Lesson 15 - What is the Greatest Human Achievement?

WHAT IS THE GREATEST HUMAN ACHIEVEMENT?

Purpose: To emphasize this Truth: That to know God's will and to fulfill His purpose in our lives is the greatest human achievement.

[71] In one sense there is no human achievement, for whatever we accomplish is wrought by the power of Divine Wisdom and Love inherent within us. God works by means of man, and every achievement is the outcome of this Presence and Power. The greatest human achievement is not to be found in externals, not in the building of cities, nor in the execution of great commercial schemes, not even in our wonderful works of art.

Our highest attainment comes through the inner revelation; it is to learn God's Plan and to realize this Divine Purpose within ourselves.

In order to fulfill our destiny, we must know God as the Omnipresent One, whose nature is goodness, love, life, power. We must come into the realization of our oneness with the Father; we must see that we are destined to become the companion of the Infinite; we must attain unto the measure of the stature of Christ.

That to which we give attention becomes magnified in our mentality.

If our thought is centered upon disease, lack, sorrow, our mental sun will cease to shine, and [72] the world will be very dark to us. On the other hand, when we refuse to entertain these hobgoblins and persistently give ourselves to the Truth of God-Presence with its infinite Goodness, the great light of Love, Joy, and Peace, breaks within us, and problems are no more. They cannot stand in the light of Truth.

In order to outgrow problems, we must have faith in the laws of Life; God wishes us to know the Truth, wishes us to be free. What we call law is but God's method of bringing about his own purposes. Therefore, the laws of Life are working to bring to us the knowledge that is our freedom. Faith in law means that we do not resist the processes of our unfoldment, but trust the law absolutely, because we know that it is bringing us to the realization of our good. Our growth will be entirely harmonious when we have this perfect trust. It is resistance, through lack of faith in the working of the law, that makes conditions hard.

The non-resistant attitude that comes from faith in the working of the law, is powerful to dissolve every inharmonious condition.

One of the breeders of problems is our absorption in the getting of things.

We should abound in all good things; but we shall realize this abundant supply of health, and of all else, only when our supreme purpose is Truth and Righteousness.

All good is now ours, but we must realize it through spiritual consciousness. When we seek earnestly the best gifts, when our thought is aglow with aspiration for the highest, what we call the problems of the day do not disturb us. [73] We pass no opinion upon these, but use them as stepping-stones to greater realization. If we are faithful in the practice of self-training in the great spiritual principles of living until the old habits of unbelief fall away, we receive the crown of life--perfect realization. In the new blessedness that comes to us, there is no darkness, no shadow of night, for lo, all things have become new.

God's will must be Godlike.

We cannot conceive of God willing for us sickness or sorrow, weakness or sin. We have come to know that these inharmonies are the result of man's ignorance. As he is enlightened by Truth they will disappear. God wills for us only life, health, goodness, love, and power. He wills that we should be wise in our day's decisions. He wills that we should be loving, kind, uncritical, fearless, trustful, joyful. He wills brotherhood throughout the land; and, also that we should say with Jesus and Paul, “I of myself do nothing, the Father in me doeth the works.” If we understand God's will in this way, and try steadfastly to fulfill it, we find ourselves gradually freed from bondage to race hypnotism. Self-centered thought-- selfishness-- goes. We forgive perfectly. We serve efficiently. From our earnest endeavor comes clear vision. We are led definitely not only to understand the great principles of right living but also to know God's immediate intent for us. We know whether God wishes us to go forth or to be still, to give or to withhold, to cherish or to lose. Such is the life of power.

This is the greatest human achievement, this knowing the God-Will and fulfilling the Divine Purpose.

[74] Let me make a suggestion to all of those who earnestly desire this great achievement. Since Jesus is the one who has attained beyond all others, let us study his life, not merely to get the historical setting or to be able to picture his personality and environment, but in order to lay hold of the knowledge that was his, the motive that impelled, the love that radiated through him.

Jesus was conscious of God; so must we be. Jesus knew his own relation to God, “I and my Father are one”; so must we know our oneness with the Father. Jesus so lived and so loved, that his very presence was a healing power. So must we live and love, if we, like Jesus, are to bear witness unto the Truth, and thus attain to the great achievement.