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Go - Not a traffic signal, but an inspiration.
There are jokes about the incredibly short time between when a traffic signal turns green and some impatient driver toots the horn because the car in front did not jump forward. All the impulses from God to go forward, initiate an action, make a plan, or even to imagine, trust, or hope about the future do not come to us as annoying pushes, but as invitations.
When we reflect on some of our experiences, we might recognize how some inspirations were so strong and clear that it was more than obvious that they would be very good for us to enact. At other times, we needed to note carefully whether we felt at peace before and after we responded positively to what we believed was true inspiration. At still other times, we had to rely on clear thinking and perhaps some consultation with others before we had a distinct sense that the impulse we received was indeed an indication of the right thing for us to do.
We might wonder about the reliability of such a process, questioning whether it could be so simple, since many matters about which we need to make decisions appear to be quite complicated. When, instead of keeping the decision-making process completely to ourselves, we turn for help to the source of all goodness and of all true inspirations, we learn for ourselves that there is a reliable simplicity in doing so. We might not receive an immediate confirmation of “go,” but we become centered enough in the presence of Love to receive inspirations for what they are: personal gifts from God, and whether at that moment or later, we will find sufficient clarity to act as seems right to us.
Traffic signals of stop and go are not simply opposites, as if they were final in their intent. Their purpose is to allow everyone to go ahead in their chosen direction, but not all at that same time. When we receive inspirations, some encourage us to initiate an action or to proceed in a specific direction of thought or imagination. Others affirm or confirm us in continuing what we had begun, but for which we had received a temporary “stop,” like that of a traffic signal.
God is not complicated, though God is within every least bit of creation, from simplest to most complex. Knowing and loving us as fully as God does, we are given inspirations as a means of simplifying our lives, freeing us from our mistaken idea that we must know enough to have certainty about the outcome before deciding to act. Instead, we can trust God’s gifts of inspiration and go forward in confidence.
On this 4th of July, we do not know whether the United States will live up to the promises of the Declaration of Independence about “liberty and justice for all,” but we each can make our contributions according to the inspirations we receive.
Last Updated 7/4/2026