A: Whether or not this is on divine Love, you’ll have to judge for yourself, but I would like to have us here in a meditation in which I am going to carry myself through from waking up in the morning until the next morning. And to whatever extent you wish, you may follow me.
Now, what I’m going to illustrate in this is this: The real secret of harmonious living begins with a practice of the presence of God. It is confirmed in Scripture by such statements as: “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee,” “Lean not unto thine own understanding; acknowledge Him in all thy ways”—ALL thy ways—“and He will give thee peace, rest, harmony,” “He that dwelleth”—dwelleth, dwelleth, lives—”in the secret place of the Most High, none of these things shall come nigh his dwelling place.”
Now this is the mode of that type of living, and it leads from this particular type of practicing the Presence into the other form, which is an inner, silent meditation. But inasmuch as I did not attain the inner silent meditation without this for a preliminary, and inasmuch as none of our Infinite Way students ever have, I feel free in passing this on to you, more especially since I continue myself to practice this, and as you know in the Letter to Sammy, I teach it inside our family.
And now, for a moment, I have just awakened out of sleep in the morning, and I’m still in bed, and I’m not going to get up yet.
“Thank you, Father. This is the day the Lord hath made; this is Thy day. Thou hath sent the light to follow darkness and will again send darkness to follow light. The responsibility, the activity, the principle is Thine. And as the sun shines, the buds on the plants will open. This, too, is Thine. The cattle on a thousand hills are Thine, and the crops in the ground, and the oil, and the gems, and the pearls, the fish in the sea, the birds in the air. All this is Thine, and all of this goes on as Thy activity. And as God governs this universe in that manner, so does God govern this day, and so does God govern me. I am open to Thy direction, open to Thy wisdom, open to Thy leading. Thou art to be my life today, my wisdom, my strength. Thy presence it is that is to be the very substance of my time, of my work.”
And by now, I’m ready for this half minute, or one minute of complete silence, and then I get up.
At the breakfast table, it is unwise to eat or drink without the realization:
“God can set a table in the wilderness. God is responsible for all the food that is grown and the wisdom in its manufacture. God has set this table for me, and I thank you, Father. Thy will be done.”
And I am about to leave the house or go to my office for work.
“The presence of God goes before me to make the crooked places straight. The presence of God goes with me; the intelligence of God is ever where I am. I greet God in all those whom I meet. I greet God behind every door I enter. God looks out at me from behind the eyes of all who come within range of my experience now. God animates me, and God animates them. God animates all being.”
Whatever the nature of work that I undertake and certainly, whatever the nature of the work in our household, whether housework or gardening:
“God is the activity of my being, my intelligence, and my strength. God is the harmony in this household. It is the love of God which cements the relationships in this household. It is the love of God, which is expressed from one to another within the home and unto all of those who enter the home. God’s love enfolds us, embraces us, unites us, holds us fast in Its will.”
At lunchtime, again: “God’s grace is my sufficiency in all things.”
And remember, none of this is ever spoken aloud; no one ever knows that I am praying. As I pray in secret, I have found that God rewards me openly. Even grace at our table is never voiced in words, except that we usually look at each other and say, “Happy days.” Among ourselves, we know that this means that we are uniting in a prayer of thanksgiving, and so if there are others at our table, we have not prayed before men, but we have prayed.
The afternoon’s activity, whether driving the car or being driven, marketing, shopping—always there is a conscious remembrance:
“Thou goest before me to make the crooked places straight. Thou goest before me to prepare these mansions for me. I see Thee behind the eyes of everyone I meet; I greet Thee, Son of God.”
The evening meal is another opportunity for thanksgiving, for recognition of God as the substance of my bread, meat, wine, water, and so through the evening until time to retire.
“And so, the activity of God has brought the darkness to follow the light. The activity of man has not brought out the sun, or the moon, or the stars. The activity of man has not put these in motion or kept them in motion. The activity of an Infinite Invisible, something operating behind the visible universe, and between, and in and through; an invisible Life, an invisible Being, an invisible law has now brought out the moon, and the stars, and the darkness, and the rest. And this activity of God will not cease while I sleep. This activity of God will be as constant during my sleep as during my waking hours.
“At no time, awake or asleep, am I outside the rhythm of God, the rhythm that brings night after day and day after night, the rhythm that brings winter, spring, summer, and fall, the rhythm that brings the barren trees, and then clothes them again, and then brings forth fruitage. The rhythm of God—always, I am living in the rhythm of God, and it is functioning Its life and Its law in me and through me.”
Upon awakening maybe an hour or two later, take time for a momentary thought: “Thank you, Father; I am still in Thy rhythm.” And as many times as I may sleep or wake during the night, there is a recognition of God’s presence, of God’s power, of God’s grace, and not in the selfish sense of “This is all true about me,” but “This is a universal truth, and I witness God behind the eyes of everyone; I witness God functioning in the life and the activity of everyone, always equally, friend or foe.”
This is practicing the presence of God, and this is abiding in the word and letting the word abide in you. This is dwelling in the secret place of the most High; this is living and moving and having your being in God and in the recognition of God-presence, God-power, God-jurisdiction, God-law, God-life. And as you can see, it brings an inner stillness, which settles you into a meditation, even if that meditation is only twenty seconds, because remember, God’s grace is not dependent on minutes or hours.
And so, these periods of meditation grow longer as we find a quiet place in which to rest and meditate within our homes or gardens, a neighboring church or cathedral, temple, or mosque. Wherever there is a dedicated soul, there is the consciousness of God’s presence, and that is why you feel it in some churches, some temples, some mosques; that is why you feel it in some homes.
In the absolute, it is said that “God fills all space.” That does nothing for anyone. It is the conscious recognition of God’s presence that brings the activity of God into experience. That is why it is necessary to practice the presence of God. Surely, God is omnipresent, but just as you know that this room at this moment is completely filled with divine Love, it is only because we are here in this atmosphere and recognition of divine Love. Another group may come into this room and make a battleground of it, in spite of God filling all space.
In other words, God is where God is realized. God is functioning where God is realized. And when we unite for the purpose of uniting in God, in truth and love, that’s where God’s presence and power is felt; that’s where healings take place. No healing would take place—spiritual healing—unless there were an individual ready to give up their human thoughts and abide in the presence of God until My thoughts, God’s thoughts, came into expression.
In my treatment work, very often this passage plays an important part: “My peace give I unto you: not as the world giveth, but my peace.” And then, when I settle back into quiet, I realize that it is the peace that passeth understanding, the peace of God, God’s peace, which now takes over, and animates and expresses, heals, redeems; according to human sense, lifts up. My peace, not the peace the world giveth, not any human statement about peace, not any affirmation about peace, but My peace because “My thoughts are not your thoughts.”
And so, we let Joel’s thoughts pass out for the moment so that My thoughts, God’s thoughts, God’s peace, can take over. And then, we become listeners: “Speak, Lord, thy servant heareth.” Then the peace of God comes upon us, or the word of God. And when the word of God is uttered, not only is it quick and sharp and powerful, but when he utters his voice, the earth melteth—error, sin, disease, death, lack, and limitation. But it must be His voice, not your voice or mine making statements; it must be His voice that utters Itself in the silence of our being, and It is quick and sharp and powerful, and It does Its work.
1This copyrighted excerpt is from Recording 276B: 1959 London Closed Class, “A Meditation on I.” 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.
Goldsmith Global has permission to provide this material to Goldsmith Global participants for educational and study purposes. Please respect the copyright on this material.