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PDF of ordination papers for Georgiana Tree West
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Mrs. Georgiana Tree West
417 Park Avenue
Louisville, Ky.
June 10, 1935
1. WHAT IS GOD, METAPHYSICALLY CONSIDERED?
All spiritual unfoldment must of necessity start with the conception of God as Spirit. The mind must completely let go of all pre-conceived ideas of God as a Super-man, a sort of king, doling out to his people both favors and punishments. With the conception of God as Spirit there naturally follows a clearer understanding of Omnipresence. The student grows in the tremendous realization of God, Spirit, as the invisible Life and Intelligence underlying all physical things, and immediately the whole universe becomes transformed and takes on a new meaning.
Jesus not only defined God as Spirit and the Father but also described Him when he said, "God is Love." Perfect love is perfect harmony. Perfect harmony is inclusive of wisdom and power, so in his description of God as Love, Jesus ascribed to him omnipresence and omnipotence. In those three words, "God is Love" he recognized the All-wisdom and All-power working together for the All-good.
When he described God as Spirit (John 4:24) he claimed the Omnipresence or Every-whereness of the Love that God is, for Spirit is limitless and indivisible - the Universal Mind in all and through all.
In beholding God as Spirit, or the invisible Life, Intelligence, Harmony and Power of the Universe we recognize him as Creative Principle - that which is the Cause and Source of all that is; pure Being; all Law and all Truth; Primordial Substance; Ultimate Cause, or more simply phrased, "that from which all proceeds."
2. WHAT IS THE LORD GOD?
The Lord God is the Spiritual or Ideal Man. He is the individualization of God who does God's work in the manifest realm bringing into form those ideas that emanated from the Universal Mind. In the Scripture the Lord God, or Ideal Man, is spoken of as Jehovah - the Divine Idea creatively active in every form of life, which works out in the minutest detail the full expression of the Divine Idea and brings it forth into manifestation.
The Hebrew YEVE and the Hebraic symbols which constitute these words are as follows: YOD, meaning "source;" HE, the second symbol, is an aspirate meaning "that which is breathed out from the source, or derived life;" VAU is a connective used here in a sense of infinitude and is followed by another HE. The meaning of the entire word is the Source of Life and the Great Infinitude of Derived Life. This YEVE, or Jehovah, is the I AM through which the invisible Reality is brought into the realm of visibility.
3. WHAT IS ADAM?
Adam symbolizes matter, or flesh and sense. The I AM, or spiritual man, expresses through the I WILL, or Adam man. The Adam man is manifest man. The appearance of the Adam man is determined by his own thought of himself; he shows forth only as much of his I AM or Real Self as he is capable of conceiving at the moment. The I AM is the Power to think, perfect and unchangeable; the I Will, or Adam man, is the expression or manifestation of that Power and takes many forms. These I Will, or Adam, forms may be false or true since the I Will functions in the outer realm which is the realm of duality. But since the Power to think is greater than the thought so the I AM in its unchangeable perfection is greater than the I Will and it is through the Power of the I AM that the I Will is able to eventually bring itself into a state of perfection.
Adam, or natural man, is a manifestation of man's sense of separation from his Source. As man grows in understanding of his relation to his Creator he manifests more and more of his spiritual Reality, the Christ, and the I Will begins to show forth the perfection of the I AM.
4. WHAT IS CHRIST?
Christ is the expressed of God - God come forth as the Spiritual Substance at the core of all existence.
In every man there is an expressive center of the One Spiritual Substance - God. This is the Christ Indwelling, the Image and Likeness in which God made man. It is the Individualization through which the great un-manifest seeks manifestation. The outer or natural man is man as he sees himself; his I AM, or Indwelling Christ is himself as God sees him.
5. WHAT IS THE HOLY GHOST?
The Holy Ghost, the third power of the Trinity, is the executive power of both Father and Son.
In the beginning the Universal Mind, the Father, said, "Let there be" (Gen. 1:3) and His Image and Likeness, Christ the Son, was expressed (Gen. 1:27). This expression was possible through the action of the Divine Mind known as the Holy Ghost or, more correctly, the Holy Spirit. Jesus defined the Holy Ghost as the "Spirit of Truth" and this Spirit of Truth is the action of Divine Mind and the ensuing action of all that proceeds from Divine Mind - the only begotten Son.
We can better understand the Trinity when we see the Father as Mind, the Son as the idea of Mind and the Holy Spirit as the expression or action of Mind and its Idea.
It is the Holy Ghost, or Spirit of Truth, within us that is to be our guide in all thought and action. This Spirit of Truth, or action of the Father and the Son, will bring to our remembrance all that Jesus Christ, the first born among many brethren, revealed to us.
6. WHAT IS MAN?
Man is a three-fold being of spirit, soul and body. He is God's means of bringing Himself from the absolute into individualization; from the un-manifest to the manifest. Paul describes man in First Thessalonians, 5:23, when he says, "I pray God your whole spirit, soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Thess. 5:23)
7. WHAT IS SOUL?
Soul is man's self consciousness; the knowledge he has built within himself through his experience in life. It is his own knowing - what he feels, thinks and what he lives. It is the sum total of all that he has learned both through Spirit and through his senses.
The soul is the medium of consciousness through which the invisible is given visibility. It is the sum total of both conscious and subconscious thinking; the mental body through which man brings into the realm of form his understanding - or lack of understanding - of Spirit, Reality.
The soul may be designated as the sum total of man's thought.
