November 10, 2008

• Results of presidential election

• Movement toward God compared to magnet

• Role of suffering

God joins each of you to one another. God joins you in your rejoicings and in your concerns, in your love, and in your fears.

The world you know of has changed remarkably. It is not the reality that has changed, but your awareness that has been drawn through a filter. You have seen in your own ways expressions not only of joy, but most importantly of hope. What joins the world together is the fatigue of war, the fatigue of selfishness, the fatigue of greed, and an evidence of desire for what really is meaningful. There is much that is positive that lies before the world, that lies before your country, but that is not what is important. What is important is what brings the world closer, for what is good for one group of people may not be so beneficial to another, but all people can share a commitment to hope, for all understand only too well the current fear of failure—failure politically, failure economically, failure spiritually.

The joy, the celebrations that were observed, well forward and outward from a position of fear. Many feel a kind of release of tension, but there are also many who fear the results of your election, for they do not see where they belong in the grand scheme, the grand design. No one wishes for disenfranchisement. No one wishes to be left out. No one wishes to be ignored. No one wishes to be unheard. No one wishes to be devalued. Any election results in those who feel affirmed and those who feel lost. What you take from this election is not that you won or that you lost. You take from the experience an awareness of the potential that exists worldwide to do what is good for all.

Where is God’s will? Does it reside in the newly elected president? Does it reside in government employees? Where exactly is the will of God and how does it work?

The will of God is the will of balance of which we have spoken. It is the will of order that allows for disagreement, but promotes listening. It is the will of God that all listen. Those who are deaf listen with their hearts, with their souls. The listening is not to what is spoken, but what is offered. You can speak of love and of compassion…you are not fulfilling the will of God. You can act lovingly and compassionately…that is the will of God.

Human life is not one of predestination. Human life is not sitting back and not taking responsibility but living passively. Human life is about responding, responding with a center that acknowledges God. The will of God is that all listen and that all respond. No one is perfect. The responses are therefore imperfect. From imperfect responses come events that are destructive, that cause great suffering and pain. It is not God’s will that you suffer pain. It is God’s will that whatever you endure should lead gradually toward a closer awareness of that loving Presence. It is not what happens to you that is God’s will. It is your response that is God’s will.

You have not been given life to just accept whatever is as whatever should be. Each of you is given an opportunity to make a commitment to what is important to you. It is that sense of commitment governed by an awareness of a Spirit Center that is the real will of God.

God is all-powerful and in that power enables human beings to choose, to create, to respond, to observe, and then to grow. Pain and anxiety, suffering are all part of the human experience. It is why you are given that experience, for through that you grow in a way you could not grow if all was in seeming balance. The natural tendency of all is toward balance, but the balance that is so essential is actually the direction toward that state of perfect balance. It is the motion toward that state of perfect balance. It is the motion of the soul. It is the motion of the individual toward the achievement of balance, for when all is perfectly balanced, there is little motion.

If you consider the power of a magnet, that power is given evidence when you observe an object in motion toward that magnet. Observing that motion, you are aware of the power of the magnet, but once an item is connected to the magnet, you are no longer aware of that power. There is no motion. You can learn of it and you can say that an item is connected to another because of magnetic field, but that is something you learn, you learn about, but you do not idly observe it. But when an object is being drawn toward a magnet, you see that motion and that motion is a direct affirmation of the presence of that magnet. As you observe that motion, as you acknowledge that presence, you become aware of the influence of that magnet upon your own life.

Seeing God and understanding the direction of God’s presence is achieved by observing others as well as observing yourself in the process of holding closer to God, and it is that process that is so important to spiritual growth. It is the process that is the attraction of the soul to join a human life form. It is not the end, but the process. Put another way, what is important is to grow in knowledge. It is not meant that you know everything.

It is important the world grows toward peace. You will not actually see absolute, universal peace, but you can observe its growth. Human life is characterized by becoming, not being. You are becoming perfect. You are becoming all spirit, but you are not all spirit at this point. You must be aware of this motion when it occurs.

