MAN'S RELATIONSHIP to the SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE ~ Ernest Holmes
Man Re-enacts the Nature of God
Whatever is true of the Universe as a Whole must also be true of the individual as some part of this Whole. Man is evolved from the Universe as a self-conscious, thinking center of Living Spirit, and as such he must, in his nature and being, reproduce the Universe.
If we realize that God is "Triune" and that man is a spiritual likeness of God we shall see that the whole scheme of Life, and the whole nature of the Divine Being, is reenacted through man. This, of course, does not mean that man is God. It means that in his small world of individual expression, his nature is identical with God's.
This is what Jesus meant when he said, "As the Father hath life within Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life within himself." This refers to the inherent Life, real Life. That is the only life God could have. We must expect to find in man, therefore, the same inherent attributes that we find in the Universe from which he springs. A single drop of water is not the whole ocean, but it does contain within itself the same qualities and attributes.
Man is made out of and from Life. As effect must partake of the nature of its cause, so man must partake of the Divine Nature from which he springs. We did not create our nature; We cannot change its inherent reality; we are what we are and we use this nature for better or for worse. Being what we are there are certain responsibilities that go with our natures - certain obligations; if our thought is creative and if we have selectivity - that is, volition and choice - and if we are unfolding to a discovery of our true nature, which must already be perfect, then the obligation and responsibility of this nature could impose freedom or bondage upon us temporarily, but our bondage cannot be real from the standpoint of the Absolute.
The World Has Learned All It Should Through Suffering
The Science of Mind and Spirit, makes a tremendous claim when it states that the individual should be free from the bondage of sickness, poverty and unhappiness. It does, however, carefully set forth the conditions under which freedom operates and the laws governing Life, stating in no uncertain terms that unless man understands these conditions and obeys these laws, he will not receive full benefit from its teachings.
The world is beginning to realize that it has learned all it should through suffering and pain. Surely there can be no Intelligence in the Universe that wishes man to be sick, suffer pain, be unhappy and end in oblivion. Surely if God or Universal Intelligence is imbued with goodness, then It could not ordain that man should ultimately be other than a perfect expression of Life.
We have shown that man's nature is the same as God's Nature; we should have no intellectual difficulty in realizing that an Infinite Intelligence could not make an automatic individuality, and this explains why man suffers on his road to self-discovery. His suffering is not God-ordained, because he creates his own experience as he becomes individualized. By individuality is mean self-choice, volition, conscious mind, personified Spirit, complete freedom, and a POWER TO BACK UP THAT FREEDOM. We cannot imagine a mechanical or unspontaneous individuality; to be real and free, individuality must be created in the image of Perfection and let alone to make the great discover for itself.
Man Re-enacts the Nature of God
Whatever is true of the Universe as a Whole must also be true of the individual as some part of this Whole. Man is evolved from the Universe as a self-conscious, thinking center of Living Spirit, and as such he must, in his nature and being, reproduce the Universe.
If we realize that God is "Triune" and that man is a spiritual likeness of God we shall see that the whole scheme of Life, and the whole nature of the Divine Being, is reenacted through man. This, of course, does not mean that man is God. It means that in his small world of individual expression, his nature is identical with God's.
This is what Jesus meant when he said, "As the Father hath life within Himself, so hath He given to the Son to have life within himself." This refers to the inherent Life, real Life. That is the only life God could have. We must expect to find in man, therefore, the same inherent attributes that we find in the Universe from which he springs. A single drop of water is not the whole ocean, but it does contain within itself the same qualities and attributes.
Man is made out of and from Life. As effect must partake of the nature of its cause, so man must partake of the Divine Nature from which he springs. We did not create our nature; We cannot change its inherent reality; we are what we are and we use this nature for better or for worse. Being what we are there are certain responsibilities that go with our natures - certain obligations; if our thought is creative and if we have selectivity - that is, volition and choice - and if we are unfolding to a discovery of our true nature, which must already be perfect, then the obligation and responsibility of this nature could impose freedom or bondage upon us temporarily, but our bondage cannot be real from the standpoint of the Absolute.
The World Has Learned All It Should Through Suffering
The Science of Mind and Spirit, makes a tremendous claim when it states that the individual should be free from the bondage of sickness, poverty and unhappiness. It does, however, carefully set forth the conditions under which freedom operates and the laws governing Life, stating in no uncertain terms that unless man understands these conditions and obeys these laws, he will not receive full benefit from its teachings.
The world is beginning to realize that it has learned all it should through suffering and pain. Surely there can be no Intelligence in the Universe that wishes man to be sick, suffer pain, be unhappy and end in oblivion. Surely if God or Universal Intelligence is imbued with goodness, then It could not ordain that man should ultimately be other than a perfect expression of Life.
We have shown that man's nature is the same as God's Nature; we should have no intellectual difficulty in realizing that an Infinite Intelligence could not make an automatic individuality, and this explains why man suffers on his road to self-discovery. His suffering is not God-ordained, because he creates his own experience as he becomes individualized. By individuality is mean self-choice, volition, conscious mind, personified Spirit, complete freedom, and a POWER TO BACK UP THAT FREEDOM. We cannot imagine a mechanical or unspontaneous individuality; to be real and free, individuality must be created in the image of Perfection and let alone to make the great discover for itself.
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