Creating
Your
Destiny
Table
Of
Contents

Your Journey begins

You: The Hero

In John's Revelation, he writes that when we arrive in heaven we will be given a white stone with our name written on it: a name no one knows but God. (2:17) This is your Quest. You are becoming that name. Your life is a living letter, an evolving story. You are the central character in your story: the hero.

As the story begins, your therapist has diagnosed you as being delusional. You constantly speak of needing to go somewhere you have never been, of seeing faraway places in our mind's eye, of feeling out of place and not fitting in your surroundings.

It's not a physical place you are looking for, but a metaphysical one. You are constantly being overwhelmed with the feeling that there is another "you" struggling within to reveal his or her self. What makes the story really interesting is that you have amnesia. Hearing that there is a doctor who can help you, you have come to this person for council.

During one of your sessions, your therapist mentions this fabulous, unbelievable tale. She doesn't believe it is true but thinks it might be a helpful metaphor. It appears that there is a King who lives on top of a mountain who knows you and knows your name. The challenge is going to be to get to the top of the mountain.

At the bottom of the mountain is a raging fire. It is a very strange fire. For at the beginning of the path the fire is an external fire that is excruciatingly painful and difficult to get through. However, once you do, the fire is absorbed into your soul where it will then empower you for the rest of your journey.

It is a journey that includes finding lost treasures, slaying dragons, and encountering strange and mysterious things. A journey that ends with God giving you your name: a name that utterly and comprehensively defines, explains and expresses who you have become.

Courage

In the beginning of the journey you need courage and acceptance. It takes incredible courage to leave the path that you have been traveling. So many people had plans for you. You had your own plans. But now all bets are off and you have no idea where this new path will lead.

For a while, many of the people around you will seek to bring you back to the old path, to the old ways, to the familiar world that you lived in. It takes courage to maintain a gracious but firm "No" in the presence of all these opinions which meant so much to you. But this is a journey that will demand incredible bravery to maintain, so it's good that the very first lesson has to do with courage.

When Abraham (Genesis 12) was called out by God and told to leave his home and yet not told what his destination was to be, it took courage filled with faith to pick up and leave. But he did just that, foreshadowing how it was to be for all who chose to make this ancient journey.

Your Unique Path

As it takes courage it also demands acceptance. You have to accept who you are in the present, as well as where you are along the path. Do not compare yourself to who or where anyone else is. Do not compare yourself to who you hope to be or where you hope to be along the path years from now. Be content with where you are right now.

Accept Yourself and move on!

Getting all worked up over your weaknesses, or over how far you have to travel, will only serve to make a difficult journey. Say to yourself, "This is who I am--warts and all. I accept myself while being committed to growing and maturing. This is where I am: I do not want to stay here, but I accept that this is where I must start my journey."

Blaise Paschal, French philosopher and mathematician wrote in his book, Pensees, that people were both the glory and the rubbish of the universe. One of the first evidences of having matured a bit is the balancing or the integration of these two realities in how we perceive ourselves. We have been created by God--fearfully and wonderfully made. Yet we have also strayed from the path and have been corrupted and damaged by our waywardness.

"You messed up...deal with it and move on!"

The young sojourner who has just begun his quest can be overwhelmed with seeing his rubbish: with seeing how strong his pride and ego have become. It doesn't help us along the way to deny what we see or to sit down and indulge in self-pity. This will not serve our Journey at all. "I see my rubbish. I accept that I have produced this and will immediately begin cleaning my life up. Yet I will not define myself by my rubbish, but by my Quest."

Our journey is hindered when we indulge in remorse or self-pity. It only causes us to focus solely on where we were and upon who we were until now. If you see things in your life that must be accounted for, make an accounting. If you have wronged someone, go and ask their forgiveness. If you owe them something, pay it back. If you cannot pay it back ask forgiveness for this--and then move on. Remorse a useless emotion and only serves to keep us focused on self, rather than on the path before us. You messed up, you erred, deal with it and move on.

You are also the glory of the Universe. This too you should accept. As CS Lewis once said, no one has ever met a mere mortal: we are all potential gods and goddesses…as well as potential demons! We are glory and rubbish. By beginning your journey, you have decided to start throwing out the trash and polishing the glory!

Your Glory

You are not the glory of the Universe because you made yourself this way: it is God who created you. It is the glory of your Creator, of the Master Artist, that you are to increasingly reflect. The ego will fight to keep you tied up in self by either causing you to focus on nothing but your rubbish and eliciting self-pity or by tempting you to think you are the author of your glory and that everyone's rubbish stinks but yours. Tell the ego to shut up. The burden of both of these attitudes will only keep you from the right path.

A motive that says, "This journey is all about me, about my great glory," will not allow you to journey down the path. Our motive for taking the path is love for God and love for the gift of life. Being grateful for our being and for our opportunities to enjoy as much as possible of what God's creation, stokes the fire within. Being centered on protecting the ego's self-centered illusions is one of those things that will be burned away by the fire at the bottom of the mountain.

The path is leading to greater awareness of who God is, greater awareness of the mysteries of creation. The ancient path that you now travel is not primarily about you, but about God and all that has been created by God: discovering who you are as a unique part of God's creation is one of the great side benefits.

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Written by
Dr. Monte E. Wilson, III
Andrea Higham, Editor
© 2004 God On The Net, Inc. All rights reserved. May not be reproduced without permission.