Sunday Message for October 1, 2023

BASIC UNITY PRINCIPLES - #1

I would like to talk about the Basic Unity Principles this month. There are 5 of them and they are:

1. There is only one Presence and one Power active as the universe and as my life, God the Good.
2. Our essence is of God; therefore, we are inherently good. This God essence was fully expressed in Jesus, the Christ.
3. We are co-creators with God, creating reality through thoughts held in mind.
4. Through prayer and meditation, we align our heart-mind with God. Denials and affirmations are tools we use.
5. Through thoughts, words and actions, we live the Truth we know.

DIVINE SCIENCE CONCURS
So let's talk about the first principle today. There is only one Presence and one Power active as the universe and as my life, God the Good. On the children's poster it is stated this way: God is all good and active in everything, everywhere.

Nona Brooks, who started Divine Science, wrote, "limitless Being, God, is equally present everywhere and is the ALL of everything. God is pure Spirit, absolute, changeless, eternal, manifesting in all creation. God is everywhere; therefore God is here. What God is is everywhere, therefore what God is is here."^a

So God is omnipresent. God is omnipotent. God is omniscient.

Omnipresent means present everywhere simultaneously. It is all-presence; one and only presence, all-enveloping presence being everywhere at the same time. So, God is not only defined as being omnipresent - but he is omnipresence itself. That which is omni-present fills all space. That which fills all space cannot be limited to form but must contain all form within itself and be the substance of all form.

Omnipotent means having unlimited or universal power, authority, or force. It is all-power; one and only power, almighty or infinite in power. So, God is not only defined as being omnipotent - but he is omnipotence.

Omniscient means having total knowledge, knowing everything. It is all-science; one and only knowledge, infinite knowledge. So, God is not only omniscient, but he is omniscience.

Omnipresence shows that all things live and move within it; that their true Being has neither beginning nor end of days, and cannot be limited by either time, space, or conditions. Therefore, in reality it must be eternal; it must be what has always been and will always be; it must be substance of all that is created. Substance must be what God is, Spirit, all good, for God omnipresent means God everywhere present, as the principle and source of all. All is good and can only be good, for as changeless as God Himself - is His eternal goodness.

The logical conclusion is that there can be no other presence than God-presence; no other power than God-power; no other knowledge than God-knowledge.

EMMA CURTIS HOPKINS CONCURS
Emma Curtis Hopkins writes, "Everybody, neatly, tries to cover up the main purpose of his life." We tell all kinds of stories to ourselves and others about what we are seeking. We say that all we ask for is just enough to feed and clothe and house our family. But what we need to do is to tell the honest Truth - that we seek unlimited bounty. Nothing can possibly satisfy anybody short of unlimited supply.

God is the idea of unlimited supply which we keep covered so deeply within our minds. When we name our Good we need to say, "My Good is my unlimited support, my unfailing support." Then Good (or God) will bring you marvelous support. New provisions will be made for you. There is no limit to the bounty of Truth. The substance of Truth is shown by the happy prosperity which can come to you, and is sure to come, when you speak Truth.

Jesus Christ said that all who learned His doctrine would have a hundredfold more possessions in this life. Tolstoi, the Russian writer, declared that Christians do not have a hundred-fold more than they would have if they were not Christians. But this is because they are not really Christians. In order to be a Christian, one must tell the Truth of God. One Truth is that God the Good cares for us. We are told by Jesus Christ to take no care for ourselves. To sit down and proclaim to the universe that "My support is my Good, my Good is my God, thus God is my support," is to stir the air to work with mountains and seas to bring us our new provisions.

CHARLES FILLMORE
Charles Fillmore wrote, "Being is the consciousness of the one Presence and the one Power, of the one intelligence, and man stands in the Godhead as I will." When we see our place in the great scheme of creation and recognize our I AM power, then we declare, "I discern that I will be that which I will to be." We are the vessel of God, and we express God. But there is a big difference between the inanimate marble, chiseled by the sculptor into a prancing steed, and the living, breathing horse consciously willing to be guided by the master's rein.

So there is a wide gap between the intelligence that moves to an appointed end under the impulse of divine energy and that which knows the thoughts and desires of Divine Mind and co-operates with it in bringing about the ends of a perfect and healthy creation.

MYRTLE FILLMORE
Myrtle Fillmore wrote, "We rejoice and remember that we have the God-power to change conditions, the God-love to express Christlikeness, and we work lovingly and diligently with whatever we find in ourselves or our environment that falls short."^b Keeping the attention centered in the Christ Mind, we are able to see beyond appearances to the impulses of the soul, which is always urging us in our efforts to make use of what God has given. To the degree that we let Christ be lifted up in us, in that same degree shall we rid ourselves of that which may have been pronounced incurable or may have seemed to us a disease that was incurable. Let us remember what Jesus Christ said, (Matthew 19:26) "but for God all things are possible,"^c and let us listen until we hear within, (Jeremiah 32:27) "I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too hard for me?"^d

Any thought that is not based on Truth has no existence. If we believe in disease, we believe in something that has no substance or reality. When we dissolve the belief out of our minds and in its place establish the realization of the one presence and power of good and exercise our faith in health as the one presence and power within us, we will feel the conviction that we are the expression of the health that God is. This powerful conviction of oneness with divine wholeness will become permanent - nothing can take it from us. "God is love," and His love has cast out of the mind and heart all fear. There is no room for doubts and fears because God as love and health reigns supreme in us.