8. WHAT IS BODY?
The body is the condensation of the soul; it is not self acting but is always acted upon by mind, or soul; it is an expression of the soul. Since the soul is the medium through which Spirit is emerging into manifestation it becomes evident that the soul is in a constant state of evolvement or change and this continuous change has its effect upon the body.
The body may be described as a slowing up of the vibration of the soul; the body can only manifest what is in the soul just as a cake of ice can only contain the water of which it is a condensed form. Whatever is in that water will be in the cake of ice. The same is true of the soul and body.
9. WHAT IS SPIRIT?
Spirit is the God Substance at the center of man's being known as the Christ or Son of God. It is the Eternal Quality of man - his unchangeable Reality - the Image and Likeness of his Creator in which he was made in the beginning and declared to be perfect (Gen. 1:27). When the soul, or self consciousness, learns to turn humbly and reverently to this All-loving, All-wise, radiantly perfect I AM, or Christ Self, all of Its strength and power will flow through the soul into the body and circumstances and the whole three-fold nature of man will show forth in manifestation the perfection of the God Ideal.
10. HOW ARE SPIRIT, SOUL AND BODY RELATED?
The I AM, or Spirit Indwelling, is man's eternal, unchangeable life in all of its power and perfection - Christ within him, his hope of glory (Col. 1:27). Spirit indwelling, or Christ, may be likened to the center power-house from which the soul, or self consciousness, draws all of its power of action. Its power to exist, its very life, its intelligence, its power to create, all come from this one Perfect Source. The soul uses this limitless power both wisely and unwisely. It learns through experience, instruction and, as it progresses, illumination through spiritual seeking more and more of the true nature of the power on which it continually draws.
The body manifests the nature of the use that the soul makes of the power of Spirit which it is constantly using. We may say then that body and soul are the mediums through which Spirit moves to manifest Its perfection in the realm of creation.
11. HOW DOES GOD CREATE?
God's ideas of creation were framed and sent forth into manifestation by the Power of His Word. "Let there be" was in every case impregnated with the idea of that which was to be and the result was this creative universe. Only when the idea in mind was spoken forth - only when it became the Word - did the manifestation appear.
The Word is the Divine Logos through which all things are made. John explains this perfectly in the first chapter of his gospel (John 1:3). The Word is the formative power of God and this power stands revealed as the Christ - God's Holy Word through which all things are made manifest.
12. WHAT IS THE SON OF MAN?
The Son of man is the out-picturing in the realm of form, or the manifesting of the ideal man in the mind of God. It is man in the process of bringing into visibility his invisible perfection.
13. WHAT IS THE SON OF GOD?
The Son of God is the Idea-man in the Mind of God. It is the expression or off-spring of Divine Mind; the individualization of the Absolute having within itself the full perfection of the Life, Love, Wisdom and Power of the Creator.
The Son of God, then, is the Expression of the Ideal Man, or the Christ of God. The manifestation of this Expression through the human consciousness is the Son of man.
14. WHAT RELATION DO WE BEAR TO JESUS CHRIST?
Jesus Christ is truly the "first born among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). Jesus Christ is the true Son of God that every man is; but Jesus Christ has manifested his perfection and it remains for all men to do the same.
Emerson said that Jesus Christ is the only true Son of God because he is the only one who has lived true to that which is in every one of us, his own Divinity. Jesus Christ is the Elder Brother, or Head of the great Heavenly Family to which we all belong. In him the Son of man and the Son of God are one; in us the Son of man is in the state of becoming the Son of God. In Jesus Christ we see our destiny fulfilled and through him our way is made plain.
15. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN JESUS AND CHRIST?
Jesus is the soul or consciousness through which the Christ, the Logos or individualization of the Almighty, became manifest in the realm of form. It was through his Jesus consciousness, or self consciousness, that Jesus Christ brought to earth the manifestation of the perfection of the Father in every man. He proved to all mankind that the Perfect pattern, or the man idea, in the Mind of God, which is the true Being of every man, can be given expression in the invisible through understanding, and this true expression must then manifest in form. Having the correct pattern and all the necessary material to work with man has failed to produce the likeness in manifestation of his Indwelling Perfection because he has not understood how to use that which was decreed unto him from the beginning of time. Jesus knew how to use this creative power, or rather he knew how to let Creative Power work through Jesus to produce the manifest Jesus Christ.
16. WIAT DO THE TWELVE DISCIPLES OF JESUS CHRIST REPRESENT?
The calling of the twelve disciples symbolizes the Christ working through the twelve powers of the soul. The Christ indwelling called the twelve powers of the soul of Jesus as instruments of his action. These powers were educated, disciplined and trained by the Christ until they were stripped of all worldly taint and transformed into perfect manifestations of Christ action.
In every man's soul the Indwelling Christ calls these same twelve powers to his service.
17. IS THE SPIRIT CONFINED TO THE BODY?
Spirit cannot be confined. The spirit of man is an indivisible part of the One Spirit of the Universe. Man's soul and body may be likened to a focalization of the Father working through the Son to manifest Divine Expression.
18. WHAT DISCIPLE REPRESENTS FAITH?
On an occasion when Jesus and his disciples were at Caesarea Philippi, he asked them, "Whom do man say that I, the Son of man, am?" They made various answers all of them indicating that men recognized in him something of spiritual power. He then asked them, "But whom say ye that I am?" (Mark 8:27) All were silent save Peter and Peter said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God."
