© 2009 Joël Goldsmith
© 2009 Association Francophone des Lecteurs du Livre d'Urantia
In the state of illumination we acknowledge the authority of Christ alone; we bow to neither rites nor rules, only to the impersonal and universal love of God. We worship only the inner flame that burns forever in the sanctuary of the Spirit. From this union is born the freedom that is proper to spiritual brotherhood. We are one in a limitless universe; we serve God apart from ceremonies and creeds. Those who have the light of the Spirit go fearlessly through their lives—by grace.
Love as the spirit of understanding
The recognition of our true being requires that we become like children again. Let us not hesitate to proclaim, silently, to each person we meet on our path: “You are the Christ, the Saint of God. I know who you are.” As we undertake the practice of seeing Christ in the people who are part of our daily lives, we will see the world take on a different shape. Whoever we meet on our path, we will approach them with a spirit of welcome, allowing the grace of God to flow through us. Wherever we go, it is in a spirit of giving. The object of giving is to recognize the true identity of all as being the Saint of God seeking to express Himself. For every human being is a Saint of God, an incarnation of God.
To enrich our personal life, we must learn to recognize the true identity of all those we meet on the path of life. Each being we encounter presents himself to us as Christ asking to be recognized. When we see such a being, we know that there is better to do than to concern ourselves with his appearance and his human nature from which we turn away completely; we call upon spiritual discernment in order to see in each person the Christ who lives behind his eyes of flesh, in a silent, sacred, secret way. We see each human from a mystical point of view, through the eyes of Christ. Because whatever his appearance, it is Christ himself who presents himself to us to be recognized.
When we see the Christ of God in a human being, he is healed, at least to some extent, healed of his humanity and the limitations of the finite world, and when, in turn, he sees the Christ of God in ourselves, we too are lifted up.
Let us enter the sanctuary of the deep being and there, silently, see with the same eye the friend and the adversary; let us see both in their true identity. Let us raise up to ourselves this Christ who is one and in the other, knowing that this same Christ is just as much in ourselves.
Live through love
It is obedience to the law of love that brings us into the kingdom of God. This involves serving God by serving man. It is impossible to serve God in any other way than by lovingly serving others, since God is not separate from His creatures, nor distinct from them. God manifested Himself entirely on earth as man; to the extent, therefore, that we serve man, we serve God Himself.
There is only one way to live the spiritual life, which is to remain faithful in thoughts and actions to the law of love: each person must act towards all as he would like others to act towards himself. Love has its laws; love presupposes a way of behaving, a certain attitude towards others. Love, in truth, does not come to us. Love is in us, although blocked in its expression. We must open a way for it to manifest, and this by obeying the commandments of the Master.
Love must be able to spread, just like truth, first in ourselves and then in the world. It is up to each of us to ask ourselves whether the basis of our action is love or not. Let us therefore remain vigilant in order to avoid concluding that love has its source in us. Let us understand that it is God who is at the origin of our capacity for love; that it is God’s love that makes us loving, and not our love for someone or even our love for God. Let us therefore meditate on the love that God has for us. At the center of ourselves God incarnated Himself as a son. God, the Father, took his place as God, the Son, in the midst of each of us. He manifested Himself as an individual being. And this center He named it I. He named Himself by this I. So every time this I comes to our mind, we must be aware that it signifies the presence of God at the center of our being. Let us be fully aware of the presence in us of the son of God, as well as of His law which is love. When we serve God who is in man, when we recognize God who is man, it is the only true God that we serve and recognize.
Love your neighbor
When I set my eyes on someone, my gaze must be deep: it must penetrate to the center of that someone and see God who is in the midst of him and who lives his life. I see God who is present in him, the glory of God and I recognize that:
“In you is the child of God; in you dwells the Christ of God. In your true being, God is your life, God is your soul, God is your spirit.”
As soon as I free someone from his humanity and love him as I wish him to love me, human law ceases to operate for him. I can no longer see him as anything other than he really is; and that is what it means to love him as I love myself. I recognize myself in my spiritual nature, I know that I am the child of God. I know my unity with the Father, and I know that the Father never fails to say to me for a single moment, “My child, you are always with me, and all that I have is yours.” And this truth that governs me, I see it also govern my neighbor; I see my neighbor in the same light as that which is in myself. In this light, I love him with a spiritual love; thanks to it I free him from human law, that of good and evil. By freeing the other, I free myself in turn. I allow him to be in relationship with God through the spirit. And in this disposition of mind towards him, I am myself in a deep relationship with God. If this is so, it is because there is only one being, the being of God.
Wherever we go, this peace is present in our consciousness, and it accompanies us all day long. After just a few days, we will be able to notice a change in the attitude of others towards us. We release Christ in our depths and in all those we meet on our path. By going into the world, with this unique message in our mind, “My peace I give you, I give you the grace of God, the peace that surpasses all understanding, the peace of Christ, the peace of the spirit.” By persevering in this practice, wherever we go, by learning to let the being of God express itself in us, those we meet on the path of life will perceive the blessing that we pour out on them. “May the grace of God be upon you.” This behavior is equivalent to keeping the truth active in our consciousness; to pouring out divine love on the world.
