The question for this week is threefold: salvation from what, for what and by what?
Salvation from Error Thinking – Paul says, “Be transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom. 12:2).
Because all thought is formative, whatever thoughts we have are projected in our lives. If our subconscious mind is filled with negative beliefs and feelings, then we can expect to receive much of the same. Error thoughts such as sickness, poverty, lack, among others are detrimental to the Truth. We have to put a halt to worry and anxiety. We have to live in the present rather than dwell in the past and release any appearance of lack or sickness. Therefore, our attention ought to be on the Truth of God, the truth of our being, and on the very essence of our lives. This cannot be accomplished with negative thoughts.
According to Mrs. Fillmore, there is no such thing as a disease or an incurable condition, and anything that does not measure up to the Christ pattern of perfection can be changed. Whenever we have an experience of sickness, it is evident that we have been letting go of our hold on the gifts of God and have ceased to make use of the life of Spirit through our thoughts, words and actions.
All is not lost, however, as the way to healing is to first re-educate the mind and to establish the Truth in all the faculties, then to see the reality of the body and its functions and to stamp every part with the perfect pattern, which is God given and known as the Christ man.
Salvation for Illumination – “You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32).
Mrs. Fillmore contends that it takes great illumination and constant identification with Jesus Christ and His wonderful humility and obedience if we are to rid ourselves of beliefs in materiality, in the power of disease, or in adversity of any sort. She stresses the importance of going to God-Mind for more light, love, life and substance. It is through the indwelling Christ Mind that we have the power to change our soul’s impressions, as well as our subconscious, thereby changing our bodies and their functioning and also the conditions about us.
By dwelling upon the Truth that we are one with Jesus Christ and one with God, we can quicken our own Christ Mind through the understanding that Jesus the Christ helps us to unfold.
It is when we cease to think shadows and lack of knowledge, and begin to call to mind the teachings of Jesus Christ that the light will shine for us. That stops the desire to recall past experiences thereby allowing the mark of helpfulness to abide with us. As a result, there will be renewed growth that will be pleasing and refreshing as we look at life, present and past, through eyes that see only God.
With renewed insight, each day should be spent in a period of stillness for the soul to gather power and restore life. God gives freely, and we have to be open and receptive if we are to receive those gifts.
Undesirable conditions result when we fail to identify with God and to use His gifts, and when we fail to let Spirit express through all our faculties and powers. Undesirable conditions lessen or dim illumination.
Salvation by Jesus Christ – “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col. 1:27).
The teachings of Unity are based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, and, as suggested by Mrs. Fillmore, if we want to insure success and inspire faith and confidence in ourselves and all that we undertake, then we should always have Christ as the source of our inspiration and prosperity.
Jesus brought forth into expression the Christ, the God-Mind within and consciously identified Himself with Spirit. He has given us the ability to comprehend the life and the activities of mind that result in freedom from the limitations of race beliefs and intellectual reasoning.
According to Mrs. Fillmore, we are to pray for understanding – understanding for ourselves, and get all our faculties and powers awake and working in perfect harmony with the Christ pattern.
Jesus Christ eagerly lived the light that came to Him day by day, and He saw Himself and others in a new light. He understood why He had been born into the world and He knew where He was going. He knew that He was merging Himself with the race mind so that He might abide with us and bring us into the same wonderful light in which He dwells. Jesus was discovering the real purpose of life and fulfilling it not for Himself alone, but for all humanity.
We must depend wholly on the inner kingdom of supply and the indwelling Christ, for this inner way is the only way to receive permanently. We are to cease depending on outer, material avenues for prosperity, because when we look to the outer we look away from the one resource that is within us and gives drive to embrace and transcend excellence. We must think of the Lord as our God given Christ Mind and of Jesus Christ as ever with us in the spiritual consciousness that He has established and has merged with the race mind in order that we may be in touch with Him and lay hold of Him and build our lives according to His pattern. Jesus says, “Follow me” (Luke 9:59).