Only through his faith could Peter have known this. Jesus himself said, "Flesh and blood have not revealed it to thee." Peter, obedient to the revelation of Spirit within, had sufficient faith to declare the Truth in spite of three-dimensional appearances. While Peter's mortal eyes did not reveal this Truth to him he knew it through faith which is the evidence of things unseen. Therefore Jesus said that Simon Peter's name should henceforth be Peter, meaning faith, and upon this rock, faith, the church - that is the "called out ones", (those called out of the darkness of ignorance into the light of understanding), - should be founded. In other words, the church of God is founded upon the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen (Heb. 11:1) and through these "called out ones" the invisible spiritual Reality hoped for and evidenced by faith will be made visible.
19. WHAT DISCIPLE REPRESENTS LOVE?
John, rich in spiritual understanding, and with an unshakable loyalty represents love. Paul gives us a beautiful description of love in First Corinthians (I Cor. 13) and John's character fulfills this description. He was the only one of the disciples who lived to a ripe and revered old age and did not meet a violent death. He proved that love endureth all things and that love never faileth for he was the only one of the disciples at the foot of the cross. It was to his tenderness, patience and kindness that Jesus committed the mortal care of his mother.
The Gospel of John has been called the Spiritual Gospel and the greatest of the Gospels and this is easily understood for "The greatest of these is love."
20. WHAT IS MAN'S FIRST DUTY IN DEMONSTRATING THE POWERS OF SPIRIT?
Man's first duty in demonstrating the powers of Spirit is to share with his fellow men the glory of these demonstrations. There can be no true demonstration where man has not first rendered unto God that which is God's, i.e., acknowledged that the Father, who is the Source of all good, is also the one and only Power that doeth the work. All that stands revealed through this faith and understanding is, of necessity, as spiritual of nature as is the source from whence it came therefore it can only be used wisely and lovingly if it is to remain permanent and increase in volume.
Too many Truth students demonstrate and then, with the coming of their desire into visibility, lose the high vision which made the demonstration possible. They settle down to enjoy selfishly the fruits of Spirit. This can never be done. That which is of Spirit must always be used for the glory of Spirit and the path of service is the only right path of all that has been demonstrated. What applies to the demonstration that takes three-dimensional form applies also in even a greater degree to the demonstration of spiritual power made in the soul of the individual. This increase in spiritual unfoldment of any one of the powers of the soul must immediately be set to work for the good of others and the glory of God.
21. HOW CAN WE INCREASE OUR SPIRITUAL POWER?
Spiritual power grows through prayer and service. Through praiseful acknowledgment of the Spirit God has given us, Christ in us our hope of glory, our consciousness grows more receptive to this spiritual power indwelling and we grow in the ability to keep the Eye single upon God. This means that we not only seek to behold the good in all and through all no matter what the outer appearance but we also place God first in all thought and action. When we place God first we acknowledge His Wisdom guiding and directing before we make any outer movement; we acknowledge His Love as the Law and Order of our lives and the Peace of our human relationships constantly; with every thought of our bodies we acknowledge first God's Health as their radiant life and in all action we gratefully and praisefully acknowledge His Power as the only power we have.
Through this prayerful acknowledgment of the One Presence we grow in spiritual understanding. In order to increase our spiritual power this understanding must be used in service to God and man. If it is not so used there is no increase in spiritual power and no matter how great the understanding of the individual he finds himself unable to demonstrate that understanding in his earthly existence. The path of service puts understanding into circulation and without such circulation there is no increase in spiritual power.
22. HOW CAN WE BRING FORTH THE SPIRITUAL POWER OF OTHERS?
We can bring forth the spiritual power of others in the same way that we increase our own spiritual power - through prayer and through extending to them opportunity for service.
Through prayer we behold our fellow man as God sees him regardless of his outer appearance. When he responds to this persistent beholding we must, through precept, encourage him to use his understanding by making himself a willing agent through which God's good will can pour through him into the lives of his fellow men in all his daily contacts. If we be teachers we must be alert to furnish opportunity for the use of increased understanding through the various avenues of Center service to those who are developing consciousness of spiritual values.
23. DO WE HEAL PEOPLE?
No human being can heal another. Even in the realm of medical science it is not the doctor who heals; he makes a certain adjustment or provides certain material and the life forces within the individual, in making use of what the doctor has provided, bring about the healing.
In the matter of spiritual healing it is the "substance of faith" (Heb. 11:1) that performs the miracle and not the personality that is the instrument of that prayer of faith.
24. HOW ARE THY HEALED?
In cases of spiritual healing the individual is healed through faith which is the spiritual substance of the health that is hoped for. He may have faith in the spiritual Presence of God as Life or Love or Wisdom in his body, mind or affairs or he may have faith in another's faith In Spiritual Reality. In any case it is through faith in Spiritual Reality rather than In a false appearance that accomplishes healing.
The only reason there is a place in the Truth teaching for healers is because there are so many who do not trust sufficiently their own spiritual understanding. They are in the position of the one who cried, "I believe; help thou my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24) They believe In the one Spiritual Presence but they feel that another has a greater understanding of that Presence than they have and so they seek help through asking that another's prayer be added to their own; this increased faith in the Omnipresent Good delivers that Good into manifestation. "According to thy faith so is it unto thee" (Matt. 9:29). Personalities are but the instruments of faith through which the power of the Almighty is delivered into the realm of form.
25. HOW DO WE PREACH THE GOSPEL?
The gospel, or good tidings, of the Omnipresent Good can only be revealed to men through the expounding of the spiritual principles as delivered to the world by Jesus Christ and by the conscientious endeavor to live according to those principles. Teaching and precept are equally important in our "preaching of the gospel." Teaching without precept (Matt. 15:9) is as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal; precept alone is an excellent teacher but when intelligent expositions of the spiritual principles adhered to are added to precept we have a perfect preachment.
