Nevertheless, My Will, Which Is Thine, Be Done

So, at my last Navy Drill (I am an active reservist in the U.S. Navy), I had a conversation with a couple of my shipmates that went a little like this:

Them: “So, if you disagree with out foreign policy, why are you in the Navy?”
Me: “It is a spiritual thing.”
Them: “Are you saying it is God’s will or yours to be in the Navy?”
Me: “There is no functional difference.”

After the initial stunned reaction, I was allowed to explain.

1. If we postulate a Divine, Sentient Being who is the creator of all things, we can postulate that this being has a purpose for having created all things and we can extend that reasoning to assume that there is a plan of some sort which we can refer to as as the “Will of God”.
2. As an axiom, Thelema holds that each incarnated being has a reason for being which is called the Will. It is our mission to determine what this will is and to work towards its accomplishment.
3. If the universe is unfolding based upon the Will of its creator, then the Wills of the individuals within creation are aligned with that Will.
4. Thus if I am doing my portion, if I am doing my Will, I am doing the Will of God. My Will is God’s Will.

They followed and understood the logic, though they really wanted to quibble about whether God’s Will was “greater” than mine, and whether I considered myself God. I admit that I was less convincing with these two arguments than I was with the first one. However, I will give it a go. This is what I think I should have said.

1. We are restricted to a viewpoint of our temporal positions. We can imagine what another person’s viewpoint might be, and in fact, we do imagine such. It is the basis of civilization. However, and many forget this, such an imagination is fantasy. We may or may not be right, but we can never truly know how another person thinks or feels. To assume we do is the ultimate hubris. 
2. All of my interactions with “God’s Will” have been through the medium of fulfilling my Will. I know of no action on the part of the universe that is not in relation to my Will. Intellectually, I can presume that the Will of the Universe includes things to which I am not a party, but I have no evidence of this. I do not, and cannot, know. 
3. That being said, it seems rude to other people to assume that they are nothing more than a component for fulfilling my Will, to assume that they have no reason for existing than to allow me to fulfill my Will. Crowley does tell us that each star (i.e. incarnated person) is the center of their own universe, so it seems logical to assume that they have the same kind of experiential relationship with the Divine as I do. 
4. However, my exposure to others is within the context of my orbit and is understood within the framework of their orbits effect on my orbit. 
5. Thus, as far as I know and as far as I can ever know, God’s Will has no other factor than my Will.

I am not sure this is as persuasive as I would like, but it will serve as an starting point. As for being God,

1. Yes.
2. If my Will is God’s Will, and I am acting in accord with that Will, I am God.
3. Your hand is you. It moves and acts according to your Will.

I hope you enjoyed this as much as I did. I love watching the reactions of normals to theological discussion. I hope these musings will assist you in similar situations.

Let My Will, which is Thine, be done.