microcosm of the individual, and the two movements harmonize
because they are that of the same Spirit, and the latter is
included in the former and pre-supposes it. The Great
Affirmation, therefore, is the perception that the "I AM" is ONE,
always harmonious with itself, and including all things in this
harmony for the simple reason that there is no second creative
power; and when the individual realizes that this always-single
power is the root of his own being, and therefore has centre in
himself and finds expression through him, he learns to trust its
singleness and the consequent harmony of its action in him with
what it is doing AROUND him. Then he sees that the affirmation "I
and my Father are ONE" is a necessary deduction from a correct
apprehension of the fundamental principles of being; and then, on
the principle that the less must be included in the greater, he
desires that harmonious unity of action be maintained by the
adaptation of his own particular movement to the larger movement
of the Spirit working as the Creative Principle through the great
whole. In this way we become centres through which the creative
forces find specialization by the development of that personal
factor on which the specific application of general laws must
always depend. A specific sort of individuality is formed,
capable of being the link between the great Spiritual Power of
the universal and the manifestation of the relative in time and
space because it consciously partakes of both; and because the
individual of this class recognizes the singleness of the Spirit
as the starting point of all things, he endeavours to withdraw
his mind from all arguments derived from external conditions,
whether past or present, and to fix it upon the forward movement
of the Spirit which he knows to be always identical both in the
universe and in himself. He ceases the attempt to dictate to the