God as Comforter

[otherbrother]

In the Bible the Holy Spirit was called (if I’m correct) The Comforter to comfort Christ’s followers after he was no longer physically present. But could this provision of comfort be part of God’s Love from the beginning? An enduring function instead of a temporary one to console Christ’s followers?
I recently shared how I utilized God (as I experience Him) to comfort me as I suffer through marathon training runs as an old man. I allowed myself to be a living symbol of all who have suffered. It helped me relate, empathize. Life has real strain and suffering that we need to be comforted about if we are to successfully do God’s work during our mission here.
I always prayed for help, such as when my son was in a coma in a hospital bed, but his wonderful recovery was a comfort to help me proceed with my mission here on earth. So is my helpmate wife of over 50 years. She is not just a help—she is a comfort to help me accept the challenges of my life as a mission to make the world more spiritual and loving.
Perhaps we are biased to emphasize help as an act of the Maker/Creator. But the peace and love filling the subjective experience of our being is the only real reason for us to go on and live. The subjectively experienced motive is perhaps more important than the objectively seen “help.”

 

[Thomas]

In the Bible the Holy Spirit was called (if I’m correct) The Comforter ...

Yes, common to the KJV, but 'comforter' is one among a number of definitions.

But could this provision of comfort be part of God’s Love from the beginning? An enduring function instead of a temporary one to console Christ’s followers?

Yes ...

 

[otherbrother]

Yes, common to the KJV, but 'comforter' is one among a number of definitions.


Yes ...

What is fascinating to me is that this “ thing” called comfort can be channeled by humans. While modern psychology assumes it’s an internal state only, perhaps triggered by certain external stimuli or inner thoughts, when opening up to a deeper and wider reality, it seems to flow as though through a stream of energy, suggesting that the human mind can act like a radio receiver and pick up the comforting signals/energy. While a certain thought might be like a number on the face of the radio, a tuner of sorts seems to be behind the number. It likely is a mind function which tunes into the Comforter. I think we can and sometimes do go mentally deep enough to adjust the tuner without relying on the number. We can modulate, tune, our minds to pull in God energy. Lowering resistance so as to gently float to the core of being seems to be helpful in tuning the mind/radio. Letting go of default setting attachments may help lower resistance, but sometimes fear of the unknown can cause a rebound to the coarse, defensive, surface energies. We bobble up to our surface. But the floating to the core and effectively tuning into, say, Comfort, as one of God’s functions is a skill that can be improved over time.

 

[otherbrother]

What is fascinating to me is that this “ thing” called comfort can be channeled by humans. While modern psychology assumes it’s an internal state only, perhaps triggered by certain external stimuli or inner thoughts, when opening up to a deeper and wider reality, it seems to flow as though through a stream of energy, suggesting that the human mind can act like a radio receiver and pick up the comforting signals/energy. While a certain thought might be like a number on the face of the radio, a tuner of sorts seems to be behind the number. It likely is a mind function which tunes into the Comforter. I think we can and sometimes do go mentally deep enough to adjust the tuner without relying on the number. We can modulate, tune, our minds to pull in God energy. Lowering resistance so as to gently float to the core of being seems to be helpful in tuning the mind/radio. Letting go of default setting attachments may help lower resistance, but sometimes fear of the unknown can cause a rebound to the coarse, defensive, surface energies. We bobble up to our surface. But the floating to the core and effectively tuning into, say, Comfort, as one of God’s functions is a skill that can be improved over time.

Seeing ourselves in others and others in ourselves via empathy and love both lowers our resistance and requires it also. When we “put down our defenses” our resistance is lowered and we can float closer to the core or ground of being. Life tragedy can sink us there, but we haven’t learned yet to go there without sinking. Perhaps the comfort we experience once we sink into God’s arms can be focused upon and attached to in order to become a tool to intentionally use eventually without being dependent on suffering as a means to tune into God. Sinking is a rough way to tune into Comfort and Love and Peace, but perhaps better than not tuning into it at all.