The Mystery of God
Nona L. Brooks
Mysteries,
1924.
Divine Science Federation
Int’l
3rd Printing, 1977.
Copyright Material
Reprinted by Permission
Men have
long believed that they could not know
God, and that what the eye of the senses
could not behold was an insolvable
mystery. Their concept of God was that of
an almighty ruler governing the universe
invisibly and mysteriously; God had
created the world ages ago, and after
creation was complete, had departed out
of the world, never to be seen of the
children of men. He had, however, created
the first man and the first woman, before
he disappeared from earth to abide far
off in the heavens. Hence arose the
mystery about God.
When we were
children many of us worshiped a different
God from the one we are worshiping today.
The change is not in God, but in our
conception of God. Men conceived a God
hidden from his subjects, ruling
arbitrarily, and visiting the sins of the
fathers upon the children from generation
to generation.
The
conception of God is changing from this
limited belief into the vision of an
almighty, loving Father including His
world. We are conceiving of God as
infinite Life, Love, Intelligence, Power,
Joy, bringing forth His Universe by law.
Natural science, modern ethics, true
religion, emphasize law as the principle
of the Universe upon which all life
rests. Law is the unchanging method by
which God is expressing; it is always
true to Divine Being. Law is the basis
upon which truth rests. It is the
assurance that God is expressing; law is
our assurance of good. Our lives, then,
are based upon the certainty of the
unfailing principle of omnipresent
good.
"If I take the wings of the morning,
and dwell
in the uttermost parts of the
sea;
Even there shall thy hand lead me, and
thy
right hand shall hold me."
We find that
it is comparatively easy for the thought
of the twentieth century to understand
the concept of the infinitude of God. The
infinite universe of form is God in
action. God is infinite changeless
abundance. The Universe abounds not only
in infinite love and power, but in those
things needed every day from the greatest
unto the least, from the most important
to the seemingly least significant. We
are awaking to the immediacy of God also.
This infinite nearness of God is more
difficult of comprehension, however. We
can see God in measureless distances and
mighty systems, but to see God in the
tiny flower and to come to recognize that
there is no point in space or on earth
where God is not, is more difficult. The
concept of the immediacy of God reveals
to us that God is in the smallest details
of daily living, as well as in the
greatest events of the progress of
man.
Natural
science is marching hand in hand with
modern religious conception; one, it is
true, uses scientific expression; the
other, religious expression. There is,
however, small import in terms; according
to both conceptions there is one
substance. We Divine Scientists spell
Substance with a capital; for to us the
universe is Substance, and Substance in
action. Astronomy shows us that God is
responsible not only for the forming, but
for the revolution of the planet in its
orbit. Chemistry and physics reveal a
reign of law, also; biology stands for
integrity of expression. Let us not fall
short in our thinking; let us keep
steadfast, and each hour will show us
more of God in action on every hand. The
most vivid of life’s experiences is
found in the consciousness of the
omnipresence of God--love, power,
abundance, integrity. To know that the
breath of life is the breath of God, that
the loving word and deed are God in
action, that your strength and my
strength are limitless in God, that our
gifts and our joys are God’s intent
for us, that every right thought and
every corresponding action of ours are
approved of God, is the greatest of
experiences.
The God of
integrity is the God of love. God is
love, means that God is in action; and
God in action is law as well as love. In
the light of the unfolding concept of God
as love and integrity, we see that all
law is beneficent. The God of love knows
no unforgiveness. Jesus, through whom we
see the Father working, showed in his
living and in his teaching what it means
to love perfectly; he showed us how to
forgive. Jesus taught that the quality of
our love for the Father is shown forth in
the way we love our fellow men.
Recall the
words of the wise in the hours of stress
and in times of meditation: "Behold, do I
not fill heaven and earth, saith the
Lord?" Whither, then, shall we flee from
Spirit? We are always in the presence of
God. It is true, our ideal is so great
that our shortcomings stand out in vivid
contrast--a contrast which causes us to
lose heart at times, and think that we
have wandered far from Spirit and truth.
This, however, is not true. We are in the
presence of God, even though we know it
not. Our failings are evidence of
separation in our thinking only. It is in
the hard experiences, and at times of
discouragement, that we should be able to
use what we know of truth in order to
discern between the true and the false,
and to see that God does fill heaven and
earth, with His presence, His life, and
His abundance. Let us train our thought
to realize the immediacy of God, and also
to think out with understanding faith
into the great expanse of universality.
We see God as He is when we learn to see
wholeness instead of separation. Might it
not be, that we shall come to know the
Father as He knows himself, when our
vision grows more nearly complete? Then
shall we know the fullness that filleth
all.
Let us bring
God as near as we can get Him. When we do
this we shall see reality instead of
appearance. When there is something
unsightly in that which we see before us,
what should be our reaction? So often the
seeming defect is all that we see. Our
first impulse is to think that God is not
there. Why not look through the
unsightliness? It is only our concept of
the experience--our misconception. True
insight proves to us that what we are
seeing imperfectly, God is seeing
perfectly. The one Creator is bringing
forth perfectly.
We are
worshiping today a perfect God. Let us
keep true to the ideal of perfection in
every experience as well as in every
thought. It is necessary to see
perfection in process and in form, and
not to weaken when we see imperfection,
for there is no truth in it. Always ask
yourself this question, "Is the
difficulty in the condition, or is it in
my seeing?" The answer will come
immediately, if you have kept your
attitude true. "I am looking upon that
which is by nature perfect." It is our
responsibility to keep our vision true to
what we know. What is the reaction then
of God to His world? He is His world; He
includes it; He is expressing as His
world. The true vision reveals God-Life
everywhere.
