Posted on Facebook by Samoa Lualima
Reading 622-6 was given on 6 February 1941 for a 35-year-old man who worked as a clerk and bookkeeper and was Protestant. He asked about his life purpose, his work, his musical ability, possible army service, and how to understand himself. The reading’s central message is that purpose is found by choosing an ideal and putting it into practice in the life one already has.
The reading does not simply predict a person’s future. It repeatedly brings the man back to his own choices, values, and relationship with God. Its advice is to examine the direction of one’s life, use one’s abilities in service, and seek spiritual guidance in ordinary decisions.
1. Begin with honest self-examination
The reading says that advice about a person’s purpose must take account of the whole person: “For, the answer to all such, necessarily, must arise from the individual self and its purposes, its desires, its hopes, its fears, its failures, its faults.”
This means that discovering purpose involves more than asking, “What job should I have?” A person also needs to consider what they hope for, what they fear, what they value, and where they may be falling short. The reading presents self-knowledge as the starting point for meaningful guidance.
It describes the person as having several connected aspects: “The entity finds self in the present with a body, a mind, and the hopes and experiences of a soul.”
The body, mind, and soul each have their own strengths and weaknesses. The reading suggests that confusion can arise when these parts pull in different directions. For example, someone may want security, feel called toward a creative purpose, and be uncertain about how to reconcile the two.
2. Choose an ideal that can guide your choices
A major theme is the need to decide what one is trying to live for. The reading says: “It becomes necessary that definite choices be made by the entity as to what are the ideals, — of body, of mind, of soul.”
An ideal is more than a goal or ambition. It is a guiding standard that shapes how a person acts. The reading teaches that when the body, mind, and soul are directed toward one purpose, their activities can work together. When they are divided, a person may feel pulled between competing desires.
The reading uses an image of spiritual life, thought, and action: “The spiritual is the life, the mental is the builder, the material is the result of that builded through the purposes held by the individual entity.”
In simpler terms, the spiritual ideal gives life its direction; thought and intention help shape what a person does; and outward actions become the result. The passage encourages the reader to look at not only what they say they believe, but also what their daily choices are building.
3. Treat present circumstances as part of your development
The reading tells the man not to assume that an imperfect or unwanted situation has no value. It quotes the teaching: “In whatsoever state an entity, an individual finds himself, THAT is necessary for his individual development!”
This does not have to mean that every hardship is good or should be accepted without question. In the reading’s context, it means that a person can seek growth and make meaningful choices even within circumstances they did not choose.
It also says: “All that is necessary in an individual entity’s fulfilling the purpose for which it entered an experience is present in the entity’s particular environ.”
The word environ means a person’s surroundings or present situation. The message is that purpose does not always depend on first reaching an ideal job, place, or set of conditions. A person can begin working toward their ideal where they are.
This idea is captured directly in the advice about work: “Be what thou shouldest be WHERE thou art. And when thou hast proven THYSELF, He will give thee the better ways!”
The reading encourages the person to act with integrity in their present position while remaining open to future opportunities. It does not advise waiting passively for a perfect situation. It calls for doing the present work well and letting future direction develop from that.
4. Use your abilities in service, not simply for self-importance
The reading describes the individual as a “co-creator with the divine that is manifested in self” . It then contrasts two ways of using one’s abilities: “If the choice leads the entity into the exalting of self, it becomes as naught in the end.”
But if a person uses their talents and relationships to serve a greater good: “If the choice is that self is to be used in whatever manner — as in the talents, the attributes, the associations with its fellowmen — to GLORIFY the Creative Force, then the body, the mind, finds that peace, that harmony, that PURPOSE.”
The reading is not saying that talent or achievement is wrong. It is asking what they are for. A person may use ability mainly to gain praise, status, or control, or may use it to encourage, uplift, teach, help, or bring beauty to others. The reading presents service as the way personal gifts become part of a larger purpose.
The man’s voice and music were important subjects in the questions. The reading affirmed that he had abilities to develop: “Thus may the entity use its abilities, its talents, its voice.”
It also called the senses gifts and encouraged him to develop them through choice and effort. The practical point is that gifts are not only possessions; they carry responsibility. Having an ability does not automatically fulfil its purpose. The person must decide how to use it.
5. Bring spiritual ideals into ordinary conduct
The reading does not present spiritual development as something separate from everyday behaviour. It advises: “Study thou — in thy mental, in thy spiritual self — to show thyself approved unto Him.”
Then it explains what this means in relationships: “Finding not fault … but rather minimizing the faults in all, glorifying the good thou seest in everyone.”
This is not a command to ignore harm or pretend that everything is acceptable. Rather, the reading asks the person to avoid becoming absorbed in criticism and to practise recognising what is good in others.
It makes the challenge especially clear: “When ye succeed in seeing the good or the beautiful in a living man, a living object that ye even hate, THEN ye may know that ye are taking hold on the Lord!”