26. WHO IS OUR LEADER?
The Truth teaching has but one leader - Jesus Christ. It has but one teacher - the Spirit of Truth within the soul of every man. This Spirit of Truth can be brought to the remembrance of the individual through those who are conscientiously following the Great Leader and so by their lives and teachings call men out of the darkness of ignorance into the Light of that Spirit within themselves that will bring to their remembrance all that Jesus Christ said.
27. IS THE BIBLE THE WORD OF GOD?
The Word of God is the Logos or the creative action of God expressed as the Christ, the only Begotten Son of God.
The Bible is an inspired revelation of the progress of man from the Adam to the Christ consciousness. In its histories, stories, promises, prophecies and allegories it contains hidden truths that stand revealed to the spiritually awakened consciousness. These hidden truths are Christ teachings or, the Word of God delivered to the mind of man in many different guises. In this sense the Bible is the Word of God - but not in its literal interpretation.
28. WHO IS THE INSPIRING GUIDE IN ALL YOUR THOUGHTS AND ACTS?
Jesus Christ, the great Way Shower, the Exemplar, is my inspiring guide. When the way seems so dark and the skeins of human action seem so entangled that I cannot seem to find my way to my own Indwelling Christ, I can always turn to my Elder Brother and ask what he would do. Always there is an answer through my faith in my Elder Brother, my greatest of all Friends. When I once see clearly what he would do I find that the mists have rolled away that have seemed to separate me from my own indwelling Christ and in the light of that Inner guidance my way becomes plain.
29. DOES GOD ANSWER PRAYER?
God is Himself the answer to all prayer.
Prayer is not begging for something that has been withheld. On the contrary, prayer is the method man uses to contact God through the only medium of contact - Mind. When man, through prayer, contacts God he has contacted the All-harmony of the Universe and the Spiritual Substance of that All-harmony becomes manifest in the fulfillment of that which he asked through prayer. In this sense God always answers prayer.
30. HOW SHOULD WE PRAY?
The old idea of begging or petitioning the all-powerful Creator to bestow his bounty upon us has no place nor part in the Truth teaching. Knowing God as the Omnipresent Good established in and operating through His own Spiritual Laws we cooperate with his Law by bringing ourselves into attunement and corresponding at-one-ment with Him when we pray.
To accomplish this we cleanse our consciousness of all that is contrary to God's good and establish ourselves in Silence in a great awareness of the Presence of God. In this sense of awareness we praise and glorify God until our whole consciousness is permeated with the joy of the Presence. The consciousness of the Presence is always followed by the manifestation of the Presence as the fulfillment of our need. This is praying according to the instructions of Jesus Christ who exhorted that we seek first the Kingdom (Matt. 6:33) and also that we ask, believing that we receive (Mark 11:24). In seeking first the Kingdom fill our consciousness with the All-good and carry that consciousness of All-good into our outer existence by rejoicing in its Life in our bodies, Peace and Love in all human relationships and its Power and Wisdom in earthly affairs manifesting as the fulfillment of our earthly need.
31. HOW OFTEN SHOULD WE PRAY?
We should pray without ceasing (I Thess. 5:16) - that is, we should place God first in everything. To acknowledge God's Presence in every thought and act of our daily existence is to pray without ceasing.
The editorial department has just accepted my article for the Unity Magazine entitled "Pray Without Ceasing." This article expounds at some length my ideas on this subject.
32. WHAT CASES ARE BEYOND THE HELP OF GOD?
Nothing is beyond the help of God; with God all things are possible (Matt. 19:26).
When we stop to consider that this is a spiritual universe, animated by the Life of God and functioning through the Power of God we realize that there can be nothing outside of God or beyond God. There can be nothing outside of the Whole and that which is of the Whole is always subject to the action of the Whole.
Since it is true that we exist only because God Is, in other words, that we live and move and have our being in God (Acts 17:28), it naturally follows that God's help is instantly available to each and every one of us no matter what his present appearance may indicate.
33. IS IT GOD'S WILL THAT ANY SHOULD REMAIN UNASSISTED?
Jesus Christ said that whatever we do for the least of God's creation we have done for Christ, the only Begotten of God; (Matt. 25:40) and whatsoever we do for the Christ we do for God since the Father and Son are one.
It is a fact, however, that there are those who cannot be assisted in any outer way without seeming to force them beyond their own volition. This is not God's way. Every man must come to God and receive his help through God on his own volition. However, it is also God's will that every member of this great Heavenly Family shall behold with the Eye of his Inner Spirit the indwelling Perfection of every child of his Father. The greatest assistance we can render any of our fellow men lies in beholding them as God sees them. Added to this is the necessity of assisting, after seeking prayerful guidance from Spirit Indwelling, in the realm of outer affairs by offering whatever seems to be wisely loving. If such aid is rejected we must then, without hurt or criticism, continue, as children of God, to behold His Image and Likeness in our fellow men.
34. WHAT DOES WATER BAPTISM TYPIFY?
Baptism is a sacrament and a sacrament is "an outward visible sign of an inward spiritual grace." Every sacrament employes certain symbols in its performance. Water is used in the sacrament of baptism as a symbol of the washing away of man's false worldly conceptions and their results in his life - his sins. Water symbolizes the cleansing power of Spirit as it purifies man's consciousness; "purifies" in the true meaning of the word, i.e., brings him into a pure or unmixed state of consciousness where his mind becomes single upon Truth.
