The special attribute of self-consciousness is that which gives us the power of choice. This is certainly a supreme gift of God to man. It enables him to choose his own destiny—accepting Divine Wisdom and Power in such ways that he can have that chosen destiny become his experience.

It is, however, an outstanding truth that every privilege brings its corresponding responsibility. The right and power to make your own decisions, bad or good, puts you in a very vital position. You now realize you are no longer an automaton, moved about by the caprice of circumstance, solely guided by instincts, or subject to some will superimposed upon you. You are free to choose! But you have to take the consequences of that choosing. You shall have, and do have, whatever you recognize and accept as yours. All things await man’s recognition and acceptance!

The universal creative Law of Mind, of which you are a part, creates for you according to your choice. Too often that choice is determined by emotional attitudes, without due regard to thoughtful decision. Too often it is a negative emotional reaction which directs your decisions rather than the process of logical thinking—that ability of the conscious mind which enables you to think things out clearly and decide accordingly.

Everything According to Law
What you are deeply feeling is usually what you are establishing in Mind as cause; it is the pattern for what you will receive.

To make this more clear, even though you may have thought of it before, think about the soil in the garden. When you wish to produce a crop of any kind you first prepare the soil, using your best knowledge to get it into the right condition so it will bring forth what you want to grow there. When the earth is well prepared, free from obstructions, properly fertilized, and in every way made ready to receive the seed; when the rain and the sun have done their part and you have carefully selected your seeds and made your plans, then you begin the planting. You plant only those seeds that will grow into what you want in your garden. You may want a row of radishes in between one of beets and one of carrots. Close by, in the same soil, you plant cabbages, and then next, perhaps, watermelons.

From the good, reliable, dependable soil the radish seed draws whatever is needed to produce white radishes with red skins. But, from exactly the same soil, in the very next row, you get carrots, bright orange-yellow all the way through and tasting not one bit like the radishes, and on the other side are deep red beets of still another texture and taste. All the other kinds of seeds bring forth according to their own natures, and —this is the point— you knew they would! That is why you planted them. No one is wise enough to pick out of the soil the chemicals to produce the different results, but then no one has to. Your part is fourfold: Get the soil ready; choose the right seeds; plant them; and give the garden the right care and attention. The marvelously wise soil of Mother Nature takes charge of the processes of production.

No one can explain how or why this happens. But then, just because of lack of such understanding, do we fail to take advantage of it? No. Year after year, millions of men and women plant their gardens and know in advance what harvest they are going to have.

In the spiritual realm, Universal Subjective Mind as Law is the soil. It is just as dependable, just as reliable, and functions just as naturally as the soil in the garden. It takes whatever you choose to plant in It, and It produces accordingly. You, personally, are the one who determines what kind of results you are going to have. That is one of the principles you need to keep constantly in mind. That which you decide with the conscious mind and then commit to the action of the Law, in quiet trust, in perfect confidence, is that which will come to pass for you. No one knows just how thoughts become concrete and tangible. Neither does anyone know how one part of the soil produces a carrot when the very same soil, only a few inches away, brings forth a luscious watermelon. But just because the action is not completely understood, has this kept one from planting seeds? You need to be equally wise and trustful about your spiritual planting.

Careful Preparation
Care was used in preparing the garden soil in order to get it into the proper condition. Here again the analogy is true: We must remove from the creative medium of mind all negatives. It must be at peace. It has to have removed from it everything that would obstruct the right development of the good results sought. When you are poised, calm, at peace, filled with happy expectancy, serenely trusting in the fulfillment of the highest good, you are ready to do your spiritual planting.

All summer long the warmth of the sun and the refreshment of gentle rains bring your garden through the various stages of growth to rich maturity, the reason you planted it. Your spiritual garden, first planted in the soil of emotional serenity, you keep nourished with love and watered with expectancy. Do not let any weeds of doubt or anxiety hinder its progress. Give it daily attention, entirely free from worry or fear as to the outcome. Remember, you can trust the soil to do its part if you but do your part!

Careful Planting
If there had been no soil you could have had no garden. Further, the soil had to be in the right condition. So it is with your spiritual garden. You are always planting something: desires, longings, and hopes, or fears and worries. There is no special season set aside for this kind of planting. Therefore, the subjective-mind soil must be in the right condition all the time. You cannot afford to be planting bad seeds—thoughts of negation, worries, fears, angers, hates, resentments. Such seeds will grow just as rapidly as the good seeds and will bring forth a crop just as sure and abundant. The soil of the garden has no power nor inclination to reject bad seeds while accepting good ones. Your subjective-mind level, the creative medium of Law, also is entirely impersonal and will just as readily take your negations and produce a crop of illness, poverty, hardship, difficulty, or inharmony. Be careful about your planting!

When you first start to get your garden ready you are likely to find that it contains a good many stones, weeds, hard chunks of earth, or rubbish. These need to be cleaned away if the soil is to produce as you desire. Similarly, old complexes, attitudes, and habits certainly will ruin your harvest in the spiritual realm unless you get them out.

One thing, often, that has to be removed is a sense of inferiority. All that is really needed to get rid of it is to truly realize that you are God’s child, God is what you are. As such you are inferior to no one! Some may be more talented along certain lines than you, but deep within each lies the very same Life, expressing in each in an individual manner—each has his particular talents and abilities. You are made in the image and likeness of God, and therefore you cannot be inferior to anyone in the world!

A superiority complex is also a type of weed no one wants flourishing in his garden. It is removed by again realizing that all are God’s children and filled with His qualities.

To bring about continuous unfoldment and the accomplishment of desired results, get your emotional garden cleaned up. Then do the right kind of planting. •

Back

To read further, pick up your copy of Science of Mind Magazine
or click here to

United Church of Religious Science
Visit SOM Mall

Web Design and Graphics Copyright © 2003 Marty Bunch Art Originals
Webmaster: webmasters@martybunch.com