THE NATURE OF LIFE AND DEATH
Revelations

It is in the nature of things that man frequently pursues false gods, that he strays so completely from the path he has chosen to tread that he falls totally into error and fails completely to learn all that he came to this life to learn. It is in the nature of things that in these cases man forgets utterly all that he has promised to do in this earthly life and confounds all who seek to guide him back to the path of righteousness and love. It is not easy for any man in this earthly life, surface reality to the contrary, but for those who have chosen the most difficult of lives, much more is expected.

In each existence from the very beginning of human life, there is a plan and a pattern the soul is destined to experience, and even if his actions cause him to stray from this destined path temporarily, in the end he arrives at death's door exactly as planned from the very beginning. The end is destined in all cases, and the end has since birth been the end chosen by the soul before coming into this earthly existence. The fact that no man has memory of this compact is of no consequence, nor is it of consequence that man feels himself in control of his own existence to the point of postponing the transition that is called death.

There is in all of human life, therefore, the absolute certainty of a beginning and an end absolutely destined, though not in every detail. From this beginning to this end, whether the life span be measured in hours or in decades, man is in charge of his destiny. It is unthinkable, some would say, to hold an infant or a child before reason responsible for acts which are deemed irresponsible or reprehensible, and indeed there is some merit in this objection, but it is essential to consider that before the soul becomes man and assumes a place in this world, he has agreed with his Maker on the length and purpose of that existence. His will transcends birth, although he quickly forgets his origins and quickly becomes vulnerable to the temptations and inequities of human life. It follows then, that from the very moment of birth, man has agreed to his experiences and promised that he will meet all the challenges and tribulations and temptations he has readily agreed to in a spirit of loving compliance, and that at each step of his life, at each point in his existence, he will choose to act in love and to pursue the path to spiritual perfection that has been his destiny since creation.

As I have said, the span of human life is of infinitely small proportion, and the time of human existence is dwarfed by the enormity of endlessness. Man has but the smallest intimation of the brevity of human life. It is in the nature of mortal existence to assume that life is central, that man is supreme, and that all that occurs during this life span has no equal in any other dimension. There are those who do indeed realize the fallacy in this thinking, who achieve an awareness of the grander scheme and live accordingly and learn what they have promised to learn, and who draw to the end of their lives with an awareness of the nature of death as transition. These gentle souls abound, and much can be learned from them.

Those who forget their divine origins, their compacts with their Maker, too offer lessons to all who observe them. They speak wordlessly of the horror the soul can experience when it abandons the path of goodness and love. They display to all who know them the frivolity of worldly pursuits, the inevitability of despair, the total hollowness of lives lived without awareness of the importance of loving deeds and loving words. In the end, their lives end with the same inevitability that all men know, and they die not knowing the peace they might have achieved had they chosen to act in love in this worldly sojourn.

So, my children, know that life and death are as one, that there is no escaping death once birth has been granted, and that this death is the death agreed upon before entering this world. Man has not yet learned to alter this inevitability, though he sometimes persuades himself that he has this power.

Revelations
PROGRESSION

In the fullness of time all answers will be given. Let us consider the nature of life as man now knows it. He regards the world as an imperfect place. His life may be marked by good fortune and well being or it may be marked by ill fortune and unhappiness. In each case, life presents to him challenges and opportunities to learn. In either case, man knows at all times that he is capable of meeting these challenges, of accepting these trials, and of knowing the satisfaction of progression.

It is difficult with limited human vision to accept the inequities of life and to hold fast to a steady faith that for each human experience there is reason and purpose. It is difficult to comprehend that in pain there may be pleasure and in pleasure pain. I speak here of the purpose in life beyond simple human perception.

Let us consider for a moment the perfection of performance that marks the soul speeding on its journey to perfection. This soul, come to human existence for a period of its own choosing, to live a life of its own choosing, must both accept and learn from each challenge he has chosen to experience. Do not feel that all challenges are marked by pain and deprivation, though this may be the case. The challenge may equally be to live with a surfeit of life's pleasures and riches. In each case the demands upon the soul in its human manifestation are the same. The soul must learn that only by acts and professions of love can he do as he promised to do. He must leave his mark on the world in this way. No other path is acceptable. No other path will bring fulfillment in his quest for eternal belonging.

When the soul is in torment the soul does not know love. When love is both given and received the torments of life become blessings. All souls know this. In human guise the soul sometimes forgets this.

Saturday, 2/12/00 11:59PM - Lessons

At all times man stands in a divine relationship between heaven and earth. He leaves his heavenly home willingly and gratefully to come to a life of his own choice, divinely designed to afford him maximum opportunity for spiritual growth. Part and parcel of spiritual growth is inner peace and awareness, a perfect perception of all that is right and good in his progress through life. At no point in this earthly journey should man forget that his destination is a forgone conclusion, that after he has done all he promised to do he will return to his heavenly home richer and perfected by his earthly experience.

This is the ideal, and the ideal prevails in the vast majority of cases, but it must be noted that man sometimes abuses earthly opportunity and misuses the opportunities he encounters which are designed to offer spiritual progress. Man is not always as resistant to temptation as he thinks he is, and when he first strays from the path of goodness and love and loses sight of his divinely prescribed goals, he is less able to resist further temptation and to lose his spiritual pride.

The world reflects this weakness of the soul gone astray, both presently and throughout history, and all hope for the future lies in a resurgence of awareness of the true meaning of life, of the absolute and ultimate goal that all souls in progress share. This is not an easy task, and yet its absolute necessity lends total urgency to its need for implementation. There are countless examples of progress to this perfection of awareness and performance in our earth today, and it is heartening to observe all such manifestations, but it is incumbent upon each man sharing the human journey to contribute to the world-wide evolution of awareness that will in time change this currently hostile world into a place of peaceful love and sharing.

Many men share this vision and strive to implement it, each in his own way. This number must grow daily until all men are joined in a common effort to insure that no soul come to life is in danger of alienation from all that is pure and good. All souls must know the beauty of a life lived in love and giving and suffer no deprivation. This is a mighty effort, one in which all men are destined to share. The beginning is now for all those not yet committed to the task.

