I want to share with you what I think is the greatest lesson that I've learned so far in my sojourn here. That is – there's only one God, and He is God to all of us, Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, you name it. The greatest part of this is that He loves us all equally; He doesn't care what we call ourselves! We simply need to think about it to understand the truth of this.

            Who created all things and beings? God. Did one God create the Christians, another the Muslims or the Jews? I don't think so. Why would that make any sense? I have to say that for me, this is a matter of faith – I can't know it, or prove it intellectually, but my "spirit" or inner being tells me this is true.

            God is unknowable; He can't be understood in our traditional, rational sense because we simply cannot grasp all that He is. We only see "through a veil", dimly, and without total comprehension. Therefore I can't say that God is this, or that, or another thing, I can only say this is what I believe. Here are a few of the things that I believe based on this:

            God has infinite wisdom, infinite love, and infinite patience. He has not the constraints that we place on ourselves. He created us out of and in, love. Nothing that we have done or will do will ever change that love, because like Him, it is perfect. He created us to be thinking, free beings and allows us to choose our destinies. Out of His love He cares for us even when our judgments are less than perfect. With His infinite patience, He gently pulls us along, gradually coaxing us to go towards where we need to be, with Him.

            We ask questions such as "How could He allow this to happen", or "Why did this occur"? We tend to "blame" God, or think He has somehow abandoned us when bad things happen. We rarely attend blame to ourselves, or to the choices we have made, as if somehow we are at the mercy of forces beyond our control.

            The fact is that we always have control over our choices, our behaviors, and our ability to "take control" and to be responsible for the consequences of those choices and actions. That is one of the keys – responsibility. We have the ability to do anything that we desire to do – with that comes the responsibility to think about and accept the responsibility of the results of our actions, and not bemoan those results.

            If we were all to act towards one another as God does towards us all – with love, compassion, empathy, generosity, and patience, we could and would be that much closer to Him – which is what He wants and where we need to be in order to be truly fulfilled.

            I've learned that there is much joy and peace in the act of giving; a joy and peace that can't be matched in any other way, except the joy I find in loving and being loved by my wife. But I think the two are connected because in truly loving someone you find joy and peace in giving of yourself to them. Much as I'm sure God does with us.

            This will, alas be my last posting. I have wanted to be dedicated to sharing my lessons, but find myself unable to continue for a number of reasons. I thank Will for his generosity and patience, and thank you for having allowed me into your day. I hope you find peace and understanding on your journey, and always go forward unafraid. for God loves you!