The Still Waters

Spirit Untouched

March 2006

     “As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.” (Psalm 103: 12).

     “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” (I Corinthians 15: 47 & 49).

     “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” (Luke 10: 19).

     Throughout the ages, people of Earth have tried to explain the reason we’re here, in this contrary physical universe. We study philosophies, religions, myths, old wives tale, and sheer fantasies in our search for the truth of being. We want to come out of the mental darkness we feel here. We want to conquer all the uncertainty, doubt and fear of this human place—fear that this current existence is all there is, and it never made any real sense to begin with.

     Sometimes, something in the public domain speaks to us from a movie, radio program, TV, or even a neighbor, that makes us have a Eureka moment; and as we pause to consider what we’ve just heard, knowing that it has the light of truth about it, it changes our thinking (or even our lives) in some small or large way, from that instant on.

     These instances of enlightenment are the moments of spiritual growth in our lives. They change our lives, however minutely, because they change the way we think about something—and a permanent change in thought changes how we live and express ourselves, even in our outward body form.

     Recently, I heard someone repeat a statement they’d heard, or possibly read, from someone else. (I’m paraphrasing it, not knowing the exact quotation.) The statement is: ‘We’re not human beings, having a spiritual experience; rather, we’re spiritual beings having a human experience.’

     I wish I knew who’d said or originated that realization, because I would read whatever else he or she has to say. It was a perfect way to express a really important truth for us all. It instantly brought back a distant memory for me—the memory of the day when I’d first heard the notion (from within my own consciousness) that I wasn’t a physical being at all, but really a spiritual being who was safe in God’s loving care forever, and that nothing on the physical plane could touch that spiritual ‘me’ or my real body.

     I was fifteen, at the time of this particular Eureka moment, but it was the strongest enlightenment from within I’d ever had; and it changed my life quite dramatically from then on. I even began searching for a new religion, because the old one suddenly felt like grade school to me. My identity and circumstances were never lived in the same way again. (I’ve written of this incident in a couple of other articles.)

     As with all real truths, the realization of spiritual, rather than physical being is important to everyone and it applies to everyone. It’s at the very heart of spiritual healing; for the realization that material existence is a temporary, fraudulent assumption (more a state of mind than a state of actual being) is what opens the door of consciousness to let in the saving light of spiritual existence. We then begin to cease trying to heal a physical person, in body or mind, (since no such person exists) and replace this seeming identity with the real identity: the spiritual being who needs no real healing, except in belief, because each of us is really a spiritual being having only a human experience of sickness or discord—not an actual sick or discordant human being needing to have a spiritual experience, called healing.

     It’s generally believed that disease is a real condition and we have to do something about it—rather than realize something about the falsity of it. Yet, the latter part of that statement is what’s necessary. We all come by this belief in disease, as a part of us, naturally. Even those of us on the spiritual healing path often tend to believe in spiritual being as a nice theory, but we can become quite fearful when anything discordant happens with us physically. People want to believe that God can take disease, danger and even death out of our human experience; but given the material life experience we’re having, it doesn’t seem possible.

     Our doubts follow naturally from the false belief that the physical ‘laws’ of both good and evil effects were created by God—when in fact, all real laws created by God are spiritual and everlastingly harmonious to all creation. If this were not so, creation would eventually self-destruct from any and all evil elements. But from this assumption that the material creation (human experience) is God’s creation, it makes more sense to plead for divine intervention from the Almighty to remove one of God’s dangerous or deadly material laws, on our behalf, if we’ve been good enough. (We always seem to add this in, when approaching our concept of God. We often review our behavior, to see if we’ve sinned too much in the last couple of weeks, because God might not be so disposed to help us, if we’ve been too bad.)

     This type of thinking exists around the world. We’ve been raised since the physical birth event to believe in material law and power, material cause and effect. Human beliefs of life and health have been left out of physical-seeming, cause and effect occurrences except in the area of so-called psychosomatic illnesses. Medical research has been advancing, however, toward the broader recognition of what is termed the “mind-body connection.” Scientists have known for years that placebos (false medications) work, but they’ve yet to realize why. General acceptance of cause and effect in matter as law (rather than universal belief) along with the greater science of physics, both rule the scientific community.