Leah, I liked your share and the use of Biblical quotes. Your share raised two questions for me:
ReplyDeleteFirst, I wonder how much we are 'reading into the past'? In other words,I learned key Unity concept's first from my then senior minister, Rev. Helice Green (Unity of Fairfax). Of course, you can go back to Myrtle and Charles and find quotes that seem to support Helice's teachings. But to what degree am I looking at Myrtle's concept of salvation through Helice's lens? As a class, how much are we reading into Myrtle's words? As Unity evolves, to what degree will people in the future go back to Myrtle's words and read into it something very different from what we read into them today.
Second, recent events in my life have raised some questions about Myrtle's theology about salvation for me. As I have mentioned, several years ago my wife, Debbie, had cancer. It was serious! Under these conditions we could not get enough of Myrtle-- reading her words, reading about people wheo knew her in the flesh, etc.
You say that Myrtle's "from what" salvation is from error thoughts. Well, Debbie and I did everything Myrtle suggested-- and it worked! Debbie is now cancer free.
So then last year my cat, Cain, got very sick very fast.We got Cain to a speciliast animan clinic/hospital. Let me tell you some more about my relationship with Cain. He was my prayer and meditation buddy-- every morning he did prayer and meditation with me right in my lap. He was a very special cat. If you hear a crash in our house, you could look up and see Cain dashing off from the scene of the crime. When the doctors told me how sick he was, I told them to go through with the operation. I "just knew" that what happened to Myrtle and my wife would happen to Cain-- and he would be healed.
Cain died. I can't tell you how hard it hit me. I am holding back tears as I write this. Then I started asking questions: How come Cain was not healed? How come what Myrtle spoke about seems to work in some cases and does not in others? Is this a random number business like quantum physics?
Since then several other thoughts have come to me including:
--Healing in some cases might not be physical. (I had this "sense" that Cain is OK wherever he is. Cain knows the "peace that passes all understanding." It is me who does not feel peace over what happened to Cain.
--Myrtle is not talking about some magical art by which we can just get the world to always do what we want.
--That the elimination of error thoughts might not always result in the ball taking the bounce that we want.
I remember in one of his magazine columns, Dr Tom responded to a question about why it doesnt always work with physical healing. Dr. Tom did compare it to quantum mechanics.
I guess the elimination of error thoughts can produce salvation. But salvation might not always be in the flavor that we were expecting.
Good post, Leah!
Thanks Rick. I really appreciate your sharing your experiences and I experienced the same thing you did with Cain with my beloved Butch. It has been years since he transitioned, but it seems like it was just yesterday, and like you I am tearing up as I write this. At the time I had not been exposed to Unity's teachings, but I was of the opinion that Butch came into my life at a time when I needed him the most, and isn't that always the case? So now the tears are streaming down, but I think they are tears of gratitude rather than sorrow. Blessings Rick!
DeleteThank you, Leah, for the great post - and for the lessons not to be forgotten! A question popped into my head as I read that first Myrtle quote you used, "Jesus Christ is merging His consciousness with the universal race consciousness..." How did she think he did that? I would think that the merging happens "naturally," as in, on its own. But she seems to be saying, Jesus used his will or intention or some other means to raise his consciousness to a higher level than is usually possible. I'll have to give that more thought...
ReplyDeleteAnd thank you, Richard, for the moving story about your wife and your beloved cat. I have a cat too (Jefferson) and I can relate even though he hasn't, fortunately, had any serious health issues. It was only recently that I gained an understanding of words I heard at a Unity church years ago, that its possible to he healed but not cured.
Hey Leah,
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post this week. I really appreciated the way you broke down the questions being asked. I really appreciated what you said about salvation for illumination. In our own lives sometimes we need that illumination which is something both you and Rick have pointed out. We many not know why but we know Truth and that thing's unfold for betterment. Something Myrtle seemed to be keenly aware of. Pets can make quite the impression. I'm sorry for your losses.
