Reason

 Things are the way they are for a reason. They are the way they are because of what we have done in the past and because of what we do in the present. Everything we do affects the universe. Everything we do conditions our relationship with the universe. As long as we have a conditional relationship with the universe we will be tied to ignorance and we will suffer and be subject to temptation. Acts of selfishness bind us more deeply to ignorance. Selflessness liberates consciousness from ignorance, from conditioned being. Through reason we can discover a way through the labyrinth of conditioned ignorance. We can rise above it. Through faith and temperance, we may discover the light within us, and it shows us the way of emancipation from ignorance. How can we see the light if we are faithless? We have to have faith in the power and truth that lies beyond the powers of division and darkness that saturate mortal life. If we are faithless, we turn away from the potential to be liberated, we do not believe. In not believing in the light, we permit ourselves to dwell in darkness. We let it overtake us. Darkness only has the power we give it, it is fueled by our fear, and driven by our desire. When we act upon our thirst, we unleash darkness within our mind. When we let fear overtake us, we believe that our mortal lives are more important than our eternal soul. We damn our soul to save the life of our flesh. How can we protect ourselves if we cannot see? What life do we have if we do not have a soul? God is ever merciful. We assail Him with our anger, impatience, and negativity, when the pains we have are caused by our own hands. It is not God who rejects us, it is us who reject God. God is ever-present with open arms. We cannot accept Him when we hide from Him in darkness. It is our disbelief that sends us to Hell. Where is Hell but where there is disbelief? How dark it is that there is no belief in Him and there is belief in that which is death. How bright the world is when we leave the cave of our hatred of goodness. How little we need to possess. How free is God's love. The price we pay for darkness is heavy indeed. We cannot bear the evil we bring upon ourselves, how easily we bear the light which comes from God. How confused we must be about what is good, and what is evil. It is the love for ourselves, for our own life, that keeps us from being with Him who is always here. We cannot have a life that is just our own if we wish to live in Heaven with our Father. It is true that in the Light of God, that we becomes brothers and sisters. We take up the mantle of Christ when we live and act in His name. When our mortal consciousness perishes, we become thus. We are reborn in Christ. Through faith, we find redemption. Through redemption we find death and resurrection. I do not belong to anyone, nor anything. You cannot possess me. You will not find me unless you lose yourself. You may see me and feel me, but you will not be born of this mind till thee lose the mind that thee possess, until thee own nothing at all for thyself. I am not found in hatred or judgment. I am not found in any religion, but in all religion. Know me and know that the Church of God has a roof of blue sky and a floor of soil and grass. There is no room for your beliefs here, only unconditional love and simple goodness and charity. I am no more noble than a polished wooden staff made from a common tree. All you need to do is clean your plate after you eat your meal and you will find me waiting.