Saturday, 2//6/99 11:32PM - Divine Nature of Man

Man, in the joy of creation, knows sublimity. He chooses all he needs to learn from earthly experience. He willingly accepts strengths and limitations. He is aware and willingly accepts all he will know in the life to come of love given and received, of trial and triumph, of acceptance and rejection, of hope and despair. In his wonder he deems himself capable of both enduring and learning from all that is expected of him in the life he has chosen as best suited for his progression.

In no case does man return to earthly life without full faith in his ability to succeed in his learning. He is fully aware of all the lessons which face him and he is totally persuaded of his inevitable learning. The soul come to earth then comes with full awareness of all the life he has chosen will offer and will demand of him. His awareness is general in nature, and he agrees readily that he will choose wisely and well each time he must decide a response to whatever is demanded of him. No soul returned to life envisions failure as he begins his journey.

Yet as all know, man does indeed experience failure in many ways. He is often tempted by those inner voices which urge indulgence, which speak of the satisfactions that selfish response will ensure. At times he succumbs to the inner weaknesses that he vowed to overcome and is instead overcome by them. Sometimes he is lured to be a part of activities which satisfy his earthly yearnings but which corrode his soul.

No matter the degree of iniquity to which the soul in journey may sink, he is at all times in his innermost soul capable of hearing the voice which speaks to him of goodness and love. He may in his despair ignore this last hope and be lost to divine intervention. He may pass the threshold of death in great need.

Yet, most men know salvation from error before their human deaths. Some barely err and need little guidance. Most err but not mortally, and find in their inner voices angelic sustenance. Those few who come to the end of life having failed to do all they promised learn that no failure is total but that their efforts must increase if they are to achieve the perfection they must. Their joy is in knowing that there is no such thing as total failure. They find joy in this assurance of success, of infinite joy, in absolute belonging in oneness.

Tuesday, 3/21/00 11:20PM - Lessons

There are many lessons man comes to earthly life to learn. Some must be learned completely. Some have been learned to some extent in previous lives but remain to be perfected in this learning. Some come to learn lessons totally unlearned in previous trials.

So man comes to earthly existence with varying needs, each acknowledged by the soul before human birth, each acknowledged by the new soul as necessary and desirable to facilitate new learning. It seems sometimes in the eyes of the observant world that there is an unfairness in what man knows in earthly experience. It is time for man to learn that each soul choosing to come to earthly life to learn and to teach comes with exactly the talents and lacks of his own choosing, facing the perils and advantages he has deemed beneficial to his renewed struggle to achieve spiritual perfection.

In all cases and under all circumstances man comes to renewed life to experience all that will permit him to reach the pinnacle of perfection in divine oneness. The key to this achievement is always the achievement of love perfect in all regards. Sometimes this love is clearly apparent both to the soul in progress and to all who share his earthly voyage, but there are times when the soul struggles to achieve perfect love in ways not apparent to all those who observe the outward aspects of his life. Often man is in this way misunderstood, and it becomes part of his challenge to persevere in the absence of recognition and approval and to make an even greater effort to display the love that fills his heart.

The world does not always reward those who deserve reward. The soul in progress may often need to be satisfied by the inner recognition that is never denied. At times this is the greater reward, but at all times the soul striving to express love in all he says, does and thinks is the soul closer to the ultimate reward, to the end of eternal striving. In this achievement all men rejoice.

Saturday, 3/25/00 11:55PM - Lessons

Before all else man should remind himself daily that he lives this life in perfect accord with the divine compact he designed and agreed to before he departed eternal life for a temporary sojourn on earth.

Although it is not possible or desirable for man to remember this compact and his agreement to live within its terms, he should be willing to accept the concept of a life freely chosen, of a set of talents and abilities suitable to this chosen life, and a determination to know great spiritual progress in all ways in the time between earthly birth and mortal death. When man is able to accept this premise and live each day in full awareness of its implications, he will find his path smoothed and each day blessed in spiritual growth and victory over trial he once thought impossible.

It should be clear that some souls come to earth having chosen difficult lives with the purpose of making swifter progress. Often it is tempting to pity those whose physical frailty or deprivation sets them apart. Sometimes it is tempting to treat these deprived souls as less than worthy. Indeed sometimes it is tempting to ridicule or even to victimize them in their weakness. Those who surrender to such base instincts and act in any such unloving way make themselves objects of pity, for they have lost the humanity that speaks of universal brotherhood of man and demands equal respect for all those sharing mortal life.

There is a vast complexity in human existence, vast diversity among those sharing the human striving for perfection, and it should be accepted by all men that there is both divine will and individual acceptance in each life designed before birth and that it is the duty and privilege of each soul come to earth to have faith in his capacity to live up to his promises and to find fulfillment in meeting fully the demands of his divine compact.

Each man come to earth is in a sense a gift, for he comes in full faith to learn the lessons of love and in this learning to teach others. If there is failure in this quest it is only for a time. All souls are destined to succeed ultimately in ways of their own choosing.

Tuesday, 3/28/00 11:59PM. - Lessons

In the time between birth and death in earthly existence man knows fully the experiences he has asked to know and he succeeds in greater or lesser degree in meeting all his designed challenges and in learning the lessons of love so integral to his striving.

Although the full comprehension of the cycle of birth, death, rebirth and renewed life is beyond human capacity, it is a source of comfort to those who accept this divine cycle and who recognize the individual responsibility behind each life experience that man knows in his earthly journey. No man comes to earth of another's will and design.

Each man is totally the architect of his life plan, and each man is individually responsible for acting in love at each step in fulfilling promises made before birth. Some would say that it is not fair to expect man to fulfill promises made before birth and not retained fully in the mind of man. In a sense there is fairness in this objection, but it must be remembered that the overlaying demand in all of life is that each step in the progress from life to death be fully motivated and taken in love complete, and that although man may not have memory of promises made, he is gifted in his capacity to do all that is asked of him to fulfill these promises.

All he must remember is that to act in love at all times is all that is demanded of him, and that if he succeeds in meeting this central demand he will succeed in all other ways and that no promise will be forgotten, no commitment will be unfulfilled. It is to be further noted that when man follows the absolute rule of love, he not only fulfills divine promise but he also guarantees himself human happiness in the inner peace and self satisfaction he knows and in the love he inspires in all those who share his life.

There is no further demand of the soul in progress, and there is no greater guarantee of earthly and heavenly joy.