35. WHAT IS THE REAL MEANING OF THE BAPTISM OF THE HOLY GHOST?
As man grasps the realization of himself as a spiritual being he sees himself endowed with the attributes of Spirit. In this newly awakened consciousness he feels an overwhelming urge to cleanse his House of Life. He sees himself as pure, in Spirit and in Truth, and this sense of inner purity flowing through consciousness is the baptism of the Holy Ghost - a cleansing, purifying force.
The Holy Ghost, or Holy Spirit, is the executive power, or power of expression, of both Father and Son. Only when man surrenders fully to DiVine Will does the power of the Father descend upon him through his own Indwelling Christ; this is the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
36. DID JESUS CHRIST DIE ON THE CROSS?
Christ never died. Jesus, the self consciousness of Jesus Christ, yielded up its physical body on the cross to the race idea of death only to prove that through Its full surrender to Its own indwelling Christ It moved in Eternal Life and therefore had the power to take up again the body It had laid down on the cross.
Jesus had foretold this experience when he said that he could lay his body down and take it up again (John 10:18). Only by passing through the experience that men call death and throughout that experience keeping his consciousness single upon the Truth of his own eternal life could Jesus Christ prove to the race, not only the survival of the individual, but that, in Spirit and in Truth, there is no death.
37. DOES CHRISTIANITY TEACH THAT DEATH IS THE OPEN DOOR TO HEAVEN?
If death were the open door to Heaven then Jesus Christ would have blundered seriously in re-establishing Lazarus (John 11:43) and others in earthly living. The teachings of true Christianity are based upon teachings of Jesus Christ and Jesus Christ never taught that man must die to go to Heaven. On the contrary, he taught that men die for one reason and one reason only - because they sin, or constantly make the mistake of beholding evil.
The teachings of Jesus concerning death coincide with the Old Testament instructions in Ezek. 18:20, "The soul that sinneth, it shall die," and in the same chapter, the 27th and 28th verses, "Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die;" and again in the 31st and 32nd verses, "Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye."
Surely no instruction could be more plain; only when man ceases to sin will he know eternal life in which there is no shadow of death. This is what Jesus Christ taught and one of the greatest mistakes of Christianity has lain in ignoring this teaching. If death were the open door to Heaven then surely it would not be the "enemy" that Jesus called it nor would it be something to be overcome. On the contrary, it would be a holy state and greatly to be desired - a gift of God to man! We know this is not true; Eternal Life is God's gift to man and death is a symbol of man's failure to accept God's good gift.
38. WHAT IS HEAVEN, AND WHERE IS IT?
Jesus told us that Heaven is the Kingdom of God and since he also revealed that God is Love then Heaven can only be a state of beatific harmony, a state in which the splendor and the power and the glory of Spirit eternally functions.
Jesus Christ who told us what Heaven is also told us where it is; "The Kingdom of God cometh not with observation: neither shall they say, Lo, here I or, lo, there! for, behold, the Kingdom of God is within you" (Luke 17:21). It is evident that Jesus was instructing us that Heaven is a state of spiritual perfection found at the Center of every man's own being - that Secret Place of the Most High wherein he beholds himself as the "Image and Likeness" of God.
39. DO OUR SOULS GO TO HEAVEN BEFORE WE DIE, OR AFTER?
Dying has nothing to do with going to Heaven. Our souls are on a pathway of Eternal Life and whether they be functioning in a three-dimensional experience or in some other mansion of the Father's House of Life, Heaven is always accessible to them. The soul exists only by virtue of its own Spirit Indwelling and whenever the soul consciously contacts its spiritual Reality it has tasted Heaven. Wherever the soul may be on its pathway of spiritual evolvement, in the flesh or out of the flesh, it has the power to make this contact.
40. WHAT IS THE REDEMPTION TAUGHT IN CHRISTIANITY, IN ITS PRACTICAL SENSE?
In its practical sense redemption brings freedom from discord, failure, poverty, disease and even death itself.
As man forsakes the way of the flesh and fastens the Eye of his Inner Vision upon the things of the Spirit he redeems his soul from the clutch of the old Adam or race consciousness and frees himself to that Perfect Law of Liberty which is the Law of the Spirit of Life in Jesus Christ and in his own Christ self. In other words, man's conscious, intelligent cooperation with the Spirit God has given him, his Indwelling Christ, redeems his soul from ignorance and sin and through this redemption he is emancipated from all the evils of the Adamic state of consciousness.
41. WHAT RELATION DOES SIN BEAR TO SICKNESS, AND WHAT IS SIN?
Sin is a sense of separation from Spirit. Dr. Hauser, the Viennese specialist, says that there is only one disease and that is congestion; he also says that there is only one sin - separation in consciousness from God.
Just as congestion which breeds resistance and friction with a myriad attendant ills is a cause of all sickness, just so a sense of separation from God brings about a certain congestion in consciousness which breeds resistance and discords which lead to those acts which we call sin.
All false belief is sin and when man falsely believes his life to be separate from God's life and functions under natural law with all of its attendant disasters rather than Divine Law he becomes prey to sickness. Sickness is a gateway to death and we are told that the wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). As long as there is a sense of separation from God in man's consciousness man will sin and as long as he sins he will know sickness and death.
42. IS THERE A DEVIL?
The only devil that Jesus Christ recognized was the tempter in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1); that is, the temptation arising in his own dualistic realm of thought to walk in the way of the flesh rather than in the way of Spirit.
Devil and deviate seem to have a very similar meaning. "Deviate" can be traced to a Latin word, "de+viare" meaning "to go from," while the word "devil" can be traced to a Greek word meaning "to throw across" or "to lead from." After this bit of research work it becomes quite clear that there is a relation between the two and the devil, far from being a malign force, becomes only that which deviates from Truth.
