© 2011 French-speaking Association of Readers of the Urantia Book
Efficiency is the ability to produce something, to achieve the desired results while maintaining at its highest level what allows this production. To be efficient, two elements are needed: what is produced and what has the capacity to produce. Those who do not focus on the objective and neglect the means will not go very far. Hence the need to adopt good habits.
Habits save a considerable amount of time and energy. They contribute vitally to the efficiency and economy of our lives. All human development is based on this ability to translate previous progress into habits, thus making it possible to consciously make further progress.
Through continued effort, all types of spiritual reflexes can eventually become habits, freeing us to tackle higher challenges. Developing positive habits is central to spiritual growth. It becomes a familiar reaction to a problem. However, we must be very careful not to develop negative habits. In that case, we can only get rid of them by replacing them with a positive habit and not resisting them. Let us not forget that it takes time to fully develop our divine personality.
Good habits, once well established, permeate our personalities. They are woven into the loom of our character. They become the permanent possessions of our evolving souls. Healthy habits of spiritual living are the very foundation of a well-developed and accomplished personality.
“Father, grant me this faith which fears neither dangers, nor pain, nor death, which knows how to walk in life with calm, peace and deep joy and which establishes its soul in absolute detachment from all that is not You.”
Living more fully, using one’s talents more completely, being in harmony with oneself, with others, with God, this is the program that we would like to achieve. The themes of this program are:
Each of us was created with the possibility of choice. We have this freedom to choose between light and darkness. At the beginning, we project the image that we have internally programmed. It is up to us to visualize our future as radiant as it should be, in the image of what the Creator wants and to affirm it positively!
Aware of being eternally connected to an inexhaustible source of benevolence, we should take advantage of this to better use our resources, achieve noble goals, create new opportunities for enrichment, to meet interesting people, to improve our health, to take advantage of the time to develop ourselves and love more.
Be attentive and be present. Life is here and now! Consistency and ardor in work. We must practice being present and truly being who we want to be! Let us cultivate the intelligence of the heart!
First, let’s slow down. The excessive stimulation to which we are subjected poisons the body and disrupts the mind; its bad fruits are weariness and a feeling of frustration that makes us seethe and rage against everything and everything else.
However important we may be, others will be able to do our work. God accomplishes, with imperturbable slowness, his eternal purposes. The only wisdom is to live at his pace. A sports coach tirelessly repeated: “To win a race, row slowly. If you get carried away, the rhythm will be broken, you will have all the trouble in the world to restore it.” In order to row - or work - slowly, and to maintain the regular pace which leads to success, the victim of the hurried tempo will do well to introduce the coordinating peace of God into his mind, his soul and, let us boldly add, into his nervous and muscular system.
Let us slow down. What we really want will be waiting for us, at the determined point. And if, progressing towards the goal at the measured pace of God, we do not find what we are looking for, let us console ourselves. What we were looking for was not intended for us, and we lose nothing by it. Thus, let us work to acquire a normal pace, governed by God. Let us be calm. Let us learn the art of pushing back nervous overexcitement. Let us pause in our work and affirm: “Now, I push back all nervous overexcitement. It leaves me. I am at peace.” Let us no longer seethe inwardly. Let us practice calm.
The confident application of the principles of Christianity provides peace and tranquility, thus bringing new strength to the body, mind and soul. It is the perfect antidote to all agitation, the best way to capture new life-giving sources. Let us therefore cultivate creative faith. Let us first learn to remain calm, physically, by eliminating unnecessary gestures. By cultivating calm demeanor, it is necessary to think calmly, because the body reacts according to the kind of thoughts that cross the mind. Conversely: the mind can be soothed by beginning with physical calm. Physical and moral relaxation, complete relaxation, requires constant maintenance. The human being is constituted to be connected to a continuous current of force that comes from God, nourishes the individual and returns to its source to renew itself there. He who lives in harmony with this recreational system acquires the indispensable quality of relaxation and easy work, on the basis of Chi va piano…
Do not believe yourself to be a new Atlas, carrying the world on our shoulders. We are not condemned to such an effort. So let us not take ourselves too seriously;
Let’s decide to love our job. That way, it will become a pleasure. Maybe we don’t have to change it. When we are changed, our work will seem different. Let’s adopt a working method and stick to it. Disorganized work creates the impression of being overwhelmed.
Excerpts from Marvin Gawryn and Co.