This week I am reminded that the words spoken by the serpent are indeed a testimony of spirit, but not The Spirit, The Spirit of God. Mary Baker Eddy, a nineteenth century religious leader, writes, “This pantheistic error, or so-called serpent, insists still upon the opposite of Truth, saying, ‘Ye shall be as gods;’ that is, I will make error as real and eternal as Truth.” Human society truly accepts this testimony as the only truth.
I am returning to my childhood faith that God creates the perfect male and female, not the mortal, short-lived bodies of flesh bone we see daily. I reflect on this because from a very early age we teach our children that possessions of material goods are what is important in our lives.
I thank God every morning of my life, but I rarely thank Him for my creation, the creation that came well before my physical seed was placed in my mother’s womb. I thank Him for each day of my seventy-nine years of sharing His Truth and His Love with my fellow man.
Albert Camus writes, ““’Throughout the coming years an endless struggle is going to be pursued between violence and friendly persuasion, a struggle in which, granted, the former has a thousand times the chances of success than that of the latter. But I have always held that, if he who bases his hopes on human nature is a fool. . .” This is the struggle we face.
I now will thank Him for the testimony of the serpent which reminds me that the alternate universe this creature offered us is unreal. It is only a short-lived universe of trial and death. How fortunate we are to be created by God and not the serpent. For it is the testimony of this serpent that reminds me to live with God in the universe He created, the one pure in Spirit, pure in Love, and pure in Life, the Life of God’s eternal presence.
©Russell Kendall Carter
Meditating to Heal 