Prayer & God part 2

"To pray for a bodily cure and nothing more is a limited and limiting procedure. Pray also to be enlightened as to why this sickness fell upon you..." - Paul Brunton

Most of the persons with disability want a cure. But only wanting a cure is not the solution. It is like the FOMC - reducing interest rates in present situation. It is a quick fix to the symptom and not fixing the problem.

God has given us a body with disability ? We want it to be "normal". With our prayers may be, we can be cured. But, then are we fulfilling the purpose of our life that GOD as set for us ?
Also GOD gives us guidance in response to our prayers. But do we listen to HIM ?

J. Donald Walters says "Most people when they pray, talk to God rather than with Him. they don't take the time to listen, in deep inner silence, for His answer ..."

Even in our prayers we are pushing our story. We have no time to listen to anybody even - GOD. And then we wonder why our prayers are not answered. We blame all and sundry for unanswered prayers without accepting our impatience.

GOD will answer our prayers, only if we take time and effort to listen to the guidance. GOD speaks to us as a small voice in our heart.

"Be still, and know that I am God" - Psalms 46:10

Prayer & God

When I think of prayer I think of the three quotations. Let me quote them as I remember them.

"Prayer is a perpetual stillness of the heart, a surrendering to yourself as an aspect of God within you. Prayer is not beseeching an entity outside us for favors, but acknowledging the presence of God with us..." - A Spiritual Warrior

"A simple prayer for the soul's journey is 'I will to will Thy will.' Such a simple form of prayer is proper, it seems, on almost any occasion.." - Ralph Blume.

"Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God.." - St.Paul

Prayer is a very powerful tool, that GOD has given us. But we have to remember what we are praying for. If say, a person has an illness or disability should they pray to be cured ? Or should they be praying to be healed ?

I feel that we should always pray for guidance from our Heavenly Father to grow spiritually. Also one must understand the difference between curing and healing. Cure relates to the body and healing relates to our soul.

Also when we pray it should be from the core of ones heart and with gratitude. Prayer is such an important part in our lives - one more post is warranted. More in the second part.

Power & God

People with disability feel that they do not have any power over their lives. They feel powerless due to their disability. When we think that way, we forget that we can have all the power we need, only if we claim it.

And that power comes from GOD. If we stay connected to GOD and HIS purpose for us, we will receive the power to fulfill the task. Ralph W. Trine once said "The true secret of power lies in keeping one's connection with God who worketh all things."

We also feel powerless when we do not take the ownership or responsibility of our problem/condition. We must accept that disability is our problem, then we claim it as our own, bless it and work on it. When we accept the problem, we are taking personal responsibility for it.

It is in this acceptance we gain power to achieve what we want to achieve. And as always a prayer of gratitude to GOD will make it more powerful. To achieve greater power in life always go to the greatest source for help - GOD.

Perfection & God

Most of the persons with disability feel that they are not "perfect" or are imperfect. My question to them is "Do you believe in God?". Because if you believe in GOD you cannot accept being not perfect. So it can mean you do not believe in GOD or believe in GOD and think that HE can create something which is less than perfect.

"Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in Heaven is perfect.." - Jesus said.

We have to understand that we are perfect as we are. Our body may be challenged but still we are perfect. Why am I saying that ? Because, I feel that GOD has given me a perfect body to live with muscular dystrophy. Since HIS purpose for me is known to him, HE has given me perfect tool - my body to accomplish the mission.

If we are focused on GOD's plan for us and are ready to receive HIS guidance, then we will try to be with his will. Like Vincent de Paul says "Perfection consists in one thing alone, which is doing the will of GOD.."

Pain and God

Most of us with disability are in pain. Pain can be physical, emotional or financial.

Why then do we have pain ? Like Craig Carter has said "Every pain in man is the result of some fear of lack, some belief of limitation. God can be the author only of good. Man suffers through his ignorance of his oneness with God."

I also feel, one is in pain because we feel we lack some thing or somehow are are limited. I have muscular dystrophy and am very much physically challenged. But am I in pain? No. Okay may be some pain sometimes.

Some times I am in physical pain but, I think what is GOD's plan for me with this pain. I am open to HIM using my body with dystrophy for a greater plan. I don't know the plan so I live with my pain and bless it. Bless the pain for it has a reason to help me which I am not aware of.

When we develop GOD-centered life even with pain, we will progress on our spiritual journey. After all the human experience is about growing, isn't it ?

Remembering DADA

DADA, it is one year since you have carried now with your spiritual journey. After some loved one dies, what does one do? Cry over their death or celebrate their life. I and Mom have decided to celebrate your life.
DADA, I know that you are where GOD has guided you to be, and we are happy for you. Sometimes, I wonder what was GOD's plan for you when HE gave you Parkinson's disease. Also I wonder what, was HIS plan when he saved you from the tragedy at the stock exchange.

