Recently I shared a meal with a friend, a blessing and a Holy Communion of sorts. She is a light filled being who is kind and generous of heart. Eventually our conversation deepened to things that hold meaning.

We talked about some of the challenges we encounter in life. Faithfully, my friend shared, “God knows and there is a reason for everything.”

For me, I see things from another angle. I recounted a situation in which, I bared witness to the anguish of a fellow parishioner. Her teenage nephew was in a horrific accident and one of the passengers in the car, a young girl, was killed in the crash. She praised God for sparing her nephew and in thanksgiving said that God must have had a reason to spare her nephew. There was a reason he lived.

I was thankful that her loved one survived. Yet, I struggled with the idea that God spared him and took this young teenage girls life. Was her life any less valuable? Does God intervene in such a way, condemning some and sparing others?

My concept of God is not help for some and not others but rather to offer us the strength of Love in difficult times and in all times. In every tragic situation, God’s love is revealed in mysterious unique and unexpected ways.

The deeper our religious convictions we gain a sense of belonging but risk excluding others. I doubt that this was ever the intention of enlightened ones who have guided us along us various paths, which all lead to union with our Divine  Source.

My friend said to me, “We are so fortunate to know God. How do people cope who do not have God in their lives?" Several weeks have gone by and today an answer came…

But wait…God is present in all things; light and dark, our perceptions of good and evil, right and wrong, connection and separation.

A mistaken idea is that God is present in some and not others. Rather, we harbor a distorted world view of scarcity and loss. We bear the armor of self-protection. We need to give ourselves a break. Unhook the thread of guilt we carry. Our biggest barrier to Love is the lens through which we see.

God/Love is all encompassing. Love is in all things and in all people, religious or atheist, saint and sinner, friend or enemy. There is no space that Love cannot enter. Love is eternal and can never be lost.

The door opens from within. Forgiveness is the key.

“Nothing real can be threatened. Only Love is real” (ACIM).

Liz Sorensen Wessel

Mandala by ~liz