43. IS EVIL REAL?
Since God is Omnipresent Good there can be no evil in Reality. Evil is an appearance in the ever changeful realm of duality which is the result of a sense of separation in consciousness from God. Man is eternally united to God. He is the Son of the Father, having all of the potentialities of that divine relationship, whether he be in the "seats of the Almighty" or, like the Prodigal, eating husks with the swine. When, through ignorance or willfulness, he turns his back on the Father, that is, separates himself in consciousness from his Source, he suffers results in the realm of appearances which he calls evil. Evil is bred of a lack of understanding which sets the creative machinery of thought into operation and brings about false manifestations. Evil, like the wrong answer to a mathematical problem, has no power in itself. It is a mistake which contradicts principle and therefore must eventually be eliminated. It is but a fleeting, transitory condition which becomes dissolved into nothingness when man makes conscious union with his Source.
44. HOW IS EVIL OVERCOME?
Evil is never overcome by resistance. The devil, or temptation to think wrongly, is to be resisted; but when we have failed to resist, the results of that failure - which we call evil can only be overcome with good. To resist evil is just as foolish as it is to quarrel with the wrong answer to a mathematical problem. The only way to eliminate it is to conform to principle; when this is done the mistake no longer exists. In like fashion we must resort to spiritual principle whenever we are beset by evil appearances. In this way and in this way only can the appearances be dissolved into nothingness because we have overcome evil with good.
45. WHAT THOUGHT WILL DESTROY THE FEAR OF EVIL AND DEVIL?
John says that we are like unto God because He has given us of His Spirit. The greater our faith in the power of the Spirit God has given us the less fear we will have of the devil and of evil - the temptation to think and act wrongly. A strong overcoming thought is: "Greater is He that is in me than anything that is in the world." This confident claiming of the power of Spirit indwelling over the false appearances brought about by thought action that is reverse to the All-good will fill the consciousness of the individual with spiritual power and he will Realize the glorious Truth that a thousand may fall at his side and ten thousand at his right hand but no evil will befall him!
46. WHAT THOUGHT WILL DESTROY HATE?
All illumined souls have known that love is the greatest power or force in the universe. Jesus Christ's whole teaching was summed up in the Commandment that we love God and our fellows. Six hundred years before Jesus Christ Buddha said, "Hatred is never conquered by hatred; hatred is only conquered by love. This is an eternal law." It stands to reason, then, that even as heat burns out the dross and converts iron into stell just so the consuming fire of God's love can burn out all dross of hatred in the human consciousness. A wonderful thought for this purpose is the one that John gave us, "God is Love; he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him" (I John 4:16). With this great Truth firmly in consciousness know,
"I am the love of God shining forth to bless and all is well in my harmonious world."
47. WHAT THOUGHT WILL DESTROY POVERTY?
As long as man thinks and talks of lack and limitation the creative power of his thought will continue to produce appearances of poverty. Every indication of poverty is a testimonial to some one's sense of separation from the All-good. To believe in the Omnipresent Good and to look for that good always will destroy all poverty ideas. Dwell with the realization of God as the one and only Source of all that is; God as your provider of all good. Realize your oneness with this Source of good and train your consciousness to be true to this realization by knowing,
"I am conscious of the everywhere present Spiritual Substance which is my never failing support and unlimited supply."
48. WHAT THOUGHT WILL DESTROY ANXIETY?
When we know that we live, move and have our being in the Omnipresent Good we will live free from all worry and anxiety. To know "God's Life in me is Heavenly Peace," is to have a quiet mind filled with a child-like trust in God's good will. From the Old Testament we find a marvelous thought that destroys all anxiety, "Acquaint now thyself with Him and be at peace; therefore good shall come unto thee" (Job 22:21). Also, "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee" (Isa. 26:3). The Twenty-third and Ninety-first Psalms teem with promises of protection that should overcome any tendency toward anxiety. It can all be summed up in the one realization, "I fear no evil for thou art with me" (Psalms 23)
49. GIVE THE TEACHING OF JESUS ON THE ABOVE MENTIONED ERROR.
In Matthew, the sixth chapter, the twenty-fifth through the thirty-fourth verses, we have a dynamic teaching designed to release man's mind from all anxiety concerning the fulfillment of his outer needs (Matt. 6:25). The Moffatt translation makes this doubly clear, "Therefore I tell you, do not trouble about what you are to eat or drink in life, nor about what you are to put on your body; surely life means more than food, surely the body means more than clothes." Then the beautiful teaching goes on revealing that our Heavenly Father knows our needs and will surely fulfill them if we will put trust in Him. "Do not be troubled, then, and cry, 'What are we to eat?' or, 'What are we to drink?' or, 'How are we to be clothed?' (Pagans make all that their aim in life). For your Heavenly Father knows quite well you need all that. Seek God's realm and His goodness, and all that will be yours over and above. So do not be troubled about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. The day's own trouble is quite enough for the day."
Again we are told of another incident in which Martha, according to Moffatt, "Was so busy attending to guests that she grew worried," and asked Jesus to tell Mary to come and "'lend me a hand.' (Luke 10:40) The Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, Mary has chosen the best dish, and she is not to be dragged away from it.'" Again, he points to the Truth that we are to seek first the things of the Spirit and be free from all anxiety concerning worldly things - knowing that the Spiritual Presence to which we turn in humble worship and zestful eagerness for guidance will provide for our every need.
50. HOW REAL ARE SIN, DISEASE, POVERTY, AND DEATH?
Sin, disease, poverty and death have no reality in themselves. I believe it was Ernest Wilson who said that anything that contradicts principle is a contradiction in itself and cannot persist.
