Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
—Genesis 1:26
All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
—Matthew 28:18
The Power that rules the world is within.
—Charles Fillmore, Atom-Smashing Power of Mind
When I was little, my electrician Dad taught my six brothers and sisters and me that we had the power to flip a switch and make the lights come on or go off. Dad rigged up all kinds of magic switches in our house, having us believe that by blowing our breath on a certain Christmas tree ornament, we would cause the lights to brighten or change color. Dad had us clapping our hands to turn the electric fireplace on and off years before “the clapper” went on the market. Again and again, we would be amazed at our power to manipulate lights.
We were created for power. It's in us to succeed, to move forward, and to accomplish. As is true for all our abilities, power can be used to improve or control our material life, and it can be cultivated as spiritual power for inner transformation as well as for blessing others. A hundred years ago, Charles Fillmore captured the trouble so many have in succeeding: “Today men are striving to acquire power through money, legislation, and man-made government, and falling short because they have not mastered themselves” (The Twelve Powers of Man, 67).
A familiar affirmation in Unity communities is “There is only one Power in the universe, God/Good” (H. Emilie Cady, Lessons in Truth, 44). God is not a being that expresses power. God is power itself; we are the divine power expressing powerfully. We express our power ability in the following ways.
A fan of the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, I marveled during the 2012 NBA Western Conference finals at how suddenly the game can change. Repeatedly during the series between the Spurs and the Oklahoma City Thunder, one team would go on a run, succeeding at both ends of the court, dazzling fans with their speed and team play, and rapidly outscoring their opponents. Out of nowhere, in the blink of an eye, the energy of the game would shift as the opposing team swallowed up their contender's lead. It happened again in the 2013 Western Conference finals when the Spurs bested the Memphis Grizzlies, and the NBA finals when the Miami Heat took the championship. Thrilling basketball! Metaphysician that I am, I curiously considered the phenomenon in view of our spiritual abilities. Whenever a team member heightened his concentration, the intensifying effect of his focus spread through the team, not verbally but vibrationally. We can, by harnessing our concentration ability, turn our inner defeatism toward optimism.
Concentration is the opposite of and antidote for multitasking, with its false promise of increasing achievement. We cannot multitask; we can only focus on one thing at a time. Attempts to multitask lead to rapid switching from one focus to another, reducing our attention on anything and diminishing the quality of our focus. Our concentration ability is the power of single-mindedness. Concentration intensifies thought the way a laser intensifies light.
Researchers studying intelligence discovered that memory is less a factor in intelligence than “one's ability to control their selective attention” (www.howtogetfocused.com). Upon what, then, should we focus? David Eagleman, in his book Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain, stresses that concentration is tricky: hyper-focus on our actions actually diminishes our capacity to achieve. For example, as I discovered years ago taking timed typing tests for clerical assignments, our attention on every finger position on a keyboard greatly reduces our speed and increases our errors. In recent years, San Antonio Spurs player Tim Duncan improved his shooting from the foul line. His previous record at the line was pitiful in comparison to his true shooting ability. I would watch, squirming, as Tim would position himself at the line, take several breaths and phantom shots, and then stiffly raise his arms, let go, and hope the ball made it through the hoop. Most of the time, it did not due to Tim's hyper-focus on each of the postures and movements required for successful shooting—a complex series that, after training, must come seamlessly.
What, then, is the object of our focus? I believe Jesus' apostle Paul taught us in these words: “Finally, brothers [and sisters], whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things” (Philippians 4:8). Each of “these things” points to an ideal found only in our truest Self, our Infinite Self, the source of which is divine—divine honor, divine justice, divine love. Direct attention to these divine attributes, and “You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8). “When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). The object of our attention, the “me,” is the I AM or spiritual Self, the holy, whole spirit of the divine that is our true nature.
