You live so your soul may grow.

May 13, 1986

God is of course with you. Your guides who work for each of you are all collected here. 

You have no reason to suspect that any evil presence was a part of our last communion with you, however the subject is an intensely difficult one to approach and achieve insight into. God certainly never condones violence. If any of you condoned acts of violence in the name of God, you would not be here at this moment. Violence has no place in the ultimate scheme of spiritual development—that you know. 

The central theme of our last message was an urging for greater tolerance of others, be they individuals, religious sects, or nations. If individuals, sects, and nations perceive one another as nonthreatening, they also become nonthreatening and peace is achieved. 

God does not wish you to condone violence, but to view it nonjudgmentally. That is an extraordinary challenge for each of you. The criminal who kills is judged by society. It is difficult for an individual within that society to be totally nonjudgmental. When you are asked to be nonjudgmental, you are being asked to accept the validity of another human being's existence and to recognize the presence that in some way is manifest of God's power within that person. You can disapprove of an act but approve of a person. You may disapprove of the act or the action of a child and yet love the child. Children are not rejected merely because they behave in a way that opposes what a parent wishes. 

No human beings respond to the world around them completely in keeping with God's wishes. And yet if you accept the reality that God is totally nonjudgmental of the validity of your existence, you cannot feel guilt. Guilt, for many, is the result of a belief that in some manner one has displeased God, and that judgment will be manifest at some future time. You who gather together as a group are not motivated by guilt because you have faith in the nonjudgmental character of God. That is an example you can all relate to, and that should serve as a point of reference as you deal with others. Judgment has no place in your lives. As we said before, this is a goal to be achieved, for you all are judgmental at times. You all avoid such an attitude, at times willfully. It is only essential that you seek this objective in achieving peace. That is crucial to life. 

Individuals are full of judgment, religious sects are full of judgment, nations are full of judgment. How can one expect peace to be achieved when one group feels another is totally wrong and a potential threat to one's belief? Peace cannot be achieved. Peace is letting another belief exist side by side. It is letting another philosophy, point of view, behavior exist. Sometimes the opposition to your beliefs can be life-threatening. It is at such times that the challenge to be nonjudgmental is the greatest. 

The discussion of violence which began the previous message was presented in order to force you to come to grips with the later content of that message. You did not know what was to happen in your national political arena a short while later. The outcry from so many was that a terrible judgment had been made by your leader. Much has been written. We are not going to condone his actions, but you are being put to the test of recognizing the fact that although you may disagree, he is every bit a part of God as each of you. His perception of God, his perception of the world may markedly differ, but as a reflection of God's nonjudgmental relationship with you, you must also be equally nonjudgmental, even within the framework of violence carried out internationally. 

The world consists of individuals. All individuals travel a path toward God. There is no individual who stands still. Even the one who denies God's existence moves forward, however slowly it may be. The soul is drawn unfailingly to God because the soul has come from God. It is difficult perhaps for you to understand, but you must eventually accept the fact that a criminal, someone who espouses violence, or someone who spreads hatred or jealousy all are drawn to God in the end. You cannot stand as the ultimate arbiter of goodness and evil, categorizing all who pass through your life as belonging in one category or another. The evil that humans do is the evil that humans make. It is not God. Humans choose one action or another. All is not predetermined. 

None of you are destined in some magical way toward a life of goodness or a life of deceit. You are only destined to move toward God as a function of your spiritual selves. What you do is your own choice. You can help or you can hinder that progress. You can speed it up, you can slow it down, but you cannot stop it completely, for the soul is far more powerful than any physical body. It is more long-lasting; it is more durable. It is the only part of human existence that recognizes a true kinship with God. 

Your responsibilities in life are to in some manner support that growth. You live so that your soul may grow and only for that reason. The character of your life affects the nature of that growth, but grow it will as it has grown before your human existence and as it shall continue to grow when no longer encumbered by human life. 

You live for the growth of your soul. Recognize that relationship. Never assume that the soul in some manner serves life, for that is not the case. Spiritual growth is spiritual growth. Human life can help or hinder. 

You wonder about the place of violence in self-defense. You must be reassured there is no place. Knowing what you know, being honest with what you have come to understand, there is absolutely no position for any violence or harm brought to another in your lives. Violence in any form must be eliminated. You cannot control what another does, but you do have ultimate control of what you do. If you eliminate violence in your life, that means less violence in the world. Never resort to violence, whether it is physical, emotional, or psychological violence.

Where there is absolute love, there is no room for violence, for violence fills a vacuum, a vacuum created by the sense of threat. With love there is no threat; with no threat there is no purpose for violence. Exercise daily a life void of a feeling of being threatened. Exercise a life void of defensive behavior, for defensiveness is motivated by pride. Pride is selfish; love is selfless. 

We bless you with the absolute knowledge of the value of love, of selfless giving in the absence of negative responses to all around you. You know God as a nonjudgmental god. Reflect God’s presence and that knowledge through all of your dealings, within a close circle and within the broader community in which you live. Rejoice in your knowledge! It provides the light, enabling your lives to nurture the soul within each. 

Amen.