The Key to Remembering God
Author: Guy Finley

We should do the Work of making the right inner effort to remember ourselves and our God always. Our universe is created for just this purpose, and we for it.

With this in mind, allow me to anticipate what you may be thinking, for when reminded in this fashion we often say, “but I do remember Him.. or His Light.? And perhaps we do. All of us who hold even a trace of real love for the Light of lights believe this to be true of ourselves. Yet, dare we bring a bit more light to this perception of ourselves? Let us see!

To remember God only when our forgetfulness has made life seem bitter or futile (as when our dreams collapse) is itself a secret source of bitterness and a sense of futility. The self that recalls the Higher only when its lower pursuits prove pointless is not the self that will ever know the Celestial Contentment for which we are created. Much to the contrary, as we stand there is some dark and unwanted moment, this level of self actually punishes us with its sudden and timely longing for the Light. Try to see the truth of this.

Not only does this lower order of self fail to establish relationship with the Light it calls out for, but even as it “cries out? we’re acutely reminded that we have not only “failed?to secure our earthly heaven, but we’ve failed to realize our True Heaven as well. This ongoing plight helps explain why, through time immemorial, the ancient Great Ones have always taught that we (who would know Real Life) must remember to remember our God.

Taking a few moments each day to remember God whenever we can -especially in the middle of our hurry-up lives-may not seem relevant to helping us realize our dreams today, but you would be surprised at the power these small conscious pauses possess. In our younger years, the world around us fairly glows with promise. We see much happiness in the bright hopes we hold for things that we may come to possess. But somehow we must remember what much of our experience has already taught us: the gleam of things earthly, even the brightest, must fade. Things lose their luster. Even our bodies, once supple and proud, are proven victims of passing time. Only God never pales. Even in our darkest hours His Light dwells within us in our own unseen depths. Barely apprehended, still it shines- a kind of beacon for those longing to leave behind the discordant waves of too willful a life.

Remembering God in the midst of our daily actions- during mundane chores or in the throes of an exciting moment- is a deliberate act of recalling that our lives, with all their unsought-after endings, have hidden within them an Endless Beginning. To remember that all of life’s ceaseless movement originates in something supremely Still is to touch this Stillness.

So it is that whenever we agree to take these small conscious pauses-to remember therein the Eternal-we connect ourselves to His Timeless Life and receive a moment of what is Unmeasurable. For our efforts, in effect and in reality, a marriage is made within us and a new life is seeded and born.

Here, along with a small encouragement taken from the writings of St.Thomas, is a short exercise we may take with us wherever we go to help us follow the practice of rightly remembering our God and ourselves. First, the words of St. Thomas:

“All other human operations seem to be ordered to this (remembering God) as to their end. For perfect contemplation requires that the body should be disencumbered, and to this effect are directed all the products of art that are necessary for life. Moreover, it requires freedom from the disturbance causes by passions which is achieved by means of virtue and of prudence; and freedom from external disturbance, to which the whole governance of civil life is directed. So that, if we consider the matter rightly, we shall see that all human occupations appear to serve those who contemplate the truth...Man’s ultimate happiness consists solely in the contemplation of God.?

Make it your personal aim to take as many small conscious pauses each day as you can remind yourself to take. These moments of reordering your priorities need not (should not!) be grand acts. Merely stop the parading thoughts and feelings for a short spell and recall that were it not for the existence of an interior Changeless Ground there would be nothing moving anywhere.

By remembering what is Changeless, Timeless - in becoming aware of this feature within you through your awareness of It- you touch It and It you. Give no thought to the efficacy of this action, for the self that pauses in this way is the front-runner of the Intelligence it calls to. And though the Changeless is timeless, true transformation requires a passage. Be patient. Be persistent.

In time you will see that your actions of taking conscious pauses to remember yourself and God are the seeds of a special kind of vine that produces a unique fruit. Gradually you will cease to be “you.? You will realize that who you really are has always been right within you, and that more than this you could not wish to be.

Do the inner Work! The words we share are merely invitations, and not the banquet itself.

Copywrite 2000 Life Of Learning. All Rights Reserved. Permission granted to reprint with author credit only.








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Guy Finley is the best-selling author of a half dozen books on self-transformation. His works, which have sold over a million copies and have been translated into seven languages, are recommended by doctors, ministers, and industry leaders. For information about Guy Finley's books, booklets, tapes, and helpful on-going study groups call (541) 476-1200 or visit www.guyfinley.com.

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