The Pathway of Roses/Return Ye Unto God

by Christian D. Larson

CHAPTER XXI

RETURN YE UNTO GOD

Wherever we may be, whatever has happened or whatever may threaten to happen, it matters not; there is a power that can change everything. There are no reasons for sorrow, fear or regret; there are no occasions for anxiety, discouragement or despair; there is a path that leads to the world of the heart's desire, and anyone may find it. Great learning is not required, nor shall we find certain fixed beliefs necessary. The secret is simple, simple enough for any mind in the world, because it is the will of Infinite Love that every mind in the world shall know the way. None need stumble, none need go astray, none need ever be lost. All that is necessary is to follow the voice of the soul, and this voice is ever proclaiming in language divine, Return Ye Unto God.

The world has tried every imaginable method to gain freedom, but when all these methods fail, as they all will, Return Ye Unto God. The moment we return to Him, all that we have lost will return to us; and that which we do not wish for will vanish. When we return to Him we return to our own, because He is the source of everything that can possibly be our own. To be with Him is to be where we wish to be, and where we wish to be there we shall find the "gates ajar" to the heaven that is within. Before we can enter the heaven that is within us we most find perfect peace for mind and soul, and this peace we always find when we return to God. The more closely we live to His presence the deeper and more exalted the calm; and out from the silence of this calm comes the sacred symphonies of life, that music of the soul that we all recognize as the prelude to the kingdom of God. When we can hear it we know that His presence is near; we can discern through the spiritual vision those secret places that every returning soul has the privilege to enter. We learn what is in store, and life is not the same any more. We have had a vision, and all things have been glorified.

Return ye unto God. All other paths lead to sorrow and death, but in Him there is freedom and joy forever. In Him there is life, in Him there is peace, in Him there is wholeness and purity; in Him there is strength, in Him there is health, in Him there is power and truth; in Him there is all that life holds in store for man—all that the human heart can wish for. Seek no other source; follow no other path. There is only one place where the soul finds rest and contentment; only one place where every vision is realized, and every lofty dream made true. All may find it; the secret is simple. Return ye unto God.

But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh even until now, and I work.—John 5:17.

The significance of this statement is as large as the limitless sea of divinity in which we live and move and have our being. The Infinite is everywhere and works everywhere, and therefore He is with us working with us. To know this is to know one of the greatest truths in the world, and there is nothing that is more helpful in the living of everyday life than to live, think and act in harmony with this truth. Whatever our work may be, it ceases to be difficult the moment we realize that God is working with us. When we know that His power is with us, the burden disappears completely.

The undertaking we have in mind may be very large; it may seem to be more than we alone can carry through; but we need not be alone; the Infinite is at hand ready to work with us, and with Him there can be no failure. Depend upon the Supreme; ask God to work with you; live so near to the Spirit that you will be one with God, and when you choose to go with God, He will go with you. Then the work will almost do itself; you perform the most difficult task with perfect ease, and you can work as much as you desire, weariness will not even make an attempt to enter your world.

The average person works alone; his task is therefore difficult; he does nothing well, and his work is wearing and tearing to a degree that makes his life both bitter and disappointing. But he works alone, with almost every disadvantage in his way, simply because he has not ascended in the spiritual scale. He has not arisen to that lofty realm where he can be in harmony with Supreme power, and therefore must depend upon the limited power of mere man. This, however, is his own choice; he may rise in the spiritual scale whenever he may desire and as much as he may desire; and the higher he goes in this scale the more direct assistance he receives from the Infinite.

When we reach those same spiritual heights that Jesus had reached, we can also say as he did that my Father worketh and I work, and we will receive just as much power from God as he received. We shall thereby do the works that he did, and as we go on still farther with him, we shall do the greater works. Jesus declared that he could of himself do nothing. His great power came from God, and his spirituality was so high that he could both receive and apply this power. He had reached that state where he was in perfect harmony with Supreme power, and could manifest the fullness of that power in all his life and works.

And his command was: Follow me; what I have done, ye shall do. We are therefore not to remain content with simply believing that he was what he was and did what he did; we are to go and do likewise. Nor is the way difficult; to follow Christ is the simplest thing in the world, and there is nothing that produces such great results. Though we may not reach the heights that he reached at once, we can press on, and gain ground daily. Every step will bring added power, and this power we can use now in everything that we may be doing now. Spiritual power is not only for some other world; nor is its sole use in this world to keep us away from temptations. The power of the spirit is intended to be used in the living of a great life here and now, and in the doing of great things in this present world.

