GIFTS OF LOVE
By Dave Dewitt, Germany

As we travel through life upon the path of Enlightenment, many of us experience suffering, to varying degrees. We go through many seeming difficult times and find ourselves feeling a sense of separation from the Divine, asking, "Why is this happening to me?", without realising that these are Gifts of Love given to us by the Divine to help us grow. Just as all vegetation grows fastest during the night, so is this Spiritual growth, in the dark and troublesome periods of our lives. The Soul then grows faster because during these periods the mind turns inwards and comes closer to the spiritual forces moving and controlling the Soul. We are then consciously cooperating with these benign Spiritual forces, enabling our understanding at a profound level. With lessons contained within these experiences, we have truly learned to cooperate with Life and the Divine. We have then reached an important point in our spiritual growth process. But until this time, many hard lessons have to be learned. Why do we have to go thorough these experiences? This is because the ego or the personality is an aspect of us that sometimes tries to interpret the Will of the Divine, which is our own true Self. Thinned and slowed down, it is an extension of God's Consciousness to suit the physical and the mental planes. But this will of ours normally considers itself to be separate and individualistic.

The story of Adam & Eve comes in handy here. There is this Adam's original sin and the episode of him being naked. This is not to say he was without clothes. It is metaphoric of Adam's ego centredness and his nakedness symbolises him being bereft of the feeling of God presence, and thus therefore void of His protection. His subsequent expulsion from the Garden of Eden, being his altered state of Consciousness from one of surrender and living with the Heavenly kingdom within to the self-centredness of ego perception and of individuality. Here is where there exists our doubts, fears and misconceptions of Reality. If we step back and observe our minds we can notice that there is a part of it which is wilful and unruly and will take us down the road that would lead us to all sorts of trouble if we give in to its negativity. It is this aspect, we call the personality, the ego or the materialistic intellect. That must be disciplined in order that we may find our way to the Kingdom of God within. These experiences of the so-called suffering are in reality Gifts from God. These teach us the right way. If we faithfully and personally strive to overcome self and understand the true validity of these experiences we are promised in our Scriptures thus,

"And therefore will Jehovah wait that He may be gracious unto you; and therefore will He be exhalted that He may have mercy upon you; for Jehovah is a God of justice! Blessed are they that wait on Him. For the people shall dwell at Zion in Jerusalem; thou shalt weep no more; He will surely be gracious unto thee. From the voice of thy cry, He shall hear and He will answer thee. And though the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet thy teachers shall not be hidden any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers. And thine ears shall hear a voice behind thee saying, this is the way, walk on it". Isaiah 30:18 to 21

Therefore, all experiences of whatever nature, will bring speedy growth and expansion of Consciousness whether we realise it or not. If we are faithfully striving and putting into practice the teachings given, even apparently with many failures, our growth is very vivid on the Soul plane to those who can see the Light that is radiating forth into the world. Such an intense desire to become worthy with the earnestness of purpose manifesting a continual search, striving to overcome faults and weaknesses, count far more than we realise. As we move along the path and become a more open channel of God's light through which He can have complete expression of, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven".

We should be thankful for these experiences for they bring us closer and closer to our final destination and goal. That is Union with the Divine. We should always remember the key to all this is through unconditional love and selflessness. For wherever we are or what we are experiencing, God's presence and protection is with us and His light touches all, whom we come into contact with.

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