July 1, 1999

• There are no coincidences

• Suffering is neither predetermined nor created by God

• Karma is not about punishment

• No judgment day

• All souls are “saved”

• Reincarnation

God illuminates each of your lives, and you have served to illuminate the lives of one another through sharing and, most importantly, through listening.

It is correct, there are no coincidences. Those events that you see connected to one another in unexpected ways are really the convergence of your spiritual lives, one with another. The timing of that spiritual union is determined and ordained by God, but it is actually you as individuals who must be open and sensitized to God’s convergence.

Your lives join one another on many different levels. They share mutual concerns, but they also communicate to one another, even when you are not always well known to others. There is a sense of rightness to this convergence. Events come together because it is appropriate to be joined. It is appropriate because it reaches the needs that you have. You have often found upon reflection of what has been shared by your guides collectively that you later realize the timeliness of what was shared. This is precisely what has happened in this gathering at this moment.

Much that was shared related to great personal pain and agony, bringing to question God’s hand in life—where is it, how does it behave, how do we learn to recognize it, and what do we do when that recognition takes place? Your lives are always filled with questions offered to God—what shall I do now, why is this happening, what is the meaning of that? These questions are always appropriate to ask. In the face of great suffering, it is entirely natural to ask the fundamental question, why?

God certainly does not create the suffering, nor is there any rejoicing in the agony that is a part of life. No predetermination has been established that certain individuals suffer more than others. There is no sense of reality to attaching a pattern of life to necessary rectification of previous difficulties.

We have mentioned on some occasions the principle of karma and the belief that many have in its importance in life. When applied to an acknowledgment that life presents lessons to be learned that can only be learned during human life, the concept of karma has a place for all. But those who employ the beliefs of karma to explain difficulties that are heaped upon some as a kind of punishment for wrongdoings in the past are employing beliefs which are completely unfounded and incorrect. No soul is punished. There is no judgment day. There is no time when all must stand before God to be judged. There is no moment in the life of your soul when the soul is instructed to go back and endure a series of events as atonement for actions of the past. There is no punishment of the soul.

In common parlance, you are all “saved” whether you are Christian or nonChristian, whether you are agnostic, atheist, or believers in the most profound sense. All souls are already “saved.” There is no individual who is responsible for that. You are “saved” because you are divine. If you are divine, you have value before God. You are important. There is worth to your life. There is goodness in your life, even among those who deny goodness as a basic principle of living. The soul is still good, and therefore can never be punished.

But there are lessons to be learned. Many souls return to human life as a part of the process of learning those lessons. As we have said many times before, your growth, your spiritual development is not a race. There are no winners; there are only finishers. All will finish. If some take longer than others, it is of no importance ultimately. Because of the equality of all souls in recognizing the difference between souls’ needs, life experiences will be different. But those differences cannot be credited to some kind of divine discipline. It simply does not exist.

You are loved for who you are. You are cared for and guided by many different ways. There is no one of greater worth than another. Since all are of equal worth, there is no one of less worth, meriting punishment or discipline.

The principle of karma is appropriate, therefore, as a recognition of the reality of the soul’s need to learn, and that is all that needs to be understood about that concept. You learn, you simply learn. It is an enormously comforting realization to accept the fact that all are equal, that all are on the same road, some moving in slightly one direction, some moving somewhat differently, but generally on the same road. The suffering that people experience in human form is not a form of negative karma. It is all part of the life process.

Your souls do choose to enter human life. That is part of the choice that is available to all entities. But the life that you choose to enter is not predetermined in terms of its ease or difficulty. The difference in life experience from one individual to another is in part random in that it is affected by the lives of others over whom you have no control. The differences are also the result of your own spiritual directions. Those who are given great burdens to bear are given equal measure of strength to prevail. Individuals may choose to accept the full weight of those burdens or not. No one is forced to endure, but all are given the strength.

There are times in your lives when things seem to go well, and there are times when you feel greatly challenged personally, spiritually, emotionally, socially. Life is not a series of ups or downs but a mixture. For some, the suffering is poignant and visible. For many others, the suffering, although strongly felt, is kept within. But all experience life with its challenges as well as achievements, and it is those challenges and all that comes from them that strengthen the soul, strengthen the resolve, strengthen a sense of God.

Ask many about their perception of God in their lives, and you will be surprised by how many express a strong awareness of God while also receiving the most difficult challenges that life can provide. You have a saying: If you want something done, find someone who is busy to do it. This has its application in a spiritual sense as well. Find someone whose faith is firm and secure, and you will find someone who has traveled through the desert. Rarely will you find an individual with an abiding sense of God who has lived a life with little challenge. It is these challenges that present the face of God to those most in need. Of course, you don’t welcome in a positive sense the presence of illness and suffering, but if you accept what you experience in the company of God’s presence, your view of God will be clear and affirming and comforting.

Life is a series of challenges. When you are willing to share those challenges, others do grow. Your sharing with one another was both instructive and powerful, and in the end, inspiring in its own way. One may be inspired by the strength exhibited by one person, and may be inspired to reach out in compassionate prayer toward another. One may be inspired to praise God for giving strength to all who suffer so profoundly. The inspiration that results from sharing is not the same for all people.

Inspiration is not the same as admiration, for inspiration leads to action. It may be the action of prayer. It may be the action of presence in the lives of others. It may be action in terms of developing more compassion. It may be action because it leads you to a greater appreciation of God’s blessings. It may be action because each of you becomes more sensitized to grace and your place within that grace. You may participate in that grace. Grace is not just something observed. It is participatory. It is you, each of you, who can be a functional part of the granting of God’s grace. It is a magnificent opportunity. It is an opportunity to enhance another’s life, to enrich a person’s experiences, to comfort, to bring faith, to bring a sense of God.

You, then, are an important component of God’s grace in the world. God works through people. God does not work alone. All who reach out in compassion and loving prayer and understanding and sacrifice are allowing God’s grace to bless another. Your awareness of the sufferings of humankind within the greater community or the more immediate assembly is important, is essential, and serves as a window allowing God’s loving presence to shine throughout the world.

Yes, you are all blessed—you in this group and all human beings, those who have suffered greatly and those who have suffered to a less extent—all are blessed. All are part of God’s creation. All are destined to be a part of the loving power of God, strengthening that presence in the world. Yes, rejoice, be glad that you are all equal. Be glad that each of you shares the divine flame. Be glad that you are given human life. Be glad for those moments that you observe your own growth and the growth of others.

We, your guides, assembled as you are assembled, pray for your growth, for your continued clearing of vision, for your embrace of what life offers. God is with each of you as with each of us. God’s loving light illuminates and provides direction for your souls. It is the same with us. It is our joyous responsibility to reflect God’s light upon your souls. We are all a single unit. We differ only in our forms of energy, but we are really the same. We are all divine, we are all growing, we are all capable of being loved, we are all capable of loving. What a wonderful unifying idea this is for all humankind!

We pray for your growth and we thank you for your prayers. God’s blessings are indeed upon all creation. Rise up and bring to your inner selves God’s loving light!

Amen.