May 4, 1997

• Difference between faith and belief

• What is needed for a vision of God

• An understanding of God must be flexible

God is with you as you gather together. So, too, are the souls for whom you pray. Each one is a part of this group at this moment. You can believe this. It is a statement of truth that you cannot prove or disprove, but it is nevertheless a fact that you can believe.

You are each asked to be vessels of faith or incarnations of faith. Indeed if you have faith, then you have vision. We have referred to this relationship on previous occasions, but it is an important distinction that must be made many times over—the difference between faith and belief.

Again, faith is knowledge; belief is a kind of hope. If you have faith in the presence of those for whom you pray, then you have a vision of that presence. If you believe they may be present, then it is a hope that is the foundation for that belief. Faith has vision as its foundation. You have a faith in God’s directing your lives because you can see evidence of that direction. Such vision may only be directed toward the past, more difficult to be directed toward the present, and of course you cannot see with clear vision all that takes place in the future. But if you have seen the past, you can accept the present, and that provides the knowledge that gives you a vision for the future.

You must be guided by vision. You cannot be led by something you cannot see. You cannot be led by something that you do not know. The vision that we speak of obviously is not a literal sense of vision, but it is perhaps closer aligned to a firm conviction in the existence or reality of something. You know something to be true. You don’t just hope it is true, assume that it’s true. Your knowledge is a total commitment to its reality. Faith takes that knowledge, that vision, and provides the power to respond in a manner reflecting that knowledge.

There are many forces in your lives that you cannot really see, but you know to exist. You do not see air. You can feel it when you breathe, you can feel it when there is wind, you can see the benefit of its presence as it affects your lives. So your vision is characterized by a recognition of the result of that air. Your vision of God can also be so characterized. You do not see God, but you can see evidence of God’s presence, for without it much that you observe would not be experienced. It is the result of God’s presence that provides for the knowledge of that presence. It is not the sight of God’s presence.

We distinguish here between vision and sight, for vision is a conviction; sight is a physical response. You have a vision of God but you do not see God. You have a vision of electricity but you do not see electricity. You have a vision of love but you do not see it. Love is observed by what love does, not by what it is. God is observed by what God does, not by what God is. Compassion is observed by what compassion does, not by what compassion is. Patience is observed by what it leads to, not by what it is.

If you are willing to be guided in your recognition of much that is around you, that guidance must come from your observation of what is happening and not merely of what is. Your recognition of what is happening, your recognition of the action, provides the framework for your vision of what is. This may seem very technical, academic, and have little application. But in so many ways you question the spiritual reality of life from time to time on the very grounds that you cannot see it, you cannot touch it.

Too often individuals question the reality of God because all that they can fully believe in is that which has been seen with the eyes, touched with the hands, smelled or tasted or heard. These events do little to provide what is needed for a vision of God. It is only action that gives witness to God. You should each find more opportunities for recognizing action, regardless of whether you initiate the action or someone else. Accepting the reality of the action observed provides everyone with the vision of what lies behind those actions. If you interpret seeing God by having the kind of vision that we describe, there can be no doubt in your mind of God’s presence. You will be fully aware of being in the company of this magnificent force and brilliant light.

When there is tension in relationships, whether between individuals or groups, communities, nations, such tension can only be resolved when there is recognition of the need for God’s qualities to be put into action. Love, patience, acceptance, avoiding judgment, inner peace is the acceptance of vision, as we describe it. If you have such vision, you cannot feel alone. If you experience agonies and are not alone, then there is the opportunity for sharing. You can share with God just as you can share with another human being. Even if you are alone physically, your sharing can take place. With such sharing, there is no place for desperation, there is no space for fear. It is precisely in the accepting of desperation and fear that one learns to reject another, to reject other people, other cultures and societies, ideas.

We are here to help you lead lives reflective of your understanding of God. Note we say your understanding of God, not just God, for your understanding continues to emerge, to grow, take on shape and character. Your understanding of God must be flexible. If your lives are truly productive, your understanding of God will continue to change. As it changes and evolves, your actions change and evolve accordingly. It is through these changes that your lives grow more profound, more productive, more meaningful in a real sense. It is through change that you are empowered, as you say, to reflect God’s presence. A child has not had the experience of reflection that many adults have had. Therefore children can learn much from adults.

Flexibility leads to change. It is in changing that you grow. It is in growing that you step into the light and become a part of God’s purpose and presence. The changes that are necessary come at unpredictable times, and they always involve some kind of pain. The pain may not be a physical pain but rather an emotional pain, for you are being asked to stretch, to reach, to become something beyond what you are at the moment.

Moving away from the familiar and emerging into the unfamiliar will always cause stress, will always cause uncertainty, but it is the only way that we grow. Our souls have shed their physical bodies, as of course you know, but our continued growth is observable by each of us on this plane of spiritual life. This growth is observable by the changes in colors we radiate by the character of our souls. This change is always visible to us.

You are not aware of the changes that are occurring in someone who sits next to you. But if you accept the reality that change is taking place, then you are accepting the growth of that person. It is in accepting another’s growth that each of you becomes stronger and more accepting. This strength enhances your relationships with friends and family and those who are strangers. Allow yourselves a chance to be pushed and pulled a bit, to be challenged to grow, for in that growth are the seeds for an everlasting union with God.

Welcome the presence of this assembly of guides, for your guides are not merely passive. It is not merely one guide who is brought into your assembly. You all benefit by the presence of each guide with you. That presence is strong, it is supportive, brilliantly lit and filled with loving warmth. You can sense that warmth as you reflect back on the most rewarding and enriching experiences you have had with each.

We pray for your peace. We pray for that vision that allows you to move toward action founded on commitment, rejecting the necessity of seeing, but allowing the blessing of the vision. We pray for your vision. We pray for your acceptance. We pray for your patience. We thank you when you turn your attentions to our lives, to our possibilities of enhancing your lives.

We grow indeed through your growth. We become stronger in our spiritual commitment as you become stronger. God’s blessings surround all of you and illuminate your lives together.

Amen.