February 6, 1988

• The advantages of small group sharing

• Prioritize what is important to you

God is with each of you offering the peace you seek as well as the direction you are looking for.

It has been a long time in your sense of time since you have been joined together as a group, and each of you is facing many trials or difficulties which raise concerns related to the entire span of human existence. You pray for the others who need God's presence, and you pray for yourselves. You are well aware of the benefit you have experienced in sharing with one another issues of concern. Through this sharing you have drawn closer, and by sharing you sense the hand of God in your lives.

We urge you, as you are at these many crossroads, to make a particular effort to meet more often. Certainly you grow through your time of contemplation of God's words, but you also grow significantly through the sharing that takes place. You have little other opportunity for such giving and receiving. Your gathering therefore provides not only for your spiritual needs, but serves as a reinforcement for each of you to face those issues that are especially pressing now. There is much to be gained by such sharing, and while at times you may feel that proportionately less time should be spent in such sharing, indeed the sharing that you experience is entirely appropriate—one might even say essential.

You may all leave this gathering with a feeling of renewed strength and support, a calmer acceptance in handling what lies ahead. The peace which you feel at the conclusion of your gatherings provides proof of the spiritual benefit gained from them. The interaction which takes place is best accomplished in such a small gathering. There is no judgment but rather loving support and mutual concern.

It would be wonderful if such relationships were common to all your interpersonal dealings on a daily basis, but such chance for sharing and expressing yourselves on matters of life which are substantive and not superficial requires time. It requires a retreating from one's normal activities. Quite simply, one cannot retreat with any regularity daily with such a collection of souls as yours. One must rather plan for such opportunities, recognizing the benefits to be drawn from such an engagement.

We therefore encourage and urge you to organize your lives in a way that permits meeting together with greater frequency. It helps to give you stability and to maintain a realistic and beneficial perspective on the lives you lead which are so different from one another.

The issue of perspective in life is certainly the most misunderstood area of one's human activities. You go around full of projects and desires which more often than not are self-serving, self-fulfilling. In the pursuit of such goals, it is easy to lose sight of why it is you are given human life. It is easy to lose sight of what is truly meaningful in life.

A measure of your growth spiritually is given evidence by the way in which you order your lives. If you think about it, there is really always enough time to do what needs to be done, but precious little of that time is devoted to a thoughtful examination of what is really important. Each of you may be considered successful in what you do. The areas of discipline are greatly varied, but one could say that you are all strong achievers, as measured in the eyes of others. But what is recognized in the eyes of others as being worthy of achievement is too often characterized by what is really not essential.

What then is the measuring system by which you set your priorities in life, fine tuning the direction of your development? Quite simply, the measuring stick is the capacity for love. This does not come as a surprise, but it nevertheless must be reiterated, for it is too often neglected. With love comes peace, and with peace comes a clearer perception of the place of God within one's life.

If you can provide yourselves with some time to back away a bit from your activities and answer honestly the question what is important to you, you will see clearly what the priorities in your lives must be. Either one does not honestly respond to that question, or one chooses to ignore the answer. It perhaps is not necessary to mention that many even fail to pose the question. But you do pose the question. You do seek from time to time insight into what is really important. If you did not do so, you would not be here, for our function at these moments when you are gathered together is one of clarifying for you the sense of direction your lives must take.

At times you do follow what you know to be true, but at too many other times you choose to put off arranging your activities according to a meaningful perspective. You must find time to draw back and ask yourselves that question and remain withdrawn for as long as it takes to see an answer. The answer is not elusive. For each of you it can be quickly perceived.

One of the greatest difficulties in establishing a life priority is the intrusion of selfishness. You are each acutely aware of what you want, and you are aware of what needs to be done if you are to achieve those desires. But in many cases what you seek is only of temporary value. In the larger picture of life, it is but a small corner.

If a photograph exaggerates the presence of an insignificant object, the viewer is prevented from recognizing what is significant, and the photograph is said to be out of balance. The tensions which you feel in life are created by a life which is out of balance. There are things which need doing, of course. But those things which occupy so much of your thoughts and energy are considerably less important than you wish frequently to make them.

What is important is precisely the kind of sharing you experienced this evening. It is important because it is an expression of love. It is a manifestation of giving and also of receiving. What you gain by such an exchange is far greater than what you gain when constantly pursuing "projects" as you may call them, however great or small. You don't feel tremendously pressured in moments like these. You feel a peace. You sense that somehow God is the central theme to life, but when you leave, the pressures mount, not because your lives are different, but because the focus of your lives is changed.

It is important, therefore, to direct your energies towards dealing with others, giving to others, listening to others, just being with others in a comforting manner. It is not important what you do; it is important who you are. Loving and peacefully giving is what you must be. Striving, constantly aiming for something better, for something more, is only of secondary importance. As long as you recognize this your lives will have balance, they will be in equilibrium, and you will be closer to achieving a more constant state of peace. Therefore, resist the temptation to do, to be, to get, to achieve, and be drawn towards giving and loving and listening, and your lives will take on greater depth, and the peace that you feel will be reflected to those around you who are caught up in the proverbial rat race, oblivious to what life is meant to be.

Our lives are devoid of such strivings toward secondary goals, and it allows us to grow and deepen. It allows us to be more reflective of the light of God, but such a direction, such character to living, can also be a part of your own lives to a lesser degree, but certainly more so than is normal. One of the chief means of reaching this ideal goal of life is through your seeking opportunities for sharing and experiencing with one another as you have tonight. You often refer to these experiences as a blessing. Indeed, it is very much a blessing, and can be a compass giving you an indication of where you should be heading and how to do it.

We serve you through love and compassion, and we care about those things in life which are important for you. Our love is unending; God's healing light is ever- present. Rejoice that you've been given such a blessing! We bless you with God’s light and love and eternal peace.

Amen.