I look upon
the desk in my study. It has served me
well. I touch it; my senses, true to the
old conception of form, report in a
certain way. I was trained to see my desk
as something entirely different in
substance from myself, and to think of
matter and Spirit as separate and
distinct. From this point of view I have
called my desk lifeless. It has always
seemed to resist my touch; hence I have
called it hard--a solid. I look at the
desk, and I see with these two eyes an
unbeautiful mass, dull, lifeless, static;
I say to you, "This is inanimate matter."
In the old way of looking at the outer
manifestations there is no connection
between this desk and me, a living
organism, except that subject to my will
it serves me. Through this kind of
thinking the misconception, duality,
arose.
The one who
is well informed in recent discoveries in
the scientific world says to me in answer
to my recital of these facts concerning
my desk, "You do not understand matter
according to the new concept. Nothing
that you have said of your desk is true.
The senses can never illumine you, even
though the eyes see and the touch feels.
The mentality is bound by statements long
worn out. This desk is not a solid,
lifeless mass; it is a center of activity
composed of tiny, intelligent, whirling
bodies called atoms held in the form
which we call a desk by the law of
attraction. Matter is a mode of motion;
all form is living, intelligent
activity."
There comes
to me new meaning in the words of Jesus,
"According to your faith be it unto you."
Then, the proverb, "As a man thinketh in
his heart so is he," flashes through my
thought. Is it not true that as a man
believes about the universe of form and
the world of experiences, so is the
universe to him; so does he experience? I
see my desk in a new light; I see the
blade of grass by the wayside with new
comprehension. Each is a center of
motion, of intelligent activity in the
great expanse of universal ether. I no
longer perceive deadness but livingness,
not matter subject to decay and death,
but living substance radiant with the
life-principle of universal activity. I
see Life as God himself in action. The
words of natural science are being heard
throughout the land, for scientists are
speaking with no uncertain voice, and
these words are being received with
wondering approval.
We are
hearing other voices speaking with
authority also. Divine Scientists are
saying, "The explanations of natural
science accord with our deepest
perception of truth. We see God
everywhere. We know the Universe as the
One Substance in action. A universal God
must be present in His creation." When we
say this, we imply all that the natural
scientist says about creation or form. We
like to say, "There is only God and God
in action." God in action is form; God in
action is law. God is infinitely
intelligent, and is bringing forth
according to His perfect idea. The
intelligence of God is evidenced in the
law and order of the universe and is
manifested as living forms. There is no
inanimate matter, for matter, according
to Divine Science, is Substance in
action. Substance, as we see it, cannot
be subject to mishaps and corruption. I
like to quote these words of Jesus, "I,
if I be lifted up, will draw all unto
me." He saw that when thought is lifted
up in you and in me, we lift all that is
around us. As we lift our thoughts the
world around us arises to meet these. All
nature and all men are seen in the light
of wholeness as perfect expressions of
the infinite Creator. Being is perfect.
We are Being in manifestation. "In thy
light shall we see light." In this light
shall we look upon all that God is
making, and with God call it good.
How shall we
look at God? With the eyes of Spirit! How
shall we think of God? As Universal
Expansion; yes, this is easy; but I am
making a special plea to all of us to
acknowledge God in all our ways--in all
expression; to accustom ourselves to the
concept of the nearness of God, to the
immediacy of the Presence of perfection.
When we look at the objects around us, at
our bodies, at all nature, let us see to
it that the wrong conception shall not
dominate, but that we shall perceive with
inner vision only intelligent, loving,
powerful, harmonious activity--God in
action. God is all, both visible and
invisible. Let us see as God sees; God
sees by the understanding of His love. He
knows reality, and never swerves. He sees
you and me as perfect expressions of His
own idea. God sees us as living soul. He
sees our bodies as form, His own
Substance in action. Our lives are in
God.
The old
beliefs are passing; the New Revelation
is showing us God in action in every
expression of the universe of form. God
is His universe. If we raise our eyes to
the stars we see the light of God shining
through; if we watch for the glory of the
sunlight we see God again. Mother Earth
and all of her children show us
God--Activity radiating love. Nature is
God in action; what about the affairs of
men? Is God active in these, too? God is
working out His universal plan in the
affairs of men. Are we cooperating? God
is not a ruler of men; He is the very
life of men. God works by means of you
and me, and of all other people on the
earth. Let us be by choice co-workers in
the kingdom. There is neither first nor
last here. All men are one.
There are
neither mysteries nor miracles in the
kingdom of God; there is cause and
effect, which Divine Science thinks of as
one. This is the truth of every day.
There are no places where God is not. Our
ignorance of the principle of universal
love accounts for the lack that we
sometimes feel. There is only one way; it
is the way to life eternal. The light of
truth is ever shining on this path, which
leads to reality. The light of truth
shows us that there is one Presence and
Power, and that this Presence is the only
Presence, this Spirit, the only
Substance; this Mind, the only
Intelligence; this Love, the Universal
Nature; this Activity, the only
Activity--God.
In God there
are no mysteries; there is only
light.
* * * * *
Mysteries
Table of
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(Formerly at
Northwoods Divine Science Resource
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