A New Endeavor

Violence

and

The Power of Love

channeled through the pen of

Marie Fox O’Brien

A List of Books

Marie’s Story - An Extraordinary Odyssey

Channeled Books

Martin’s Original Writings

Revelations

The Divine Nature of Man

Lessons

A new Endeavor

Concepts

Prayers

Past Lives

Moses

Zorah

Rose

Joseph II

Edam the Elder and Saleh

and Inga - Pala - Bana

Peter and Ann

Romulus

Remembrances-The Holy Family

Martin’s Life Remembered

Introduction

Tuesday, 9/11/01 1:45PM

My love, am I right in talking pen in hand?

Soon, my darling, the horror of destruction will yield to the wonder of brotherhood born in awareness of the universality that marks all of human life. It will take a miracle of persuasion to reach hearts trained to hate and minds closed to awareness of the absolute necessity of tolerant sharing of the world they know. Yet this fundamental reversal of deeply held and totally revered beliefs will inexorably come to a world sorely in need of a new beginning. The hearts of man must embrace all he now holds repellent and come to a realization of the folly of conflict and aggression.

I hold no false hope in all I say, for what I promise is inexorable in its nature, but man must be willing to be led on the path to peace and love. He will, in the end, realize that he has no other choice.

Thursday, 10/25/01 3:02PM

Dearest Martin, you know with what wonder and gratitude I reread your nightly words of the past few weeks. I am still concerned that I might have failed in the promised "new endeavor" and at the same time I know that things change with good reason. I am, I think, confused and greatly in need of your wisdom and assurance and certainly of your guidance. I do ask to know how to please you. I ask your words.

******

When you turn to me with such love and trust I am filled with joy. It is at all times a wonder to me that no matter how often your patience is tried you find new acceptance and understanding of all that is involved in our work. Our endeavor is simply postponed, my darling scribe. You have tried to envision its content and purpose, and in your consideration you find new hope. Indeed this world in its disarray does need divine guidance, and much will be needed in persuasion. Do not hesitate in accepting this promise, my love, difficult as it is just now to imagine such powerful influence. I have said that we will not fail and I repeat this sacred promise now. Be assured that hatred will cease to be a motivating force among men greedy for power and dominance. Be assured that all we say will heal wounds deemed impossible of healing and persuade minds most reluctant to acknowledge new truth. Just now I am persuaded that it is time for us to return to our daily ritual of taking pen in hand before sleep. It will be my joy to be your guide. Do not fear incapacity, my love. Let us begin this day.

******

Beloved, you give me good cause for an early evening. I am glad. I am grateful. I will do all I can to please you.

******

Go now, then, my scribe, and know that you have done well. I am pleased.

Thus began

“A New Endeavor”

violence

Friday, 10/26/01 12:10AM

In the annals of time much has been recorded of human strife, of man set against man in violence born in hatred. Little has been achieved by these mighty struggles. Though power has prevailed briefly, those who considered themselves victorious soon found themselves vanquished and all their triumphs turned into defeat. All that remained were bitter memories and recriminations. Yet over time man has learned little. He has ignored the lessons of history. He has pushed from his consciousness the unreasonable nature of violent struggle and has chosen to forget the ephemeral nature of earthly domination.

It is time that man look into his soul and seek there to find reason. It is time that man examines honestly all that motivates him. Blind passion born in ignorance and misjudgment of all he opposes must yield to reasonable analysis and emotional detachment. Man is ill served by passions which speak to him of advantage gained in destruction of his fellow man. In his efforts to address grievance he all too often increases tensions to the point where passion so dominates that reconciliation of differences becomes impossible of achievement.

Man bent on his present course will inevitably destroy his enemies and in the process destroy himself and all he holds worthwhile in earthly existence. There is no time to lose. Each day makes it more difficult to reach reasonable agreement.

alternatives to violence

Sunday, 10/27/01 12:25AM

When man become intent on survival of the goodness inherent in man, he will be forced to seek alternatives to violence, for violence solves no problems, but rather so exacerbates feelings among men that violence is fostered to the extent that it assumes a rightness in human consideration.

