I recently received an email from a student who was concerned that by listing the ways that good things are present or would be appreciated, we may be "placing other gods before" the One, Infinite, Source of All that Is. Here is my response:
I get the sense that in your thinking, an object is not Source/Spirit, a person or event may or may not be Spirit, a quality may or may not be Spirit - and that is, indeed, what the culture teaches us. But what Emma Hopkins and Emilie Cady understood is that it's ALL ONE SPIRIT/SOURCE/SUBSTANCE. Every thing, person, experience, or quality we perceive is our brain-limited version of Spirit showing up for us. So, they're telling us, when we name anything, any person, any state of being, any feeling as our Good, we are naming Spirit, and by naming Spirit in that form, we are inviting Spirit to take that form in our perceptions.
When Hopkins and Cady encourage us to acknowledge the good and claim it for ourselves they are offering a way of experiencing all that we call good by identifying all that we call good and ourselves as the same thing -- Spirit, the Source, the underlying power and intelligence of all that is. They say that we can have it without feeling required to DO anything to achieve or experience it. We identify with that experience, that physical form, that quality, and because we ARE it already (for we could not wish, desire, or imagine it if we weren't), we then begin to perceive it in our lives. We no longer seek it, because we realize we ARE it, and the form that is here and now is Spirit in expression - so it is Good. The lamp is Good, the food is Good, the body is Good, the person over there is Good, their healed body is Good...I name it Good to get out of the habit of naming things as not okay and reinforce my understanding that all is Spirit/Source/Substance taking whatever form I call good, that all I perceive is what I have thought and felt before now, and is my very loving, cooperative Spirit Self showing up as my world for me.
I get the sense that in your thinking, an object is not Source/Spirit, a person or event may or may not be Spirit, a quality may or may not be Spirit - and that is, indeed, what the culture teaches us. But what Emma Hopkins and Emilie Cady understood is that it's ALL ONE SPIRIT/SOURCE/SUBSTANCE. Every thing, person, experience, or quality we perceive is our brain-limited version of Spirit showing up for us. So, they're telling us, when we name anything, any person, any state of being, any feeling as our Good, we are naming Spirit, and by naming Spirit in that form, we are inviting Spirit to take that form in our perceptions.
When Hopkins and Cady encourage us to acknowledge the good and claim it for ourselves they are offering a way of experiencing all that we call good by identifying all that we call good and ourselves as the same thing -- Spirit, the Source, the underlying power and intelligence of all that is. They say that we can have it without feeling required to DO anything to achieve or experience it. We identify with that experience, that physical form, that quality, and because we ARE it already (for we could not wish, desire, or imagine it if we weren't), we then begin to perceive it in our lives. We no longer seek it, because we realize we ARE it, and the form that is here and now is Spirit in expression - so it is Good. The lamp is Good, the food is Good, the body is Good, the person over there is Good, their healed body is Good...I name it Good to get out of the habit of naming things as not okay and reinforce my understanding that all is Spirit/Source/Substance taking whatever form I call good, that all I perceive is what I have thought and felt before now, and is my very loving, cooperative Spirit Self showing up as my world for me.
I find it to be a big step, going from "I work with Spirit to bring it into my experience", to I AM the Spirit choosing and being the experience - the physical, mental, and emotional experience. But that's ultimately what these teachers are calling us to become aware of, to understand fully, to make real in our experience, and ultimately to feel.
... let your inner wisdom tell you whether the form of relationship we call marriage is still your good?
And before that can happen you need to have no conflicting notions about what your fulfillment is. Are you clear about your good? What is and what isn't? Can you envision a heavenly life - hour by hour, day by day, month by month? What do you do in that life? Who are you doing those things with? How is your time structured? What is the environment like?...
And before that can happen you need to have no conflicting notions about what your fulfillment is. Are you clear about your good? What is and what isn't in the direction of your fulfillment? Can you envision a heavenly life - hour by hour, day by day, month by month? What do you do in that life? Who are you doing those things with? doing them for? How is your time structured? What is the environment like? How are you feeling?
Naming your good; Getting clear about it; Getting freed of anger and fear and feeling only love; these are the essential foundation for receiving true wisdom from the universal Source - wisdom that can guide you in your fulfillment, joy, and satisfaction, as you become the embodiment of the One, creating a heavenly world for yourself and those around you.
I do hope this helps. You are not being asked to name things instead of, or to replace, the One, you are being offered the opportunity to experience the One Spirit in every form that feels good for you - and to no longer invite Spirit to take forms that are not good for you. As Cady said, Spirit is "knocking at the door of your heart" offering every good experience you imagine, and even more, as you become more and more fully aware of being that very Spirit, yourself.
... let your inner wisdom tell you whether the form of relationship we call marriage is still your good?
And before that can happen you need to have no conflicting notions about what your fulfillment is. Are you clear about your good? What is and what isn't? Can you envision a heavenly life - hour by hour, day by day, month by month? What do you do in that life? Who are you doing those things with? How is your time structured? What is the environment like?...
And before that can happen you need to have no conflicting notions about what your fulfillment is. Are you clear about your good? What is and what isn't in the direction of your fulfillment? Can you envision a heavenly life - hour by hour, day by day, month by month? What do you do in that life? Who are you doing those things with? doing them for? How is your time structured? What is the environment like? How are you feeling?
Naming your good; Getting clear about it; Getting freed of anger and fear and feeling only love; these are the essential foundation for receiving true wisdom from the universal Source - wisdom that can guide you in your fulfillment, joy, and satisfaction, as you become the embodiment of the One, creating a heavenly world for yourself and those around you.
I do hope this helps. You are not being asked to name things instead of, or to replace, the One, you are being offered the opportunity to experience the One Spirit in every form that feels good for you - and to no longer invite Spirit to take forms that are not good for you. As Cady said, Spirit is "knocking at the door of your heart" offering every good experience you imagine, and even more, as you become more and more fully aware of being that very Spirit, yourself.
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