Joel gave several beautiful classes on world work and 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. To listen by telephone, call 1-641-715-3900 and enter 828754#.
This month’s recording is Recording 504B, from the 1962 Cape Town Class, titled “Love Expressed.” This class was used as source material for Chapter 1, “I Stand at the Door,” in The Mystical I, and Chapter 3, “Love Thy Neighbor,” and Chapter 5, “The Spiritual Bond,” in The Gift of Love.
Preview of the Class
Our work to uplift the consciousness of mankind includes the three daily World Work meditations, but it does not stop there. In this month’s class, Joel speaks eloquently about how we can employ the transforming power of love, forgiveness, and praying for the enemy to dispel the ignorance that binds mankind. Given the apparent state of the world today, it is a perfect time for this lesson. Regardless of where you live or what your political views might be, this lesson is a profound reminder of how to live the spiritual life in current times.
Joel quotes Jesus: “It profiteth you nothing to pray for your friends; you must pray for your enemies if you would be children of God,” and he goes on to say, ”You must pray for those who persecute you. You must pray for those who despitefully use you. Pray that they be forgiven their sins. Pray that their eyes be opened to the spiritual light. Pray that they be divinely guided. Pray that they be relieved of even of the penalties of their sins.”
Joel adds that unless you can pray in this way, you are not living the spiritual life. To be a child of God, you must find a way every day to pray for those who are persecuting this world, those who are despitefully using this world, and those who are misusing their power. He points out that their nature won’t change by hating them or fighting them. That only makes them worse. We must work to change consciousness, and the only way we can do that is to love our enemies, pray for them, forgive them, and refrain from judging, criticizing, or condemning them. We have to see through to the spiritual core of the individual and realize that the same life that flows in us and in our friends flows in our enemies, even though, at the moment, they may be operating out of self-defense and fighting against the world.
Joel says that we will never know how to forgive until we make a practice of forgiving every day of the week until the activity of forgiveness flows constantly, so that every time someone offends us, the forgiveness is there as quickly as the offense. He contends that if there are ten people in a city brave enough to acknowledge the infinity of their being and let it flow out from them while they are forgiving the wrongdoer, they can save the city, the community, and even the nation.
Wherever we may be, when we begin to consciously pour out love and forgiveness, that place becomes vibrant with divine love. Joel suggests that we make it a practice to carry a message of peace wherever we go. Even if we are reading bad news in a newspaper, we declare, “My peace give I unto thee. God’s grace give I unto thee. The peace that passeth understanding give I unto thee.” As we let that peace and forgiveness flow out from the I of our being, those who come in contact with us will know that we are blessing them, even though they may not understand how.
Notes:
The recording will be available for listening through February 28, 2025.
January 1-31, 2025
Recording 252B: 1959 Halekou Special Work
“Where the Spirit of the Lord Is, There is Liberty”
To view recordings posted in 2024, click/tap here.
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.