"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (Words of Christ Jesus. John 14:16 to semicolon; King James Bible Version; KJV). "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (Words of Christ Jesus. John 14:26; KJV). "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:" (Words of Christ Jesus. John 15:26 to the colon; KJV). "Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you;" (Words of Christ Jesus. John 16:7, to the 2nd semicolon; KJV).
There is only one Mind, and that is the God-Mind which is within each and every one of us. This innate, divine consciousness is termed the Christ Consciousness because it is the consciousness of spiritual reality, over material-seeming reality, which Paul the Apostle referred to when he said, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:5; New King James Bible Version; (NKJV). This divine presence within our own consciousness is the Comforter—the universal Christ identity that we all share; for, despite the fact that struggling humanity believes that our consciousness proceeds from an individual, finite, material brain-form, this is not the case. Rather, right where a personal, material mind seems to be, right there is, in spiritual reality, the infinite Intelligence of God, to whom we are all linked, and within which, "…we live, and move, and have our being…." (Acts 17:28; NKJV). Our true, Mind (divine consciousness of all truth and reality) is in Spirit, not matter. This divine Consciousness exists apart from the finite, physical form that we seem to temporarily occupy, as substance, in this human experience. This is the reason that even physical death does not end anyone's true being. This is the reason that Christ Jesus could raise the dead. He could bring back their consciousness (even though they still seemed to be 'in the flesh') because we are children of God, who is Spirit; and as so, we are spiritual in substance, rather than material—and Spirit cannot die, or disappear into oblivion. As the infinite children of divine Spirit, Our divine Consciousness is the kingdom of God which Jesus referred to when he said, "The kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21; NKJV). This means that it is within our spiritual memory banks. It is within our innate, conscious remembrance of whom and what we really are. Thus, when we remember who we are (God's own, spiritual children) we naturally turn to the Spirit of God, which dwells within the deepest level of our conscious being, where our spiritual perception of reality resides. This innate, spiritual sense reveals to us our way and direction to go, as we rise above the erroneous, material beliefs that enslave us. When we turn to our divine Consciousness within and acknowledge our God-connection, all forms of healing are free to come forward (materialize) into our daily, human experience—simply because the truth of God's everlasting control over all creation has never changed for an instant. God's loving harmony has never left us, despite all physical threats, feelings, sickness, injuries, physical death, or any other 'evils' that befall us in this human experience. God's eternal harmony is invisible to the physical senses of perception; (and, thus seemingly absent); yet it is known to our innate, spiritual consciousness which dwells deep within us all. God's loving control over all has no challengers. It delivers us from all the evil beliefs of this finite sense of existence, when we connect to our Christ Consciousness (our oneness with God) and release our troubles into the infinite, intensive care of the Almighty's hands. Now, although our Christ Consciousness seems to be sleeping within us, it can be called forward at any moment in time, to correct our thinking. Within seconds, an angel thought from within our Christ Consciousness can turn us in a new direction of safety. When we can let go of the human fears that often take control of us, and turn to our link with God that is within us all, the human scene can turn back toward harmony. This is so because we are spiritual beings, not physical beings. Yet, we are spiritual beings, who most-often believe that we are physical beings, because we believe that the whole material sense of things is the truth of all existence. This is the premise from which all of our earthly, material conclusions rely; and equally, this is the reason that all of our material conclusions are wrong. Believing that materiality can house God's spiritual children in a finite form, or bad situations, bears witness only to the evidence that our five, physical senses present to us—and everyone knows how reliable and trusting they are. Our five, physical senses are limited and can deceive us in many ways. For example: With our physical sense of sight, we can see only a few blocks away in the distance. We believe that we see the sun move across the sky in the daytime, when it is the earth that is moving, not the sun. With our limited physical sense of hearing, we can hear only when the sound is within so many feet from us, or when a noise is extremely loud. Our human sense of a finite, material mind can be hypnotized to believe that an onion is an apple, and we proceed to eat it as a delicious fruit, rather than the onion it is. Thus, even our physical sense of taste can be shown to be unreliable. With our eyes closed, we can hardly identify whatever things we touch. (Children often have fun with games based on this fact.) The list of deceptions of the material senses goes on, yet we cling to materiality as our only 'reality'. Our perception of reality, however, is greatly flawed because the kingdom of God is invisible and undetectable to the five, physical senses. The kingdom of God, infinite Spirit, can be found only by turning thought away from the material scene 'out there' and going within--knocking on that mental door of our forgotten Christ Self within. When we make that God-connection within, however, a sense of peace soon comes over us. I believe that this is the Comforter mentioned in the Bible quotations at the top of this article. When we do turn our earthly problems and woes over to God-within-us, this sense of peace follows our own release of such problems and we really do feel comforted, even after long mental battles with fear. And