Identity

By Linda Mihalic

  Identity is “the condition of being a certain person or thing; the set of characteristics by which a person or thing is definitively recognizable or known; the awareness that an individual or group has of being a distinct, persisting entity.”–American Heritage Dictionary
  Identity is “the quality or condition of being the same in substance, composition, nature, properties, or in particular qualities under consideration, absolute or essential sameness, oneness, the sameness of a person or thing at all times or in all circumstances; individuality, the condition or fact of remaining the same person throughout the various phases of existence, continuity of the personality, an individual’s distinguishing character or personality, a person’s emotional, intellectual and moral qualities.”–Webster’s American Dictionary


“God is the primal and ultimate Identity.”–Linda Mihalic


  Identity is the name and number governing an aggregation of life sparks called a living soul. Spirit is all unnamed, unnumbered universal substance ready to become. A living soul has a specific name and number. We call soul expression “personality.” The identity of soul cannot change, but personality can. Personality must express soul identity, which is the great individuality called the Oversoul. Identity is an absolute and abstract principle, a law of being and a law of doing, which is expression.
  God is the primal and ultimate Identity. Specifically, individual identity is the manifestation of soul that God condenses from Spirit. God must number and name every life spark used to condense the particular rate of vibration of a descending living soul into an outer form. Each living soul’s number and name is specific and unique, unlike any other in the whole universe. Once God numbers and names a life spark, giving it identity, nothing can change or appropriate its identity, for it eternally vibrates to its original, God-given number and name. From the complete living soul itself to the life sparks that form the outer physical sheath, substance forever clings to its own number and name and to no other. Number and name constitute eternal identity. Once God bestows eternal identity on a living soul, it cannot be lost unless you destroy yourself by misusing Light, which is all Mind, all Power, and all Substance. Eternal identity is the source of your freedom of choice, and of your personal identity.





Edna Lister on Identity

God is a great Being of Light, who differentiated Himself into countless differentiations. We started as unconscious individualized manifestations of all that is, yet we are returning as conscious individualized manifestations, with conscious identity.–Edna Lister, January 28, 1933


You are a link in Mind that binds this world to the Source.–Edna Lister, February 6, 1942


You are a key on earth, formed to open lock mysteries of God’s truth. Sometimes your key gets stuck in a lock and won’t turn, but the grand Master Key fills all locks with the solvents of Light and Power to open them.–Edna Lister, April 3, 1942


A soul can lose identity by misusing soul substance, but the life sparks of spiritual substance forever return to God.–Edna Lister, July 31, 1944


You always retain your complete identity once you’ve won your way back to the heart of God.–Edna Lister, August 28, 1944


From self-expression into soul-identity with the Source of all life is your goal as you walk the Way of the Christ.–Edna Lister, Five Important Steps in Ascension, 1945


You are on earth, but not of it unless you choose to be merely “earthy.”–Edna Lister, October 18, 1946


Self is the repository of experience gained throughout past lives, which is stored in certain physical cells [such as your blood platelets]. When you lose identity, you lose personal awareness, although your life sparks return to the Source.–Edna Lister, May 26, 1947


The Father created all living souls and sent them forth, each with its own identity.–Edna Lister, June 3, 1947


Loss of identity is based on indulging an escape complex.–Edna Lister, July 1, 1948


Oversoul always retains identity with the Source, which is why you must return Home.–Edna Lister, August 10, 1949


Perdition is the annihilation of identity, a complete dissolution of all substance in forms, casting the life sparks into the lake of fire until all identity memory is burned from that soul substance. Perdition results in a loss of identity, and apparent insanity on earth.–Edna Lister, October 9, 1950


The Christos Degree always includes the complete surrender of an earthy self-identity for the greater glory of soul identity with God.–Edna Lister, Success Through Prayer, July 7, 1953


You express your divine identity through free will; those who choose not to express become nonentities.–Edna Lister, The Gospel of the Cross, October 18, 1953


The Supreme Being does not derive identity from His creations, for He is the Identity. You draw your identity from God.
  The world is afraid to surrender self, fearing that it means a loss of identity.–Edna Lister, Your Life’s Practice, May 23, 1954


You never lose conscious identity if you mind your own business and ascend.–Edna Lister, May 24, 1954


The masses fear they will lose identity if they live by love rather than by the little self.–Edna Lister, Jesus, the Psychologist, October 17, 1954


When you know your identity with God and what your function is, you know your equipment is designed for God’s service, and that you can and must identify with Him in every step, emotion, thought, and picture of imagination.–Edna Lister, July 23, 1955


Nonresistance is possible only when you have gained an identity with the Source of Creation. Identity with your Source is the place of conscious knowing that anything is possible under the great Creative Impulse of Mind which does the work.–Edna Lister, Eternal Youth, 1956


