Readings

LAW, SERVANT OF THE WORD

Spirit knows Itself, but the Law is the servant of the Spirit and is set in motion through Its Word. It is known that all law is some form of universal force or energy. Law does not know itself; law only knows to do; it is, therefore, the servant of the Spirit. It is the way that the Spirit works; and is the medium through which It operates to fulfill Its purpose.

Did God make law? As it is not possible to conceive a time when law did not operate, it is impossible to conceive that it was ever created; therefore, law must be coexistent and coeternal with Spirit. We might say that law is one of the attributes of Spirit.

The Spirit operates through law which is some part of Its own Nature; therefore, all action must be some action of Spirit as Law. The Word of Spirit sets Its purposes in motion through the law; and since the law must be as Infinite as the Spirit, we could not think of a time when it was not, or a time when it would cease to be; neither can we imagine the law ever failing to operate when set in motion.

We have, then, an Infinite Spirit and an Infinite Law; Intelligence and the way that It works; God, working through Law, which is unfailing and certain.

Ernest Holmes, The Science of Mind, 1926 Edition

"But beyond this creation, visible and invisible, there is an Invisible, higher, Eternal; and when all things pass away this remains for ever and ever." 

From chapter 8, The Bhagavad Gita

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away." Matthew 24:35

"Now the parable is this: the seeds are the word of God." Luke 8:11

What one has, one ought to use: and whatever he does he should do with all his might.

Marcus T. Cicero

c. 106-43 BC, Great Roman Orator, Politician

Good morning! I am so excited I can barely sit still! There is an old homily that says "Reality forms around a commitment." Often, we don't know anything about how long this process will take, but we do know from our experience that this is true. When we move some commitment from the back of our mind to the front, when we begin to openly exert some faith in what we believe, when we speak the truth of what we have known privately in our hearts and share it through prayer with God and with our co-creative partners, well, look out world, here comes the power of creation!

Joseph Murphy writes: "Spiritual treatment means that you turn to the Indwelling God and remind yourself of His peace, harmony, wholeness, beauty, boundless love, and limitless power … Cease dwelling on symptoms.... Turn your mind to God and His love. Feel and know that there is only one healing Presence and Power, and to its corollary: There is no power to challenge the action of God."

When we ask our spiritual partners for prayer, it does not mean that we cannot do the thing that we ask prayer for, but that we know that the action of God is gained through prayer. By sharing the dream of spiritual community that we have been sheltering here Sunday by Sunday and in our studies and writings and in our private prayers, we have planted the very seeds of the desire that was deep within our hearts.

In New Thought, "seed ideas" symbolize the inner expansive possibility thoughts that germinate and flower as our expression of Divine Creativity. Jesus talked about seeds in the fourth chapter of Mark’s Gospel. After presenting his parable, he observed that "To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables." The "seeds" are the Word -- the creative action of God described in the first chapter of Genesis and the first chapter of John’s Gospel as well. Some seeds don’t come to fruition because of our modern day "Satan." We don't talk about Satan much in New Thought, but let's give a metaphysical interpretation to the idea of Satan and see how it can serve us.

In the Hebrew language of the Old Testament, Satan or ha-Satan symbolized the "adversary." In New Thought we know that the only adversary to our good is a consciousness of limitation and fear of failure that becomes the "soil" in which our seed ideas die. Now doesn't this gives a whole new meaning to the cry of "Satan get thee behind me"? Others receive the Word with joy, but their seeds die because they cannot develop firm roots because they plant their seeds in shallow untended soil. They forget their spiritual practices and meditate and pray only sporadically, especially when faced with trouble, forgetting to do so when life is good. Others grow their seeds amidst thorns -- ideas of worry and selfish desires and "the deceitfulness of riches" which is that idea of trying to get something, which we feel in our heart has to come from other than ourselves or which we secretly do not think that we deserve, and these also fail to experience a ripe harvest. Finally, some sow their seeds in good (Godly) well-tended, nourished soil, and the seeds bear fruit up to a hundred-fold.

