ELEVEN
USMs: Universal Spiritual Mechanics
Laws & theories
Just as with our corporeal gravity and inertia, there are at work principles; processes; and laws on the spiritual plane. They affect the corporeal plane either directly or indirectly. I call them USMs, or, ‘Universal Spiritual Mechanics’. I have always been intrigued by them; I have always wondered: ‘just how, exactly, do those spiritual things work?’
Often a spiritual law will seem familiar. This should come as no surprise, as our physical laws parallel or mirror the spiritual. Take for example the law of displacement, mentioned in section eight. That law provides that two objects may not occupy the same space at the same time.
Now look at 1 John 2:15, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
That gives us a different spin on the actions and reactions of God. As I have indicated, a pure state is called for; admixtures are prohibited. Why? Our actions affect our spiritual counterparts. Read this next USM and try to imagine what is happening on the spiritual plane.
Joshua 7:11-12, “Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.”
We often hear ourselves asking, why does this keep happening to me? Dare we ever stop to think that by our actions we set in motion spiritual processes that bear directly on our lives? What is the USM that finds its counterpart in lions?
See the response of God in 2 Kings 17:25, “And so it was at the beginning of their dwelling there, that they feared not the Lord: therefore the Lord sent lions among them, which slew some of them.”
These people, by their own actions, set in motion a chain of events, but those events were but reflections of events that transpired in Heaven. I like to think in terms of Universal Spiritual Laws; it presents the mind with a standard: something we may expect to be the same under similar circumstances. Such a system of ‘Universal Spiritual Governance’ may be learned. I may place my hand in the fire once, but after I have learned from it, I keep my fingers put.
When I say I fear the flame, I mean only that I have a healthy respect for what it can do. That last may be the Universal Law: ‘You reap what you sow’.
As to naming these, I confess to floundering, but what does this next one say about intercession and prayer?
Exodus 32:9-10, “And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people: Now therefore let Me alone, that My wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them.”
We are presently studying ‘how things work’. It is an issue that may be approached from either end. One may ask, “I wonder what will happen if I push this button,” or one may ask, “What do I need to do to achieve my desired goal?” In the verse above, to step aside would be Moses pushing the button that cut on the green light. Moses’ usual intercession and prayer for the tribes of Israel pressed the button that turned on the red stop light that impeded the natural consequence of God’s reaction to enemy activity.
We may envision an Old West gunfight with a man standing in the breach to intercede for one party. The other party is ready to draw and fire; he tells the intercessor to step aside and let events unfold. If it was a game of checkers, we would naturally assume that the player, according to the rules, had to take his jump.
A bad action elicits a bad response. A good action elicits a good response.
For good, see Ephesians 6:8, “Knowing that whatsoever good thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord.”
What do we mean by ‘universal law’? We mean anything that will be the same every time; we mean something that may be predicted. A scientist, once he has run the numbers, will perform his experiment again and again - and again. When the results have been determined to be verifiable, then and only then will he deem the results a constant. If it seems to be something other than a constant, he will try to determine if it is acting under a different set of laws.
In this regard, early man was at a loss when the constancy of God’s presence was lost. It’s like, “God said He’d be here; where is He?” Humanity has not yet learned to shoot from the hip.
For the unforeseen, see Psalms 78:60, “So that He forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh, the tent which He placed among men.”
The seeming inconsistency of God may be attributable to the application of universal law. Many people argue that God randomly or arbitrarily smote the children of Israel, for they being naive and idealistic, are disturbed by all the smiting that comes from a ‘God of love’.
See 1 Chronicles 21:7, “And God was displeased with this thing; therefore He smote Israel.”
An idealistic person usually is one who concentrates on one aspect of an issue at the expense of all other concomitant aspects. Grass needs sunshine to grow, that is a single aspect, too much sunshine will
kill the grass. Imagine the idealistic gardener who covers his lawn so the sun will not kill it. The
gardener kills his lawn through deprivation. Imagine the idealistic gardener who only believes in the
beneficial aspects of the sun, who kills his lawn through blindness. But there were other, less idealistic, people who warned the gardener; who predicted what would happen.
