Reflection of divine in you is love.

August 31, 1980

God fills your gathering and the whole world with light and blessings. 

Each of us, your guides, is overjoyed at your being together once again. It is an important time for you as it is vital for us. Each of us, together and individually, grows through these communions. 

During the intervening time since we were last united as a spiritual body, you have been tested, have been shown a gap which needed to be closed and could only be done through faith and prayer. This time has had its joys but also its challenges. The joys of life nourish the body and soul as a kind of food, but it is the challenges which draw each of you to stand taller and to grow. 

Life with joy alone is meaningless. Joy is viewed in relationship with trial, with testing, with demands for strength and faith. So both experiences are vital for each of you as they are for us. We experience joy greater than you can imagine, but our lives are not just happiness. They are not just peak experiences. We are challenged, we are tested. We are asked to develop, and the choice is ours as it is yours. 

It is the strength of faith which directs your decisions. This faith is received as if from a conduit from a vast source of energy. Faith is a form of energy. One can turn it on as well as off by will. There are many who choose not to have faith. It is easier, they say, but we tell you that such a life is weaker. Choose to draw from that energy. The will is yours; the energy is God's. It is your willingness, your desire to accept God’s energy which has provided sustenance for you this summer. Each of you has grown by that choice, and each of you has faced the possibility of not choosing to accept God's energy, the faith. 

It is human to question. If the path were always clear, there would be no need for choice. Choice implies a recognition of more than one path. When you face events in your lives, don't be afraid when you find yourselves with a choice. It is not evil which presents the choice of not acting through faith—it is human. But each of you is also divine, and it is the divine in you, the energy, the force or power which recognizes the correct path if you choose to be open and to listen. 

Your concern for your family member is very real and founded on love. You express concern over doing what is right, not wishing to meddle or control or dictate. The greatest assistance each of you can provide is a quiet and steady love, not a consuming love, but love expressed by listening and being present and understanding. Many of the problems which your loved one faces are emotional. You are aware of the influence of the mind and of the emotions on the function of the body. The field of medicine is only beginning to understand the basis of the interrelationship between mind and body, but the effect of one on the other has always been present. The mind is like a large door. If it can be opened, a tremendous light will enter.

You talk of faith healing. Yes, it is God who heals, but God is always present to heal. It is the individual who chooses to be healed. There are many avenues which lead one to choose healing. For many, it is through a spiritual figure or leader. For others, it is the realization that they can be healed. But God is always present to heal. It is not a miracle that God suddenly chooses to select one individual from the masses to demonstrate God’s powers. It is not God who selects…it is the person. 

There are, of course, ailments which are not easily cured through faith alone, but by choosing to open that door to God's power, individuals receive strength. It may be the strength to endure. It may be the strength of health. It may be the strength that comes from an awareness of the divine within, but God's help will come forth. God has promised and it shall never fail. God's strength is your strength, and your strength has the potential of being strength for another. See yourselves not only as divine, but as an instrument for that divinity. It does not benefit a person to feel God's presence if it cannot be shared with another, for you are all on the path together. There are no winners, there are no losers…only finishers. That is why it is important to share your sense of the divine. This does not have to be done only through telling another, but can be done through example. 

The greatest reflection of the divine in each of you is love. In true love there is no selfishness, no vindictiveness, no criticism. True love is recognizing the divine in another. This can only be done quietly. It can only be transmitted as a feeling, a special sensitivity. It is patience, it is caring, and it is always being there physically or spiritually. When one becomes aware of the divine within and its potential, that door is finally opened. If one is confused by a sense of uncertainty or a fear of inadequacy or resentment toward others, the opening of that door is blocked and it will not move freely. 

Each of you must come into a greater sensitivity to what love means. By “meaning” we don't mean definition. That is empty. We mean application. True love can only be applied—it is not enough to define. There are those among you in an earthly life who have a strong sense of the application of love and they are frequently considered divine, but do not set them apart as special or privileged, for you must remember that each of you is divine. It is only the application of that divinity which separates one from another. 

There is much in this lesson which needs careful thought, and we suggest that it is best for you to contemplate individually and discuss the implications of what God has given you. It will take much work, and the full realization of God’s teaching will come about only after much time has elapsed. It is in essence the meaning of life. It is the reason you live. It is the central doctrine behind all religions, the only difference being in application and interpretation. It is for you to interpret and it is for you to apply. 

God bestows Light on each of you and on each of those for whom you pray. God is present. God is the faith healer. Open the doors of your faith and receive God fully. 

We bless you in God’s name and surround you with our love.

Amen.