Once nations are set upon a violent course and the brotherhood of man disintegrates in the confrontation that purports to defend national integrity, the problem of peace seeking becomes almost beyond human capacity. Within each warring nation there are individuals innocent of any ill feeling or antagonistic action who are rendered helpless by the passion of their leaders. Each exhorting word makes it more difficult to resists the temptation of hatred, of accepting that they are indeed endangered by those their leaders hold responsible for all cruelty and injustice. Both sides in a conflict are thus infected, and the longer the conflict persists and the more violent the exchange the more remote the solution of deep seated and destructive actions based upon deeply held and highly emotional convictions.

Generally at the start of such ascending conflict there is a basis in greed based upon insecurity. Man, tempted by the power he regards as adversarial, grows increasingly hungry for ascendancy. Each of the parties hastens to defend interests considered paramount, and much passion and invective is bred in those hungry for victory over sometimes trivial and imagined needs. Often those who originate the conflict are incapable of honest evaluation of their own motives and seek to lay blame on those who resist their often unreasonable demands.

Once the fires of conflict are ignited, reason and fellow feeling fall victim to passion

healing begins

Sunday, 10/27/01 11:31PM

Let us consider again the nature of violent response to real or imagined slights. While man is capable at times of infinite patience, there are occasions when he returns insult with injury. Sometimes this does not result in immediate harm to either the offended or the offender, but a rift has been created in the relationship and each imagines himself the innocent participant. In truth, neither is innocent once feeling of resentment and antipathy enter the human heart and the damage escalates with each occasion when real or imagined insult is experienced. Man's patience tends to wear thin with repeated trial, and all too often he reacts in violent response when he feels that he has known damage or injury.

It is at this point that man is in crisis. If he acts in violent retaliation he has harmed both himself and his real or imagined oppressor. The cycle of violence is born and the heart becomes hardened. Each passing day makes reconciliation and forgiveness more difficult. Each passing day marks deterioration in the commitment man once felt for the well being and security of his brother. He finds himself in a world hostile of his own creation and he forgets the power of a loving response to all challenge.

The soul thus led astray is badly in need of awareness of the uselessness of a violent response to affront and of the powerful nature of a loving response. The former reinforces hostility; the latter disarms. Which does the wise man choose?

Magnify individual response and you reach an assessment of the response of groups and nations. If violence becomes a primary weapon and a response to affront and challenge, then the spiral of increased violence begins. If, on the other hand, man

seeks to understand and to accept affront in awareness of the bonds that link all men, healing begins.

The aggressor begins to feel regret. The appeaser begins to sense this regret. Each reaches out to the other. When this occurs, all is possible.

the struggle for power

Sunday, 10/28/01 10:25PM

When the world sees the inevitability of destruction as a result of actions abhorrent in nature, he will pause and consider. The problems he must face and analyze and accept are both myriad and complex. If he is totally honest in his evaluation, he will acknowledge both strengths and weaknesses in his position and will be aware of both in his enemy. Ideally, conflict will reach such an impasse that both sides in the conflict will realize the need for such introspection and will share awareness of all that is to be lost in continued violence and all that is to be gained in compromise.

It will not be a quick or easy solution when man seeks peace. Enmities that have existed for centuries and schisms born in the struggle for power will seem to have a life of their own until the time when thoughtful men will point out to those who look to them for leadership the folly of following paths that have heretofore led to chaos and destruction. Men, hungry for an end to violence and confrontation, will find in the words of such leaders much desired relief and comfort and will be overjoyed in offering trust and allegiance.

The hearts of man will respond overwhelmingly to a new mandate, one which asks simply that all men set aside feelings of mistrust and aggression and recognize and proclaim that the interests of one reflect the interests of all, and that no man is barred from this holy human company, that all men come to earthly life share totally in identity both earthly and divine, and that to deny this brotherhood is to deny oneself.

The day of awareness comes inexorably. Wisdom lies in preparedness for this glorious triumph over violence

self-evaluation

Saturday, 12/8/01 2:16AM

The world as it exists today is a torment for those who love peace and a joy for those who take pleasure in cruelty and bloodshed. Between these two extremes be many. Those who are loyal to their nations will decide that violence is justified if it serves the ends they deem desirable and fitting. Each nation, each faction, is persuaded of the rightness of its cause and in direct contradiction to those opposed who, in turn, are persuaded of the absolute rightness of their cause.

