By Mama C / Deborah Cofer

  1.  All God eXpects from us is that we do our best.  2.  When God asked me to write The Modern-Day Testament over 15 years ago, I didn’t think I could do a good enough job.  3.  I wasn’t sure how to do something I never imagined ever being asked to do by anyone… let alone God.  4.  I wasn’t even a Bible reader or much of a churchgoer.  5.  I was just a woman who had never lost my connection to God… although it was not as strong as I needed it to be.  6.  I wanted to be perfect in my service to God and as a result, I began writing and wrote different versions in my attempt to produce the perfect book of divine wisdom.  7.  Each time not thinking the version I had written was good enough.  8.  Once my computer crashed and I lost the whole book.  9.  Needless to say, I became frustrated beyond words.  10.  After that I couldn’t seem to get going again.  11.  I used this moment of deep frustration to talk myself into believing that I didn’t have the ability to be as perfect as I thought I needed to be.  12.  It’s strange how the mind will sometimes do whatever it can to lead us into the firestorms and pitfalls of life.  13.  But let’s be perfectly clear, disobedience to God always comes with a hefty consequence that doesn’t support peace of mind or happiness.

14.  I lagged in completing this assignment that was both my purpose and destiny and tried to continue living the only life I had ever known.  15.  During most of that time, I felt like I was walking under a dark cloud.  16.  I even came to a point where I contemplated suicide because life seemed no longer worth living.  17.  My life, as I had known it began to crumble and all that I had achieved gradually began to fade into the abyss of my past.  18.  God had set a new course for me and whether I liked it or not, the life I once knew was over.  19.  I now found myself standing in the dawn of a new present that required I turn to God for guidance to  fulfill His will for my life.  20.  Because I didn’t understand that God was not looking for perfection, my belief that the writing of The Modern-Day Testament had to be perfect tried to consume me.  21.  I couldn’t understand why God wanted me to write this book.  22.  “Why me” was all I kept thinking?  23.  Until one day, one of my dearest Sistah friends, Dorrie Michael responded “Why not you?  24.  You are one of the most loving and caring people I know.  25.  Besides, you’re an awesome writer.  26.  Do you think God would have chosen someone who lacked compassion for others and was also a terrible writer?  27.  The one thing most of us know about God is that this omnipotent and almighty deity is no fool.”  28.  She made sense, but at the time I still wished He had chosen someone else for this daunting task that had become somewhat overwhelming.

27.  Dorrie is an eXample of the importance and value of surrounding ourselves with people who possesses an intimate relationship with God, who genuinely love us and have been endowed by God with great wisdom.  28.  Besides it’s about time that a woman shared God’s word with the world.  29.  The reality is… God doesn’t just speak to men.   30.  He speaks to women as well, particularly since we have been chosen as the producers and givers of life for all members of the human family.  31.  Without His guidance, the process of being the first teachers of both male and females would produce chaotic and disastrous outcomes.

32.  So, here I am, almost 20 years later, and I’m fine with just doing my best… which is all God asks.  33.  I’ll admit, my life isn’t perfect since I began this journey… quite the contrary.  34.  I have eXperienced much struggle, strife and disappointment, but it’s different and, more often than not, peace of mind and happiness consistently reinforce my foundation for evolving into the woman God created me to be with the purpose I am now humbly fulfilling.

35.  I’m no longer striving to be perfect, but simply remaining focused on doing my best… and that is a blessing that comes with a whole lot of satisfaction.  36.  The ability to feel good about the things we do… in the name of God, no matter what trials and tribulations we encounter during the process, consistently takes us to higher levels of understanding, wisdom and contentment with who we are and our purpose for being.  37.  And every day I live with a renewed and resounding sense of confidence in myself and my ability to do all things through the God power that resides, consistently resonates and illuminates within me.   

38.  This symbiotic and ever-evolving relationship with God is breathtakingly beautiful.  39.  And don’t get it twisted, I’m no saint… just another eXample of a person, with flaws and faults, who has come to realize the infinite and ever- evolving value of developing an intimate relationship with God.  40.  I now fully understand that perfection is both a misnomer and a misdemeanor against the divinity of life… which is designed to constantly evolve to new heights of amazing and, therefore, makes the concept of “perfection” null and void to the process of life.  41.  Just think, we have evolved from walking and riding horses as our primary mode of transportation to cars, trains, and planes; and God only knows what awaits us as we continue to evolve.  42.  Nothing is perfect anywhere in the universe or all things would remain the same.  43.  Evolution would cease to be.  44.  There would be nothing new and nothing to look forward to.  45.  Life would be one enormous and stagnant blob of thoughtless matter floating around in the universe without purpose, direction and need for guidance.  46.  What a boring and meaningless life that would be. 

LIFE-ENRICHING RECOMMENDATION:  47.  Take some quality time and give some deep introspective thought to how long ago the Old and New Testaments were written.  48.  How many people do you think have remained stuck in the past or are straddling the line between then and now because they are being subliminally held captive in a time that no longer serves them or relates to the gifts and blessings of the present moment?  49.  Then was then and now is now and it is impossible to feel the full brevity of the present and future stuck in a time that no longer eXists and ways that no longer apply.  50.  The best thing we can do, when it comes to the past, is to examine it, eXtract the best from it, partner it with the best of the present and use this formula to create a better and far more fruitful life for ourselves… as we continue to grow into the future.  51.  And, in the process never lose sight of the fact that God doesn’t require perfect… because no such anomaly eXists eXcept within the distorted minds of those who lack the wisdom to know better.  52.  As members of the human family, we are only required to do our best and when it comes to knowing whether we are doing our best God always knows.  53.  FYI:  While it is always possible to fool others, it is never possible to fool God.  54.  So X-out that which does not love you, grow you, support you, and value you so you can continue to evolve in mighty and magnificent ways.  Until next Sunday, Namaste. GOLDEN NUGGETS OF WISDOM GAINED:  What nuggets of wisdom, from this reading, do you believe will simultaneously help you to draw closer to God and enrich your life?  Keep in mind that your purpose in life is to add value to it and those around you… not subtract from it.  Feel free to share your thoughts in the space below.  Let’s agree to grow and glow together, helping to enlighten and light up this world in accordance with God’s plan for it and us.

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