January 7, 1985

• Life changes

• Listening well

• Tolerance, love, and nonjudgment

• Oneness

God shines Light on all of you.

It is interesting that the matter of growth has been so much a part of your awareness this evening. The observation that the group has changed, grown, is indeed true. What are those changes? Of course, you have all grown spiritually, but one does not see spiritual change. One sees the results of spiritual change. Just as some cannot see a change in temperature but can only observe the result of that change, whether in the appearance of the environment or its equivalent, the appearance in whatever form is evidence of an invisible force in life.

The tone of your gathering this evening gives evidence of that growth, and is defined by mutual acceptance, the lack of judgment, and most importantly your full willingness to listen. The greatest change observable is the heightened listening which takes place. Many times it is not what you say that is important but rather what you mean. This may seem like a very obvious statement. But think upon the reality that each of you at times says one thing while actually meaning something else. When one is not a good listener, one responds only to what is said. Only a listener can sense what is meant.

You are all learning wonderfully to listen to one another, and in so doing you are becoming more aware of what each means, and in understanding that meaning you increase your understanding of the person. The result of that increased understanding of the person can only be greater love, and it is that love which is the manifestation of your spiritual growth. It is so very logical. It is so easy to understand in principle, and it is so easy to completely miss. Each of you has deadlines, objectives needing to be met according to your own sense of urgency. But that sense often prohibits you from listening to another. You may hear another but never really listen intently.

The sharing which you have done in your previous gatherings has contributed immensely to an increased closeness, mutual respect, acceptance, and finally love. All of you are indeed searching, some for one objective and others for a different objective. Without the search you would not be here. No one has a corner on the market for what is the most valid search to pursue. You look for what is important to you at your stage of development and time of life. At that time what you seek is what is important. What another seeks is neither greater nor lesser in validity. In life you seek meaning. You do ask the questions “why” and “how,” precisely the questions that you deliberated on this evening.

The beauty and reality of that question is that the answers will never be the same for any of you. You approach that question two months from now, and your answers will be very different, for in two months your perspective will be different. You can understand this easily, and therefore it should be easier for you to develop tolerance for the searchings of others. If you have that tolerance truly, then you will never be judgmental. When you are tolerant, there is no room for judgment, for tolerance survives in an environment of love, and love is never judgmental.

The great teachers of the world historically have been nonjudgmental. Of course they have expressed opinions. But being judgmental is much more than approving or disapproving what another does. Being judgmental questions the essential value of another. That is what you must avoid. If a child makes a mistake, you point it out. That is not being judgmental. It may be loving since you correct as an act of love in order to make better, to refine. A parent in correcting a child does not question the value of the child as a human being, as a creation of God. The parent is acting to enhance the life of the child ultimately.

God has desires for each of you. When your lives find themselves directed apart from God, you may be corrected but never judged. It is we, your guides, who serve as the means by which God corrects your course of life. That is why we are with you. We are sent because you are loved by God, not because you are judged by God. If God cannot judge you, you must not ever judge another. It is one of the most difficult lessons in life but absolutely essential, leading to growth and fulfillment. This atmosphere of mutual acceptance is quite evident in your gathering, and that is what was observed and what each of you feels.

The group has changed. it has become deeper. Certainly you may have disagreements, but it is best when disagreements are expressed. You respond to what is being meant and not to what is being said. If one disagrees with another, that disagreement can actually be an offering with love, an offering of wanting to share what one believes to be meaningful in one’s life. If these disagreements occur, accept them as reflections of another’s perspective and not as a condemnation of your own. As you communicate to others in your daily activities, express yourselves in ways which do not antagonize another through feelings of rejection but rather support and sharing.

Humanity is really a single entity, you know, you do not speak of humanities. Humanity is always singular and you must constantly think of it as singular, as one. You are all a part of One. You are all part of a single Spiritual Power. There is no competition between the right leg and the left arm. The two must work together. The right leg is capable of a set of activities different from the left arm, not more meaningful, not more dominant, but totally equal and different. And so it is with each of your lives. They are all important. They all serve separate functions, and these functions are constantly changing.

The direction of your lives also changes. You speak of a calling, a sense of commitment in a certain direction. That commitment naturally can change. When the time comes for a change, the change will transpire. The more one’s direction is changed, the more flexible one becomes, the less worried one is, and the greater the sense of peace. So God directs each of your lives according to the individual needs, and we emphasize the individual needs which in themselves can change and are in a state of flux.

God has blessed your lives richly. Every one of your lives has changed markedly in the last couple of years. In that short span of time you can all easily reflect upon the different directions you now face. It is evident that change is a part of life. Your growth reflects much of the changes you have experienced. These changes should never be thought of as wanderings, aimless shiftings in life. These changes that you are aware of in the past two years are refinements. They are bringing you closer to each other, and as a result you are being drawn even closer to the essence of God. Your reflections do change, but the orientation is ever true.

We rejoice in your changes because we rejoice in your drawing closer to God. Never fear that such changes as you have experienced will draw you away from God. They are all a part of God’s purposes for you, and you are, in effect, responding to those that God offers, those purposes, those challenges.

Rejoice that you are each given a sensitivity to God’s calling, although you may not necessarily be aware of that presence! Your souls, in reality, are drawing you closer to God. Think about that. Your souls are drawing you, pulling you closer to God as if they were magnets. The analogy is absolutely true. If it were not true that your souls were helping to manipulate your lives, then you would never make an unconscious change. Some changes are conscious, willful acts. Other changes are so silent that you only recognize what has happened significantly afterwards through reflection and contemplation.

Each of your souls is strong and oriented to God. Let them lead you through your lives, through changes and challenges with patience and a listening heart, listening to others, and through God’s grace, listening to your soul calling.

God’s light bathes you in its warmth and attraction. Rejoice!

Amen.