Now in Focus

Slightly blurred, the theological snapshot I presented of Myrtle at the beginning of this class is now in focus as I come to the end of it.

My snapshot placed God at the forefront of Myrtle’s life.  That position has not changed.  Having read the required books for this class, God was indeed at the forefront of Myrtle’s life.  Further, I said she believed that God is the Source of all good and through God all things are possible.  She embraced that completely.  But now, I can add another view to Myrtle’s belief--it was not enough to pray.  Prayer was just one of many steps necessary to get closer to God.  One had to think of God as the all-powerful healer, in every part of one’s mind, heart and body.  It is the God in the midst of us that frees and heals.

In my snapshot Myrtle incorporated prayer and spending time in the Silence as part of her daily spiritual practice. She believed that it was through prayer that one could change one’s thoughts, and thereby open one’s heart to God’s omnipresent good.  Again, I can now add to that view.  Myrtle believed that it was possible to stay in the silence too much so she cautioned against the practice.  Rather, she believed that walking and talking alone with God would be more beneficial.

Omitted from my snapshot, and an integral part of Myrtle’s theology, was the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Myrtle saw Christ as the first Christian metaphysician.  She believed that to insure success and to inspire faith and confidence in ourselves and our undertaking, we should always have Christ as the source of our inspiration and prosperity.  Our success and satisfaction in business, in home, in our social lives is always greater when we take Christ Jesus as our partner.

Slightly blurred was my view of Myrtle’s theology of healing.  While I touched on placing complete faith in God and forgetting prior limitations, there was much to learn.  Myrtle believed there is no such thing as a disease or incurable condition.  She thought such conditions, weaknesses or abnormalities stem from the failure to understand Truth and to live by the divine law of life.

Included in my snapshot was Myrtle’s faith in the healing process which extends to her belief in prosperity.  While correct, I can now add that she believed that to be prosperous, one must first comply with laws that are revealed by the Spirit of truth within; such rich consciousness leads to continuous healing as well as prosperity and abundance.  A rich consciousness always demonstrates prosperity.  Those who are prosperous and successful are the people who have a rich consciousness. Further, she felt that if one lived a Christ life then one could expect to attract blessings of all sorts, and there was no need to worry about financial matters or anything that could have an adverse effect on one’s life.

While my snapshot revealed that Myrtle did not embrace the doctrine of Methodism to which her parents were staunch believers, debatable however, is the influence or lack thereof Myrtle’s early exposure to Methodism had on her theology.

Myrtle relied on the Bible, and scripture was widely used in her writings.  She believed that to know the word of God is a cause for individual rejoicing because one is now embracing truth, and words of Truth should be spoken and received with joy and with love.  That is its power. God is Truth, and we are an expression of that Truth.

Thank you, Dr. Tom for the opportunity to learn about Myrtle Fillmore, and thank you fellow classmates for your posts which were insightful and definitely food for thought.  Blessings!