Infinite Way Letter
May 1956
By Joel Goldsmith
Part 1 of 6

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.
Psalms 27:14

It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord.
Lamentations 3:26

Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.
Isaiah 40:30-31

Part One

These are but a few of the innumerable passages throughout the Bible that reveal the importance of “waiting on the Lord”; and this is just what The Infinite Way teaches as learning to live the life of a beholder. This, of course, does not mean sitting idly by with folded hands. On the contrary, the more one waits on the Lord, and the more one is a beholder of God working in him, through him, and as him, the more active he becomes. As a beholder, we still plan our days in accordance with what is necessary to do, taking care of those things which require our attention and which lie nearest at hand. We go about our daily lives, managing our households and businesses as usual, but always from the stand-point of waiting upon the Lord, beholding what the Father gives us to do this hour and the next, tomorrow and the day after.

For example, if I have lectures and appointments scheduled in advance, I arrange my time so as to be available for this work, but I do not consider what to say or do during these lectures and appointments. That is my opportunity to become a beholder, to wait upon the Lord, to watch what the Father gives me to say or do at each period of the day. As the work for the next day comes to mind, I take the attitude of a beholder, of waiting, or listening for the subject which is to unfold. If nothing seems to come through, I am not concerned: I simply continue to maintain the attitude of expectancy up to the very moment of the lecture, remembering that this is the Father’s work, not mine. Students come to hear the Father’s Word, not mine: I am merely the messenger or instrument, and together we are beholders. Students come with an air of expectancy, beholding, waiting for the Word that is to be given; and I also am a beholder, waiting, listening for that Word. It may be revealed beforehand, and sometimes it may not be given until the lecture has been in progress for several minutes. There have been times when students actually knew when the Word was received by the change that occurred.

When I am asked when and where the next class will be given or what my future plans may be, my usual answer is that I do not know. When the Word is given, plans and arrangements are made and not until then. If we stand aside as beholders of the activity of God, the Father leads us step by step; and we must always hold ourselves in such a state of receptivity that we are ready and willing at a moment’s notice, to change any plans we may have made in order to follow the divine plan.

Regardless of the nature of our work, there are duties to be performed and obligations to be met each day, but by being a beholder we discover that there is a divine Power which guides and directs us; that “He performeth the thing that is appointed for me.” Much of our trouble arises from that infamous little devil, the word “I”: I want to do this; I must do that; I have planned to go there—not realizing that there is another I, a divine Presence that would live our lives for us if we but permitted It to do so. This is the state of consciousness achieved by Paul: “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” It is as if the man Paul were stepping aside, saying, “The Christ is acting in me, through me, and as me. Christ lives my life for me.” That is the attitude we maintain as a beholder, and it is almost as if we were saying, “I am not really living my life at all. I am watching the Father live Its life through me.”

This is the ideal way of living—the spiritual way, in which we meet with the fewest obstacles and misunderstandings, the least opposition. In this spiritual way of Life there is no I, me, or mine; the little I has not entered the picture. If I speak or act in accordance with my human desires, my words and actions may incur criticism and misunderstanding; but if I wait patiently enough the Father will speak and act through me, and these words and actions always will be understood. “I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.” Always there is a Presence, the Infinite Invisible, that goes before us to make the crooked places straight, to perform that which is given us to do, to perfect that which concerneth us. It makes perfect every detail of our experience if only we can resist the temptation to use the word ‘I’ long enough to give It an opportunity to work in and as us. It is only when I do or speak or think that the outcome may be wrong.
End Part 1