We in New Thought may find that we have some very good seed ideas -- our hopes, dreams, creative plans and goals that we haven’t sown in good soil. In fact we may not have sown them anywhere at all! The problem is not with our seeds, however old they be! The problem is with our soil – the negative attitudes and limiting habits that we rely upon daily. One problem is letting the bad soil of adverse ideas limit the growth of our good. Another problem may be that we are keeping the seeds stored in a jar instead of planted in the soil. Each of these has a remedy. Neither is a permanent or fatal mistake! Here's an example from real life:

Archeologists exploring an ancient Egyptian pyramid found amidst the mummies and artifacts there an airtight jar containing seeds. It is not unusual for a people who depended upon agriculture to consider seeds to be a valuable commodity, something to be included to assist the deceased in their afterlife. Having lived and worked down near Salinas, California where there is a good bit of farming, I know that seeds for certain varieties of plants can cost more than $125 per ounce! We, too, depend on agriculture, but we’ve become so specialized that we forget this fact when we go to the supermarket. Anyway, these seeds in the pyramid were dated as being about 2600 years old. And guess what? When they were planted, they grew into perfect plants, as if they were new seeds! So how do we get the seeds out of the jar where we have kept them, and into the good earth, growing and multiplying? Not only are they not growing there, but they do not reproduce and multiply there. Much like keeping your money in a mattress!

One way is to be willing to give up one old idea for another. Just because we have thought something for a very long time, even when there is a great deal of agreement for it, doesn't make it the Truth.

Judah Folkman, MD worked nights and weekends researching an idea about Cancer that captured his interest. During the day he worked long hours as a surgeon. He had worked on a special project for the Navy which reconstituted dried hemoglobin and then used it to support living matter. Observations he made during that experiment kept tickling his imagination, So he kept working as a surgeon during the day and researching at night and eventually, he wrote articles for medical journals on his findings. Dr. Folkman was openly called a charlatan by the established researchers in the field, who were trained in cell biology and other related disciplines. For many years they had been looking inside the Cancer cells to find a way to stop its growth, and all they had come up with were ways to use deadly mustard gas to create many of the poisonous chemicals used for chemotherapy. There was still no cure and the treatments were devastating.

He kept going and didn't let these opinions held by the orthodox researchers stop him from pursuing his interest. Dr. Folkman was a trained surgeon, and he noticed some things about the nature of the tumors he removed in surgery. The thing that seemed to stand out to him is that the tumors seemed to have their own special blood delivery system, arteries that went specifically and directly to the tumor. He wondered about this for a very long time. Eventually, he found ways to demonstrate that tumors emitted certain substances that stimulated the development of arteries that fed the Cancer. His research changed the direction that research had been taking for most of the 20th Century. And he had been called a charlatan. We have to ask ourselves what was it that he listening to?

Judah Folkman's father was Rabbi Folkman. As a boy, he had accompanied his father on his hospital visits. The boy knew first-hand the service that his father brought his congregation. He knew the comfort and the healing that he brought with his prayers and his presence. He wanted this expression of Love and service in his life, but he didn't know how. One day, though he knew that his father hoped that he would be a rabbi too, the boy told his father, "I can do what you are doing better if I am a doctor." The father accepted his choice and deeply understood and appreciated what his son, though still very young, was saying. Effectively, by trusting the wisdom expressing through his young son, he said "Yes!" to the urging of Spirit that led to the

There is an old Yiddish proverb that says: "If triangles had a God, He'd have three sides." We see life, and thereby God, through the lens of our own experience, knowledge and faith. We view the possibility of our own seed ideas in this same way. Like Judah Folkman, we have to have faith in the unfoldment of our life's purpose, of our seed ideas, even if there are those who would call us charlatans, even if it takes nights and weekends while we engage in other pursuits. There was a "seed" in what Judah said to his father and it met with good loving, accepting soil in himself and in his father. Who are we for one another when our life's purpose shows up? Who are we when we stand before the Divine Ideas that present themselves to us?