It is imperative that man stand back and look with a dispassionate eye upon himself and upon his enemy. He must try to be honest in self evaluation. He must, as well, consider his enemy compassionately and attempt to understand his motives and his means. Out of this evaluation if it is honestly approached and practiced will come a glimmer of understanding which will, if pursued, lead inevitably to a cessation of violence, for if the nation and its leadership does not have the unequivocal loyalty of its citizens then it too must evaluate its position vis a vis its enemy.

Such introspection, if honest, will inevitably lead to greater understanding of the motivations on each side and therefore to a consideration of the alternatives to violence. Once this process begins, man will not only have a clearer understanding of the nature of violent confrontation but he will see equally its ineffectiveness. It is imperative that two conflicting individuals or groups or nations seek to probe the differences between them and to take steps to further understanding and acceptance. The world will be a better place for such action and all men will be pleased with the acceptance that fuller understanding inevitably fosters. There is no time to lose.

esssential nature of love

Sunday, 12/9/01 1:44AM

It is not too much to ask of man to consider all those he knows and all those he does not know his brothers. All men share the absolute need for love given and received. No man exists in mortal life who does not from birth seek to love and be loved. Indeed without love the newborn in fact withers and grows weak. With love he thrives. Is this not a lesson? Is this not proof that love is essential to survival of the human race?

Perhaps it is too drastic to make such an absolute requirement of love for human survival, but let us pursue this further to understand the essential nature of love. As I have said and as experience has proven, the soul newly come to human life hungers for love as he hungers for food. Indeed, his hunger for love take precedence when it is denied him and he cannot survive its absence. This has been a fact for ages past and is so today. In response the infant offers unlimited and unconditional love to anyone who offers him caring attention. The love of a child does not discriminate in its responsiveness.

The advent of maturity marks a change in the free and open exchange of love. The child, conditioned by the teaching and example of those he loves learns to discriminate in the love he gives to others. To some extent this discrimination is both necessary and desirable to protect the child, but it goes beyond protection all too often and to this extent it is to be deplored. All too often the child inherits and accepts without prejudice the judgment of those loving guardians he has grown to cherish and from whom he still demands nourishing love.

So long as these guardians are charitable and accepting of the differences among their brothers, there is no harm in passing on to the young cherished beliefs, but when love changes from unconditional to conditional, dangers lurk, and it is imperative that the child turned adult examine closely all that he has been taught and determine what he is to accept and what he is to modify or reject. This is often a painful process, but it is essential to the spiritual growth of each individual, and spiritual growth of each individual is essential to the peaceful existence of all souls.

This is truth spoken.

the answer to conflict

Monday, 12/10/01 12:45AM

There is such strife in the present world. Each day seems to exacerbate feelings of hostility and each violent act meets with reprisals. There is much futility in this exchange and much wastefulness in feelings that drive man apart from his brother and seems to solidify old antagonisms.

There is much to be said for human nature in its tendency to feel that each blow must be returned with equal or greater force, for pride demands each retaliation. There is little consideration given to the final blow until the enemy is totally defeated and incapable of responsive hostile actions. Consider, if you will, such a state of affairs.

Two brothers find cause for aggression and response. Each enlists family and friends, and the conflict grows. Original causes for the antagonism are often lost in the heat of conflict and there is no cessation of hostilities until one side or the other capitulates in bitter defeat. By this time the hearts have hardened on each side and the bitterness of battle becomes the bitterness of defeat. The victors know short-lived triumph, for as time passes new grievances brew new conflict and those who are enjoined in conflict resume hostilities.

At times, former enemies become allies against a new aggressor, and these former enemies soon discover goodness in their new-found friends and wonder how they could have engaged in battle over imagined or real grievances. They realize that much violence could have been averted had reason prevailed and words could have been substituted for mortal blows.

Thus the world experiences hostility. The enemy once feared and faced in battle becomes a friend and ally under changing circumstance and a new threat. Old grievances are forgotten and a new loyalty substitutes for old hostility. In time, new trials will create new enemies and the time-honored challenge of armed conflict will again be the lot of man.

