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It probably can be said,
without question, that human
beings find it hard to deal with
two things especially, death and
change.
This is understandable, but it
is significant that both lead to
transformation: opportunities for
newness and betterment. In Unity
we love to think in terms of life
as being continually, eternally,
in the process of unfoldment and
renewal. We think of this as a
definition of human life. Though
we presently are expressing in
human, physical, form, we see
human beings as eternal spiritual
beings, souls, unfolding more and
more of our spiritual potential,
which results in the
transformation of our physical
body and human experience.
Quite honestly most human
beings probably like to think of
all this as leading us into
perfection, but, if perfection
would mean we have reached the
end, all that could possibly be
done, this doesn't square with
the perennial wisdom of humanity
that life is really infinite and
endless. So perfection is a term
better used to define our
completeness and wholeness
spiritually. We have all the
spiritual tools we need to
participate in God's continuous
creativeness, progressing from
transformation to transformation
through change after change.
In my website essay last
January, I wrote that we are
evolving God's intelligent
design. Thinking of life in
term's of limitless
possibilities, as quantum physics
points out, design is now seen to
be, not a hard and fast pattern
to be endlessly followed, but,
rather, the possibilities of
endless patterns, conceived in
moments of creativeness, as is
certainly indicated in all the
beautiful, marvelous, forms of
life we call nature.
Just as we see the need to
redefine the word perfection, we
are learning to think of death as
transformation rather than
annihilation. Science assures us
that there is no such phenomenon
as annihilation in the material
world. This is because of what
materiality is composed of, the
products of what is called the
Big Bang that brought Spirit into
manifestation in a process that
has taken billions of years, a
process that of course produced
human beings along with
everything else! A lot of death
and change has occurred in all
this creativeness!
Nihilism surely must have been
one of the most stupid concepts
to come out of human experience.
It denies existence; it denies
any basis for knowledge or
truth.
Recently I was told the story
of the atheist who asked a
minister for a few minutes of his
time because he was sure he could
convince the minister that there
is no God. The minister accepted,
but said he would appreciate it
if the man would sit down in his
office for a few moments so he
could take care of something he
needed to do first. He returned
with a gorgeous red rose and
handed it to the atheist with the
words, "While I'm away for a few
minutes, I wonder if you would
make me one of these?"
Through all the death and
change of life, God continues the
creative process that causes many
of us to believe in life as "the
upward, progressive movement of
life," in the words of Unity
minister, Ernest C. Wilson. All
of the multitudinous forms of
life on this planet may well be
thought of as instruments through
which God is creating. People who
think and believe as we do in
Unity like to speak of human
beings as co-creators with God.
We mean that God is creating
through us. Our civilization has
made use of the word
"consciousness" to describe the
means whereby human beings
participate in life's
creativeness. The word "soul" is
the name we give for the eternal,
spiritual instrument that
expresses both in visible, human
form and, when "out of body," in
the invisible or non-physical
dimension, which might relate to
the dimension prior to the Big
Bang. God's creativeness brings
the soul from this invisible
dimension into visibility as
human form. One theory (which
Unity people tend to believe) is
that this process includes
reincarnation, the same soul
having repeated human
incarnations in order to develop
the consciousness that makes it
possible for it to enter into the
next dimension of soul
development. The theory would
logically follow that each
dimension entered into is even
more creatively beautiful and
wonderful than its
predecessor.
I personally have no idea what
these dimensions would be like,
but I believe that this is not
something to be concerned about
because it is safe to trust God,
Who, to quote Jesus, has many
mansions for us to experience
more and more of God's
possibilities.
My bottom line in this piece
is to make the simple observation
that all of this leaves no need
to fear death and change, for
life is the transforming process
of bringing us into ever new and
more-wonderful opportunities to
co-operate as co-creators with
God! As I enter into my 90th year
- in this present incarnation -
this month, I am so grateful to
have found such ideas through
Unity. This approach to life
prevents us from coasting when we
retire, when our age in years
suggests we are "old," and keeps
us developing more of the
consciousness, the understanding
and ability to find amazing new
ways to be creative and to
appreciate the miracle of human
existence and of the promise of
experiencing the greater things
that Jesus promised!
The next day after I completed
this essay, I awakened with an
affirmation forming itself in my
consciousness. It is an
adaptation of some words that
have been important to me since
my Silent Unity days:
I AM A
LOVING, EVER-RENEWING,
EVER-UNFOLDING CREATIVE
INSTRUMENT OF INFINITE,
ETERNAL LIFE.
True for all of us!
Don
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