Your celestial spark
Your celestial conscience is as silent and still as these reflections on the track to Evergreen. These reflections are not disturbed by the sound of frogs. Nor is your celestial conscience disturbed by the bustle and rush of everyday life.
Overheard conversation between Jill (a Christian) and Bill (not religious). They are adults: a sister, and a brother. (Names have been changed to uphold anonymity.)
Jill: God is my ultimate authority.
Bill: So if God told you to kill me, you would?
Jill (without hesitation): Yes.
I found her reply chilling. This conversation was taking place in a suburban home in Australia, not in a tent in the land of Canaan during ghastly Old Testament times.
I really doubt she would kill her brother, but knowing that she thought she could and would do so if a voice in her head told her to, was disconcerting.
It made me think about what we call our conscience.
Definition of Conscience
Wikipedia defines conscience thus:
Conscience is a cognitive process that elicits emotion and rational associations based on an individual's moral philosophy or value system.
The average conscience is packed with thoughts we’ve taken on board based on family and societal moral judgments and values. We know what we should and shouldn’t do.
For example, our conscience usually contains things like we shouldn’t jump the queue at the coffee van; we should pay our taxes; we shouldn’t steal spoons from restaurants; we should keep to the speed limit; we shouldn’t lie to loved ones; we should get to work on time; we shouldn’t get in the way of ambulances; we should surrender when pursued by police; we shouldn’t move surveyor pegs on properties; we should be kind to cabbies and cats; we shouldn't kill anyone.
But after overhearing that conversation, I wondered about the fact that a conscience based on human dictates to preserve modern civilisation could be overridden by a religious belief. If someone believed they heard the “voice of God” telling them to kill another, that person would.
Even if “God” appeared to me, identified himself, and told me to kill someone, I wouldn’t.
‘Go and do your own killing,’ I’d say. ‘I’ll play no part in it.'
Your Celestial Conscience
A quote from George Washington:
Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire, called conscience.
Washington was referring to the conscience that is worth listening to. It's a celestial conscience. This is a deeper knowing of what we should and shouldn’t do. It's not written in our minds or law books or holy tomes. It belongs to no one. It was here before we were and will outlive us. It's all around us and throughout us. It's everywhere.
It’s not man-made. It’s beyond religion. It’s universal.
It’s the voice of Oneness.
It speaks to us when we choose to listen.
Tune into your celestial spark.
And the world will change.
With love, Marlane
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