The Race

 

My experience has improved dramatically. I do not believe that this is the result of any sort of thought process or physical change; I think it has arisen from the lack of thought and the decay of physical things.

Life is a mystery. For the man who types these words, there are experiences which will remain mysterious. However, for the One who understands the man who types these words, experience is a game.

Life is also a game. The object of this game is to win. No character has ever been created for failure. You and I are here to acquire; but not to acquire things. In fact, things are the very weights which sometimes stand in The Way.

“Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.” ~ Hebrews 12:1 KJV

Look for clues like this and you will never be disappointed. There is a race set before us. What is a race? It is a challenge; a game.

What is sin? Sin is nothing more than a missed opportunity to Love.

What are weights then? Things.

Anything can be a weight. It can be a new pair of shoes or an uneasy thought. This uneasy thought could be a thought about anything or anyone. It could be a lump under your arm or a political opponent. Uneasy thoughts could even be thoughts about what you will wear or eat.

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?” Matthew 6:31 KJV

The suspension of thought is nearly impossible; but also unnecessary. Training our thoughts to behave is just as effective as having fewer thoughts. The acceptance of what is is how we are to train our thoughts.

“Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.” Philippians 4:8 KJV

It’s all right there.

In this story, you will find yourself “passing” where others “fail”. Unfortunately, you will see yourself “failing” where others pass. Pay attention to the areas where you find yourself passing. When you notice this, and when you see the contrast of your experience as compared to someone else, think of this labyrinth again. When you advance beyond some other character, in any scenario, this only means they’ve gotten into a spot designed to grow them. Everyone grows out of every spot in The Labyrinth. You may find yourself pitying the other person and you may shake your head and wonder why they won’t watch you and come along. But then you hit your own growth opportunity and you find yourself being passed by others. It could be any area of Life. These are mere scenes. Someone could have a nicer car, a better body, more money or a better house. None of it really matters in the least, but it is all designed as levels in The Game. You may never know it, but some of those people who are passing you, in one area or the other, are thinking about you as they pass you by. They wonder, “Why doesn’t he do what I do here?” or “Why can’t she see that she should do this?”

Of course, you could notice their behavior and copy it. We do this sometimes. There is nothing wrong with that. If you see someone getting to the next level or finding a super-power, it is perfectly fine to see if such activity works for you. However, if your gut tells you they’ve done something which has caused them to miss an opportunity to Love, then to copy them would eventually lead to a place where you stall. You’ll get out, but it may really set you back. If you never move forward, the game will eventually end and the music will let you know that you did not win. Of course you get a do-over, but if you complete this life without discovering The Way of Love, you’ll have to repeat that level from the very beginning.

I may be referring to physical death, but I may be referring to the way in which The Game works too. If you’ll notice, the areas where you have failed to Love are the same areas you are always repeating. Love is fundamental and Love is the whole point of the expansion of The Universe. You, every atom, every star, every galaxy and every black hole, are all designed to advance Love.

Any kind of Love is growth and any failure to Love is a setback. When we fail to Love, in any scene, the scene itself swirls, forms a sort of dust-cloud and returns as a future challenge. This could be the homeless person, begging for food or it could be the way you tried to move up at work. It could be the way you treated a companion or it could be the way you forgot to say, “Thank you,” to someone who treated you kindly. Pay attention and you’ll see the same scenarios coming to you over and over. Every single time you miss it, you will find yourself starting over on that level.

The only mistake you can ever really make, as a character, is when you miss the opportunity to Love. This is referred to as sin, but it only means that you have to repent and repeat. To repent is not an option. When we miss an opportunity to Love, we will hit a wall and to repent is to bounce off that wall to try again. If you are determined to keep going in the same direction, using the same methods, you’ll hit the same wall, over and over again.

We are all just turtles, placed in a labyrinth called Life. There is a label, painted on our shells and The I is practically yelling from above, “Go! Go! Turn around! This way!”

Our physical necks are not flexible enough to see that the walls we come against are only as high as the scene. We see other turtles passing us and we say, “Look at him; he gets all the good breaks.”

But that is an illusion. This is a mistake even. The breaks are a feature of The One and Only Labyrinth. The turtle who seems to be getting the breaks is not getting, but seeing the breaks. If you could see your complete story from above, you would not believe how close you are to breaks at times. When we hit a wall, we never really know how close the we are to another way. If you live long enough, you will eventually know someone who has committed suicide. If you are aware of all of the circumstances, from a higher vantage point, you will know that they could have made a much better choice. Most people will say, of that person, “I wish they’d talked to me.”

Not having the view from above, we don’t really know when someone has gotten themselves into a corner. But having moved beyond that very corner, we may be capable of helping someone else to get beyond it as well. Be sensitive to what people say. They may be asking you how you did it. If someone says, “I wish I could pay this car off.” This is not a que for you to pay their car off; but it may be a que for you to tell them that cars get paid off. Let them know that you remember when you had a car payment. Let them know that the setback is not the end, but more of a hiccup than anything. Sometimes, this is all anyone needs to hear. Tell them this, “If you have a situation that money can solve, then it is not serious.”

And this brings us to the situations money cannot solve. Maybe a friend has a terminal illness instead of a car payment. What do we say then? Well, the short answer is that yes, we do die. But death is not synonymous with losing. In fact, knowing that we are near death can be advantageous in a way. It can have the effect of an alarm that tells us to surround ourselves with Love for others. It gives us fair warning to make sure we express selfless Love right now. If we try to turn the focus to our condition, we could easily get trapped in the last challenge without making the perfect exit. If you decide to try to leave this world feet first, you could really complicate your own departure. If you are determined to try to land on your feet, you’ll breech this last opportunity to go into this last challenge with your head. No matter when we die, the entire experience was just a game, preparing us for that very departure. It doesn’t have to be our last failure; it could be the last win.