Can you recall any one act absolutely devoid of self?

You know God is Pure Spirit or Intelligence, Omnipresent, Omniscient and Omnipotent. He is the perfection of all the qualities you know and admire and love on earth, and an infinity of others beyond your earth conception.

God is perfection, anything other than perfection is discordant with Him. He is Love and His Compassion is without limit.

You know that ultimately you will reach this perfection, and it is your duty to find out how it can be done. Love, in its purity, puts in motion waves of great intensity. It is for this reason that Christ said that a cup of cold water given in His name was of infinite value, while the greatest act one could perform if dictated by unworthy motives would put in motion discordant waves.

Before reaching perfection, peace and happiness, the sum of all the discordant waves must be equalled by harmonious waves, both in intensity and number.

God is Love, a Pure and Perfect love, which goes out from the Divine Centre endlessly, infinitely, sustaining, vivifying, comforting and glorifying. 

To reflect this love, you must be purified of self.

You must learn to give of your inner self, not for our own good, not even for your eternal salvation, but as a pure and selfless reflection of God.

Think of your own life. Can you recall any one act absolutely devoid of self? Even here, it is almost impossible of attainment.

When you learn the theory of good and bad waves, of harmony and discord, light and dark, you are filled with the desire to begin your work of atonement. 

You see your own glorious destiny, and wish to achieve it quickly. 

Pride and selfishness are not yet destroyed, and to understand God’s love, you must begin by understanding human love. Fortunately, you are given a glimpse of pure love in infancy. Almost without exception, a mother loves her child, and this pure expression of love is the most unselfish earth can know. It is accepted, as a matter of course by the child, but is understood to some extent later in life, and is the saving grace of many in a moment of darkness.

Complete unselfishness can be reached only through love.

I say this is one instance of love, as you know it, but I do not say it is quite devoid of self. It has moments of pure unselfishness, for every mother recognises from the first that the baby she has borne is a separate, independent being from the moment of its birth. By natural law, she is her child’s guide and comforter, but her moments of pure love are the rare experiences when she is able to immolate self completely. Pure love, also, is sometimes seen in the devotion of children towards parents.

Patriotism inspires some of the purest expressions of love, as it calls for the entire immolation of self to a great idea.

No man can show greater love than he who lays down his life for his brother except him who lays down his life for God. 

The brother is one ray of Light. God is the Luminous Centre from which that ray proceeds.