After these seven steps of this different approach to prayer have been completed, there is a deepened understanding that there is a basic reality in the heart-center of all people. It is important that we are able to awaken a deep awareness of a common reality that we all share.
“But like all understandings that come to us in life, the expansion of this understanding will go on for years, possibly the rest of a lifetime. Each of us may have to go through the seven steps again and again to gain the deep realization of how connected are all people. When the awareness of that basic reality has been awakened, the possibility has opened before us to begin to fully comprehend what all people have in common. And further, it is possible to gain the sense of how we are connected with all of Creation.”
And then by using “the spiritual influence of divine Presence” as a much better translation than “the Kingdom of God,” I used the mustard seed metaphor from Jesus to conclude:
"spiritual agape ‘has been planted’ in our hearts to nurture our awakening as we slowly grow in our consciousness of spiritual power in our relationships. Such growth could then be called ‘agape consciousness.’ That’s how we become aware of “the spiritual influence of divine Presence.” So as we act on that influence in our relationships, feeling the power of patience, and experiencing the growth and power of kindness (1 Cor. 13:4), we truly realize that there is a divine influence “within us” (or “among us”). That is what Jesus was describing. That is what Jesus was waking up in people’s lives. And so that is what we need to open up to and allow to happen in our lives.”
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