Achieving Worthiness Is A Myth

"What you are looking for is already in you. The flower does not try to become the sun; it already is the sun. It does not try to become a tulip; it already contains the qualities of a tulip within it. When you achieve this insight, you stop suffering. We suffer because we want to deny ourselves. We want to become something else, and so we never stop running." -Thich Nhat Hanh

I disagree with the concept of a savior. I know that will make a lot of people very sad and possibly upset. That's okay. I'm not looking to please anyone but myself with my beliefs (and when posting on this blog).

It's nothing against Jesus or his teachings. I really like most of his actual teachings and deeply admire the life he lived. What I really disagree with is: what the idea of needing a savior says about humankind. I don't accept that the natural human state is fallen. I disagree with the Christian concepts of sin and repentance. I don't accept that core human desires are wrong.

I believe core human desires are neither moral nor immoral, but amoral. They are mostly a result of evolution and what leads to survival. Sometimes human desires harm while other times they help. But I believe the universe and environment that evolved them that way is veritably indifferent.

The large majority of people are generally good and should be trusted to make the best decisions possible with their knowledge and resources. And even when generally good people make mistakes, it's imperative that they are trusted by their loved ones to make them. If making mistakes, learning from them, loving others through their mistakes, and being loved through our own is not the point of being alive, I don't know what is. (The people who are sick and not well that will always make harmful decisions, typically won't be stopped by religious rules and laws regarding worthiness and being good enough anyway.)

If the natural human state should be either condemned or celebrated, let it be celebrated. Individual humans for millions of years have cared for, forgiven, persevered, grieved, shared, explored, healed, and loved. Humans are incredible. There is light and dark within everyone, and humans have done all those amazing things in spite of inner darkness. The natural state of humanity absolutely should be celebrated.

There is nothing wrong with you and there is nothing wrong with me. I am fundamentally good enough and you are fundamentally good enough--as we already are. Simply because we are here, we are enough.

Merely being alive and human makes each of us worthy before the divine. Worthiness is not something attained after hours of prayer, fasting, temple, church, or synagogue attendance, or any number of years of "righteousness". It is something already within our beings.

When I prescribed to the belief that worthiness was an attainable state of being based on my behavior and performance, I never, ever felt that I was enough. Nothing I did or achieved made me worthy enough before God. All of my hours of prayer, fasting, scripture study, deliberate acts of service, church and temple attendance were insufficient; it all failed to make me feel good enough and feel worthy before God because I lacked the understanding that simply being was enough.

A great deal of daily anxiety swept away once I stopped hustling for worthiness and learned that I am good enough merely because I am. Considerable amounts of time, thought, energy, and effort formerly directed at being good enough are now spent doing good and feeling good. Isn't that amazing?