The greatest question that any soul can ask is “Who is this ‘I’ that I am?” The children of earth live as infants who are learning to identify themselves: “These are my fingers, these are my toes.” Some children are born with a full sense of “I” and and who they are. But many adults are still feeling their toes with no conscious sense of identity. Many people identify themselves by occupation, which does not identify their “I,” only what their “I” is doing. You must question “Who am I” if you are to become enlightened.–Edna Lister, Your Attitude Toward Man, December 9, 1956


Soul is that part of you that remains aware of the inner when you descend to earth. Identity is the individual manifestation of soul that God condenses from Spirit, which becomes you. Universal Spirit is a part of God’s original universal substance, a primary rate of vibration, with all qualities uncondensed and only the one Power. God gives soul a conscious rate of control over this Power. Thus, God forms miracles not of that Spirit that dwells in man, but of spiritual substance.–Edna Lister, The Bond of Spirit, October 6, 1957


You must understand your relationship to humanity to understand your relationship to God. This gives you your identity with God.–Edna Lister, April 21, 1958


Some think they will lose their identities by agreeing and adjusting, which is silly, for all you lose is your petty little ego.–Edna Lister, Constancy in Obedience, October 26, 1958


“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”–Romans 8:35. Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ. Stand and identify with your Source.–Edna Lister, Doing Without Thought of Reward, November 9, 1958


To feel God, lift yourself up above what is dragging you down. Say, “I AM Good,” and you call on the name of God. “I AM good” is the middle name of your identity with God.–Edna Lister, June 23, 1959


The Christ consciousness within our mind is your identity. It has always guided you as intuition and illumination. If it doesn't, you have abandoned it.–Edna Lister, I Am That Bread of Life, October 25, 1959


Conscious mind enfolds your conscious identity and the world mind; it is your link to that “mind which is in Christ Jesus.”–Edna Lister, How Can I Apply Law to My Life? June 7, 1960


True love is the only integrative power that can establish your identity with God. Prayer holds your identity and your oneness with God.–Edna Lister, When Prayer Is at Work, June 4, 1961


You can either regress and lose all identity, or ascend and surrender all self! Freewill is synonymous with identity.–Edna Lister, The Key to Integration of Soul and Spirit, June 6, 1961


Ye are gods.–John 10:34, and this identity with the Source of all life and expression must become your rock solid foundation before you may receive the keys of the kingdom.–Edna Lister, Wherever You Go, October 22, 1961


Faith is the only way to have identity with the Source. You are the sum of your own identity, what you put your faith in and what you practice. You hold your conscious identity with the Source when you practice your faith.–Edna Lister, Identity: Your Hope of Glory, April 29, 1962


You must know the nature of man and God. God gives and man receives. “He is our Father, we are His Sons and Daughters.”–2 Corinthians 6:18. You must know your Source and how to hold to your source of identity. You must know yourself as a soul to have identity with God.–Edna Lister, April 30, 1962


The greater your conquering of self, the more quickly you recognize your identity with God.–Edna Lister, May 6, 1962


When you identify with the Source, you are not bitter or grimly peevish.–Edna Lister, The Cross, June 23, 1963


From birth to passing over is a process of accepting and seeking a complete identity with God as you discard more selfishness.–Edna Lister, The Rose as the Crown, June 30, 1963


You cannot reach your goal of knowing God and holding your identity without standing on the base of divine principle.–Edna Lister, August 5, 1963


God established your identity before you came here. The tragedy comes when you identify with the world's negatives instead of God's Light.–Edna Lister, Your Sacred Light, November 10, 1963


Every soul is identified in the heart of God, yet lack of understanding of your identity may cause you to criticize others. Your inadequacy in establishing your identity with God first causes your trouble.–Edna Lister, Comprehension and Recompense, November 7, 1965


“Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”–Matthew 6:33. This verse also means to go to God and be His son or daughter; seek your identity in a complete surrender of self. God can use you as an instrument when you have surrendered the “I.”–Edna Lister, November 8, 1965


Don't let worldly problems disturb or dislocate your identity with God.–Edna Lister, Choice, Your Glorious Foundation, October 16, 1966


Identity is founded on a soul's name and number. Every living soul has a specific name and number, and every life spark of the body the soul builds must carry this name and number. The named, numbered identity constitutes the soul’s individuality. Spirit is all unnamed, unnumbered universal substance ready to become. Soul expresses as what we call “personality.” The soul’s named and numbered identity cannot change, but the personality soul expresses can. Outer personality must express soul identity as the great individuality we call the Oversoul. Identity is thus folded into Oneness with God the One to operate as “the many as One.”–Edna Lister, October 18, 1966


You do not “find yourself” in life until you establish your identity with your Source. You have your cross to bear, and there is no magic door into heaven.–Edna Lister, Your Mount of Transfiguration, October 30, 1966


