Let Your Light Shine

Let Your Light Shine
May the season be a time for inner awakening of the living spirit, rather than simply practicing the outward form of our faith.



Years ago, I attended an A.R.E. conference about Jesus, where one of the speakers made a statement that frequently comes to mind. Herbert Puryear, then director of research for A.R.E., told the audience: “For 2,000 years we’ve been trying to make a man out of Jesus when His whole purpose was to make gods out of us.” Although some might take offense at this seemingly sacrilegious remark, a little personal inquiry demonstrates the biblical and Cayce readings’ basis for such a claim. This idea also underscores much of the conflict in today’s world – conflict that exists because too many individuals may be focused on attempting to make themselves and others) live their religion rather than attempting to come more into alignment with the living spirit contained within their personal faith.

An often-overlooked statement in the Bible occurred when a group in Jerusalem threatened to stone Jesus. The group declared that in spite of His good works, He was committing blasphemy by making himself a god. Jesus answered them, saying, “Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?” (John 10:34) The law Jesus is referring to comes from Psalms in the Old Testament, and states: “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.” (Psalms 82:6) This suggests that all of us potentially share the same relationship with God as Jesus.

From the perspective of the Edgar Cayce readings, “salvation” does not come from belonging to a specific religion, from meditation, or from any such activity; rather it is only ours as we manifest the spirituality of the Creator in the earth. This process of growth and unfoldment is clearly described in the New Testament (Matthew 13:31-33) when Jesus discusses the nature of Heaven in parables: “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field: which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.’ Another parable spake he unto them; ‘the kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took, and hid in three measures of meal, till the whole was leavened.’”

Too often, it seems, we may try to impose our personal religious beliefs outwardly onto others and our society, rather than trying to direct them inwardly as a means of awakening ourselves to the same living spirit that inspired individuals like Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed, Moses, and others.

While giving the sermon on the Mount, Jesus explained to the multitudes that His mission was not to change a religion, or even to start a new religion, but rather to demonstrate the fulfillment of God’s plan in the earth: “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.” (Matthew 5:17) During the same sermon, He encouraged His listeners (and perhaps us, as well) to begin living the light that was within them:

“Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16)

ayce once described this internal awakening process to a 34-year-old physicist: “In giving does a soul grow, even as a tree, even as a rock, even as a sunset, even as a world grows in its influence upon that about it. So has that force grown that we find manifested in the earth that we worship as constructive influence of God, as to the All-Wise purpose, or as to the Holy Spirit, or as to those influences that make alive in giving, in making itself manifest. So are ye gods in the making, saith He that walked among men as the greater teacher of all experiences and ages.” (699-1) And a 46-year-old lawyer was told: “For we all – and ye are as others – are gods in the making; not the God, but gods in the making! For He would have thee be one with Him.” (877-21)

Regardless of our religious heritage, let us use the season as a time to encourage our own inner awakening of the living spirit rather than simply practicing the outward form that our personal faith takes. After all, the Cayce readings remind us: “For you grow to heaven, you don’t go to heaven. It is within thine own conscience that ye grow there.” (3409-1)