Like As A Father

SUN., FEB. 26, 1984, 5:58 AM
FARM, STUDY

“Like as a father, pitieth his children… the Lord have mercy on them that fear Him.” Let that aria, and the conversation last evening be the basis for this morning’s Teaching. It shall depart a bit from Christian orthodoxy, but not from the ethic of love, which is more powerful than doctrines. I do not want you to be a radical, but, also, I have not promised you pure orthodoxy. Only fundamentalism of the most important sort.

Janet’s affirmation that her parents’ example of love toward their children seemed a reasonable base line for My concern for humanity. I should not be less loving and forgiving than human parents here in the earth… right? And yet the Scriptures do suggest, and Christian doctrine affirms, that I judge narrowly, harshly, and by a single standard, and only a tiny portion of human souls continue in heavenly fellowship with Me. Objectively, that isn’t very good parenting, now is it?

You are a father, and you love and therefore feel pity toward your children. Peter was a worrisome adolescent, one incompletely committed to Me, and yet you knew, at his death, that I, his Everlasting Father, had taken over his care and nurture, and that he was where he should be. By strict standards Peter would be in hell, with most of dead humanity. Instead he lives and grows spiritually in a plane more suitable for his present state.

Matthew’s orientation to life is not what you would wish for him. You have tried to communicate this, but mixed solidly with continuing love for him as one of your sons. Life as a father, thus am I.

Some of the Christian Scriptures contain the threat that those who do not accept Me as Jesus, the Christ, shall forevermore be lost, without possibility of redemption. Other Christian Scriptures picture Me as a loving Father, who forgives, pities, and ultimately embraces each one, even those that reject My offers. Each is true, and neither negates the other. Remember that I represent perfect justice and perfect mercy, all at the same time. I cannot be limited by either/or thinking.

So, I do not deny that I judge and condemn, but neither do I deny that I forgive and accept. Souls do not die and go to hell unless they wish to, and this wish can be revoked, for the fundamental “fact” of the spiritual universe that I created and that I command is spiritual growth or spiritual progress. So… some souls may choose to make no progress, or even to regress. Sometimes I honor this choice… sometimes not.

I continually urge progress, even along what seem to be divergent paths. Those who hear the Christian message are urged along a narrow path. Some forge straight down the middle; others are erratic; others choose the fringes. But just as spiritual growth can result from a wide range of experiences, so progress can be made in any part of the path.