Class 2
Book
Copyright N°_
COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT.
SARAH FRANCES MEADER
Slje SJimttg ©ruttj
BY
SARAH FRANCES MEADER
Author of "Tiie Business Side of Tne New Tnougni,~etc.
New York
GOODYEAR BOOK CONCERN
1913
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Copyright, 1913, by GOODYEAR BOOK CONCERN
DEC 26 1913
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©CI.A358871
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DEDICATION As a grateful tribute to the memory of my friend, Warren F. Evans, pioneer Teacher, Author, and Healer, who helped me to realize the Human Trin- ity of Body, Soul, and Spirit — the one as important as the other — I dedicate this book.
CONTENTS
PAGE
I. God and Man : Creation 9
II. God and Man : Intelligence . . • 21
III. God and Man : Order 37
IV. Power : Knowledge Is Power ... 53 V. The Healing Power: Physical
Health 67
VI. Use 77
INTRODUCTION
There is but one Truth in the universe, God's Truth, which is eternal and unchang- ing. This Truth includes all things, and in it lies the secret of human health, prosperity, and happiness. All men are searching for it, in some way or another, and when one finds a clear leading, it is an occasion of great rejoicing. After nearly thirty years of searching as teacher and healer, I have found an open way, and what more natural than that I should send a cheerful hail to my fellow searchers out in the tangled ways? Rejoicing in the truth, I send this little book, trusting that we together may attain the much desired end: a life of usefulness and peace.
LESSON I
GOD AND MAN: CREATION
In these lessons we are to study man as body, soul, and spirit. An intelligent com- prehension of the physical body, as related to the mind, a knowledge of the soul as the source of the active conscious thought, an understanding of spirit as the life principle, the Divine in the universe, constitutes the equipment of one who desires to minister to the sick, sinful, or sorrowing fellow-being as physician or friend.
We of the New Thought practice are often questioned as to the difference between our doctrine and that of Christian Science. In the first place, New Thought gives the stu- dent the largest liberty to think from the God within, instead of the mandatory con- ceptions of another.
One of the first textbooks on Mental Heal-
10 The Living Truth
ing, was Science and Health by Mrs. Eddy, who claims to be the Founder and Discov- erer of Christian Science. One of the state- ments of the remarkable book is: "All is mind, there is no matter. There is no life, substance, or intelligence in matter." (A superfluous statement, if matter does not exist. ) It says again, "Deny the evidence of the Senses." Sense evidence is a lie. The old-time students, who honestly tried to be- lieve it, were not allowed to question, and as a result many of the daring ones drifted away into Divine Science, Spiritual Heal- ing, Mental Science, Mind Cure, and other metaphysical cults wiiich are now associ- ated and classified under the JNTew Thought Alliance, one of the grandest movements for the spread of the practical Christ Teaching in all the world.
We teach a solid truth on which we all can meet in harmony. God created all things. He gave an inborn intelligence to every atom, that it might find its proper relation to every other atom ; which relation- ship, properly understood, would manifest together a grand, harmonious whole.
To perfect this grand harmony, each crea- tion is capable of its highest development, according to the law of its kind. The soul
The Living Truth 11
that inquires, is the soul that gets wisdom. We have the right to ask an explanation of every phenomenon. Explain, not deny. In this way, alone, can we get at the truth of things. Let us inquire the meaning of every adverse condition. Facing our difficulties in the right spirit, we see them in a new Light.
In its right place everything is good. But if it brings trouble to us the relationship is at fault, and "Get thee behind me, Satan/' is the only attitude to take.
Let us start this study of right living on a sure foundation. There is one thing we are all sure of. Here am I, a living breathing sentient creation. From whence did I come, and whither do I tend? It will take a life- time to work out the whole problem, but there is a right way of getting about it.
"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Free from what? From any bondage which hinders one's progress toward the highest and best ex- pression of one's capabilities and desires. Truth is of God ! Let us find out first of all. what is God, and what is our relation tc Him. Here is a foundation thought. "Be- cause God IS, I exist," means to stand ou1 from a Creative Cause which we call God
12 The Lwing Truth
Let us be still for a moment with, this thought, God is everywhere and God is Here.
