The Fifth Principle: Strive daily to put the spiritual above the physical

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LESSON 22: The Three Stages of Life

A. Our period of life on earth is nothing compared with eternity.

1. The physical cosmos is fifteen billion years old; in comparison, a human life on earth is an instant.

2. God and the spirit world are eternal.

• In spirit world we exist eternally.
• Jesus said, ". . . he who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die" (John 11:25-26).

B. The three stages of life.

1. We originate in the love of God and our parents.

• Life is conceived in the womb, the "water" environment.
• Life is the result of the interaction of father, mother and God's Principle.

2. We are born, become substantialized love and grow to become divine.

• Life grows into perfect love on the earth. This is the "air" environment.
• Our spiritual development is the result of the interaction of our mind, body and God's Principle.

3. We die physically and return to love and to God.

• Love is harvested in the spirit world, which is a world of love. This is the "love" environment.

C. Characteristics of life in the womb.

1. The fetus is fed by nutrients from the mother's body through the umbilical cord connected to the placenta.

2. The placenta is our environment for growth. After emerging from the womb, we cast off the placenta, which has fulfilled its purpose.

D. Characteristics of life on earth.

1. We are fed by nutrients from both the physical world and spirit world.

• Our body grows and maintains itself with food, water and sunlight, elements from the material world. The physical body is like the placenta for our spirit.
• Our spirit grows and maintains itself with elements of God's love and truth along with spiritual nutrition from our good deeds, just as the fetus grows by receiving nutrients from the mother.
• Just as we need food every day, we need our daily intake of spiritual elements to grow.
  • We receive God's love and heed God's word.
  • We practice God's word, by doing good deeds.
  • The understanding of God's word and practice of God's word combine to nourish the spirit and stimulate its growth (development of character).

2. The spirit influences the body.

• A high spirit bequeaths health, vigor, bright and beautiful appearance in the physical body.
• A low spirit promotes illness, agitation, withdrawn and ugly appearance in the physical body.

3. The body affects the spirit.

• Good deeds make for a bright spirit.
• Evil deeds deform the spirit.
• Example: Oscar Wilde's, The Picture of Dorian Gray. A young man's wicked life has no effect upon his body, but the effects take place upon his portrait, which turns vicious and scarred. It is a fictional story, but communicates well how our deeds affect the appearance of our spirit.

4. Spiritual growth requires that we care for our physical body also.

• We should have knowledge and care of the material world.
• Ultimately, for the purpose of living a spiritual life, which requires a healthy physical foundation (energy, endurance).
• We need our body:
  • For the spirit to grow and manifest God's image.
  • To multiply God's image through love. Multiplication of children takes place only through the physical body. Spirit men or angels cannot multiply children. Therefore, they cannot inherit God's creativity and parental heart.

5. Anticipation of our future life.

• Do we not long to move freely in time and space and to dispense with biological needs? Thus we long to transcend this temporal, limited world and enjoy eternal life in God.
• Every day we love God, giving Him glory. As we grow older, we identify with the spirit world, not the physical world.
• We learn and practice the universal principles which apply in the spirit world so that we can live abundantly there.
  • The universal principle is living for the sake of others.
  • Principle also provides order to our relationships (elder-younger, male-female, teacher-student, etc.).
  • If we do not, we will not fit in, and end up separated from God and true love, that is, in hell.
• In fact, we set our destination for heaven or hell, spiritual life or spiritual death, by the quality of our heart and love while alive here on earth.
  • "What is bound on earth is bound in heaven" (Matt. 16:19).
  • Love is the most powerful force. Therefore, the quality of our love (true love versus false love) determines our fate. False love cannot co-exist with true love; it has to change. True love is attracted to God and to other people of true love; false love flees God and finds itself lost in a world of fear, guilt, resentment, and so forth.

True love is made concrete in true family life; similarly false love is made concrete in false family life. Therefore, the way we connect the spiritual and the physical in our family relations is very important. The next lesson will examine this issue.

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MEANINGFULL ENCOUNTERS