America – Cradle For The Second Coming Of The
Christ
CHAPTER VIII
SPIRITUALIZATION OF THOUGHT IS THE
GREAT NECESSITY
Advancement Comes Through
Enlightenment
 Mrs. Eddy
saw that what has prevented harmony and peace on earth more than any other one
thing--in both individual and collective experience--is the ignorant belief
that there is a God "out there" that can give us something. There is no God in
heaven or on earth that can give us anything. The kingdom of God within our own
infinite spiritual consciousness alone gives all; therefore if there is to be
change for the better it must come through the development of our spiritual
consciousness--through individual and collective spiritualized
consciousness.
How do we spiritualize thought? Mrs. Eddy instructs:
Spiritual sense is a conscious, constant capacity to
understand God [infinite, omnipresent good].... its ideas are expressed only in
"new tongues;" and these are interpreted by the translation of the spiritual
original into the language which human thought can comprehend. (S&H
209:31)
Translation gives us a new tongue. All that the eye beholds
"must give place to the spiritual fact by the translation of man and the
universe back into Spirit [Mind]. In proportion as this is done, man and the
universe will be found harmonious and eternal" (ibid. 209:21).
"Reform...is the crumbling away of material elements from reason, the
translation of law back to its original language,Mind, and
the final unity between God and man [infinite good and its reflection]"
(Peo. 1:3). When our mind is free of error, it is the divine
Mind.
The universal hypnotic suggestion that ideas have
become material things, and that man can only have life or consciousness
through the medium of matter, is the fundamental lie. Mrs. Eddy said, "When we
find out we don't have a [matter] body nothing can touch us." Through
translation the divine Mind gives us man in God's image and likeness, that is,
gives us "body" as Mind's--our true Mind's--embodiment of right
ideas.
This means that spiritual power is always present, but it
can only appear to us as we put off a material sense of life, as we educate
mortal mind out of itself by bringing every thought into obedience to
Truth.
Our progress spiritward depends on the
translation of matter into Mind. We have to do this because we do not see
things as they really are; we only see our concept of them. Mortal mind,
illusion, universal hypnotic suggestion, has classified spiritual ideas as
matter or objects of material sense. Our work in Science is to translate the
material objects back into their original form, so that we see them as divine
facts.
That which brings peace and harmony into our own life will
also bring peace and harmony to the world. To be concerned about the
destructive forces in the world--unless we contribute something divinely
scientific that can change the course of history for the better--avails little.
What is needed is "a little more grace, a motive made pure, a few truths
tenderly told, a heart softened, a character subdued, a life consecrated.
[These restore] the right action of the mental mechanism and make manifest the
movement of body and soul in accord with God" (Mis. 354:15). The divine
Principle carries on its harmony. Our business is to know this
truth. The emphasis is on the word "know." Truth is omnipresent
even if we are ignorant of it. Only what we know of Truth is
helpful.
"I Live; Yet Not I, But Christ Liveth in
Me"--Paul
Christian Science instructs us to dwell on what we already
are and what we already have because of the fact that "I
and the Father [Mind] are one....And all that the Father [Mind] hath is mine."
This great truth is the regulator, and we don't need to pour a bucket of water
(a treatment) on it every ten minutes to make it work. (See S&H 428:22). I
and the Mind that is Love are one, and all that Mind hath is mine. This is a
great impersonal universal truth that applies to every man, woman, and child in
the universe. The understanding and acceptance of this Truth would end greed
and every form of discord, and bring into focus the ever-present reign of
harmony, the kingdom of heaven.
We would then never again dwell on what I want or would like
to have, what I should have, or what I need, because with the realization that
"God is individual Mind" (Mis. 101:31), we would also realize that
embodied within our own individual divine infinite consciousness is all
spiritual Truth, all Life, all Love; and this Life, Truth, and Love is
living me. It is the "I am that I am." Therefore, "seek ye first
the kingdom of God, and his righteousness [understanding], and all these
things"money, home, companionship, a prosperous business, a contented
heart--whatever we truly need to be boundlessly happy,
bountifully productive and unceasingly expressive of infinite Love"shall be
added unto you."
