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To Joyful Hearts Who Extol the Love That Is God -
Various lifestreams I have known and with whom I have served in numerous embodiments have suffered much from the malady of overconcern. Among these blessed but most unfortunate individuals were some who were determined to be sober of face to the point of stiffness - so much so that nothing ever seemed to make them laugh. It was as though they were afraid that if they should even smile, it might crack the mirror of the universe!
I recall one blessed sister of a holy order with whom I once served. She had been born and spent her girlhood in a home of great wealth and therefore had the feeling that she had given up a great deal to serve the Lord. She tried very hard to conceal this from the other sisters, so much so that toward the close of her embodiment she spent most of her free time in prayer, interceding for her own soul that it would cease to be puffed up.1
Experiencing alternate periods of depression and ecstasy, she would feel encouraged even by a little sign of progress, only to be plagued by the haunting specter of more of the same self-importance whenever a new sister arrived. Surely she must not show this new sister her own greatness - and therefore behind the mask of great austerity and a sober face, she concealed the depth of her personal suffering and her struggle to be virtuous and humble.
Toward the close of her embodiment, she became extremely distressed when a vivacious young novice arrived. Her smiling face and delightful sense of humor stemmed from an attitude of not taking herself too seriously. Therefore, she did her best to see the good in every situation - even to the point of finding humor in some of the holy rituals. This, of a truth, stemmed from no lack of devotion but from her blithe young spirit desiring to bring cheer to others in the midst of the sometimes somber atmosphere of monastic life.
The older sister, whose name was Veronica, was abashed to discover that the younger sister's nature seemed to grate on her very soul, bringing to her at a moment when she had thought that victory was in sight, alas, the greatest trial of her life! So discordant did she become and so distressed, that her attention, inverting upon herself, attracted to her person a fatal illness and she soon passed on.
When her case was reviewed in the spiritual realm, the Karmic Board decided on the basis of her good intentions to give her extensive training at inner levels in order to reduce the probability that such wasteful and introverted self-attention should divert her soul's pure service to the Light (her heart's true desire) in her next embodiment. She actually spent more than twenty-seven years at inner levels in the retreats of the Great White Brotherhood reviewing the psychological aspects of her own case, taking training from the Ascended Masters so as to prevent a recurrence in her next life of excessive self-consciousness.
All this took place before she was summoned by the Lords of Life, according to the necessity of her karma, to enter once again the gates of birth. The happy ending to my story, beloved, and one that holds a promise of hope to all, is that she became a real saint in her very next embodiment!
So does heaven ceaselessly bring its blessings the Ascended Masters' way to every part of Life, even when that part seems to fall short of the mark.2 Truly, heaven has many remedies!
Now, countless millions of well-meaning individuals seem to lack the common sense that distinguishes the saint from those who never quite measure up to the desired standards of their inward aspirations. Most of this is caused by paying too much attention to the outer personality and not placing enough upon the great discriminating Cosmic Christ Intelligence of their own being, their Holy Christ Self - also known as the Higher Mental Body, the Higher Consciousness, and the Mediator between God and man.
It is extremely difficult for men and women schooled in the various religions of the day to set aside their fear of dire consequences should they be found even considering any idea which is not "absolutely correct" in a doctrinal sense. Yet common sense should tell them that their own religious beliefs, whatever they are, comprise but one of thousands of sects or divisions of sects.
The average Christian is bound to the tradition of the historical Jesus being the chosen, anointed, and "only begotten" heir of the favor of God. He does not seem to realize that God created only favorites in all his children and that he expects all of his sons and daughters to strive for the one supreme standard of perfection which is innate within the divine image of each and every one. This is the true image of the Christ out of which all were made as children of the Light.
Jesus' "I AM" affirmations were spoken of his Christ Self, the Universal One who is the true and only Son of God. The image of the Son "with us," the Immanuel3 (manifest as each one's Christ Self), is the true Self, i.e., the true Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.4
When the Master said, "I AM the Light of the world,"5 he affirmed the Son Presence as that Light. And he promised that as each one would lift up this Son (i.e., Sun or Light) of man within himself, he would also know that Son in Jesus:
Then shall ye know that I am he - and that the I AM in me, as the I AM in you, is the Light of my world and your world and is the All of cosmos. Then shall ye know that I AM He - that I am the incarnation of the Word, the Christ. When ye have lifted up the Son of man, then shall ye know that I do nothing of my (outer) self; but as my Father, the Mighty I AM Presence, hath taught me, I speak these things.
