A Matter of Principle - April 2004 Newsletter

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A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE, by Gail Gupton

Someone recently asked me whether or not they should return to the church they attended years ago, as they had been considering returning after many years of absence. Often one tries to go back to a time or place in order to recapture a feeling they seemed to have lost. Often people read the same book or listen to the same song or message in hopes of re-gaining what "used to be". With respect to attending a church or any social event, I would have to ask, "Is one going to give or is one going to get?" What is the motive?

First of all, to this mental dilemma, there is no right or wrong answer. Attendance to anything is one's rightful, individual, decision.

In the church I attended as a child and young adult I learned many things, but later realized I had been following the follower. As an example, I was taught one of God's attributes was that of "Principle". As a mere ignorant child I formed a concept of that word to mean disciplinarian, like the school principal. After all, it was the same name. I considered God to be the Lawmaker. God made the rules and it was my duty to carry them out. I carried this limited and unenlightened concept of God way into my adult years, often perplexed at its deep spiritual meaning yet never really taking the time to contemplate on the word.

A common dictionary defines principle as "A basic truth, law, or assumption" and in chemistry the word is defined as "One of the elements that compose a substance". Is not God all of these and MORE?

For years, I had very simply and unknowingly accepted someone else's teachings or sermons, never questioning why I was there or if there was more to realize as Truth. In limiting myself, I also limited my infinite resources.

There is a Principle that operates in life just as there is a Principle of mathematics. People do not create 2 x 4 = 8. It just IS and our realization of what mathematics is enables us to benefit by working out problems that require math - activities involving sales, banking, taxes, formulas, measurements, etc.

There is a Principle of music. Although someone named the notes, no one person created the musical scale of Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do. It just IS and, again, our realization of what music is enables us to benefit by creating beautiful harmony in songs, chants, and orchestral symphonies.

There is a Principle of aeronautics. Do you think the Wright Brothers invented flying, or did they just discover the Principle of flying and incorporated it into a flying machine called an airplane? The Principle had always been there. It just IS and mankind benefits from the Principle through research and experimentation.

There is a Principle of technology in all forms. I sit here at a computer and email thousands of recipients who, only a few years ago, did not have the ability to benefit from the Internet. Yet the Principle of communication was sitting there waiting to be realized.

Think of all the Principles in the world in which we live. Mathematical. Musical. Electrical. Electronic. Aeronautical. Science. Nature. Life. Love. The substance of all forms. The elements of all substance. The law of all activity. This is God. The invisible God. The loving God. The sustaining and maintaining God.

And so, what does one find when one goes back to a former belief or structure or system of anything? One does not "get" by returning to the same limited views of others. Go forward, my friend. Realize the Truth of God's omnipresence and omnipotence. Realize God is more than a limited concept. Realize God is the sustaining and maintaining Principle of Life. Your life. My life. Our life. One life. Then in going back, you can bring others forward. Then you have something to give.

All is well.