Those alone will enter the kingdom who do the will of the Father, and to do the will of the Father is to live the life that He lives now. Live the life of the Spirit now, and you are saved both for time and eternity. And one of the greatest essentials in the living of the spiritual life is to live so near to God that His power is in everything that we may do. Then God works with us; not simply in what the world calls great things, but in all things. Even in those things that seem to be insignificant, the power of the Supreme is with us, and everything we do brings joy.

The first step to be taken in anything we wish to do, is to seek divine assistance. To ask God to go with us and work with us, and to enter into such perfect spiritual harmony with God that we can feel His supreme power through and through—that is the first and most important, be it work pertaining to body, mind or soul. Whether we are beginners in the spiritual life or have reached the heights, God will work with us in whatever we have the understanding to do now; and as we rise in the scale, He will work with us in doing those greater things that spiritual giants have the privilege to perform. And with God working with us, we shall never fail; all work will be pleasure, and the days of weariness shall come no more.

The mind that understands the spirit of truth knows that it is the Father that does the work; that it is the power of the Infinite that produces all power; that this power comes into our life to be directed and used by us, and that we may receive as much of this power as we desire. Such a mind knows that it will profit nothing to force the limited power that we may seem to possess, but that more power from on high comes without fail when our thoughts are very high and very still. Therefore, the true mind creates all thought in the supreme stillness of higher spiritual realms, and leaves results to divine law. Those results will be far greater and better than the personal man, unaided, could have possibly produced, even with every external advantage at hand. When we have great things to do we are tempted to rush forward and force those things through; but this must never be permitted. Such methods are not only detrimental to the mind, but are wholly inadequate to fulfill the purpose we have in view. To be perfectly still at such times, and let Supreme Life do the great work is the secret.

To secure more power we must go up into those spiritual regions where power is limitless; and when we enter that high state our thoughts not only become enormously strong, but thinking becomes so smooth and easy that no effort whatever is required. We think God's thoughts after Him, and those thoughts are not only full of power, but also full of peace. To understand how an action can be perfectly still may be difficult to the mind that has never felt the perfect calm; but we must realize that stillness does not imply inactivity. Real stillness is the highest form of activity, where the strongest power acts in absolute harmony. To be in real stillness is to be in that power; therefore, the mind that is perfectly still thinks the highest thoughts, the greatest thought and the most powerful thought.

We may all demonstrate through personal experience that it is not strenuous metaphysical efforts that perform miracles, but the power of those high spiritual thoughts we create while in the secret places of the Most High. And when we learn to use that method only, and never permit ourselves to become mentally over-wrought, we shall develop healing powers that are extraordinary—powers that will do greater things than was ever seen upon earth before. "Greater things than these shall ye do." "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world."

When you live in the presence of the Infinite you are constantly in touch with higher power and superior guidance. You will therefore not only be able to accomplish far more in your chosen vocation, but you will be prevented from going astray. The very moment the person is tempted to take a misstep, the spirit from within interferes, and you are prompted to again proceed on the true path. When you are on the verge of doing something that is not best, higher power appears; something unexpected happens to upset all your proposed plans, and you are led to see, by the light from within, that there is something better in store. The nearer you live to the Infinite the more readily you are corrected and placed right whenever you are going to go wrong. Your seeming mistakes, therefore, are brought to naught in every instance, and you are awakened more and more to the realization of the great truth that God knows best. When in doubt or in darkness, leave it to God; the right way will open and the very best will come to pass.

The first principle in the unfoldment of the soul is to live in the spiritual attitude; that is, in the prayer without ceasing, or in that attitude where you feel that you are in the spirit. When you are in the spirit, or in the spirit of real prayer, and deeply desire certain things, you will certainly receive them. Everything that you can possibly pray for is in the spirit, and when you are in the spirit when you pray you will be in perfect spiritual touch with what you pray for. And what we spiritually touch, that we receive. Place human life in conscious contact with higher life and the latter will flow into the former. Soul unfoldment will place the being of man in higher and higher states of spiritual relationship with the Supreme Source of all things. Therefore, to unfold the soul is to open the way to every lofty goal that man may have in view.

"And if thy right hand cause thee to stumble, cut it off." The right hand symbolizes that which we think we cannot live without, and to think that anything in the visible world is indispensable, is to be in bondage to things. He who knows that he can live whether the universe lives or not, has found life itself—the eternal life of the spirit. He is therefore no longer in bondage to things because he is in that life that is infinitely greater than all things.