What is fascinating about guidance is that its source creates many forms and may come highly personalized to a single individual.  It can come as the result of consequences.  It can come in the form of a symbol that has not impressed us until an aching, unmet need draws us to it -- much like the remembrance by the Prodigal Son of his home and his father’s love.  Guidance can come as a wake-up call when we realize that no savior is coming to rescue us from life’s countless challenges.  Guidance can come when we are searching for truth and are finally ready for change.

     Christians remember the words of Jesus, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”  Metaphysically, how does Jesus save people?  What saves people is their belief that an external reality – in this case Jesus -- has the ability to assume control over their lives once they have surrendered to him.  What happens when such a relationship with Jesus or some other external reality truly works to change the direction and choices of people’s lives?

     Our lives are hardwired from birth with a spirit that has the ability to recognize what is essential for living and what is not.  This consciousness is the accumulation of memories from our countless lives and is a timeless source of knowledge we bring with us each time we incarnate on the earth.

     This wealth of knowledge, however, is the consummate observer as each person embarks on a series of rollercoaster rides governed by the illusions of life while we dwell in our physical forms.  This innate consciousness will not intrude in our lives unless we awaken to its presence and willingly access it.  Many people do not.  Even the good life can ensnare us in patterns that can prevent our growth.

     For example, having wealth is better, beauty is better, being a high profile personality can be better, a sense of humor is better, a gregarious and confident spirit is better and having a consistently exciting and satisfying sex life is better.  These are some of the preferred lifestyle patterns for which many people strive.  With this said, every one of these better patterns is in a constant state of change.  To base our lives on any of them is to build our house on quicksand.

     There can be little doubt that these patterns are better than their opposite, but when people master many of them their identities can become entwined with the rewards that often come with such achievements.  Jesus understood this when he said, “What is gained by achieving control over the entire physical world if during that process you lose your way.”

     The spirit within each of us never sleeps and is highly sensitized to what will work and what will not.  People are not capable of shutting it down, even after layers of compromise, self-indulgence or self-neglect.

     We need to keep in mind that since there is no end to our existence, our spiritual essence is never in any danger of extinction because of our choices.  In fact, some of us incarnate strictly for the adventures that are part of the illusionary world in which we live.  People are attracted to “the good life” because self-indulgence feels so good even though such experiences are fleeting. Life here can be like attending an amusement park when spirit beings wish to pause in their growth pattern.

     People who have mastered the art of allowing their energy to flow away from them are seldom disturbed when no one understands them.  They do not need to be recognized by others in order to live a satisfying life.  Think of how Jesus influenced history even though the world’s entire population died hundreds of times before the masses recognized his worth to their spiritual journey.  In essence he sang his song of love to a community that was thoroughly ensconced in their material reality.  The people, whose inner world resonated with his, preserved what they understood.

     When we have those “Ah Ha” experiences that is the moment when our spirits enable our physical selves to resonate with a truth that has been in front of us all along.  This is the strongest and most powerful form of guidance we can receive.

     God does not need to rescue us because everything we need is already present.  It is we who must resolve the issues we face by awakening to our inner resources rather than reaching for some external reality to rescue us. Our purpose for being born would be unrealized and circumvented if God took our hand and led us through the maze of our material reality.  We learn nothing if God personally saves us from what we fear.  Besides, we are never in any danger so there is no need to be rescued.