( Silence. )
To exist is from the Latin Ex, out from, and Sister, to stand or cause to stand. A word is the sign of an idea. Right words are carefully constructed. Through the word or symbol of the Idea there is breathed a spirit, which gives it power. I exist or stand apart. A being put forth from a Crea- tive Cause. Because God is, I exist.
To learn of the Being we reverently call God, and our relation to Him, is the first lesson in Metaphysical Study. It is the Basic principle on which we are to build the fair structure of human health and hap- piness. "Things of the Spirit must be Spir- itually discerned," therefore, we must inter- pret God, by the best there is in us. God is ever the highest conception of Man's individ- ual consciousness.
It is natural and right to reason from the manifestation which appears, to our con- sciousness. With the natural vision, we dis- cern proofs of a creative force* beyond our forces, creative and powerful. The natural world teems with organisms having bodies and functions of their own.
The Living Truth 13
As our consciousness unfolds, we perceive an accuracy in form and function, which adapts each to a harmonious action with the other; a law which harmonizes all created things. We learn, too, that we, as individuals, are related by undeviating man- ifestations, to all that is. We are one with the universe, one with each other, one with God. This is the basic principle of Meta- physical Teaching, and on this principle we must stand firmly, in order to demonstrate health and happiness.
"God is everywhere, God is here," in every situation. God is good, God is great, but not too great nor too good to ignore me. What is God to me, and what am I to God? This is the purpose of my study. Metaphys- ics is the study of a life principle. The word signifies Met a, beyond; and Physics, the science of natural things. It is a term first used by Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, who reasoned from things visible, or the science of natural things, to that superior law, the science of the Mind, or that which is above and beyond the natural. We may concisely define Metaphysics, then, as a scientific interpretation of mental phenom- ena, since it teaches us to look beyond na- tural causes, for physical effects, and to
14 The Living Truth
draw away from the sense of outward things, to the revealings which come of a communion with the deep things of the spirit.
Upon our present plane of consciousness, we are brought face to face with much that seems undesirable ; with that which hinders and holds us. So much that we struggle and fret against, and desire to be rid of. Why is it?
If we are put forth from God, Who is good, life must be good, and in the eternal justice of things, there must be a way out of troubles and trials, which ill befit a being or a race projected from life and law.
The Law
"I am the way, the truth, and the life," said Jesus, the Son of God. "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
There is an order, a law, which runs through all the universe, harmonizing all things. There is no conflict in this law. There is but one law, one God, one life, one Law of life. Man-made interpretations of this law are changing and manifesting, but God's Law never changes. To understand and apply this law, is to be well, prosperous,
The Living Truth 15
and happy. Man is included in a universe created and ruled in good, and is subject to no law but the law of good. This law presents five statements for our study.
1st. Creation, or a putting forth from God. We are part of Him, or individual manifestations — God-like.
2d. Intelligence, or a recognition of our- selves projected from a Creative Force.
3rd. Order, or the arrangement of the creation, according to the law of its kind.
4th. Power, which is an inherent endow- ment of Creative energy.
5th. Use, or the purpose of Creation.
Under these captions we shall study Man, and his relations to God, believing we have thus systematized the study so that our les- sons may be easily understood and applied. What do these statements mean?
As applied to me, they mean, I am God- created, put forth from Him, not God, but God-like, in my nature and attributes. And I am given Intelligence, to Manifest myself aright. I recognize the difference between myself and the things about me, and become conscious of my relation to them.
In Order, I recognize the law which keeps me true to my purpose in the Divine plan. This law acts independent of my volition. I
16 The Living Truth
have no part in the purpose of my nature or kind, but I know, in the Almighty Order, 1 am placed aright.
In Power, I learn my best expression, ac- cording to my purpose.
In Use, having Life, Intelligence, Order, and Power, I am free to live my best. I am subject to no law but the law of good.
I am here for a purpose, as is every other creation. There is no mistake in any created thing. Each in its place, is a necessary part of the Perfect Whole. If you or I were not needed to make a perfect universe, we should not be here, seeming imperfections, and diffi- culties to the contrary notwithstanding.
We can not say with truth, "I am good for nothing, or past my usefulness." God put us here, and He is always with us, and in our rightful place, each one is a power for good. To ascertain our rightful place in the universe, is the purpose of our metaphys- ical study.
