Below is a heartwarming letter that a father wrote to his children while away on a business trip.
Contributed by Roger Wetherall
My Dear Children,
I hope you know how much I love you and how proud I am of you. It is 4:30 in the morning here and I cannot sleep as I think about where you are at now in your relationship with God and the direction that you are wrestling with in your life. I wanted to put down a few thoughts for you to consider and hopefully encourage you.
The Three Blessings are not a superficial concept that we need to accept based on faith or obedience. They go to the depth of who and what we are as people, as conscious, creative, self-aware, willful, loving beings.
The First Blessing is about integrity. Integrity means doing what you say you are going to do in the way that it is meant to be done. Sometimes, it also means ‘not doing what you want to do because there is something, more, bigger and more important than what “I” want’.
The Second Blessing is about Love. All kinds of love; heart-warming, caring, mushy, tearful, exciting, quiet, passionate, etc.; but primarily about the conjugal love between man and woman. In order to experience the complete fullness of this love, we need to have integrity. Love requires the ability to control myself. People will kill for love. If their love is spurned, rejected or broken, they can sink into the depths of despair, hate and anger. True love means loving in the right way, unselfishly and according to the universal principles of creation
The Third Blessing is about making a difference in the world for others. Having dominion over the world also requires integrity. We need self-control and the ability to stand in the position of being able to create something out of nothing. God created through the word (logos) We also create through our words and whether we create something good or bad, selfish or compassionate is determined by who we are as individuals. Our ‘creation’ will be a manifestation of our inner being. This law operates, irrespective of what our ‘faith’ is. Self-control, sacrifice and self-discipline are pre-requisites for becoming the lords of the universe. Through practicing these things, we learn how to be caring, and to live for the sake of others. We can make an impact for the betterment of others and in doing so, the universe will take care of us, for the seeds that we sow will return a harvest of joy
These Blessings are all tied together in one inter-related bundle that requires us to keep God’s commandment in order to fulfill them. God’s commandment seems unreasonable to us, especially when we are young. Simply put, the words “Do not eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil” mean “Do not have sex” This is not sensible to our animal instincts. Our bodies drive us to pro-create, to seek pleasure and connection to another through this ultimate act of joining ourselves in complete surrender to another person. And there is no time limit, ambiguity or ‘until’ that is attached to this order. It is absolute. The power of the love between a man and woman is the strongest force in the universe and it is meant to be that way. When a man and woman are joined in sexual unity, creation takes place. The universe grows bigger. A new life comes into existence.
So why did God tell us not to do this? – In order that we can become people of integrity and earn the right to inherit the universe. Man is not an animal! Animals are controlled and directed in life, solely by their instincts and their biological programming. They are not responsible to make decisions about good or bad, and right or wrong. Only man can do that. In order to earn that right, we need to be people of integrity. This means keeping our word. Our promise to God is “I will not eat!” In living according to this promise, we have to overcome our strongest drives and without putting our focus first on building our relationship with God and understanding our position in the universe, we cannot fulfill on this commandment. In this simple, non-action we put God first in our life, we become people who God can trust and we earn the right to inherit control of our own destinies and to be masters of the universe, because we become masters of our own selves.
This is an ‘unconditional offering’ to God. Just as we have been taught to make conditional offerings such as prayer or fasting in order to connect to God or to accomplish something, we are asked to sacrifice the most difficult thing; our desire to love and be loved. This is why many religious people have lived celibate lives. Fortunately, God is not asking to do this for eternity (though it can seem like an eternity). It is only until we are ready to commit to our eternal spouse, with the Blessing of God, our parents, our friends, our society and the entire spiritual realm. The Holy Blessing, is the joining together of 2 individuals who are standing in the position of integrity, without shame, guilt or regrets. It erases any little slip-ups from the past. It frees us from the mistakes of our ancestral heritage and gives each couple, the freedoms to dive into the full realization of God’s gift to man: conjugal love, then building on that starting point: parental love. The Blessing is not just ‘permission to have sex’; it is a gift of God’s eternal, unchanging, love. It is the celebration of the universe as 2 children of God are joined together in a new creation; a family. It is the starting point of building God’s world of true love and peace.
I hope you will take some time to read and consider these words that are the deepest expression of my heart’s belief and desire for you.
With my sincerest love,
Abba
