The Family of Souls we are a part of includes all Beings who participate in Project Earth. Some of us are in the flesh, some are not. And even those of us who are, won’t be forever. At some point, we human beings will leave our flesh behind and join those disincarnate Ones who hover nearby in the heaven. Either way, we are a cherished member of the Family of Souls.

There is a constellation to our Soul Family. We all revolve around a radiant core. Much has been said about this Reality, often without real awareness of the truth of it. Heavenly beings are named and described. Grand paintings portray saints, angels and archangels, holy families, gods and goddesses. Sometimes those names, descriptions, and portrayals put a person in touch with Reality. But spiritual things are spiritually discerned. And it seems all too easy to have an image in the mind that mimics an earthly form without a real connection to the Invisible Reality. So we have paintings of an old man with a beard, who is Father God to people, and cherubs with harps.

There are images on stained glass windows and on church ceilings and walls. And then there are the images in the mind. Some embrace those images and some reject them. But who has the openness of heart and the discernment that allows spiritual things to become real?

It isn’t what you think. This is my simple guideline for spiritual discernment. It, the reality of the Soul Family, is what it is, transcending human definition or thought. For there to be spiritual discernment for a person, there has to be a heart opened to the Reality being discerned. The heart is a vital part of the capacity for discernment.

All members of the Family of Souls orbit around the same center, whether we are in the flesh or not. It is the sun of our solar system, the center of our galaxy, and the nucleus of our Family. And still, for those of us who are in the flesh, we share something special. Think of it this way. A football team has the players who are on the field and the players who are on the bench. I don’t mean to imply that the angels of heaven have nothing to do but wait until they get into the game—wait until they incarnate. Who knows what they get up to up there? Possibly, they keep a watchful, loving eye on us most of the time.

There is the coach on the sidelines. He is the coach for the whole team, both the ones on the field of play and the ones on the bench. In American football, there is also the quarterback, who is sometimes referred to as a coach on the field or as an extension of the coach. It is the quarterback’s role to guide the team through what transpires on the field of play. He can do that in a way that the coach never could.

So it is for us as the incarnate part of the Soul Family. We are here to do something spiritually relative to this field of play—the world. For that to happen, there has to be spiritual discernment of the center of our Soul Family in the Invisible. That is the coach of the game we are playing. There also has to be spiritual discernment of what is happening with the team on the field—we who have incarnated. Without that discernment, there is chaos.

The same rule applies: It’s not what you think it is. There is something that is spiritually real that is transpiring among us. But to tune in to that and for it to become real for us, the human ideas about it have to fade in favor of the emerging reality. We have to know ourselves as members of the Soul Family who have come to earth for Divine Purpose.

This is how Martin Cecil addressed these things shortly before his passing.

Obviously we are all very much aware that there must be a point of focus in the invisible sense. Many people on earth believe that. Christians particularly think of it in terms of Jesus, perhaps, and other characters for other peoples. But the mere fact of an invisible point of focus, which apparently is quite successful in operating the universe, is not enough insofar as human beings are concerned.  

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There is the necessity for the spiritual point of focus to be embodied on earth. This is the one thing that has been lacking.  

The Radiant Focus of Spirit on Earth, Martin Exeter, December 6, 1987

To be about this collectively as the team on the field, there has to be spiritual discernment. Otherwise, we have ideas about what we think is happening. And we are reacting to those ideas, either positively or negatively. In either case, we are missing the point.

The Bible is a remarkable, if sometimes perplexing, piece of literature. In places, it offers an up- close and personal view of people who were heroically doing this work. Several years ago I read the Book of Genesis, from the story of Abraham through the story of Joseph. As I read, it was as if I had stuck my head under the flap of the tent of this semi-nomadic family who was undergoing a spiritual awakening, listening to what was transpiring between them. What a miraculous record, preserved over millennia!

The story in the gospels not only reports the parables, teachings, and healings of Jesus. It portrays spiritually intimate exchanges between Jesus and those close to him in the context of what they were bringing to the world. It shows the dynamics of members of the Family of Souls who were on the field of play—in the world—as they were awakening to that reality.

They were dealing with the issues of spiritual discernment. And Jesus was the one who brought the message It’s not what you think. This is from the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, beginning with something she said to him. 

Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. 

But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. 

God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. 

John 4:20-24

Isn’t he saying, It’s not what you think it is? It is not about your mountain or my Temple in Jerusalem. It is about you and your experience of spirit and truth. 

In this story, Jesus is speaking to his disciple Philip. Philip must have accepted Jesus as a teacher and a leader. He was listening to his message. And still, as evidenced by the story, his spiritual discernment was lacking.

If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. 

Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. 

Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? 

John 14:7-9

I feel Jesus’ exasperation. Have you not known me? We can only imagine the grief he must have felt after all he had shared with Philip.

In Jesus’ time, for Jews in Israel, their religious practice centered around the temple in Jerusalem. In these words, Jesus attempts to put his disciple’s spiritual eyes on a reality that transcended a building of stone. 

And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. 

And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down. 

Matthew 24:1,2

The following is from the Easter story: 

Thinking Jesus is dead, Mary Magdalene goes to the sepulchre, where they had put Jesus’ body, only to find it wasn’t there. 

But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre, 

And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain. 

And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. 

And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus. 

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away. 

Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. 

John 20:11-16

As the story tells, Jesus had changed through all he had undergone. A process of vibrational ascension had begun. And so, he had become unrecognizable to Mary. She was looking for a dead body, and here was Jesus who had ascended to a higher spiritual state. So initially, she didn’t recognize him.

This is from the story of Jesus’ transfiguration:

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, 

And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light. 

And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. 

Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. 

While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. 

And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. 

And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. 

And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. 

Matthew 17:1-8 

In Christianity, while Peter is admired, he also has a reputation for impulsiveness, and it is well-earned here. It might not be obvious at first. But if you read this as a story in which spiritual perception was at issue, it becomes apparent.

Elias is the New Testament name for the prophet Elijah. It is from a Greek version of the name. Moses and Elijah were key figures in Jewish tradition. The biblical record reports that Elijah ascended into heaven, and the story of the transfiguration hints that there was a similar belief regarding Moses. In any event, Peter’s impulsive idea to build shrines for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah—tabernacles—dispels the magic of the occasion. The report that they were fearful about what they had seen is the key to understanding what had happened.

In this case, there was a degree of spiritual perception. But they couldn’t let what was transpiring be, according to its own nature. Peter had to make something out of it. And so their awareness faded like the morning mist at the rising of the sun.

These stories are instructive for us, awakening to who we are and to our purpose in the field of play. As you read them, you can feel the magic that was afoot, and the opportunity that was before the people involved. I will let you perceive, as you might, the relevance of these stories to you and to what we are creating together. In some way, we are the woman at the well, awakening to something that seems religious but which is deeply spiritual at its core. We are Philip with the opportunity to see the Divine in one other. We are Mary Magdalene, with love deep in our hearts for the Presence of Divine Being in our midst. And we are Peter, open to see miracles, learning to see the truth of them for what they are.

An open heart, available to perceive. Spiritual discernment. With these experiences, let us see the opportunity that is there.

I join you in letting the Family of Souls on earth become real to us.