25. We believe that the Golden Rule, "Do unto to others as you
would have them do unto you," should be the standard of action between men.
This was one of the first things I
remember that we were taught in Sunday school when I was a young child. Practically
everyone knows this "Golden Rule." Jesus stated it in this way, "whatever
you wish that men would do to you, do so to them." (Matthew 7:12) He was neither
original in thought nor revealing something unknown. He knew Hebrew scripture very well
and paraphrased Leviticus 19:18. "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." It
was not original to Judaism either. Virtually every world religion has some manner in
which it expresses this universal idea.
In Islam it is stated as, "Not one
of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself." In
Hinduism it is presented in this way: "One should not behave towards others in a way
which is disagreeable to oneself. This is the essence of morality. All other activities
are due to selfish desire." A Buddhist would say, "Comparing oneself to others
in such terms as ‘Just as I am so are they, just as they are so am I,’ he should
neither kill nor cause others to kill." In African traditional religions it is taught
in an unusual way: "One going to take a pointed stick to pinch a baby bird should
first try it on himself to feel how it hurts." Imagine this world if we all practiced
this principle without exception!
Not only is this "Golden
Rule" a model for human interaction, but also a reminder of an underlying spiritual
principle. What we would receive, we must first give. If we recognize that everyone comes
from the same and only source, we acknowledge the innate divinity within him and call it
forth. Each person you meet is silently, and unconsciously, asking you to see the Christ
in him and call it into expression. Our thoughts are energy fields which we are
broadcasting to the universe. In this way the spirit within us speaks to the spirit in
others. The Unity Correspondence School class material says, "You are not your
brother’s keeper in the sense of being a jailer or turnkey, nor are you to watch,
guard, or keep him in order that he may not fall into temptation.... You are your
‘brother’s keeper’ in the sense that you should watch your own thoughts and
in your mind always think of your brother as a son of God, ‘keeping’ before you
always his innate divinity and watching to see how you may be helpful to him in case he
feels that he needs you in his unfoldment or growing process." (How I Used Truth,
Lesson 4, Annotation 6)
I believe we really do "love our
neighbors as ourselves" in the sense that, if we do not love ourselves and recognize
our worth, we will think of others in the same way and treat them accordingly. I will see
in the outer world what I have developed in my own consciousness. Charles Fillmore said,
"In order to realize Truth and to demonstrate it you must live it.... Your mind,
body, and affairs are the expression of your thoughts, so if you are not happy, change
your mental habits. This may not seem practical to you at first, but if you will
faithfully practice the Golden Rule and send only thoughts of love to everyone, you will
witness practical results. (Atom-Smashing Power of Mind, pp. 74-75)
26. We believe that Jehovah God is incarnate in Jesus Christ, and that
all men may attain the Christ perfection by living the righteous life. "Ye therefore
shall be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
We can only be perfect as our
"heavenly Father is perfect" because we have perfection within us. Some of us
express more perfection than others, but the same perfection is within everyone. As
Jehovah God is incarnate in Jesus Christ, so it is incarnate in you. Paul recognized this
when he spoke of "the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now made manifest
to his saints...which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Colossians 1:27)
Nowhere in the Bible is it recorded
that Jesus said, "worship me." What he did say was, "follow me" and in
order to follow him we must be equipped to do just that. The same Christ, the same innate
power and ability in Jesus, is in you. The difference between a Mother Theresa and a
Hitler is in expression. The one follows the light while the other seeks the darkness.
This is a difficult concept for many to accept. The same potential, no matter how many
ages and generations it is kept hidden, is still there awaiting righteousness–the
recognition and right use of the spiritual powers which have been ours since the
beginning.
Charles Fillmore said in Jesus
Christ Heals, "Spiritually classified, the Jehovah of the Old Testament is
identical with the Christ in the New." (page 155) In man’s old understanding of
God, it was something outside, at a distance and separate. Moses placed God in a box, the
Ark; Jesus opened the box and reminded us that within us dwells the true pattern for
mankind and each of us can achieve the fulfillment of the divine design when we look for
Christ in ourselves, just as Jesus, the man, found it in himself.
27. We believe that the "Word of God" is the thought of God
expressed in creative ideas and that these ideas are the primal attributes of all enduring
entities in the universe, visible and invisible. The Logos of the first chapter of the
Gospel of John is the God idea of Christ that produced Jesus, the perfect man. We believe
that the Scriptures are the testimonials of men who have, in a measure, apprehended the
divine Logos, but that their writings should not be taken as final.
Another name for God used in Unity is
Mind. The product of Mind is ideas. God ideates–generates ideas–while man
thinks, which is the movement and appropriation of those ideas in his consciousness. The
Correspondence School course material says, "The Word of God is Divine Mind in
action. The Word is God in His capacity as creative power.... The word ‘Logos’
in the original writings means all the inherent potentialities active in Being, the
creative power, the ability to reproduce out of itself that which it is. The Logos is the
Word, the thought-word, the creative idea, the creative power to reproduce Itself.... The
Logos is the rational principle of the universe, it is both reason and speech. In man, it
is also called I AM, Jehovah God, or Lord God, Christ, Spiritual Man, Image of God,
composite idea, Only Begotten, Son of God, Seed of God; the Logos is the working power of
God." (Series 2, Lesson 6, Annotation 1)
In Aramaic, Jesus’ language, miltha
is the word which translated into Greek became Logos. Miltha means "mind
energy," the essence of Mind. This mind energy is with God because it is God. From
the one Mind comes ideas and all things necessary for their expression. In this first
chapter of John many people become confused by images and terms used as symbols to convey
a complex concept. Many confuse Jesus and Christ, the aspirant with the principle. John is
the most esoteric and symbolic of the Gospels and must be read with an awareness of the
common metaphors of the author and his times. Contained within John’s symbolic images
is the story of the creative process or the movement from the invisible to visible, from
Mind to manifestation.
God as Mind is the source and this is
where John must begin. In the first three verses he tells us that first there is Mind and
all its creative potential. (John 1:1-3) Then there is within Mind an idea or pattern.
Mind produces the idea of itself, its image-likeness. The Christ or divine pattern,
whether realized or not, is eternal and the spiritual foundation of everyone. This is the
light that "lights every one who comes into the world." It is always present as
the foundation of every human being though not every person is aware of its presence. The
more we focus upon outer, material things, the less we perceive the light of spiritual
things. Those who do recognize their true selves realize that they are not in fact
creatures of flesh and blood, but spiritual beings, children of God. (vv. 4-13)
Through the creative activity of God,
what begins as an invisible idea comes into expression or moves from invisible pattern to
visible form. The Word becomes flesh as we awaken to our divine heritage and claim the
power and dominion which has been ours from the beginning. No one has seen God in the
Absolute, but we see and know God individualized as Spiritual Man or the Christ within.
(vv. 14-18)
Michael Segrue at Princeton University
said, "The Bible is all music and no noise. Be aware of even the numbers of the
verses. They may tell you something important." This chapter begins with a trinity of
verses (three is always a heavenly reference) to present God as Father or source. The next
ten verses move from Mind to its idea, the One unexpressed. Finally five verses bring an
idea from invisibility to visibility, from idea to expression. Five is the number of the
senses and the physical world. John has shown us the creative process, how God creates and
we bring into expression. From God invisible to God made flesh.
To Be Continued Next Month
Copyright © 2001 by Greg W. Neteler
Used with permission.
Messages from previous months