Re Asking God for help with our petty problems.

While true, where this leads is uncomfortable and challenging to our very core. If God cares more about our petty conveniences and comforts than about the estimated 100,000 children in the US trapped by human trafficking, most of which are regularly raped by adults, or all the other atrocities here and abroad, that God is nothing short of callous and cruel. So the theology is not just shallow it is at least one aspect of a good definition of evil and where evil comes from.

Even more uncomfortable and challenging is that if I am using most of my energies and resources for my own comfort and enjoyment (which is most often true of me) rather than using them to try to help alleviate those atrocities we humans inflict upon one another, I am acting in a scared, dumb, callous, and cruel manner (probably in that order).

The Gospel is nothing less than facing this (the cross) and allowing the mustard seed of faith to grow into something strong enough to more and more overcome my fear, stupidity and selfishness as I learn to act from it to bring healing and wholeness to those I encounter and in turn myself. Understanding that sometimes helps, but not much. Mostly it just explains why we all try so hard to create an alternative gospel that is not so demanding, until life (if we are lucky) makes us surrender to the only True Reality.

However, if as I believe Christ within is a wholeness with our core (God’s image) that knows we are hopelessly an inseparable part of everything else (the alpha and omega, aka God) then the path to God is through our vulnerabilities - needs and fears from being this hopelessly inseparable part of everything else. So opening up our needs and fears to Our Creator is the path to growing our faith, which could also be described as our ability to be united with things beyond ourselves. Encouraging others in this same process, especially when they have been hurt/traumatized by trying to be a part of things beyond themselves, as we all have, is what a faith community is all about, along with demanding that vulnerabilities are not exploited by those with power.

Putting those two seemingly opposed concepts together we might arrive at the idea that we should open up our petty and deeper needs to God and find they are the connecting thread to Him through His creation, but not ask for them to be satisfied so we do not actually need Him.  It is only to the extent we come to understand that we are hopelessly inadequate (and miserable) alone and decide to join His creation, moment to moment, that we become one/united with Him.