Description
I am wondering if this isn’t a good illustration of our everyday life. Too much of the time we are startled or frightened or discouraged by the shocks we encounter. We do bump along the road of life, sometimes up in the air and often clutching at the slightest straw to regain our poise and balance.
When the Prodigal was in a far country destitute, nothing had happened to the Divine Abundance. The Father’s house had not been dismantled. The celestial garden still produced the fruit of the vine. But the son’s face was turned, his eyes were closed, his ears were stopped, his consciousness was numbed. He had to come to himself. In coming to himself, he met, face to face, the heavenly Presence which pervades all. He was enfolded in the arms of love. A banquet was spread before him. There was feasting, enjoyment, reconciliation.
Where had God been all this time? God had not been anywhere. The Divine is always present and appears wherever recognized. As you enter more completely into conscious union with Life, you will realize that the universe holds as much good for you as you can take; that you can take only what you give. You cannot draw love into your consciousness through hate. You cannot draw peace from confusion. You cannot see beauty through ugliness, nor hear harmony while your ears are filled with discord.
You rob no person when you discover your own good. You limit no person when you express a greater degree of livingness. You harm no one by being happy. You steal from no one by being honestly prosperous. You hinder no person’s evolution when you consciously enter into the kingdom of your good and possess it today.
But it is certain that you will have to love your fellowman if you wish to be happy. Your union with God implies your union with everything that lives. Do not be afraid of this. Do not shun the thought of it. Divine union means union with everything. This does not mean that you love those who are closest to you any less, you merely love all humanity more.
Think for a moment about the few whom you feel are close and dear to you. Now permit your imagination to include more. Say to yourself: “What would it be like if these few whom I love so much were multiplied so that finally everyone I met should arouse in me the same deep affection?” Dare to lose your small love and you will find it increased and multiplied a million times through greater union.