The gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life. And those alone who
are in the spirit can find it. Follow the light of spirit in all things; choose the living
Christ as the pattern of all things, and depend on God for all things. Don’t seek
Truth; seek the Spirit of Truth, for the Spirit leads into all Truth. To know the Truth is
to know the way, and to be guided by the Spirit into all Truth is to walk in the light of
the Spirit each step along the way. The way of light leads into the kingdom of eternal
life. Follow the words of the Christ as they were spoken through Jesus until the Spirit is
found. Then follow the Spirit into the greater life and expression of the Christ in you.
Let your eye be single. Keep your vision focused on the presence of God instead of the
absence. Remain steadfastly upon the light that is revealed through the spiritual vision
of your soul. Where that light is shining, there is the gate. Beyond is the way that leads
to life and all who are in the Spirit will find it, they who have eyes to see. —Anonymous
As Jesus stands before
Pilate, the accused asks questions as if he were the judge. From Jesus’ first words
it is the prefect who is on trial. Pilate is a man who is facing the light and must decide
whether he will prefer light or darkness. "For this I was born, and for this I have
come into the world, to bear witness to the truth," Jesus declared. "Every one
who is of the truth hears my voice." (John 18:37)
"What is truth?"
Pilate asked, while Jesus never answered. (v. 38) He did not answer because Pilate could
not understand.
The human self, human ego, does not know Truth. It only knows how
things appear and the impressions conveyed by the senses. It observes things in the outer
world and decides the nature of reality. But it cannot know Truth and therefore it cannot
be free. Only by knowing Truth can we find freedom. "You will know the truth, and the
truth will make you free." (John 8:32) And what is Truth? Unity’s cofounder,
Charles Fillmore, called Truth the "verities of existence." This is Reality with
a capital "R" instead of the "reality" communicated by the physical
senses. Truth is not human knowledge, neither heard nor imparted, but something
experienced. Charles Fillmore said, "Practical Christianity and Truth stand upon the
same foundation and are interchangeable terms." (Dynamics for Living, p. 12)
God’s perfect ideas are Truth—absolute, unchanging, eternal, universal,
unconditional and unlimited—and the foundations of the universe and everything in it.
Everyone has the ability to
discern Truth, but to do so we must look beyond physical appearances to pure thought.
Whenever consciousness or awareness expands beyond the senses, we touch Truth and what
seems to be a new discovery is the revelation of what has always been. Every new discovery
in science, medicine or life is actually the discovery of some fundamental principle which
has existed from the very beginning. No wonder Jesus told us that Truth makes us free! The
awareness of any aspect of the nature of Reality frees us from long-standing human beliefs
and limited thinking based on the information supplied by sensation. It is not that the
senses themselves are bad. They provide necessary information about conditions in the
outer, three-dimensional world of time, space and form. However, when we use this
information to make decisions on the nature of Reality we end up with mis-perceptions and
false conclusions.
In the Sermon on the Mount
(Matthew, chapters 5-7), Jesus said, "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide
and the way easy, that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the
gate is narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are
few." (Matthew 7:13, 14)
Several years ago I wrote a
newsletter article called, "Tower of Power," a metaphysical
interpretation of the Eiffel Tower. Some of the ideas presented in the article included
the concept of the tower as a representation of the spiritual path. It is wide at the
bottom, narrows at the top and has several distinct levels for visitors. Each level is
smaller than the one before and holds fewer observers. Not as many people choose to go to
the very top—the final stage requires visitors to ascend stairs—though the view
is the most spectacular. From the highest point, life on the ground seems remote and
unimportant. While the lowest level of the tower caters to all the senses with a
restaurant, a museum and formerly a cinema, the highest presents the visitor only the
transcendental experience of the view. How like Jesus’ story of the gate this is!
The wide gate is the one
many go through. It appears as the many limitations we declare about life and ourselves.
"Life is hard and then you die." "There is only so much to go around."
Even plastic covering on a sofa can indicate the wide gate. "I have to make it last;
it’s the only one I’ll ever have." To declare a condition incurable or
terminal is another wide gate many walk through. There are a great number of limitations
we declare for ourselves which form the wide gate that leads to destruction. Stated
differently, there are many limitations we hold in consciousness which produce
undesirable, though quite predictable, consequences. Remember, our thought is formative
and is creating tomorrow’s experience today through the law of mind action.
In 1998, the Gallup people
said, "It’s not that Americans do not believe in anything, they tend to believe
everything." For this reason it is important to know the Truth. It is important to
know what is Reality instead of appearance. And how do you begin to know the Truth? I
believe the first step to take in any situation is to think about God. What do you know
about God? One of the truths Myrtle Fillmore had to lay hold of, one of the narrow gates
through which she had to mentally walk was, "I am a child of God, therefore I do not
inherit sickness." How could she say that? Because God is life and not death,
wholeness and not disease. A child has the characteristics of the parent. We even say
about someone, "He’s a chip off the old block," meaning that he’s just
like his parent. The same is true of us and our original Parent. In God there is no
disease, neither is there lack of any kind, nor hatred, nor any other apparent limitation.
Know the Truth about God and you know the Truth about yourself. Declare that Truth for
yourself. Speak it aloud and silently until it is a living Reality within you and it will
make you free. Remember also, you do not affirm Divine Ideas to make them true. They
already are true. You affirm them to establish them as the foundation of your
consciousness.
Jesus said that the narrow
gate was hard to take because it is the uncommon choice. It is difficult to remember the
Truth in the face of contrary outer evidence. It is hard to hold to the Truth when others
tell you that you must "face the facts." It requires thinking against the
current of outer appearances and human belief to face the changing facts of life with the
eternal Truth of God. But you are created with everything you need to do just that. Those
who choose the narrow gate are greatly rewarded. The courage and the discipline required
are worth the effort. Charles Fillmore once said, "The Truth you know is the Truth
you use. All else is theory." Every idea is a theory until someone accepts it and
puts it to use in his life. Spirituality is practical; it can be practiced and
demonstrated. Life and health, love and supply, peace and harmony are not just theories
but the Truth that sets you free.