Covenants are not entered into lightly. Lot’s family entered into a covenant when the angels said ‘you will be spared; only look forward’. Lot’s wife looked back and perished.
Christ said in Luke 9:62, “No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
God, who created the universe of His own substance, and having set everything in order, may be more clearly understood through the study of universal laws. Any law that we may know, being of and defining our corporeal plane, is but a shadow of some universal spiritual law.
2 Kings 22:17 says, “Because they have forsaken Me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore My wrath shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.”
We are reminded of the child that was warned not to do something and did it anyway. Something bad was the result, but the child’s complaint was that he did not mean for that to happen. The man on the street cries, ‘it was an accident’ but he has no answer for why he ran the red light: the accident was not an accident at all, but rather the bad result of someone’s actions, someone who ignored traffic laws.
We have a saying, ‘what goes around, comes around’. The scripture has similar sayings: ‘reap what you sow’, ‘live by the sword/die by the sword’. We are familiar with cause and effect. Perhaps now we may at least see why some pronouncements of doom were worded as they were.
See Jeremiah 30:16, “Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go into captivity; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey.”
Let me take a moment to finger the map - as it were - to indicate the little arrow that bears the tag: “You Are Here.” USMs, or Universal Spiritual Mechanics, are simply a way to get a better handle on elusive reality. I have only theories. If you should ask what is a theory, I, not being a scientist, would have to confess that it is only my opinion. It is my best guess at a studied, intellectual level. On a deeper, spiritual level, it is what the Holy Spirit gives me to understand.
One of my so-called ‘theories’ is the ‘Fulcrum Theory’. The fulcrum theory holds the interface between spiritual and corporeal as the fulcrum of a scale. One side is up when the other side is down - but the purpose is to find balance.
It often seems that we are at odds with spirituality; that everything we are and do is opposed by the spirit. Part of the problem, I guess. If we are the reflection, then it is we who are in opposition. Let us say that pride is on our plate, that we have lifted it up, that we esteem the mentality of individual and team pride.
The mechanics would follow thusly: one, If the corporeal plate is high, the spiritual plate is low. Two, the weightier plate rests at bottom while the plate at the top holds nothing of weight. The resting plate is so weighted from the corporeal pride. When the plate on the spiritual side is furthest from God, the plate on the corporeal side is closest to the world.
For how the scripture employs the fulcrum theory see Luke 16:15, “Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.”
Plainly stated.
See also James 4:4, “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”
In these verses, the scales are tipped. Balance is called for. When equilibrium is obtained, one may begin to weigh down the corporeal plate with spiritual weights. When our plate is at rest, the plate on the other side of the fulcrum is at its highest point. That ‘highest point’ is always reflected in the weights found in our plate. Never foolishly think that it is in our power to set the standards; God has already set the weights and measures.
See Proverbs 16:2, “All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.”
Two verses are key to show the upside and downside of this universal law.
The downside may be seen in Revelation 3:17, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”
The upside may be seen in Matthew 18:4, “Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
These are instances where ‘more is less’ and ‘less is more’.
We seek to increase spiritually (we face the mirror), but we keep looking away to the world, and this must be a lesson in ‘how to make it work’, for we are instructed, in Luke 12:31, to “Rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.”
If we know we need something, God knows it better: He knows our mind. For our part, if what we want is on the other side, we need a clearer sense of focus. We must approach life ‘by the numbers’, remembering to cross every spiritual ‘T’ and dot every spiritual ‘I’.
Peter walked on water only while he faced the mirror; when he looked away he began to sink.
Spiritual principles find place, and are practiced in this corporeal world. Challenges are faced and lessons are learned - we must realize this, for we are but a shadow of something more real.
See Luke 16:11, “If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches?”
There is a spirit that underlies action, and for every gain, there is a prerequisite that must first come to completion. We think we can just hope, or simply pray, as those of earlier ages placed their gifts on similar but solid altars. We are told, though, if something needs fixing, leave the gift and go right the wrong first. Prerequisite action is not a new concept. ‘One’ always came before ‘Two’. And this, it seems, must occur concomitantly with the plate on our corporeal side of the fulcrum being weighted with spiritual weights. When our plate is fully weighted, the plate on the spiritual side is lifted up. A
straight line then exists between the high God on the spiritual plane and the humble man on the
corporeal plane. That is an alignment that produces results.