Every religious discipline teaches it. Every culture values it. Self-control or self-mastery is a key to power:
Who is strong? He who controls his passions. (Judaism; Mishnah)
The strong man is not the good wrestler; the strong man is only he who controls himself when he is angry. (Islam; Hadith of Bukhari and Muslim)
He who conquers others has physical strength; he who conquers himself is strong. (Taoism; Tao Te Ching, Star, Two Suns Rising, 33)
Though one should conquer a million men on the battlefield, yet he, indeed, is the noblest victor who has conquered himself. (Buddhism; Dhammapada, 103)
With the conquest of my mind, I have conquered the whole world. (Sikhism; World Scripture, 522)
That man is disciplined and happy who can prevail over the turmoil that springs from desire and anger, here on earth. (Hinduism; Bhagavad Gita 5:23)
For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline. (Christianity; 2 Timothy 1:7)2
Note: The words “strong” and “strength” are used in some of these quotations because English language dictionaries name the words strength and power as synonyms. As addressed in these pages and in Charles Fillmore's teaching, strength and power are each distinct spiritual abilities.
Self-mastery is our capacity to guide our thoughts, words, and actions in integrity with our Infinite Self, instead of reacting from only-human, or egoic, impulses. We know ourselves. We respect ourselves, and we respect others. We do not fool ourselves but tell ourselves the truth. We seek to understand the beliefs and attitudes underlying our impulsive emotions, so that we can correct misguided beliefs and change our attitudes, knowing our emotions will settle as we do so.
Self-mastery is a claiming of our wholeness and self-determination. When my children were toddlers, I swapped babysitting with another mom. One day, her child, unhappy with me because I did not allow him to do everything he wanted, cried out, “You are not the boss of me!” After I got over feeling stunned, I thought to myself, he is so right! I hope he knows this as he grows up. No one should be the boss of us, and nothing should have power over us. Yet in our misunderstanding of our rightful power ability, we give our power over to other people; we are controlled by our compulsions; and we operate from fixed attitudes. All of these are addressed by cultivating our power ability.
Early in my work of church ministry, an iridologist was scheduled to offer a workshop on a Sunday afternoon at the Unity church I was serving. The church was in transition, as was I, having been an associate to the minister who had recently departed for another church. My position was tenuous. I was the de facto spiritual leader with little training or experience. Into this scenario entered an iridologist eager to demonstrate his accuracy in reading the eyes to diagnose conditions of consciousness—and then in his workshop to teach his remedies. I knew nothing of iridology, or this man, when he approached me minutes ahead of the start of the first of two Sunday services that I was officiating. Casually, at the coffee station in the reception room, he looked into my eyes and told me, “You are insecure, and nervous. I could help you with that.” I became speechless. I bolted out of the room and went to my office to attempt to compose myself. I fumbled through the first service, insecure and nervous. Afterward, the iridologist came and knocked on my office door, offering to teach me by example how to deliver a Sunday message that connects with people—obviously, I had done a poor job of it. In my deflated state, I agreed! Following the second service, a few lay leaders sensed something had gone wrong. After all, I was scheduled to deliver the message at both services. Protective of me, the lay leaders accosted the iridologist, who later apologized to me for being insensitive. He had only wanted to help.
This painful experience was revealing to me. First, the uncomfortable truth was that he had nailed me—he saw my insecurity and nervousness; if he could, so could others. I was a public mess, I believed! I told my husband Giles. In his wisdom, Giles advised, “When you respect yourself, others will respect you.” Bingo! I began to see that calling myself a victim of another person's bullying, or domination, only meant that I had given over my power to him. I earnestly began to study self-mastery, over time learning to respect myself, to trust myself, and to be self-determining. I learned there is a difference between aggressiveness, the taming of which is central to the classic definition of self-mastery; and assertiveness, which is a healthy aspect of consciousness. I learned to assert myself deliberately and positively during uncomfortable interactions with others.
Some might say there are higher, more spiritual applications of our power ability than in minor interpersonal incidents. I believe, however, that all healthy expressions of our power ability are spiritual. Read advice columns such as “Dear Abby” or “Carolyn Hax” in your local newspaper and you'll likely agree that most of humanity's interpersonal struggles arise when we feel out of control, which we often translate as being under someone else's control. Some examples of classic power struggles might include the following.
You reside in the tropics. Relatives from the north like to visit. You routinely inconvenience yourself when relatives make vacation plans in your area, expecting you to host them in your home. You allow one relative to stay for a month. Another family offers to pay for nothing during their stay, accepting your hospitality, eating your food, and driving your car. Despite your negative feelings, when they call to schedule next year's vacation, you say yes! You can't help it—they're family.
A friend and you regularly schedule time together at local restaurants. Your friend determines which restaurant every time, and you go along even when you don't care for that restaurant's cuisine or the price range is beyond your means.
