Page 164 - Matter: The Other Name for Illusion

Every state of the butterfly you see in the picture—from the time it is an egg to when it
enters its cocoon, from the time it leaves the cocoon and begins to fly to the time it
dies—is vividly present in God's sight. In God's sight the butterfly is leaving the cocoon
now, beginning to fly now and dying and falling to the ground now.

future, are at this moment in God's memory and will remain there for eternity.
Suppose you kick a stone as you walk along a path. The time when you
would kick that stone was determined and created in your fate even before you
were born. The fact that this stone fell off a larger piece of rock, and every stage
at which each of its cracks and recesses was formed—all of these were present
in the sight of God even before you kicked the stone.
The same thing is true of a dead butterfly you see in a garbage can or a dry
leaf falling from a tree onto your head. From the time the butterfly was still a
caterpillar to the time it left its cocoon, from the time its wings dried to the time

it fell into the garbage, everything was predetermined in its fate. In God's sight,
the living butterfly and the dead butterfly continue to exist and will continue
to exist eternally.

162 MATTER: THE OTHER NAME FOR ILLUSION