Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness possesses you, and in this materialistic age a great many of us are possessed by our possessions.

There is something to that old saying that hate injures the hater, not the hated.

Penance is the willingness to undergo hardships for the achievement of a good purpose. I was willing. But when hardships came I found myself lifted above them. Instead of hardship, I found a wonderful sense of peace and joy and conviction that I was following God's will. Blessings instead of hardships are showered upon me.

Are you a slave to your self-centered nature or does your divine nature guide your life? Do you kow that every moment of your life you're creating through thought? You create your own inner condition; you're helping create the conditions around you.

If you did not face problems you would just drift through life. It is through solving problems in accordance with the highest light we have that inner growth is attained.

Evil cannot be overcome by more evil. Evil can only be overcome by good. It is the lesson of the way of love.

Just after I dedicated my life to service, I felt that I could no longer accept more than I need while others in the world have less than they need. This moved me to bring my life down to need level. I thought it would be difficult. I thought it would entail a great many hardships, but I was quite wrong. Instead of hardships, I found a wonderful sense of peace and joy, and a conviction that unnecessary possessions are only unnecessary burdens.