If, then, it is possible to put the Great Affirmation into words
it is that God is ONE and that this ONE finds centre in
ourselves; and if the full meaning of this statement is realized,
the logical result will be found to be a new creation both in and
from ourselves. We shall realize in ourselves the working of a
new principle whose distinguishing feature is its simplicity. It
is ONE-ness and is not troubled about any second. Hence what it
contemplates is not how its action will be modified by that of
some second principle, something which will compel it to work in
a particular manner and so limit it; but what it contemplates is
its own Unity. Then it perceives that its Unity consists in a
greater and a lesser movement, just as the rotation of the earth
on its axis does not interfere with its rotation round the sun
but are both motions of the same unit, and are definitely related
to each other. In like manner we find that the Spirit is moving
simultaneously in the macrocosm of the universe and in the
microcosm of the individual, and the two movements harmonize
because they are that of the same Spirit, and the latter is
included in the former and pre-supposes it. The Great
Affirmation, therefore, is the perception that the "I AM" is ONE,
always harmonious with itself, and including all things in this
harmony for the simple reason that there is no second creative
power; and when the individual realizes that this always-single
power is the root of his own being, and therefore has centre in
himself and finds expression through him, he learns to trust its
singleness and the consequent harmony of its action in him with
what it is doing AROUND him.
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