It says in (Romans 12:2) "be transformed by the renewing of your minds."^e In renewing the mind and bringing it into accord with Divine Mind, in which we all have individual consciousness, one needs to understand the character of the one Mind and the Truth of being as the Creator has established it. Then it is well to understand where one has been making mistakes judging by appearances, accepting illusions, working contrary to Principle, using the faculties in ways not intended by God. These mistakes and misuses of one's God-given faculties are what we term the causes of human inharmonies. The change of causes also changes the effects.

When the individual keeps his mind in tune with God-Mind, he knows constant harmony, order, success, and health. By following the teaching of Jesus Christ and seeking guidance of the Most High he does not leave room for a negative thought to enter. Health, or harmony, is the one presence and the one power in the universe.

God is continually doing His work of restoration throughout His creation in every man and in every woman, for He put us all into the world to manifest His wisdom, harmony, joy, health, perfection--all that He is. When we learn how to cooperate with this all-powerful Spirit of restoration, nothing can stand in the way of our manifesting the health that belongs to us by divine right.

Let your soul magnify the Lord, as did the mother of Jesus. There is but one Presence and one Power, God, the good. God is the Father of all, and since you are full of faith and are looking to God for help in every need, God is preparing the way. God's love surrounds, enfolds, and protects you, and all is well. Relax and free every muscle in your body from tenseness. Underneath are the everlasting arms to uphold, to strengthen, and to sustain you, so you can relax and rest in the assurance that you are being protected, that you are being strengthened, and that the way is being made easy.

We can give thanks that there is only one Presence and one Power in us and through us. Instead of looking out and seeing the sense evidences, or listening to the complaints or the woes or the trials of those around you, look directly and with undivided attention to God, the good.

It is a limitation to try to use your personal power to accomplish spiritual works. Constantly keep in mind the truth that (John 14:10) "I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works."^f Say with Jesus, The Father who dwells in me does his works. It is necessary for us to establish ourselves in the consciousness that perfection is the only reality; there is only one Presence and one Power in the universe, God, the good omnipotent.

ERNEST HOLMES
Ernest Holmes wrote, "The Axioms of Reason declare that that Which is Infinite cannot be divided against Itself. The Infinite is, therefore, Indivisible and consequently a Perfect Unit."^g It says in (Mark 12:29) "Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one."^h It is also, "That Whose Center is everywhere and Whose Circumference is nowhere." All of It is present at any and every point within It. It is not approaching a point nor receding from it but is always at it. The Whole of God is present at any and every point within God.

It was to this Indwelling Spirit that Jesus prayed; for God is within man as well as throughout all Creation. It is, "That thread of the All-Sustaining Beauty Which runs through all and unites all." "His lines have gone out into all places." "There is no place where God is not." This concept enabled Job to say, (Job 19:26) "Then in my flesh I shall see God."ⁱ

All Life is bound together by One common law of Love, and Love is the Self-Givingness of Spirit, manifested in and through all that is visible and invisible. It was the realization of this One Presence that illumined the saints and sages of the past. (John 10:30) "The father and I are one."^j (John 14:10) "The Father who dwells in me does his works."^k We must come to sense this Marvelous Presence; for It is the secret of metaphysical work; (Ephesians 4:6) "God through all and in all."^l

For instance, say to yourself: "God is All there is. There is only One Life." When you are praying, if there is any little point that is not clear, stop at once and go back to that statement and build your whole argument on It, in order to get a clear consciousness. Tell yourself, "God is All. There is only One Power, Intelligence and Consciousness in the Universe, only One Presence. Now, that One Presence cannot change. There is nothing for It to change into but Itself. It is Changeless and It is My Life now. It is in me now."

Claim that no form of race-suggestion, belief in limitation, subjective idea of limitation, thought of Karma, fatalism, theology or hell, horoscope, or any such beliefs have power. Accept none of them. If you have ever believed in them; if you have ever believed that the stars govern you, or that your environment governs you, or that your opportunities govern you, if you have ever been led to believe by any one that any of these things govern you, recognize that it is a hypnotic condition into which you have fallen, and deny every one of them, until there is no longer anything in you that believes in them.

So the first principle of Unity is
"There is only one Presence and one Power active as the universe and as my life. God the Good."

Let it be your way.