An eagle egg, if it could be self-aware, might behold a mature eagle spiraling upward on a current of warm air and think to itself: I'll never fly like that. Eggs cannot fly. That's right, they never will. But eggs hatch into eagles.
The yolk of an eagle egg contains the genetic code for eagle. Eagle is its true identity. The chick must at some point emerge from the shell, casting it off, in order to grow and finally to fly.
In the same way we mature humanly by realizing, increasingly, our human capacities, we mature spiritually by expressing, increasingly, our Divine Nature. Charles Fillmore taught:
It is your mission to express all that you can imagine God to be. Let this be your standard of achievement; never lower it, nor allow yourself to be belittled by the cry of sacrilege. You can attain to everything you can imagine. If you can imagine that it is possible to God, it is also possible to you.
We have the hearts of Divine Love, the minds of Divine Wisdom, the lives of Divine Life. Since the divine is not a person but a principle and we are made in a divine image, the Love Principle, the Wisdom Principle, and the Life Principle are our nature. We identify ourselves as these principles. We claim Divine Identity.
Charles Fillmore taught, "We are all, in our personality, wearing the mask that conceals the real, the spiritual, I AM." (Charles Fillmore, Jesus Christ Heals) Unconsciously a person crafts an external identity, a personality that fits in with other personalities. and unknowingly hides her golden true self under the clay cover of acceptability.
All the while, Divine Identity is intact, complete, and immutable. In any moment you can realize and live from your Divine Identity. You do not have to acquire your Divine Identity; you have only to mature in your understanding of this true identity and claim it.
Claim Your Divine Identity
One evening a couple of years ago, my daughter Alicia called me from her apartment. She had just turned off the television after watching the show Primetime. On the program, a man showed video clips of troubling occurrences, asking the audience to ponder, "What would you do?" in those situations. Alicia was in tears as she recounted one of the clips depicting a homeless elderly man being beaten by a group of young men. The reason she was so upset? “Because,” she cried, "I don't know how I would answer that question! I would like to think I would do the right thing, but I am afraid I would run the other way instead."
The following afternoon, Alicia called again. "You won't believe what happened today!" she said. As she did every weekday morning, Alicia had taken the train to the bus stop, where she would transfer and continue on to her job as a teacher. Alicia waited along with others at the stop, which was located in front of a middle school.
While waiting, Alicia overheard a group of students talking among themselves. Suddenly, the biggest of the boys turned and began pummeling the smallest boy. Alicia responded instinctively. She ran over to the boys and attempted to pull them away from each other. She shouted, "Stop!" over and over as she continued to tug at the arms of the big teenager.
Then, as suddenly as it began, the skirmish came to a halt. The big kid turned his attention to Alicia, an incredulous look in his eyes. Alicia stared him down, undaunted by his bravado. The boy dropped his eyes, turned, and walked away. Recounting the story to me over the telephone, Alicia marveled, "Mom, I did it! I answered the question!"
Recognizing Your Divine Identity
Alicia may have felt astonished by her instinctive response in this situation, but I was not surprised, for I had witnessed her true self in action throughout her life. Seeing so clearly Alicia's Divine Identity, I find it hard to believe that she does not see it.
Like most people, Alicia recognizes her shortcomings more readily than she does her strengths, her mistakes more easily than her accomplishments. She does not believe that her Divine Identity is intact and independent of her actions. She thinks she has to qualify for Divine Nature. I tell her, "Just as you are, you are magnificent! Just as you are, you are divine!"
Just as you are, you are magnificent! Just as you are, you are divine!
Claiming Your Genetic Blueprint: Your Innate Divinity
We have misunderstood the great truth about Divine Identity. We have called it "potential" as if we have to work toward the goal of divinity. We have believed it to be conditional, as if each of us could gain or lose individual Divine Identity depending upon individual actions. We have thought we have to journey to find our Divine Identity, as if it had gotten lost or separated from us. We do not have to claim our Divine Identity in order to have Divine Identity. But what good is a Divine Identity if a person does not claim it?
What good is a talent for music if a person never plays an instrument? The talent is intact, but it must be claimed if it would be expressed and enjoyed. Deciding not to play music does not make someone evil, nor is the person punished for that choice. The music remains in that person, latent until she chooses to express it.
When will you claim your Divine Identity? When you have the choice of how to respond to someone's hurtful remark, will you throw back angry words, or will you express Divine Life, Love, and Wisdom? When feeling tempted to judge your appearance harshly in the mirror, will you instead gaze through to the Divine Life, Love, and Wisdom reflected there?
You claim your Divine Identity moment by moment, choice by choice.
Copyright 2011 by Linda Martella-Whitsett.
Reprinted with permission of Hampton Roads Publishing Co.
Dist by Red Wheel Weiser, www.redwheelweiser.com
Article Source
How to Pray Without Talking to God: Moment by Moment, Choice by Choice
by Linda Martella-Whitsett.
Click here for more info and/or to order this book
About the Author
Linda Martella-Whitsett, winner of The 2011 Best Spiritual Author competition, is an inspiring, respected Unity minister and spiritual teacher. Linda's message about our Divine Identity inspires people across cultures and faith traditions to meet life's circumstances with spiritual maturity. Linda is the senior minister at Unity Church of San Antonio and a mentor for emerging leaders in New Thought. Visit her website at www.ur-divine.com/
Watch a video: Our Divine Nature -- with Rev. Linda Martella-Whitsett