Once we realize this spiritual fact we are no longer living
as just a mortal. We are living as "I and the Father [Mind] are one," and God
liveth my life for me, as St. Paul said. Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle,
Life, Truth, Love are now living my life. Thus we no longer live our
life for our own sake. Therefore, whatever we need, divine Love, the spirit of
God, takes care of. We no longer turn attention to ourselves. Rather, like Mrs.
Eddy, "We get Mary out of the way." We let "I and the Father [Mind] are one"
become our standpoint. We become an instrument through which divine Love
carries out its plan of universal salvation; always remembering that "God is
individual Mind [our Mind]. This one Mind and [its] individuality comprise the
elements of all form and individualities" (Mis. 101:31).
Our Consciousness is the Invisible
Substance of All That Appears
Christian Science teaches that everything that
appears--everything that makes up this world--is formed of the invisible
substance of this one Mind. The invisible substance is consciousness, your
consciousness. There is only one infinite consciousness, and this divine
consciousness is everyone's consciousness. "Existence separate from divinity,
Science explains as impossible" (S&H 522:10). But if we think we have a
mind of our own, or a consciousness of our own, we cut ourselves off from the
infinite reservoir, the universal divine consciousness. This infinite divine
consciousness is manifested as your individual consciousness. And when
understanding reigns, your invisible consciousness appears visibly as every
good thing needed to be an instrument to show forth infinite good's plan for
the salvation of mankind.
How did the consciousness of Jesus appear? Wasn't it as food
for the multitude, as sight for the blind, hearing for the deaf, feet for the
lame, and life for those who had died? Wasn't it as the great Teacher of
spiritual facts concerning our true identity, our God-being? Did Jesus have to
go anywhere for it? Wasn't it his own individual spiritual consciousness
appearing as this healing and teaching work? Jesus was our great example. He
never looked for help or supply to anything but his own infinite divine
consciousness. We must learn to do the same. We cut ourselves off from the
infinite ever-present supply of all good when we look for help to persons,
places, things, conditions, circumstances, or to a God "up there."
Our Consciousness and God's Consciousness
are the Same in Reality
There is only one consciousness. Evil
and matter, per se, are illusions that have no real objectification.
Infinite good conscious of itself is manifested as man. As God's instrument,
our business is to let ourselves be a channel for God's love to flow through to
all mankind. When we remember how unmistakable Mrs. Eddy makes it that
God is manifested as individual consciousness, as individual Mind, then
the great truth that all that the Father hath is mine, becomes clear also,
because our consciousness and God's consciousness are one, are the
same.
God as Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, and Love
is our Mind, Spirit, Soul, Principle, Life, Truth, Love,
which reflects itself in spiritual qualities. But in order to realize this, the
"old man," a mortal sense of self, a selfhood apart from God, must be put off,
must be educated out of itself.
It is materialism that clogs humanity's progress. Human
beings have looked in the wrong direction for fulfillment of their desires.
They have separated themselves from God's love, their own true Mind's love.
They have personalized evil, personalized good.
They think of their supply as though they
themselves could have anything. Jesus, however, plainly instructed: "I can
of mine own self do nothing [have nothing, be nothing].... The Father [Mind]
within me [the kingdom of God within me as my true Mind] doeth the works [has
all, gives all]."
Mortals experience lack. Poverty isn't just being without
food or shelter; it is the absence of love. People the world over are hungry
for love, even dying for lack of love--they want to be somebody to someone.
Yet, all the while the kingdom of Mind and Love within is capable of pouring
forth more than they can accept. "Cast thy bread [the divine Truth you
understand] upon the waters" and it comes back to you to fill your every need.
Science and Health characterizes St. John's "Love one another," as "the most
simple and profound counsel."
Mortals think they, of themselves, can have
something; but again, this is illusion. All belongs to God, our true Mind.
Love is of God, "the kingdom of God within you," and therefore in
reality is infinitely manifested as man.
