Fearless Living in a Time of Contagion - Reflections for Positive Envisioning

How many people do you know who aren’t just a little scared right now?  The antidote to fear is to replace anxiety producing thoughts by imagining repeatedly what we actually want to see rather than what we fear, even if that’s a challenge.  First, we need to remember our good and loving God/ Universe. Then we need to state positively what we want to experience, and deny all power over our minds to any negative ideas.  

This morning, a writer who is definitely scared sent my wife Nancy this “Christian” scriptural passage , with a message about how the  “world is ending.”.  The scripture is Revelations, chapter 6, verse 8: 

“I looked, and there before me was a pale horse!  Its rider was named Death, and the grave was following close behind him.  They were given power over a quarter of the earth to kill by sword, famine, plague, and the wild beasts of the earth!”

Wow!  That quote sure seems tailor made for March 20, 2020!  Literally, it’s explaining how Death, suddenly, is in our midst, as we deal with the Corona virus plague. Many people are dying from war and its effects, food shortages seem to be spreading worldwide, and the whole corona virus plague came from bats  or some other wild beast in China!  Pretty scary!!

One of the traditions of Unity and New Thought is that while scripture, taken literally,  may create a whole lot of feelings in our physical lives, it also has a symbolic, metaphysical meaning in the spiritual dimension.  Using the official Metaphysical Bible Dictionary by Charles Fillmore, I was curious what the metaphysical message might be for us today.

Here’s what the words in the passage mean metaphysically (metaphysical means “above” the physical; i.e., spiritual.  ):

A pale horse – God, Love. 

The rider: whatever consciousness is directing our divine energy.  

Death is spiritual inertia, a failure to recognize divine Power, resulting instead in physical loss.

Hades refers to  the outer darkness we see when we lose consciousness of Divine goodness and love. .

Power here means the ability to transform energy from the physical to the spiritual realm.

The sword is a weapon of destruction,

Famine means a lack of Faith in God or Source

Pestilence or plague:  a disaster we experience when we forget to be aware of God (Divine Love).

So the metaphysical meaning of this Bible passage for us today in our lives pretty much says:

“I looked around me and saw Divine Energy being directed, not by awareness of Love and Goodness, but rather by fearsome physical appearances that we humans are allowing to control and kill many of us. With our minds focused on danger and death, that’s what we’re about to experience. “ 

Metaphysically, the passage instead reminds us of the Divine Love that we can choose to guide us. It hints that we need to transform our thoughts to envision ongoing love energizing the earth, despite the physical appearance of great danger. We need to unseat the idea of lack as the rider of Universal Energy,  and instead, ride the pale horse ourselves toward a loving outcome.  Metaphysically this passage offers more positive hope than does its literal text.  Which view do you want to live by, the physical or the metaphysical one? 

I’m  choosing to stay aware metaphysically and spiritually! 

To help me do this, I’m asserting:  “I am directing my conscious energy to envisioning (creating wholeness and healing.. I give no power to thoughts of death, disease, and destruction.  And so it is!  Amen!”