“And that’s not all. You will have complete and free access to God’s kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A yes on earth is yes in heaven. A no on earth is no in heaven.”

— Matthew 16:19 The Message (MSG)

“Reaching For The Light”

Spiritual Enlightenment

Young and old alike have long sought true meaning in life, that which gives purpose to our being. Often, however, we are at a loss, in not knowing how or where to turn. As though this were not enough, in our effort to unlock the seeming mystery, we tend to overlook the fact that the key to personal happiness, namely, a re-awakening of the soul, is ever at hand.

Veiled though it may be through mortal ill-use, the soul’s presence reveals itself to all of humble heart amid God’s wondrous inner Light.

Upon God coming into our life we at once sense His Goodness and His Love. We as well come to recognize the superficiality of worldly dross, ever an encumbrance to the soul.

Spiritually enlightened, we know ourself to be on firm ground. Thus too do we know true self-love and the love of others: We are at Home with our true inner self.

— Garry D. Kilbourn

Then Jesus went to work on his disciples. “Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You’re not in the driver’s seat; I am. Don’t run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I’ll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to finding yourself, your true self. What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for? 

— Matthew 16:24-26 The Message (MSG)

“Reaching For The Light”

Our True Self  

All too often, the person we portray to others is not who we really are, or would like to be. It is but an upside down image of the true “us.” Left unattended, it tends to become self-destructive.

To our own misfortune, we seldom seek remedy by going within to examine our life through mindful contemplation. Nonetheless, examine it we must if ever we are to come to know our true innermost self.

Very often, such self-examination is involuntary, coming at a time when we are at our lowest and no longer able, consciously or unconsciously, to deny the one thing most dear to us — our innately God-given Goodness.

In coming to terms with who we are, we at once sense a hitherto unknown lightness of being. At long last we are free, simply, to be “us.”

— Garry D. Kilbourn

"I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left — feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught. “You’ve heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, and I’m coming back.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life.

— John 14:25-28 The Message (MSG)

“Reaching For The Light”

The Common Good 

We have a moral obligation to live our lives with purpose, each in its own way.

A sense of one’s own purpose is at once a transcendence of thoughts of the mind, a spiritual revelation of self-awareness.

It means abandoning all pretence, that we may be honest with ourselves and become re-acquainted with our God-given Goodness. Only thus may we come to realize our own unique human potential in pursuit of the common good — that which defines our purpose.

— Garry D. Kilbourn

Can you make lightning appear and cause it to strike as you direct? Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind? Who is wise enough to count all the clouds? Who can tilt the water jars of heaven.

— Job 38:35-37 New Living Translation (NLT)

“Reaching For The Light”

Intuition

Our sixth sense, is a trait common to everyone. It is a supernatural sixth sense which, among other things, has the potential to give insight into one’s true inner being.

That we may truly know and bond with another requires, firstly, our being at peace within. In such a state, and in all humility, we look to our Higher spiritual self to convey our vulnerability and our trust. Thus are souls uplifted.

— Garry D. Kilbourn

Then God said, “Let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) make man in Our image, according to Our likeness [not physical, but a spiritual personality and moral likeness]; and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the cattle, and over the entire earth, and over everything that creeps and crawls on the earth.”

— Genesis 1:26 Amplified Bible (AMP) 

“Reaching For The Light”

Walking in the Way

Were we to be ever conscious of the fact that we are born in the spiritual image of God, forever possessed of His Goodness, all the while walking in His Way with Love for our fellowman, we would at once be midst those Elysian Fields of inner peace that we so long for.

Our spiritual salvation — our very humanity — lies ever within. We alone, in all humility, must take firm hold of that which is divinely given; that which is ever so near.

— Garry D. Kilbourn

Now He drew close enough to each of them that they could feel His breath. He breathed on them: Jesus: Welcome the Holy Spirit of the living God.

— John 20:22 The Voice (VOICE)

“Reaching For The Light”

God’s Standard

There are certain standards in life that, by common consent, we embrace and take for granted, e.g. Greenwich Mean Time; Weights and Measures. There is yet another standard anterior to these and all else in our daily pursuits; one that we as well take for granted, but all too often ignore; namely God’s Standard of Fullness.

God’s Purity of Soul, breathed into each one of us, is the very essence of His Goodness and His Love, setting a spiritually priceless Standard for all mankind.

God’s Light within, never to be extinguished, is the spiritual guide for all that we think and do. The further our thoughts take us from God’s divine inner Light, the more tenuous our life becomes. It is thus worth all we value in life to keep God’s Standard ever-present within. Only then may we avoid the human dross of life that forever threatens to beset us.

— Garry D. Kilbourn

“So don’t worry and don’t keep saying, ‘What shall we eat, what shall we drink or what shall we wear?’ That is what pagans are always looking for; your Heavenly Father knows that you need them all. Set your heart on the kingdom and his goodness, and all these things will come to you as a matter of course. ” 

— Matthew 6:31-33  J.B. Phillips (PHILLIPS)

“Reaching For the Light”

Goodness

I know that Goodness is: 

A spiritual suffusion 

Of Goodness and Love,

Her soul’s immortal Light revealed, 

Her precious being, Purity

And Divine Love, 

Child of God: a gift to all.

— Garry D. Kilbourn