Tuesday, 5/16/00 Midnight - Lessons

Each man come to earthly life comes of his own volition. He comes to meet conscious need to progress, and he partakes of divine wisdom in all he asks to experience in a life of his own design. He is at all times optimistic about living this life as perfectly as possible and he is aware that he will know limitations and unawareness but that he is well served by all that he takes with him in ability and resolve.

Such truth is difficult for man to accept readily. In the midst of earthly struggle he cannot believe that he agreed readily to a life of difficulty and challenge. It is impossible, he thinks, for any soul come to earth to choose need instead of plenty, to choose sickness instead of health, to choose despair instead of hope. Yet in his tenacity, he finds himself facing each new trial with absolute determination to survive. At times he surprises himself in this survival and in the inner resources that enabled him to overcome all adversity. He begins to wonder if indeed he was meant to know hardship to acquire strength and determination. He finds pleasure in his own triumph over trial he once thought impossible.

In this way man progresses, and if he searches his soul he becomes increasingly aware that there seems to be a plan and a pattern in all of what life offers and that he seems uniquely designed to play a part in the struggle to live life and to learn the sweet taste of success over adversity. He learns that it strengthens him to accept freely all challenges in full faith in his capacity to cope with all difficulty and to emerge from struggle with full faith in the future. Thus man proves himself and in the process learns love of self, the first step in learning the lessons of love.

Sunday, 4/23/00 11:24PM - Lessons

In the end of time, all things will be resolved, all fears and uncertainties dismissed, all joys celebrated, and all men bound in love eternal. This is indeed a glorious prospect. Some would dismiss it as an empty dream impossible of fulfillment, the product of wishful thinking, idle in its very essence. This response is not surprising in a world confused. Man longing to believe in perfect love finds himself all too often the object of ridicule, accused by all too many of naivete and foolish trust.

Not all men, fortunately, share this skepticism. There are a goodly number of souls in progress who hunger for the strength of conviction and optimism that idealism represents. Unable or unwilling themselves to believe in human perfection or in a world without fault, they nevertheless look to those of absolute faith and long to share their certainty. In time, most such seekers find this faith, and in this faith absolute comfort in the meaning of life and the rightness of all that life offers to them in experience meant to teach.

Life's journey is often difficult for the soul which has chosen to experience difficulty as a rapid path to perfection. It is difficult for those observing hardship and travail to understand its reason. It will come as revelation to them when the truth is revealed of the divine compact each soul returning to earth fashions for himself in full agreement of its effectiveness in meeting his needs.

Let all men remember that the divine will is devoted to seeing success in each earthly existence, success measured in no way in earthly terms but in an honest appraisal of the extent to which the soul being considered has progressed to the state of grace that speaks of perfect love and worthiness to be one with the God of all being. All men reach this ultimate goal and know infinite joy.

Sunday, 5/21/00 10:40PM - Lessons

Celebrated often among men is the capacity to endure. Old age is held supremely important. The aged know respect regardless of other gratification. This reverence reflects both man's enduring love of life and in a sense his highest hope for longevity.

It is right and good that those who have lived long and well be accorded the respect and the praise that they have earned, but know well that longevity is not always a blessing. The soul come to earth chooses its life span and often chooses long life not as a blessing but as a trial in full awareness that the life chosen will be a source of learning and of spiritual advancement for many. Those devoted to the care of all souls no longer able to care for themselves physically know a devotion that exceeds all expectations in patient caring. Those who are responsible for the very old and infirm, whether caretakers or family, are constantly called upon to express love without return, to choose at all times a caring without response, and to find within themselves an enduring willingness to offer all that is needed in love given and received.

Not all souls come to life choose to live lives long beyond self sufficiency. Yet at the opposite end of the scale are those souls who choose to live briefly, to come to earthly existence for a period of time ranging from minutes and hours to months and years. They choose lives cut short for a variety of reasons, and they come as all souls do to learn and to teach the lessons of love. Each chooses those he will teach in the name of love given and received and all leave their earthly journey in full awareness of accomplishment.

It is easier for the soul choosing its life to come to select a life noted for its brevity, but it is challenge indeed for those who choose to live long and trying lives and to come to the end of earthly existence joyfully aware of the wonder that they have created in the face of all difficulty. They have chosen the difficult path, and they have done all they promised in the face of all trial.

Too often these persistent souls are not accorded the praise and adulation they deserve. Consider what they have given. Consider what they deserve. Know their goodness.

Saturday, 6/17/00 12:25AM - Lessons - page 144

Within all limits, man lives each life as perfectly as his perception and his will allow. When I speak of limits, I refer to the freely chosen parameters that man's life knows. In each life chosen by the soul come to earth, there are limitations which guide him in the path of wisdom and progress. Man chooses wisely in his destined life, and he is able at all times to fulfill all the requirement of this chosen life in satisfying the demands of love and in knowing its rewards.

It is perhaps difficult for man in the midst of his human voyage to believe in the power he wielded in the design of his mortal experience. If he suffers from want or hardship, he finds it difficult to believe that he so chose his life's experience. When man knows bounty beyond imagining, he ascribes his good fortune to powers beyond his control, even when his human endeavors have contributed much to his achievement of material reward.

In short, man is generally unaware of the extent to which he is responsible for the very nature of his human life. It is difficult for him to believe in his own power and influence, and yet the time will come when he will realize fully the nature of life and the importance of his chosen path to spiritual perfection. Even before this blessed day of revelation, it would be wise for man to accept this teaching, to know that before each human life he is given the gift of choice in all he is to know in the life to come and to recognize the vital part his free will plays in his achievement of the ultimate perfection, the goal of all souls come to earthly experience.

In time, no man will question this truth.

Thursday, 6/22/00 11:00PM - Lessons

Each man holds in his hands control of his own destiny. This is a statement perfect in its truth but objectionable and even repellent to many. What, they ask, of those deprived in all ways of earthly satisfaction, those who die at the hands of others, those who suffer so woefully in need and frustration? How can it be said that these souls control their own destinies?

To bolster faith in this assertion man must remember two things at the very beginning of his consideration. He must remember that a single life is not all of human history. He must accept the transient nature of human existence and acknowledge that the soul survives human death and if needed returns to a new life to pursue his goals.

This too, then, must be remembered. Man comes into human life aware of all he needs to achieve the perfection of love that leads to oneness. It is of no import that man achieve success in earthly terms. He may choose to be a prince. He may choose to be a beggar. These differing states are inconsequential in the totality of renewed life.

