But behind that which changes, behind that which causes the change, we have found that there is something stable and changeless, something eternal upon which all external events depend for their very existence. Behind the endless process of change and the infinite variety of experience and expression there is That which does not change.
We should never be afraid of change, never fearful of what will come. Instead we should bring to bear on each new event the influence of the creative nature of our thought—an influence that is founded on an inward calm, a sense of certainty and peace, which will reflect itself in the changing scene of our everyday lives.
As we look for and discover the nature of the Infinite which does not change, we find that we develop a complete trust in Its integrity. We are again reminded of Einstein’s remark that “God does not play dice with the cosmos.” And we then come to possess a feeling of security which is enhanced by the knowledge that each of us has a personal and intimate relationship with the Infinite. It is from this inward basis of certainty—this sense and awareness of our relationship to God, who is changeless but from whom flow infinite expressions—that all our thoughts should flow.
Infinite variety
In our daily living we encounter infinite variety in all things. But behind the expression there is a pattern or form which is the foundation. There is a unity, but not a uniformity, that exists between all similar expressions, a unity that resides in the ultimate creative nature of the Universe, a unity that allows freedom of individual expression.
An obvious lesson can be learned if we look at ourselves, our families, our friends. We discover that we are all human beings, all pretty much the same. A head, two eyes, two ears, a nose, a mouth, a body, arms, and legs. And as we look farther afield at the entire human race, we find some races are tall, others short—some white, others black, yellow, or red. But behind every person, every race, there is the basic pattern, a pattern that is individually expressed. If there were not the possibility of variation of expression, life could never have developed its infinite variety. And if there had not been a basic pattern behind the development of humankind, there never would have been any way for it to develop.
The great explosion
One of the most amazing events in the development of humankind into its present physical form occurred in the early stages of its existence. According to anthropologist Loren Eiseley, humans at that time, in physical structure and general appearance, gave evidence of the people to come. The pattern existed. But through infinite changes and variations, a fuller and more perfect expression occurred. Then an amazing thing happened. For no reason that scientists have been able to determine, humans developed an enlarged brain—a brain far beyond the capacity needed for the containment of cells necessary for the operation of the senses for survival and the automatic functioning of the physical body. Without any previous indication, without any comparable thing occurring elsewhere in any living thing, humans suddenly (in terms of geological time) possessed a brain that was capable of functioning far beyond any demands that could ever be made on it by the physical body. It was an elaborate instrument that was capable of being a channel for thought, creative thought.
Why did it appear? What caused it to appear? What was its purpose? There is no academic answer forthcoming through the strict limitations science places upon itself. But those who have devoted their lives to science sometimes step outside their laboratories, for a moment turn aside from their microscopes, and say what they think.
Freedom from domination
Some scientists say that with the advent of this unpredictable development in humankind, something new appears to have been injected into God’s creation. Something different had been brought into creation by the Mind behind all creation—a unique expression of Itself. Thus we were freed from many of the instinctive limitations of our physical bodies. We were aware of ourselves! We could think! Infinite Mind is the only thing that can be ascertained to have thought, consciousness, and intelligence, and now It established for Itself, in and through humankind, a means of awareness, creativeness, and consciousness of what It had created. With the development of the larger brain in humans, Mind came forth anew into Its creation, ushering in a whole new era, the future of which we but little realize. We now need to learn to free ourselves from the complete domination of the instinctive functioning of the nervous system, although it serves our physical body well and has brought it to the high degree of perfection which it now exhibits.
The physical body has always faced a threat in one of two ways: either to fight or to escape through flight. This same instinctive reaction is of value to us today, but we need to place a limitation on its action. We deal largely with ideas in our daily lives, and when we encounter one we do not like, our bodies are whipped up to engage in combat or prepared for flight. Even though the body is never able actually to do anything about either fighting or fleeing from an idea, the resulting wear and tear are most disastrous.
We now need to discover that new thing which resides within us and is ever seeking fuller expression through us, and we shall find that it is the individualization in us of the infinite conscious creative Intelligence.
Nonresistance
We generally seem to resist change, even that which is better for us. We also appear to resist being what we really are. We need to learn carefully and surely to permit ourselves to accept the fuller expression of the Mind that is within us. Against this there must be no resistance. For in Its creative flow through us rests our entire future—the greater person we may be and the richer life we desire to enjoy.
When we establish within our thought a nonresistance to that Power which is greater than we are, we are at the same time accepting within ourselves a stability that is the stability of the universe. We find ourselves secure, for we know that we are part of That which causes change but is never affected by any of the changes. As we gradually attain this sense of security, we will find that we view the changes occurring about us in a proper perspective. We will have stopped letting ourselves be blown about like straws in the wind or tossed helplessly about in a turbulent sea whose waves are doubt and fear and anxiety.
We may liken ourselves to the atom, whose center or nucleus is relatively stable. Around it revolve the electrons in orderly, harmonious orbits. In much the same way, once we discover the stable center that resides within us, all our experiences will revolve around us in an orderly way. Once our consciousness becomes stabilized through security founded on a conviction of the nature of God, and we come to have an inner awareness that the Creative Intelligence of the universe resides at the center of us, then will our experiences take on a pattern of harmony—a natural outflowing of our inner security.