Myrtle Fillmore did not write books and her lectures were
not collected into books. Her writings are archived in the library at Unity
Institute and Seminary. These writings consist of Silent Unity Correspondence
and magazine articles. She did not write books. The books we use as source
material are collections of her letters, articles, and lectures. Editors select
the included materials, their order, and how much of the source document is
included. So, our study may be more about the theology of the editors than
Myrtle Fillmore. This is not new, the Bible and any translation to another
language will have the same issues. However, it is an interesting issue for an
English-speaking figure from the 20th century.
In How to Let God
Help You, we begin with Myrtle speaking of God as presence followed by God as
Father or parent. She says we need a broader idea of God:
"We are studying spiritual science to get a broader conception
of God, rather than holding to the view that He is a personal being with parts
like man, a being subject to change and capable of varying moods. Though
personal to each one of us, God is IT, neither male nor female, but Principle.
God is not a cold, senseless principle like that of mathematics, but the
Principle of life, love, and intelligence. God is All-Intelligence; there is
but the one Mind and in reality, there are no separate men and women." Fillmore, Myrtle. "Chapter 4,
Spiritual Science." In How to let God help you, Lee’s Summit, MO.: Unity School of Christianity,
1956.
This broad idea of God is an infinite presence and power
that is somehow personal. How can an infinite power be personal? One way Myrtle
does this is by suggesting this power is within us and there is no place that
God is not. She holds the view that we are one with this deity while keeping
some individuality—she tells us we must achieve what God has planned for us.
Her language makes it difficult to pinpoint whether she is a pantheist or the
panentheist that many Unity folks want to see. Her idea of “God’s will” separates
humans from God despite her claim of oneness with God. Myrtle stresses God’s
good (and God as good), God’s presence (everywhere), and God’s power.
It seems to me that her sense of God as One stems from her
experience in what she calls the silence. This is a mystical state where she
senses the presence of the Divine within her. She describes this experience as
experiencing the presence of God.
Don - It would seem to be conundrum--how infinite power can be personal--except for the inescapable truth that there’s no way to know God except by experience. Myrtle’s experience sounds like a powerful one. I continue to have those kinds of experiences and my own appreciation of the power of God in my life. Maybe she’s talking to people like me who already get it. Or maybe she’s saying that anyone can have mystical experience if they get out of their own way and allow God be God. I agree with you; reading the editors version of Myrtle is a little like being one of the five blind guys on their part of the elephant.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you compared collecting Myrtle's writings into a book as being almost like the creation of the Masoretic text of the Bible. But what I didn't see in your blog is Myrtle's views are they directly relate to the Christ. Am I reading the wrong week's post?
ReplyDeleteYes, Richard. I'm very behind! New post coming today--oh yeah then the salvation points.
DeleteDon,
ReplyDeleteGreat points on how the information for these works were gathered. You are right. Myrtel did not sit down to write a book and give us her thoughts on theology. Myrtle was just writing letter's and responding to people who were asking her for prayers. That being said I have heard there is more information on Myrtle in the archives that paints a better picture than what we can find in "How to let God help you". Maybe we will have time to go through the archives someday and find the hidden treasures. Thanks for your share.
Hi Christine and Don,
DeleteChristine, you mention other material in the archives. The idea that this book is perhaps scratching the surface of her theology is intriguing to me too. I look for time to go do some research! As I'm working in Silent Unity now, I have a renewed interest in finding out more about her understandings. - Doug
Don, You rascal you! I loved the statement: "So, our study may be more about the theology of the editors than Myrtle Fillmore." Interesting thought. Alas, it is what we have to work with for this class so we will have to be satisfied with finding Myrtle among the words we have been given.
ReplyDeleteI have no doubt that Myrtle experienced a personal relationship with God, feeling the presence most often when in prayer and in the silence. And like each of us, that experience is difficult to put into words.
Don. Certainly a provocative opening! Definitely one worth pondering. As with the Bible, one has to wonder how much was lost in the translation. I agree that "her sense of God as One stems from her experience in what she calls the silence." It is when we are still that we can truly connect to the presence of the Divine within.
ReplyDelete