Circle of Christhood

The Monthly Letter

August 1960

Before engaging in any of the activities of our day, we should make it a point to establish that contact with God.  For those who have not yet learned how to do this, in the beginning, it will take time. It may be necessary to read for a few minutes and then sit and meditate for a few more minutes, then read again and meditate, ponder some truth, and again meditate.  It may take a whole hour before we really get the feeling, "It is done."

Those of us who are busy with the activities of daily life and meeting the pressing demands of this world may raise the question,"Where do I get that hour?"  That is a matter for each one to determine for himself.  Every person has to decide whether attaining this Christ-realization is worth getting out of bed an hour ahead of time or two hours ahead of time, or whether it is more important to have the extra sleep.

There is no one who can legitimately say that he does not have enough time because everybody has twenty-four hours in the day.  And, while each person may have demands made upon him for perhaps at least twelve of those hours, during the other twelve, he undoubtedly has the choice of whether he will sit at the television or radio, go to the movie, sleep, or spend a least two of those hours trying to reach that feeling of oneness with God.  Each one must determine to what extent he really wants this experience.

A God-contact is not merely a statement in the mind: It is an actual inner release from worldly fears or cares, and it is followed by further spiritual light and then gradually by a change in the body, purse, or other circumstances.  When we have achieved this actual realization, we whall know that we are being divinely led, divinely protected, or divinely instructed, and that God is on the field in whatever the situation may be.

There is one point that will help to bring this realization of divine guidance and protection to us more quickly than any other, and that is this:  The longer we persist in believing that God heals, enriches, or supplies, the longer we shall be left outside of the realm of demonstration.  We must come to a place where we realize that God is not a power; God is a presence.  God is a power only in the sense that God is a creative principle, the power that maintains and sustains Its creation, but God is not a power in the sense of, "Oh, if I could just contact God, He would heal everybody, supply or protect everybody I know."  God is not a power in that sense.

God is a presence, but because God is a presence, and infinite, there is no other presence.  All sin, all disease, all death, and all lack disappear before God's presence.  Therefore, we must be very careful when we are meditating that we do not believe that God's power is going to heal somebody, or that God's power is going to result in supply, or that God's power is going to result in somebody's being employed. It does not operate that way.