Irma Noriega
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Since the beginning of time, all peoples of the earth have tried to explain man’s origin. In a world of dualities, two theories collide: Science and Religion. Beyond them, there is the unity of the reality of God: the source from which everything emanates and is sustained. Symbol Metaphor or Law behind Success and Failure addresses that source as the permanent constant in man’s environment and life. It also postulates that Man is not a product of chance but an heir of God and, as such, Man’s resources and possibilities are limitless. The book also states that Man’s life is only as rich as his awareness of, not only the environment in which he lives, but of his own God-like identity. Identity is the determinant factor in the achievement, happiness, and success in man’s life.
Allegory, identity, perception, thoughts, expectations, choices, and actions become seeds that will reproduce in their own kind in a mirror-like creative universe. Once aware of this process and his God-like identity, man possesses the tools to live happily and successfully. Moreover, he doesn’t need to face the struggles of this life alone--the aid of God is available to him merely by asking for it.
Symbol, Metaphor or Law behind Success and Failure is a book of non-traditional answers to improve the quality of everyday life, to remove the blocks that prevent achievement, and to increase self-esteem. The results of the book will be the reader’s choice.
Irma Noriega grew up in Mexico City. She has lived in the United States for the last twenty-two years. She has a BA in Communications from the Westminster College and an AS in Marketing Management from the L.D.S. Business College. Noriega teaches ESL to foreign students and lives in Salt Lake City with her son and daughter.
Many things have been written about failure and success, but not much has been said about Christian religious metaphors to explain them. However, when we carefully study religious metaphors, they will attach a deeper meaning to our existence, determine the source of all existing and future creation, affix unity and connection among all forms of life, uncover the mechanics of miracles, and explicitly unveil the power of perception, a power that affects our relationship with God and his eternal laws and ultimately our success or failure.
As it is with most ideas that go beyond ordinary social approval, and despite their wisdom and implicit moral value, religious metaphors are difficult to understand and to be accepted. It is perhaps for this very reason that when Jesus taught, He constantly emphasized:
"He who hath ears, let him hear" (John 12:30)
The Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus' time, blinded by the traditions of their parents that controlled their lives, were unable to understand the doctrine of Jesus, nor accept a change in their law, and called it blasphemy when He stated that "the kingdom of God is within you." Accustomed to accept the worship of God through pre-set rituals, their ordinary way of perceiving things, the Pharisees and Sadducees of Jesus' time couldn't envision that the kingdom of God was not something that we reach by doing, but something that we attain by being.
"And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, ‘The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
"Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold the Kingdom of God is within you.’" (Luke 17:20-21).
Today, as in Jesus' time, perceptions mold and color our reality, whether we are aware of it or not. It is by virtue of our choice that we can view ourselves as either spiritual, eternal beings closely related to God or as worldly, carnal, and temporal creatures, products of chance and evolution with no connection or relationship to a Creator. Like the Pharisees and Sadducees, we are free to choose as we may, but whichever option we elect to explain life will be the blueprint by which we will operate, and the end result will be the light or darkness of the cause.
