a world that is greater than shimmering images.
“I shall do as you say though my poverty is absolute for I cannot see what blessings I may give.”
If you deny what is true, you become lost and afraid. Lie no more; for you have much that can lift and bless many. Lie and you bury your wealth.
Know the blessings that you have. Count them and give thanks for them. You are blessed with great riches but you hide from this knowledge.
Do you not give love to friends, help strangers that ask for aid, give cheer to those in sadness? Wake up! You are no pauper. Who has this store of riches? Who can dispense them at will?
As God’s child, give richly from your divine inheritance.
Tears came to Peter at these words and new understanding took root.
A man new to our group dismissed the words of Jesus as being ‘for children’. Jesus welcomed the man and said,
Yes, they are for God's children, but are you not such a child? In seeking God as a child; you find God within your heart.
If God were more than any children’s story, would you know? In not seeking as a child, have you found greater wisdom?
What truth do you seek and what do you deny to find it?
He understood that his judgments had separated him from God; and through his judgments, he had denied much.
Has God been unknown to you?
Something in these words struck the man.
“No, as a child and a young man I felt I knew God. But the world took hold of my attention and I became distant from God and others. I looked with jaded eyes and forgot the love I knew. I see that I have condemned many sweeter to God than me.”
“My cleverness has been a mask to fool others, but it is I who was the fool seeing not the cost. I cherished cleverness above innocence and lost the candour that opens the heart. Why is it so clear and now I see?”
You heard the truth in my words and it summoned truth from you. Your heart is both good and true; lean not on your mind alone to seek the answers you need.
These words moved the man; his tears showed the meeting of his heart and mind. As a new being he gave thanks to Jesus and, in time, departed to a new life.
After the man had gone, Peter spoke to Jesus about this meeting. Jesus said,
He came to learn that thoughts can hide the wisdom of a heart.
“This man knew God as a child, and you have returned him to his Father, but what is the nature of God that others may recognize God?”
What marks God above all else are the virtues; love and truth. What else would you mark God by?
To know God, know these virtues; which have no limits in God.