Intelligence is of God, health is of God, prosperity, harmony, and every good
thing is God manifested as man. "Mine and thine are obsolete terms in absolute
Christian Science wherein and whereby the universal brotherhood of man is
stated" (Mis. 318:2). Every quality, attribute, and thing is infinitely
available to everyone on earth. (See My. 356:1.)
"Formed and governed by God [the Mind which is our Mind--and
which is both cause and effect, both noumenon and phenomena], our individuality
[is] safe in the substance of Soul, the substance of Spirit,...the substance of
God, the one inclusive good" (Mis. 104:5).
We therefore must not personalize good, since "God is no
respecter of persons."
As the spirit of God dwells in and illumines our
individual consciousness, it flows out to bless others, to heal and teach.
Everything that is good and right begins with an individual. The light
always comes through an individual, as it came through the individual Moses,
the individual Jesus, the disciples, St. Paul, Mrs. Eddy.
The illumined consciousness of Mary Baker Eddy spiritually
educated millions in her time and is continuing to educate present day world
thought. Her teaching is today prompting Protestant and Catholic churches the
world over to turn their attention to spiritual healing. Out of Mrs. Eddy's
demonstration has come a whole new religious concept, a concept of divine
healing.
In Science we do not think of our supply,
our health, our good. "There is none good
but one, that is, God," said Jesus. We must realize the universal nature
of every good quality, attribute, and thing, just as we see the universal
nature of numbers and notes, and be willing to see universal good
expressed everywhere on this planet wherever it is needed.
Accepting that "I and my Father are one," and that the
kingdom of God is within our consciousness, frees us from the false belief that
we can get good from God--from a God outside of our own
consciousness. Jesus, our great Exemplar, taught: "I am the living bread
[Truth]; I am the light of the world; I am the resurrection and the life; I am
the way, the truth, the life." And he made it clear that he was no different
from us in any way except for a fuller understanding of his oneness with God,
infinite good. He indicated that when we understand our true divine identity we
would do even greater works than he was able to do 2000 years ago. The visible
manifestation of this kingdom within becomes the instrument through which Love
flows out to the world.
"Existence separate from God [our own real Mind], Science
explains as impossible.... The great spiritual fact must be brought out that
man is, not shall be, perfect and eternal"
(S&H 522:10; 428:22). God's good is omnipresent, just as in a mundane way
the multiplication table is omnipresent and always at everyone's disposal.
Understanding alone is needed.
Remember, everything that is good begins with an individual.
This is why Mrs. Eddy said: "God will heal the sick through man, whenever man
is governed by God" (S&H 495:1). As humans, we are nothing, can be nothing,
can do nothing. It is always God, our real Mind, doing it, never the
manifestation or reflection. Man, the manifestation, is like the image in the
mirror which of itself can do nothing.
However, when we get a personal sense of self out of the
way, and attain divine realization, we are automatically one with God, our true
Mind, and with what God is, namely infinite good. This then appears outwardly
as form--as health, abundance, home, etc. The substance, which is Spirit, the
only true Mind, remains invisible; this invisible substance is our
consciousness.
Through Christian Science the human mind is educated out of
itself. When the human mind has dropped all hate, envy, jealousy, greed, fear,
all the lusts of the flesh--every form of error the divine Mind alone remains
and can bring divine good into sharp focus. "The ultimate teaching of Christian
Science is to restore to man his consciousness of the divine Mind as his only
Mind," and the Holy Ghost is the activity of the divine Principle everywhere at
work in the world, executing the will of God.
Mortals are ignorant of their true identity; therefore
it must be learned. This is why so much in the textbook, Science and
Health with Key to the Scriptures, aside from its absolute statements--is
written on a lower level which instructs how Truth overcomes error. The
textbook must state how Science looks to those who cannot look beyond the
physical senses.
AMERICA book sections
Foreword | I |
II | III |
IV | V |
VI | VII |
VIII | IX |
X | XI |
XII | XIII |
Conclusion | Bibliography |
