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Story of Progress Speaking generally, the thinking
of man has run riot; it has been uncontrolled. Man has not known that he
needed a fixed basis for his thinking. Usually he has based his thinking upon
appearances and circumstances. When circumstances are made the basis for
conclusions, and these conclusions are in turn the basis for further ones,
then the whole structure is in danger because the foundation is unreliable.
This method which ignores Truth, whether indulged in ignorantly or otherwise,
bears bitter fruit; a sense of lack, ungratified desires accompanied by fear
and doubt, and much confusion and turmoil in the affairs of man. The truth is that the
perfect Mind is implanted within each individual and can always be trusted to
think true to the purpose of the Whole. When we, as individuals, trust the
inner guidance of God-Mind which thinks perfect thoughts, we shall produce
results in harmony with God’s plan for creations. The acknowledgment of but
one Mind, one thought, one word, all divine, is making it possible for man to
say as Jesus did, "The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of
myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." John
14:10 After practicing until the right habit of thought is established, man
will, like Jesus, think as God thinks, speak as God speaks, work as God
works. This leads to success. In this consciousness he will say as Jesus did,
"He that hath seen me hath seen the Father." John 10:30 Divine Science predicates
everything on Perfect Being and shows the true relation of all things to
their Source. The true and full use of our spiritual and mental faculties is
the means through which this relationship is enjoyed. Keep in remembrance the
truth that God is All in all. Chapter Five The Work of Thought Commit thy words unto
the Lord, and thy thought shall be established. Prov. 16:3 Questions to Alert Your Thinking
To reason aright we must
find cause. To understand creation, we must study its source. To know what is
possible to man, we must search his origin and therein know his nature. To
understand the work of thought, we must discover its function in the God-Mind
and realize that the same laws apply on the plane of the individual. Divine Science is based
upon the principle that God is All in all. This One is God, the Creator; God,
the creative action; and God, the creation – a trinity in unity. The value of
Divine Science lies in its unfailing principle, its never-changing basis, its
exactness, certainty, and universal applicability. Divine Science teaches
that creation is Spirit expressing; that creation is Spirit-Substance in
manifestation. It explains the law and order of perfect Mind in this work of
self-manifestation; it reveals the method by which invisible Life, invisible
Source, and invisible Spirit-Substance are made visible. It teaches the
method by which the Creator reveals Himself in creation, known as the law of
expression, the law of the trinity expressing as unity. This is the law of
the one perfect Mind and it manifests throughout all creation for it is one
law. Man then must necessarily know Truth and understand the principle of
unity in order to experience the fulfillment of law within himself. An infinite Source and
Cause must be one which contains perfect intelligence and limitless idea.
Everything in existence is contained within the infinite Source as idea. Idea
is the natural product of Mind, and consciousness is the knowledge of its
power to carry that idea into visible form. Without idea Mind would have
naught of which to think; and without consciousness it would not know
anything of which to think. Therefore they trinity of divine Mind combines
these three which work as one – Mind, Idea, and Consciousness. These three
compose one perfect intelligence ready for expression. The Creator as
infinite Mind, the Source, is God the Father. The perfect idea inherent in
God-Mind, which is to be created or pressed forth, is God the Son. That
knowledge which enables Mind to carry out its idea is perfect consciousness,
or God the Holy Ghost. Hence, the Universal or Absolute Trinity is all pure
Spirit, Absolute and Uncreate, Eternal and Changeless, and is the basic urge
underlying all life: Father, Son, Holy Ghost Mind, Idea, Consciousness The process by which the
Creator reveals or produces creation is called the LAW OF EXPRESSION. By this
law it is seen that like produces like, or that which is born of Spirit is
Spirit. This law shows the relationship existing between Cause and
effect, between God, the Creator, and God, the creation. It works from the
Invisible to the visible, from Principle to example, from the Inner to the
outer. This is universally true and as we study we shall see that it works in
the same way on the plane of the individual. Infinite Being, Spirit,
is the state of perfection known as the Creator. Its creation is the
manifestation of itself and this manifestation must be as perfect as is the
Source. God is infinite Mind and manifests as thought and word. God is
infinite Spirit and manifests as living soul and body. Thus by the law of
expression we have these important trinities: Mind, thought, word Spirit, living soul, body Since by law like begets
like, the living soul and body that comprise individual man are image and
likeness of Spirit. The image of God is God expressed in individuality and as
visible form; it is infinite Idea expressed and expressing itself in
mentality and visibility. The likeness of God means that all inherencies and
qualities of God, all His ideas and potentialities, are implanted within Hi
