1953 FIRST PORTLAND CLASS

Joel S. Goldsmith
tape 38A – Temple Meditation (2/5)

Now, if we relax, if we relax from that word I, and instead of using it, use the term, “the Christ or the Father,” and realize that the Father is working out Its plan on earth, and that we are here only to show forth the glory of the Father—not to show forth your glory or mine—to show forth the glory of the Father, and let, let It begin Its work in us, very quickly you will discover this—that there is nothing limited about your demonstration.

There is nothing limited, confined, or finite about your life, your mind activity, your business activity, or your healing or teaching activity. There’s nothing limited about it, except when the word “I” comes in. You find that… well, I have a letter today on that very point of someone saying, “I would so love to be in this work.”

Now you see, they are interfering with the divine plan. They’re trying to select their own place. Let the little “I” swing the Godhead, the Christ and determine where It should function, instead of saying, “No, I am satisfied where I am, and at each moment of every day I will let the Christ move me about—not I determine Christ activity. Let the Christ activity determine me and mine.”

There is no way to bring forth an infinite demonstration, an infinite sense of life, a more abundant sense of life, except through the realization of our self-completeness in God, not in I—not self-completeness in Joel, self-completeness in God, and the completeness of God is made manifest as the harmony and abundance of Joel, but it still is not Joel’s abundance. It still is not Joel’s success. It still is not Joel’s intelligence or love. It is still the wisdom of the Father, the activity of the Father, the divine grace of the Father, and It just manifests and expresses through Joel as Joel is willing, and when I say Joel, I mean William and Mary and all the rest of the names in this room, and out in the world.

This sense of separation from God constitutes all of the error there is in our experience. This use of the word ‘I’ constitutes all of the evil that comes into our experience, and only in proportion as we can relax and let the activity of the Christ express Itself, manifest Itself, perform itself; only in that degree is the demonstration of health, harmony, wholeness, abundance, contentment, peace, and security made evident.

Of course, I don’t have to tell you that this is not as simple as it sounds. There is a discipline to it, for the simple reason that we have built up this personal sense of ‘I’ over a period of thousands of years since the prodigal decided to leave home and be somebody on his own account.

And so it is that egotism comes into the picture and says, “What, be dependent on the Father? On God? Always have to turn to God for direction? Where do I come in? I think I’ll live my life. I think I’ll determine where I will live and what I will do.

And it works too, for a while—for a while—until the breakdown, because the only reality there is, and the only permanence is in our completeness, the completeness that comes to us through God, through the realization of the spiritual nature of our being and the ability to let It manifest and express Itself in any direction.

Now, this brings us to a very, very important facet, let us say, or phase of our existence. It is not too difficult to be what the world calls “a go-getter,” that is, to be active and alert and make plans and advertise one’s self and go out into the world and become known, and exert personal influence, or bring influence to bear, and in many, many ways glorify and magnify the personal sense of “I,” and become very important, sometimes.

It is much more difficult, at first, to sit back and rest in one’s home, in one’s office, in prison, if that is where this finds one, and let the world come to us. Let the divine activity be brought to our door. Let the demonstration be brought right in on a silver tray.

It seems, sometimes, that that can never happen, at least that it cannot happen to us, but it can. It can happen in this wise: if you once realize that it is the Christ that is the real mind of your being, the real soul, the real wisdom, and the real love, you will find that everything and everybody will gravitate to that Christ.

If you believe that you have this great wisdom and spirituality and goodness of yourself, you will find your self startlingly left alone, noticeably so.

But catch this vision of the vine and the Father, and be still while God pours Its infinite good through the vine into the branch, and then you’ll find that without any effort of your own, fruitage will appear.

You will just stand still in being, and all of a sudden little buds and blossoms and leaves will break out all over, and then will follow the fruitage. And all you will be doing is standing still, but in standing still, you will be active about the work that is given to you to do each day.

Each one of us has something to do today—each one of us. It makes no difference what it is, whether it is housework, office work, selling, mechanical work, healing work, teaching work. Each one has something to do for today. If we do that without concern for tomorrow, only do today to the highest sense of our ability, and stand still in the realization that the Christ is ever flowing into the branch, the vine is ever pouring God’s essence, substance into the branch.

Going about one’s daily work in the realization, “Just think, right now, while I’m doing this, while I’m reading, while I’m studying, the Father is pouring Its bounty into me, the branch, through the invisible Christ of my being, and that’s all.” And of Its own self, the next day something else is given one to do, and then one does that to the best of their ability, and so on until, step by step, we are led out of the business world, out of the household, out of the family duties into the wider ministry of healing or teaching or writing or music, because there are many, many facets of the activity of the Christ.

They are not all connected with the healing work and teaching of spiritual subjects. The Christ is infinite in Its activity and can make of us musicians or mathematicians or builders, and they’re all equally of God. No one is more spiritual than another.

It only means that the architect and the builder is producing his ideas, activities, work, through the realization of the divine ideas that are given to him from within, and the musician the same and the poet and the author the same, and so the practitioner and teacher the same. It is all the same activity of the Christ appearing in infinite form and variety.

Yes, the word ‘I’ is a devil. The word ‘I’ would lead us into thinking and doing and being something of ourselves instead of, “Thank you, Father. Thank you, Father. All that God Is I am. All that the Father hath as mine.”

And, therefore, just let me be still in that, and then the flow comes, and the demands are made upon us in one way or another, activity is brought to our very door, and always—not only in its abundance, but fruitful, successful, because the same Christ that brings the activity to our door fulfills it, performs it. He performeth that which is given me to do.

Yes, if He gives it to me to do, He also performs it. When we go out searching for something to do, it isn’t always a sign that He has given it to us, and it is for that reason that very often we fail, because we are trying to do work that we sought, that we found, that we determined we would do, and of course, there is no He to perform it.