Lessons In Truth - Lesson 9 - Annotation 1
For whom does our soul long? Can full satisfaction be found in outer things alone? Explain.
1. Our soul longs for God. No matter what things we desire, what ambitions we may have, or what persons we may want in our life, all of these represent the deep longing of the soul for God. We long to know God as love, as life, as power, as peace, as beauty, as security, as companionship, but in most instances this longing is first interpreted as the desire for things.
However earnestly we seek in the outer, we are always unsatisfied and restless until we have, as our text points out on page 90, paragraph 3, "a clear, vivid consciousness of the indwelling presence of God, our Father" (Emilie Cady Lessons In Truth 9:3). No matter how near and dear to us other persons may be, always we are searching for something deeper, which is the conscious companionship of God within ourselves. The primary purpose of these lessons is to show ways in which we can come consciously into the presence of God, so that God is no longer a Being afar off, removed from our every day life. When we do attain to the realization of God's presence indwelling, we are in "the secret place of the Most High" (Psalms 91:1). Charles and Cora Fillmore have this to say about man's hungering for God:
"There is only one God, only one ruling power in all the universe; and the highest avenue through which God can express Himself is man. The hungering for God that is felt by man in his soul is really God hungering to express eternal life through man. God is always seeking to awaken man's very soul to His mighty presence. He thus expands the consciousness, offering man an opportunity more fully and more perfectly to express Him" (Teach Us to Pray 20).
Satisfaction cannot be found in outer things alone. The things we see in the outer are but the visible forms of ideas. There is a tremendous truth in the statement of Jesus, "Seek ye first his kingdom (realm of ideas), and his righteousness (right use of the ideas); and all these things (the forms) shall be added unto you" (Matt. 6:33). Until we seek God, the source of ideas, the forms, no matter how good, can never bring us satisfaction of themselves. Thus to seek God is to lay hold consciously of the ideas that villi by the law of mind action bring things into manifestation.
If the good things in our lives are not recognized as God ideas in visible form, not seen as the blessings of God in manifestation, we have not yet found full satisfaction. When we come to know God consciously as the Giver of all good, then we appreciate things for we see them as they truly are.
"As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks,
So panteth my soul after thee, O God.
My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God" (Psalms 42:1, 2).
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Preceding Entry: What is the law of growth? Can we receive understanding of the whole Spirit of God at once?
Following Entry: What is "the secret place of the Most High" (Psalms 91:1)?
