In the beginning God
January 2, 2011
These first four words in the first book of our Bible set forth a directing principle that can successfully sustain our faith, and help us accomplish successfully any legitimate endeavor to which we apply our heart and mind: In the beginning God…
As this directing principle becomes our guide in every aspect and every activity of our life, it has a decisive influence on the way we live and on the decisions we make on a daily basis. It takes a shift in consciousness to realize and fully accept that God, absolute good, is all there is. Every activity in our life necessarily takes place within God Mind. In addition, every decision, every project, every initiative, every action actually begins in God whose energy gives life and movement not only to our thoughts but also to all the manifestations that such thoughts create.
Referring to the creation of the Universe, a teacher affirmed “In the beginning that never began…” He wanted to stress that the idea of Creation was eternal just like God, the Creator; that since God has no beginning and no end, God’s Creation, intimately connected with God, is likewise an unfolding, ongoing expression, continually in progress. And all our creations have the same characteristics, when we put God first.
The implication of the above is that our life is rooted and grounded in God, source of the energy behind all existence and all manifestation. This means also that our life is always a work in progress. This means above all that to acknowledge God as the basis and the foundation of whatever we do in life, and to acknowledge God as the supreme power that can assure success to whatever we do, will allow us, after we have honestly done our best, to find in God a powerful ally that will do the rest for us most successfully. This means ultimately that we have lived out the idea and the intent of “In the beginning God;” we have put God first in our life and the related blessings are forthcoming.
In His infinite generosity, God has made easier for us to put Him first. He has put in the heart of men and women the desire to always invoke Him before significant events in life and in their day-to-day circumstances. People naturally pray when they wake up in the morning and when they are about to retire at the end of the day. They go through rites of passage and through special prayers and ceremonies before important natural changes in their lives. The welcoming of the New Year in a prayerful consciousness is no exception. Before they go on trips, before they begin tests and exams: they feel the need to pray.
During the First World War, an Army Officer and the men under his command made a pact, before they went fighting, that each one would say the ninety-first Psalm faithfully every morning and evening. They all kept their promise, and at the end of the war they all returned home safely without the group having suffered any casualty. They had done something special, acknowledging God at the beginning of their journey and in opening and closing their days. That produced some special result and a great blessing.
“In the beginning of every undertaking,
I invite God to take His proper place in my life:
I know then that I can expect great things to happen. I am grateful. Amen.”
Second look at my life
January 9, 2011
One of the blessings that this time of the year brings to all people is the opportunity to re-examine their lives in the light of the experience of a new beginning. Recently, as we stepped into the New Year, we discussed together the concept described in the phrase: “In the beginning God.” We endeavored to claim and acknowledge the Presence of God as a priority in every initiative and activity whether that relates to our life or not.
Today we are examining our own experience of the new beginning, with an eye for what really makes it a blessing. We want to relive the freeing experience of blessing the old year and releasing it, in order to make room for the New Year and for the wonderful possibilities of our hearts’ desires coming to pass in divine order. We are taking a second look at our life after having made the transition from the past and having tested the waters of the New Year for a few days.
Looking at our life in the New Year and experiencing the ups and downs of it, most of us realize anew something we most likely have known all along: of ourselves we can do nothing, but it is the Father within us who does the good work. Out of such realization comes the blessing of a profound and practical understanding. We get to know and be convinced that our greatest blessings come to us when we let go and let God run our life. Testing the waters of the New Year, we have learned and we have awakened to something that has been dormant in us for years. We know it now for the rest of our life. Nobody and nothing can take away from us this liberating conviction:
“…It is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying (to dictatorship of human self)
that we are born to Eternal Life.”
The new understanding is experienced in us almost like a new birth. Our inner child of the past finds again the loving assurance and protection of unselfish parents that convey their message in practical terms, in words and acts: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I will never leave you nor forsake you; you need never feel alone again, for my Presence shall go with you wherever you go.”
As we take our second look at our life, it is this eternal Presence that brings security to our insecurity and certainty of good to our doubts and worries. When we sing, “The hopes and fears of all the years are met in thee tonight,” we will be affirming from our heart that a new life of lasting joy and fulfillment has begun for us, and this is the bonus brought about by the spirit of new beginning that prevails at this time of the year. Yet, better than that, we come to know God now as our ordinary Father who does truly extraordinary things. We get to live with the belief, the expectation and the irrefutable proof that God works in mysterious ways His wonders to perform.
“I said to the man who stood at the gate of the years,
‘Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown’.
- He said to me,
‘Go out into the darkness and put your hand in the hand of God.
That shall be to you safer than a light and better than a known way’.”
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