I asked her to explain. She gave me a litany of how her husband kept telling what she should have done. Her teenage kids were always demanding that she get this or that done for them. Even her in-laws and out-laws were regularly calling her on the phone to demand that she do something for the coming party, or what-have-you. Finally, she laid into me for God telling her she couldn’t do this or that or she wouldn’t be a good Christian.
Is it too obvious to say she was bitter and filled with resentment?
I said, “God has never, ever told you what to do.” If she had in the least felt it appropriate, I believe she would have gotten out of the chair and put her face inches from mine and shouted her disabuse of that statement and me and God.
When I finally got her to calm down a little, I explained that religion tries to tell people what to do to keep them in line. But as far as we who study such things can tell, God has never made a demand on a single human being. Oh, yes, serious suggestions have been made to people by what some perceive as God. (This is not just a play on words here.) Again, those of us who study such things have never found where God never left out the opportunity for the person to choose.
“You mean I don’t have to do what the Bible says I’m supposed to?” I said to her that she was correct. “Can’t be,” came her reply. Louise just sat there a full minute, first peering intently at me and then off into middle-space.
I was the one who grew uncomfortable with the silence and said, “Not even God makes you do anything.”
“Then, what have I been doing all these years? If God doesn’t make me do anything, why am I letting almost everyone tell me what to do? I must have made that choice long ago, maybe when I was a child and my parents always brow-beat it into me that I must obey their every word as if it were a command.”
Life is a choice, I told her, from adult maturity, at whatever age that occurs, till death. We, humans, are the choice-makers. We choose how to go through our lives. There may be consequences if we choose something different from what others want of us. Usually we can work through those consequences. And the anger that people will raise in objection to our newly claimed independence will usually soon subside, to be replaced by respect.
The life phrase to remember goes something like this: “Not even God makes me do anything.” Perhaps you would find it better suited to you in the positive: “I am free to do as I please.” Begin practicing that attitude, with humility, right now, this minute. You make the choices for your life.
And I invite you to claim your Free Instant Access to a Force-Source-Resource where you will find more about making choices. Just Click Here. There are several to choose from. One is titled, “Two Life Phrases for Self Development, ‘I Am My True Self’ and ‘I Am Conscious’” Remember, one bit of information can save you a lifetime of frustration. You’ll get that info here.
My blog is http://themeaningoflifewithdrbob.com/blog We talk about the meaning of life there.
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