THE FORMLESS AND THE FORMED Nothing could form a formless stuff, which has no mind of its own, except Intelligence operating upon it. Again we come back to the Word as the starting point of all Creation—God’s Word in the Great World, man’s word in the small world. ONE SPIRIT, ONE MIND, AND ONE SUBSTANCE; ONE LAW BUT MANY THOUGHTS; ONE POWER, BUT MANY WAYS OF USING IT; ONE GOD IN WHOM WE ALL LIVE, AND ONE LAW WHICH ALL OPERATE; ONE, ONE, ONE. NO GREATER UNITY COULD BE GIVEN THAN THAT WHICH IS ALREADY VOUCHSAFED TO MANKIND. But why is man so limited? Why is he still poor, sick, afraid and unhappy? Because he does not know the Truth—that is the only “Why.” But why was he not so made that he would have to know the Truth? The answer is that even God could not make a real man, that is, a real Personified Expression of Himself, without creating him in freedom and leaving him TO DISCOVER HIMSELF. This is the meaning of the story of the Prodigal Son and the whole meaning of it. INDIVIDUALITY MEANS SELF-CHOICE Individuality means real individualized being and real personified self-choice. We could not imagine an individuality without self-choice; but what would be the use of self-choice unless the ability to choose were backed with the power to externalize that choice? It would remain simply an idle dream, never coming into real selfexpression. A little thought will make it clear that, if man is created to express freedom, he must be left to discover himself. Of course, during the process he will have much experience, but in the end he will come out a real being. The day of man’s discovery of himself marked the first day of the record of human history on this planet; and from the day when he first made this discovery he has constantly risen and continuously progressed. All the forces of nature attend him on his way, but he must first discover them in order to make use of them. THE GREATEST DISCOVERY EVER MADE The greatest discovery that man ever made was, that his thought has creative power; that is, that it uses creative power. His thought, of itself, would have no power unless it were operative through a creative medium. We do not have to compel Law
70