8. We believe that Divine Intelligence is
present in every atom of man and matter, and that the "more abundant life"
promised by Jesus is flooding the world and quickening the minds and bodies of men
everywhere.
We say, "your mind" or "my mind"; whose mind is it?
The answer is there is only one Mind–the Original Mind in which all real ideas exist.
In section four we discussed the concept of the Trinity and Charles Fillmore’s
metaphysical interpretation of the Father aspect as Mind which is the medium through which
intelligence functions. Since God is omnipresent, intelligence is omnipresent. Emilie Cady
wrote in Lessons in Truth, "There is no lack of life, substance or
intelligence anywhere." This means that wherever we are, in every atom and cell of
our bodies, and in all situations, divine intelligence is there ready to direct the
perfect activity of man and matter. Even Thomas Edison said that his experiments have
satisfied him that every molecule of matter has a center of intelligence as well as of
force. Where this intelligence is, the ideas and energy to provide the "more abundant
life" or a greater expression of God-life are found.
When Myrtle Fillmore found spiritual healing, she realized that she
could communicate with the intelligence in every cell of her body and so spoke words of
life and health to them as well as asked their forgiveness for all the false ideas she had
held about them. Omnipresent intelligence can be contacted in every circumstance and
responds by shaping universal energy for every need.
9. We believe that the original "authority and dominion"
given to man was over his own thoughts, emotions, feelings, passions, and that in lawful
exercise of this authority he will harmonize all discords within and without, and restore
the kingdom of God in the earth.
This gift of "authority and dominion" was recorded in Genesis
1:26. "And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the
air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps
upon the earth." This dominion belongs to each of us. Our earth is the human
consciousness in which we have established beliefs in "good" and "not
good." The various forms of creatures in the Bible passage represent our thoughts,
emotions, feelings and passions. In order to exercise our real power over our lives, it is
important to recognize that we are God’s representatives on earth, the image-likeness
or I AM
We "lawfully" exercise our creative power by conforming to
the one true standard of thinking and that is the Jesus Christ standard based on absolute
Truth. As we approach the perfect consciousness which Jesus Christ exemplified in his use
of divine ideas, our thought is not clouded by doubt or fear but is enlightened by faith
and love. Free will is our inheritance and we can use that freedom to build or destroy as
we choose. We have the power to choose thoughts; we do not have to let thoughts
"think us." Thought control is a necessary part of our soul growth. Denial and
affirmation are the tools we have to align our thinking with Truth and harmonize our
experiences. Jesus reminded us that, "the kingdom is at hand," or that all
God’s good is available if we rethink our error beliefs and accept Truth.
10. We believe in the creative power of thoughts and words, that they
do accomplish that whereunto they are sent, and that all men are held accountable for
their lightest words.
The former Unity Correspondence School Annotations to How I Used
Truth say, "Man is created in the image of God . . . is the highest
manifestation of God because he has ability to conceive images through the power of
thought. He also has the power of speech by which he brings into manifestation in the
visible world the forms that he conceives with his mind." By the way we think, feel
and speak, we make or form our bodies and our world. In the first chapter of Genesis we
are told that God felt "good" and even "very good" as he went about
the process of creation by speaking the Word. In man, feeling represents the natural
impulse in consciousness and speaking is the expression or projection of thought into
visibility. When God called everything good it was because all divine ideas are perfect
and whole. However, ideas come through the individual in one of three ways depending upon
our attitudes and beliefs. Those ways are: whole and complete; somewhat distorted or
incomplete; or totally twisted. All ideas are perfect but by the time they come through
the various filters of experience or training in consciousness they may not be
recognizable. For example, an idea of love may be so distorted that it is expressed as
control and manipulation.
Jesus said, "I tell you, on the day of judgment men shall render
account for every careless word they utter; for by your words you will be justified, and
by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:36) Now that is a strong statement
of the importance of watching what we say–and think! Judgment day is not in the far
future but is here and now. Each day is judgment day in that every day we are experiencing
the results of yesterday’s words. Each day we are faced with the results of the
creative power of thoughts and words. The best news is that what one thought has made
another can unmake or remake. If you do not like today’s experience, look at the tone
of your thoughts and words. We do not have to continue to pollute our own environment.
Remember Charles Fillmore’s words in Revealing Word,
"The thinking faculty in you makes you a free agent, because it is your creative
center; in and through this one power you establish your consciousness–you build your
world."
11. We believe that, through indulgence in sense consciousness, men
fell into the belief in the reality of matter and material conditions. We believe that the
"kingdom of God" can be attained, here and now, by overcoming the world, the
flesh, and the devil, through Jesus Christ.
The human senses are wonderful; they bring to the awareness great works
of art, wonderful music, the taste of chocolate, the knowledge that the food in the oven
was done several minutes ago or that the earth moved and your house didn’t. However,
the senses do not tell you the nature of Reality or how things are in the light of Truth.
They report where you are in time and space but not the true nature of time and space. The
senses are good and necessary but when we see lack or feel separate, we are experiencing
error consciousness.
In the Correspondence School Annotations to Lessons in Truth
it says, "Error consciousness is a negative state of mind built up in the human
consciousness by wrong use of the divine ideas that are our inheritance. Man’s belief
in what is untrue...is associated with the expression ‘fall of man,’which
originated with the allegory in the 2