The spirit within man never acts alone.
Whenever spirit acts, God acts also, in the same place, at the same time and for the same
purpose. Whenever the spirit undertakes anything, there is immediate and direct assistance
from the Universal. Therefore, spirit can never fail nor can any personal undertaking fail
that is prompted, directed and inspired by spirit. "My Father is working still, and I
am working." And I AM the spirit. Spirit acts in all my work, and where spirit acts
there is God for the two are one. What spirit begins, God completes. What spirit aspires
to be, God causes to be.
"They have taken away
my Lord," (John 20:13) said Mary Magdalene to one of the angels in the empty tomb.
Jesus’ change of state left Mary without the old and familiar presence to hold on to
and assure her. I’ve heard these words from others during my years in ministry and I
remember saying them myself. They are the words of a soul in transition.
Many of us grew up with a
concept of God that was comfortable because it was familiar: God was like a bearded old
man who lived in a distant heaven to whom we prayed—sometimes with many words as if
He could be moved to act on our behalf by the sheer number of our words—and begged
and beseeched for some favor. This type of God-concept was comfortable because it was
human-sized. An anthropomorphic God, a God created in the image and likeness of a man, was
not so large in scope that we could not wrap our mental arms around it. Then we found
Unity or some form of Truth teaching and were presented with a new idea—God as
principle, pure Being, law, omnipresence. "They have taken away my Lord, and I do not
know where they have laid him." We found God in the absolute and seemed to lose the
personal presence of God. It was too large a concept, a God too big to wrap our arms
around and some of us lost our sense of connection, much as Mary Magdalene.
In the collection of Sunday
talks delivered by Charles Fillmore called Talks on Truth, and specifically the
chapter "Reform Your God Thought," he said, "A belief prevails that God is
somewhat inaccessible; that he can be approached only through certain religious
ordinances.... But these are mere opinions that have been taught and accepted.... For if
God is Spirit, the principle of intelligence and life, everywhere present at all times, He
must be just as accessible as a principle of mathematics." (p. 9) If God is
omnipresent, then God is everywhere throughout the universe including right where you
are and as principle or law, works at all points in time and space, which includes wherever
and whenever you are.
Jesus said, "Anyone who
has seen me has seen the Father." (John 14:9) That makes perfectly good sense when we
realize that the Father is individualized as the spirit within everyone—the life,
wisdom, intelligence, substance and love within everyone. And that is very personal. When
you look into the mirror, what do you see? You see God manifest. Sometimes when we grasp
this idea of God as universal or absolute, we think we have lost the personal. It is
important to remember that what is universal and absolute is also personal; what is
omnipresent is here, right where we are and right where life’s challenges are, too.
Where I am afraid, God is present as calm assurance. Where I do not know what to do, God
is present as the inspiration and guidance to achieve the highest and best. Each has the
power, the ability, to speak to the Father as we would speak to a close friend.
C. S. Lewis, remembered
often for his science fiction trilogy, was a great theologian who said that most of us
think about God the same way an airman thinks of his parachute. It’s there, but only
for emergencies and we hope that we will never need to use it! Have you ever refrained
from praying because things were not quite bad enough or because your need was not
important enough? You cannot call upon God too often nor is anything too unimportant to
ask God about. If you have any question about anything at any time, close you eyes for a
moment to focus your thought and ask the silent, personal One within you what to do as you
would send a silent message to a trusted friend or companion. You may not sense an answer
immediately; it may come when you least expect it. It will come to you and in a way that
you can understand.
Lily Tomlin, known for her
many comic characterizations, said, "I always wanted to be somebody." She added,
"Maybe I should have been more specific." Like Tomlin, we often forget the
reality of our creation: I AM somebody. As close as hands and feet, the spirit of God is
the "I" of you so begin to remind yourself, "I AM the personal expression
of God." I know that we all experience time when this does not appear to be true or
feel true. There have been times when I thought that I was not loved only to discover that
I was greatly loved but had my eyes closed to it, or could not accept it. There have also
been times when I felt as if I did not have anything only to discover that my attention
was directed away from what I did have.
I think of all the times
Jesus tried to make it clear to all of us that we are the very place where God shines
through, individualized and personal expressions of the Father. You have no life, love,
wisdom or intelligence separate from God. When we feel separate, not connected to God,
make no mistake who moved. And that movement only occurs in thought. To contemplate only
the infinite and absolute aspect of God is to lose sight of the sacred and personal
presence of his spirit within us. Just as the vine is united with all its branches, gives
its life to everyone at all times, and is personal to each individual branch, it also is
not confined to the form or limitations of any one branch. To know only the personal
aspect of God is to limit God. Embracing the concept of God as infinite and absolute, as
well as personal and present, puts us in touch with not a part of God, but with the
Allness of God.
When we begin to enlarge our
God-concept beyond the "bearded old man...in a distant heaven" we may at first
feel like we have lost our Lord. But we are a soul in transition. When we unite the
infinite with the personal, we realize that all the power, all the love, all the life, all
the wisdom, intelligence and substance of God are at all points and that includes right
where we are. Whatever change or challenge is before us, greater is the presence of God
within us. As we affirm this Truth in the face of change, we feel assurance and peace and
we provide a clear channel for God to work through us.
When you act, you do not act
alone. What the spirit within you inspires, it also accomplishes; you cannot fail because
God cannot fail. Depend on the spirit; follow the light of the spirit and every moment
shall reveal the transcendent presence of God in you.