One Cause
Nothing is impossible! There are two ways to interpret this statement – both of which are correct. The obvious meaning is that it is possible to achieve anything you want. It can also be interpreted to mean that it is impossible for nothing to exist. Everything we are aware of or perceive in some way is something. It is inconceivable that something can come from nothing or that something can become nothing. It is a fact that nature abhors a vacuum and always rushes in to fill it with something. Some force or power created all that is. According to the Bible, creation is finished. Not only is creation finished, but God said it was good.
Have you ever considered what God could have used to create all there is? If creation is finished, how is it possible to pray to God to create something in your life that did not exist yesterday or today? Is it difficult to believe that God said His creation was good? If all of creation is good, why do people experience problems and how can wars, crime, starvation and other undesirable conditions exist? The answers to these questions are contained within the following pages. Your understanding of these answers will enable you to see that it is impossible for nothing to exist. You will also see that you can obtain anything you desire because nothing is impossible to the creative power that resides within you. You can be and you can have all that you desire to be and to have. There is no limit to what you can accomplish for yourself and others. It doesn’t matter what your present circumstances are. The principle you have unconsciously used to bring about the undesirable conditions in your life can be consciously applied to make your every dream come true.
Creation is finished and it is good! God created the earth and all that is in it and God said it was good. Man has puzzled over these statements for centuries. If man really understood the meanings, he would not be confused nor would he feel anxious about his past, present or future. The understanding of these two statements would enable man to realize that he, alone, controls his actions and the circumstances of his life.
Let us take the first statement. God created the earth and all that is in it. God is infinite; therefore, God must have been before any form came into being. What substance could He have used to create all that exists? There can be only one answer. God created everything that exists from the only substance available – Himself. God (thought/consciousness) spoke the Word and brought everything into being out of himself. Everything you perceive is made of the one substance – God. The one substance back of everything is energy and that energy is God or the “Word.”
Although scientists and medical men can analyze the various chemicals of which the body is made, none can combine these chemicals to form a living person. Since God created all that is out of Himself, it follows that God is the creator and the creation. God is expressing life through each and every one of us. It could not be otherwise.
Let us take the second statement. God said that His creation was good. That statement has confused man who believes that if God is good, another power must have created that which is not good. Yet, man also acknowledges that God is infinite, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient. These qualities of God must include all forms, all events, and all situations. If it were possible to remove all that is discordant or inharmonious from the world, it would not be possible to experience the reverse of that condition.
Perhaps this statement can be understood more easily if you will think of the principle of mathematics. In adding the sum of five and six, it is possible to obtain the incorrect answer of twelve. To eliminate that possibility, the number twelve would need to be removed from the whole of numbers. It would, therefore, be impossible to add six and six and reach the correct answer of twelve. You can see that by eliminating the possibility of a potential wrong answer, all numbers would eventually be eliminated, and mathematics would not be possible.
However, just as mathematics exists and can be used by anyone who has gained an understanding of how to use the principle to obtain correct answers, so the principle of creation can be understood to obtain desired results.
Because God has given all of us free will, you can choose the states you wish to occupy. God does not pre-determine your fate nor does God punish you for mistakes or misdeeds. Because a man may not understand the law of mathematics, he may be adversely affected when he makes a mistake in subtracting an amount in his check register. The law of mathematics is not punishing him. The law simply is and can be used correctly or incorrectly. God has allowed you complete freedom to choose that which you will encounter. When you come to the realization that you are God in form and expression, you will seek to experience greater good and nobler purposes for yourself and others.
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” The Word is thought or imagination. God imagined the world into being and became that which He conceived. This is the principle on which all creation rests. Since God became man to give man life, man must contain that same creative principle within himself. “The Kingdom of Heaven is within you.” We have created our personal world through thought. If you are experiencing lack, limitation, illness, disharmony or any other unwanted condition, you have either consciously or unconsciously brought these conditions into your experience. The majority of people do not realize that thought, belief, and imagination has created their individual worlds. There is no other cause for the conditions of your life. You may choose to disbelieve this, but whether you believe it or not, all that you behold in the outer world was conceived within your own consciousness prior to your experience of it.
That which you think about with feeling, that which you believe to be true and that which you imagine yourself to be or to have is the cause of everything in your personal world. You may believe that there is some other cause; you may blame others for your problems; you may believe that the events were wrought by fate or chance, but if you are objective and observe your own beliefs and thought patterns, you will see that your world accurately reflects all that you believe to be true of yourself and others. There is no one and nothing to change but the ideas from which you think. We think from ideas that we consent to as true and we imagine situations that match our beliefs.
Consciousness is the only reality. It is the creative principle that brings into your experience the exact duplicate or reflection of that which you imagine to be true. The world in which we live mirrors all that we believe and imagine to be true, be it good, bad, or indifferent.
The sooner that man rids himself of the belief in a second cause, the sooner will he realize that nothing happens to him except that which originates in his own consciousness. I do not deny that man believes that if he contracts a certain germ or virus that he will manifest a particular illness or disease. If he contemplates the cause, he may conclude that it is because he came in contact with someone else who had the bug. He doesn’t realize that in some way, his own feelings about health or illness attracted the illness he is experiencing. If viruses or germs were truly the cause of disease, everyone who came in contact with a particular virus would be affected. The outer world merely reflects that which a man is in his own consciousness.
It doesn’t matter what you have been taught; you can change your beliefs and so change the circumstances of your life. The Bible states that when you pray, believe that you have received and you shall have it. Most of us have read that statement or heard it at some time. Few people have actually prayed in that manner. Have you ever been ill and prayed for health? If you needed money, did you believe when you prayed that you already had the sum you asked for? Most people pray to God to change something in their lives or to give them something they do not have. If their prayers were not answered, they think that God had a reason for withholding that particular thing. They think that perhaps God didn’t grant their request because He didn’t want them to attain their desire for some reason known only to God. Man sometimes thinks that God doesn’t answer prayers because man is undeserving of that which he seeks. Man must learn to believe in that which he does not, at the moment, see in order to grant himself that which he desires to have. Man’s payers are always answered, for he always receives that which he believes. The law that governs prayer is impersonal. Belief is the condition necessary to realize the desire. No amount of pleas or ritual will bring about the fulfillment of your desires other than the belief that you are or have that which you want.
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” The full meaning of that statement must be understood. If the meaning were understood, man would have no problem in accomplishing his aims. Most men believe that nothing is impossible to God – that God could do anything if he chose to do it. So man believes he has faith in God and prays to God for that which he wants. If his prayer is not granted, he thinks that he either did not pray long enough or hard enough or that God chose to withhold his request. However, faith is the actual substance of that which is hoped for. It is the evidence of the thing you want which you do not see in the outer world. That which you want to do or be has already been created. Therefore, it actually does exist. It is possible to bring into your world anything in creation by your belief that you already have it. Faith that what you want is already a fact is the means by which you activate the invisible state. That state then is later reflected in your outer world. Creation is finished. God can create nothing that is not already existent. Faith or belief that you already are or have that which you desire is the only means by which to experience your desires. No limitation is imposed on that which you can have except your failure to assume possession of the quality or thing desired.