Slowly man is learning the answer to conflict. He is learning conciliation and moderation. He is learning to understand his enemy and to realize that the enemy of today may become the friend of tomorrow. When man is guided in all situations by this wisdom, all mankind will profit.

a longing for peace

Tuesday, 12/11/01 1:48AM

In the hearts of mankind a longing for peace lingers always. There is no easy explanation for the lack of peace in the world today, for the longing for peace is universal and it is difficult to imagine a world in which man tolerates the destruction of peace for any reason.

Peace begins, let us agree, in the heart of man. Each soul come to life brings within a soul pure and undefiled, a soul in which no conflict exists nor ever has. Quickly this new soul is open to influences which interfere with this inborn placidity and create in the new soul conflicts which are of earthly origin and which directly affect the child. Most often these conflicts originate within the family, but quickly they spread to the outside world and it is the rare soul who is immune to disagreement and disquiet. It is the rarer soul indeed who, exposed to conflict, is moved and enabled to restore peace to the quarreling parties.

All men know conflict in their earthly lives. For some it is disabling in its intensity. For others it is minor and easily dismissed. For all it is an introduction to the rigors of adult life with all its challenges. Man is constantly asked to take sides, to judge the rightness or wrongness of situations in which he is a participant. In all cases his choice endears him to some and alienates him from others. He strives at times to maintain a balanced perspective and to refuse to align himself with either party to the disagreement. At times he succeeds in this effort at impartiality, but more often he finds himself alienated by one side or the other and accused of disloyalty.

At this point the soul in distress has little choice. He may surrender and align himself with one side or the other or he may be steadfast in his impartiality and seek to bring together those warring factions with whom he has no cause to favor one over the other. On occasion he will be so eloquent in his statements of principle that he will cause others to reconsider their heartfelt positions and will open their minds to conciliation. Further consideration will work wonders in minds once blind but now open to new awareness.

Few will regard the original dissident as responsible for the peace that comes from his first refusal to take sides, but it matters not at all. In his soul he is jubilant.

love is the prime factor

Wednesday, 12/12/01 12:10AM

It is in the interests of all mankind that each individual assume responsibility not only for self but for all those he holds dear to his heart. He is, of course, responsible for meeting as best he can all the physical needs of those dependent upon him, but he must as well strive to meet all their spiritual and emotional needs. It goes without saying that love is the prime factor in all ways.

All too often man assumes that those he loves are aware of his feelings. He hesitates to put into words the warmth of the love he experiences each time he thinks of one dear to him. In return the object of his caring may fail as well to express the love he feels. There is a reticence among both men and women to speak words of love. They tend to be embarrassed by the full expression of their affection. Children are not so reticent, but maturity brings with it a new reserve, and the maturing individual may regard it as childish to speak openly of his love.

At all times it is an error to fail to express love freely. Those who are loved long to hear the words. Those who love find their love strengthened by the very expression of love. All are pleased, and in the full exchange of love given and received reticence has no place and is quickly forgotten and discarded.

The full and free expression of love serves both to affirm and strengthen affection among those dear to one another, but it establishes such harmony that one is loath to disturb it.

spiritual perfection

Thursday, 12/13/01 1:07AM

It is at all times important that man realize the limitations he brought with him into this life and try to accommodate all experience within these limitations. Not all men are created equal in their physical strengths and weaknesses. Each has chosen before life begins what he will know of strengths and what he will know of weaknesses. Each choice has been made in order for him to progress to the perfection that is the ultimate goal of all those who come to human existence, and each choice is made in full awareness of the challenges he will face whether he has chosen strengths or weaknesses.

It can be asked why man would choose to be weak in any way when he can be strong in all ways. The reason, if course, lies in the challenges he faces, challenges of his own choosing and challenges which he is aware he can meet however sorely tried.

It is not a simple thing to comprehend the progression to spiritual perfection, but it is enough to know that each soul progresses according to the difficulty of challenge and the degree to which each challenge is accepted. Man may fail in response, but he is judged by the effort he expends and even more by the total acceptance of trial and hardship he feels in his innermost soul and exhibits in his attitudes and behavior.

