Blog #240--Answers Come When We Ask

Most humans are highly vulnerable to a well-told lie. Even when we lie frequently ourselves, we tend to believe others, no matter how exaggerated their claims. One likely reason for this is our tendency to resist questioning the idea, the source or both. We especially don’t wish to risk losing our connection to the speaker. For instance, news reporters fearful of losing access to federal authorities tend to become lap dogs for all sorts of fanciful stories.

Each of us is guilty of the same thing multiple times daily. We are always encountering situations in our lives that confuse us or otherwise disrupt goal attainment. Rather than trying to figure out what is actually happening, we tend either to react negatively toward the source of our displeasure or try to forget it ever happened. We don’t like admitting our mistakes, so we don’t usually pursue them further.

Of course, that means we will make the same mistakes or be susceptible to the same lies repeatedly. We don’t try to learn from these experiences, guaranteeing they will recur. Many of these mistakes are extremely minor and do not affect our survival or quality of life, so we are accustomed to assuming we don’t need explanations for events.

Prayers are formal, ritualized efforts to find answers, but we often save those for the biggest problems. Why can’t my child take school more seriously? How can I make enough money to pay the bills? How can I appease my spouse so there will be no divorce? Or, how can I gain the courage to obtain a divorce? We may not have any certainty of receiving an answer, especially if we doubt a supreme being would care about our measly problems.

But I believe we don’t have to go to special trouble or say prayers in a specific way to obtain needed answers. All we really need is to ask the question. However, many of us have developed a preference for phrases like, “God works in miraculous ways, His wonders to perform” from the Christian Bible, and “Ours is not to question why, ours is but to do and die” from “The Charge of the Light Brigade” by Alfred Lord Tennyson. We have plenty of excuses but few answers.

Part of the problem is our perception of a supreme being. We distort and minimize a universal, eternal concept into something that we can relate to as humans rather than learn more about a supreme being, assuming there is one, and then modify our perception to apply practically our new knowledge. We find a measure of comfort from what we were taught as youngsters and resist anything that contradicts those assumptions. Asking questions to a supreme being seems presumptuous to some. Why would we expect an answer when said being is so busy keeping track of everyone and everything?

Plus, few of us really know it when a higher source is giving us answers to our questions. Because we think of a supreme being as an extraordinary, perfected human, we assume any answer it gives us must be so earth-shattering, so profound that we cannot possibly doubt it’s coming from that source. We are eager to believe loud voices in our mind acting arrogant and self-assured. But that “still small voice within” referred to by Gandhi and others may be the real source of truth. Maybe we must listen for it more carefully while ignoring noises that might be distortions of truth.

I think we are making the problem seem too difficult; thus we ignore the possibilities. I think we get answers all the time, sometimes when we least expect them. I have also found numerous instances when I have received immediate answers simply because I asked the questions.

For instance, I was never a great golfer, but I worked at it. When I went into a slump, which was often, I would simply ask, “why?” A generalized question like that may take awhile to resolve since it might require a swing change that takes time to perfect. But I would often ask other questions as I practiced or played, like “Why did the ball go that way?” I was amazed how often I heard explanations that made sense in direct response to asking the question.

Were those answers coming from a supreme being, a spirit guide, my own higher self, cells dedicated to golf in my brain, or something else? I can’t guarantee the source, but if they can be proven true by our subsequent actions, then they came from a source connected to a higher awareness. When I don’t mentally ask the question, I won’t get any answers. So it seems to me the key is simply to ask plenty of questions until we learn what we need to learn.

This process can be somewhat scary for those who fear having to make improvements in their lives. But we are given what we need for our survival, so rest assured we will not fall apart simply by getting answers different than we wish to hear. The key is to realize we have choices. If we don’t like the answers, there’s something we can do to test them against what else we know.

One time I received a psychic reading that included mention of a past life where I was named Judas. Obviously, those taught the story of how Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus do not like to think they might be the reincarnation of a man some religious books have claimed should be banished to Hell forever. I was no exception. But instead of denying it, I tried to learn more about it.

I not only read the Bible, I also read Gnostic and other interpretations of those events. After examining several points of view and trying to put myself into the life of that historical figure, nothing seemed to fit. I have had other past life mentions from psychic readers that felt right upon analysis, so I know the difference. I was relieved to know I was not the Judas from the Bible (it was a fairly common name back then), although some interpretations of his life suggest a far different motivation and behavior than is accepted by the vast majority of Christians.

I have learned the value of putting myself into others’ shoes, again thanks to the question-answer process. So if someone did something that caused problems for me, I can put myself into their position and decide if it was intentional or an accidental result of other considerations. It helps us develop empathy for others, and it lessens our need for retaliation. We can learn to accept what happened and forgive the source.

I was taught many important lessons by a voice in my head. Who was talking to me? I can’t say it was a supreme being. It is probably my higher self, also known as the “Christ Consciousness,” that has been a trustworthy companion throughout my life. All I had to do was ask it for assistance. We all have a higher self, which is one with the universe. Try it out, you might like it.

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