Unity Church of Castro Valley
Sunday Message for June 8, 2008
Law of Mind Action
Today we are talking about the Law of Mind Action. This is a term that many who have studied metaphysics may be familiar with. On the other hand, it may not make sense to someone not familiar with the Unity teaching.
Well, you know what mind is and you know what action is - so let's delve into the metaphysical take on the word 'law.' Charles Fillmore writes in The Revealing Word that law is "the faculty of the mind that holds every thought and act strictly to the Truth of Being, regardless of circumstances or environment. Law is a mathematical faculty. It places first things first."
"Laws of mind are just as exact and undeviating as the laws of mathematics. To recognize this is the starting point in finding God."
We don't make the law; the law just is. It was established for our benefit way before our world was formed. If you look at our world, you see that behind the judge is the law out of which he reads. So laws, whether natural or artificial, are the evidence of an unseen power.
The development of mankind is under law. Creative mind is not only law, but it is governed by the action of the law that it sets up. Many religions teach that we were created by a God that can make or unmake at will, or change its mind and declare a new law at any time. But a clear understanding of ourselves and the unchangeableness of God, or Divine Mind, shows us that everything has its basis in a rule of action; a basis in a law that must be observed by both creator and created.
THE ESSENTIAL UNITY TEACHINGS
In a book called Unity, Charles Fillmore outlines the basic Unity teachings for us. The third one of these basic teachings is "The Law of Mind Action."
When Jesus was teaching a lesson to his disciples he said in (Mark 11:23-24) "Truly I tell you, if you say to this mountain, "Be taken up and thrown into the sea,' and if you do not doubt in your heart, but believe that what you say will come to pass, it will be done for you. So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours."
That is the Law of Mind Action. Whatever we ask for in prayer is ours if we have the thought and the emotion behind it. It is ours if we believe that we have received it. Not that we might receive it by and by, but that we have received it. Then it is ours by law.
Another way that this has been expressed is, "Thoughts held in mind produce after their kind." Whatever you think about all the time, and believe in, will be produced in your experience on this earth. So ask yourself, "What do I think about all the time?" That's why you have what you have.
So we need to consciously center ourselves in the Christ within us. We need to think from that Christ consciousness. We need to let that be our leading front edge in all things. Because Christ-like thinking and feeling produces Christ-like behavior and qualities. Christ-like behavior and qualities have illuminating, harmonizing, healing, and prospering effects. So before making a decision, or moving into action, ask yourself, "What would Jesus do?"
All of our limitations and our negative experiences are products of the human consciousness being held back by our ignorance of Truth, our limited negative thinking, and false beliefs. If you want a better experience on this world you need a new and improved thought process.
If ignorance of Truth is holding you back, then get yourself into the ongoing Quest class. We are teaching the basic truths of Unity and of Universal Law. It will change your life - ask anyone of the people who are in the class.
If you are a victim of limited negative thinking and false beliefs then you need to take a good hard look at who and what you truly are. You are the Christ, the beloved offspring of God. And God has placed no limits on what you can become. In fact God expects you to be all you can be, so that we can change the consciousness of the world.
The world expresses the collective beliefs of humanity. This is called collective consciousness or "race consciousness." This consciousness contains beliefs of war, lack, sickness, poverty, and death.
We think into and collect ideas out of this "race consciousness." If we do not consciously have our own ideas of truth, we default to the belief of the world. We are swayed by "race consciousness," instead of living in Universal Truth.
The good news is that we can change "race consciousness." As more and more of us believe and act in Truth, it shifts "race consciousness" to a higher spiritual level. This is the positive way that you can change the world - through your thoughts and beliefs. Individuals committed to unfolding Christ consciousness transform the race consciousness in a beneficial way.
And we are not alone in trying to live in a Christ-like manner. We always have God's help. The Grace of God is omnipresent divine love, which interacts with the Law to guide humanity in the unfoldment of the Christ potential.
THE GREAT MENTAL LAWS
It says in (Philippians 4:8-9) "Finally, beloved, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence and if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Keep on doing the things that you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you."
Emmet Fox in The Great Mental Laws sums these two verses up in one short sentence: "What you think upon grows."
Whatever you allow to occupy your mind and your thoughts, you magnify in your life. It doesn't matter whether the subject of your thoughts is good or bad, the law works and the condition grows. But anything that you keep out of your thoughts tends to diminish in your life. It's just like a muscle in your body, because what you don't use atrophies.
So, the more you think about your indigestion or your rheumatism, the worse it will become. The more you think of yourself as healthy and well, the better your body will be.
The more you think about lack and bad times, the worse your business will be. But the more you think of prosperity, abundance, and success, the more you will bring these things into your life.
The more you think about your grievances or the injustices that you have suffered, the more such trials will you continue to receive. And the more you think of the good fortune you have had, the more good fortune will come to you.
