LET THERE BE A FIRMAMENT IN THE MIDST OF THE WATERS

And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst

of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. Gen. 1:6.

In previous posts I have expressed the view, which I have long held, that sacred scripture makes much more sense when it is interpreted spiritually or metaphysically. What that means, among other things, is that many of the stories and events described in sacred scripture should be taken to occur within the mind or consciousness of the reader---that is, you and me.

Now, the above verse from the Bible, when interpreted metaphysically, means this. Just as God is said to have created a ‘firmament’ to divide the waters from the waters, so must we in our moment-to-moment living. The word ‘water’ (or ‘waters’) is a very important word in sacred scripture; it refers to ‘spirit’---that is, your consciousness or mind. More specifically, the word refers to the creative process of mind dynamics at work in your mind. The word ‘God’ refers to that ‘I Am-ness’ that is the very ground of your being, the reality of your life---that is, life in you, and as you. More specifically, the word 'God' refers to your own particular understanding or concept of God as a power-not-oneself, that last mentioned expression encapsulating the ‘real’ person that you are, as opposed to all those little ‘I’s’ and ‘me’s’ that parade before your consciousness and demand your attention. More than that, those 'I's' and 'me's' distract and divert you from living mindfully from one moment to the next. You may say, ‘Well, I don’t believe in God, at least not the God of traditional religion.’ That may be so, and I won’t argue with you on that matter, but please accept that it is still the case that whatever you give power or authority (that is, attention) to---that is your god. 

I am not into Christian Science---although I have made quite a study of it---but as I see it Mary Baker Eddy (pictured left) got a number of things right. In the ‘Glossary’ to Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mrs Eddy defines ‘firmament’ as spiritual understanding, being the line of demarcation between Truth and error. I see it this way---‘firmament’ is the line of demarcation between living mindfully and living mindlessly. Living mindfully is living from and with a choiceless awareness of Life as it unfolds from one moment to the next. Living mindlessly is living in bondage to those false selves, those likes, dislikes, cravings and attachments in our mind and body, which we mistakenly believe are the ‘real’ person that each of us is. In Truth, each one of us is a person among persons. We are not those waxing and waning false selves, those ‘I’s’ and ‘me’s’ that misdirect and mislead us into thinking they are ‘us.’

A Divine Science minister of yesteryear, H B Jeffery (pictured below right), wrote in his book The Principles of Healing that each of us must be a ‘firmament,’ which Jeffery described as a ‘firm mind.’ Jeffery advised us to ‘stand firm with your eye single to one thing only---the Presence of God.’ Another way of expressing that is this---don’t allow yourself, that is, the person that you are, to be deflected by the content of your consciousness or mind. Watch, with choiceless awareness, what unfolds from one moment to the next, but don’t identify with any of the content or mental wallpaper. It is not ‘you.’ Not at all.

What Mrs Eddy referred to as ‘mortal mind’ are various beliefs---actually, misbeliefs---and subjective states of consciousness that have no substantive reality. In the Glossary to Science and Health she defined ‘mortal mind’ as ‘nothing claiming to be something.’ I like that. Nothing claiming to be something. That is precisely what those ‘I’s’ and ‘me’s’ do---they claim to be something, that something being the person that you are, but they are not that person. They are ‘nothing’ in the sense that they have no separate, independent, permanent, substantive existence of their own. They are mental wallpaper that have no power or authority other than what we give them by our attention and identification---and it is best that we don’t do that. Otherwise, we have, in the words of Mrs Eddy, ‘error creating other error,’ and that is a recipe for human failure.

You see, what I am talking about is this---we need to rescue ourselves, the person each of us is, from everything that separates us from the fulness of being. We need to shift our focus from a false concept of being to a right one, the latter being nothing less than---be-ing-ness itself ... the 'one primal cause.' At its best, every religion seeks to rescue us ... from our 'selves' ... in the knowledge that everything---yes, every thing---is being created, or rather re-created, afresh in each new moment!