It is important only to remember that the key to earthly joy and spiritual progress is the willing and loving acceptance of all that life offers and all that life demands, aware at all times that all that man experiences is of his own choice and that never is he lacking in capacity. His mission always is to achieve the perfection of love that is the gateway to perfection, to oneness in total joy.

Sunday, 10/4/98 5:10PM - Divine Nature of Man

Into each life comes a measure of affliction. In no case does man escape completely what must be called trials. In some lives, trials are numerous and protracted and truly try the soul. In other cases, trials are less frequent and less severe, but may be considered equally trying by the soul so visited. In all cases, the outcome of struggle is spiritual progress if the soul responds in love and acceptance.

There are those who rail against life when they are tried, who stubbornly refuse to accept the fact that it is man's lot to struggle to survive and to find joyful learning in human experience, however trying.

In all of the vagaries of human existence, it is incumbent upon man to seek strength within. He will find it in faith and hope. He will find it in the inner voice that speaks to him of his capacity for love, of his strength in travail. If he is fortunate, he will find comfort and courage in the love that he knows from those closest to him in the bonds of family and friendship. They too will gain in wisdom by lending their love and support to the soul in need.

It is often difficult for the human in distress not to feel singled out in his misery. It is tempting to think that a cruel fate has chosen him to endure suffering greater than his fellow man. It is easy for him to wallow in self pity and to lose the determination to struggle to triumph over all affliction. These are the souls most in need of aid, both spiritual and practical, and blessed are those who see and respond to such need.

Often man's troubles are well hidden. The human soul may know torment never exhibited to others. Unhappiness may be constantly masked by a cheerful demeanor. Despair may not reveal itself at all. Once again, these souls are in need. They need to remember that they possess a divine relationship which is meant to guide them down the darkest corridors into light. They need to look within, to listen to the love and encouragement they are offered. They need to know their own strength.

Tuesday, 10/6/98 4:10PM - Divine Nature of Man

In each life there is plan and pattern, not always clear either to the soul in question or to those bound to him in earthly ties. Each life, regardless of its length or brevity, serves a divine purpose.

It is hard for man to envision a divine purpose in a world so full of conflicts and hatreds, a world in which all too often life is valued lightly if at all. It is hard to imagine that the massacre of innocents is part of a divine plan. Yet if one is reminded that this life is but a single step in the succession of lives necessary to spiritual development, then each of these innocents becomes a soul to be envied, a soul early released to glory and new learning.

Violence is not part of God's plan. Violence stems from the free will of man when he strays from the path of goodness and love and surrenders to base instincts and forgets completely what he owes to his fellow man in compassion and caring. In the scheme of things, those who sink to the foulest of human behavior are a small minority, an infinitesimal part of the whole. They are profoundly outnumbered by those who live lives of love and giving and who seek always to live peaceably.

Among men there are an infinite number of gradations between those who seem totally possessed by greed and cruelty who have lost completely their inborn capacity for love, and those who live flawless lives, at all times unselfishly responsive in love. At all times those whom we would consider between these two extremes are both capable and often desirous of leading better lives and achieving spiritual awareness. In all these cases, man needs to be aware that he is at all times guided and loved by his angel teacher, a spirit of love and light who accompanied him to begin his earthly journey and who will depart this world when he does. He has only to know this glorious presence to gain strength. He has only to listen and to know words of love. He has only to open his heart.

Thursday, 10/29/98 4:48PM EST - Divine Nature of Man

Man is hungry always for love. From the first moments of life to the last, this hunger marks his existence. Not all men are equally gifted in this regard. Often the soul enters in agreement that he will overcome the trials that a lack of love presents in his stay on earth. He agrees that he will learn to love in the face of all obstacles, despite great deprivation. In his success he knows he will know great spiritual progress.

It is not an easy choice for the soul to make, but he makes it in full awareness of the difficulties inherent in the challenge he has chosen. Not all souls make this difficult choice, but those who do are blessed in their success. Those who fail are to be commended in their efforts, however futile they may eventually be, and there is great tolerance for the efforts that do not fully succeed.

It is difficult for human limitations to encompass the value in a life of promises made and not kept, but it is important for man to remember that a single life is but a brief chapter in the story of each life. It is possible for the soul to succeed fully in keeping its promises in one existence and know with certainty that other lessons need to be learned. It is possible for the soul to overreach in its promises and to know frustration in its efforts, frustrations both of his own making and of others.

No matter what the outcome, the need for love given and received never lessens, and the soul seeking perfection freely and gladly acknowledges failure in one life and freely and gladly promises greater effort in the next. At all times and in all lives man is in control of his capacity to love even when he is most denied the love he craves. At all times man profits from his efforts whether they are successful or not, and the soul come to God knows this fully. It brings peace to his soul and inspires new determination to succeed when he is next offered opportunity.

Wednesday, 11/11/98 10:50PM - Divine Nature

The wonder of man is in his striving. Man is born to each life with full intention to prove to himself and to all souls the worth of his being in the free exercise of will. In the best of times man finds himself surrounded by souls who, filled with awareness, are destined to succeed in all striving, to progress fully in the path to perfection. This is an ideal world. Not all earthly lives know this idyllic environment. Not all men find the path to perfection so straight and narrow and swift. Indeed, the earthly journey is marked by much diversity and this diversity is one of design.

It is not only difficult for humans to encompass in their understanding the diverse patterns of human existence, it is not easy to discern pattern and reason in the enormous disparities man knows in his life on this earth. There is reason to question. Why, one asks, is man given so little and asked so much. Why, one asks, is man given so much and asked so little? These questions deal only with the superficial and fail completely to deal with the full meaning of life.

Human life is both a triumph and a trial. Man comes to this world with capacities adequate to do all he has agreed to do in this life. He comes with full awareness that his will is supreme, that he can do anything in this worldly experience that will either serve to advance or to delay his spiritual progress, progress which relies completely on his fulfilling the compact made before his incarnation. Man, in pursuit of human happiness may succumb to the temptations of this world and err in his choices. He may seek happiness in ways destined to disappoint. He may abandon the search for perfection that is his divine goal and pursue earthly delights, delights that are destined to disappoint.

