© 2003 Jean Claude Romeuf
© 2003 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
We all think differently. I always knew that God existed, that he was good and that for that he wanted our happiness. It took me a long time to accept the idea that anyone who said otherwise was not a liar!
I do not doubt God. Nor do I doubt the angels accompanying me in everyday life. I know that all spiritual influences contribute to my happiness. I know that this happiness is not free, that it is difficult to gain, but that it is already there, inside me. True happiness is born with the acquisition of freedom and freedom is born from spiritual achievements (also called eternal values).
Freedom is not easy to gain and the angels themselves cannot give it to us. It depends on the ability with which we face events and how we accept them. The facts or hazards of life should be considered with a certain mental detachment. For someone who has placed his trust in God, difficulties are stimulating. He knows that trials are the necessary passage in the quest for God and spiritual research.
( Here is one of my favorite prayers: My God, I thank you for the trial that you have just sent me and that I have successfully overcome. I ask you now to think a little about others.)
I do not doubt God. I know that God wants me to enter his Kingdom. Entering the kingdom is above all doing the will of God. It is hard: the law is hard but it is the law!
I’m not the wood from which flutes are made: I want to yell, to revolt; I could raise a fist to the sky!
I could not bear misery if I were not aware of my divine filiation. As a son of God, my trust in God is childish (and not infantile), I will not only do the will of God; I want my will to be the same as his!
(Second prayer: Before acting, my God, may I be Peter raising his sword! Perhaps later I will be wrong and believe I have betrayed you, but I know that you will look me in the eyes with tenderness. The spirit of truth that your love will then pour out on me will make the love I have for you grow.)
I don’t doubt God, but I doubt myself. Any suffering that one must endure, any choice that one must make requires strength. Will I be strong enough, will I have the qualities required? Will I have the courage to start again in case of failure?
Taking responsibility for one’s destiny means taking on the challenges of each day with grace. There are no small or big decisions. Each act of choice is important and necessary for growth. Several methods are offered to us:
(Third prayer: personal and silent: hymn to joy and love)
Jean-Claude Romeuf