We ARE Creation... I invite you to ponder these words in prayer this month. The above quote from Myrtle Fillmore establishes our relationship to the Divine. In your meditation time, from week to week, whisper to yourself, "I exist... I exist."The Creative Process shows Itself forth, by way of what we call Divine Order. In short, "Divine Order" can be described as "Mind > Idea > Expression > mind > idea > expression," with the capitalized words representing Divine Mind, or God-Mind, Whose nature, as Infinite Intelligence, is to "ideate," or to generate ideas continually, into infinite space-time. Those Divine Ideas express, that is, they are "pressed out" into visible, tangible form as the world around us - and as us. Then our Creative Process is along that same Divine pattern. We have a mind, and the mind generates ideas, and those ideas take shape as thoughts, words, and actions... Taking a metaphysical look at the Book of Genesis, the two (yes, TWO!) Creation accounts illustrate the nature of the spiritual Universe and the physical Universe. "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." A more precise translation, I've come to learn, would be "...God IS CREATING the heavens and the earth." You see, God's not done. The Creative Process we call "Father / Mother" God, Spirit, and many other names is perpetually, constantly creating, vis a vis Divine Order, as we will examine a bit more closely here...I invite you to explore the Seven Days of Creation as you navigate Life this month, this year (Genesis 1 - Genesis 2:1-3). A fundamental principle of Unity teachings is that, between the perception and the manifestation of an idea, there lie six steps. Each step is a movement forward... Remember: Stagnation is not creation; it stifles it. Each step, depicted below, moves us forward in our Creative Process, and my invitation to you, dear friends, is to give yourself a loving pat on the back as you begin to recognize - and achieve - these steps in your mind and affairs. They are: Step One: Illumination / Light ("Let there be light!") Open your eyes; turn on the Light, that you may see... (We have a classic hymn in Unity that illustrates the pivotal importance of this first step.) Step Two: Faith ("Let there be a firmament...") "A 'firmament' must be established; that is, a firm place in the mind, a dividing of the true from the apparent. This is done through affirmation. As you affirm God as your supply and support, your words will in due season become substance to you." ~ Charles Fillmore, Prosperity Step Three: Imagination ("Let the dry land appear...") Imagination, when applied to its utmost and allowed to "run wild," to flourish in all its ways, transforms obstacles into opportunities. It is the power to shape substance, to form into tangible "outpicturings" of reality.Remember to affirm: "Imagination swings wide the gate of possibility." Step Four: Understanding / Will ("Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night.") The "Twin Powers" of Will and Understanding; the "lights" represent the Divine Light in each of us, which must be focused and reflected in order to move us forward. It is through focus (Will) that we choose a direction; through reflection (Understanding) that we see the Oneness in the duality, the infinite pairs of opposites within the physical Universe, the Christ essence in each other, realizing there is no separation between us and Infinite Good. All these seeming differences, or what the Tao Te Ching calls "the 10,000 things," are but an expression of the elemental Truth of spiritual Light. God Is substance, "the real thing standing under every visible form of life..." (Emilie Cady, Lessons In Truth) Step Five: Judgment / Spiritual Discernment ("Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life...") In this realm of tangible ideas (thoughts), we make orderly choices. "Be fruitful, and multiply..." The fish depicted on this Fifth "Day" of Creation represent thoughts of multiplication, while the "flocks" of birds illustrate higher thoughts, spiritual thoughts. In The Revealing Word, Fillmore writes: "Spiritual Discernment is the inner voice through whose expression we come into a larger realization of ourselves." Pause to give this some thought before you move on... "...a larger realization of ourselves..." It is through discernment of our thoughts that we compare/contrast to find what serves us (our personal values, our mission in Life) best. Which of our thoughts is/are coming from our sense perception (read: "an ego want" or "Personality") and which are originating from our authentic self, the Superconscious aspect of our minds (read: "Individuality")? The spiritual Creative Process takes discipline as we align with our true nature and train ourselves (through prayer and meditation) to "discern what is the will of God - what is good and acceptable and perfect." (Romans 12:2) Step Six: Wisdom and Love ("Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind... Let us make man in our image, after our likeness... Male and female, he created them...") Charles Fillmore: "Wisdom is the 'male' or expressive side of Being, while love is the 'female' or receptive side of Being. Wisdom is the father quality of God and love is the mother quality. In every idea there exist these two qualities of mind, which unite in order to increase and bring forth under divine law. Divine Mind blessed the union of wisdom and love and pronounced on them the increase of Spirit. When wisdom and love are unified in the individual consciousness, man is a master of ideas and brings forth under the original creative law." Rev. Ed Townley, author of the Unity book, Kingdom Come, writes, "At this stage in our own creative process, our ideas become clear, focused and fully formed-in potential." In other words, supported fully by and through Spirit, by this stage we have mastered the Creative Process; we have allowed our ideas, through the previous five steps, to grow into their potential, and we have done all we need do, in order to make that potential a manifest reality. Which finally leads us to... Step Seven: Sabbath ("And on the seventh day... he rested...") This is a time of completion, a time to rest after the work has been done. According to Charles Fillmore, this "rest" period is more mental than physical, though that's important, too. We rest, in Faith, knowing that this rest period precedes the blessing of manifestation. We liken this to the caterpillar, who must, after much effort in preparing the chrysalis, rest, so that the fulfillment of the butterfly is made manifest in its right and perfect way, at the right and perfect time. Perhaps something in this message has helped (or will help) to bring you, dear reader, to a new awareness of your creative potential and help to guide you, through Life's complexities, to the fulfillment of that potential. I invite you to join us Sunday at 11:00, at Unity of Columbus... I behold the Christ in you. Truly Yours, Daryn L. Wells "No matter what you may believe, there is an inmost center in us all; where truth abides in fullness; and to know consists in opening out a way whence the imprisoned splendor may escape; rather than effecting entry for a light supposed to be without." ~ Robert Browning
