SAINTHOOD DOES NOT COME OVERNIGHT

I write with regard to a particular modern-day 'charismatic church' interpretation of sainthood. The claim is that no matter how Christ-like a person is, they are not a saint unless they accept the Literalist's narrow, elitist and disuniting dogma. When people who think like that pass into the Spirit, they hold firmly to the conviction that they are the only ones to whom God has revealed Himself, and as the free will is never interfered with, they have built a wall around themselves and must remain on the plain, failing to rails that many good people have long since departed for the spiritual heights of the mountains.

A deep look into the past and the attitudes which prevailed at that time will help to fathom this subject. The Gentle Stranger taught a loving kindness alien to a people who knew only wickedness and cruelty inconceivable today. His truths became slightly tainted by the prevailing indoctrinated thought of his hearers.

The Christ had to address His teaching to people steeped in superstition, and who had a God who demanded animal sacrifices to atone for sins. It came naturally to His followers that Jesus was a 'sacrifice' to somehow absolve them from the consequences of their wrongful actions. This was a natural, but unfortunately, misleading interpretation of Christ's life, death and resurrection.

Forgiveness of sin does not mean removal of the effects of sin attributable to the sinner - 'saint' or not. The message of Christ is life everlasting, but also one of warning as well as hope; for what a man sows that he must assuredly reap. A person is not an instant saint; he rectifies the results of his own sins by expiation, not God.

A person does not instantly become 'separated unto God' by following a man-made theory or dogma, nor do all others who do not follow such a theory remain not 'separated unto God'. Certainly, there may be a brush with the a supernatural power which leads many people to think, because their minds are so impressed by it, that they have achieved some type of instant transformation from a soul destined for an eternal damnation into a soul fit to reside in the awesome purity of the highest heaven. But being 'separated unto God' means striving to always seek the things of God as demonstrated so clearly by the life of Christ, and leaving behind the attractive toys of the earth which do not last and the desire for earthly power and the adoration of the masses.

However, there is an important consideration to be made here, and it concerns a certain spiritual phenomenon where the soul is brought into a mutual loving communion with God (*see footnote below [1])

According to Dogma, an initial call to accept a metaphysical concept (human blood sacrifice), conversion and repentance makes a saint. No character can ever achieve perfection in so short a time as the earth-life provides (although unimaginably important), and the progressive goal of perfection continues long after the pilgrim has passed into the Better Land.

God cannot learn our lessons or gain experience of right or wrong for us, although He would if He could. The Great Parent wants to give His own children of His own gifts, but without the experience and wisdom to use those unimaginable gifts, He cannot do so. To think that such gifts shall be used with perfection and without error due solely to a life on Earth in a physical body, is short of outrageous.

A saint who sins occasionally is a contradiction in terms. Sainthood comes not overnight; it is easy to claim, but hard to attain.

*[1] Personal Union With Divine Love

Firstly, it is worth mentioning that the following description of union with God (or more specifically Divine Love, for God is Love) is not dependent upon the knowledge of the mind.

Love or God (who some of us call Christ) is able to pour His love into the souls of some people in a powerful manner and enter into an extremely intimate and often overpowering Divine Union with them; it is the nature of human language that an explanation in words would only leave a partial impression of the power and feelings involved - it is not a psychological or emotional creation but a so-called 'supernatural' act performed upon a soul while still encased in a fleshly body. The experience is of pure love, the love which is truly divine and which is unconditional. Often, in its more powerful appearances, this Divine Love can be felt as a bittersweet 'pain' on a physical level within the body. The experience may last for different periods of time and may happen frequently and unexpectedly. In its more powerful form the experience is one of almost perfect unity or union with Love (God) where the individual soul seems 'lost' to itself and yet at one with Love.

This is a phenomenon that can have extreme spiritual purgation (purification) preceding a heartbreaking and undying love for Love (God), and in its most powerful manifestation this phenomenon is comparatively rare; yet there are many varying degrees of Divine Love which can be experienced by many people. This can happen due to the strong desire to have Love in the heart during the earthly stage and is not confined to dogma or doctrine for it has been observed in those named by man as 'saints' (eg. John of the Cross, Teresa of Avila) of the West and 'saints' and 'seers' of the East (eg. some Indian and Himalayan 'yogis', and ancient Kamal Posh 'mystics'). The deep and personal fire of love between the Beloved and the child of God, which does not consume, occurs to people both in the Old and New Testaments, as well as ancient eastern scriptures, although there may be slightly different manifestations of this intimate contact with (and knowledge of) the Personality of Love (for Divine Love is one with the Personality of the Supreme Being - Love). In followers of the Cross, for instance, on rare occasions, there can be a communion of this Divine Spirit throughout the individual's soul and on into the physical body, sometimes manifesting as 'the marks of Christ' (stigmata - Gal.6:17). It should be noted, regardless of dogmatic claims to perfection, that there are aeons of evolution in front of such revered and spiritual figures, for the awesome Purity of God is known in It's absolute fullness by none except God.

As has been said, the love which is Divine and pure, and which enters into union with an individual in the form of recognisable and tangible personal love, comes when the strong desire to know and experience the love of God is in the heart, although this union is not dependent upon conscious desire for it is given by grace also to those who have not been consciously seeking it. The 'contemplative' will be desiring the love of God as his or her main goal, and working towards that end. For instance, this may involve forsaking all else except God, and may involve spiritual practices such as prayer, contemplation and meditation with the aim of fulfilling the overwhelming desire of receiving this wonderful gift. It should be noted that one does not have to be a 'contemplative' in order to ask God to come in this form of Divine Love, but the desire for the receiving of this priceless gift and the willingness to make regular time to pray and meditate for it, will most certainly reap rewards towards this end. However, by the grace and pleasure of God, the bestowal of this Divine Love can come to one who is not following a similar path to the contemplative - by no means does Love restrict this personal and intimate union to those who follow similar structured paths to the contemplative.

Once this phenomenon occurs within an individual soul, the human being of that soul undergoes powerful changes by nature because of this most intimate contact with the Source of Life - Love. The person will be more conscious within himself or herself of all the spiritual qualities which come from Love such as humility, compassion, tenderness, kindness, selflessness and the desire to give without taking. However, receiving such a wonderful gift does not make a soul instantly prepared for the inconceivably powerful Realms of spiritual Perfection on departure from the earthly body; indeed, the pilgrim's journey continues long after this life on Earth as a human being in the flesh.