Greetings Friends:
I’ve been thinking lately about this whole issue of “taking credit” for the good works we do, big and small. For some of us, it’s very difficult to accept praise or even recognition when we do something good. I hear this all the time in Spiritual Companionship: “It’s not me it’s God working through me”. And I do believe that too. At the same time, I wonder if that is the whole picture.
So I’m asking: Don’t we have something to do with it too? And I think the answer is yes. We are inspired by God to do something good, and we RESPOND to that inspiration. That’s our role, to respond. Not everyone responds. Maybe even we don’t respond all the time. But when we do, I believe we are, in essence, co-creators of the moment with God.
I don’t believe God created us to be robots. We participate too. So we can feel good about that. Recognition elsewhere is nice to receive, but not necessary. We can recognize ourselves for the good things we’ve done.
So, inspired by God, we came up with an alternative way to think about the good things we do.
When we do something good, what if our inner thoughts are along these lines:
We’re thankful to God for giving us the inspiration;
We feel good that we were chosen to receive the inspiration;
We’re thankful that we have been given the gifts to address the situation. Finally, we feel good inside because we responded to God’s inspiration and, were given the means to respond to it.
This way doesn’t require any recognition from anyone else. We can keep our privacy and still recognize OURSELVES for the good we’ve been gifted with. I believe God shares our joy and our sorrow with us. God is right there with us through it all, experiencing it with us. And, having been given life by our God, we’re right there too.
Your Brother in Christ… Peter