So, live mindfully. Create and maintain a ‘firmament’ in your mind, separating error (your false selves) from truth (life as it unfolds from one moment to the next).

SEND FORTH YOUR WORD---AND IT SHALL BE DONE

Have you heard of New Thought? It's a self-help movement, and a way of constructive thinking and living. Now, don't get me wrong. I have both feet firmly planted on the ground---well, most of the time---so I am not really into New Age thinking, prosperity consciousness, and the like. However, I have had a long and happy association with a couple of churches that emphasize a metaphysical approach to life and which construe and interpret sacred scripture, not literally, but allegorically and symbolically.

The truth is that all sacred scripture and mythology is written in figurative and symbolical language. Take the Bible, for instance. It's all about you---indeed, every person---and your journey through life. It's all about how you can use your mind to your greatest advantage as well as to the advantage of others. One of the greatest New Thought ministers of all time, Dr Emmet Fox, wrote,  'I wish that every Bible had printed on the cover, “This means ME,” because everything in the Bible is a study in human psychology and metaphysics.' Ditto the Quran and all other sacred books.

In recent times a number of books have been written that espouse the almost heretical view that positive thinking is not the way to go. Rather, we should engage in ‘realistic thinking.’ What these writers don’t seem to realize is that true positive thinking is realistic thinking. I repeat, positive thinking is realistic thinking. The fair dinkum positive thinker does not see the world through rose-colored glasses. No, he or she sees things as they really are, but simply refuses to give power to the negative. Some difficulties and problems in life are insoluble, but there is always a way of responding effectively to them, even if that sometimes means living with the difficulty or problem. Yes, despite what some New Thoughters have asserted, no amount of positive thinking will change some cold, hard facts, but it can nevertheless help you to rise above, or simply accept, the harsh side of life.

In short, I have never found it helpful to engage in negative thinking. As I see it, you can be both positive and realistic at the same time. I will, however, say this. Contrary to what my old spiritual mentor Dr Norman Vincent Peale (pictured above) used to preach, I no longer think it’s necessary to always substitute a positive thought for a negative thought that arises, and as soon as it arises, in consciousness. The regular practice of mindfulness has taught me that it is more often than not sufficient to simply observe and note the negative thought, but refuse to give it any more attention than that---and certainly no power over you. Observe, note, but don't dwell on the negative thought.

Now, when it comes to positive thinking, affirmations, creative visualization, and the like, the really important thing is this---there is nothing to believe 'in', but the act of belief, in and of itself, can be curative and otherwise beneficial. Indeed, without belief in your desire or vision, you will certainly fail. ‘For as you think in your heart [that is, mind], so are you’ (Prov 23:7). We need to rise above our problems and difficulties. Take this Bible verse: ‘And I, if I be lifted up from the earth [that is, the problem or difficulty], will draw all men [the various ‘elements’ that go to make up the solution to your problem or difficulty] unto me’ (Jn 12:32). This ‘lifting up’ takes place in your mind. Some refer to it as getting ‘altitude’ on your problem, others call it ‘expanded consciousness.’ It doesn’t really matter what you call it, it’s simply a reference to the creative process.

Here’s something else that is very important. Only felt thought---that is, believed thought---works. There must be a strong feeling-tone or emotional mood to your thought (that is, your desire, vision or intention) for it to 'work.' True, any thought always induces some feeling or emotion, but in order for your thoughts to be truly creative there must be a strong emotional tone to your thought. The thought must be felt as true if it is to impregnate your subconscious. More than that, thought and feeling must become one. You must feel 'at-one' with your thought. That giant of New Thought, Judge Thomas Troward (pictured left), said, ‘Feeling is the law [of mind] and the law is feeling, the law of perfect creativeness.’ In other words, no feeling, no result.