The man who chooses physical weakness of any sort and strives to live a life of love despite constant difficulty and repeated failure is a man to be admired and emulated. He inspires in others awareness of their own good fortune. He elicits sympathy and a sincere desire to be helpful. Above all he creates a climate of love born in sympathy and nourished by words and acts of caring.

heroes and saviors

Friday, 12/14/01 10:25PM

In all of life man seeks to find reason. He seeks first in the history of man. He seeks to understand all that has occurred within his awareness. He finds both goodness and evil deeds. He finds villains are rewarded and the good man left wanting. He finds the rich and the poor widely separated and an unspoken enmity and rivalry between them. He finds illness rampant and he finds little solace for those stricken.

On the other hand, he finds heroes and saviors. He finds a deep seated concern on the part of good and unselfish souls for those deprived in any way. He succors the misfortunate. He binds the wounds of those struck by weakness. He rescues those on the edge of destruction. He seeks to provide sustenance and comfort to all in need.

So, the world of history, however complete, is of little instruction to the seeker after truth. He cannot decide with any certainty the road he should take, but the longer he contemplates the clearer the picture becomes. He realizes that regardless of outcome, those who give are more privileged than those who need, that those who offer unselfish giving are superior to those who are grasping and self centered. He realizes that the lessons of history reflect the lessons he sees about him in everyday life and he concludes that giving is more blessed than grasping. He realizes with absolute insight that the happiest of men are those who look always to the needs of others and seek to meet all that is required of him to satisfy all needs and to befriend all those who turn to him in seeking.

Mark well this insight. It is yours when you seek to know the satisfaction the soul seeks. It is yours at all times. The world is in need.

the importance of free choice

Saturday, 12/15/01 10:59PM

In the brief span of man's existence he is aware of many things. First of all from birth he is aware of the importance of love. With love he thrives. Without love he withers. Saved by love, the new soul gives love readily in return and so establishes bonds of affection which serve him well and inspire other to acknowledge the desirability and necessity of love shared.

Beyond childhood and perhaps earlier, man discovers the importance of free choice. He at all times must choose -- to obey or not to obey, to speak or not to speak, to act in love or to act in the absence of love. As he progresses in life, opportunities of choice abound and man is aware that his choices affect others. Blessed is the man who chooses to act in love and acceptance of all of his choosing and to know that in this way he assures himself of love returned and consequently of a happy and rewarding earthly existence.

In his choice of a lifetime of labor, man knows much of himself. He is aware of his talents and seeks to find a life's work which makes the most of his abilities. He finds himself the object of advice, both sought and unsought, and he is forced in decision making to reject some and to accept others. He seeks always the inner satisfaction that some men know in lives of generous dedication. He seeks always to find loving souls to share his existence and to lend support both physical and spiritual. He is gratified when he achieves such rapport.

Above all, the soul come to human existence seeks the soul mate he knows shares his life, and in the discovery he finds fulfillment. Together they have the strength to meet all challenges and to find total joy in all that their sharing affords them.

Finally, man learns that however brief his earthly existence, he will live on in the memories and deeds of all dear to him whether bound in blood or in friendship, and he will seek to live his life in such a way as to insure that these memories will be both pleasant and lasting.

Not all men live their lives in such discovery and contentment, but most do. If there is a failure in others, such failure is temporary and seeks always to achieve perfection. They succeed.

hardship

Sunday, 12/16/01 9:40 PM

Hardship needs no adherents. In the world today, hardship is to be avoided at all costs. Yet hardship is pervasive. It may take many forms, each of them trying the soul in progress.

Some hardship is easily identified. Those born to squalor and unspeakable poverty are purely defined. They are offered little in comfort and less in advantage, and so these souls must labor in love without material advantage, at all times unaware that the choice they made in life before coming to human existence is the choice they made before creation.

It is difficult for those who chose privilege to understand one who opts for a life of unremitting hardship, and yet they encounter in life's journey souls severely deprived who nonetheless exude loving acceptance of all aspects of their lives. These souls command attention and when attention is paid, this interest is transformed into admiration and the resulting awareness is commendable to all who share.