just as nothing is too big for God to handle, neither is anything (or anyone) too small for God's ability to meet our human needs. This brings me to an experience I had several years ago when my two children were quite young. They both liked to have pets, so we had a couple of cats (one for each). Yet, one morning we awoke to discover that a stray cat had delivered a litter of five kittens and was hiding them in our woodpile in the back yard. Clearly, we didn't need eight cats! Now, the mother cat kept these kittens hidden for quite awhile, and they were not very tame. One day, the mother came out with the whole litter, frolicking happily in our back yard. My husband and I knew that we had to find a way to take them to a shelter, or find someone who wanted them. And, sure enough, a family who lived on a farm near us wanted to take all six of them…mother cat and all five kittens. It took a short while to trap the mother cat and four of her brood, but the fifth kitten would not allow anyone to come near. All the rest of its family was taken to the farm to live in their new barn-home, but that one, hungry little kitten would not even be coaxed out of hiding to drink the milk I put outside for it. Finally, I sat down and prayed about the whole situation. I realized that my Christ Consciousness knew what to do, even if my limited, human sense of self didn't. So, I mentally turned to God, within, and asked what to do—since I couldn't communicate with the kitten to make it understand that it would be going back to its family, if only it would let me catch it. I remember that a quiet voice within me began to tell me that I didn't have to communicate with the kitten. God knew how to communicate, without my help. So, I sat on my front porch and pondered what this quiet thought meant. Within less than ten minutes, I heard a tiny meow at my feet, and there sat the tiny kitten, looking up at me. I got up quickly and poured a saucer of milk, and then reached down after she (or he, I wasn't sure which) drank it. She never fought me at all, and I put her gently in a pet carrier and took her to the farm to join her family. This incident was one of the most powerful things I've ever experienced. I realized, instantly, that this proved that the God-Mind is connected to all living creatures, and lovingly cares what happens to them all. I had never thought about God being directly connected through thought to an animal, but I'll never doubt it again. It bears out something Jesus said, once: "Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows." (Luke 12:6 & 7; (NKJV). The Comforter is the Spirit of God that dwells within our very souls. It never leaves us. It is we who have 'left' it (in memory) in this temporary, shared-dream of mortal existence. In this material dream-state, we have forgotten who we really are and, therefore, we fear the 'evils' of this finite, material level of thought and worldly beliefs. Yet, at any moment in time, we can acknowledge our God-link within and receive the blessings it can pour into our human experience, where we seem to be separated from our spiritual Source, but are not. Thus it is that the Comforter dwells forever within our innate, spiritual consciousness, the Christ Consciousness, of each and every one of us—including all of God's creatures (like the kittens). It is our eternal link to God—and through this link, we can hear Spirit's voice soothing our earthly fears. It is the "still, small voice" of God, Spirit, reminding us that It is the only Power, and more capable of taking care of Its divine offspring, than any loving human parents. The gentle, mental voice of the Comforter dwells within our oneness with God. It tells us the Truth of spiritual reality. It tells us the spiritual Truth of things, right where we are believing in the false, material 'truth' of reality. Spirit's voice comforts us from all the ills and evils of this temporary human experience, which can never touch our true, spiritual selves. It is God-with-us that comforts us, taking away those earthly fears, the material sense of illness, poverty, danger, even death of the flesh. These gentle, mental impressions from God are the angel-thoughts that permeate divine Love's entire creation. They are the only Truths about anything. So, in this divine, joint-consciousness and communion with God, we hear the gentle, mental voice tell us to fear not, for God is with us. It tells us to release our human battles into the hands of God, who can always deliver us from the pretenses of evil, even in this temporary dream of material existence. The Comforter's voice lets us know that we are safe, when we materially seem to be in great danger. It tells us that divine Love is the only power in the universe, and It will fight our earthly threats for us. It speaks to us of our true, divine Selfhood to which we must one day awaken and remember. It tells us that, despite all appearances to the contrary, we really "live, and move, and have our being" ( Acts 17:28 NKJV) in Spirit's ever-present, harmonious, forever creation, where no evil or 'bad' dwells, because universal Love is the law of the land. Here, an Old Testament account shows how the Comforter revealed Itself to Elijah the Prophet, when an angel visitant came and spoke to Elijah, telling him to: "Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD." And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice." (1Kings 29:11 & 12; NKJV). These angelic visitors, whether taking some visible form or simply mental impressions, are found in stories throughout the Bible. These celestial messengers are perceived in diverse ways, but they always point the way to spiritual insights and truths. Elijah's experience shows that God is in the 'still small voice' that one mentally hears when turning to the Christ Consciousness, our spiritual consciousness, or deeper Mind within. When we hear that still small voice from within, a sense of peace and comfort follows, and we somehow comprehend the knowledge that, despite all outward appearances, all is well, for God is with us. Then we can rest; for we have felt the arms of the Comforter. And that peace, not of this world, has lifted our earthly burdens, once again.
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