THE SCHOOL OF TRUTH LECTURE THY WILL BE DONE

A central instrument in today's busy materialist world has become the "contract".

Contracts have the form "If I do this, then you do that," and today's people use

them for just about everything. Gone are the days, for example, when the ownerchef of a restaurant would stand at his patrons' tables, describe his offerings, get

the feel of the response, and later present the dishes in an atmosphere of excitement

and expectation - with never a worry about price.

Today, people apply contracts to their earliest family relationships, to their final

funeral arrangements, and to everything in between. The simplest purchases are

accompanied by till slips with reverse sides covered by fine print. Premises display

legalistic posters disclaiming all responsibility for harm to users. The contract has

become so much a part of everyday life that it has even become an advertisement -

for example the various permutations of contract offered to cell phone users. The

bottom line of all this contractual living is that contracts are upheld by law. If you

break a legally valid contract you break the law, and can expect the consequences.

Now, Truth teaches us that God is Law and that it is in the nature of law, when

released, that it has no option but to fulfil itself. Truth teaches us that the part we

play in releasing God-as-law is faith: "Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you

receive it, and you will." You can imagine the appeal this teaching holds for

superficial thinkers: "It is a contract - if I do this, God does that." Even among

sincere seekers are legions of glassy-eyed devotees determined to "prove" their

contract with God.

But in their haste they forget the qualification "in prayer": "Whatever you ask in

prayer, believe that you receive it and you will." Prayer means getting close to

God. In true prayer we get so close to Him that all separation disappears. We

confirm the Master's great utterance "I and the Father are one" - and in Oneness

are no parties and no contract.

Yet we must hold that God is Law. There would be no point in our seeking if Allknowledge, All-power, All-presence unfolded today as our good and tomorrow as

negation. The Master puts it with overwhelming simplicity: "What man of you, if

his son asks him for a loaf, will give him a stone?" In God is no question of giving

or withholding good. What is it then that He expects of us?

The answer is simple - acceptance. In working with God we must forget all the

wisdom of the world and simply trust - like the patrons of old who trusted the

owner-chef to bring them dishes that would delight and that they could afford it. It

is not a hopeful trust; it is an absolute, fearless, child-like trust: "All that is Mine is

thine." There are no ifs or buts. This is what the Master means when he says

"Whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you receive it, and you will." In God is

everything real, which is good alone, already established. It was always ours, and

our part is only, in trust, to reach out and accept it.

Many sincere seekers retain a fearful vision of the Master in Gethsemane.

Knowing his painful future, the Master prays "My Father, if it be possible, let this

cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will but as Thou wilt." This episode in the

story of the Master has inspired generations of sufferers, martyrs and cross-carriers

- but none of it reflects the real message. The real message is, if we trust our very

lives to God, we are uplifted into a new reality.

And Oneness demands that we trust our entire lives to Him. We cannot grant one

part of our lives to God and keep another part for ourselves. It is all or nothing.

So when you pray, when you open your minds and heart unconditionally to God

within you, do not ask for specifics, do not try to make deals with Him in Whom

you live and move and have your being. Simply cast your life on your heavenly

Father, Who knows only your highest good and Who has held it in readiness for

you from the beginning. When you have found stillness and peace, simply and

sincerely release the sentiment which Soul has longed, with infinite patience, for

you to release: "Dear Father, Thy will be done."