image. The nature of the image is exactly like the nature of its source; that
is, the nature of man is exactly like the nature of God. God is Life, Love,
Truth; the image of God is life, love, truth. Infinite Source brings forth
after its kind that which is inherent within itself. God is constantly
expressing man in His image and likeness. Man then is not something that has
Spirit, but is Spirit. He is not something that has body, but is body. The
law of expression reveals the body to be Spirit expressing; that is,
substance, as vine, branch, and fruit are one and the same substance. If the
vine is grape, then the branch is grape and the fruit is grape. There is
but one Substance invisible and visible. The substance of the vine is not
changed by coming forth into ranch and fruit; the Substance of infinite
Source is not changed by coming forth into the individualized expression of
itself – MAN. The All is Good and the
All is here. God is omnipresent and we are in His presence from everlasting
to everlasting. This proves the unity of God and man, for man’s existence is
right where God is, I in God and God in me. Man could not exist as the
reverse of God. This new interpretation of life leads to a consciousness of
what the Real is, and of the true nature of all existence. If we rely upon
the real nature of what is, we have a fixed basis for peace, and a source of
faith. Let us review in order to
clarify our thinking and bring about the realization that "I and the
Father are one." It is well to study carefully this law of expression,
the divine order of creation, which explains so exactly how it is possible
and cannot be otherwise, that man is made "in the image and after the
likeness" of the Father. GOD IS THE ONE MIND, THE
SOURCE OF EVERYTHING. ALL THINGS HAVE THEIR
ORIGIN IN THIS ONE MIND. MIND HAS IDEA. MIND’S ACTION IS
THINKING. THINKING BRINGS THE IDEA
INTO THE VISIBLE, OR "THE WORD MADE VISIBLE." IT IS LAW THAT LIKE
PRODUCES LIKE. "In the beginning
was the word and the word was with God and the word was God." John 1:1
Creation is the word of the Eternal made visible, or the word become flesh.
Spirit manifests as flesh, for though the form is changed the Substance
remains ever the same. This is the new revelation, even the visible form is
made of Spirit-Substance. We may have a dim realization of this at the
present time but the truth is forever awaiting our recognition. Our divine
nature can never be lost, and sooner or later all shall awaken to its
presence within them. Let us study and contemplate the truth until full
revelation (of the Truth) dawns upon our minds. Although Truth is
omnipresent and changeless, thought "we live, and move, and have our
being" in God, the All_Good, yea, thought we dwell in the Kingdom of
Heaven but lacking many good things, and losing the blessedness that is ours.
Consciousness of Truth then is our great need, not that more good may come to
us, not that we may have more strength or wisdom or life or health sent to
us, but that our comprehension may be opened to see that All is within our
very nature and that all God is, is forever ours. As we reason from the
order of this One in Self-expression, the conclusion is that there is but One
All. Since all things are produced by the power of God’s creative action, the
result is an exact image of the idea of the Creator, and never is it
otherwise. The Father is the universal. The son is the individual. In and of
universal Substance, Life, Intelligence, and Power the individual is formed.
Hence, each individual is a center of Life’s activity, of Mind’s intelligence
and power, and is of the purity of infinite Substance. And while each
individual must acknowledge that "My Father (the universal) is great
than I," yet each may also say "I am exactly what the Universal is.
There is naught else to be, since man is the individualized expression of
God." The purpose of creation
is that the Creator may express, and the purpose of individual creation is
that the Creator may be expressed through and by the individual. Man is
created to carry on the work of the Creator and he should know that he, too,
is a triune being, that he is cause, action, and result on his plane of
existence, in his world of experiences, conditions, and affairs. The law of
expression works through man as certainly as it does in God’s process of
creation. As we study we understand
that it is logical for man to be a triune being for as we look at nature we
discover many units which are made up of three phases. All life on the planet
is classified as mineral, vegetable or animal; the very atoms into which
so-called matter is organized manifest in terms of three-ness, protons,
neutron, and electrons; the family comprises father, mother, and offspring;
the plant is composed of root, stalk, and fruit or flower; the functioning
process of any of man’s five senses consists of stimulus, response, and
reaction over nerves which are themselves made up of neurons, axons, and
dendrites. There are innumerable other illustrations of such trinities, but
these are sufficient to help us understand the importance of the three-in-one
principle upon which all creation is based. Of course we cannot in
truth divide life, but to give clarity to our thinking we may divide our
concept of life into God and man, Invisible and visible, Absolute and relative,
Universal and individual. As we have seen that God functions through the
Absolute Trinity – Father, Son, and Holy Ghost – or through the trinity of
divine Mind – Mind, Idea, Consciousness – we now find that man on a lower
level of awareness, the plane of the individual, functions through a similar
trinity – the Super-conscious, conscious, and subconscious levels of mind.