Thank you, Leah, for your insightful post. Reading your reference, "According to Mrs. Fillmore, we are to pray for understanding" reminded me that "understanding" really covers it all. Understanding IS our salvation. Understanding IS what we are both saved by and for. And misunderstanding is what we are saved from. It continues to amaze me how, when we open our minds, openings to further understandings occur. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteLeah writes: "Salvation from Error Thinking – Paul says, 'Be transformed by the renewal of your mind' (Rom. 12:2)."
ReplyDeleteFirst, thank you for the Romans quote. I looked it up in the NRSV and rediscovered how delightful is the whole chapter 12: (http://bible.oremus.org/?passage=Romans+12%3A+1-2%2C+9-18&version=nrsv)
Transforming one's mind suggests a spiritual technology, like meditating to achieve a sense of Oneness with God. However, WHY would someone desire to transform the mind? Do dolphins, whom some marine biologists say are nearly as intelligent as humans, want to transform their minds?
These complications are just to deepen the discussion. You answered the problem well from an anthropocentric perspective, albeit in language which could a little gender-consciousness update about the Divine Nature:
"Undesirable conditions result when we fail to identify with God and to use His gifts, and when we fail to let Spirit express through all our faculties and powers."
So, we're saved FROM "undesirable conditions" which you aptly describe as, "Error thoughts such as sickness, poverty, lack, among others are detrimental to the Truth. We have to put a halt to worry and anxiety."
Do you have a brief reference from Mrs. Fillmore's Healing Letters for this assertion, or are you relying upon previous understandings of her thought?
Your solution to the three questions seems to be found in the boldface subheads: Salvation from error thinking, for illumination, by Jesus Christ. Not a bad summary, Although you elucidate what Myrtle meant by illumination quite nicely, you contend that she thought Jesus Christ delivers this salvation.
However, you suggest her Christology follows the "example" model, i.e., Jesus didn't really do anything special, but his consciousness of the inner divinity was so complete that we can see the pattern in him and thereby more completely identify it within ourselves. Arguably, this renders the central events of the New Testament--the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus--utterly irrelevant, and Jesus becomes teacher-exemplar, not a transforming spiritual force in himself.
I wonder if Myrtle (and Charles) would agree?
Leah-
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your post. Picking up on this beautiful statement, "According to Mrs. Fillmore, there is no such thing as a disease or an incurable condition, and anything that does not measure up to the Christ pattern of perfection can be changed. Whenever we have an experience of sickness, it is evident that we have been letting go of our hold on the gifts of God and have ceased to make use of the life of Spirit through our thoughts, words and actions.” I mentioned before how Myrtle probably influenced A COURSE IN MIRACLES. This is a perfect example; ACIM makes the claim that ‘Sickness is a defense against the Truth.” Myrtle is saying that sickness (and I’ll add any pain and suffering to that) is the experience in believing in the physical over the spiritual. It’s the thought that I am separate from God and that I could be hurt or die. Myrtle is saying that the Truth is who you are as child of God--spiritually whole and well.
As for salvation, you’ve helped me see from yet another angle how changing our minds is exactly what needs to happen if we are to be saved. We’re being saved from our own thinking--our illusions about sickness, suffering and fear of death. Does Jesus Christ deliver that salvation? It’s a good question. The answer may depend upon one's definition of the Christ. If it’s an outside, magical thing, then I’d say that’s not how it works. And yet, that may be some people’s experience. I don’t doubt it. My understanding is of the Christ being the Sonship in which we are One as children of God. Salvation is accomplished by extending love to self and others, with forgiveness being the ‘spiritual technology.’ Isn’t that how Myrtle accomplished her own healing?
"By dwelling upon the Truth that we are one with Jesus Christ and one with God, we can quicken our own Christ Mind through the understanding that Jesus the Christ helps us to unfold.” My Jewish lenses sometimes need to take the Jesus out of Jesus Christ. I do apologize for that. Tweaking the verbiage helps me get to the concept I experience as powerfully compelling, that it is the Christ mind that does the work and changes everything.
Blessings and blue skies,
Lesley