The point is that spiritual ideals are tested in difficult relationships, not only in moments of prayer or inspiration. Seeing another person’s good does not require agreeing with them. It means trying not to let hatred or resentment become the only lens through which one sees them.
The reading also recommends humility and kindness in daily dealings: “The ways and manners and means of personality versus individuality; or in being more gracious, more humble, in ALL thy dealings with thy fellowman.”
Here, it connects personal expression—including the man’s desire to reach audiences—with the character he shows toward people around him. A public gift is not separate from the way a person treats others privately.
6. Seek communion and guidance within
The reading uses the Christian image of the body as a temple: “Know that thy body is the temple of the LIVING God; THERE ye may seek communion! There ye may seek counsel as to the choices to be made, the directions to be taken!”
In the reading’s spiritual language, a person does not need to look only outside themselves for guidance. They can become quiet, pray, reflect, and seek communion with God. The passage does not suggest that every impulse is divine guidance. Rather, the reading links spiritual direction with sincere seeking and with the ideals already described: humility, love, service, and truth.
It urges the person to invite Christ into daily life: “Invite Him by name, by purpose, by desire, to be thy companion in all that ye do, all that ye say.”
The emphasis is on companionship “in all that ye do,” not only in formal religious moments. The reading imagines spiritual life as something carried into work, speech, relationships, and decision-making.
7. Understand “karma” here as a repeated pattern of choice
One striking passage says: “Thus does He … become that termed by some thy karma. What is karma but giving way to impulse?”
This is a brief and distinctive statement in this reading. It appears to connect a person’s recurring consequences with the way they give in to impulses. The example that follows is humorous: when the man had sung “Halleluiah,” it was harder for him to say “dammit”. The point seems to be that what we practise can influence what comes naturally next. Repeated choices can strengthen either a helpful or harmful pattern.
This line should be read as the reading’s particular way of making its point, rather than as a complete definition of every religious or philosophical teaching about karma. Its practical lesson is that we can pause before reacting and choose the response that better fits our ideal.
8. Make decisions through prayer and discernment
The man asked whether he would be accepted for army service and what he should do about it. The reading did not give him a direct prediction. Instead, it reframed the question: “Is it not the better way to talk it over with Him? And say, ‘Lord, here am I! Can, or may, or will I be of greater service to THEE, to my fellowman, to my country, IN induction into the service? Or may I be of the greater service in other channels?’” The reading then advises: “If ye are sincere, if ye are in earnest, if ye will use thy talents, let HIM direct thy way!”
The underlying message is to ask not only, “What do I want?” but also, “Where can I be of service?” The reading suggests prayerful discernment rather than trying to force a desired outcome. It does not remove the person’s responsibility to make a decision; it asks him to consider the decision in relation to his ideal, abilities, and service to others.
9. Work with doubt instead of letting it stop you
The man worried that he could not communicate to an audience what he felt in his heart. The reading answered: “Doubt! Talk oftener with Him.”
It acknowledged that a person might never feel that they have expressed their message “WHOLLY,” but encouraged him to trust that sincere words and actions could still have lasting value: “When ye sing, when ye speak, when ye approach thy friend or foe in such a way and manner that He speaketh THROUGH thee … It will never die!”
This does not promise that every performance will succeed or that an audience will respond as hoped. It shifts the measure of success. The deeper question is whether the person speaks or sings with sincerity, humility, and a desire to give something good to others.
When asked when he should begin a singing career, the answer was: “You’ve already begun! Just keep on keeping on!”
This suggests that a vocation may begin through present practice, even before it becomes someone’s full-time occupation. The reading’s earlier advice—“Be what thou shouldest be WHERE thou art”—supports the same idea: purpose can be lived before it becomes a job title.
10. Measure yourself by love
At the end, the man asked for a method of self-analysis. The reading answered: “Take the yardstick of the Master’s. As He gave, ‘A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another.’”
This brings the whole reading together. The question is not only whether a person is successful, talented, or admired. It is also whether their choices are growing in love, humility, patience, and service.
The reading’s advice can be gathered into one sequence: “Go THOU and put that principle into thy daily practice.”
Choose an ideal. Seek spiritual guidance. Use your abilities for good. Practise your beliefs in ordinary relationships. Do the work in front of you faithfully, and examine your life by the standard of love.
In summary
Reading 622-6 teaches that purpose is not found only through a dramatic change of career or a prediction about the future. It is built through the way a person thinks, chooses, works, treats others, and uses their gifts. The reading asks the individual to align body, mind, and soul with a spiritual ideal, to seek God’s companionship in daily life, and to make love the “yardstick” for self-examination.
Meaning of Image
The man at the desk represents a person reflecting on their purpose and choosing how to use their abilities. The sheet music symbolizes the gifts and talents described in reading 622-6, while the book suggests study and spiritual learning.
The open door and bright morning path represent guidance, hope, and the invitation to bring spiritual ideals into everyday life. The people outside suggest serving and connecting with others. Together, the image reflects the reading’s message: seek guidance within, then carry love, humility, and your gifts into the world.
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