Lessons In Truth - Lesson 10 - Annotation 1
Explain why "finding the secret place" may be instantaneous but the full development of the Christ consciousness cannot be hurried.
1. "Finding the secret place" may be instantaneous when we turn in consciousness to God. The poet puts it simply this way, "In a moment, in the turning of a thought, I am where God is" (Walter Rauschenbusch). On page 92, paragraph 6, of the text, the "secret place" is described as
"A place of meeting between the Christ at the center of your being, and your consciousness -- a hidden place into which no outside person can either induct you or enter himself" (Emilie Cady Lessons In Truth 9:6).
However, if there are obstructions in our consciousness (thinking and feeling) in the form of negative beliefs that prevent our turning completely to the Christ within, it becomes necessary that we do definite denial work to remove these obstacles. There are in reality no barriers between us and our loving Father except those set up in our own mind.
"If one can turn quickly enough to God, refusing entrance to the mind of the error, refusing recognition of it, and can keep the mind full of prayer and affirmation of the good, the error will be as effectually wiped out as is the impurity of a pool when a stream of pure water is allowed to pass through it continuously" (Effectual Prayer 27).
The full development of the Christ consciousness cannot be hurried. Hurry is related to fear; we fear that if we do not put forth intense effort toward gaining a consciousness of the Christ we shall not attain it. Perhaps we become impatient at what we feel is delay and begin to strive after the Truth in which we "live, and move, and have our being" (Acts 17:28). The law of divine order operates just as efficiently in the development of the Christ consciousness as it does in the growth of a seed. The soil must be prepared and right conditions maintained before the life principle in the seed may begin the process of growth. Likewise our soul must be prepared with right conditions before the seed of God, the Christ in us, (the life principle at the center of our being), may begin to express through our developing consciousness.
Each divine idea that makes up the Christ nature must "grow" in our mind until it becomes a conscious part of us. In one person the love idea may unfold quickly, while in another it may be the life idea or the faith idea or the substance idea. All of us will unfold at the level of our own soul development as we wait on God in the "secret place" (which we may "enter" in an instant) for His revelations. Then our intellect, or thinking faculty, will be so quickened that we can accept the divine ideas that are our heritage. The more receptive and obedient we are to God's guidance, the more orderly and sure will be our development of the Christ consciousness, which is the awareness of our own divinity and our relation to God as His son.
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Preceding Entry: How do we work out our own salvation?
Following Entry: How close is God to us? Should we approach Him direct?
