July 7, 1985
God blesses each of you and surrounds each of your souls with a strong light of great warmth.
Many times we explain to you that we see you by your lights and that those lights that each of you emit are different, one from another. The character of your lights is a direct indication to us of where you are on your spiritual journey.
All of your guides are collected in this room with you. We communicate with one another as you communicate with one another. We become aware of what is important to all of you through the contact we have with each of your guides.
Your efforts this evening are ultimately toward a greater sense of peace and a subsequent achievement of mutual unity. Solitude is a vital source for that peace, but you also live collectively. You are not alone. You exist within a group whether that group is this one that now meets, or a group with whom you work or associate with at other times on other days. You are all in the business of interacting. Everything you say has an effect on another.
Everything you think has an effect on another. Your actions, your speech, your thoughts never go unnoticed or unfelt. It is in the arena of your interaction with others that you find application to the peace felt within. That peace comes first, and your efforts should certainly be toward inner peace, individual peace, your peace. But the peace that you feel has no ultimate reason for being achieved without consideration for what it can bring to another.
Peace is really a gift. In the beginning it is sought after, but given by God. In the end, it is given by you to another, and in so doing it is given to God. You see, it is a complete circle. If any element in that circle is broken, the flow is stopped. If you have no inner peace, you cannot give it to another. If you have inner peace and do not communicate that through your actions and interactions with others, the peace is not returned to God. The circle is incomplete.
We say often that you are reflectors of God. This, of course, is what we mean. You do not merely absorb God’s light, God’s warmth, love, peace; you are also to reflect it. Your efforts are therefore two-fold: to achieve a state of peace and to reflect a state of peace. Because you are all human, you can neither maintain a feeling of inner peace permanently nor reflect it constantly. The strength of your reflection is directly related to the strength of what you absorb, what you get from God. It begins with God but it also ends with God. Peace is cyclical just as life is. Life begins with God and earthly life ends with God. The cycle is not broken. But that cycle relationship applies to all that is a part of life.
You cannot expect to live in harmony with another unendingly. It just cannot be. And yet, the harmony that you seek cannot be achieved unless you try to live unendingly in harmony. It is in seeking peace that you receive peace, and in receiving peace that you give peace. We do not talk in riddles here, but the impact of what we say will take time to fully comprehend.
On a more immediate level there is concern with the nature of your gathering—its purposes, its direction. The primary purpose for which you meet has always been a greater understanding of God. It has never been other. But what is important is to recognize that there is much you can do to support that purpose which joins you together. The sharing which was expressed this evening could not have been possible without loving. It may be difficult and raise questions, but it could not have been achieved had there not been a sense of trust that was being shared out of love and not spite. This sharing is a direct reflection of how the group has grown over the years.
It has been suggested that your response to messages should be directed toward what we reflect to you at the moment instead of what was reflected in a previous meeting. This can be helpful if you wish. It is certainly not the only way to learn the meaning of God’s word to all of you. If you feel it helps to focus your attention on the moment, then fine, but do not feel that a review of the previous gathering is inappropriate, for any contemplation of the word of God is beneficial. It matters not, ultimately, when this is done. It is only important that it be done!
We do not see the size of your gathering as any kind of problem, for it affords you the opportunity of learning from each other. You are all different. Your life’s experiences are all different. The greater the variety of experience, the greater the variety of learning, for learning is not one-sided. It is not a single issue event. Just as you learn in life from many experiences even within a day’s time, you learn from the perspectives that each brings to the group. What is important is not size, but sharing—sharing of where each of you is on your journey through life, not, as you fully recognize, to convince one of another’s more valid perspective, but rather to share one’s perspective at the moment your perspectives change. They do not remain constant. The perspective of life at the age of twenty is no more or less valid than your perspective at eighty. It is different. Your needs are different. Your views are different. What is important is the total perspective achieved from twenty to eighty, not one individual angle or view.
Each of you should grow in your sensitivity to another. Look for the needs of another. Most of them are never expressed verbally. Look for the fears of another. Most of them also are not expressed verbally. Look for the faith of another. That is generally not expressed. All that God would wish for you to see in another is rarely expressed. You must learn to increase your sensitivity.
Sensitivity for nonverbal needs and wishes are fears and hopes and faith. Such sensitivity comes from listening, not talking. Listen to what another says—not just to the words, but to what the words reflect. If a person is excited, such excitement may be a reflection of anger, or pleasure, frustration, defensiveness, or whatever. You must all, therefore, aim the skill of interpreting what one says as a barometer of what one feels, for you must respond ultimately to what is felt and not to what is said. It is a skill which takes practice, but in responding to another’s feeling, you are reflecting God’s presence.
God responds to you as you feel, not according to what you say. When you pray to God for the help of someone else, you are really praying as an expression of your love and concern. God’s response is not the result of your desire that one be completely cured. God’s response is to the reflection back to God of your love for another. God responded to your thoughts, to your feelings—not to your words. Often you say, “God did not hear my prayers. I asked for this and it didn’t happen.” But God did respond. God responded to what motivated those prayers, not to the specifics. When you respond to another, likewise respond to what motivates another, not necessarily to the specifics. The cry for help takes many forms, but there is only one focus to that cry…namely the need for help.
So as you grow in your sense of peace, become more sensitive to what really is behind another’s words and actions, for in so doing you are responding to that person’s soul and in responding to that soul, you are responding to God. It is God’s response through you to another and, because of you, to God.
We pray for your continued course of searching—searching for God and for a way of reflecting God more effectively. We are here to help as you grow in your sense of inner peace. The search must be never ending. The growth is certainly never ending. We are always with you. We are with you as individuals, and we are collectively with you as you meet as a group.
Continue to find ways of reaching out to one another, but continue to find ways of reaching inwards to a sense of peace. Your expression of love, your desire to share motivated by love is recognized and given strength through God’s presence now and forever.
Amen.