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HIS VIEWS ON HAPPINESS Joel stated this about happiness: Happiness or unhappiness in human existence, what does it matter! Happiness is of the Spirit In the Introduction of his book, “Practicing the Presence” Joel says of an experience in his early years of spiritual seeking: There have been many times in my life when I had reason to be dissatisfied with the way life was going, dissatisfied to the point of quietly, inwardly wondering and pondering the possibility of finding a way out. Long periods of success and happiness, followed by dissatisfaction and unhappiness, finally led to longer periods of introspection, cogitation, and contemplation of life, and what it was all about. In one of these experiences, while I cannot say I heard a voice, I do know that I received an impression that was something like an inner being saying to me, ‘Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee’. I must admit that this was a startling experience because up to this time I had been almost totally unfamiliar with the Bible; it had not been a daily companion, but merely a matter of occasional reading To further understand his view on happiness, it will be helpful to summarize his principles of truth. Joel was big on finding principles of truth. He lived by them and taught them. So, I would like to summarize some of the important ones:
Nature of God Nature of Man, Prayer and Meditation Practicing the Presence of God Why there is evil and suffering, Impersonalization of evil and good Spiritual healing WHAT IS THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD God is the creative principle-good, whole, perfect, infinite, and eternal. The most important aspect of good is love. God is omnipresent-everywhere. God is omnipotent-the only power. God is omniscient-all intelligence and wisdom. God always has operated in the universe and always will, since it is eternal. Since God is beyond mind and thought, beyond the senses, Joel said the best concept he could come up with is the “infinite invisible.” God does not punish or reward. God does not give or withhold. God is not separate from man. God has no favorites. God can not be influenced. WHAT IS THE TRUTH ABOUT MAN Man is God individualized. Man is a child of God. If God is omnipresent good, there is not God and man, but only God appearing as man, with man having all the all the attributes of God-goodness, wholeness, perfection, infinity, and eternality. There are many scriptural citations from the Bible affirming this truth, but I just have time for just one of Joel’s favorites: “I and the Father are One” |