Infinite Way Letter
January 1955
By Joel Goldsmith
Part 3 of 4
The Importance of Meditation
Prayer
Prayer, in The Infinite Way acceptance of the word, is totally unlike the accepted dictionary meaning of petitioning, supplicating, beseeching.
While pondering words and all their varieties of meanings, my thought turned to how these words came into being: how feeling had first become caged in the form of words, and so became generally accepted to have much the same meaning the world over. In thinking of the feelings embodied in certain words, I was then in a state of meditative prayer.
In this quiet, contemplative state my thought turned to the Psalms of David, and how his Psalms were prayers. Many times he poured forth his personal sense of anguish, remorse, doubt, but always he came back to the understanding of his true relationship to God. Then his prayer became a song of praise and thanksgiving, and awareness of his relationship to God.
Prayer then can be a cleansing agent, a clearance of old beliefs, a “cleansing of the temple,” and sometimes this cleansing can take the form of a whip—a lash to drive out the belief that our bodies can be other than “the temple of the living God.”
Only the Christ performs this type of prayer, because only the Christ knows when the temple is being desecrated. The natural man can give many good reasons why the money-changers should be in the temple. So, then, an important function of prayer is listening for the Christ—silently, expectantly listening for Its interpretation, and then following through by obedience.
Only those of pioneer dispositions or with an adventurous spirit within can get the utmost from prayer. The word itself, having a supplicatory association, would disguise this fact, but anyone having explored the path of prayer for any period of time can tell you it is a glorious new adventure in living—the opening up of an heretofore unexplored realm. The dropping away of horizons is perhaps the first step; the old concepts slough off, one by one, and you begin to find you have never known your “Self.”

Try it, and through the gateway of prayer, “Acquaint now thyself with Him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee.”
(A Student)

The Power of Secrecy
“Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have the glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly. And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.”
(Matt. 6:1-6)
Secrecy is one of the profound and powerful principles of harmonious and joyous living, and only those who have discovered the world of secrecy can realize its beauty, peace and Grace.
Rightly understood, The Infinite Way reveals that we do not pray, but rather that God utters His Word—and it is done. We do not pray: we hear the “still, small Voice” declaring His Truth within us, and this is prayer. Only in Silence, and “in the secret place of the most High” can we become aware of the Divine Presence, and thereby be in prayer. And this prayer is openly fulfilled in the harmonies, joys and peace of our daily experience.
“… do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have the glory of men … they have their reward.” Indeed, to give alms, to give assistance and to share, brings a reward in the regard of men. But to do these secretly is to gain the Grace of God, the recognition of Love, and thereby God’s bounty is openly received. The reward for praying in public is in the regard received from men, but only those who have learned to pray “in secret” may experience the Grace of God in answering prayer.
To give, or to pray, where others may witness and possibly praise, is to glorify self, and this is a violation of Christ’s Law. The law of self is eliminated when the gift and the prayer are secret. God is the only Giver, and so praise of the self, or glory drawn to the self, leaves one outside the realm or benefit of the Law. Giving in secret is the recognition of God as the real Giver, and thereby the glory rightly belongs and goes to the Father.
When fasting from the indulgences of the senses, we are not to make evident to the world that we are refraining from the world’s standards: instead, let us appear outwardly as men, while living inwardly as Saints. Hereby Spiritual Law is fulfilled.
It is possible to observe this principle or its violation in our own experience. For a few days take heed, and mark how much of self is praised, thanked and recognized in the acts of giving and praying. Then for a while, give and pray in secret where no one can know the source of the benefits received, and notice now how self, self-benefit and self-glory have been absent and, naturally, how all recognition and praise is given to the Divine Source of all Good. It is in this deflation of self that the Christ is fulfilled.
The Master teaches much of praying for our enemies; for those who despitefully use us and persecute us; for those who do evil. This manner of prayer is but the recognition of God as the Father, the Life and the Law unto all men; the awareness that God’s Love to His Children is evidenced in much forgiveness; the realization that Christ holds no man in bondage to his sins, but graciously utters, “Neither do I condemn thee … Thy sins are forgiven.”
How but in secret and in silence can we receive such wisdom from the Father, and feel such love for mankind—even those who hate us? If we voice such sentiments aloud, is it not merely that we may be praised for our great spirit of love and forgiveness, whereas actually we are but the instruments through which God’s love and God’s forgiveness reaches the world?
Since “the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof …” actually we have nothing to give to anyone, that is, nothing that belongs to us, except by His Grace. Is it not fitting then that our giving be in secret that only the Father may receive thinks, praise and glory? Thus the elimination of the self is the fulfilling of Love’s Law.
We are admonished: “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” Spiritually, we understand this to mean that we are not to judge man by appearances, but consciously to know and understand the spiritual nature of his being; to recognize Spirit as the law and source and activity of individual being. To look upon man as he appears to be—mortal, material, finite, sick, well, rich poor—is to bear false witness against him. To recognize and realize Christ as the true identity of everyone, and to understand Love as man’s true nature, is to pray for him.
Each day it is our privilege and duty to retire into our secret chamber of consciousness, and pray this prayer of realization for those of our household, our business, our community, our nation, and this giving of our understanding, of our time and our devotion will be rewarded in His Grace literally appearing as our sufficiency in all things.
End Part 3