The best "soil" in which to plant the seeds of Divine Ideas is found in our hearts. The heart symbolizes our feeling nature coupled with our beliefs. If we believe the universe is good and supports us in all we say, think and do we can sow our seeds with great enthusiasm. With this expression of faith we give energy and commitment to our seed ideas – our projects and plans. This goes beyond simple "resolutions," which may lack real commitment.

Paul wrote in Galatians 6:7: "Do not be deceived, God [good] is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." What we bring or give over to our cultivation determines our harvest!

Great joy, hope and enthusiasm and commitment become the "bounty" we "give" to our seed ideas. We must sow with confident expectation! Paul also wrote:

"Now this I say, he who sows sparingly shall also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully shall also reap bountifully. Let each one do as he has purposed in his heart; not grudgingly or under compulsion; for God loves a cheerful giver." 2 Corinthians 9:6-7

"And [Jesus] said, ‘How shall we picture the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches, so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade.’" The birds here are said to represent, by metaphysical interpretation, ideas approaching Heaven, the seed ideas that we express in prayer.

In Joseph Murphy’s book The Amazing Laws of Cosmic Mind Power he tells us that: "Prayer is contacting, communicating, and aligning your thought with the Infinite Intelligence which responds to the nature of your thought and belief." He also cautions us that "After having prayed, you take whatever practical steps seem indicated, because your prayer will guide and direct your footsteps."

“All great masters are chiefly distinguished by the power of adding a second, a third, and perhaps a fourth step in a continuous line. Many a man had taken the first step. With every additional step you enhance immensely the value of your first.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson

After planting our seeds in prayer, we must act in conformity with that which we have said. This is a demonstration of persistence that speaks more loudly than our words do sometimes. If we say that God is our supply, we have to go ahead and act like it! One of my favorite poets, T.S. Elliot, wrote the following: "Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go." And we all remember Robert Frost's "Two roads diverge in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." We have to take a risk. We have to be willing to experience insecurity, the feeling of not knowing what is next, of not knowing the final answer.

Years ago, when I met my husband Dan, one of the most convincing pieces of evidence for me that he was "THE ONE" for me was the presence in his library of two books that I also possessed, the first was Markings by Dag Hammarskjold, who was Secretary General of the UN when we were children. He said there, "It is playing safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity." And on the topic of security, Helen Keller, that brave woman who found her way out of the darkness and into the truest light said: "Security is mostly a superstition. It does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing."

The other book that Dan had in his library, that impressed me very deeply, was a copy of Riane Eisler's book The Chalice and the Blade, which discusses the likelihood that before the institution of Patriarchy there was a civilization that was based on partnership. It is that very idea of egalitarian partnership that has sustained us here [Emerson Center] thus far.

Each week we affirm that Emerson Center is dedicated to spiritual partnership on one another's behalf. We dedicate ourselves to one another's growth and successful living. It is for this reason that we are so happy to be in the midst of negotiations for a wonderful facility which will support the growth of our spiritual community, flinging the doors open to those who need a building that looks like church and a back row in which they can feel safe as a part of a spiritual community and come to recognize a new powerful and loving spiritual reality within themselves. Some time back, I said some things when God was listening. God is always listening. As Holmes wrote: “We have, then, an Infinite Spirit and an Infinite Law; Intelligence and the way that It works; God, working through Law, which is unfailing and certain.” We have a demonstration of how this works in this building showing up as available to us for our services. I have been reminded over and over again that the Law of Mind binds the ignorant and frees the wise. I found the funniest way I have ever heard that said in a quotation from Flip Wilson, and I don’t think it is a far stretch to hear him saying this while in the character he played, Geraldine, “You can't expect to hit the jackpot if you don't put a few nickels in the machine.”

I shared with Linda Siddall last night on the telephone that it seemed like I had been sitting at the computer putting my nickels in the machine for the past four years. And when I share with you the email I have been receiving you will see how that metaphor about putting nickels into the machine works. Dr. Holmes said each week “There is a power for good in the universe, greater than you are, and you can use it!” And so we have and so we will!

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

Theodore Roosevelt

{Read emails}

Thank you for being here today!