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Unconfined -- Not LocalIf someone asks you where you are from, do you name a country, or city, or street? Have you made yourself as comfortable as you can in a home, a neighborhood, or body? Have you ever felt small compared to the immensity of space? "Science reveals the glorious possibilities of immortal man, forever unlimited by the mortal senses" (SH. 288:27-28). If Spirit is not conformed to locality or finite form, why should we think we are? Christ assures us, "I am the image and likeness of Spirit, and therefore live without locality; I am unconfined." Spirit's idea of man does not spread out toward the distant stars. Man includes the universe. Life is without limit or locality. There is no compartment to hold Truth, and there is no compartment to hold man -- no framework of limitation. If Spirit made man as image and likeness, does not man fill all space, not as many, but in fullness? "Mortals must emerge from this notion of material life as all-in-all. They must peck open their shells with Christian Science, and look outward and upward" (SH 552:16-19). God's Son beholds infinity without a shell; there is no outward and upward to discover. Truth's image is Self-confirmation, and Love's likeness is proof of creation. When we hear the call of an angel and say "I am here, Lord," know that it means "I am conscious, present, and listening." Divine messages are not sent and received at a distance, and hearing does not take time or fade out in the infinite range of creation. I live as omnipresence. I think as unlimited Mind. All the attributes of God are my qualities. "Be still, and know that I am God" is absolute and literally correct because I am the knower (Ps. 46:10). Jesus said, "Ye shall know the truth." "Science …is unfolding Life and the universe, ever present and eternal" (SH 306:25). Suppose that you are singing a beautiful song in a chorus. The music is inspiring and its message transcends the stage and the performers. Now, suppose that there is one member of the chorus who is just humming the notes while struggling to find his place. That person missed the exalted experience. They may remember where they were standing on the stage for a short time, but they did not experience communion with the rest of the chorus. The importance of every moment flickers out of memory when the Spirit of Life is missing. From the vantage point of Soul, there is no confused performer or missed performance. We must be prepared to live in the Spirit. "When the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place ... And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:1, 4). The radiance of Truth was upon them all as one universal messenger ? all-inclusive communication. Because the disciples were of one mind, their voices transcended language and locale. God's mouthpiece always repeats the harmony of Soul as one voice. There are no secrets here, no disappointments or confusion, no listeners left out, and no forgotten tones. Infinite does not move. Truth has no coming and going, no distance, no dimension, no scale, no voids, no fluctuations, no expansion or compression. God is Truth and I am the Truth (the evidence). You may say, "This is too grand of an idea to assimilate; it's just not practical. How can I leave my framework of personality, status, and place here and understand myself as unlimited?" Know that leaving all for Christ is possible and that the reward is certain. "Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him" (Gen. 5:24). He shed bodily limitations and proved himself to be unconfined by space or matter. "Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven" (II Kings 2:11). As Elijah's faith in God increased, the still small voice of Truth became a whirlwind of power, lifting him above his fear of death and sense of security in matter. Jesus said, "No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven" (John 3:13). No one can understand the intent of this statement until they witness it for themselves. "And it came to pass, as he sat at meat … their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight" (Luke 24:30, 31). "And it came to pass, while he blessed them, he was parted from them, and carried up into heaven" where he was before (Luke 24:51). It is important to understand that Jesus did not go anywhere. It was only their lack of understanding that temporarily hid the ideal man from their view. They were being prepared to see God face to face -- to be pure in heart. "St. John's corporeal sense of the heavens and earth had vanished, … he could see the new heaven and new earth, which involve the spiritual idea and consciousness of reality" while still on this plane of existence. (SH 573:19-23). So can you. Go and sell all that you have -- your ego, passion, vengeance, judgement, death, locality, and sense of confinement -- and buy the pearl of great price, which is Christ Science. "Then we push onward, until boundless thought walks enraptured, and conception unconfined is winged to reach the divine glory" (SH 323:10-12). "There is no limit to infinitude or
to its reflections" (SH 517:23-24). |
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