A: Well, of course, the mere fact of reading this type of literature will do that gradually. Meditation will do it gradually, but there is a specific practice that will help. Inasmuch as the human thought is continuously being reminded of something in the external that it needs, or requires, or desires, there must be the specific answer: “No. No, it isn’t that that I need or want. Thy grace is my sufficiency—nothing else, not money or marbles. Thy grace is my sufficiency.” Learn to stick to that resolutely. “If I seem to need railroad fare, rent, clothing, housing, let me steadfastly deny that I have such a need and acknowledge that my only need is Thy grace. Thy grace is my sufficiency.”
Oh, we may even believe we need health. Let’s deny that, too, because you may have all the health in the world today and be terribly sick tomorrow. So don’t go after health, because after you get it, you might lose it, and then what are you going to do? Go around trying to get it back again? But if you abide in the realization that Thy grace is my sufficiency, you’ll usually find that that’ll take care of your health as well as your supply.
Or, in the same way, there may be demands upon you greater than you can fulfill. It may be some demand of work greater than your strength, or greater than your knowledge, or greater than your ability. There may even be greater demands on your purse than you can meet. Whatever demand is made on you, answer it with, “He performeth that which is given me to do. He perfecteth that which concerneth me,” or any other passages of Scripture that go along that line.
You see, the human claim is that there is a physical, mental, moral, or financial demand upon you greater than your ability to fulfill, and it might prove to be that, too. But the very moment you transfer it to, “No, no, no. He performeth that which is given me to do. He perfecteth that which concerneth me,” you’ll find a weight drop off your shoulder, and all of a sudden you are given the ability, which isn’t your ability. It’s His ability being expressed through you. You might even find that out of your weakness comes strength. And you don’t receive strength; you receive His strength, and you perform through His strength.
You may need rest. You may not be able to sleep, or you may not be able to rest well. As you turn to Scripture, you’ll find that, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee.” And then you’ll find, “Aha! There’s my mistake. I haven’t been keeping my mind stayed on God.” And so, you go back into a contemplation of God, and you’ll find your peace descend upon you.
Or . . . you see, these are specific practices that you have to go through until such time as they take over your nature, and you no longer have to do it—that is, not in a very great extent. For instance, one of the greatest passages in Scripture is this: “My peace give I unto thee, not as the world giveth.” You know, if you ever decided to spend about a month with that statement, you’d get a whole new college education because that opens up a subject that, in its turn, will open up a whole new world to you.
Because you’ll say, “What do I know about peace?” And you’ll start with, “Well, an absence of war is peace.” But that’s the kind of peace that the world can give. It can stop fighting for a while. “Oh well, I’d have peace if I had enough supply.” Yes, that’s another kind of peace that you could have because you’d have a spate of peace from worrying about income. And then you’d say, “Well, I’d be at peace if I had my health,” and that’s true. If you had your health, at least you’d be at peace on that point. That doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t be at un-peace about something else.
But you’ll usually find that if you could be at peace through a dozen of those things that there’s another little something or another that’s going to bob up somewhere and give you un-peace. And you say, “That’s funny. I got all twelve of those things that I thought would give me peace, and here’s this thirteenth little beggar coming up. Now, what are you doing here?” And if you have a sense of humor, you’ll hear his answer: “Get rid of me, and number fourteen is going to come up,” because we are infinite, and there’s no end to that. You can just go on seeking peace, peace, peace in every direction, and end up by saying, “And there is no peace.”
But here is a funny statement. “My peace. My peace. Not as the world giveth, My peace.” Ah! So he’s not talking about health or wealth. He’s not talking now about a better home. What is he talking about—My peace? What does he mean by “My peace?” My peace? And it won’t take you long to agree that he’s talking about Christ-peace or spiritual peace. And pretty soon, you’ll want to know, “Well, what is spiritual peace?” and you’ll be back to the word “invisible” again and say, “Oh, it’s a state of peace that comes out of the Invisible.” Then it isn’t dependent on something happening in the external realm. It isn’t dependent on somebody coming along in the external realm. “My peace” means a state of peace that comes for no external reason. It just comes from within your own being and has nothing to do with your affairs, although ultimately, it settles all your affairs.
Now there again, you see, your faith in the Invisible deepens and increases as you learn to consciously depend on “He performeth that which is given me to do—the Invisible performs that which is given me in the visible. The Invisible perfects that which concerneth me. The invisible grace is my sufficiency in all things. The invisible Presence goes before me to make the crooked places straight. I don’t have to make excuses outside. I don’t have to give reasons outside. The Invisible goes before me and makes the crooked places straight.”
And so, gradually, as temptation comes to you—and it comes over and over and over again—to say, “I need,” “I require,” “I haven’t enough of,” “I am insufficient,” always answer it with some form of returning to the Invisible. That is the practice that deepens spiritual consciousness. Now, Brother Lawrence called that “practicing the presence of God.” The Hebrews called it “keeping the mind stayed on God,” or “acknowledging God in all thy ways.”
1This copyrighted excerpt is from Recording 109B: 1955 Chicago Private Class, “Practicing the Principles of The Infinite Way, continued.” 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.
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