Man, however misled he may become in his earthly striving, never loses his connection with the divine origin that is his. In all his errors he retains the purity of his origin, and no matter how sullied this purity may become, no matter the enormity of human error, man is never lost. Over and over again he is not only permitted but indeed is required to continue the search for spiritual perfection. His journeys may seem endless, but they are not, for there is an end, and that end earned inevitably in the perfection of love that is the goal of all souls. No more does man strive when he reaches the end of his last effort. All glory is his. He knows love perfect in all respects. He has come home in perfect peace.

Tuesday, 11/24/98 11:45PM - Divine Nature

In all of life man questions existence. From his earliest years he asks what is required of him. Is he meant to do all that his talents direct? Is he meant to please himself first in these talents? Is he meant to listen to the words of those older and wiser than himself who suggest a different course? Is he meant to serve himself or mankind or both?

Each man come to earth comes with a set of abilities or disabilities with firm resolve to meet all of life's challenges with love in his heart and love expressed in all his actions. He does not question his capability in meeting this requirement of love expressed in responsiveness to all earthly experiences.

In a sense the man least endowed in earthly gifts and capabilities has chosen the easier path. He is not easily tempted. He is not an object of earthly greediness. He is content, generally, to live simply within his capabilities and to know that all that is required of him is easy to give. He is grateful for each loving relationship that life offers him, and he is generous in loving response and total appreciation.

The man who has chosen to come into this life capable of great achievement is often sorely tried in his goals. He is at times and in some cases easily seduced by the approbation of those he seeks to govern or to guide or to dominate. He persuades himself that his power over his fellow man and over his destiny is infinite, and although he may act in love on his path to power, he is easily tempted to choose power over good. Many souls are lost in this fateful decision. Many others, sensing the danger of the road they are treading, stop short of total seduction and return to the paths of goodness and principle.

All of life then is a challenge to man's talents and inclinations. Each day of each life has its importance, and each action taken is significant in the total pattern of life. Man is a creature dear to the heart of God, and in his journey through life no matter the nature of his talents, no matter the nature of his fortunes, he is at all times empowered by his divine nature to take the right path and to do all that is required of him in this life. In so doing he will triumph. In his triumph he will know holiness.

Sunday, 12/20/98 6:50PM - Divine Nature of Man

There is such a sweetness in man's nature. It is sometimes difficult to maintain a steady faith in this sweetness when man is beset by trials and tribulations, but it is exactly at such times that man must exhibit his faith in those with whom he shares his earthly voyage, for voyage it is.

Man comes to this life in full agreement of all he is given and in full acceptance of all that he is not given, and in his acceptance he knows the value of each. He knows that richness in earthly life offers greater temptations at the same time greater opportunity. He knows that deprivation in this life demands greater acceptance and greater opportunity to know spiritual progress. There are many souls become man who seek a middle course, who knowing both their strengths and their needs, elect to do less than absolutely necessary and to strive to do more than absolutely promised. In all cases man's success or failure in his earthly striving is weighed in proportion to all he has promised, to all he has been given in capacity, and to all he has constantly attempted to offer in love without limitation.

The world so profits by the loving heart whether it comes in the incarnation of brilliance or of idiocy, of richness or of impoverishment. The trappings of human life are largely insignificant, basically a measure of the balance between what is given and what must be given in response. Man is at all times conscious in his innermost soul of this divine justice. He needs nothing of earthly beneficence to guide him on his way. He needs only the promptings of his heart. He needs only to listen to the voice that speaks of love and giving and perfection to come. Therein lies the sweetness of the soul.

Tuesday 12/29/98 11:35PM - Divine Nature of Man

In the fullness of time man achieves all that he need achieve. Not all men are privileged to know swift progress to the perfection of love that admits to oneness. Not all souls find the path to oneness smooth and straight, but the ease of the journey is of little consequence. The end is all.

It is difficult for humans to begin to imagine the absolute glory that awaits when they have done all that was required in their earthly journeys. There is no way that man can envision heavenly existence. There is no way that man can appreciate fully the strength and beauty of heavenly love. There is, therefore, an element of wonder and surprise, of total exultation when the soul is admitted to oneness with the divine power. Words cannot describe the ineffable joy of this admission. It is enough to say that the soul admitted to glory knows perfect love fully expressed and in this perfect love finds, finally, the reason for life on earth.

One might be tempted to ask more of this human journey, to seek to understand more completely the apparent inequities in earthly existence. Full understanding is beyond human perception, but man needs to understand that life charted for him before he begins his voyage is exactly what he has agreed to. The soul preparing for human existence knows what he needs to learn, what he has failed to learn earlier, and with loving assistance he plans the life to come, a life designed to teach with exactness what he needs to know. The choice is his, though he is aided in many ways by wise and caring spirits who have chosen to devote themselves entirely to effecting the will of God by guiding their human charges in all the paths that lie ahead.

All those involved in guiding the soul returning to human existence on his way are totally devoted to easing all he faces in his transition, in the struggles to come, in his inevitable triumph over all temptations. They are secure in the divine awareness that no soul is permitted failure to achieve perfection, that no matter how long and difficult the journey may be, no matter how often man must begin his journey anew, at the end of the road lies glory, total joy, absolute oneness, the ultimate goal of all souls, unsurpassed in all ways.

Friday, 1/1/99 11:42PM - Divine Nature of Man

There is a divine consistency in the cycle of life. There is at all times a balance between what is given to man and what is demanded of him. There is at all times consistency in all that transpires in a single life and in the lives that follow or precede. Man comes to human life of his own accord and he pursues a path of his own choosing in each incarnation. This plan, wisely selected, guarantees spiritual progress provided that man achieves all the goals he had chosen to achieve during his earthly sojourn.

Not all souls experience total success in the achievements they seek, but all souls know a measure of success or failure according to their response to challenge and distraction. At each point in the road of life man has the opportunity to succeed fully. He has at all times the capacity to choose wisely and to act accordingly. He has only to remember the perfection he knew as he began his earthly adventure. The soul freshly come from God is capable of all he has promised to achieve, all he has promised to learn. It is only later that he knows weakness and hesitation, only later that he loses awareness of his innate goodness, his perfection in God's eyes.

Even those souls who know repeated failure to keep their promises are never totally lost. Until their last breath they have the capability of recognizing and confessing error and aspiring to perfect love. They know that all they have not done must be corrected at a later time. They know that the lessons of love unlearned in one life remain to be learned in another, and despite all awareness of failure they know the wonder of hope and they aspire to be more successful in their next attempt to progress.

