THE DIVINE EQUATION: THE IMPORTANCE OF ASSUMPTIONS

ASSUMPTIONS UNDERPINNING THE DIVINE EQUATION

For some reason, always unknown to me, the notion of The Divine Equation popped up in my Lectio Divina this morning. I have been writing down what I have received from the Holy Spirit without totally knowing what I am writing but hoping to put the pieces together gradually. I realized that I am unique in all the World with my view of what reality looks like but that I must exercise my reason to being into the Equation not only my Faith but the Faith of the Church, the Church Universal as it has been since the time of Christ. The Church is like a bank, housing the wisdom of those who have not only written the Gospel and Epistles in the New Testament but also preserving how those in each age use their assumptions to live out what it means to die to self to rise with Christ to new life, again and again, until death. The Divine Equation might mean something different to you and to me. What the words mean depends on how I interpret them according to the total accumulation of my knowledge, what I learned about the purpose of life, and what my purpose in life is. The differences are assumptions I make about what the words mean. Assumptions are those hidden ideas in my head that prompt me to say something in a particular way. You may not know what those hidden ideas are unless you ask. Guessing about assumptions in what another person says is called assumicide.

Back to the Divine Equation. “Divine” in the Divine Equation does not mean it is an equation that proves who God is or defines once and for all God’s nature, which is impossible with mere human languages. I assume that “Divine” means that the six questions and their authentic answers come from a power higher than ourselves and outside our human nature. The Divine Equation gives humans what it means to be fully human nature and the result of human evolution.

The tool I use to look at reality is The Rule of Three. I have not always used it but only recently discovered it in one of my Lectio Divina (Philippians 2:5) sessions.

Using The Rule of Three, the first universe is one in which all reality exists, the base of our existence. It exists quite independently of whether humans know about it or not. Humans have evolved with special tools or capabilities to look at this physical universe and ask why and how questions in the next universe, the mental one. Only humans live in the mental universe. The questions I had were: Why are we the only ones that know that we know? Know what? Is there a purpose to all reality and an endpoint to which all matter and energy aspire? This leads me to posit that there must be a roadblock in our human evolution over which human progression has no control. Humanity exists in a condition of corruption (everything has a beginning and an end, there is pain, there is a choice of evil, people die). Humanity needed help to jump to the next level of its evolution to fulfill its destiny. I hold that the spiritual universe is the universe that allows humanity to move forward toward what is intended in nature. The problem comes when this spiritual universe is one where each person must enter on their own using the experiences of a lifetime. This problem is that humans by themselves (the World) don’t possess the energy needed to raise their seventy or eighty years to the next level of evolution. This level is one of incorruptibility and is the opposite of what The World says is needed to be fully human.

The Christ Principle offers humanity the capability to reach the destiny intended for the human race. Humans that so choose are given a special sign at their Baptism. They can lead a double life (they live in the corruptibility of matter and the mind but are accepted by pure energy as being adopted sons and daughters of the Father.) This is dual citizenship where we struggle with the effects of corruption (pain, temptations to be evil in our hearts, and death, to name a few) and yet are a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven, which is incorruptible. This is the price we pay for the price Christ paid for our incorruptibility.

MY ASSUMPTIONS AS A LAY CISTERCIAN AS I COMMENT ABOUT SPIRITUAL REALITY

Assumptions are like icebergs; what you see, hear, taste, touch, and feel and thus know about the reality around you at any moment always has something deeper involved; in this case, my assumptions that you cannot see unless I share them.

Assumptions are like icebergs.

All assumptions are important because how I look at reality (and how you view the same situation) is different. Each of us looks at who God is by using our assumptions about who I am. God may be one, but each human has the potential to be an adopted son or daughter of the Father with Baptism or with God’s mercy in the case of those who do not know The Christ Principle. Assumptions are the frame of reference that shape how I think about anything. Assumptions can change by adding or detracting from what we believe or act. Assumptions might be good or destructive to how you view what is morally correct. If you assume that stealing is acceptable as long as you don’t get caught, your behavior follows. Ex fructibus cognocsetis. Watch how a person acts, and it will tell you what is in their heart.

False Prophets.^*

15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but underneath are ravenous wolves.^k

16^l By their fruits you will know them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?

17Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.

18A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a rotten tree bear good fruit.

19Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

20So by their fruits, you will know them.^m

The True Disciple.

21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven,^* but only the one who does the will of my Father in Heaven. ⁿ

22Many will say to me on that day,^o ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name? Did we not drive out demons in your name? Did we not do mighty deeds in your name?’^p

23Then I will declare to them solemnly, ‘I never knew you.^* Depart from me, you evildoers.’^q

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/7

Use this full text to ponder in your heart about what assumptions you hold about being next to the heart of Christ in contemplation. Take some time with this practice.

REFLECTIONS

What follows are some cryptic statements that I hold due to having made The Christ Principle one of my assumptions. My belief is not your belief because my assumptions are not your assumptions.

“I am not you; you are not me; God is not me; and I am certainly not God.”

I have chosen that God is the center of my life and not my false self.

Each day, I begin from scratch in seeking God. But each day, I have also changed in my capacity to seek God.

My prayer life is my life of prayer for the whole day, not just during Lectio Divina, Eucharist, Reading Scripture, Rosary, and Praying the Penitential Psalms.

Each day, I make the sign of the cross on my forehead to remind me that I am but a sinful person whom God has graced with discovering The Divine Equation using the energy of the Holy Spirit.

All I seek is to wait in the presence of God before the Blessed Sacrament and be near the heart of Christ.

Profound waiting in the stillness of my heart as I assimilate the love of Christ as He loved me, using the power of the Holy Spirit.

