[ Setting: A wild mountain stream surrounded by a magnificent forest. ]
SYLVIA: This is so strange. My last memory was lying on my death bed, then all of a sudden you were speaking with us. During my illness–I had a brain tumor–I did have some hallucinations, but I could usually tell what was real and what was not, at least I thought I could. But you said, I did die; am I really speaking with an angel?
ALLEGENTIA: Yes, you left your damaged body behind. Physical death is a transition and this new experience is just the first of many to come. So let’s talk awhile. Tell me a little bit about yourself.
SYLVIA: I was in the last quarter of my first year at college when I received my diagnosis. I had been having headaches and I could not concentrate on my studies. I had not decided on a major so I was taking the basic classes and one really cool philosophy course. Then everything changed.
I was happy I could spend my last days with my parents. I was closer to them than most kids my age, maybe because I was an only child. You know, that reminds me, there is something I would like to ask. You did say we could ask you questions?
ALLEGENTIA: Anything at all.
SYLVIA: Mom and dad were full of thought-provoking sayings. One in particular they were fond of, but I never gave it much thought until recently was, “It’s all perfect in the present; you just need to get out of the way.” Like all children, I wanted to do what my parents wanted. And like all adolescents, I wanted to rebel against what they believed. But then that philosophy class got me thinking about what I really believed. So I figured I should develop my own ideas about life and reality, you know? So, how do you interpret that saying?
ALLEGENTIA: There is a way you can look at things in order to discover the truth. God is perfect, therefore everything he created is perfect, yet we find ourselves in a state in which we are perfecting, a circumstance in which we gain knowledge and wisdom and insight. We are all growing.
SYLVIA: So everything is not perfect?
ALLEGENTIA: It depends on your point of view. From God’s point of view everything is perfect. The word perfect has a connotation of completeness, and since we do not feel complete, we intuitively know we are not perfect. If we are going to use the word to describe ourselves, we have to adjust the meaning. We are finite in both time and consciousness; thus we are less than divinely perfect, yet we have the potential of being finitely perfect. When we strive and choose and act as if we are perfect there is a creative tension set up between the current self and the better self. To do the best you know, becoming better than you are, is progressive perfection in time.
“Perfect in the present” is indeed a worthy ideal to foster, but then the word present needs to be stretched to mean much more than this moment. We know it would be unwise to forget all we have learned; therefore it is logical to continue to include the past. And since we can think about the consequences of our actions, we should incorporate the future, as well. If we expand the present to include all time, we are creating a cosmically conscious present–past-present-future. As we act in the moment there is good reason to focus as much of the past and future into each decision we make. It’s all part of God’s plan.
SYLVIA: Do you think my parents understood it that way?
ALLEGENTIA: Could be. The quest for perfection has been on peoples’ minds since the beginning of time. One of the first broadcasts the Father made to the universes of time was “Be you perfect, even as I am perfect..”
SYLVIA: I guess I should not be surprised an angel would be talking about such things as God’s plans for the universe, but what does surprise me is how much sense it makes to me. I seem to be able to understand with a clarity I never felt before.
ALLEGENTIA: This is a special time. You are a evolving soul, and the soul-mind is very keen. Sharp clarity is a gift while you are consciously aware during this journey. And you will continue to have better focus focus than you had when you are reintegrated into your new body than you had with your previous brain-mind connection.
SYLVIA: Well, it feels good. So you were saying; it sounds as if you are proposing we should all be participating in God’s plan?
ALLEGENTIA: Yes, the “get out of the way” part of your parents’ admonition is very passive. There is another saying from your planet: “God cannot steer a parked car.” It is more appropriate to work with God within this finite creation, ever knowing his ideas are always perfect and yet, also knowing, he lets us create our own way of following his lead. He is willing to share the blossoming of his overall plan with us. We create something new–something personally unique along the way. We grow in our own distinctive ways through time and experience. Thus is the creative act of the self forever in partnership with the Source of Creativity.
All things unfolding as they should is implied in your parents’ adage. But God designed the universe for us to be actively included.
SYLVIA: How do we create what is needed for God’s plan to be realized?
ALLEGENTIA: You build your soul and share yourself. Soul growth is an expansion of your intellectual honesty, the realization of all of your virtues unified within your personality. There is a group of qualities that are the building blocks of the soul. Loyalty is an important one. Some are taken to the extreme, like zeal. Some cannot be taken to the extreme, like harmony. Some are innate and need to guarded, like innocence. Mortals learn and grow by reflective thinking and prudent doing.
But we are all in it together helping each other maximize our potentials as unique persons. Short-sighted people criticize the plan by saying everyone is expected to fit into a narrow mold, but it is exactly the opposite. We are continually expanding and growing into the eternal personality they are. You are free to make your own reality within the Divine Plan. And you are provided everything needed to become your best self. In essence you are a co-creator.
SYLVIA: Okay, perfecting myself with soul growth, and then sharing who I have become, is my contribution to perfection. That sounds straightforward enough.
There was one other thing I wanted to ask you about. My friends at college liked to say, “Everything happens for a reason.” Yet I have seen so many unreasonable things.
ALLEGENTIA: Those are the unfolding of unwise, less-than-perfect, freewill choices. The universe is able to accommodate any choice ever made or yet to be made.
Let’s try instead, “For everything that happens a reason can be found.” This is a bit different. The first statement implies the reason is dominated and directed by a Master Manipulator. And although there is an overall plan in the mind of God, he does not micromanage.
People and angels who truly love you are the closest outside influences in your life. Angels are interested in your spiritual growth. We are helpers and never try to manipulate your freewill. All of your choices are yours to live with and learn from. God is the closest inside influence in your life. Listen to the divine leading and you will do well.
Even beings who have lived billions of years always marvel at the grand design–how everything works together for good. We can be an instrument of positive change moving things a little closer to perfection. And, as we move along, this cooperation makes everything less and less chaotic. Take delight in cultivating your piece of the cosmic panorama.
SYLVIA: That was helpful, thank you. I sure am curious about what is going to happen next.
ALLEGENTIA: The next time you open your eyes, you will begin to see.