The ego cannot slay the ego. After a lifetime of seriously trying to do this, suddenly that first sentence made complete sense. And then there’s the verse, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust him.” And no, the ego cannot trust the God within. So it keeps on making the one mistake over and over. What is that mistake? Trying to do the impossible.

What is the alternative to trying to do the impossible? I know that you know it and also that you forget it (and so do I.) The alternative is surrendering in the moment. Why is this so hard to do? Because we are not fully conscious. We are a mishmash of ego and enlightenment. And ego cannot win OR be enlightened.

Want a moving sale? Everything must go. Differences, preferences, commands, orders, on and on and on.

Where is God? He is not under the bed. He is not standing behind some pulpit. He is not anywhere you can try to locate Him.

“Stop it! Just stop it!” Bob Newhart once told a young woman in a skit. She told him she had a bad habit (I don’t remember the exact problem) and he said, “Stop it!” And she kept telling her problem and he kept telling her to just stop it!

I flew out west to hear Vernon Howard speak. I was having trouble getting along with someone. He said “I have come to deliver the message, not discuss it! “And after class someone came up to me and said, “He gave this talk for you.”

And I still can’t stop it. Can’t stop what? Getting in my  own way! Thinking I am in charge of my life, etc. and so forth. Bob and God are right. We should just stop it!

Vicki Woodyard