WE live not only in a world of being but also in a world of becoming. Being is unfolding itself or passing itself into manifestation. In being is the infinite possibility ; in becoming, this possibility is expressing. In creation, the Creator is passing into the created. Since Spirit is All, It must be the substance of all. There is nothing but Itself. In making a universe, It must fashion it out of the only material available — Itself or Being. As Being is also Mind, Its activity is that of thought ; and whatever Spirit makes, It must make by passing its one essence — Mind — out into the many expressions — form — through the mould or channel — thought. To be is to think ; to think is to create. Creation is eternally going on. Spirit is eternally being transformed or brought across into visible concrete substance. Or we may say that Spirit is substance wrhich now passes into form. The growth of a lily wrell illustrates it. In the bulb is the potential form of the lily. The life-principle or soul is hidden in the bulb. At any point in the growth of the lily, two facts are cognizable. The lily has being or life. We can say of it, "It is." In its being, it is untroubled, unhurried, unworried, unshaken. It has potential power and infinite calm. But in its growth, it is also becoming. It is taking form and expressing beauty. Life, spirit, or being is passing into manifestation in the form of a lily. Being is becoming manifest. "Consider the lily," said the Great Teacher, "God clothes it."n5538 ¶1
As in the lily, so in us and in all things, there is great potential power, the power of being, while we press on to the goal of our becoming. Spirit is expressing or becoming manifest through us. It is in this way that the universal can individualize itself. It is through the recognition of the nature of the individual self that we can grasp the idea of and contact the universal. Expansion of consciousness must inevitably follow in the wake of truth.n5538 ¶2
We must rise to the glory of this truth : man is spirit, individualized into self-consciousness. God is on a glorious adventure through each of us. We are like the wave that rises on the bosom of the ocean. No matter how high or how proudly it may toss its crest, no matter what shape and form it may assume, no matter how peaceful or threatening, no matter how it may conceive itself as apart from the rest: still it lies forever on the breast of the sea, still it shares the nature and power of its source, still it is related to every other individual. There never can be any real separation in spirit.n5538 ¶3
In the end, we must recognize in each our other self. The poet recognized the truth in these words :n5538 ¶4
"Whether the time be slow or fast,n5538 ¶5
Enemies hand in hand, mn5538 ¶6
Must come together at the lastn5538 ¶7
And understand. No matter how the die is castn5538 ¶8
Or who may seem to win, We know that we must love at last:n5538 ¶9
Why not begin?"n5538 ¶10
Thus, if we will but recognize it, we are every one of us sons of the Most High with the capacity to do all, be all, and enjoy all that heart could desire.n5538 ¶11
In practice we have but to recognize that we are in the cosmic stream of consciousness which is continuously manifesting in newer and higher forms of life, and then to allow it to become manifest for us. It is most important to note that creation is still going on; we do not live in a world that has been made ; we live in a world that is being made ; we live in a universe of "becoming." Nothing in nature is static ; everything is in movement, change, and transition. The earth on which we dwell is forever altering, clothing and reclothing itself in garments of verdure; pouring its hidden energies out into form in the woodland violet and the giant Sequoia; emptying its sweetness in the perfume of the lily and the fragrance of the orange tree.n5538 ¶12
Just SO' our bodies and conditions are forever changing; and being is becoming manifest in newways. New life cells are born every hour. Within a year every organ and bone of the body has been born anew7. Many parts of the body like the cuticle of the hand are born daily. It is literally true thatn5538 ¶13
"Every day is a fresh beginning, Every morn is the world made nelv:n5538 ¶14
Ye who are weary of sorrow and sinning, Here is a beautiful hope for you —n5538 ¶15
A hope for me, and a hope for you — EVERY DAY IS THE WORLD MADEn5538 ¶16
"Behold I make all things new/' is the claim of the Supreme Being. "I am forever becoming^manifest."n5538 ¶17
CHAPTERHII. ) BEING IS BECOMING THROUGH US.n5538 ¶18
THE importance of this fact must not escape us, "I — Absolute Being or Spirit — make." Man does not have to make; Spirit makes. "I will work and who can hinder it!" The inner principle of all life, plant or planet, animal or man, is forever producing; and it may be called into expression in our lives. "Behold I stand at the door and knock; if any man will open, I will come in." "Spirit seeks its worshipers." The creative process is going on in you. "Stand still and behold the salvation of your God." What a relief from struggle ! You do not need to lie awake at night saying to the heart, "Beat seventy-two times a minute :" to the lungs, "Take a breath now ;" to the blood, "Go 'round and 'round." All this is the involuntary functioning of the life in you, under the direction of the inner mind. So, too, we do not need to say, "I must make a new cell where this one is worn out: I must make a little more gastric juice to digest this food." Man does not have to create; he merely allows spirit to manifest its innate power, to permit being to become through him,n5538 ¶19
This spirit is in you now ready to do whatever is necessary for your health and supply. You are at one with all being, and within you is the All- Power ready to act.n5538 ¶20