Our love for God
Each of us will one day have to experience in our conscience a love for God that is deeper than that which we feel for a human being. We will have to feel it as a warmth in our heart, an almost personal presence.
When the Son meets the Father, their union generates love. When we are united with God, the love we feel is without motive, we feel love only because we realize that there, in the bosom of God, is our dwelling place. Since the tabernacle of God can receive only that which is like God, we must rise above human heights, to the regions of spiritual consciousness. When we meet God, our relationship is on a higher plane. In coming face to face with God, it is ourselves that we meet; it is our own being, our own state of being. We enter into intimate communion with God and this produces an awareness: we finally realize that nothing belongs to us, that love, wisdom, intelligence really have their source in God, the Father, and that the capacity for love, wisdom, and intelligence are those of the Father, and not ours. In these moments of intense communion with God, there is mutual exchange. Love is communicated from one to the other, in a relationship of reciprocity. Union with God is the sacred experience par excellence; that of God’s love spreading freely, without the slightest hindrance, which we feel deep within us and which we return to God.
The day we understand that God’s Love is omnipresent, an entirely new dimension of life opens up to our understanding.
“My only desire is to live in Your presence in full awareness. I willingly renounce all other desires. Only my love for You and my desire to understand the reign of Your love and wisdom remain in me.
Here I am, Father, with You, sharing in the depths of Your tabernacle, living in Your kingdom, hoping that my good will come from this depth alone, from this fountain of contentment—the good, whatever it may be, that You have in store for me.
It is here, in the depths of my being, that You have placed Your beloved Son, this Son who is the reality of my being. In these depths You are present, and in this presence I find the fullness of life.
Your presence in me is infinite love. Where You are, Father, only love is expressed. Where You are, only peace is expressed. Now You are there, Father, in my own depths.
In the communion that is ours, You have made my conscience Your dwelling place. Your presence, Father, is manifested as the action of Your grace, and this grace is sufficient for me in all things. By Your presence, Your love spread everywhere, everything becomes possible. In my eyes, Your love is the law of life, and everything that life can ask me to accomplish will be accomplished by Your omnipresent love.
If I am in good health, this is the testimony of Your presence within me. If abundance is in my life, this is the testimony of Your presence within me. If peace and harmony are in my life, this is also the testimony of Your loving presence within me. If I am able to serve, to help, to be beneficial to others, this is also the testimony of Your love of which I am fully aware.
Your love! I feel it intensely. It is there, in my depths. It precedes me, it accompanies me; it is on my right and on my left, in front of me and behind me. At every moment it sees over my shoulder the road that is to be taken, and it shows it to me. Being firm in Your love, I advance without stumbling and without feeling the slightest fear. I go in confidence. »
The spiritual connection
Between God and His creation there exists only love, a very strong relationship of love, a relationship of love that is eternal union. Two people united by the bond of spirit can only live together in peace, purity, harmony, completeness and sharing. The recognition of the one Father and that of the spiritual bond that connects us to each other, establishes us in union, not only with the Father but also with our neighbor.
It is by virtue of our union with God that the qualities of God can manifest in us, without our understanding how or why our relationships with others are established on another basis, that of our common spiritual identity.
By being in conscious contact with the Father, we are also in conscious contact with all the other members of the spiritual house, ours or some other spiritual house, united with all those, and all things also which may have to play a part in our earthly existence.
As we connect with God, we also connect with the people and things that will contribute to the success of our lives day after day. Our relationship with God also connects us with every other spiritual seeker, as well as with the things in nature and circumstances that will make possible the fulfillment of our life on earth, whether it is a garden, a house, a job, or anything else.
Love is what binds us all together, what holds us together. Love is the power of Christ in me to speak to the Christ in my neighbor. Love is the power of Christ in me to recognize the Christ in my neighbor, and to honor Him. Love is the ability to recognize that God pours out His grace on my neighbor as much as on me.
Showing love to your family
It is by sharing the tabernacle of God and by communing with the Spirit of God that we bring down upon our home peace and love in their true sense. Let us make a habit of looking beyond human appearance, to go to the Spirit of God which is in each one. We will be forever protected from all the malevolence which rages in this world.
At the very moment when the Spirit of God touches our soul, our gaze changes completely: we see each member of our family in their spiritual identity, and this gaze that we place on each of them awakens spiritual vision in them. Hence the need to rediscover deep vision so that, looking at the other, we can once again discern the Christ who is in him. Let us therefore devote a few minutes each day to meditation and keep each of these sessions for a member of our family.
Let us be assured that Christ is knocking at the door of that person’s mind for meditation and recognition. And let us say this, “Now I see the Son of God, the Spirit of God in you. I do not dwell in any way on your human nature, nor do I care for the signs of goodness or wickedness that you show, nor for the signs of sickness or health, nor for the signs of ignorance or wisdom. At this moment I put all these aside to contemplate only the Spirit of God that is in you. I exalt in you the Christ of God, I bring forth the Son of God in you from the grave of humanity. I am assured that in your midst dwells the child of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you.” The contact with the Spirit of God in our child cannot fail to occur. Peace can only reign if we recognize each member of our family as a son of God.
(to be continued)
Joel Goldsmith