Tuesday, 1/26/99 11:12PM - Divine Nature of Man

There is a majesty inherent in the human journey. There are mysteries inherent in all that man knows in his time on earth. He comes from a heaven that wishes him well in all ways. He comes with talents of his own choosing. He comes with full agreement to live a life of love in the face of all chosen adversity and to seek to spread the words of God by living perfectly in all love.

What, one might ask, could be more perfect that a world peopled with souls straight from the hand of God, determined to live in peace and love and share their love and their talents freely? What more could God expect of man than that he populate this universe and bring to it the perfection of existence it was meant to enjoy? Why, you might ask, is the world not the perfect place it was destined to be? Why does man not know perfection in every aspect of his human existence?

These are weighty questions, each one worthy of an answer that is complete and comprehensible. Yet not all answers are adequate. The simplest of responses, absolute in its truth, is that man has created his environment. Godlike in his capacity to act totally as he chose, free at all times to make decisions less than perfect, man has strayed from the path he first chose to take on this earth.

Generation unto generation man has continued to strive to live as he was meant to from the very start. In this long history of striving there have been successes beyond count. There have also been failures, temporary in nature, souls who have not yet succeeded as they must eventually.

Man in his many roles has such power that he has the capacity to destroy just as he has the power to create. This power is awesome, but it is at all times subject to the divine power from which all else proceeds, and to this extent man is limited. He may have the illusion of absolute power, even for a time that seems reasonable to him, but he is deluded in this assumption of absolute control.

Yet even in his most deplorable actions, man retains this element of majesty, his close connection to the power from which all evolves, and after error and omission he returns to this original awareness and knows all he needed from the very beginning of time.

Sunday, 2/7/99 9:00PM - Divine Nature of Man

Before life begins, the soul seeks the path most suited to lead it to perfection. Having experienced failure, in whole or in part, the seeking soul wants above all else to proceed to the end of earthly existence and the total glory of heavenly peace. This process does not lend itself to human understanding, but it is enough for the human mind, aware as it is of its own limitations, to accept these very limitations and to be aware that there is much to accept without full understanding.

Man seeks always in his earthly life to know reason in his being, to perceive whence he has come and where he is going. No man exists unaware of his mortality, but there are differences in man's perception of this limited earthly sojourn. Many are satisfied to accept the ephemeral nature of human life as all that there is. Some take comfort in total belief that memory is all, that the soul departed survives in the loving thoughts of all he left behind. This is comforting indeed, but what of the solitary soul who dies alone and unmourned? What of the souls gone astray and ending this life unloved and forgotten? Is this a reasonable explanation of life? To those who think so, God must be uncaring, perhaps relentless, certainly not the creature of love that all must come to know.

It is difficult for man to know faith absolute. He comes to this world full of confidence in his inquiring mind and in his full ability to determine his life's course in every way. This is indeed the plan of God, and it is God's wish that this divine creation overcome all obstacles, learn all lessons, and return to his origins enriched and perfected. To His dismay and disappointment, God does not find this perfection in all souls come to life. In many He does. In others He finds hope. In some He wonders if He has failed. Yet He knows that the failure is not His, and He knows that there is no end to opportunity to redeem the soul lost in error and to rectify past failure and to find true happiness in this redemption.

No soul is allowed to know that it is lost. Each life becomes a fresh opportunity to achieve glory. There is no end to the road to perfection.

Saturday, 2/27/99 11:40PM - Divine Nature of Man

It is of the utmost importance that all men realize the wonder that lies within, the divine spark that makes all things possible.

Men of various and sometimes conflicting creeds are agreed upon the divine presence. They feel assured that there is a governing deity who oversees all of human existence and who serves a further purpose. It is this purpose, among other disputes, that separates brother from brother.

Throughout history man has sought answers absolute about the being, unseen and elusive in human terms, who is above all other things vital to his being, supreme in importance. Throughout history man has differed from his brother, and in his insecurity has held his brother in error whenever he differed from him in perception and belief.

Intolerance took hold, and over the centuries took its toll of mankind. Lives were regarded an inconsequential. Power became all. Man began to know total vulnerability when he did not conform to those who wielded power without discretion. The world lost much in all of this intolerant warfare. Idols were smashed, but along with this destruction came alienation, fear, and mistrust.

To this day the pursuit of God has had dire consequences. Man, in his insecurity, has sought to insure himself by denigrating his brother. He has gone even further. He has declared his brother unworthy of life itself unless he bows down to the oppression of imposed beliefs.

No good comes of this secular domination. Even worse, those most intent on pleasing their God become offensive in His eyes when they mistrust their brothers, equal children in the love of the divine Father. Such total rejection of unconditional love is indeed sad. It reduces the oppressors; it elevates the oppressed, for it is time that those who suffer for truth's sake are those who find freedom from oppression, and truth, as it has been always, is defined as total unconditional love. All else is less.

Monday, 3/1/99 11:14PM - Divine Nature of Man

At all times it is incumbent upon all souls making the earthly journey, freely chosen and fully accepted, to recognize the transitory nature of human existence.

It is clear that life's span varies enormously from soul to soul, and yet each of these individual life experiences is perfect in its intention and in its execution. This is not to say that each soul has succeeded fully in reaching perfection, but rather that the time encompassed in each life is exactly designed.

Man is often puzzled by the disparity in the length of life experienced, and indeed this confusion is reasonable, but man needs in consideration of the differences in longevity to realize that the soul come to human existence comes with very specific purpose and clearly defined goals. Some lives require little time to achieve the intended results; others require longer time, but there is no uniformity either in the span of life measured in days, months, and years, or in the nature of the experiences of that life. The nature of the closure of each life is, as well, defined before conception in full agreement with the soul returned to life.

These concepts are difficult for the human mind to grasp fully, but it is enough to know that each life is but a step in the journey each soul makes to inevitable progression to perfection, and that the length of each journey is of little importance. The goal is all.

Man should take comfort in the absolute assurance offered to him that this single life is not all, that no matter the nature of his life's experiences, no matter its length or its brevity, it is but part of a glorious whole.

Let man rejoice in this sure knowledge and let his heart be lightened by the prospect of perfection achieved.

