Met at the Level of the Need

             It’s always worth revisiting this modern-day parable now and then. Comments afterward.

 

**

The Old Man and the Flood

 

An old man lives in a town where a flood comes through. The water rises to his porch, and a fire truck comes by.

 

“Get in,” the firemen call to him. “We’ll get you to higher ground.”

 

“No, thanks,” says the old man. “God will take care of me.”

 

The next morning the water had risen to his second story. He’s hanging out a window when a rescue boat comes by.

 

“Get in,” the would-be rescuers call to him. “We’ll take you to higher ground.”

 

“No, thanks,” says the old man. “God will take care of me.”

 

The next morning finds the old man on his roof as the water has all but covered his house. A helicopter flies over and drops down a ladder.

 

“Climb up,” his would-be rescuers call to him. “We’ll take you to higher ground.”

 

“No, thanks,” calls the older man. “God will take care of me.”

 

The old man drowns. When he gets to heaven he says to God, “Why didn’t you save me?”

 

And God replies, “I sent you a fire truck, a boat, and a helicopter. What more do you want?”

 

**

 

One wonders how he imagined help would arrive from God. Did he think a giant hand would reach down from the sky and lift him to higher ground? Occasionally, I encounter readers and clients who expect God to supply a need in some extraordinary way rather than through the world in which they perceive the problem.

 

“You cannot be asked to accept answers which are beyond the level of need that you can recognize.” (ACIM, S-1.I.2:5)

 

If your need is something for the person, then the answer will come at the level of the person. If your need is money, it is not going to fall from the sky but come to you through the usual means of acquiring money in the world—employment, loan, gift, government assistance, etc. If your need is to not be in an abusive relationship, the answer is to leave the relationship, not expect God will somehow transform the other who is not even looking to be transformed. If your need is to avoid a virus, the answer is a vaccine, not wishful thinking that your belief in God will prevent you from getting it. If your need is to have your cancer removed, the answer is through surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, not a “miracle cure” where the cancer just disappears. If your need is to protect your home from burglary, the answer is a security system, not the belief that somehow God has put a cone of protection around your home.

When you are centered in truth (God, Christ, Holy Spirit, presence, the divine, etc.), you do not have to define needs or ask to have them met. Answers will arise. But those answers will be in the world where you perceive the problem.

 

>>>> 

If you have a question the answer to which you feel may be helpful to others, send it to Liz@acimmentor.com and indicate that you want it answered in this newsletter/blog.

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