He that sent me - the Mighty I AM Presence - is with me: the Father hath not left me alone. When ye shall have lifted up the Son of man within your own soul and temple, then shall you also know the Father, as I do, through the Presence and Person of the I AM THAT I AM. And this is the Word that is made flesh in me. Hence, I am Jesus the Christ. I AM He.
If ye continue in this Word, then are ye my disciples indeed. And ye shall know the Truth, for you shall have become the Truth that I AM, and that Truth shall make you free.6
"I AM the Resurrection and the Life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live"7 is spoken of the Holy Christ Self, who is not a historical figure or even a human personage but rather the Divine Person, or Personhood, of every child of the Light.
This Divine Person is an 'electronic' manifestation of the Presence of God, vibrating at times at a rate beneath that of the Presence (the Father) in his role of reaching out to assist the evolving soul directly, being capable of both ascent and descent in vibration whenever necessary. Thus, the Holy Christ Self of each son and daughter on earth is able at will to become one with the absolute Presence of God above (the I AM, or Father) - or the embodied soul below.
When the soul realizes the full impact of this gift of love, it is like a beautiful melody which amplifies over and over with each listening that GOD IS LOVE8 and that He is quite unwilling to have men and women perish, to remain in delusion, or to be forever bound by unhappy situations.
Know, then, that by concentration upon the Holy Christ Self, anyone can let go of the delusion of separation - which, as Ecclesiastes declares, is only vanity (a human conditioning of the human consciousness). Anyone can rise above the need for psychoanalysis or for soul-saving by the sawdust trail or the via dolorosa, finding instead in his beloved Christ Self, who is the Light-manifestation of God which never fails, the hope of the universe in unending portion freely given for the integration of the whole man.
The human problem of self-love, self-pity, or self-delusion (and this includes every addiction, binding human habit, and predilection to sexual perversion) is no longer of concern to those who abide in the true knowledge of the indwelling Father and Son. No malady of over self-concern exists for them - with its attendant sinful state and sense of struggle - to hinder or further delay their progress or trap their energies while they painfully speculate, and woefully, as to whether or not they have found favor with God and man.9
It is much easier for those completely free from self-love to spread the balm of happiness everywhere than it is for those who are still bound by this dreadful disease (dreaded, that is, only so long as one is its slave; unreal and unfeared when one is its master).
Thus, souls on the path of selflessness, overcoming their too, too self-importance, become lost in a giant concern for both the Love and the Plan of God (which they know is waiting revealment in their own Christ Self). These seek to be like the little brothers of Jesus, or to unite with the little brothers of Saint Francis, or to be even a little unknown brother of love, simply loving the blessed earth, the trees, the sky, the sound of sweet music, and the song of the Lord. Such as these have found peace, have found God.
Listen, then, to the voice of your Holy Christ Self, the Father's gift of eternal salvation to you. The Christ is all these things: the wise Master-builder whose name is called Wonderful, whose wisdom (wise dominion) makes him Counsellor, whose vibrations make you feel so peaceful and calm because they emanate from The Prince of Peace.10 His omnipresence is the ever-nearness of The Mighty God, saying, "He that has seen me has seen the Father"11 - the Everlasting One, your own individualized focus of divinity, the Mighty I AM Presence!
Try to be ever full of joy. Magnify the LORD in silence or audibly as your heart dictates, but let all be done with the wisdom of God in reasonable perfection before men, so that all may glorify God as they behold you. Let this be your goal.
So do beloved Jesus and I, as World Teachers, direct you. So do thou and so teach, that all men may smile even at themselves - at the human because they should not take it too seriously, and at the Holy Christ Self because they ought to take it very seriously - with an ever-present smile of welcome.
So is Love extolled, so does greater love exert its power of elevation upon your spirit. So is the Father revealed on the path of sainthood.
I AM Wisdom's fount of heavenly affection, kissing your pathway daily with peace and spiritual light which knows no wane.
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[Taken from the book version, Corona Class Lessons.]