'Then go not thou in search of him,n5538 ¶21
But to thyself repair; Wait thou within the silence dimn5538 ¶22
And thou shalt find him there."n5538 ¶23
All great healing is done on the basis of this realization, that the work is being done for us. We are not forced to "hold thoughts," repeat denials, or make affirmations until the brain begins to stagger. To do this is to pass the struggle over from physical to mental gymnastics. If we are to stop beating the body, cracking the bones, boiling in mud, taking electric shocks, only to "do" our denials, affirm our affirmations, and count the rosary of our formulated phrases, with any idea that we are doing the job, we might as well quit now. Remember Moses! "He said unto them, 'Hear, now, ye rebels; shall we bring you forth water out of this rock?' And Moses lifted up his hand, and smote the rock with his rod twice : and water came forth abundantly; and the congregation drank and their cattle. And Jehovah said unto Moses and Aaron, 'Because ye believed not in me, to honor me in the eyes of the children of Israel; therefore ye shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them/ "n5538 ¶24
We are entered into truth to find peace; and, if we struggle along on the basis that we must do the work, we can never enter the promised land. One woman said, "I have discovered I have seven bodies; and I am trying to subdue them; but life is a constant struggle. I subdue them one by one; but by the time I get the seventh put under, the first is all up in arms." Another was asked by her friends to join in some activities; but she said, "I have no time for such things : I must go and do my denials and affirmations." I have seen people absolutely bewildered by the effort to heal themselves by "holding the right thought;" and I have often heard metaphysicians say, "I will work for you," as though there were something they had to do. As a matter of fact, "we do not have to struggle, we only have to know." The poet truly said,n5538 ¶25
"I am not fighting my fight, I am singing my song."n5538 ¶26
Said Jesus, "Can a man, by taking thought, add one cubit to his stature?" Of course not. Neither denials nor affirmations are creative. We should carefully distinguish between the terms, creative thought and creative mind. Strictly speaking, thought does not create: mind creates. The creative function is still going on; Creative Mind is building for us; spirit is passing into manifestation, being is becoming ; we do not have to struggle, but rather do we say to the God within,n5538 ¶27
"Build me more stately mansions, O my soul."n5538 ¶28
What we need to do is to recognize the presence of the spiritually-perfect being, which we are; and thus allow it to become, which it will do!n5538 ¶29
The Faith of a Child.n5538 ¶30
Thought itself, then, does not create. Creation goes on without our conscious thought; and conscious thought simply acts as a mould to spirit as it passes through. This is why a child's life is normally so healthy and serene. It does not put up any barrier to the flow of pure spirit. It does not interpose fear or doubt. It takes all on faith ; and the creative impulse goes on to build its growing body and fill its heart with joy. A friend of mine, who was a teacher in one of the grade schools, had a lame wrist and felt herself unable to get the right thought about it. So she went to a little five-yearold boy in her room and said, "John, I hear that you healed Miss So-and-So's finger ? Do you think you could heal my wrist ? "Yes, teacher, let me hold it. So he took the wrist between his little hands and sat silent for a moment.n5538 ¶31
"It will be all right, now," he said. And it was healed immediately. Other cases might be cited in which children have demonstrated the power of unreasoning faith. Among some of our acquaintances, the whole family depends on the faith of one of the children. Whenever sickness occurs, they all turn to the boy or girl. The faith of a little child is the faith that sees God at work for us, bearing our burdens, providing for our necessities, living in His creation, a Presence in everything, working for our good. To realize this is the acme of spiritual understanding. "No evil shall befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. He shall give his angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. Being is becoming; that which is unmanifest is becoming manifest ; and, as it is perfect in being, it must also be perfect in becoming, if we will but recognize the truth of being and become fit channels for its expression.n5538 ¶32
For we are individuals; and spirit can become for us only in the measure of our choice and channel. Ours it is to open or shut the doorn5538 ¶33
How we may assume the attitude of mind that will assure the most perfect expression of spirit in our bodies, affairs, and states of consciousness, we shall study in succeeding chapters. Let us here open our thought to the influx of spirit as faith.n5538 ¶34
I do rest in the calm assurance that all that the Father hath is mine. I know that "beneath me are the girders of the Almighty and underneath are the Everlasting Arms." "The Lord is my light and my salvation, wrhom shall I fear ? The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom [or what] shall I be afraid?" "My Father is greater than I." In5538 ¶35
1This is not to be construed in any way as opposing the right use of affirmations.n5538 ¶36
will "rest in the Lord and wait patiently for Him." "I will look unto the hills from wrhence cometh our help ; my help cometh from the Lord which makes heaven and earth." I do now answer the command of my soul, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy-laden ; and I will give you rest." Father, I rest my case in thy hands and now know that thou wilt give me fully and freely this thing which I seek.n5538 ¶37