All life is moving on its own path toward the magnet. There are diversions. There are many occasions when that trajectory toward the magnet, the God Center, is diverted, and that has a purpose. You cannot value only those parts of your lives that point toward God and ignore all the rest, for in doing so you may find yourselves feeling somehow more worthy of God than another because another is moving in a trajectory that you feel is not God-centered. In astronomy some objects move straight to the surface of a larger object, but from the path of that straight trajectory another object may seem to be moving incorrectly for its path takes it in an orbit around the larger object, and slowly that orbit descends and ultimately is joined. Is one path more valid than another? No, but those two paths seem nearly opposite one another. They are doing what they do because that is what they must do.

God’s will in life is much the same. It is not God’s will that human beings have a direct path to the target. It is God’s will that all move in a way that brings them to the target, but the path is so different. It is God’s will the balance among people and balance experienced by an individual is to be achieved, but it is also the intention of God to allow for an infinite number of pathways. Viewed in this light, what appears to be against the path to God is actually equally valid. You have your paths, you have your trajectories. What seems unfair, unreasonable, is merely a different path.

You speak of one who has suffered greatly. Is that suffering God’s will? No, but the path is allowed by God, and it is a path that is appropriate. Why the suffering? Why the heartache, why the suffering of family? Such suffering is not understandable, for it is impossible to find any benefit from such experiences. Human beings must place faith in the reality that God is a part of all that happens. God does not create directly all that happens, but permits it, realizing that what happens is evidence of its own path. It suffices to know that all paths, regardless of the direction, lead home. It is difficult to see others suffer, and it is difficult not to understand how anyone can benefit from what seems to be a waste of what is good. But nothing has been wasted. God’s will is connected with how those who observe the suffering of others respond. God’s will, God’s purpose is to respond lovingly in whatever way that may seem most helpful.

Is there a direction the world is taking? Are the events of the past week part of that direction? There is a direction, most definitely. The direction is a commitment by more and more human beings to a balance. The commitment to balance is made stronger when evidence is seen of its absence. Much has been assumed to be in balance because there was little evidence to the contrary. As a result, there was no motion. Motion occurs most easily when there is recognition of its need. You can go through your lives ignorant of God’s presence, and little is done. But when you are committed to the reality of God, you are motivated to further understand the direction of that commitment. And so it is with the balance of the earth and the human beings that inhabit it. Direction, motion is given life and purpose only when there is evidence of its lack.

Many understand now the failings of a world order that was assumed to be adequate if not ideal. Because of that awareness, a commitment becomes stronger to overcome, to correct course, to find a way, a way to be responsive and responsible to everyone. It is that commitment that is the will of God. It is the vision to move, the willingness to be drawn toward the magnet of the Spirit Center.

When you gather like this, you are allowing yourselves some moments to be drawn closer to a bright vision, a clear view of God’s presence. That is God’s will, the will of motion, the will that human beings become committed to one another and respond as they can to that commitment. God’s will is not a predetermination that all will happen regardless of what you do. The will is described only through movement, movement of the spirit. It is the transformation of energy. It is a transformation from I to we. It is the transformation from me to you. It is the transformation from one to all. That is the movement. That is the evidence of the magnetic force, the Spirit Center that draws all closer to one another.

We see you moving through your commitments. We are also aware of those times in your lives when movement seems somehow impossible and you feel a stasis, an inability to do anything. That is part of the human condition, and those moments when you feel frozen in place will disappear and movement will again resume.

Have faith in the value of your own lives. Have faith in the value of your corporate lives. And have faith in your ability to move toward God on your own paths, for you are not on the path of another. You are on your own, and it is the path on which you belong. You can always give thanks to God for your path, and acknowledge that your path is sacred. In that acknowledgment you also recognize the sacred paths of all you encounter.

We bless you on your path. We illuminate the way, and we draw you ever more to the Center that is God.

Amen.