How many times have you been in a conversation about religious matters and referred to God as, “the man upstairs“? Maybe you’ve not had that description in your tote bag; however, many do and they subconsciously fall into the description with behavioral nuances that aren’t good.
In this “man upstairs” paradigm we labor under the FEAR that we can be kicked out of the rental (can you say garden?) at any time we violate some aspect of the lease. And there’s the additional FEAR that our lease won’t be renewed when the term of the agreement expires. Fear, fear, fear! Without consciously being aware of it we fall into a VICTIM mentality.
God’s up there looking down over us, his eyes (see the anthropomorphic usage?) running to a fro, every checking on us.
And we wonder where we got the Santa Claus concept of being naughty and nice? If we’re good Santa will be good to us, but if we’ve been bad it stones and sticks: nothing is coming from modern day bricks-n-clicks if you get my drift. As Steve Bhaerman writes, “Many in the Western world worship a conditional God who bestows or withdraws love and approval based on whether we follow certain man-made religious dictates.”
Ouch!
We need to move away from heaven being a DESTINATION PLACE and into the concept of heaven being a PRACTICE here and NOW. We need to ditch the “Cosmic Landlord” thinking and embrace the, I AM that is WITHIN, and that we truly ARE. We can’t be kicked out of the garden and there is no lease because we are JOINT HEIRS with the Owner (God).
How cool is that? 
Very, very cool!!
Yes this is awesome. Along with the rental versus co-heirs/owners metaphor, most people who own take much better care of their property than those that rent. I believe the same is so as we move from the landlord paradigm to the we are building ownership and value with all that God is continually making available for us TO USE, incorporate, and not violate as we share who we are, who we are becoming, and that which we want to be!