by Teresa Martin
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
“It must have been the chicken, for what produced the egg?” some would say. Others would ask, “But where did the chicken come from? The egg must have come first! Everyone knows chickens come from eggs.” “But who or what laid the first egg?” The discussion could go on forever!
The question of the origin of life has intrigued the mind of man and has been explored extensively by scientist and theologian. Scientists studying evolution conclude that all life forms have their origin in other preexisting life forms and owe their differences to certain modifications randomly occurring through passage of time. If this is true, then all life — plants, animals and human man — might have emerged through millenniums from a pool of black, swirling liquid covering the entire planet. Random motion in the pool creating structure from chaos is a possibility, yet anyone who as a child played with building blocks knows how difficult it would be to throw the blocks on the floor and expect an ordered manifested creation.
Theologians studying creation explain the origin of life as having occurred from nothing under the guidance of a divine being. In the Book of Genesis in the Holy Bible the origin came from the commands of God over a period of seven days. “Let there be light” and light appeared and it was good. “Let there be a firmament to separate the heavens and the earth…” “Let the earth bring forth seed…” “Let the waters bring forth living creatures…” until over a period of seven days all things were made, including man.
On the surface it would appear as if the supporters of these theories were from two very opposing corners. Yet the answers can be found by exploring the basic principles of evolution and creation. To evolve is to develop or progress to an improved state. The modern-day automobile is a product of many experiments in mechanics beginning with Henry Ford’s horseless carriage as an example of evolution with which we are all familiar.
To create is to cause something to occur, to bring something new into existence. One who is creative has the ability to create something new by combining substance into new form. As Ford once said, “Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it.” Any creation begins with intelligent use of imagination to cause something to be improved. Creation begins with thought, and exercising your thinking ability unlocks the potential of your creative mind.
Evolution and creation actually parallel each other, rather than opposing. Each day we function very much like our Creator did in forming the Universe. Each thought made with intelligence is an exercise in practicing our divine right to create. Choices to serve a meal filled with brightly colored, nutritious foods intended to bring health and well-being to our family is an exercise in imagination. Choices to pursue the development of skills in cooking or communication or healing, will cause an evolution of capability within ourselves. When a choice is acted upon, there is an evolution of our own consciousness and the collective consciousness of humanity.
Thomas Edison, inventor of numerous devices including the phonograph and light bulb, knew the benefit of bringing his creative ideas into physical existence. Thousands of experiments tried and failed before finding a successful combination of ingredients that would evolve to become our modern-day light bulb. Edison persevered until his idea of electrical light became manifest. Each failure of the bulb to serve its intended use was actually part of the evolution to the combination that worked!
Many would have become frustrated and given up, yet Edison had enough faith in his creative mind to know it was only a matter of time before the combination would be found. He expressed a similar idea to Ford’s when he said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work.” Every experiment was an opportunity for Edison to see the manifestation of his thought. A failed experiment simply meant part of the idea in mind needed alteration. “I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work,” he said. Creation is freedom, it is the “work” of the mind. Choosing the combination of substances for experimentation causes an evolution in creative ability and toward the physical goal.
It is only in the exercise of creative mind that we can know what creative mind is, the extent of our capabilities or potential skills. It is only by bringing those ideas into existence that we can see if the manifest creation matches the ideal within mind. If it does, then success has occurred. If it does not, then it is time to try something different, just as Edison did in his thousands of experiments to develop the light bulb.
Many people have creative ideas of making their world a better place yet do not pursue action to create these. These people will lie upon their death bed thinking “I wish I had…” The world will be no different because of their existence. Nor will their consciousness have evolved significantly because they never gave themselves the opportunity to see their own ideas manifest.
Those who have the courage to stand behind what they believe, and are determined to cause the physical manifestation, know they have made a significant difference in the world and having used the physical for what it is, an investment in discovering creative mind.
