Let God’s Light shine on what’s important

 He who has the why to live for

can bear almost any how.

Friedrich Nietzsche

 

I lost ten pounds in recent weeks and managed to get into my old suit for my son’s high school graduation. Why did I manage this time with my New Year’s resolution—actually, there are still ten more to go by September—while in prior years I failed miserably? Was it stinginess or laziness not to buy a new suit? Was it pride not to accept that with middle age there is a little belly growing? Why do some people succeed spectacularly at what they do while others can’t get off their couch? Why do some superstars fizzle after some years while others keep going over generations?

 

I remember as a graduate student that failure was not an option. I put everything I had into my PhD studies while today I can’t “will” myself anything to do. Is that a good thing? Is that a spiritual thing? After all, without a “me” how can there be a “willing myself”? Is the lack of willpower not a spiritual upgrade but a congruence of inner conflicts? In the past I had a rule of thumb, my weight always dropped ten pounds when inner conflicts got resolved and I started moving again in the right direction. Spiritual living is being conflict-free, carried by the ruling energy. We do what needs to get done!

 

The transition is from focus to attention, from exclusion in order to gain to inclusion to allow God’s bounty to shine. “Failure” to accomplish something might just be a message to mind inner conflicts and encourage us to resolve them. God’s light shines brightly on the people and events that are worthwhile to embrace. It smiles, not strained faces, that tell us how to proceed. It’s a good night’s sleep that helps us to get a job well done, not by burning midnight oil. Friedrich Nietzsche’s “why” is God’s Kingdom, and the “how” is kind of obvious: God is doing everything for us. We show up for the ride!