“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”–Ephesians 1:3-4. This passage describes our complete identity with God.–Edna Lister, Your Divine Inheritance, November 6, 1966


Children seek security in a parent’s firm and loving expression. A naughty child seeks identity with authority just as does the adult atheist who challenges God. The child seeks discipline just as we do, to prove that God is.–Edna Lister, Beauty, a Spiritual Way of Life, May 9, 1967


Each soul needs confidence in his own identity. Move up in consciousness and be one with God.–Edna Lister, The Supremacy of Religion, October 15, 1967


Whatever you must do, do gently, do wisely and with great firmness. Firmness is complete confidence in God and assurance of your identity as one with God at the Source.–Edna Lister, October 16, 1967


Love your brother as yourself.–Deuteronomy 6:5. You cannot love your brother unless you first have reestablished your identity with God and love yourself.–Edna Lister, Creating My Own Divine Security, November 19, 1967


God created man with a cosmic urge, a divine compulsion that we must satisfy. This is why we seek identity with the Source.
  You must seek your point of identity with God in the morning, or you flounder through the day.–Edna Lister, Five Important Mysteries, October 27, 1968


The soul is always seeking its true and complete identity with God. First, you must seek your conscious identity as a child of God, standing in His image and likeness. Second, you must accept that you are a creator in the likeness of God, and here you either must accept or repudiate Him.
  The three secrets of the soul are your identity with God as our Source, your identity as a co-creator with God, and your immortality now!–Edna Lister, Secrets of the Soul, November 10, 1968


Faith gives you your identity in Light.–Edna Lister, Your Mount of Transfiguration, December 2, 1968


Jesus organized a method of identification with his Father God, which he outlined in the Sermon on the Mount, that will never die, and leaves no loopholes for self to deny this identity.–Edna Lister, Secret Place of the Most High, November 16, 1969


“Ye are gods.”–John 10:34 is proof of our identity, yet we are nothing unless we consciously identify with the Source.–Edna Lister, December 4, 1969


When you lack conscious identity with the Source, you lack security on earth. To have a permanent identity, you need a permanent Source, which is the underlying reason for all peoples, nations, races, tribes, who need to worship. They must have God, a reason greater than self. We call this religion, and it must be the twin of science. Religion and science are the two permanent pillars on the Way of Life. Religion gives a Source, a beginning, while science gives the means of expression for right living.–Edna Lister, February 5, 1970


You must accept your full identity with the Source, a line of contact between your soul and the Father. Jesus came to show us the way to our destiny, which is our destination. Hold fast to that identity day and night, without forgetting it for hours on end.–Edna Lister, The Golden Chalice of Life, June 21, 1970


When you are “in one place of one accord” (Acts 2:1), you may consciously identify with your Source. The Light is yours. You are the Light. The Light is One.–Edna Lister, June 28, 1970


Your application of God’s Power and Substance as personality gives you identity with God. You can draw upon the Breath of Life to touch the Source anytime.–Edna Lister, Ascension Makes All Things New, July 5, 1970

Top ↑


Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.–Matthew 15:13

I and my Father are one.–John 10:30

The Father is in me, and I in him.–John 10:38

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He who abides in me, and I in him, brings forth much fruit, for without me ye can do nothing.–John 15:5

Top ↑


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Edna Miriam Lister
1884–1971
The original Pioneering Mystic,
Christian Platonist philosopher, American Idealist, Founder, Society of the Universal Living Christ, minister, teacher, author, wife, and mother.


Edna Lister


Etymology of identity: Late Latin identitas, from Latin idem, "the same".


Identity is an absolute principle.

Identity is an abstract principle.

Identity is a law of being.

Identity is a law of doing.


Quotes

The real axiom of Identity is this: What is true in one context is true in another. Or, If any truth is stated so that a change in events will make it false, then it is not a genuine truth at all.–F. H. Bradley

Properly speaking, a man has as many social selves as there are individuals who recognise him.–William James

Know thyself.–Delphic Maxim, inscribed in the outer court of the Temple of Apollo at Delphi


References

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, s.v. "identity," American Heritage® Dictionary, 5th ed. ©2022 HarperCollins Publishers. All rights reserved. Accessed 12 May 22 2023.

Bradley, Francis H. The Principles of Logic. New York: G. E. Stechert & Co., 1912, p. 133.

The Holy Bible, King James Version (KJV). Public Domain.

James, William. The Principles of Psychology. New York: Henry Holt & Co., 1890, p.310. Public Domain.

Webster, Noah. "Identity," Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language. New York: S. Converse, 1828. Public Domain.


Related Topics

Personality

Your Spiritual Identity: Edna Lister, April 7, 1935

From Self to Soul Identity: Edna Lister, October 6, 1946

Identity: Your Hope of Glory: Edna Lister, April 29, 1962

Identity: David Mihalic, Identity, May 12, 2017