It is critical that all men recognize from the start that life is not a simple matter, that those privileged may be the most deprived and that those deprived may be the most blessed of souls. This apparent discrepancy is further proof of the teaching that the most blessed in material resources may lag behind his most deprived brother who has lived in love and sharing and acceptance and has no regard for earthly riches. In all cases, man is triumphant if he chooses a life of love and giving.

first mystery of life

Monday, 12/17/01 11:28PM

In the mystery of life lies many lessons.

First, man seeks to find reason in human existence. He tries to rationalize the differences and injustices he finds about him. He strives to understand those who are deprived and sometimes dispossessed and he is unable to understand their composure in the face of such difficulty. In truth, he errs, for were he faced with the same problems and challenges he would adapt and accept. For the first mystery of life is that each individual whether fortunate or unfortunate in his life's experiences has chosen that particular life as a means to spiritual perfection. With heavenly help he has agreed to all needed challenge and has been granted the strength and capability to encounter each challenge and meet each one with loving acceptance. Thus man progresses.

Secondly, man born to human life, is totally unaware of his previous lives and therefore totally unaware of the relationships he has known in past lives. It comes as wonder to him when he feels a kinship with those he encounters as strangers and it is revelation to him after life ends that he has had many previous existences, close ties in life after life. Love attracts love, and loving relationships survive human death and survive in life after life.

There is little more to be said about the mystery of life, but it is of paramount importance to realize that each soul come to earth to embrace mortal existence comes above all in pursuit of total perfection in love felt and expressed and chooses the path of earthly life accordingly. There is a divine hand in designing each human life.

So, within this definition all things become reasonable and all of life reflects divine balance and promise. Goodness prevails and has always in God's eyes.

man is a paradox

Tuesday, 12/18/01 10:10PM

Until all men are made equal in the blessedness of being, the world will suffer. Strife, as I have said, is created by man, created in grasping, in cupidity, in envy of his brother, and of a desire to control those things which do not lend themselves to earthly control.

Man is a paradox. Born in love, whether in wealth or poverty, he knows the perfection of love which binds soul to soul. Through all hardship he retains this perfect love and delights in sharing it with those willing to accept and to return. At times, man departs from this early shared love and determines to seek earthly treasure and prominence. In all cases he runs the risk of losing the love that is his safeguard and his pleasure.

It cannot be said that all those seeking earthly reward do so at the expense of their souls. Some indeed forget the lessons of love and embrace greed and earthly approbation. Randomly these souls feel a sense of reward. Others feel a sense of disappointment and failure. It is to their credit that most, whether in the flush of success or the desolation of failure, sense the emptiness of a life lived without sustaining love and seek to return to the life so casually abandoned some time earlier. Some souls do not reach this awareness in life and are to be pitied. All triumph eventually.

divine origin

Wednesday, 12/19/01 10:50PM

There is a sweet simplicity in life no matter its nature. As I have said so often, the soul returning to earth to achieve spiritual perfection chooses the life that benefits him most in this aim. The choice presented to the soul choosing is close to infinite in its variety. It reflects past experience to some extent, for the soul returning to human existence chooses to return to a familiar environment, often returning to past loving relationships and bring to this life familiarity in many ways. Within this area of choice, the returning soul may make many choices, but always he is guided by his angel spirit to choose wisely in terms of his needs.

In all cases, the newborn knows within himself divine origin, though this is quickly forgotten, but knows as well all the fortitude and strength he needs to meet the trials and challenges of a new life. Above all he brings with him the power of love, infectious in its nature and clearly demanding response. Throughout life this remains his most powerful weapon.

And so, from the very first seconds of human existence to the very last moments of life, however long or short, man is capable of triumph over all challenges and happiness in the face of all unhappiness if he is aware of this power of loving response to all that life offers. With love in his heart, he cannot fail.

plenty and poverty

Thursday, 12/20/01 11:10PM

In the midst of plenty, man starves. In the depths of deprivation, man thrives. On the surface these statements are contradictory, quite beyond acceptance unless you consider the life of the spirit.

Each man brings to human life a capacity for plenty and for deprivation. When life is full of pleasure and advantage it is tempting for the soul in progress to be seduced by human comfort and to forget the reason he came to this life. On the other hand, those souls who know only hardship are forced to look within themselves and there the most fortunate find inner riches of acceptance of life's meagerness and hope for the future. Even those who lack this full expression of loving compliance find a degree of tolerance for the misery of their existence, a tolerance that serves them well.

