First Written 1989
Introduction
First, let me tell you about Eric. The team that developed the Adventures in Spiritual Living program to foster spiritual experience often felt assisted by unseen spiritual friends in discovering what activities would work. Eric represents those unseen friends. On a few occasions he has written us letters of encouragement and advice which are of value for anyone who sets out on the quest to personally experience spiritual reality. Eric is, above all, interested in pursuing thrilling spiritual adventures.
Our image of him is as a young captain of a Viking long boat. He is happy, enthusiastic, optimistic and joyous. He is absolutely certain that we are all beloved children of God and consequently he is totally fearless in pursuing truth. When he talks about the great adventure he means the adventure of pursuing truth wherever the spirit leads him.
Eric defines truth as the powerful attraction of participating in loving relations with spiritual sisters and brothers. His truth can’t be merely known as fact. It has to be lived as an experience of love in your soul. Well that is enough about Eric for you to understand why we look forward to his infrequent letters and why we share them. The first letter from Eric came in late 1989.
First Written March 1990
Greetings and Love Abundant:
You should know by now that your adventure of ever new discoveries of the experience of friendship with your Father, God, Will never end. You should also know by now that the whole-hearted pursuit of your friendship with God takes courage and faith. I link courage and faith because the less of one you have the more of the other you need. It takes courage and faith to pursue your friendship wherever the spirit of God leads you because no one can tell you exactly what to do or exactly what your experience will be. But you can be sure of two things at least:
- Your sincere effort to know God will be successful and
- Your unique adventure of discovering God will excite you, enliven you and thrill you beyond anything else this life has to offer.
You are in pursuit of the experience of being loved by God. Think of it. God himself wants to spend the rest of eternity as your intimate, understanding best friend.
What an adventure.
While no person can tell you exactly how to experience this relationship with God, some who are on this adventure can help you improve your contact with the spirit of God within you, who will unerringly lead you step by step, as fast as you are able, into the fullness of this relationship. And they can encourage you to trust this indwelling spirit of God.
When once you begin to feel God’s presence, his friendship and his loving mercy and forgiveness, you will know that this inner relationship is without any doubt, the pearl of great price, and you will be willing to restate all earthly priorities as subordinate and subservient to the pursuit of this relationship. This discovery of God and the remaking of self in his image by the mechanism of personal choice is the very purpose of life.
So I urge you to dispose of anything material in your life which truly stands in the way of this life of discovery. Free yourself sufficiently of the untrue materialistic and selfish philosophies and values systems of men and set sail with me on this adventure of discovery. You are free, absolutely free, to discover God for yourself. God does not promise that the sea will always be tranquil or the sky blue or the breezes gentle and to our backs. But he does promise us success in our quest if we continue to pursue him in faith. The only way we can fail is by choosing not to try.
God is with you even now. Can you feel the tingling excitement of being with Him? That’s what life can be—when it is lived as an adventure with God.
Bon Voyage. Adventure calls me. I am off.
Love always
Eric