There was once a very rich, intelligent, caring, and beautiful woman. Anyone who spent time with her was filled with joy. She dated four men over the course of her life. The first would ignore her, see other women, take her gifts, and tell her, “I’m not your boyfriend.” His life fell apart after she left. The second told her, “We’re in an open-relationship,” and he would mostly ignore her and see other women. His life fell apart after she left. The third boyfriend told her, “I’m yours, and I want no other woman,” but he would mostly ignore her, and cheat on her constantly. His life fell apart after she left. The fourth boyfriend was completely in love with her, and spent as much time with her as he could. He never saw another woman as even being comparable to her. They married and had a long love-filled life.

The first three boyfriends: didn’t they all behave in the same way? They all called themselves different things. One said he was hers exclusively. The other said they were in an open relationship. The first one denied being her boyfriend at all. They all called themselves different things, but they behaved in the same way. They all ignored her, and spent their time with other women. She was a wonderful woman who would have brought great joy to any of them, but they got distracted by other women. These other women were not of the same quality as her, and yet they got distracted. So what does it matter what they called themselves? The result was all the same. Only the fourth one dedicated himself to her.

Some will say, “I’m an atheist, so I don’t care about God.” Others will say, “I worship the one God, but I worship other gods too.” Some others will say, “I’m very religious, and my heart belongs to God,” but their lives are dedicated to anything other than God. Career, sex, social status. In practice, God is their side-gig. All these groups of people will say different things about themselves, but aren’t they acting in the same way? So won’t you expect the result to be the same? If they depart from God, then God departs from them. God is life, and a departure from life is death.

And the person who dedicates themselves entirely to God: will it matter what they call themselves? Call yourself a Jew, a Hindu, a Christian, a Muslim, a Sikh. The words you say won’t save you, but the reality of them will. God will look at what every person actually is, not what they call themselves. The question is: are you actually a servant of God, or are you a servant of something else?

God is Life. Those dedicated to him will have endless life. Endless life is endless joy. Endless love. Endless peace. But ignoring God (who is Life) means death, and death is painful. Life is unity, death is fracture. So why should your goal be anything other than God? Let your goal actually be God and his Kingdom. Don’t just speak it, do it. Embody God’s will. Enact the Four Methods. Be filled with life. Make peace with God, and make peace with God.