It can appear as though there is something wrong with God in making the return trip to him so confusing, however, the one theme that flowed through all of Jesus' true teachings was that the path to truth and God is very simple.

When attempting to find the path that leads to God's truth and the ability to find peace, we can find ourselves within a maze of ideas and concepts that not only don't help, but often makes things even more unclear than before. Our minds can easily go awash with thoughts such as:

"It can appear as though there is something wrong with God in making the return trip to him so confusing, however, the one theme that flowed through all of Jesus' true teachings was that the path to truth and God is very simple."

"If only the path to God were simple, then I would surely follow it. If only God would make spiritual concepts easier to understand, then I would more easily follow him. If only God did not hide his truths from the world, I would know for sure, how to follow them."

This line of thinking echoes in our thoughts from time to time, as we wish for an easier and more simple solution. We're not necessarily asking for the "Idiots Guide to Heaven", but it can appear as though there is something wrong with God in making the return trip to him so difficult and confusing. Besides, if Jesus truly did love us, couldn't he have made things just a little easier to understand? Couldn't he have just embraced the KISS concept of Keep It Simple Savior and laid everything plainly for us to see?

Although often clouded within the varied belief systems of this world, Jesus did provide answers to our questions. The one theme that flowed through all his true teachings was that the path to truth and God is very simple. He stated that we need only be as a child in order to be open to reach God. This means that we simply look up to our heavenly father as any child looks up to their earthly father, and simply trust that he will take care of us.

Since a young child can't understand why or how his father does things, neither should we try to understand why or how our heavenly Father does things. Just look up and trust that he will take care of you because it's mainly when we attempt to fathom how spiritual things work that we complicate our relationship with God. Be a child and trust your parent without a single thought or pre-conceived idea of how or why spiritual things work. It's best not to get pre-occupied with concepts of reincarnation, or if spirits speak to us from beyond or if there is some higher spiritual level we can attain. These are all distraction and idols that will stand before God and hinder our communication with him.

You are not alone in your curiosity of spiritual workings. Jesus' disciples asked for an explanation of heaven and other spiritual things and Jesus did not try to explain it to them. Instead he replied to them and said that since they did not even understand most earthly things, they should not concern themselves with trying to understand spiritual things. In other words, you won't understand it, so don't waste any of your time or resources on trying to figure out what can never be fully understood until we finally do return to our Father.

So then, if the path to God is easy enough for even a child to grasp, why have hundreds of religions sprouted over thousands of years, all with various ideas of what is necessary to reach God? This reason goes back to our original mad idea that created what appears to be our separation from God, when we chose to fear the will of God. Since we now inherently fear what we believe God wants from us or will do to us, this has severely degraded our ability to listen to him. In place of simply trusting God, we made up our own ideas of what we think God demands from us in order to please him. We tend to love drama and assume calamity is due, so we refuse to believe there can be a simple answer and therefore, we look for answers where there are no answers to find. When these efforts bear no fruit, we assume we're falling short of hitting the mark and then we add even more layers of complexity to our path.

So, since we have aspired to totally confound the simple message from God, how can anyone find the simple solution now that so many things have complicated it? We can start by finding the few pieces of simple truth that have not yet been messed with. Let's take a look at a few from the Bible.

• Treat others as you would have them treat you.
• Give without expecting anything in return.
• Forgive without being asked.
• Share the truths of God without requiring anyone understand your point of view.
• Know that God is totally aware of every single person and knows exactly what each person needs in order to step closer to him.
• Love those who believe they are your enemies.
• Do not see any action towards you as an attack, and therefore, never attack back.
• Be totally defenseless in your beliefs.
• Don't focus on what you do, but only on what you are being.
• Do not try to understand anything on your own.
• Trust God's judgement alone.
• All your sins have been forgiven.
• Nothing physical that happens to you on earth has any spiritual effect.

Let's take a look at a few more of Jesus' teachings from 'A Course In Miracles'.

• Judge nobody, because when you do, you are only judging yourself.
• Miracles are natural.
• Nothing outside yourself can save you.
• There is nothing to fear.
• Forgive at all times.
• All things work together for good.
• Having, rests on giving, and not on getting or taking.
• Whatever you desire for yourself, give it first to others.
• Only you can deprive yourself of anything.
• See your brothers as one with you and our father.
• Know that you are not disconnected from any one and what you do to anyone, you are also doing to yourself and everyone, including Jesus.
• God was never upset at us, but we thought he was and we have decided to hide from him, not the other way around.
• Your only purpose is to forgive and accept that you are a glorious son of God as is everyone around you.
• Your salvation rests in your brothers since you will only receive that which you give them.
• forgive them and you are forgiven.
• love them and you are loved.
• bless them and you are blessed.
• trust that God will bring about what is best for them and you will be open to allow God to bring about that which is best for you.

What then do you do with all the requirements that many beliefs have made obvious? How about the special words you must say? What about the specific prayer you must recite? What about the rituals where you must get wet, exchange vows and appoint leaders? What about all the detailed demands and requirements that you must hopefully discover, learn and relentlessly follow? The answer is simple and applies to all of these concepts equally. They are not simple spiritual concepts and therefore, they are not from God.

There is absolutely nothing you can do or must do to reach God. God's wish for us has always been simple, and that is for us to remember who we really are, and be the loving and forgiving beings that are truly the children of his image.

What then do we do with religion and established beliefs? Nothing. Don't judge the path of anyone, but instead, know that God is working with all beings at all times. You cannot understand God at this time, so don't attempt to understand his creations either.

Share what you learn, but never press it upon anyone. Only the Holy Spirit can heal how the mind sees and comprehends the truth. Your only purpose is to be forgiving and loving while sharing what you believe is the truth. Plant the seeds and be satisfied in knowing that God will nurture and tend to what grows from them. If you try to understand why the seed grows or how it should grow or what is necessary to make sure it grows a certain way, you will have only served to busy yourself with trying to figure out and understand things that you may never understand while here on earth.

The Holy Spirit is waiting for you to allow him to nurture your seeds for you because he is the voice of God and therefore, he totally understands God. Your only task is to simply share the truth of a loving and forgiving God by being loving and forgiving. Even if you never say a single word, your seeds of being loving and being forgiving will prosper within those you have touched.

To summarize, it's all very simple.

• Set aside any established requirements for God to accept you or hear you. They don't exist.
• Choose to open your mind to see God and his truths differently and more clearly.
• Create a focus in your life, regardless of what you do, on being forgiving and being loving of all your brothers.
• Plant seeds for the Holy Spirit to reap, by being loving, forgiving, peaceful and defenseless.
• Spend a few moments with God each day and show him a little willingness to continue to learn more about his love, peace and forgiveness.
• Trust that God will bring into your life, the perfect situations that will enable you to prosper in spirit and overcome fears and limitations you had previously chosen to embrace.
• Be thankful for all things and invite the Holy Spirit and Jesus to provide guidance in all that you choose to be and do.

These simple steps are all that is needed to help you create a greater focus and be more open for the Holy Spirit to directly guide you along the way. Then, knowing there is reason and purpose in moving forward, circumstances that appear to just drop into your life will now be seen as the opportunities for growth and change that they really are.

I join with the Holy Spirit and Jesus as we extend our peace, love and spirit of forgiveness to you.