Your work involves collaboration with others. A coworker arrives late for meetings, contributes almost nothing to the project, takes credit for the key idea that you bring to the table, and is the first one to accept praise when the assignment has been accomplished. You can't correct the coworker because no one else seems to care, and you can't complain to the boss because you might appear petty.
Any or all of these situations would be reasonable and acceptable if you genuinely felt hospitable, acquiescent, and gracious. Implied in each of these accounts, however, is the sense that you feel disgruntled but unable to assert yourself. Others are in control. Others control you.
Why is it important to cultivate self-mastery in these seemingly small matters? I believe that everyday power struggles lead to rifts, family feuds, and wars! Everyday power struggles lead to self-degradation and deflation of self-worth, which lead to your dimming your inner light and withdrawing from being the blessing you are here on earth to be.
If you are the unhappy host, Abby and Carolyn might advise you to become proactive with your family. Let them know they are welcome for up to four days at a time; send them lists of local hotels and rental-car companies, etc.; and be truthful if someone's scheduled visit interferes with your already-scheduled plans. If you are the friend who never expresses your opinion, the advice columnists might urge you to find your voice or to take the lead and suggest your preference. If you are the frustrated coworker, advisors might recommend you begin with a one-on-one, heart-to-heart visit with the underperforming team member.
Any remedies for situations of perceived powerlessness involve claiming our power ability. Consider this: Whenever we have an issue with another person, ignoring it or sidestepping it is an act of disrespect. We disrespect the other person by telling ourselves they couldn't handle our honest feedback. Telling ourselves “it's not that big a deal” or “I'll get over it,” we disrespect ourselves.
Cultivating self-mastery along with the courage of our strength ability, we become self-knowing, transparent, and confident—and we sleep better at night.
Another expression of self-mastery is overcoming compulsive behaviors. I remember at the age of twenty-one, having smoked cigarettes for four years, I was driving to work one winter morning. Windows were up, heat was on. Cigarette smoke was swirling in such a thick cloud that I could hardly see through the windshield. I was coughing and having trouble breathing. In a flash of awareness, I realized, Cigarettes have taken control! They intrude when I drink my cup of coffee first thing in the morning, after every meal, at my break during the workday, whenever I have a telephone chat with a friend, before I go to bed. I don't have cigarettes. Cigarettes have me! I extinguished my lit cigarette and threw the rest of the pack out the car window.
Jesus said, “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18). I find two helpful ways of interpreting this master teaching. First, I think of earth as the microcosm and heaven as the macrocosm. Quantum physics is proving the holographic nature of life, meaning that all parts are contained in each part. An action taken in one small part affects the whole. This is why master teachers of all ages have advised that if we were to commit to one modest practice toward conscious living, we—in entirety—would awaken.
Another way of interpreting Jesus' profound statement is to understand earth means you, your body and your circumstances; heaven means your spirit and the spirit in unity with all, or oneness. Charles Fillmore taught that when you bind or control “the appetites, passions, and emotions in the body [earth],” you simultaneously establish your power in subtle, vibrational, spiritual matters; thereby, “you restore equilibrium between heaven and earth, or Spirit and matter” (The Twelve Powers of Man, 69).
The second of the Ten Commandments Charlton Heston brought down from Mount Sinai—rather, Moses (wanted to be sure you are with me), instructs—“You shall not make for yourself an idol” (Exodus 20:4). In King James Version, idol is “a graven image.” An idol or graven image means one that is carved.
My dad used to say, “After laughing comes crying.” This phrase was similar to other adages such as “the other shoe is about to drop” and “all good things come to an end.”
I verified this truism in my experience in the early years of my marriage. Our household income at that time barely exceeded our expenses. I would deposit a little money each month in a savings account. I would feel good about getting ahead. Then, just as I had come to expect, one of a gazillion car parts would break or a pair of eyeglasses would get sat upon, and I would have to empty the account and go back to zero savings. I lived with a perpetual sense of impending dread. The better I was feeling one minute, the bigger the next minute's dread.
