I once spoke with a congregant about tithing – the practice of giving 10% of your income to whatever feeds you spiritually.  I asked this young man what he learned about tithing as a child.

He said, in mournful voice, “We were taught if you don’t tithe, you wind-up on God’s shit-list.”

Did you learn similar beliefs about God as a child?  Did your God have a shit-list and did you earn a place on it?  Was your God disappointed or upset when you didn’t measure up?

It’s not God’s fault.  We hog-tie the Infinite Absolute with projected fear.  We give it a judgmental attitude and a bad temper.

This God isn’t real.  It’s simply a reflection of our endearing human nature, our guilt, and our stubborn need for punishment.

God-beyond-words, God-beyond-projection is Consciousness.  This “God” is bold paradox and unconditional love.

It’s hard for us to wrap our human brains around something so infinite and unconditional.  But we can ask for help.  The 13^th Century mystic Meister Eckhart prayed, “God, rid me of God.”

This invites a God that transcends our projections.

This welcomes a God of unspeakable love.

This prayer allows us to rest and finally rejoice.

For where we once labored to satisfy a demanding God, now we fall into the everlasting arms of existence.  Here, we are completely loved and accepted by God beyond God.

Here, in God beyond God, we know that we are completely worthy.

In the realm of the Absolute, it couldn’t be any other way.

What happens when you release old projected notions of God and fall in love with God beyond God?