Only those things are real which are a part of the great spiritual Reality of the universe and this Reality is God the Good, all there really is. Sin, disease, poverty and death exist in the realm of appearances as the outer form of mistaken ideas - ideas conceived in man's consciousness when he is laboring under a sense of separation from his Source, the Omnipresent Good. Through thought man exercises his Divine Creative Power and when he chooses a false thought he projects a false appearance into the three-dimensional realm and that false appearance has no more reality than has the wrong answer to a mathematical problem worked out on a blackboard. The wrong answer is there as a physical fact - but it is a false fact and must eventually pass into oblivion to make way for the right answer when the problem is used in the realm of action. Sin, disease, poverty and death are false facts presented as wrong answers to life's problems. When it is found that the problem "won't work" with these wrong answers they are discarded and the answer that is true to the principle that is involved in the problem must supercede them.
51. IS IT POSSIBLE FOR MAN TO OVERCOME THESE TO THE UTTERMOST?
Jesus Christ exhorted us saying, "Be ye perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect" (Matt. 5:48). It is inconceivable that he who is the Word made flesh could speak a false word and so project a false teaching. He knew that "Life is a challenge; but there is that in man which is co-extensive with every challenge to the end of all challenge." This "something" is the Spirit God has given him through which all power in Heaven and earth is given unto him. Man can overcome sin, sickness and death through conscious cooperation with his Spiritual Reality. Such cooperation eventually leads to at-one-ment.
52. WHAT IS THE "END OF THE WORLD?"
The world is that ever changing realm of duality when both good and evil seemingly struggle for the ascendency. It is the realm of personality where selfish egos struggle for supremacy. It is a realm created by man through the centering of his consciousness on the senses and the flesh. It is the sum total of the mental and physical planes of functioning. It is the realm of activity of the personal self. Being the realm of activity of the personal self ambition is the keynote of its action, and wealth, personal power, social distinction, personal attainment and self aggrandizement are its various goals.
When Spiritual Reality is made manifest through the overcoming in consciousness of all sense of duality we will witness the end of the world.
53. WHEN WILL THE "END OF THE WORLD" COME TO US?
The end of the world is, to the individual, the attaining of the state of spiritual consciousness that dwells only in the Great Reality. When the individual has learned to submit the personal to the Divine Will and to dwell in the Truth of his own Being there will be no more "mine" and "thine" in his consciousness. He will be aware only of his oneness with all that really is - the perfection of the Almighty. Jesus said, "I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). In other words, he had come to the end of the world as far as he was concerned. When the whole race enters into this consciousness it will truly be the end of the world.
54. WHAT IS DEATH?
Jesus Christ called death the last great enemy (I Cor. 15:26); it is the final result of which sin is the cause. We are told in the Bible that the wages of sin is death. So long as man sins he will surely die for every sin is a lie against Truth and death is the result of such lying - it is a great lie concerning life.
To sum up, death is the harvest, or reaping, of that state of consciousness resulting from the sowing of false beliefs.
55. WHY DO PEOPLE DIE?
Under the Law of Cause and Effect man reaps what he sows. He cannot gather grapes from thorns nor figs from thistles neither can he gather the fruits of Eternal Life when he has planted the thistles and thorns of false beliefs and sin. Sin, engendered by man's false belief in the materiality of his origin, is the sole cause of death.
56. DOES THE I AM, OR REAL IDENTITY, OF THE MAN DIE?
The I AM, or Real Identity, is the Christ Indwelling - and Christ never dies. The Christ in man is his individual expression of the Christ Body, the only Begotten Son of the Father. The Christ is the Word, or Logos, spoken of by John when he said, "in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God" (John 1:1). Christ has been with God always and always will be; there is neither birth nor death in the Christ consciousness.
57. WHAT BECOMES OF THE I AM WHEN IT LOSES ITS BODY?
The Real Identity of the individual is the Eternal Living Christ Expression within him through which he is enabled to exist. Whether he exists in the three-dimensional, fourth-dimensional, or any other dimensional plane of functioning, his Real Identity is unchanged; it is always the center of his Divine Power to Be no matter what the outer form of his expression may be.
When Earth-dwelling man loses his physical body his mental body persists on a new plane of functioning continuing to draw its power of existence from the I AM. We believe that man functions in his mental body until he assimilates all the values of the experiences gained when dwelling in his earthly or physical body. The various phases of the mental body may cease to exist when full value has been extracted from their functioning. The ego then rests with its I AM identity until such time as the incarnating urge is again felt.
To sum up, through every stage of man's existence, physical or mental, the I AM in its unchangeable perfection furnishes him with the spiritual power of the Almighty as he progresses in the working out of his destiny which is to eventually express in the realm of form the spiritual perfection of the I AM.
58. WHEN WILL THE I AM BE SATISFIED AND IN HARMONY WITH THE CREATIVE LAW?
Only when man has fulfilled his destiny by bringing his self consciousness into perfect at-one-ment with the Christ consciousness of the I Am will his Real Identity be satisfied. Such a state of consciousness will indicate that he has overcome the magnetic attraction of the world, the pull of the senses and the temptation to believe himself separate from God. When man reaches this state he, too, will have overcome the last great enemy and will say with Jesus Christ, "it is finished."
59. WHAT IS THE STANDARD OF MAN'S EVERY THOUGHT?
There is only one standard of thought - the Christ standard. Since thought is creative of nature it is, of necessity, the medium through which man is to fulfill his destiny of bringing the invisible perfection of Spirit into visibility. This can only be done when thought expresses the Christ standard.
