What have we learned from history apart from that we live in a fast changing world apparently hurtling towards destruction?
When I look back, I see pointers, events, that have shaped who I am.
I was barely out of my teens when one evening I found myself sitting by the roadside next to my car on fire. I don’t know how I got out of the car after being drenched with burning petrol. On that spring evening I was on my way home after a job. A man on a bike did not see me coming and made his way out in front of me. I managed to avoid him but instead hit a wooden telephone post. Fortunately, the post hit the passenger side as the car continued through it. During the two weeks in hospital healing my burns, I started to ask why I was spared. I still have the burn marks on my face and body to remind me. My guardian angel was at work then and has not stopped since.
I started to ask myself what I am living for. Less than a year later I encountered MRA. What I heard resonated with the longing inside. I took part in an MRA conference that was held in Sweden. I spent a whole night reflecting on my life in the light of the four absolute standards of honesty, purity, unselfishness and love. Next morning I had a frank talk with Nils Erik, the friend who had invited me there. After I shared the ideas I had had about specific action to take to put certain things right in my life, he asked me some penetrating questions. We talked about the temptations we face in life and the dark things that I had hidden away inside me. As these came out into the light I experienced a great sense of freedom and liberation.
I had to risk legal action after owning up to stealing ammunition from the army. There was no guarantee of a favourable outcome, but it was a step I felt I had to take. The relief was great when the reply came from my colonel to say I was forgiven and could simply return the stolen items to him. He would take no further action.
More than 50 year later a friend from India was visiting us in Gothenburg, and he mentioned meeting Nils Erik in Stockholm. This prompted me, on my next visit to Stockholm, to talk with him about some troubling issues in my life. I had become a bit disappointed with myself when I could not keep all darkness out. The thought to talk with Nils Erik was so powerful that I felt an unexpected level of inspiration, even before the talk happened. I was reminded of the powerful experience from the past and it again had a great effect on me. A lot of things became crystal clear.
My sense of pending doom disappeared. I have always been a worrier, fearing that things will go wrong. If I am in charge of a meeting I worry that nobody will come or nobody will speak or that I will not know what to say or find the right words. Generally these fears are unfounded, but I cannot help myself being worried. Now this was gone. I found that I could trust that things would work out and not worry. What a relief!
There is one question that I have always dreaded being asked: “what is MRA/IofC?” I never felt I knew how to reply to this. After this experience I felt very clearly what to say. Suddenly it felt so easy. The absolute moral standards are given us to help us be specific about our needs. Nobody can live up to these standards. Change starts when we make restitution. The inner voice can tell you where you should start and reflecting on your life in the light of these absolute moral standards is the way. If you really want to know where to start you will be told. It is simple, but not easy. The steps you are asked to take may be hard. This is a crossroad, and it is your choice. If you don’t obey you will not move forward. Obedience will not make you a saint but your road to liberation is there. New challenges await and it will not necessarily get easier, but you are on the way. Communication from the inner voice becomes clearer and you will begin to make a difference.
This is what the world needs today, people who will make a difference inspired through the small voice that speaks inside. Have I really been such a person? Have I made a difference? How can you tell?
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