I know that you had PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). You never shared your life with it. I wonder if you were suffering in silence or seeking guidance from GOD. I hope that you received communion with GOD in your silence.

On your anniversary, I and mom say that we are grateful for all the things you did for us and those you did not. For those things you did not do - they were not in GOD's plan and purpose. This I understand now. Thanking you and remembering how great a father you were will all your frills and faults.

Peace be with you.

Imagination, belief and disability

Kurt Vonnegut said "We are what we pretend to be, so we must be careful about what we pretend to be..". So if a person with physical or mental challenges imagines to be disabled, then it comes the truth for them. Many persons believe that the whole world is ganged up against them and it becomes their reality.

I believe what Jesus said "Believe that you shall receive and you shall receive..". in spite of my physical challenges, I do not believe that I am disabled and that the world is a friendly place. This becomes true for me because I have strong belief in it being true.

As a person with disability, the best we can do is to seek GOD's guidance and act accordingly. We must believe that we are working for greater glory of GOD. When we are working for his purpose with strong faith and belief then we will be happy.

So, friends use your GOD given imagination and belief to live a happy life with disability.

Humility and God

Humility is an important way in which we can be god-centered. when we are humble we recognize that we are smaller than we think. When we are humble, we receive GOD's grace to do grander things than we can imagine.

Here we must remember what Jesus said " Go and sit in the last place and then you will be invited to take the first ...". What does Jesus advocate ? He says that to be first be ready to be last, in short be humble in life.

I love what Robert Schuller said "God can do great things through the man who dosen't care who gets the credit ...". How apt. We must do what is right and leave it at that. If we are really humble we will not be concerned who gets credit for it.

If we are doing things to please our ego, then we can't be humble. When we lack humility can we be near GOD. Think about it. Our ultimate goal is to live with our heavenly father.

Humility is the first step towards it.

Happiness, Disability and God

"Happiness is basically the awareness of that which is good, but since GOD is the Creator and Source of all good, true happiness, in its deepest sense, is the awareness of GOD. The search for happiness is the search for GOD..." - Elinor MacDonald

People with disability generally feel unhappy. Many times thinking that we would be happy without our disability. The only way to happiness is to be focused on GOD and cease worrying about things which are beyond our control.

Many times our lack of happiness is due to our need to be right all the time. We are ready to go to any extent to prove our point. We may win our point, but does that make us really happy ? No it does not.

When we focus on GOD and live a God-centered life, we will feel happy. We feel happy because GOD loves us. GOD's love is not conditional. HE loves us, the way we are - disability or not. We have to remember, GOD created us the way we are and that HE wants us to be happy.

So in spite of your disability if you stay and be happy then you are bringing glory to HIM and fulfilling his purpose for you

Faith and God part 3

This is the final post on faith and GOD. Why do we need faith ? We need faith because, we can be successful in our purpose if we have faith.

I remember an anonymous quotation " Faith is the wire that connects you to grace, and over which grace comes streaming from GOD.."

In simple terms, faith is our commitment to GOD to do what has been designed by HIM for HIS glory. We will receive GOD's grace when we are only working towards HIS glory.

An Indian mystic Papa Ramdas said "God is there for them that have faith and not for them who have not.." We have been told that GOD is for us, then is it not right that we have total faith in HIM.

Faith and God part 2

Yesterday I touched upon Faith and God in the post titled http://disabilitywithchrist.blogspot.com/2008/01/faith-and-god.html . Today, I continue further.

"Faith is to believe, on the word of GOD, what we do not see, and its reward is to see and enjoy what we believe.." St.Augustine
But we have to remember that faith alone, does nothing। For the faith to be effective it has to be rooted in GOD. Faith can become everything under GOD, by GOD and through GOD.

We can strengthen our faith in GOD, when we are committed to the whole truth. We can't have faith without truth. In fact, faith and truth is the same thing. As Bernadette Roberts says "Faith and Truth is the same thing - God's side is Truth, our side is Faith."

If we have committed ourselves to truth, them we will strengthen our Faith. And through our faith we will find GOD

Faith and God

Faith is what we need in times of distress. Faith in our parents, or the legal system or government or the goodness of humanity. Sometimes we have it, sometimes we don't. The only faith that matters is our faith in GOD.

For someone with a disability (like me), it can become difficult to have faith in GOD. We start reasoning and rationalizing about things, thus we reduce our faith. One thing to note is that faith can't be conditional. Particularly faith in GOD, has to be 100% complete and unconditional.

