The Gracious Will of God by Vince Jones

 Living on the Spiritual Basis, the basis of trusting and relying upon God, it would be foolish not to think of what the full impact of this means in our lives. We have been raised with or exposed to certain depictions of God, many of them rather frightening, yet we are being asked to voluntarily surrender to Him. One of the concepts that always troubled me was: God loves you, but if you commit certain sins, you are damned for all eternity. Seems a little harsh. Eternity is an awful long time; a pretty high price for acts committed in the course of a life that balanced against eternity would amount to less than an eye blink in time. Then there are those poverty and chastity vows.

       As my consciousness rose, it became clear that many of the scariest aspects of God were human constructs, though based in scripture they required some rather interesting interpretations of very selective passages, typically ignoring others that were contradictory. Today I do not argue with or contradict those who hold on to a punishing, inflexible concept of God, a demonstration in love a much more powerful persuader. I believe, a nd believe this holds true for all, that God is “Our Father” and wants all His children to be Happy, Joyous and Free. That we are forgiven as soon as we ask as long as we walk the way we talk(much easier said than done), no sin so grievous that if we mean business, God will restore us to sanity, a demonstration of true grace (grace does not erase earthly consequences for our actions, it does provide us with the strength to face them). The realm of Heaven being roomy, all-inclusive, never exclusive or forbidding, it is open, I believe to all who earnestly seek, regardless of present conditions or circumstances. All that is required is an open heart, an open mind and the willingness to go to any lengths for a spiritual experience, turning sacred cows out to pasture and wishing the same for all that we wish to have in our lives.

- by Vince Jones

Vince Jones is an expert on the 12-Step program of Alcoholics Anonymous and a historian of the AA text and program. This includes studying the teachings of Emmet Fox who was influential to the founders of AA. Vince lectures to clients at Sober Living by the Sea which is a treatment center in California.  You can also find Vince’s blog Thought for the Day here.