     Thus, it will be centuries, I think, before metaphysics (mental causation) trumps physics (physical causation) as a science in the greater world population. Yet, one day the realization that consciousness rules experience will be comprehended in its entirety. It will probably still be a long time before the collective consciousness of humanity realizes that it’s the belief in good and evil as dueling partners that is the root of all the material evils that seem to plague us in this human experience.

     Here’s another observation I’ve made, over the years. When I was in the public practice of spiritual healing, I found that most people (even those who’ve been raised in the more metaphysical ways) still want to use spiritual truths, like a mental power, to change a sick physical being into a well physical being—rather than realizing that since one is a spiritual being, living and moving within God, Spirit, in the first place, there’s no sickness nor damage to heal, nor remove from being, in the second place—despite the human appearances to the contrary. The only thing to remove is the false material belief from our thinking, which tells us that sickness, injury, poverty and all things bad actually exist in God’s spiritual creation—when, in fact, God doesn’t allow anything bad to happen to Its immortal children.

     One must begin the healing activity by mentally realizing that, again, we’re spiritual beings having a human experience of ill-health, poverty, hatred, and other conditions of evil; and that this human experience isn’t actually touching, or becoming a part of, our true being. Then this cleansing of consciousness, from any physical belief of identity, also changes the material form back to its normalcy under the spiritual laws which actually govern us. That’s the only power of Truth we need—the Truth which states the fact of spiritual, rather than human, identity. This Truth manifests into human form, and transforms human form, when necessary.

     But one must begin to “bear the image of the heavenly” (see citation at beginning of article) whenever lack of health takes place in the physical form of ourselves. To accomplish spiritual healing, we must obey the advice of Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord…” (II Corinthians 6: 17).

     Here’s an experience, I remember, when this directive to ‘come out and be separate’ led to a physical healing:

In the later 1990s, I took a two-year sabbatical from teaching and went to work in an agency for the state of Illinois. As editor and administrative assistant, I roamed through the agency on a daily basis, coming into contact with just about everyone who worked there. At one point during the two years, there was an outbreak of a dangerous flu. I can’t remember if it was called Asian Flu, or something else; but it was believed to be quite dangerous, and free flu shots were administered to state worker. Some deaths were occurring around the country, and so I was resisting pressure from co-workers to get that shot. Not being medically inclined, I still refused the shot.      Just as predicted, several people in the agency became sick, some severely, and I had certainly been in contact with them. The mesmerism, (thoughts due to all the public advertising and mental pictures of viruses out of control) kept coming to mind. Suggestions would come to me, daily, that without the shot, I could even, possibly die, were this flu to ‘get’ me.      Well, sure enough, one morning I awoke with chills and my skin was hot. I was unsteady on my feet and had to go back to bed. Knowing that all the mesmerism or fear of this disease was the culprit, I remembered that the first thing I had to do was rid my consciousness of fear.      So, I claimed my Christ Consciousness—my true mind which knows no fear, because it (the CC) knows that in the spiritual kingdom of God, there is nothing bad to fear. No dangerous viruses, no deadly bacteria. I also remembered that there was a ‘me’ that was entirely spiritual, and that nothing in this material realm could touch.      Still, the fear didn’t immediately leave. This told me that I was still entertaining material thoughts in consciousness, and I needed spiritual help. I prayed for God, the divine Mind within and without, to tell me the specific Truth I needed to know, to handle all the mesmerism of this disease. Right away, a peaceful thought came to me that I must come out from the whole belief in material being, and separate myself, in identity. “Put on the whole Christ,” it told me. Just as I had claimed my Christ Consciousness, I was also to claim my Christ body—free of material elements.      Then I heard, from within, to also remember (from an earlier healing) that as a spiritual being, I was still at one with God; and my real identity was everywhere present. My true self, made of spiritual substance and within God, was spread out all over the universe. I was untouched in body, by any material element, and any material belief about health, from this belief in something called ‘flu’. The final conclusion then came to me was, “Spirit is not only untouched by things in this material realm; it’s also untouched by any BELIEF about anything in this material realm.” Thus, despite all physical evidence to the contrary, I was still safe, sound, and whole in God’s keeping.      By then, the fear was gone. In a few minutes, my skin was back to normal and the chills left me. I actually got up and went to work, because I realized that the whole thing had been another human illusion. For the next week, I prayed, the same way, about all the mesmerism that this particular human illusion (in a false condition called ‘flu’) had produced for other people. I have no idea if my prayerful work was the influence, but no other cases came forward at my work place, and the whole situation seemed transformed, with no severe outcomes.