Friday, 3/19/99 11:40PM - Divine Nature of Man

In all ways man pursues the path designed by him before his earthly advent. Some paths are simple and easy. Some are complex and beset by difficulty. Some are at all times a challenge. In each of these differing journeys the soul come to earth is at all times aided by those loving spirits dedicated to his search for perfection. Sometimes this guidance is so strong that man is totally aware of its supernatural quality. At other times man is not as aware as he might be, and at times loses completely his awareness of divine counsel.

It is sad that so often man is not only lacking in awareness of the angelic voice that counsels him to follow the path of love and giving but that he chooses instead to listen to the spirit voices whose pleasure is to lead him astray. They cajole, they entice, they flatter, and in the end they destroy. Man's destiny becomes distorted, and he is until the moment of earthly death lost to all those who sought to guide him and to enrich him.

Once man has passed the portal of death, he is granted total awareness of the extent he has failed in his earthly journey. No matter the heinousness of his crimes, no matter the depth of his depravity, man is given the grace to see clearly how he has failed. He knows fully that all he has failed to do in human existence is his responsibility alone. He knows the debts he has accumulated in his treatment of his fellow man, and he is totally aware and accepting of the absolute need for restitution. He knows that he must find forgiveness for all he has done in error and omission, and finds certain joy in the awareness granted to him that he is fully able to do all that is required.

It is not easy for the human mind to either comprehend or to accept the magnitude of divine acceptance of human error. It is not easy to conceive of a God that loves equally saint and sinner. Yet if it is accepted that all souls must inevitably reach forgiveness for error in the achievement of oneness, then it is possible to pity the sinner and to sense his torment. It is further possible to comprehend the blessed nature of those who suffer oppression and cruelty and hold fast their faith in the infinite goodness of all that they are asked to endure in the firm faith that they are perfect in their acceptance.

Let man then know that though his path through earthly life is one chosen by him before birth, he is absolutely and solely responsible for all his deeds along this path and that all he does incurs responsibility to all those who share his human journey and are affected by his action.

Monday, 5/3/99 12:46AM - Divine Nature of Man

Whatever the source of the sorrow that man experiences in his earthly journey, it must be remembered that this trial is of his own choosing.

I have said that each soul come to earth is master of his destiny insofar as he is allowed to choose much of the life that he enters willingly and with firm resolve to meet all the trials of that life in a love that knows no bounds. Those who share his earthly existence are equally aware of the roles they have gladly and hopefully assumed, and at all times they share in the spiritual progress each of the other in all ways.

It is of consequence that man has no memory of his divine compact only insofar as he must depend upon faith and trust when life seems to him unbearable in its demands. He needs always to depend both upon his inner resources and his given strengths to be confident of success. He needs to look within himself and to seek to know the counsel of those heavenly spirits dedicated to his welfare who seek to lend him strength and insight. Always he must depend upon the love of those who have chosen to be part of his earthly existence and whose concern for his well being mirrors their love for him.

Thus armed, man has no need of the memory of promises made before human birth, for he is at all times enabled by the awareness he has of the love that gives him the strength and the faith to persevere at all times under all circumstances. The time will come when he will rejoice in the extent to which he has fulfilled his divine compact. He will know infinite love and gratitude for all he has known in love received and he will know great satisfaction in the love he has given.

Friday, 6/11/99 10:50PM - Divine Nature of Man

There is infinite goodness in man. No matter the circumstance of each life, no matter the degree of deprivation, no matter the intensity of temptation, man relies always upon this inner strength. He comes from the love of a God who wishes him at all times to succeed in all he seeks in spiritual progress. He comes from a sacred commitment to human life. He comes into this world pure and undefiled, and he begins life in total loving dependence and absolute trust.

All those who return of their own will to human existence come with talents, strengths, and failings of their own choosing in full intent to live a life of love in the face of all adversity. They succeed randomly, it would seem, but even those who seem to have failed utterly retain at all times under all circumstances this innate goodness that is a gift eternal. There are times when this supreme quality seems to have vanished, when the soul in progress seems to have surrendered absolutely to base instinct and to have no wish to change. Such surrender is a source of sorrow both for those joined to him in earthly bonds and for those bound to him in heavenly guidance.

Some souls in progress are slow in recognition of error. Some are capable of inflicting great harm both on themselves and on others. Some seem to have forgotten completely their capacity to live in love. Yet even in these extreme circumstances, the inborn capacity for living in love is never destroyed. It lives in the heart of man no matter how corrupt the life, and it rests ready to assert itself in time of need. It is the rare soul in progress who does not reach the point of awareness that reminds him of his lost innocence and his ability to recover and to embrace goodness.

Such transformations in human existence are cause for hope for all who observe them. Look about you and you will see such wonder.

Monday, 6/28/99 11:24PM - Divine Nature of Man

Man's strength lies always within. He comes to his earthly existence of his own will, fully able and fully intent on meeting all the trials he has chosen to encounter in the fullness of love shared. He comes aware of the pleasures that he will know, of the varied and various relationships he will have during the course of his earthly journey. Though this awareness of all that lies ahead by choice quickly dissipates once he enters earthly life, he retains at all times the strengths and weaknesses he has chosen as part of his human character.

At no time during his earthly journey does man lose these inner qualities. As he agreed before birth, it becomes his responsibility at all times to live in love and at all times to modify his weaknesses and to magnify his strengths. He senses a rightness when in his day-to-day existence he fulfills his promises. Though he lacks full awareness of the exact nature of these commitments, he knows in his heart happiness when he pursues his goals and unhappiness when he fails to do so. It takes little reflection on his part to realize the worthwhile nature of those actions which bring him joy and the uselessness of those which cause him distress.

Most souls are responsive to this inner awareness of what is right and good and what is wrong and destructive. Most respond to the urging to seek happiness by pursuing a life of love, a life finely attuned to inner needs and external demands. There is never a time when man knows a sense of futility and failure when he pursues the path of goodness that he knows is the road to inner peace and self satisfaction. Only when man neglects this inner strength, this insistent urging, does he know discontent and self doubt.

Sunday, 8/8/99 12:13AM - Divine Nature of Man

It is the wisdom all men seek to find total joy and satisfaction in their lives, to know each day the rightness of all they do and all they say, to respond fully, to demand and to enjoy fully satisfaction in all they do.