Jesus Christ revealed the Christ standard of thought to us throughout his teachings. He disclaimed all power apart from God (John 5:30). He thought of himself as nothing apart from God but as all things with God. He used this same Christ standard when he claimed oneness with all humanity through the Christ body. "And ye shall know that I am in my Father and ye in me and I in you."
60. DO YOU INTEND TO GIVE ALL YOUR TIME TO THIS MINISTRY, OR DO YOU EXPECT TO HAVE OTHER OCCUPATION?
I intend, and confidently expect, to give all my time to this ministry. I have no desire for any other occupation.
61. HOW DO YOU PROVE THE DOCTRINE IN YOUR OWN LIFE?
In my own life I have proven the doctrine by bringing a body that physicians were unable to heal perfectly into a state of health which I confidently expect will be continually progressing toward that perfect state of health which is indefatigable.
I have also proven this doctrine by bringing my own strong-willed, high-tempered disposition into a state of humility and obedience to the Father indwelling and peace and cooperation with all my fellows. I can truthfully say I look upon no man as an enemy or as a cause for my dislike.
Again I have proven this doctrine in my own life by establishing the consciousness of God as the Source of my supply and I can truthfully say that all my righteous needs are met.
To sum up, I proved this doctrine in my own life by keeping my soul sensitive and receptive to the never failing influence and guidance of Spirit indwelling.
62. HOW DO YOU OVERCOME THE SINS OF THE FLESH?
I overcome the sins of the flesh by common sense and God sense. I find that the flesh is much like a child and when it craves the undesirable it can be gently but firmly disciplined. There is where common sense helps; observance of the laws of hygiene and re-direction of thought and interest are the common sense measures I employ. Being sure that I have established common sense I then find in my own spiritual center complete and full satisfaction for every yearning that my soul may know.
65. DO YOU USE STIMULANTS OR INTOXICATING BEVERAGES?
If tea and coffee come under the head "stimulants" I answer "yes" but not to excess. I will perhaps average one cup of coffee a day; many days I have none. The same is true of tea. Naturally, I do not use, nor ever have used any form of drug.
In the matter of intoxicating beverages I would say that I am not a user of them. There are times when in our family circle, as a matter of sociability, I have taken an occasional glass of beer, wine or a cocktail; at Christmas time perhaps an eggnog. However, I find myself less and less drawn into such situations as I am very rarely now-a-days in a group where any liquor is served. If it be considered desirable that a Unity minister abstain on all occasions from anything containing the smallest content of alcohol I will be glad to conform to the requirement although I must in all frankness say that I feel that there are occasions when a mild use of a beverage such as beer or wine could safely be left to the judgment of the individual.
I am unequivocally for temperance in all things.
64. DO YOU USE TOBACCO IN ANY FORM?
No.
65. WHAT IS YOUR INTERPRETATION OF THE COMMAND, "THOU SHALT NOT KILL"?
My understanding of "kill" is "to destroy." Taken in this sense killing cannot be confined to the taking of physical life only. In this sense it applies not only to human life but to animal life. For this reason vegetarianism is a goal for which we should strive.
In its broader sense this commandment applies to much more than the taking of life. You can kill a reputation with a slanderous word; you can kill ambition and hope with words of discouragement; you can kill ethical standards with ridicule; whatever destroys that which is constructive of nature is a killer, therefore it behooves us to watch our thought and word and action that we may not destroy any good thing.
66. DO YOU INTEND TO PRACTICE UNDER THE FREE WILL OFFERING PLAN OR DO YOU INTEND TO CHARGE A STATED PRICE? IN OTHER WORDS, DO YOU LOOK TO GOD OR TO MAN FOR YOUR SUPPORT?
For nine and a half years I have practiced under the free will offering plan. I know God, and God alone, to be the Source of my support and intend to continue looking to him as I conduct my work on the free will offering plan.
67. TO WHAT EXTENT HAVE YOU DEMONSTRATED THE LAW OF GOD AS YOUR SUPPORT?
In spite of the vicissitudes of the past few years my husband continues to receive a moderate salary which provides adequately for our daily living.
My Center work provided very little during the difficult years just past because our expenses were high and I never for a moment considered any environmental change which would cramp or hinder our Center work. Therefore, I am thankful that we came through without a penny of indebtedness although most of my own share, of necessity, went into the support of our environment.
This last year has been a return to normalcy and God's supply for me through my Center work has been adequate for all my personal needs and I have had the joy of having more to distribute among God's children than I have had in the two preceding years.
In spite of the appearance of less money for a while I find in looking back that all my needs were met in one way or another - my husband and I suffered at no time any actual "pinch" of circumstances.
I can truly say that I have demonstrated to all practical purposes that God is my support no matter how harsh the outer aspect may seem to be.
68. DO YOU BELIEVE THAT ANY POWER WITHOUT CAN INTERFERE WITH OR OPPOSE YOUR WORK?
Since all power for accomplishment of my work comes from within it is impossible that there can be any power in the without to interfere, for the same power that is within me working toward the fulfillment of God's good will is also the invisible within of every outer appearance. Therefore, when any outer condition arises that would seem to hamper or interfere with my work I have only to look first in my own soul to make sure that I am obedient to God's good will in the doing of my work and then look out with the Eye of the Inner Vision and behold God's radiant Presence as the Invisible Reality of the outer appearance no matter that that appearance may be. When I behold God as Love, Wisdom and Harmony working through me and through all others for the good of all nothing can impede the on-going of the work.
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