Welcome to our new Sunday Morning Service by Dr. Dean A. Banks, D.D. Every week Dr. Dean will be engaging subjects that are pertinent to your growth and expansion into recognition of; respect to; and communication with your inner spirit. Please feel free to comment or suggest topics for review. May the Divine always bless you and your families! ~Dean A. Banks, D.D.

SUNDAY MORNING SERVICE WITH
DR. DEAN A. BANKS, D.D.

"ORIGINALITY"

OCTOBER 29

Lately I’ve been hearing a great deal about originality in the creative arts. What is originality? The dictionary defines originality as the ability to think or express oneself in an independent and individual manner; an expression of a creative ability that is fresh or novel in an idea, method or performance. Throughout the course of history many people from all over the world have had original ideas, new ways of doing things, or new ways of expressing concepts. The source material of ideas have always been there; then someone comes along with a new way of looking at something, a new way of going about something or a new way of explaining the world around us. Societies, religions and governments have all had to modify their rules, mores and laws in order to accommodate newer ways of thought. Most have been notoriously resistant to change, and that is why the human growth process takes many years of development, trial and error and finally acceptance. It has been said that everything has been done before and it will be done again; sometimes with a different twist. Is that what constitutes being original?

Dante Shepherd, on his site “Surviving the World”, explains the varying degrees of originality. His site is enlightening, irreverent and humorous. First he lists about one-eighth of his pie chart on originality as “Completely new original concepts.” These are the ideas that haven’t been utilized before. They come from the realm of the subconscious minds of the deepest of thinkers; Einstein, Hawking and Tesla are good examples. Next are “New variations on concepts already used” that take up about a quarter of the pie. These are the ideas that take work and concepts from the deepest of thinkers and modify how they are implemented into our world; whether through application, instruction or formulation. Following are “New concepts developed by combining concepts already used.” These take up about a quarter of the pie as well and deal with advancements such as those associated with medical science. Next are “Blatant direct rip-offs of concepts already used” (about a quarter of the pie), such as is evidenced by the endless widgets hawked on TV day after day. Now we get to the humorous stuff in the final eighth of the pie; “Completely original concepts lost forever because the hallucinogens have worn off.” Many great ideas have come from altered states of mind; whether drug induced or in deep states of meditation.

When one is deep in meditation the experience is one of connection to the source of all original ideas; whether new, variations, combinations, “ripped off” or simply forgotten due to altered states. Have you ever had an idea and failed to manifest it and then months or weeks later someone else has invented it? All original ideas come from the source of all thought; God! It is up to you to do something about it. Jesus told the parable about the 3 servants, the master and the talents which explains this well. Each servant was given a portion of talents equal to his ability by their master. The master left and eventually returned and called in his servants to see what they had done with their “talents.” The first servant was given 5 talents and presented the master with ten while the second servant was given 2 talents and presented the master with four. The master then gave more responsibilities to the two servants in proportion to their abilities, even though both doubled his investment. When the third servant was called in he produced the single “talent” that was given to him by his master. When asked why he still had just the one talent he told the master that he buried it because he was afraid of losing it. The master scolded him and said he could have at least put the talent in the bank and made interest on it! The master had the talent taken from the third servant, cast him out and gave it to the first servant who had doubled his investment; not the second one who’s ability was second best. Those who have been given talents and put them to work (invest) will be given more and have abundance. Why? Because they know how to take an original idea, whatever degree of originality, and make it into something profitable for all!

As we have witnessed, there are many varying degrees of originality. One former partner of mine taught me that there is originality in arranging other people’s original ideas. He would take other people’s creations and put his own spin on it. Yes, the original ideas weren’t his, but he put them together in his own original way. Just like an arranger can change the instrumentation of someone else’s composition and make it sound like a completely different tune. There is value in creativity, originality and manifestation. It creates a channel of original ideas that can bring about prosperity for each and every one of us. Don’t bury that talent or that original idea. Play with it. Give it life. The life you give to it will give life back to you.

Excerpted from the book "Spiritual Growth: Articles Of Expectation." Please click here to order the book:

https://www.createspace.com/3691279

©2017 Dean A. Banks, D.D. All Rights Reserved.