April 21, 1984
God is with each of you and blesses your lives with love and light.
The experience that you had today, although seemingly of not great significance, actually holds with it an enormous lesson. It is not easy to lose a pet through a sudden and violent act or through a slow and somewhat planned procedure, but it is important ,regardless of how the loss takes place, to reflect upon the fact that what has been lost is felt as a personal loss, even though it was not a human being. Such a loss of an animal can only show that humans can indeed intimately identify with a form of life which is not human and can share in that life.
When a loss such as this takes place, one recognizes the value of all life. If one feels a sense of sadness at the loss of a loved animal, it should serve as an example of the value of human life to another human. All life is important, as you know, but it is often through experiences such as this that one is brought to a clearer recognition of the true importance of all life, for everything that is has been created by God, and all that has been created is created for a purpose. There are no accidents in creation. Everything that exists is meant to exist—everything that breathes life and all that is inanimate.
A while ago you received a message about the unity of all life, the unity as recognized through common creation, creation from God. But such unity needs to be underscored in your lives, for too often you are aware of the differences between people—the differences between ideas, the differences in ways of living—and lose sufficient sight of the commonality of life.
You spoke tonight of the underlying principle of the value of life, the respect of life, and that is true. But so often your lives do not serve to reflect such an understanding. It is not a new idea for you to recognize that life is to be lived, that life is to be shared, that life is to be valued. This you already know, but the fact is that you do not necessarily live your lives by that recognition, and such is the focus of life. It is the main thrust which God intends for each of you. You are aware of the importance of spiritual growth in life—that is indeed the ultimate goal. But the means by which you achieve such growth is the recognition of the value of all life.
God has created all. God has created the stones, human and vegetative life—God has created everything. If you fail to recognize the value of something that exists, you are thereby rejecting what God has created. If you are to accept God as the absolute creator, the beginning of everything, then you must accept all that has been created. What do we mean you must accept? Does it mean you must like and never question? Not necessarily. But it does mean that each of you must respect the presence of all that lives.
You have been taught to respect others. You have been taught from many sources to respect the opinions of others. But for many that is an empty lesson. You know you are to respect the opinions of others, and yet so often you are critical of those opinions. Respecting others could really be more thoroughly understood by replacing the word “respect” with “love.” Respect is a part of love, but love in its completeness is far greater than that which is implied by the instruction to respect. Such love means an acceptance of the value of another. It does not imply an acceptance of a specific idea or ideas, merely that other individuals are valuable because they were given value through God’s creation.
Where does all of this lead? Certainly it is not meant as another semi-empty proposition: you shall value everyone and everything. There is much depth which is implied by the challenge to value all that is. It is an acceptance of the purpose of another. You know the purpose of human life, but you must remember the purpose of your life is the same as the purpose of all human life.
You have all been created as human beings for the same reasons. You all have the same goals and objectives. You all face similar, if not identical, challenges. All of you share the common origin of spiritual unity. There is really little difference between any of you. The differences that exist are differences in response to life. Essentially, there is no difference between a saint and a criminal. On the surface, the differences are obvious, but ultimately both emanate from the same spiritual source. The soul of the criminal is at a different point in its development than that of the saint, but is not less a soul.
Those with whom you work may create frustrations and worries and are essentially no different from you. You each share that sameness. You are each a part of the same spiritual source—God. You are each in your way divine. God does not create evil. God does not condone evil behavior. Note that we refer to behavior as evil. We do not refer to an evil soul, for no soul is evil.
Nothing which has been created is evil in its essence. The evil which exists exists in action, not in essence. It is easier to understand the actions manifest through human life as an indicator of the current development to the human soul. If you consider the action of two children of very young age, both children start out life basically the same, but immediately differences become apparent. One child exhibits more patience, another more energy or activity. Each soul has a different personality, and that personality has an effect upon a human form of life that you perceive.
But so much of what you perceive is really the result of human choice and not the quality of the soul. When you condemn an individual through the judgment of behavior, you are really serving as a judge of the human aspect of life, the behavioral aspect. You must not judge the value of that person, for the value is a function of the soul. Such value must never be considered as less; it must always be considered as equal. There are no better souls or worse souls—all souls are equal.
There are no better trees or worse trees, for all trees are equal in that each tree was created. The nature of the tree’s life is affected by the soil, the climate, sunlight, many external factors, but whether it is a large tree or a small tree, healthy or not, does not change the value of that tree’s existence. It helps to provide oxygen for animal life. Whether it is large or small, whether it is strong or straight or twisted, its function is a beneficial function to some aspect of life.
We feel it is important for you to be continually reminded of the fact that all that you see in your world has been created by God for a purpose and therefore is valid and important. It is a difficult lesson to fully perceive. The implications are far-reaching. They affect how you respond to others. They affect your perception of your own lives. They affect your responses to life experiences and to those around you. Much can be gained, much must be gained through your conscious awareness of the unity, the value of all that is. God is truly a light which is all-pervasive. You are all within God’s light. Everything which has been created is a part of that light.
You should rejoice in whatever capacity you recognize for seeing the value of what lies around you. Be thankful that God has given you a vision which permits you to view life beyond your own immediate activities, for through that view comes compassion and sensitivity, love, the desire to help, the need to be with others, the conviction of the continuum of creation.
God continues to bless your lives through an ever-widening vision of that creation. You and we have been so richly blessed. It is a great joy to share your thanksgiving, and it is a blessing to share in your ever-widening vision of God in all that surrounds.
We thank you for your prayers and for your efforts to be open to our work in your lives.
Amen.