In all of life between these two degrees of plenty and poverty, man exists in a balance he sees as reasonable. Those blessed souls who have agreed to live a life of deprivation do not surrender to despair and strive in loving acceptance to be pleasing to themselves and to those they love. They may dream of escaping from the limitations of life and occasionally do so, but they are content to accept all that life demands of them without resentment or protest. Such soul are pleasing to the utmost and their lessons of love given and received instruct many.

Far removed in material terms are those souls who return to earthly life in full expectation of riches and comfort. They are tempted often by the pleasure of their lives to forget the lessons of love and to feel themselves more privileged than what they regard as their more unfortunate brothers. Therein they err, and in this error distance themselves from those equally blessed in material benefit but totally aware of their privilege and eager to share all they are given with those less privileged.

And so, under the most ideal of circumstances. those deprived materially at birth receive from their more affluent brothers and those materially blessed are rewarded by sharing with brothers in need. Both profit in all ways.

common beginning and comon ending

Friday, 12/21/01 12:00 Midnight

All men have a common beginning and a common end. It is amazing that there are feelings among men that they are somewhat different from their brothers whether the differences be of color, race, economic status, or other attributes. They choose to ignore what all men have in common and hold important the ways in which one man differs from another.

This is indeed folly. It gives primary importance to those circumstances for which individual man can take no credit. He is born into this world with color and race determined by choice before earthly birth and he has chosen as well the strengths and weaknesses he will know from birth. How he uses these strengths to meet the challenges life holds is indeed cause for pride or shame, and he needs to be at all times aware of this individual responsibility. It is incumbent upon him to use his talents in a meaningful way. It is wisdom for him to act in such a way as to benefit his fellow men whether they be beloved or distant. He will in the process benefit himself most of all.

Ideally, whether man is gifted or deprived, he is aware that he counts both blessings and deprivations as gifts bestowed upon him since earthly birth and is consequently both humbled and aware of a power greater than himself responsible for all he is given and not given. He is sharply reminded that what separates him from his brother is not of his making and consequently not to his credit, and his mind is open to what all men share -- a common beginning and a common ending. This awareness banishes self pride and seems to bind man to his brothers in a sense of common concern.

All souls come from God share the start of life and inevitably its end.

love universal and unconditional

Saturday, 12/22/01 11:20PM

It is in the interests of all men to be agreed upon the wishes of the God who rules all people and who has always. It is His wish that man exist in full love of all creatures come to earthly life and that no man shall be labeled "stranger." Even less should one man call another "enemy."

It is tempting, perhaps, for some men relying upon total misinterpretation of religious writings they regard as sacred to ignore the mandate to love rather than to hate, to revere all of life rather than to regard killing as either necessary or beneficent, to forget that life is a trial and a brief visit to earth rather than a single existence resulting in heavenly reward or eternal damnation.

In short all men need to look into their hearts and find the divine message that love universal and unconditional in nature is the sole requirement of the God who is the source of all love and who looks upon His children as instruments of His love expressed in all ways at all times.

Let each word and each action and each feeling in the face of all hardship and hostility exemplify the love which man brought into this world at birth. Let him in no way deny this legacy. Let him in no way disregard this divine mandate. Let him not be deluded or misled by false teachers. Let him live in love and be glad that he is pleasing to himself, to all his brothers, and to the God who created him and cares infinitely.

the nature of earthly conflict

Sunday, 12/23/01 11:04PM

In the midst of strife, man must strive not only to prevail but to persuade his opponents of the power of love in all human endeavor. He must, first of all, renounce force. This seems impossible in a struggle and tantamount to surrender, and surrender it is in the name of persuasion.

Consider the nature of earthly conflict. Generally the source of conflict is greed --- either greed for power or for land. The world has known many conflicts over land. Boundaries have been drawn and redrawn. Man has adapted to new alliances. Former enemies have become allies in conflict, friends in everyday life. Man has discovered his brother and found the cause for earlier enmity and strife untenable. Out of this discovery comes new understanding and new found tolerance. New loyalties lead to tender feelings. Man is amazed to find in his former enemy a source of love given and received.

