© 2010 Joël Goldsmith
© 2010 Association Francophone des Lecteurs du Livre d'Urantia
Let us practice the presence of God every day and then leave it to God to seal our meditation.
“Where shall I flee from Your presence? And those of my house, where shall they flee from Your presence? Your presence fills all space. Your kingdom exists in the depths of their consciousness, and in that kingdom, my God, is Your dwelling place. In every being with whom I live, You have made Your dwelling place; the spirit of each of them is Your temple; and You are present at this precise moment in Your dwelling place.” The spirit of God is the very breath of each of them, their very life, their very intelligence. God envelops them entirely, for God is in them, as they are in God.
In the presence of God is the fullness of life. As each person in my house is always in the presence of God, each of them is likewise in the presence of the fullness of life. The place on which the members of my family stand is holy ground. Each of them is one with the Father, forever one with Him. And at no time can he be lost, whether at his place of work or at home. God walks with him; God and he merge. God dialogues with him, at His own level of being.
In giving our love to our children, let us not expect them to show gratitude. Let us fulfill our role as parents. Let us adopt a similar attitude in all human relationships. Discord arises when we expect something from the being we claim to love. Let us not violate the spiritual law of love. All rights, all rewards in life have their origin in God. We must not expect them to be given to us by man. When we accomplish a task, we must feel that it is a privilege, a joy, without expecting a reward or recognition. Let us do our work because it must be done; the only way to find fulfillment in it is to do it to the best of our abilities. Reward, compensation, as well as harmony of life, are given to us by God, not by man. Gratitude is one of the major attributes of love. Its lack proves the deprivation of love, in other words of God.
In our workplace, let us work while completely forgetting our boss, and even any notion of salary; let us do it to the best of our abilities. The reward can come from elsewhere. Likewise in our private sphere, let us trust in God, knowing that it is He who will recognize our work and reward us. Let us not expect anything from any human being.
Love is defined as a feeling freely consented to, that is to say in the absence of any desire, of any expectation of being paid in return. Love is giving of oneself unconditionally, in complete freedom. Because the love of God pours out from moment to moment, without the slightest expectation of reciprocity.
Divine, spiritual love is characterized by constant giving, made without any ulterior motive. By always acting towards each other with the feeling that there is an invisible Presence and Power that is aware of all our actions as well as all our thoughts, it is towards It that we will turn in all circumstances and not towards each other. One of the essential principles of spiritual life is in fact this: at no time do we do anything for each other. We do not do good with the intention of doing good. We do it with the idea of perfecting our relationship with God.
Faced with the misery of the world, the first thing to do is to stop hating and fearing what the world calls evil. The second principle capable of making the world’s problems disappear is love, the one that seeks to express its own integrity.
Let us be concerned only with fulfilling ourselves in our art of being ourselves and expressing the best of ourselves. When we allow the love and gratitude of God to flow through us, without worrying about the benefits that will be given to us in return, then, and only then, will we begin to understand what love really is, the cement of harmony in business, in homes and in the government of nations.
It is futile to seek a reason to love. Love is foreign to reasons, whatever they may be. If we need a reason to love, it is because our love is not true. Human relationships must be based entirely on love, but a love that pours out freely.
What God possesses, He intends for all of His children. But in asking Him to have a share in His good we must be careful to formulate our request in a way that is not selfish. Let us ask God to have a share in His glory by virtue of His universal spirit of giving. Let us abandon ourselves to His love and submit to His will. God grants us a multitude of gifts; He gives them to us through His love for us, which is priceless; all this manifests His glory, makes it visible on earth, as it is in heaven. Our homes must be a temple of God, a place where each one says: “Father, this is Your dwelling place. Here You are at home. Let this house be full of Your presence, down to its smallest corners. Let Your love reign supreme there. Let my spirit be free from human emotions, negative thoughts and actions; make me Your instrument, that through it Your presence may freely penetrate this house.”
God expects us to show love, patience, kindness, justice, cooperation, and generosity both in our homes and everywhere else. We must love every human being as ourselves. In this way our conscience becomes transparent and God can enter it at will to bless the multitude.
My consciousness is entirely subject to love. There is not the slightest trace of personal desire, gain or glory in it. My consciousness is now transparent. Through it, God can spread freely in this world. God being subject to no limits of space and time, He is not constrained to remain inside me. This is why the realized presence of God spreads outside of me to the confines of the universe.
I am God’s instrument, a completely transparent instrument for God to bless all of humanity—anyone, whether he is my friend or my enemy. I do not condemn the sinner; I do not seek vengeance. I seek only to forgive. Because of my consciousness of love, God can enter my home, my business, and from there spread throughout my country, as well as throughout the entire universe.
If I am in this world, it is not to acquire something or to achieve some goal, but to make myself the instrument of God and to bear witness to His presence. If I was born on earth, it is for one reason only, which is that God, through me, can manifest Himself there. I was born to reveal the glory of God, not for my personal glory, to ensure my reputation or my wealth. I was born so that God may be glorified through the love He has for me and which I bear witness to in the world.