I use the Rule of Threes with nearly every word I utter. The Rule of Threes states that there is one reality with three distinct and separate universes corresponding to the nature of God, the nature of animality to rationality, and the nature of rationality to spirituality.

I assume that when I am accepted as an adopted son (daughter) of the Father, I inherit the Kingdom of Heaven on earth and become a caretaker (like Adam and Eve) of the World that I experience.

I assume that I do not speak for anyone else but only relate what I receive from the Holy Spirit. That depends on my assumptions as one who receives from the Spirit. What that means depends on the assumptions that you make with your life about The Divine Equation. In the Divine Equation, God’s questions and answers are the ones that are authentic and make us fully human as intended by our evolution.

• What is the purpose of life?
• What is my purpose within that purpose of life?
• What does reality look like?
• How does it all fit together?
• How do I love fiercely?
• You know you are going to die. Now what?

I have been accepted as a Lay Cistercian by the Monastery of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia, to follow the Rule of St. Benedict, as interpreted by Cistercian practices and charisms and confirmed through its principles and policies.

My center is: “Have in you the mind of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5)

Each day, because of the corruption of human nature due to Adam and Eve (Genesis 2-3), I must keep vigil against the World’s temptations to substitute the words I use to become more like Christ with what the World says is meaningful. They are the exact words, such as “peace,” “love,” “What it means to be human?” and “How does all this fit together?”

I have pledged my life to the conversion of my morals to become more like Christ and less like me, a paradox that the World will never understand or accept.

I live in a world until I die where I have dual citizenship, that of being in the physical and mental World. Still, I have been accepted by God as a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven on earth, which leads to my continuing after I die in Heaven.

The one rule I follow is to love others as Christ loved me.

The New Commandment.

31^* When he had left, Jesus said,^* “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him.

32[If God is glorified in him,] God will also glorify him in himself, and he will glorify him at once.^r

33My children, I will be with you only a little while longer. You will look for me, and as I told the Jews, ‘Where I go, you cannot come,’ so now I say it to you.^s

34I give you a new commandment:^* love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.^t

35This is how all will know that you are my disciples if you have love for one another.”

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/john/13

Scripture is there for me to clarify humans’ assumptions about how to love each other as Christ loved us. (John 20:30-31)

In my attempt to sanctify each moment, I realize that I must become what I pray for and that the moment has depths I have yet to discover. You can always pray deeper.

When I use the term “The Rule of Threes,” I assume that there are three phases of evolution:

The Physical Universe is the universe of all matter, including all living species, including humans. It is the world into which we are born for our 70 to 80-year sprint to find purpose and solve The Divine Equation. This universe is the object of scientific inquiry and the foundation of all living things. One of the purposes of this universe is to sustain the mental universe while it searches for meaning and fulfillment as a human. It is the visible universe.

The Mental Universe – only humans live in this universe, but we need the physical universe to sustain us. St. Paul terms these two universes as living in the World. It is the universe where we look for meaning by looking at the physical universe and asking questions. This universe combines visibility and invisibility so we can discover reality in these two elements.

The Spiritual Universe—Here is where it gets tricky. The spiritual universe is only in the invisible realm, while we humans also live in the physical and mental universes as our base. In this universe, we seek to discover the purpose of the other two universes (physical and mental) by using invisible reality. In addition, each person must choose to enter this universe voluntarily. By accepting the invitation of God to become adopted sons and daughters of the Father (the prototype is the Blessed Mother who first accepted God’s invitation), each human receives dual citizenship. When we die, life is changed, not ended, and we move on to fulfilling what it means to be human in Heaven. There is only one reality, just as there is only one God.

When I use the word “string,” I am inspired by the science of Quantum mechanics and string theory. My notion of string theory is that unseen forces exist that link the physical, mental, and spiritual universes (viewed simultaneously). These forces do not contain matter or energy as we know it from Quantum Mechanics or Relativity but are threads that bind the purposes of each universe together as one.

The purpose of three distinct and separate universes is:

The physical universe is the base for matter, energy, time, and life as we know it. It is the visible universe against which all life, including humans, fulfills its purpose.

The mental universe is an aberration of sorts. Humans are the only ones that know that we know and can choose something outside of the natural fabric of their nature. Humans have more than one choice. Humans evolved from animality for a reason. The mental universe allows humans to ask interrogatory questions and discover meaning by looking at the physical universe. Why do humans have the ability to reason and to choose? Choose what? This universe allows us to look at what is visible around us and probe what is invisible. The mental universe is a bridge or an interim capability to move to something. What is that unresolved something that we can’t see?

The third universe, existing simultaneously with the other two, is the answer to the first two trends. Humans could never have reasoned or discovered the spiritual universe with logic, science, or any human language. God had to take on human nature to tell us and show us how to use the spiritual universe to fulfill our destiny. The reason is that the next phase in human evolution is voluntary, not tied to matter or physical energy. Not only is it voluntary, but each individual must choose to enter it. That takes knowledge, love, and service on the part of each human to say YES to creation, YES to accept the invitation to be adopted sons and daughters of the Father, and being able to “see” reality invisible because of human reasoning. We have a cosmic evolution all pointing to me as I live my seventy or eighty years (or whatever) to give me the chance to say YES to the fulfillment of my species, incorruptibility. (Philippians 2:5) God’s DNA or fingerprints are on each atom, each galaxy or Sun, each cell, the hairs of our head are numbered, and we are shown how to love others as Christ loved us. With all due respect to B.F. Skinner, this spiritual universe is dying to the human self so that we can rise to incorruptibility. It is not without struggle nor danger (The Devil wants us to fail).