Click for audio: An Inlet and Outlet
“Every man is the inlet, and may become the outlet, of all there is in God.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
Many prominent writers for Unity—including Charles Fillmore, Eric Butterworth, and Emilie Cady—used this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson. The idea is fitting because it portrays the individual as an integral component of a much larger context.
In the study of systems theory, this particular portrayal of the individual would be considered an open system, “a system where matter or energy can flow into and/or out of the system.” There is a perpetual interaction between the part (the individual) and the whole (God). A closed system, on the other hand, is one that, in this context, would see the individual as something separate from God. This dual view of the human being also exists in science. There are those who see consciousness as a function of the brain (closed system) and those who see the brain as transmissive of non-localized consciousness (open system). This open-system view, in varying degrees, holds that human consciousness is a fully integrated aspect of a larger field that the spiritually-minded would have no problem labeling God.
This open system view of the individual is one that Paul was apparently comfortable with, for he is quoted as saying, “Yet he (God) is not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being’” (Acts 17:27-28).
The problem confronting all people on the spiritual path lies in moving from conceptualizing our oneness with God to knowing, to consciously live and move and have our being in God as our eternal Source. I again suggest using these following five affirmations from Emilie Cady in your daily times of quiet reflection. The “You” of course, is a reference to your indwelling Lord:
- You abide within me, You are alive there now.
- You are all power.
- You are the fulfillment of all I desire.
- Your innermost presence now radiates from the center to the circumference of my being.
- I give thanks that You hear and answer me, that You now come forth into my visible world as the fulfillment of my desire.
Speak these affirmations with the calm assurance of their power to align your consciousness with the truth of your being. You are truly an inlet and may become an outlet to all there is in God.