Unity Metaphysics: 06 The Creative Process

6A HOW GOD CREATES:

"God is Spirit. In creation Spirit takes the form of mind, implanting itself in substance and becoming manifest as perfect man. Here is condensed in a few words what would take volumes to describe. Here are epitomized all books on physiology and evolution, mental science and psychology, religion and spiritual philosophy." (Teach Us To Pray 67)

How does God create? In the book of Genesis the method is symbolically set forth: "And God said, Let there be ... and there was ..." When this is taken literally it only leads to arguments between "creationists" and "evolutionists," but when understood metaphysically it contains much logic. Among other things, the Absolute (God) is the Creative Principle, Power, and Intelligence. The creation allegory depicts the Creative Principle expressing its power and intelligence as "Let there be." This is the Logos, the Word of God, and is fulfilled in God's spiritual creation. God has created wholeness, and wholeness has its components which relate to God's plan for THIS universe. Those components are called divine ideas.

6B INVOLUTION:

"Read in the light of Spirit, the first chapter of Genesis is a description, in symbol, of the creative action of universal Mind in the realm of ideas. It does not pertain to the manifest universe any more than the history of the inventor's idea pertains to the machine that he builds to manifest the idea. First the problem is thought out, and afterward the structure is produced. So God builds His universe." (Charles Fillmore Christian Healing 31)

The idea that involution precedes evolution must be approached "... in the light of Spirit ..." as Mr. Fillmore has stated in his opening sentence. We do not evolve into something that has no existence before we attain it. It exists prior to our attainment of it, although as a potential or as an ideal. The ideal is what God has already created. The attainment of those ideals is what evolution is all about. Mr. Fillmore states, "So God builds His universe." The work of building is done through us.

6C EVOLUTION:

"There can be no logical doubt that an all-wise and all-powerful Creator would plan perfection for His creations and also endow them with the ability to bring His plan into manifestation. That is the status of the world and its people. We are God's ideal conception of His perfect man, and He has given us the power of thought and word through which to make that ideal manifest." (Jesus Christ Heals 16)

"Involution always precedes evolution. That which is involved in mind evolves through matter." (The Twelve Powers of Man 121)

"Evolution is the result of the development of ideas in mind. What we are is the result of the evolution of our consciousness, and that consciousness is the result of seed ideas sown in our mind." (The Twelve Powers of Man 39)

Evolutionary theories have usually focused on such things as evolution of species, or physical body forms, the survival of the fittest and the selectivity of natural laws. These are true only of life forms below the level of ours. Our evolution is not a mechanical "happening." It is the result of individual and collective efforts. The pattern being followed is a spiritual one. The energy required comes from sources other than nature. There is no fixed or static goal. The goal itself has an open door. The signs of success are not limited to higher physical forms, but are directed toward greater freedom from the limitations of physicality. As in all things that pertain to our highest good, divine ideas are the true keys to our evolution.

6D THE TRINITY IN CREATION:

"God is the origin of all, and from Him, in orderly steps through His perfect idea (Son) and His wise builder (Holy Spirit) all creation proceeds. The Son (man) looks to the Father for all instruction, and the Father responds to the Son's demands by sending forth the Holy Spirit equipped with the wisdom and power necessary to perform the work." (Talks on Truth 70)

"Three primal forces of Being are manifest in the simplest protoplastic cell. Every atom has substance, life, and intelligence. This corresponds with the symbolical creative process of Jehovah, as described in Gen. 2:7. The "dust of the ground" is substance; "breathed" refers to the impartation of intelligence; and the "living soul" is the quickening life. These three constitute the trinity of the natural world, in which the body of man is cast." (The Twelve Powers of Man 54)

"God is law and God is changeless. If we would bring forth the perfect creation, we must conform to law and unfold in our mind, body, and affairs as a flower unfolds by the principle of innate life, intelligence, and substance." (Charles Fillmore Prosperity 58)

Here we have another interpretation of the Trinity. This concept may appear to be repetitious but the more a person contemplates its many aspects, the more this framework begins to emerge as something clear and important.

6E LAW OF CAUSE & EFFECT:

"There are no accidents in the laws of Being. 'Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap’ is another way of saying that for every cause there is an adequate effect. This law of sequence is like all other laws that inhere in Being, it is good." (Talks on Truth 78)

There are many aspects to the law of cause and effect, some much higher and finer than others. When Mr. Fillmore states "there are no accidents in the laws of Being", he is stating a principle that is true in the absolute. On the relative plane of existence, however, there is a valid meaning for the word "accident." It does NOT MEAN something that happens without a cause. It means something that has happened that was either unforeseen, or unnecessary, or caused by a mistake. Would one then say that there are no "mistakes?" Again, that is correct only in the absolute. On the relative plane of existence mistakes are happening all the time. Mistakes need correcting, just as accidents need preventing. Certainly we are now talking of something that is only relevent on a narrow and limited plane of existence, but these are factors we need to deal with. Although they are not problems for the absolute, the absolute gives itself to us in the form of all needed help. "God is our help in every need."

6F TWO CREATION STORIES:

"Only through perception of the mental law by which ideas manifest from the formless to the formed can we understand and reconcile these two apparently contradictory chapters (Gen. 1 & 2). In the light of true understanding everything is made plain, and we discern just how Divine Mind is creating man and the universe: First the ideal concept, then the manifestation." (Charles Fillmore Christian Healing 32)

Only the first chapter of Genesis is about the original divine creation. This is God's creation of wholeness. Its components are all God's divine ideas that pertain to us. It is finished, whole, total. The second story is an allegory of something which proceeds WITHIN creation. It is the forming of individuality. It is about the beginning of each person as a living individual soul, endowed with great creative possibilities. It depicts the turning point in us from involution (existence in Eden) to evolution (emerging into the world). Our role in creation is to bring forth, to produce, and cause manifestation, and to grow in consciousness.

6G CREATION AS AN ONGOING PROCESS:

"God is thinking the universe into manifestation right now. Even He cannot create without law. The law of the divine creation is the order and harmony of perfect thought." (Charles Fillmore Christian Healing 18)

"It is therefore true, in logic and in inspiration that man and the universe are within God-Mind as living, acting thoughts. God-Mind is giving itself to its creations, and those creations thus are evolving an independence that has the power to co-operate with, or to oppose, the original God will. It is then of vital importance to study the mind and understand its laws, because the starting point of every form in the universe is an idea." (Charles Fillmore Christian Healing 19)

When we speak of creation as an ongoing process, it does not mean that each creative happening is a brand new creation. God's creation is finished in the sense that it is whole and complete with no parts missing. But within this creation of God a process is going on at all times. This process does not continue because of things being added to God's creation, but by means of what is already involved in God's creation. We have no idea how many energy levels and sources are yet to be tapped, just as we have no idea of the tremendous power lying dormant in our consciousness. Some of these things we are discovering, but we find that the more we discover, the more we realize still lies before us and above us. God's creation is finished, but it is living and because it is living, it is growing, unfolding, expanding. And so are we. Is there any limit to it? Will it ever end? Who can say? Most illumined minds say it is wrong to even use the words "limit" or "end" when speaking about the divine plan.

Transcribed by Sheri Owen on August 10, 2015.