     But, here’s another hair to split concerning healing in such a manner: Once a person is physically well again, everyone feels better. But feeling better when the material body-form adjusts (is healed) is the wrong thing to rejoice over. The important thing to feel good about is the truth that an actual spiritual individual always exists, already whole, safe, and sound in God’s loving care, all the time—right where a sick physical person seems to be, at any time or place.

     It’s this realization that the physical condition isn’t even touching God’s beloved child, which turns the table in thought from fear to faith—and this change in consciousness brings forth a change in the outer world of form, called the physical body. Fear must be replaced with the faith and realization of God’s divine, loving, harmonious control over all, before the physical adjusts.

     This point is touched upon in the Bible, when the disciples of Jesus came back to him and were joyful over all their successes in physical healings. Seeing their joy, Jesus said to them: “Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10: 20).

     The Master is telling them not to be happy about the outward, material effects of their healing work, where “the spirits” (false beliefs) were subject to their spiritualized thinking concerning the patients; but rather, to rejoice and be happy that everyone’s spiritual identity exists in the harmony (heaven) of God’s true, spiritual creation. God knows every identity created; all are ‘written in heaven’. God’s grace (loving will toward all) keeps all of us safe, in our spiritual identities, forever. And God keeps us safe by keeping us spiritual. Nothing of this world touches our spiritual identities. It’s this realization that produces the healing in the outer form; and this realization can be applied to any and all material situations that cry out for healing. Having this spiritual knowledge is the thing to rejoice over.

     Now, if you think that you’ll always need another to know this spiritual knowledge for you, consider this biblical account: It’s written in the Bible that a woman, with an issue of blood, was following Christ Jesus, one day, hoping to be healed. She reached through the crowd and ‘touched’ him (his consciousness). The biblical account tells us that he felt ‘virtue’ go out of him, and he said to her, “Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.” (Mark 5: 34).

     By this response, Jesus was referring to the woman’s own state of mind, not his. Her own sudden belief in the power of God to keep her whole and safe destroyed the material belief in any authority over her, other than God. She had reached out to the Master’s consciousness, not his body; and, thus, the realization (of her innate wholeness and eternal perfection as the off-spring of Spirit) had come to the forefront of her thoughts, as she sought to know what the Master knew. Then, with the lie (the belief in a sickly physical condition) cast out of her consciousness, it could no long produce diseased conditions in or on her body form (the flesh). In other words, her own realization of spiritual wholeness under God’s government, which came to the forefront of her thought as she ‘touched’ Jesus (attempted to reach Jesus’ mental, spiritual heights) is what cast out the sickly belief she had been accepting about herself. Her own sudden faith in God’s loving government then increased, producing the physical changes back to a healthy countenance, which expressed her underlying wholeness.

     When turning to spiritual healing, always remember that it takes place in thought first, before one’s consciousness can change the condition of the form (material body) back to wholeness or spiritual normalness. The healing is automatic, but only after consciousness has changed fear (of some evil condition being part of someone) back to the truth and spiritual realization of God’s law of wholeness. Material beliefs and manifestations of disease never touch true being. They are always changeable, back to wholeness, with the correction of thought. That’s the reason that Jesus, and those disciples who were more spiritually-minded, were able to heal all manner of diseases (Matthew 4: 23) without worrying about what the false, material condition was called. In God’s kingdom, it had no name. It was non-existent. It was never present with the individual’s true identity at all.

     The wonderful thing is that, as individuals, we’re free to think and believe whatever we prove to ourselves. Since belief and thought are more important than the external forms our beliefs take, they can change and adjust the bad effects (which universally accepted beliefs have upon our individual lives) back to wholeness. Every tiny incident in which we prove this to ourselves helps to move us further into the kingdom of God. Eventually, we’ll be right in the middle of its everlasting light.