Mankind’s greatest need is to know his inherent freedom as a Creator. The evolution of humanity as a whole and of each of us as individuals is dependent upon everyone claiming the right we have to think and to respond to conditions in life as we choose rather than reacting to them. When we respond to conditions, there is freedom to choose the course our lives will take. Reactions come from a victim type of attitude and usually result from misusing memory. Reactions perpetuate the conditions presently existing, and there is little awareness of the freedom to move our lives in a different direction.
History gives us examples of the evolution of consciousness and of physical existence resulting from changes in collective consciousness. During the early stages of the foundation of the United States, many natives of Africa were sold by their peers, transported across the ocean, and sold again as slaves for landholders. Slavery was continued in the evolving United States until the mid-eighteen hundreds when under President Abraham Lincoln this practice was abolished. Yet the collective consciousness of a people rejected by their own families without consideration for their desires continued to be perpetuated in those who were dispossessed.
This is reflected in the gospel music which has endured for over a century. The beautiful words show great respect for the ancestors who experienced the painful restriction of slavery. This music is a way of keeping alive the history for Americans of African descent and is a way to cause unification among them culturally. Songs express sorrow born of the pain and suffering from the past, and expectation of physical difficulties to come. Yet, there is always the expectation of being saved and removed from the pain and suffering by Jesus or a power greater than the self.
An example from songs heard in Afro-American music is “…it will be mother against daughter, father against son, race against race, but we will overcome…” When thousands of people hear words such as these from childhood and claim this as a reality, then this is what forms the collective consciousness of those people. This thought then becomes an expectation. The manifest reality is what exists at the present time. Reality for many Americans who trace their physical lineage from dispossessed Africans reflects the idea of the conflict without the idea of overcoming and salvation. There are many disputes among families, there are many single parent families. With a lack of parental example and guidance, many drop out of school,fail to discover a viable vocation in life, or are killed in the streets. They expect a greater power, often manifest in the country’s government, to save them from self-inflicted pain. Times are tough for those of any race, anywhere on the earth, who maintain old ideas of displacement and slavery, keeping it alive in their hearts and minds, to the neglect of the learning and understanding which will bring personal and collective salvation.
The thought that is perpetuated through the music is the egg. The manifestation of life, what currently exists, is the chicken. There are those who embrace the promise of the gospels. They imagine what is necessary “to overcome” the limitations of the past and live today, attaining the “salvation” of a Self-aware and Self-directed life. These individuals are willing to release the past by learning from it. They are willing to live now by responding to their own and others’ inner needs and desires to evolve and move forward. They are willing to imagine a future that fulfills a divine promise, a future produced by the use of their own volition and creative mind. These individuals, regardless of race or creed, are visionaries who mold collective consciousness toward awareness.
Martin Luther King was such a leader of people. His words spoke not only to those of his own physical race, but more importantly to all of us as a part of the human race for they stimulate our creative minds to envision a greater way to think and to act. These words, spoken in 1963, reflect a vision born from creative mind that we can all live by:
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal.' I have a dream…I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
When the heart and mind is opened to truth, beauty, joy, and abundance for all, this thought will be perpetuated and this will become the reality.
This is the great challenge of life for us all. The past offers memories of both pleasure and pain. It is something we know, and there is safety and security in what is known. For us to come to know our inherent right as Creator, we must leave the protective recesses of the past to venture into new and unknown realms. Challenge yourself to exercise creative mind and create the life of your dreams.
Creative mind is the designer of our lives. Blueprints formed mentally, when embraced with a will to bring this plan to life, are in the nature of our true freedom as Creators. It is our divine right to know this and to have or be the best that we can imagine, to cause our evolution toward mastership of mind and enlightenment of Self as Creator.•
Teresa Martin has been studying the inner workings of the mind for several years and is currently writing her doctoral dissertation on the subject of karma and reincarnation. A medical lab technician by trade, Ms. Martin volunteers much of her time to teaching applied metaphysics to adults in Palatine, a northwest suburb of Chicago, where she is the director of a SOM center.
©1994 Thresholds Vol. 12 No. 1
©2002 SOM, v. 6/04