Why we need faith in GOD, when we have disability ? Because we do not know GOD's plan for us and how HE is going to use our disability to serve his purpose.

Jesus said unto them," Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." - Matthew 17-20

This can be true for us if we have true belief in GOD and also we want to use our faith to bring glory to GOD. Faith in GOD and prayer for unselfish reasons always has positive outcome.

(I think, one most post is warranted for this idea. More tomorrow.)

Gratitude and God

I have dystrophy, so I am supposed to be bitter about life. But I am happy with my life the way it is at this moment. So how does one develop a happiness attitude ? Simple, just stay centered in GOD.

We must stay focused on GOD and HIS plan for us. Then even though we may not understand HIS plan, we can be sure that all that is necessary to fulfill that plan has been given. When we develop this attitude, we can be grateful that GOD has plans and provisions for us.

Dystrophy is just a side show for me in the greater glory of GOD's plan for me. I live with a sense of gratefulness with what I have got. A loving and caring close knit family, few but dependable friends who will do anything for my well-being. God through my father's legacy has provided for me and my mother - financially.

When we focus on what we have and feel grateful to GOD for all we have, we tend to stay happy. So live focusing on GOD and with gratitude for you have and pray for others.

Desires and God

As human beings, we all have desires. These desires keep us attached to this earthly environment. Our ultimate goal is live with our heavenly father - GOD. Our earthly desires keep us away from GOD. But we should not suppress our desires as it only strengthens them.

Instead, we should surrender our desires to the GOD. Also we must pray that GOD uses, our desire for greater good and as per his plan. So if our desires are fulfilled it was HIS plan. Hence we must rejoice, but if our desires do not come to fruition it was not in GOD's plan.

Rene Descartes said " I have made it my habit to alter my desires rather than order of the world.." . I follow this but modify the thinking. I have altered my desires, as per my understanding of GOD's plan for me. If desires are fulfilled wonderful. If they are not I wait for something more meaningful for me from GOD.

With disability we have many desires. We must inspect our motivation for those desires and then wait for our answer in quiet meditation of GOD.

Depression and God

"When I am depressed, somewhere deep inside, I know that I am denying the presence of GOD." - Gerald Jampolsky. I feel that this is true. When we deny GOD, we are denying ourselves true glory. The thought brings a feeling of separation from GOD.

Any separation, brings a feeling of despair or depression. But, why do we feel depressed? I feel we feel depressed when we are doing things that we don't want to do. Or, we are doing things which are not in harmony with GOD's plan for us.

When things are not according to GOD's plan, they fail. This failure leads to despair or depression. My suggestion, when feeling depressed - think about GOD and pray for guidance. It works with practice. Soon you will be free from depression when you are in communion with our Heavenly Father.

Contentment and God

Many of us live a discontented life. We feel that if we had somethings more, or different or bigger then we would be content in life. Persons with disability may feel, that they would be content with life if they had a "normal" body.

The main reason we do not feel contentment in our lives is because we are looking outside for it. When we start thinking what is GOD's plan for us, the confusion in our attitude will slowly subside. When we start putting ourselves in the path of GOD's plan - we move towards contentment.

When we understand GOD's plan for us, we are grateful for this life. And this is enough to make more content in our lives. When we are acting on GOD's plan we will be content.

After my body became disabled because of dystrophy, I have offered myself completely to GOD for his purpose. The idea that I will be used by GOD, has made brought more contentment in my life.

I find that reading the BIBLE and particularly meditating on Psalm 23, is really helpful.

Choice and God

Many people feel that human beings are not free. That we do not have any choice. I say that is not true. We are free to choose. God has given us free choice.

However, this does not mean we are given freedom to do anything without consequences. Henry W. Beecher said "God asks no man whether he will accept life. That is not a choice. You must take it. The only choice is how."

I have dystrophy, which has made my body disabled. I did not ask for dystrophy. But since, in GOD's plan for me I have dystrophy - I will accept it with joy. I will make my life with dystrophy beautiful and purposeful.

I will work to use this opportunity and an stepping stone to greater spiritual riches. I will make the purpose of my life to use my dystrophy to bring glory to GOD.

With this choice of attitude towards disability and GOD, only positive outcome is possible.
Remember, it is our attitude that determines our choice. We can choose between good and bad, life and death.

Body, disability and God

I have muscular dystrophy. Thus my body is becoming disabled. But still I am not disabled. This is not a paradox. We have to understand, that we are not the body.

As long as we identify ourselves as a body, we will experience pain, sorrow and yes disability. We are souls having human experience. To quote Jean Mouroux "The body is made for the soul to express it.."

This does not mean you neglect the body. In fact we must take good care of it, for through this human body we can reach our final home. Consider that our body is the church, the altar is the heart. At the altar Jesus waits to take us home.

