At this time, you will find another hard saying of the Master. That your prayers avail you nothing if you are not at peace with your brothers, with your neighbor. If you go to the altar to pray, and there remember that a man has aught against thee, get up and leave the altar. Don’t pray. It won’t do you any good. First make peace with your brother, then return to the altar. And the practical application of that is this; we are not condoning anyone’s wrongdoing, but unless we have the attitude of; “Father, forgive them,” we have set up a barrier in our own consciousness to answered prayer. Many, many people, even in the metaphysical and spiritual healing world, wonder why they do not receive the healings that they’re striving for, praying for, and sometimes even paying for. And the healings don’t come. And they wonder why. What is the barrier? Of course they are shying away from that statement of the Master; “Forgive seventy times seven. Pray for your enemy.” Because that’s not easy, to pray for the enemy and mean it. It’s not easy to pray seventy times seven and mean it. It’s not easy – ah – do you remember the “eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” of the ancient Hebrews”? And the Master says; “No longer an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth,” but “forgive seventy times seven”. Well, can you imagine how much we entertain thoughts of; “They ought to be punished”; “He ought to be punished”; “She ought to be punished”; “They’ll get theirs”; “I hope they get theirs.” And all of this time separating ourselves from our spiritual sonship. Because we can not be sons of God until our entire consciousness has been remolded, transformed to where we can look out at this world, not condone the error, but say of the individual; “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do,” and mean it. “Father, forgive them.” Sometimes when the offense of an individual is so great, such as we’ve seen with Hitler, with others, when their offense is so great that you say; “Oh no, forgiving that would be beyond me.” At least we can acknowledge that and then say; “But Father, you forgive them. You forgive them. If I can’t, you do. And forgive me at the same time.” And remember the Lord’s prayer; “Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors.” And you are virtually saying; “Hold me in bondage in proportion as I am holding others in bondage.”

Now, this is what makes the spiritual path different and difficult. It requires a whole transformation of consciousness, what in Paul is called “dying daily” and being reborn; what the Master calls “dying – dying and being reborn of the Spirit.” It is a death to our human consciousness; that consciousness which is made up of both good and evil, that consciousness with which we praise people who do good and condemn those who do evil, whereas we have no right to do either. The Master, in speaking of good, said; “Why callest thou me good? There is none good but the Father in Heaven.” Now, during my particular work in the early years of this ministry, I discovered two principles of healing that made my work then outstanding, and has made the healing work in the Infinite Way outstanding. And that is impersonalization; not pinning good onto anyone. Being thankful and grateful for those who are channels of good, of course. But recognizing that the good does not have its source in any individual, no matter how high or lofty they may be, that God is the source of all good that flows through an individual. And then, being equally able when we witness evil, not to condemn the person but to realize that the evil is just as impersonal as the good.

Actually, this changed the whole nature of a great deal of practice, because it turned us away from trying to uncover the error in your thought. It turned us away from saying; “Oh, well you have to be more loving to get healed,” or “more grateful to get healed,” or “you must do something to get healed,” or “you must overcome smoking or drinking,” or “you must read so many pages of a spiritual book each day.” All of this was done away with, with this revelation that you don’t have to do anything. The evil itself is nothingness and is impersonal, and in the realization of this, great healing works take place. Nevertheless, as we continue on this path, it is necessary for each individual to mold themselves in accord with the pattern shown thee on the mount, the pattern shown thee by Christ Jesus; the ability to impersonalize good, impersonalize evil; the ability to forgive, even the woman taken in adultery which at that time was a crime equal only to murder. Don’t forget, those were the two crimes for which the guilty parties were stoned to death; murder and adultery. And yet, the Master could say to the woman taken in adultery; “Neither do I condemn thee. Thy sins be forgiven thee.” And to the thief on the cross; “Neither do I condemn thee. I will take thee with me this night into Paradise.” When your consciousness is so molded that you can look at any sinner, regardless of the name or nature of their sin, and realize; “Neither do I condemn thee. I know that sinners only perform through ignorance. Therefor, Father, forgive them. They know not what they do.” You have molded yourself into the image and likeness of the Son of God. When you can forgive those who despitefully use you, who persecute you, ill-treat you, and forgive them not once, or ten times, but four hundred and ninety times, you have molded yourself into the image of the likeness of the Son of God, and you are then heir of God, joint heir to all the heavenly riches.

This path then of the Infinite Way, is one in which the goal has been set of attaining spiritual illumination; illumination as to the name and nature of God; illumination as to our relationship with God; and ultimately, that blinding flash as it was with Paul, or a sweet gentle presence as it has been with others, that reveals; “Knowest thou not, I am God in the midst of thee. And I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.” This is the experience that we must attain. Never forget, however, that to attain it, it is necessary that we develop an in-built stillness, an in-built ability to listen for that voice of God. In all of our work, please remember that for as long a time as possible before the opening of a class, be silent. Sit in meditation. Sit in a listening attitude, as if you were actually waiting for the still small voice to speak.