Each individual, being an expression of the Father, possesses for his use
these three levels of mind: Superconscious, or Christ
Mind, the Father expressing on the plane of the individual. Conscious level of mind,
the son expressing on the plane of the individual. Subconscious level of
mind, the Holy Ghost manifesting on the plane of the individual. This truth of being gives
man power to say "I am the thinker, the thought, and the word."
Every object that is made, every book that is written, every picture that is
painted began as idea in mind before being expressed visibly. There is no
bisible thing but had its source, its form, and its substance in the
invisible. While man apparently originates an idea, in reality he receives it
from infinite Intelligence because he sought it and was ready to receive it.
He brings it into expression by the inherent power of his consciousness.
Man’s thinking then is creative action and should have a reliable base from
which to operate. Unless that base is scientifically true to principle, God’s
law of good, man produces varied conditions in his life. The one Thinker is
God; the one God-Mind produces ideas in man. Whether man thinks about ideas
truly or falsely the results will come forth according to his thinking and
will manifest scientifically by the law of expression in his experiences,
conditions, and affairs. Without doubt the
majority of people have proved to themselves the effect of thought when
learning to ride a bicycle or to steer an automobile. How easily one steers
directly into the very object he wishes to avoid if he looks at that object
and concentrates his thought upon it. Every beginner learns by experience, or
by the good advice of an experienced "steerer," to look away from
that which he wishes to avoid and to fix his eye and his attention upon the
place where he wishes to go in order to reach it safely. The same law applies
to our thinking: look away from appearances of evil and keep "eye"
or thought fixed upon the good we wish, and we shall reach the goal. Hitherto
we have not known that the goodness, truth and love of God-Mind is set in
action by our thinking and speaking, but such is God’s law. All good is ours
of which to think and speak, so why waste opportunity by any thinking or
speaking which is contrary to Good? Not until we acknowledge
the infinite Source as the I that I am are we in a condition to think and act
divinely; for we shall always think and act exactly in accordance with that
which we believe ourselves to be and to be related to. Not until we hold
ourselves individually as divine Being can we solve the problems of life
satisfactorily, or enter the way that leads to knowledge of Life Eternal
which Jesus gave to the world. The rue realization of
oneness is knowing the true nature of the Creator and creation, and
conforming our ways to it. It is being lifted up to know that all that really
is, is Good. It enables us to act justly and correctly in unity with the
whole of power and correctly in unity with the whole of power and the all of
Good according to scientific law. Many is one with God before or above all
law, but the law of expression shows the method by which man is to express
himself in individual life, through truthful thinking and speaking. It
explains to him how he has control over all conditions and how he may show
forth his Perfect State in all things. Man is one with God before he is born
of God, and he can never be outside of God. "I had planted thee a noble
vine, wholly a right seed." Jer. 2:21 Man is to cultivate this right
seed by his correct thinking and thus fulfill the purpose for which he was
created, to be a fixed center of action in the Infinite One. Thus man started
out, so to speak, with unlimited possibilities of Good. His Eternal State is
Perfection for God is his Being or Nature which is changeless. As long as man does not
realize that he is an individualized center of God-activity and that he is to
share in fulfilling the Father’s purpose of bringing love, peace, harmony,
and good will to all, he is prone to use his thinking power for his own
selfish purposes. As long as man’s thinking is based upon anything less than
God’s idea of Good, he will experience confusion, turmoil, and adverse
circumstances in his world of affairs, for as Emerson says, "Law obeyed
or disobeyed brings opposite results." Man has unknowingly made
his own conditions of life and affairs. He is to work out his state of
perfection, and this is done by recognition of his true Self through right
thinking and right speaking. The same order by which God is manifesting in
existence must be maintained in man’s thinking in solving the problems of
life and in demonstrating his true freedom. The law of expression fully
understood is of the greatest value to us. It is the way by which we have
come forth; and we need to apply it for the purpose of realizing our true and
harmonious relationship, not only with our source and Cause, but with humanity.
