Throughout the journey of The Higher Law, we have been taught to open our minds. My religion has always taught me that God sometimes works in “mysterious ways,” but I had allowed my mind to be conditioned until I didn’t really believe that. For many years I vacillated between the “Religion is Everything” and the “Secularism” category defined on the page, “Where is God?”. In mercy, God continued to reach out to me and help me open my mind to the great truths around me, to which I had closed my mind. I would like to share a few of these experiences with you, as this process is critical to understanding The Higher Law.
Learning to Recognize Worship
During a time when my perspective was “Religion is Everything,” I had essentially decided to stop listening to anything but religious music. I’m not sure if I really believed it was the only inspiring music, or if I was trying to prove my religious devotion. My kids listened to all types of different music and kept encouraging me to open my mind to other music. One of my sons, in particular, listened to a type of music that had traditionally been known as “bad”. Through a number of experiences, I was led to open my mind to the music my kids were listening to. I approached it with an understanding of really wanting to understand its power for good or evil. As I listened to it, I found many artists whose music inspired me and taught me. As I opened my mind to the music my son was listening to, I was amazed to find that many of the artists I had been told were “bad” were actually inspired musicians.
I remember one day in particular, I was listening to music with my son. As usual, he was trying to help me open my mind when a particular song came on the radio. In the past, I would have immediately turned it off. However, as I listened, I felt the power of it and into my mind came a voice I have learned is from God and spoke the words, “This is worship.”
Through The Higher Law and other special experiences God granted me, I was led on a journey to reconsider my many biases. I began to see worship in movies, art, buildings, businesses, hobbies, and so many other things I had never considered. I learned that we worship God when we unlock the gifts that are inside us and through creativity, hard work, and commitment do great things. This does not take away from the value of religion in worship—for it certainly plays an important role in this. In essence, I learned that we can worship in all aspects of our life. I also learned that if we will open our minds, we will find worship in places we never before considered.
Finding Great Truths in Others
So many times during the journey of The Higher Law, I have found the answers I have sought from God through other people. I wanted to share a few of these examples.
The republic model is one of the foundational truths to many of the principles taught in The Higher Law. This sounds simple at first, but the republic model has many intricacies and applications that can make understanding it a difficult process. As I was preparing for translation, I was led to an individual who had been inspired to study the republic model and had spent the last number of years learning it in detail. As I opened my mind to the inspiration God had provided her, she was able to teach me these principles and prepare me to understand the translations.
On another occasion, I was struggling to understand a difficult principle. After working on this and seeking God’s help, I was led to ask another individual to tell me their perspective. I was told not to share my opinions, but let them teach me what they saw. This individual gave me a completely different perspective on the principle, and through their insights, the answers became clear.
One other example. At one company, I worked directly with a man who was very different than me. His working style, thought pattern, disposition, and personality were very different than mine. We were often in meetings together discussing difficult topics. Many times I would get annoyed with his different approach and would not really listen to what he was saying. However, God encouraged me to listen more carefully to what he was saying. As I did this, this individual taught me so many things. Not only did I learn how to solve many business problems, but I grew as a person as I saw his many strengths.
I have learned that many great truths of God are held in each of us. Each person has different gifts and experiences, through which God teaches them great truths. As we unlock what is inside another, we grow in our understanding of truth. Sometimes this entails just helping another believe that what they have learned is valuable and giving them the courage to share it. In essence, the great truths of this world are held within each of us and are unlocked one person at a time.
Finding God in All Aspects of Our Life
As I was initially called and instructed regarding this movement, my immediate thoughts were that because God was involved in this, it must be a religious movement. However, as I expressed my concerns about this to God, He taught me that He is involved with all aspects of our lives and that His involvement did not make something religious. He taught me this is one of the great lies of secularism that God’s role is limited to religion.
This was further taught to me in my business dealings. I felt inspired on many occasions to include prayer as part of my businesses. I was surprised to see how initially uncomfortable people felt with prayer in the workplace. However, as I persisted in this, I saw how God was willing to guide us in our business dealings if we would but seek His help and follow the guidance we received.
One other example is a number of years ago I became very interested in learning more about history, economics, and politics. As I began my study, I asked for His guidance. As I look back on this, I can see how He guided my study and taught me important principles that prepared me for my role in this movement. I can now see how much He wants to teach us and guide us as individuals, communities, and nations in economics and politics.
None of this has reduced my understanding of the essential role of religion. These principles teach us that it is us, not God that limits His role in our lives. As I have understood this, my mind has been opened to understand many great truths that were previously hidden behind my misunderstandings about God and how He works. These are just a few examples of how God has opened our mind in our journey with The Higher Law.