The basis of all our problems is separation from God. And the symptoms of this separation are our wrong relationships with other people. We look for things from them that are not good for them to give (if indeed they could). Then, when other people fail us or betray us, we resent them. This resentment is another form of selfish use, so we become guilty before other people and before conscience (God). Avoiding the humbling encounter with conscience, we instead are extra nice to people in order to make up for our guilt feelings. We want them to take away our guilt. This only makes us guiltier because we are using them to avoid conscience. When they take advantage of our need, we again resent them.
    If we could relate to God properly, He would show us how to relate to others properly. But without His guidance, we are lost confused sheep. We look to outside people for advice, and because they do not have understanding either, their advice fails us and makes us worse off.
Perhaps now you can see that the pain we feel when we have problems with others has a purpose. It awakens us to the fact that something is wrong. And if we remain awake without reaching for symptom removal, and if our attitude changes to a willingness to admit the part we play when things go wrong, we will begin to realize our wrong.
    God is always there. His mercy and forgiveness are there. And His guidance is there. We fail to realize His Presence because we seek comfort from others. We seek their love instead of His. We seek other’s approval instead of His. We seek their forgiveness instead of His. And when people fail us or we grow too guilty to continue using them, we look to food, drugs, work, entertainment, or possessions to make us feel good (and take away awareness of conflict with conscience). Of course, when our food makes us fat, our drugs give us side effects, and our possessions become a burden, we make the same old mistake mistake of resenting them, as if they were the cause of our suffering. The problem is that we attempted to use material things to help us forget conscience.
    The proof that we have made others our gods is that we are afraid to speak up to them. We shake in our boots before worldly authorities. We also shake before worldly indulgences that we have looked to  to make us feel good.
    We have become externalized, so much so that we don’t even notice our conscience anymore. If we do, it’s a vague anxiety. And if our conscience does bother us, we quickly try to dismiss it or cancel it out with distraction.
    Little do we realize that conscience is our closest link to God—that the conscience we feel is the hindsight we experience when we stray from the guidance of the Light of Truth that could inwardly silently inform us, if we would but be still and pay attention to its admonishments.
    If it is true that God’s forgiveness is there waiting for us to accept it, and if it is true that His guidance is there in the form of wordless intuition and inner guidance, why do we not grasp it, instead of erring and suffering?
    The answer has to do with our own nature—we have a secret desire to play God and to do whatever we want. We are prideful and rebellious. We would rather be God than know God. Therefore we shy away from a real encounter with His Truth, lest our pipe dreams be dashed, our illusions broken and we be forced to tow the line and do His will.
    The answer also has to do with the powers that be. They prefer that we be lost, confused and making mistakes. There is big money to be made and lots of power to be had in helping people that are confused and needy. If everyone were self reliant and intuitively guided by wisdom from God, there would be no more need for external problem solvers.
    Everyone knows about the truth, even bad people. But because everyone is guilty of playing God, we all shy away from complete honesty, lest others pull the rug out from under us and point out our wrongs too. When it comes to standing up for principle, most of us are unwilling to go all the way. We cop out, preferring to be popular rather than principled. Most dads, for example, say the right things, but they say them either too weakly or angrily.
    However, some of us reach a point where we yearn for the truth so much that we are even willing to see our own wrongs. When we reach this point, our soul softens, and we are ready to have our attitude changed from one of pride and defensiveness against truth to one of humility. This occurs as the Truth begins to dawn, lighting our darkness and beginning the long process of salvation. As Truth dawns, the first thing we see is our own wrongs. Mourning over what we see, we regret the way we are but also realize in the Light that we cannot make ourselves good. When we are repented by the Truth, we become friends with Truth. When we are friends with Truth, there is no more need for the methods we used to use to escape conscience.
    Remember--if it is true that we have access to the inner Light of Truth, this Light of Truth would contain wisdom, and by its very nature would be a solution to the problems we have acquired during our separation from the Light. If this is true, then instead of dwelling morbidly on problems and instead of spending our time seeking face saving answers in imagination or from experts, we should devote ourselves to finding that inner Light and conforming to it.
    Proper meditation, which we teach here at the Center for Common Sense Counseling, is the thing to do. All that is needed is that it be combined with a sincere desire to know the truth. When we make knowing the purpose for which we were created more important than anything, we will be able to meditate.