The Information Channel Felist.Com -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- UNITY WAY July 20, 2003 ------------------------------------------------------ Search for the Truth: Action By Andrei Yashurin Truth goes beyond intellectual knowledge of facts about reality, and understanding of how to apply those facts. Truth involves attitudes - among which are openness, integrity, and willingness to act upon the ideas that are being revealed to us in process of our search. "Our main business is, not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand", said Carlyle. And the Bible confirms his wisdom: "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the revealed things belong to us and to our sons forever, so that we may do all the words of this law". Deuteronomy 29:29 We need to be aware of the fact that hunger for the Truth is not exactly the same as hunger for head knowledge, although they may look similar in many ways. We are not called to know all things - although this thought looks enticing - but to know useful and practical things, things that will contribute to our happiness, fulfillment, and creative self-expression. It is a sad thing to see a person who is familiar with many spiritual ideas, laws, and concepts, who can quote from thousands of books, but who is almost helpless to deal with challenges and sufferings of any kind as they come to him/her. The best thing such individual can usually come up with, is a complex of rationalizations which explain why this of that had to happen in their lives. There could be partial truths behind rationalizations, but frankly, I am not much interested in them. The overall approach that justifies living amidst problems and sufferings looks for me a serious problem. The Truth is the power that sets its faithful adherents free. Therefore, all theories that don't set people free, are bound to be less than the Truth. The way of deliverance and escape from undesirable conditions is found in action. Whatever you believe to be true about God, about the world, and about yourself, express it in your thoughts, words, and deeds. Even if it is just a grain of Truth, or a mustard seed as Jesus called it in one of His parables, put it in a fertile soil, and let it grow. Bring all the aspects of your life into alignment with this particular truth by letting go of all that is not in agreement with it. Watch for the results. It does not matter how much an individual knows as he/she starts the journey. We all know enough to make a first step, trusting that we will be divinely guided into our next move. "It is a spiritual law that to use 90 percent of a small amount of knowledge is more practically effective than to use only say 50 percent of a large amount", wrote Emmet Fox. The parable of talents in Matthew 25 is a beautiful illustration of this principle. Servants that actively used and invested their money, received more money and further promotion from their master in a due time. But the servant who neglected his gift lost the money, and lost further opportunities for growth. Each day of our lives, we create or destroy our own opportunities - by either acting or refusing to act upon the Truth that we know. Some people, as we also see it from the parable, refuse to act because of fear of making a mistake and being condemned for it. But the wise ones know that the fear of making a mistake is the worst mistake of all. Until we keep our heart open, being determined to act and to work, we can be confident that the Spirit of God will show us the right path, and our understanding of the Truth will increase. ------------------------------------------------------ Andrei Yashurin: admin@unityway.net http://unityway.net/zine Positive Christianity E-zine If you like our list, please recommend it to others. All messages (c) 2003 by Andrei Yashurin -*-------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe: http://felist.com/member/unsub?grp=lit.unityway&email= http://felist.com/ mailto:ask@felist.com