When our heart has Jesus, and our minds are focused on our heavenly father - GOD, we start living on a new plane. A plane where the body carries no significance and hence disability, no meaning.

When we understand ourselves are GOD's creation, then we can't be disabled. We are beautiful, divine and perfect. The body might be flawed, but the soul focused on GOD in due course becomes flawless.

Anger and God

Anger is the basic emotion which all of humanity is familiar. But what is anger ? I feel, the emotion of our anger is nothing more than our insecurity. Our insecurity about what life will throw at us. Like Jesse Jennings once said "Anger is an alarm system, signaling the presence of fear..".

Why do we get angry ? For a person with disability it could be due to the physical challenges in life. We get angry because we feel we do not deserve our present condition. We also fear what will happen to us in the future. Because, as human beings we want to be always in control.

But can we be ? No. We can't, as God is in control. It is a simple thought -if you cannot beat them, join them. Only God's will triumphs, so why not accept God in totality and surrender to HIS wishes.

Remember, surrender just like forgiving is an act of courage and faith. It takes a strong individual to surrender to GOD. And when you do that check out, if you are still angry. You can't be angry when you are one with GOD's plan for you.

Adversity and God

Most of the persons with disability feel that adversity in life is not good. True, life with disability is not a bed of flowers. But then there is another view to life , adversity offers us the chance to grow.

This growth is generally in the inner growth domain, i.e. spiritual growth. Certain religious minded people feel that people with disability suffer because of their sins. I beg to differ.

In fact, I feel blessed or the chosen one. Just like what Matthew Henry said "Extra ordinary afflictions are not always the punishment for extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trials of extra ordinary graces.."

This is true in my case. I feel the adversity - in my case dystrophy, has helped me grow more. I can say that I am more alive today than before becoming disabled.

"If an obstacle is put in our path, it is only to prevent us from going the wrong way, and to guide us into what is for us the only right path.." Henry T. Hamblin

Had I not become disabled, I would have probably still be with all my vices and not happy. I feel god has chosen my for a mission and that adversity is a part of that plan. Even, Jesus had to undergo various adversities.

So whats the big deal. I see adversity as God's confidence in me, that I shall transcend them.

Action and God

Peace Pilgrim say "There is a relationship between prayer and action. Receptive prayer results in the inner receiving which motivates to right action...". In my own life I follow this principle. I pray that God gives me the understanding of what is expected of me for the day and I receive the guidance.

I never complain, and try my level best to do what has to be done. We must do what we can. Good thoughts are useless if they are not followed by action. Remember what Theodore Roosevelt said "Do what you can, with what you have,where you are.."

Jesus Christ told us the good news about our loving God and what was expected of us. Most important thing is that Jesus showed us the way by this thoughts and most importantly by

action.

Action is the single most effective anti-depressant particularly for persons with disability.

Acceptance and God

James W. Riley said " When God sends rain.... rain is my choice...". This is what I call acceptance. When we accept that things happen according to God's plan, we align our goals with him.

There is no point in arguing about the rain. Make the most of what such a day offers. I have dystrophy and hence have been constrained physically. I have accepted this with open arms. God has a plan for me and that involves me being disabled.

Many people think it is a sign of weakness to accept things. But I feel, it is the sign of strength of faith and God. Acceptance has to be a conscious choice. "Acceptance is a letting-go process. You let go of you wishes and demands that life can be different" - to quote Gary Emery.

When we accept God's will for us, our life becomes purposeful, fulfilling and happier. And we must remember, Jesus Christ, is there to guide you on the way.
Just like abundance , you have to have acceptance of life as it is, in your life.

(refer post: http://disabilitywithchrist.blogspot.com/2008/01/abundance-and-god.html)

Abundance and God

I thought why not begin the first day of 2008, with thoughts about abundance.

Ernest Holmes once said "God wills us to have everything. As we express life, we fulfill God's law of abundance, but we do this only as we realize that there is good enough to go around - only we know that all God's gifts are given as freely and fully as the air and the sunshine..."

How true. We must live a life acknowledging the abundance in our life. Abundance is an mentality which comes from our being comfortable with ourselves. Stephen R. Covey has said abundance does not depend on external rankings, comparisons,opinions or possessions.

With my dystrophy, what do I have in abundance ? Let me see, a loving family, wonderful friends, time to support and comfort others. Also abundant opportunities to become Christ-like by living true to my faith.

I also feel, to experience true abundance we must give freely and unconditionally. Remember what Jesus Christ has said " To him that has, more shall be given; but from him that has not, the little that he has shall be taken away..."

Wishing a happy and purpose driven year to you.