See Mark 11:23-24, “For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
Does that give us encouragement to press forward? Yes.
1 Corinthians 15:58 commends us to this course, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
We have spoken of our present spiritual counterparts on the spiritual plane. If we consider ourselves as
standing in our weighted plates and, our counterparts in their spiritual plates, then what we do, here
and now, affects our counterparts in no uncertain terms.
See John 12:26, “If any man serve Me, him will My Father honour” and “If any man serve Me, let him follow Me” (as, perhaps, in following the news); “and where I am, there shall also My servant be.”
Each of us wants to be that person. We want to enter His presence. How is it, then, that we continue to fall back through the door? Do you remember that part about the ‘light of the body’? If the whole body is full of light, it ‘entered’ through the eye. When we look that way, we are filled with light. But, we keep looking back. We lose what we were filled with, and are filled with something else. We are in a loser’s rut. ‘Round and ‘round we go. Of course you know, the only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth.
Christ knows we are losers. He knows we want in but keep falling back out. We want to abide (remain), but so far, only He remains. We know that only He can free us from the vicious cycle we are in. If we serve and follow Him, we can be where He is. We can be abiders like Him: He has already done the thing that makes it possible.
See John 8:36, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”
There is goodness and we have a taste for it, but we keep pigging out on worldliness. We have something in us that leaves no room for that which we really want. So what should we do?
Returning to the issue of prerequisites, 2 Timothy 2:21 says, “If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the Master's use, and prepared unto every good work.”
All we have to do is dump the refuse.
‘Spiritual Mechanics’ is an issue I am keenly interested in. I have but lightly touched on it. I have introduced USMs, and I have elaborated on spiritual laws. In all, I have shown that the spiritual and corporeal are not separate, but indivisibly one. We’ve all heard the expression: ‘getting in touch with one’s feminine side’. Unsavory to some, yes, but we are all, corporeally, composed of ‘Xs’ and ‘Ys’.
Spiritually speaking, we are all composed of both spiritual and corporeal. It is a symbiosis - not to liken us to Lichen, but the spirit draws from the corporeal as surely as the corporeal must draw from the spirit.
See Luke 4:4, “Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, that man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”
It must be pointed out that Christ may not have been referring to man in general, but to Himself, as He was being singularly tempted. In that case, “that man” may specifically point to Jesus. Otherwise, I must view this to mean that the corporeal cannot exist on corporealness alone, but requires every spiritual communication from God.
In that regard, the connectedness of corporeal to spiritual may be viewed as a three-tiered fountain, and this is more an explanation (in terms of the known) than theory (in terms of the unknown). Christ is the middle tier, pouring spirituality into corporeality, and thus, becoming the impetus by which corporeality rises back up to the head of the fountain.
John 10:28-29 puts it this way, “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand. My Father, which gave them Me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of My Father's hand.”
Of theories, I have put forth a few. Not the least important of these is the Equation Theory; which holds that both sides of an equation must be equal. In our present equation, both sides draw and both sides give again in return. It could never be that Christ (the Life) was translated to this side only to become death, or to be overcome by death. In being raised from the dead, Christ became life equally in the spiritual and the corporeal.
The worldly do not believe in resurrection, but Christians (those who are guided spiritually) do simply because, as Acts 2:24 puts it, “It was not possible that He should be holden of it (death).”
It cannot go without repeating that our actions, here, bear directly on our spiritually based consequences. If our actions are at first based in the spirit, our plate will be weighted so that our
corporeal reality will register a lowly state in some regard. I mean lowly as in poor or humble; I may
even mean destitute, as in the cases of Job and the Lazarus of parable.
Remember where the plate is on the other side: up at the top, with God. We want to be there, even if we do not yet fully comprehend our duality. And we seek forgiveness, for we already know forgiveness to be one of the prerequisites. But let me say that forgiveness is a spiritual consequence of one of our most common corporeal (though spiritually initiated) traits, a weight that bears our counterpart closer to God.
Let Luke 7:47 say it, “Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she
loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”
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