A: Yes, indeed it is, and actually, that is the other half of the picture. In proportion as you can realize the impersonal nature of evil, you will also recognize the impersonal nature of good. In other words, you will never say “I am good,” or “I am spiritual,” or “I am charitable,” or “I am forgiving,” or “I am loving.” Things like that will never again enter your mind, for you will know that that could not be true.
Whatever qualities of good are manifest through you are qualities of God finding expression and outlet through you or [through] anyone else. You will find all of this in that booklet, Love and Gratitude, which is really one of the most important writings in the message of The Infinite Way for this very reason.
As long as we are claiming virtues for ourselves, we are perpetuating the Adam dream. The Master said, “Why callest thou me good? There is but one good, the Father in heaven,” or “I can of my own self do nothing. The Father within me, He doeth the works.” As you come to a state of consciousness in which you know that you are but the showing forth of God; you are the instrument through which or as which God appears on earth, and every good quality you have is not yours, but God’s manifesting through you, then you will begin not only to have more of these [qualities], you will begin to see how these grow in quantity and quality. In personalizing them, you lose them.
Many people have asked why they have been charitable or philanthropic all of their lives and ended up poor. There’s only one reason. They really believed they were philanthropic. They really believed they were giving something. You see, “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof,” so you have nothing of your own to give. And as a matter of fact, if it weren’t for God in you, you’d never have an instinct to give away that which is yours, because everything mortal about us wants to hold fast. It’s our guarantee of tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow.
Therefore, there must be something tremendously divine in the individual who can let loose, and more especially if in letting loose, he realizes, “This isn’t even mine. I am only the instrument through which God is giving this to the needy, to those who require it, to those who want it.” But it is this infernal belief that I am a good person, and I am sacrificing my life for you that ends us all up poverty-stricken and broken in health.
Nobody would have to be ill in their advanced years, in their mature years, if they realized they had never sacrificed for their children. Most of our illnesses come because of the belief that we gave our health for our children, or our parents, or somebody else that was dependent on us, when we didn’t. It was God’s health that was being expressed through us, and even the desire to be good to them was God’s, not ours. Without God, we’re too selfish for those things.
So it is, to impersonalize good means to understand that I have no health; “God is the health of my countenance.” It means to know that I have no wealth; “The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.” Of course, I’m happy that he also said: “Son, all that I have is thine.” That’s very consoling. At least I have the use of it, but you all know that wealth isn’t yours. You all had an opportunity to see that at the end of the line, there’s a probate court where you check your belongings. No, it’s not ours. It’s ours for a day, but it’s ours abundantly if realize that it’s the grace of God, not the grace of me, or the grace of you. It’s the grace of God. That is impersonalizing good.
When you can do that, you can also impersonalize evil, and if you do see an intoxicated person; if you do see a thief; if you do see a slanderer, scandal monger, you won’t pin it on to them. You’ll realize that this too is nothing but a personalization of error, the belief that I of myself can be good or evil, whereas all of the good is an emanation of God; all of the evil is an imposition from this universal [belief.]
1This excerpt is from Recording 302A: 1960 Los Angeles Closed Class, “Nothing Takes Place Outside of Consciousness.” It is posted with kind permission from the Estate of Joel Goldsmith, which holds the copy protection on the recorded classes and the copyright on the transcripts. The full transcript of this recording is available from The Infinite Way website or by calling 1-800-922-3195.