Joel gave several beautiful classes on world work and on topics related to world work. Since Joel’s recordings are still under copy protection, we have obtained permission to post these recordings for your online or telephone listening. Each recording will be available for listening at any time for one month after it is posted. There is a list of previously posted recordings at the bottom of this page.
To hear the recording by telephone, call
1-641-715-3900, and enter the extension number 828754, followed by the pound sign (#). After you enter the extension number, the introduction to the recording will begin, followed by the recording itself. The telephone number and the extension number will always be the same, even as we change the recording each month. Depending on your telephone calling plan, the call may or may not incur a charge, so it is a good idea to check whether your plan covers calls to the 641 area code. Even if you usually participate in the tape group by computer, the telephone option is convenient when you would like to listen to the recording but for some reason do not have access to your computer.
You can listen to this recording from the Sanctuary page, which is a visually serene environment. To listen by telephone, call 1-641-715-3900 and enter 828754#.
The recording for this month is Recording 428A, from the 1961 October Los Angeles Special Class, titled “Laying the Axe at the Root.” This class was not used as source material for any book.
Preview of the Class
If there is a God, why is there so much evil in the world? Is there a spiritual way to remove or prevent the evils of the world? These questions started Joel on a spiritual path. In this class, he explains how he came to the revelation that brought the answer, which was: “All error—evil of any nature—is impersonal. There are no evil persons. All evil stems from a universal, impersonal source.” He goes on to say that those who know this truth can not only make themselves free, but that they can make this world free.
Joel speaks about the ministry of Jesus, pointing out that with his attained spiritual consciousness and working with spiritual principles, he controlled storms, healed disease, and multiplied loaves and fishes. Joel says that we can do likewise—in the degree and depth of our level of consciousness and understanding of spiritual principles. In this class, he focuses on understanding the key principle of the nature of error.
Joel reiterates that all evil, regardless of its name or nature, has its foundation in an impersonal source. We are not dealing with two powers called “good and evil,” or “God and the devil,” or “God and mortal mind.” We are dealing only with God as infinite, eternal, immortal, omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, and a belief in some other power.
Joel illustrates the impersonal nature of evil with the observation that every time a dictator has been removed, someone else has sprung up to replace him, and peace is not achieved. As Joel says, “lopping off the branches of the tree is not going to end the situation. You have to lay the axe at the root!” That root is the belief in two powers—that there is a power other than God. This erroneous belief has acted as a power in our experience only because it was accepted as a power.
As we do world work, we must be sure that we are not trying to overcome the evil appearances in the world, but that we are steadfast in our conviction that all there is to evil, or error, is that belief in two powers. What has been called “the power of evil” is not power.
April 1-30, 2024
Recording 243B: 1959 Maui Advanced Work
“The New Life by Grace”
March 1-31, 2024
Recording 495A: 1962 London Special Class
“Nature of Spiritual Power”
February 1-29, 2024
Recording 387B: 1961 Waikiki Infinite Way Center
“Attaining the Light That Dispels Darkness”
January 1-31, 2024
Recording 356A: 1960 England Open Class
“Solving World’s Problems”
This class is one of three used as source material for Chapter 10, “The Government Is on His Shoulders,” in Our Spiritual Resources.
To view recordings posted in 2023, click/tap here.
To view recordings posted in 2022, click/tap here.
To view recordings posted in 2021, click/tap here.
To view recordings posted in 2020, click/tap here.
To view recordings posted in 2019, click/tap here.
To view recordings posted in 2018, click/tap here.
To view recordings posted in 2017, click/tap here.
To view recordings posted in 2016, click/tap here.