We can picture our relationship with God by imagining a long, long hallway. We are somewhere in the hallway. The Programmer is at the very end. Between God and us, there is a series of curtains spaced a few yards apart.
Each curtain represents a sin. Each sin represents something that distracts us from God. Behind us are the curtains through which we have already come. We look around where we are in the hallway. Left, right, above, and below is the universe we see.
At any given point, we have a tendency to see where we are and be happy with our position. We know we could do worse, but we may not feel enough of a need to be better to actually go through all the trouble of getting through the next curtain.
On the other hand, we can be so attracted to something behind us that we reverse, and revisit the the compartments behind us. We know how to get through those curtains, and the temptation is often there to do so.
There is a tendency to stay in the place we find ourselves at any given time. We can decorate that space, and live there quite comfortably. There are others there who have progressed as far and with whom we are friendly.
Those comfortable in their compartment tend to call those moving through to the next compartment “extremists”. Those falling back into the farther-away compartments are a source of pride to those who stay in the same place. “Well, I didn’t go back to doing that.”
Often, that pride paralyzes the soul, and cements it into place, farther away from God than it had to be. Those trying to get closer to God, by the design of The Program, are given enough grace to do so.
All we have to do is ask.
