God takes no prisoners for he has no prisons. We build our prisons and wonder where he Left the key.

The key is Choosing acceptance. Choosing gratitude. Choosing forgiveness. Choosing peace.

We have the key.

We are the key.

God, you see, has no keys and no secrets. Yes, you’ve probably heard about the Secret Keys to Life, the Five Sacred Steps, the Ninety Three Blessings, the Sacred Archana, the 74½ Half-truths and every other clever phrase. None of them are from God. Not one of them.

The only rule God has – and I heard it from the dude himself, over coffee yesterday – is: You Are Already There. Enjoy It!

We started out right where he wanted us – right where we wanted us – and all was bliss and better. We were in a state that no words can describe … peace, contentment, joy, caring, stress-free, happy, free, creative … and all those (and more) combined and multiplied a thousand-fold.

And there we could have stayed. But, eventually, we wanted more … no, we wanted different. All those with curly hair want it straight. All those with straight hair want it curly. The blue-eyeds wanted green eyes and the green-eyeds wanted blue. We thought we wanted better but we just wanted different.

There was, in fact, no better. We started in utopia, in paradise, in love and, from there, the only way out was down. So began the “fall”, the descent of man, wanting different and different and different and, sadly, getting less and less and less.

And now we complain about God creating wars, poverty, injustice and all the other lesser that we made! If he’d had his way he wouldn’t have let us go; a loving father who loves us enough to let us go and to learn our lessons in growing up.

He’s not the control freak we all aspire to be and so he watches us as we flounder in the swamp of our own misery, refusing to reach out for his saving hands, his loving arms, just a thought away.

The best way to escape from quick-sand is to stop thrashing about and lie back. But what do we do? Yes, we thrash about and wonder why we keep sinking. Afraid to ask for help. Afraid to admit we’re not the Master of the Universe. Afraid to give in, to give up, to the higher power we have within.

For God, you see, never left, though we imagine we left him. God remained right where he started – deep inside all of us. We need speak no words of request for God hears every thought, every prayer, every request, every fearful shudder and joyful smile. All of it.

What’s more, he acts on all of it. Yes, all of it. He doesn’t actually leap in and save us from the circling sharks but he provides the boat. Not being a control freak (have I already said that?) he provides the means to our own saving but he will not actually put us in the boat. It’s up to us to look up, to look around and, with grateful acceptance, to take hold of the life-line he throws.

It’s not a secret. It’s not a set of steps. It’s not fifteen incantations a day while we bang a bell, wear funky gear and do certain stuff in a particular building every week.

It’s just stopping. It’s just lying back and looking around. It’s being grateful for what is and taking the simple action he quietly speaks into our hearts, our dreams, our impulses.

The problem is that we want it to be complicated, arduous and something we must learn … and it’s not. Simples!

Yes, I have written God in here as a bloke. I’m sure he/she/it is none of those things and is more than just a noun, is a process but, heck, what do I know? I just know that I don’t know the nature of God, though I know how She works and how we can work with It. Well, I know how God works for me, anyway!