The 'Father of American Psychology' Professor William James [pictured below right] also understood the vital importance of feeling or emotion. He wrote, ‘Individuality is founded in feeling; and the recesses of feeling, the darker, blinder strata of character, are the only places in the world in which we catch real fact in the making, and directly perceive how events happen, and how work is actually done.’ Yes, it is feeling or emotion that impresses a desire, vision or intention onto the subconscious mind. Indeed, the desire, vision or intention always 'springs' from the feeling or emotion. In the words of the Rev Ike, 'The feeling gets the blessing!' However, it is not enough to simply want something very much. You must believe the object of your desire, vision or intention to be true. So, the thought must be both felt and believed to be true if there is to be any chance of its actualization.

 

Now, this is the real meaning of the Bible verse, 'I have laid up thy word [i.e. desire, vision or intention] in my heart [i.e. mind/especially subconscious mind]' (Ps 119:11). That is where the real power source is located. Then there's this verse---'let it be to me according to your word' (Lk 1:38). Thoughts are creative, and the thoughts we habitually entertain and cultivate  in our minds will to a very large degree determine what happens in our lives. Then there's this gem of wisdom---'by your words you will be justified [a positive or satisfactory outcome], and by your words you will be condemned [a negative or unsatisfactory outcome]' (Mt 12:37). We create our own heaven or hell by our thoughts and mental attitudes, so 'choose whom you will serve' (Josh 24:14). Now, this is one of my favorite verses: ‘he sent forth his word, and healed them, and delivered them from destruction’ (Ps 107:20). All of these verses are about you. You see, the term 'word', when used in the Bible, refers to your inner speech, more particularly, thought with feeling, felt thought, believed thought, awareness, conviction, consciousness, and even mindfulness. After all, a word is simply an articulated thought, whether expressed exteriorly or interiorly.

Here’s another very important word in sacred scripture---‘water’ (or ‘waters’). ‘And the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters’ (Gen 1:2). Interpreted metaphysically, this verse of the Bible refers to ‘spirit’---that is, your creative word (namely, felt thought or feeling) passing through your consciousness (‘waters’) and bringing your desire, vision or intention into manifestation. It is the creative process of mind dynamics---working in your mind. In the same way as the Spirit of God is said to have brought the entire world into existence through intention, so we are able to create desired experience in our own lives through our own individualized intentions. The same, single 'logic' (that is, law or principle) applies to all things.

We are because God (Life) is. So, there is one way of being, with thought being creative according to the nature, impulse, emotion, intention, and conviction behind the thought. Now, the Bible says that ‘the words of a person’s mouth [mind] are as deep waters, and the wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook’ (Prov 18:4), and ‘there is a river, the streams of which shall make glad the city of God’ (Ps 46:4). The reference to ‘deep waters’ is a reference to consciousness, in particular, the depths of your mind, especially your subconscious mind, and the term ‘city of God’ refers to a sound mind or state of consciousness.

Having created a positive mental attitude for yourself. live, move, and act in that mental atmosphere as if (the 'act as if' principle of William James [pictured right]) your desire or ideal were already a fact. 'Believe that you have received, and you shall receive' (cf Mk 11:24), says the Bible. And, when it comes to affirmations, here’s a useful Bible verse: ‘Let the weak say, I am strong’ (Joel 3:10).

One more verse from the Bible---'Even the Lord is in the midst of you; you shall not see evil any more' (Zep 3:15). New Thought teaches that there is only one creative Power and Presence active in the world and in our lives. That Power and Presence is the very ground of Be-ing Itself---the All-in-All ... in all things, as all things. The Power and Presence is God (the Good)---and you can use it! Whatever comes to you will be in accordance with your consciousness. So, take charge of your thoughts---and use them wisely.

The Bible verses to which I have referred are misinterpreted by many preachers, especially traditional Christian ones. As I've already mentioned, the Bible is a psychological and metaphysical textbook when properly understood. Of course, you have to study and work hard as well. Positive thinking is never enough on its own. However, without a strong positive mental attitude, you are doomed to fail.

So, send forth your word---and it shall be done for you. The important thing is to accept the ‘it’ … whatever it may be.