John and Lisa's Blue Skies Blog – Soaring with God

Organized religions and other institutions often try to enforce rules in black or white ways.  This is understandable because people want easy answers.  Many people want to be told clearly and simply what is right and what is wrong; they want other people to make decisions for them.

Institutions that prescribe strict rules for behavior very often miss the point that life is filled with grey areas.  There are no simple solutions that work every time because every situation is unique.  What may be inappropriate or what may bring harmful consequences in one situation may actually be the best decision in another situation.

With practice, we can learn to trust ourselves and listen to our God-given intuition.  It’s certainly helpful to consider religious teachings and discuss our ideas or problems with others, but in the end, we must accept the responsibility of making our own best decisions based on circumstances.

Two important points:  We should not make decisions, especially very important ones, if we are feeling pressured or if we feel overwhelmed with a strong emotion.  In  both cases, we need to slow down, breathe, and get a little space by separating ourselves from the situation for a while.  Good decisions – even if very difficult – can be made when we are calm and level-headed, using a combination of reason and intuition.

We should aim to free ourselves of preconceptions and habitual responses that cannot serve us in the present moment.  This takes faith and trust.  We always have recourse to prayer and meditation.  Our personal experience of God is the basis for our intuition and ability to make sound decisions.