Editorial January 2, 2017 Issue

Getting to the goal

Margaret Rogers

When I was a youngster, I faithfully made a list of goals each January, locked it in a little box like a state secret, and quickly forgot it. One recurring goal was to learn to do the splits, which I perpetually failed both to work at and achieve. I’ve given up those lists, but it still feels important to think about goals regularly, and especially what actually gets us to them.

The point of a goal is to accomplish things that might not happen without specific intent and effort. As spiritual things become more real and important in a person’s life, goals become more spiritual. It also becomes more obvious that we need to understand and intentionally overcome what hinders our progress, as well as learn what helps us toward our goals.

Christ Jesus set a high goal for his followers: to love each other the way he loved them, which he explained was the way God loved him (see John 15). God loved Jesus in exactly the same way the divine Parent loves all life—as the magnificent expression of itself, perfect Spirit. Jesus was sure of God’s love for him—and for everyone. He knew God as a Father guiding him, speaking and working through him. This unity with God enabled Jesus to heal people of all kinds of suffering, suffering that he knew God didn’t cause or allow for any reason. To realize that this same all-powerful Love acts through us, and is actually the substance and motivator of all being, is a goal to consciously aim for every day.

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Bible Lens

Bible Lens—January 2–8, 2017