This is the ideal. Not all conflicts find ideal solution.

inner happiness

Monday, 12/24/01 3:12PM

In the sight of all men goodness will be revealed. It will be revealed in a number of ways. Those observing the acts of goodness and those hearing the words of goodness will be so inspired that they will repeat these acts and words to others and thereby spread the efficacy of goodness. Those impelled to acts and words of goodness by example will in turn inspire others to follow in their footsteps and the circle of goodness becomes ever widening, infallible in its rightness, undeniable in its persuasiveness.

Those caught up in the persuasive pattern of goodness cannot imagine how they lived happily without this virtue. They conclude that they deluded themselves earlier and are determined to share their new awareness and enable others to share their inner happiness and self content.

Little by little the world becomes a changed place. Unselfish giving becomes almost universal in nature and grows daily. Man is truly infected by the holy spirit of generosity and finds all those whose goodness affects are newly devoted to the concept, for as they learn to act in goodness and caring they realize that they please not only themselves but that they persuade others to emulation which in turn brings happiness and a determination to share further.

Few who adopt this, living in love, this goodness, revert. If they are secure in their efforts, they find themselves truly rewarded by love given and received and they cannot imagine greater glory in human existence. They are children of God.

the brotherhood of man

Sunday, 4/28/02 11:34PM

It is time for all men to discard hostility in any form, prejudice in all forms, and unawareness of the needs of all men. Let it be known and recognized that the brotherhood of man knows no exceptions, that there is no bar between brothers who seek always to live in peace and contentment.

It is easy, unfortunately, for brother to become alienated from his brother as a result of insult or grievances, real or imagined or both, and for each leader to capitalize on such estrangement in purported defense of those he is responsible for either by election or by self-appointment or both. When hearts are inflamed by passion there is no room for reason in the mind and it becomes the responsibility of leaders to calm passions and to urge peaceful means to restore peace to troubled parties. There is, unfortunately and in some cases fatally, a tendency on the part of the leaders of a nation to feel that the way to peace is not through reasonable conciliation but through deadly force. In all such cases, the grievances are fanned into total armed conflict with each side striving to inflict the greater harm, and the possibility of peaceful solution lessens with each infliction of harm.

The world is weary of conflict which solves nothing but which takes a terrible toll on the lives of all concerned. There seems to be no rationality in such armed conflict, and with each advancing deadly encounter intolerance and hatred are fed and all men are consumed in the fire

Those who seek reason are left without voice and often regarded as treasonable by their fellow men. It is time for silence and acquiescence to end and for all men to speak not of old loyalties but of new hope in forging new loyalties in the cause of peace and love. It is never too late to act, and a single voice can grow into a mighty chorus not to be denied.

the divine being

Wednesday, 5/1/02 11:52PM

So much is beyond man's immediate perception. So much is within his grasp.

Man born into human life of his own will and devising, must live his days from the first to the last in ignorance of the divine plan in which he plays a significant and dominating role. He is unaware as he proceeds on his journey through life that he is the designer of his fate, that he has proposed and accepted each and every opportunity, beneficence, and challenge. He has within himself awareness of his capacity to meet each opportunity, each blessing, and each challenge with all grace, fully accepting and fully responsive in all words and acts.

It is indeed a vast network of human experience, traversing as it does all parts of the known world and encompassing all times past, present, and future. You may ask how this complexity is possible, how any supreme being can be both responsible and responsive to such a vast multitude of souls both earthbound and beyond. The answer to this is to accept in faith that there is a divine being, surrounded by divine beings, who is singularly responsive and responsible. All joy resides in this divine entity. All souls call him blessed. All aspire to oneness and the endless bliss this promises.

Man may not in this life's journey understand completely his role and his responsibility from birth to rebirth, but he has only to listen to his soul to know that from beginning to end his sole responsibility is to let each word, action, and thought reflect the love that animates his being. When man in his human experience personifies love, he has served his purpose in this life. He proceeds from love infinite in nature to eternal, shared gloriously.

Cornelia Silke dba New Light Publishing © 2010