Series 2 - Lesson 3 - Annotation 17
What is the way to build a consciousness of eternal life?
17. Life eternal, everlasting, timeless is God, the one life without beginning and without ending. This source of life is within man as the Christ, the I AM, the life principle. Here within our own being we appropriate the life idea moving from the Source, God, the one creative Mind, into expression and manifestation. "I write this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life" (I John 5:13).
God "moves" through creation as the eternal movement of His nature as life to find expression. This movement is spoken of as the Spirit of God. Every form of creation is expressing and manifesting life, the Spirit of God, according to its degree of development.
Consciousness is the direct knowing of each one for himself, attained through thinking, feeling, speaking, and acting according to his beliefs. A consciousness of anything, be it of life, of health, of peace, of prosperity, or of a negative nature such as sickness, lack, and limitation, is developed by using the tools of thinking, feeling, speaking, and acting. The difference lies in the mold or the pattern that man uses as a standard for these activities. The I AM, the creative power of God, is the power that enables men to build all states of consciousness according to the thoughts provided by man. We need to remember that consciousness is never just thinking alone, but feeling must be added.
The building of a consciousness of eternal life must be dene in the same orderly way in which our consciousness deals with any qualities we wish to manifest. Through study, meditation, entering the Silence, we become acquainted with tie life idea. We see its source in the Christ, or I AM, within us. We may need to use denial to erase any misconceptions we might have had about life being limited. As we use our affirmations of the eternalness of life, that is, life without beginning or ending, we begin to take on conviction that life is ours by divine right. Our whole consciousness changes; we begin to see the truth of Paul's statement in Rom. 12:2, "Be transformed by the renewal of your mind." When we are faced in our outer life with challenges that seem to belie the eternalness of life, our expanded consciousness of the truth of life sustains us. We are no longer tossed by uncertainty; we have built a consciousness of eternal life as being ours now, not at some time in the future.
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Preceding Entry: How does man identify himself with the Absolute? How and what is it to acknowledge the Son?
Following Entry: How should the Scriptures be "divided" in interpreting the use of the term man?
