How I Used Truth - Lesson 4 - Annotation 7
To whom should each soul turn for guidance?
7. Each soul should turn to God within, through prayer. This lesson has emphasized the necessity for each of us to be guided only by our own indwelling Lord, which is God's presence at the inmost center of each person.
Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise
From outward things, whate'er you may believe.
There is an inmost center in us all
Where Truth abides in fullness.
-- Robert Browning
No matter how much we may desire to help another person find the right way so that his life may be purposeful and satisfying, only his own Christ self can guide him into a realization of the Truth. The Christ in him is truly his "hope of glory" (Col. 1:27). Like the life principle of the seed, which knows how the seed must unfold, the Christ, I AM, the life principle in us, knows the way we must go for right soul development. To each of us the command comes:
"Hear, and your soul shall live" (Isa. 55:3).
When we listen to God speaking in the depths of our soul, it is the "still small voice" (I Kings 19:12) that guides us into the right handling of all details of our life. Knowing this for ourselves, we become aware of this same vital truth for others, and we refrain from interference in their lives. No matter how our heart may long to do some outer thing, or insist upon a dear one following our way, we know that he must hear" what God in him says in order that his "soul shall live."
An important phase of turning within for guidance is being obedient to what is revealed by the "still small voice." Our Scripture makes clear the result that will follow such obedience:
"If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land" (Isa. 1:19).
As used here "eating" refers to the appropriating of God's blessings (divine ideas) in mind, body, and affairs. Only as we have listened and accepted God's guidance in the form of ideas can we hope to "eat the good of the land." The ideas of life, peace, faith, strength, understanding, take form in our life as the "good of the land" to meet every need of mind, body and affairs.
We may, through a misdirected expression of love, seek to be the voice pf guidance for another person. We may even try to force him to follow our way of seeking the "good of the land." In so doing, we may be guilty of delaying the manifestation of good in his life. Our prayer for another that he be illumined to the point of "finding the Christ" in himself, of listening to the voice within and obeying its leading, can do much to free him. It can also relieve us of anxiety concerning his welfare.
Dear God, I leave him in Thy care;
For Thy great love is everywhere.
Thou keepest him within Thy sight.
Thou leadest him in paths of right.
No matter where his task may be
I know that he is safe in Thee.
--Ruth Freistedt DeChantal: Best-Loved Unity Poems.
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Preceding Entry: How do counselors, teachers, and friends often stand in the way of a person's attaining a desired consciousness?
Following Entry: Should one who is apparently "going wrong" be specifically treated for his "sins"?