“In the name of the Father, let there be silence. By virtue of my love for God and for my neighbor, may love spread abundantly in my conscience, may it be a source of blessing, forgiveness, elevation and liberation for all humanity - as much for my friends as for my enemies -, may all be freed from envy, lust, hatred, fear and doubt. May the love of God touch them in their conscience and sensitize them in their soul. ”
We become transparent instruments when we dedicate our lives to loving God and loving our neighbor as ourselves. This dedication of our conscience must be prepared and exercised daily.
Our conscience must be transparent, so that through this transparency love may spread throughout the world and God may reign on earth as He already reigns in heaven. Every conscience that devotes itself to the love of God and the love of one’s neighbor becomes an open window through which the light of truth, love, and life may spread throughout this world, gradually dispelling the darkness that reigns there and establishing the reign of God.
For the light of love to penetrate this world, we must first put the very presence of God there. We must open the window of our consciousness to God and make it transparent. For if the love of God does not penetrate our consciousness it is because it is opaque, dusty as a window can be, soiled by impurities that can be grouped under a single term: the ego, which sees everything in terms of possession.
When we are caught up in this task of purifying our conscience, we find that what increasingly concerns us is the realization of love, the realization of forgiveness, praise, glory and gratitude. Let each of us recognize the duty of bearing witness to the presence of God; let each of us practice the presence of God as soon as we get up and then go about our business to the best of our ability. If we practice the presence of God regularly, we will quickly find that other tasks are added to our usual tasks and that it is these that bring us compensation, recognition from others and reward. They will simply be given to us in addition. Let us therefore be concerned with accomplishing the work expected of us without delay, with liberality and generosity.
Let us each day fulfill the tasks that are before us, and not look at the nature of the tasks, whether they are humble or prestigious. After having humbly and efficiently carried out the ordinary tasks, we will be entrusted with others of a more spiritual nature. But it is important that we ensure that we have in our conscience an abundance of love, forgiveness, gratitude, praise, loyalty, devotion and this not only in our relationships with God but also in our relationships with others.
We must work on healing and purification until the day when our consciousness will be completely cleansed of the opacities of the ego and when, having become transparent, the love of God will be able to spread on earth in abundance. Every spiritual task thus has its beginning and its end in ourselves.
A harmonious life involves freeing yourself from negative emotions such as judgment, fear, anger, frustration and co-dependent relationships where everyone seeks to change others rather than changing themselves.
Let us recognize that we can choose how to perceive ourselves, how to perceive others and the world around us. Choose to experience peace or conflict, love or fear, union or solitude.
We are what we believe and our present perceptions are influenced by the past to the point of making us unable to see events occurring in the present moment without distortions and limitations.
By deliberately choosing to live in the present moment we free ourselves from concerns about the past or the future. Being free also means not being confined in a reality that seems limited by our physical sensations or by the appearance of things. Attack creates fear and guilt to the point of perpetuating the problem, both for ourselves and for others. Let us perceive through the feeling of fear that is attack, a cry for help and a request for love.
Our choice then becomes important if we want to experience peace. It becomes a chance for us to express love. We achieve peace of mind when we no longer want to change others, but simply accept them as they are. True acceptance is always without expectation.
The practice of forgiveness also involves letting go of the past. It is a wonderful way to correct our errors of perception. Through this process of selective forgetting we become free to approach the present without being burdened by our false perceptions reactivated from the past. Through true forgiveness, we can put an end to the incessant return of our guilt and regard ourselves and others with love. Forgiveness frees us from the thoughts that seem to separate us from each other. Healing then becomes the thought of unity. Listening to the inner voice, our intuition helps us and becomes our only guide towards wholeness. We free ourselves by freeing others from the prison of our distorted and illusory perceptions and we join them in the unity of love.
We have everything we need in the present moment and the essence of our being can only be “love.” The desire to get leads us toward conflict and expressions of hostility toward ourselves and others. Our relationships typically attempt to negotiate conditional love. Conversely, the motivation to give brings a sense of inner peace and joy that transcends time. Giving is spreading love unconditionally, without expectation, and without limits. We find peace of mind when we put our full attention into giving and do not desire to get something from or change another person.
To facilitate this reconversion, let us reprogram our mind because very often, our thoughts, our words and our actions are devoid of love. However, it is essential that our communications with others bring a feeling of union and that we match what we think with what we say and do.
Another method of reprogramming the mind is to recognize the impact of the words we use. The use of certain words keeps the power of a guilty past and a frightening future in our minds. As a result, our feelings of conflict can only be reinforced.
Let us experience union, love and peace. Healing comes when we learn to forgive the world and everyone in it, and thereby see everyone, including ourselves, as innocent.
Every moment of our lives can be seen as an opportunity for a new awakening, for a rebirth, freed from the uninteresting intrusion of memories of the past, of expectations about the future. It is in the freedom of the present moment that we can let our loving nature flourish.
By consistently choosing love over fear, we can experience a personal transformation that transcends the limitations of our physical senses. We then recognize the love that truly unites us all.
Joel Goldsmith