The Source of all idea being God, the omnipresent Mind, then the true mental
image of an idea will always bring realization of that idea, and it will be
actualized in the spoke word and in our dealings with each other. When
God-Idea is brought forth into form it is the Real expressed and known. Fellow student, by now
your own thoughts have come to the place where they see that if thinking
turns aside and busies itself with outer "causes" it fails in its
work and gains nothing, for the outer cannot supply anything to thought. It
is the work of thought to look within, to gather from within, to be illumined
from within; then does it become the outlet for Divine fullness, just as the
branches of the tree draw from the tree all the life and substance that is to
make good fruit. There is but one laws. It is omnipresent. The work of
thought is to recognize and carry from the inner to the outer all the good
that infinite Love holds for its offspring. Our thought can be enlightened
in truth only by turning to the Christ within to unfold a consciousness of
our oneness with the Father; a realization that we are extensions of Him,
functioning here to carry on His work of love; a knowledge of truth that is
based upon the Eternal; an understanding of changeless Life and Being that
reveals Spirit as presence and power. These are to be the light of our
thinking. We must remain true to our basis, the omnipresence of God; know
what we are and fully believe in what we are, and with faith in the knowledge
that like produces like, trust what we are. Thought is to be diligent in
perceiving knowledge of one Presence and one Power; to hold to the
consciousness of ever-present fullness; to form the habit of thinking of
love, life, purity and perfection. Thought is to recognize
the unity of spirit and body and to declare fullness of life and perfection
for all things. True thoughts partake of the real nature of the Source and
give form to divine ideas and attitudes. "By their fruits ye shall know
them." Matt. 7:20 As important as thought
is, we must remember that that which represents the nature of Being cannot
control or guide Being; consequently neither thought nor word can rightly
control or guide. "I am the Way" should be understood to mean that
the right way is being the Way and expressing what I am. I am before I think
or speak. I precede by thought therefore I cannot be the result of my
thought. Thought has power to express the Self but not to make it. What I am
cannot change; it waits forever upon recognition. Our divine nature – our
real Self – is the Christ our "hope of glory." Jesus declared this
real Self when he said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life."
This divine nature is a universal Presence saying "Lo, I am with you
always." Matt. 28:20 As soon as we recognize it, it is our glory, and
then we shall have true control, which is doing as the Father does, being the
Way and demonstrating the God-Self. We are now accepting
Omnipresence as our basis of thought, and the law of expression as showing
the exact place and work of thought. The power of thought is derived from
Mind; its substance also comes from Mind. We assume the responsibility of
controlling thought simply by thinking correctly; of controlling words by
speaking true to principle, and of controlling deeds by acting in accord with
the unity of the spirit. When this is done we shall be able to perceive and
read the silent and invisible language or idea that lies back of all nature,
the language which is in the beginning, before thought, prior to expression.
The highest truths of the Unmanifest will reveal themselves to the perception
of one whose mental condition is purified by perfect thought. May we rejoice in the
beauty of this truth which is becoming more and more clear to us. May the
light of inspiration which glows in the words of the founders of Divine
Science be the spark which will set our hearts aflame, bringing realization
of harmony to ourselves and others. Listen inwardly as Malinda Cramer
instructs us in these forceful words: "Let us cease to be
prodigal in our conclusions and beliefs and awaken to our Reality. Each of
us, being the thinker of true thoughts, can change his way of believing and
know himself divine, a son or daughter of God, and know that his life is God.
Then, think of your life as perfect, unlimited, and unending. There is but
One Life. This is Truth, which to know, makes free and brings peace that
passeth understanding. What is it to find the Kingdom of Heaven and dwell
therein but to get understanding and to become fully conscious that we live,
move, and have our Being in God? To thus know that the Kingdom of Heaven is a
hand is to think, speak, and act, that is, to live in the realization of the
power and glory of Being. "Our work resolves
itself into this: we are to make the thought, love, and motive of Spirit our
thought, love, and motive, and thus produce the fruits of Spirit – effects
which harmonize with the Supreme All. Awaken to thine own inheritance of pure
and perfect Being; lay hold upon it, it is thine to use and to enjoy. Be true
in thought, and free from anxiety and fear; look steadfastly into the Unity
of Being, the perfect law of liberty, and thou shalt see that all that is, is
divine. ‘Be still and know that I am God.’ " QUESTIONS FOR REVIEW AND DISCUSSION
Divine Science Its Principle and Practice
Copyright ã1957 by Divine Science Church and College Denver, Colorado Made
available here by the ministry of Rev.
Lawrence C. Terry, M.Msc., D.Min. P. O. Box
68324 Indianapolis,
IN 46268-0324 |
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