Dear __________
I was happy to hear from you, though sorry for the trials you have been undergoing. Please remember, that all trials are in the last analysis self-generated. God doesn’t will them on us. They come as a result of the misuse of our own will, whether recently or in the distant past. They can be banished by the right use of will. As Sri Yukteswar said, “Forget the past. The past lives of all men are dark with many shames. But everything in the future will improve if you make the right effort now.”
Don’t think in terms of doing one thing big enough to lift you out of your present state. Think rather in terms of taking one step at a time. Commit yourself to some positive act, however small, and carry that act through to completion. Finish anything you start.
When you make the right effort, then invoke God’s power to sustain you in that effort, you will find Him reinforcing you and giving you the strength gradually to win out over all obstacles. But you must make the right effort first. God cannot help you until you try your best first, yourself.
Make the attraction you feel to spiritual people and ideals your main focus in life—not in the sense of wishful thinking, but as your inspiration to do your best to become like that. Remember, the same God that sustains the saints lives in you, and loves you equally. He is our common Father.
In divine friendship
Swami Kriyananda