This satisfaction with all that man experiences is more universal than superficial observation would suggest. It is part of human nature to look upon the unfortunate as unfortunate in all ways. It is not a simple matter to distinguish between material deprivation and spiritual deprivation, and while one does not necessarily either affirm or negate the other, it is folly to make assumptions about any necessary relationship.

The man endowed in every way materially may be impoverished spiritually. Conversely, the meanest of men materially may know great spiritual richness. This is not to say that this is always the case. The opposite may be true. There are infinite gradations between these two extremes, each one deserving of individual examination. Yet it is difficult for most men to accept the fact that material deprivation may be a blessing, and even more difficult for them to accept the fact that this deprivation was freely chosen and accepted before life began.

This is, perhaps, one of the most difficult truths for man to accept. It is unthinkable to so many that any soul preparing for rebirth would choose a life of deprivation and misery. Yet this perspective ignores the eternal nature of life and rebirth and eventual oneness and ignores the fact that spiritual progress may be hastened by a life lived in need and dependence.

Such matters are difficult for the human mind to either assess or accept. It is not necessary to do either. It is required only that there be tolerance in all ways of lives apparently flawed and deplorable, and awareness that such lives serve a purpose, a purpose often more significant than that of their more privileged brothers.

Know always this truth.

Sunday, 8/22/99 11:57PM - Divine Nature of Man

It is blessed to behold man when he has learned the lessons of love even to a small degree. It is total glory to behold man who has learned to love perfectly. In all of life there is need to recognize that love is the single essential for man to achieve.

Often this achievement is not a simple task. Often man chooses to be born in adverse circumstances, into an environment and into relationships where he must learn to love despite early and sometimes continued deprivation, where he must struggle simply to survive and to seek always for the acceptance that marks love given.

The soul having chosen the difficulties and the obstacles of his human existence strives nevertheless to grow spiritually in the capacity to give love even when it is denied him. The fortunate soul retains the capacity for love he brought with him into this world, and he stubbornly clings to the comfort of love even when his life denies him any manifestation of this precious gift.

It is notable that few souls fail completely to reach the miracle of love given and received, that no matter how difficult the struggle, the striving soul persists in its need to learn to love and to inspire love. Those who achieve this necessary goal are able to perfect further their capacities to live fully in love and to know total assurance in this practice.

Those souls who fail to learn the lessons of love given and received are to be pitied, and indeed when they reach the end of human life they are welcomed into the heavenly realm with special warmth, and they know that they are not incapable of love. Indeed they rejoice endlessly in this gift.

Wednesday, 9/8/99 11:50PM - Divine Nature of Man

All men are born with a need to strive for goodness. All men are united in this common endeavor.

It is rare that in the early years of life man's need for goodness expressed in unconditional love is denied him. Although there are cases where the soul come newly to earth has chosen a path beset by trial from the very beginning, most new souls know joyous reception and love lavishly given and gratefully received. In those cases where the start of life is less than perfect, the soul knows that it must strive against all odds to reach the perfection of love that is the aim of all souls in transition.

When man undertakes his human journey, he brings with him talents and limitations of his own choosing. He envisions his experiences before human birth and determines that he will most profit by those he chooses. Sometimes it is difficult for him to succeed despite his freedom of choice, but in the most fortunate of cases he succeeds against all odds and knows the pleasure inherent in spiritual progress, a growth gratifying in all ways.

Occasionally the soul knows setbacks and in the face of discouragement may momentarily forget its strengths. In most cases man calls out for help and seeks inner resources and triumphs over travail. All are pleased in this victory, above all the soul who struggled against superior odds in full faith and hope.

Man is designed to fulfill all his divine promises. If occasionally he fails, he is nourished by the conviction that he has learned from error and that he cannot fail again. Therein lies certainty of eventual oneness.

Saturday, 9/25/99 11:45PM - Divine Nature of Man

From his very first breath to his last, man lives a life divinely governed.

This is not to say that man is asked to exist governed by a power which imposes upon him the nature and duration of his human existence, but rather to say that man before coming to this human existence is divinely empowered to determine the life he will lead in all its aspects. With this gift he is able to determine the path of life best suited to his need for spiritual progress. He is as well endowed with free will which permits him great choice in the extent to which he follows the path he deemed wise and profitable spiritually or to stray from this path in distraction and diversion.

Man's free choice is not infinite, but rather controlled by his material existence. He is always able to choose among alternatives offered to him, but the true significance of free will is his choice to choose wisely in the light of what love demands of him. Man often forgets this central necessity in his choice and must often learn of his error in pain and anguish, but always to his dying day and beyond, he is afforded the opportunity to correct error and to return to the path of love he was meant to follow.

Thus man not only chooses his destiny, but he is allowed infinite error in failure to learn and to progress. He is not allowed to fail in his search for spiritual perfection. Always he must continue to seek.

Saturday, 3/4/00 10:12PM - Divine Nature of Man

Sweet as this life is, the end is sweeter. For some the end is far sweeter, though the soul entering eternity has no sure knowledge of this blessed and comforting truth. Man, under almost all circumstances, tends to cling to life. Even when he is beset by illness, vulnerable constantly to pain and distress, his entire being seems to yearn for a continuation of life, however difficult he may find it, however hopeless his future seems.

This is in some ways a strange phenomenon. The observer, seeing the total distress of the terminally ill individual, wonders that he does not willingly surrender his life and embrace death as a friend, a release from earthly misery. Those who love the soul in danger of death are torn. On the one hand, they cannot bear the thought of relinquishing one they so love, and on the other, they agonize over the hardships his body inflicts upon his spirit. So both are torn, and both are consumed with concern for the other.

Man would be well served could he recognize that the finite nature of human life is at all times a fact of life. The end of life is made certain by its beginning. Man would find added comfort in embracing the truth that each soul come to earthly life has chosen the course of that life with all its attendant gifts and deprivations and designed both its beginning and its ending. Man is master of his destiny but he is, as agreed before life began, deprived of all memory and awareness of the power he has exercised. He lives deprived of this power and this awareness, ignorant of all that has transpired before his birth and ignorant of all that will inevitably follow his death.

Into this vacuum of ignorance, man is blessed to know faith and hope and to have an underlying awareness of the nature of his divine origin and his divine destiny. Faith is the ultimate comfort, one born in love and nourished by hope, to be treasured always. It is a gift freely available to all those on the earthly voyage. It is God's gift to all His children.

© 2010 Cornelia Silke dba New Light Publishing