Living From the Super-consciousness
"No Punishment, No Reward"
Dear *|FNAME|*,
I was brought up to think that if I were “good” (well behaved) that God would reward me. If not now, then later. I was also taught that God would punish me if I were “bad.” If not now, then later. (It was the same with Santa.) It’s impressive that so many seemingly intelligent adults will try to control children with something that is supposed to be inherently good.
What if there is no punishment and no reward? At least not from God.
What if from God we get only love? Why? Because God IS Love Itself. Then where would we find reward and punishment? Oh, from ourselves.
A reward is a recognition for one’s services. Interesting that a reward is often given for achieving one’s goals. Like a piece of candy for losing weight.
What if the reward for dropping weight is that one weighs less? What if the reward for not drinking is that one isn’t drunk? What if the reward for positive behavior is that one doesn’t have to lie about what they have been doing and doesn’t have secrets?
Punishment could work the same way. If one overeats, one is uncomfortable. If one steals, one has secrets and lies to maintain. Same for cheating. Several of us have recently joined Weight Watchers. One person said to us that they had cheated that day. We asked how they had cheated? They said they had gone over their allotted points for the day. We told the person to just write down what they had eaten and tally the points. It turns out they were under their points. I personally ate more than my daily points on that same day and felt as if I had cheated. I still had plenty of bonus points for the week. The thing about this is that I can’t cheat. There is no punishment and there is no rewards on this plan. There is consciousness. Pay attention and record what you eat on the phone app. Notice habits and how willing you are to be honest and face it. While Oprah is an owner in Weight Watchers, she is not coming to your house to pat you on the back or to shame you.
Life is consciousness. There are so many people who have shelves full of awards they don’t think they deserve. Gold stars can be nice and sometimes encouraging, but do they encourage us to have a greater consciousness about the living of life in integrity, or do they mostly boost the ego and make us believe in competition?
I have several awards on a shelf at home for my Cabaret days. I’ll be honest, it felt very nice to win them. I do believe I earned them through the work I did. It’s nice to have been acknowledged for the excellence of the work, but it’s even better that I know the quality of the work I did rather than thinking I was a fraud and didn’t deserve the acknowledgment. (BTW, when I won the third MAC Award for Technical Direction, as I was walking down the aisle to receive it, I was wondering, “I wonder if I’ll win next year?” I hadn’t said “Thank You” yet and I was already insecure about the future and any gratitude or shame I would feel a year from now.)
Many judge the amount of money they have as either a punishment or a reward. It’s best that we don’t do that. Keep advancing your relationship with God. Keep expanding your consciousness to include success in your work and in your income. Not everyone’s income comes from their work. Everyone’s income does come from their consciousness. God doesn’t love a rich person more than a poor person.
Consciousness is everything. No matter where you have come from or where you are currently sitting, know that you can expand your consciousness to include G-O-D in every aspect of it. There is nothing in God that encourages lack. It always supports abundance. Go forth and think with God.
Please don’t ever decide that “This is the only way to think about it.”
All the Best for Today,
Rev. Shawn