By acquiescing to my dad's repeated adage, I was worshipping a graven image. I had fixed in my consciousness a belief that was played out in my experience repeatedly. We give our power over to false beliefs when we claim “my diabetes” or “my allergies.” We can never heal these fleeting conditions by believing them to be permanent. Uncovering our fixed attitudes about life and, especially, about ourselves, releases our inner power of self-mastery. Unity leader Eric Butterworth wrote:
We also hold fixed false attitudes (graven images) about ourselves—I am weak, not as smart as . . . worthless, unlovable, incapable . . . “To be created in the image of God” means that “in the beginning” (in principle) you were formed as an idea in Infinite Mind. You can never be less than the God-idea in expression . . . You do not need a new self-image. What you need is to let go of the graven image of yourself that you have carved into the fabric of your subconscious mind, and to know and release your own divine image (Butterworth, Breaking the Ten Commandments, 25–26).
A tradition in Unity communities is singing “Let There Be Peace on Earth” at the conclusion of Sunday services. Written by Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller in 1955, the lyrics inspire us to know that “peace begins with me.” Over the years, Unity congregations have modestly altered the lyrics; for example, changing “let me walk with my brothers” to “let me walk with my family” or “let us walk with each other.” I was surprised when I heard one congregation singing, “Yes, there is peace on earth and yes it begins with me.” I thought, perhaps they do not understand the power of “let there be!”
“Let there be” and “let me be” are not pleas for another power, God, to act or cause us to act. Rather, they are an inward call for spiritual authority. It is not a request, but a command. It is a powerful assertion of authority. It is the cry of the creator—“Let there be light!”—and it is our creative self-command to some spiritual ability—“Let me be the light!”
Going into a hospital room for a pastoral visit, or walking to the front of the church to begin Sunday services, I live into the command “Let there be . . .” Clergy in many religious communities wear liturgical robes signifying the mantle, or cloak, of spiritual authority. I do not wear robes, but I shift into a consciousness of spiritual service. I energetically cloak myself with spiritual authority. I sense the distinction between my human personality and my Infinite Self or Divine Identity directed into service. I reduce my focus on my personality, which means I turn my attention away from myself—for example my attire or concern about forgetting to say something important. I become completely interested in what is important, what will uplift, what will provoke, and what will inspire. I become interested in presence.
The Gospel accounts of Jesus portray his spiritual authority. It was Jesus' presence, more than his words, by which people caught a glimpse of their true nature and relieved themselves of terrible conditions. Jesus glowed. The woman who reached for his cloak, believing that touching it would heal her, did not depend upon Jesus' words but his presence. He stood solidly divine. She reached into Jesus' Divine Identity to glimpse her own Divine Identity.
Jesus' spiritual authority came not from his personality and not from his intellect. His authority came “from the Father”—his source of inner wisdom. We, too, must partner power with wisdom in order to be centered in spiritual truth.
You don't have to become a minister to assert spiritual authority. You can visit a friend or relative in the hospital and be the cloak they touch. You can be a presence so solidly standing in the truth of wholeness that your loved one feels empowered to experience her wholeness and well-being while undergoing medical care.
You can be the truth teller in your family, your workplace, and community. When people in your presence display discouragement, you can encourage them with the truth of their Divine Identity. When they express worry about money, you can remind them of the blessings all around them. When they fret over an illness, you can spark their inner knowing of their wholeness of being.
In matters of opinion, you express humanly. In matters of ultimate truth, discover that truth within you and express it with spiritual authority.
Through my breath I sense the power of this present moment. I breathe intentionally, fully, a whole-body breath energizing my entire body. I breathe this way for several minutes, until I sense the concentration of spiritual power in my throat chakra.
The root of the tongue, or the throat chakra, is the seat of spiritual power. I bathe this area with the color of bright purple, a healing stream of light.
I AM the power of concentration, self-mastery, and spiritual authority. My source of power is divine power.
By my divine nature, I cannot be powerless or ill. I am not in the world to cower in the presence of others' power. I release any hesitancy to shine the full light of spiritual awareness in the world.
All power is mine in heaven and on earth—in spiritual as well as material aspects of life. By spiritual power, I concentrate on shining the light of love, life, wisdom, and all spiritual powers into my life and into the world. I AM master of my thoughts, words, and actions. I master myself, respect myself, and hold myself accountable. By spiritual power, I AM a presence in whose presence other people awaken to their Divine Identity.
2 This collection of quotations from World Scripture, 522–23.