This essay continues a sequence. Read the previous one here.
Behold the fowls of the air:
for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns;
yet your heavenly Father feedeth them.
Are ye not much better than they?
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
And why take ye thought for raiment?
Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow;
they toil not, neither do they spin:
And yet I say unto you,
That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven,
shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
Therefore take no thought, saying,
What shall we eat? or,
What shall we drink? or,
Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:
for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
But seek ye first the kingdom of God,
and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow:
for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.
— KJV, Matt 6:26-34
What should we learn from nature?
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A Brainless Idea?
The idea that we should “take no thought” for such urgent necessities as food, clothing, and shelter must seem laughable and childish to many people.
This may indicate that we do not try to identify the Divine Truths contained in The Word.
If we adopt the lens of Truth, and study the passage in its entirety, one of the first things we observe is how much we can learn by observing the natural world.
This requires us to observe Nature in the right way.
“Thoughtless” Animals
Plants and animals do not “take thought” and worry about the future, at least in the human sense. They are alert to the present moment and act in a way that is true to their essential nature. Even when they are “preparing for the future” (e.g. squirrels gathering nuts for the winter) they are following a natural and momentary urge.
In acting according to their nature, i.e. naturally, they fit in with Creation and further the cycle of life. The same natural processes working within this miraculous Creation (ref. “His Laws Are Miracles“) ensure that their needs are met as at when due, without the kinds of fanfare that human beings associate with “miracles”, and without their having to build a complicated system to ensure the continued survival of the species.
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Nature brings about outcomes that we human beings could never achieve ourselves:
Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
Nature only requires each species to fulfil its role, and it will take care of that species as long as that role remains relevant. This is a foreign concept to most of us.
Human Naturalness
Plants and animals do not have the same consciousness as human beings. What is true at the species level for animals is (supposed to be) true at the individual level for human beings: if each individual acts naturally and fulfils his role, Creation will take care of him:
Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field,
which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven,
shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
The naturalness of the human being is different from that of plants and animals. We are spiritual, so naturalness for us is to listen to and act according to the dictates of our spirit, i.e. the inner voice, our spiritual intuition. We must not allow it to be smothered by material calculation and considerations.
The Word says “take no thought for the morrow“, not “take no thought for the present”. The inner voice is always fully alive to the present moment; it is the intellect that is always shifting around between past, present, and future (the so-called “monkey mind”).
The Human Brain: Impeding or Advancing Naturalness?
It is not the intellect (thought) that should be our primary tool for experiencing the present – it is our spirit. We must form the habit of keeping our full “being” in the present moment so that we can experience it fully, and not allow our thoughts to keep interfering. Spiritual development comes through experiencing, not thinking (ref. “Act To Experience To Know“).
Of course the intellect is very important, but it must act as the servant of the spirit. After we have intuited the right course of action, we can leave the implementation to the intellect.
As mini-creators (ref. “Creating Is Perpetual“) we control the sowing of the seed, which happens only in the present moment. The development and future harvest are controlled by Divine Law. Sowing good seed in the present moment is the main thing, and automatically “all these things shall be added unto us“.
We shall continue this exploration in the next essay.
Today’s Resolution:
- We shall strive for living faith, which manifests in expressing selflessness in the present moment irrespective of the apparent cost.
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