This is the basic, fundamental, all-inclusive Law of Mind, and actually all psychological and metaphysical teaching is little more than a commentary upon this.
What you think about grows
THE LIGHT OF GOD
Jesus told us not to judge according to appearances, because there is a perfection at the center of things. This is what he meant when he said, (Matthew 5:48) "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
The only way that we can translate the meaning of Jesus' words is to accept them in their simplicity. We need to interpret them as though they actually meant what he said, because Jesus never wasted time in idle talk.
The more we study the simplicity of his style, the more we discover that it reached to the very foundation of life itself. Jesus had reduced his spiritual philosophy to a few simple, fundamental facts that he taught and lived.
Jesus was telling us that perfection is at the very center of our being. He was saying that we are the Christ, the Anointed One, or the Illumined One. Christ means God-in-us. It means the Divine Son or Daughter at the center of every person's life. Unless Jesus was lying to us, there is a perfection forever established, a kingdom of God forever at hand, and a possibility of good that is available right now.
In the book, The Light of God, Ernest Holmes writes, "We should reread the words of Jesus as though we had never heard them before. Since the teachings of Jesus contain the key to right living, it would do us well to consider their meaning."
Jesus basically told us that God made us. He was saying that the Divine Spirit is already within us. He told us over and over again that God wants only good for us.
Spirit has already provided a law of mind, giving us the use of a power greater than we are. When we learn to live in recognition of this presence and in harmony with the Law of Mind, then the miracle of life and love will take place in our lives.
Jesus coupled the knowledge of spiritual truth with the thought that there is a law of mind which acts on our belief and brings into our experience those things which we believe.
Realize that Jesus was not talking about any particular age. He wasn't just talking about himself. Over and over again he said that what he did, we could do also; that what he was, we will become.
He was also saying that there is a presence within us that is already perfect. We don't need to worry about our previous mistakes. We don't need to be anxious about tomorrow. All of that is unnecessary. All we have to do is to learn to think and live right today. And when we do, our previous mistakes will be blotted out and our future will be taken care of.
But before this can happen we have to learn to think and act right today. Right in this very moment of time we can make that decision. It is in this day in which we are now living that we can choose what path we want to follow.
Shall we live in fear or in faith? Shall we live in confusion, or in the peace that comes from a deep and abiding conviction that there is a power greater than we are, ready, willing, and able to work for us?
I think the outstanding thing in the new spiritual outlook of today is that we are called on to invite this presence, to experiment with this power, and actually to live as though God were present with us right now.
Jesus knew that there were no restrictions on the willingness of God to operate for us. The only thing he said was that everything we think and say and do should be based in a consciousness of love. It must be based in a realization that we have to become one with others, even as we already are one with God. This is why he prayed (John 17:11) "that they may be one, as we are one."
Training our minds to think differently is simple enough, but not always easy. This is where faith must be used - faith in a power greater than we are. We need to have a solid conviction that we live in a Divine Presence that wishes only good for us.
Common sense shows us that we didn't create the universe and that we don't need to be responsible for the laws of nature. All we can do is to use them. So we are being called to reform all of our thinking. We need to make a complete and final surrender of all our littleness, fears, doubts, and uncertainties to that great something within us that is calm and certain and sure. That something has never really left its divine kingdom, even though our minds have become so confused, so unhappy, and so filled with fear.
This is the great challenge. It is also the great adventure -- the adventure of faith in a power greater than we are, the challenge of a love that abides forever.
I would like to end with a prayer written by Dr. Christian Sorenson, called A Prayer for Delighting in Spirit:
With a smile on my face,
I see good expressing everywhere.
I recognize the face of God
emanating love through everything.
I perceive the world correctly,
And live in the limitless potential
that's awaiting my direction.
I am God's means to be,
Needing nothing from anyone.
Power and Freedom come from within,
delighting me into right choices.
Completely embraced in the Omnipresence,
generosity pours forth.
All is here now, total source present
and active in my life.
All good is my nature.
I am complete and whole in this awareness,
feeling inspiration,
Energy, pressing into form.
With a focused consciousness
on the Oneness with God,
all actions I take bring
an empowered health-filled life.
Employing the Divine Wisdom,
I create the quality
And the environment of my choosing.
Knowing I have what it takes
to support these ideas,
I draw all that is necessary
to support this ideal life.
I enjoy the successful
results of what I do.
Grateful for the Spiritual
Energy that is acting
upon my every word,
I live in the appreciation
and faith of trusting
a higher power.
In complete confidence
of the responsiveness
of the Law of mind,
I surrender to the
perfect motion of Life Itself.
Amen
SCRIPTURE: Mark 11:23-24; Philippians 4:8-9; Matthew 5:48; John 17:11
REFERENCE: Prayers Dr Christian Sorenson; The Revealing Word Charles Fillmore; Unity Charles Fillmore; The Great Mental Laws Emmet Fox; The Light of God Ernest Holmes
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Last updated
June 9, 2008