Our advent on the stage of existence was not through our will, or indeed through any human will. God put us here, and He is always with us. God is always active, al- ways creating. "For in Him we live, and move, and have our being." David says, "Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit, or
The Living Truth 17
whither shall I flee from Thy Presence V Because God is, we exist. It is impossible to think of God without His creations, or to think of man without God. The two are interchangeable and inseparable. This shows the significance of the words of Jesus, "That they may be one, as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they may be made perfect in one." Is not this then an inspir- ing truth that we are needed parts in his divine universe?
Why do we not manifest divinity? Why are we hampered by sin, sickness, poverty, and death? Let us use our intelligence. Does God, the All-good, impose such condi- tions upon His children? Never. Infinite love takes no cognizance of any such abnor- mal conditions. "God is too pure to behold evil." Such conditions arise from man's misconception of his real being, and his non- recognition of his true relation to the life divine.
God is not a person, dwelling apart in a place called Heaven, having a boundless supervision, mysterious to man ; dealing out punishment or reward according to human merits. Out of such narrow conceptions of the Deity comes every sort of sin and mis- ery. We are sick, sinful, or unhappy, be-
18 The Living Truth
cause of our ignorance of our true relations to the all-pervading Good in which we have our rightful share! Let us get the right idea. Reverently understand that God is not vengeful. He has no part in suffering, sin, or death. God is Love. God is Light. God is Life, God is Wisdom. Everything which is bright, holy, and true, is God. He is the Principle including and demonstrat- ing all good.
What is Principle? It is the foundation truth which harmonizes creation. It is the arbitrary fact of existence for which we can give no other reason than that it is so, be- cause it is. It is something beyond all hu- man reasoning, but so exact, so just, so true, that by it we may test all things. It is the essence of all right; it is everlasting truth, everlasting justice, love, goodness ; it is God ; of unreality and falsity it has no part. It is perfect goodness, and perfect truth.
When we speak of God as Principle, we do not mean a cold chill, something which we dare not approach, but a warm, indwell- ing life ; something we may live so near to, that we may abide in peace; something we feel and enjoy; yet a something so majestic as to dominate the universe; so grand and holy as to include immensity, and yet so
The Living Truth 19
laving and watchful, as to fold in its ben- eficent care the worm or the atom of dust on which we tread. Let our constant af- firmation be, "God is all, in all, and over alL God is everywhere, and God is here."
We have God-like attributes, held in abey- ance it may be, never, or seldom, manifest, but present all the same in the nature of man. God is love, all may be loving; God is life, all may live; not sick, nor dying. God is truth, all may be just and true. God is infinite, all may be free to live up to the best of their kind, free from limitations.
There is nothing created but that which God has a use for. Here is our lesson of love and charity toward our fellows. God's bounty and care are over all, but man is too often ignorantly unreceptive.
God never leaves His creations. We are never separate from Him. The idea of a being cast off from God is a monstrous lie, born of a misconception of the true God and the true man. In reverent recognition we unhesitatingly say God is no more a neces- sity to man than is man a necessity to God. We can not conceive of one without the other.
We often hear it said, "That man is an atheist; he does not believe in God." He
20 The Living Truth
may think he does not believe in God, but he has a God of his own, just as large as his unfolded consciousness can comprehend. His governing intelligence is something just as high as he is capable of aspiring to. "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not bow down to any graven image." This was the first command which came to the illuminated mind of Moses on the Mount. It is the first command to the illuminated mind, in all ages and conditions. There is but the One God. "Graven images" are not necessarily made of wood, stone, gold, or silver. They are false ideas, or dis- torted conceptions of the overruling Power. It helps wonderfully to acknowledge God "in all thy ways." It will reconcile the seeming incongruities of life, to say again and again, "God is everywhere; God is here." Repeat it over and over again until you feel the power of the living words thrill- ing you through and through. Then will you realize the power of the spoken word of truth-
lessor n
GOD AND MAN: INTELLIGENCE
The Ideal and Immortal man become the actual and conscious man.
Ps. VIII, 4-6: "What is man, that thou art mindful of him, and the son of man, that thou visitest him? For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of thy hands !"
David speaks this of the Spiritual Man, the man whom God created. God never created any conditions under which man fears or suffers. His creations are Spiritual, the result of His thought. That which fears or suffers is not Spiritual ; it is the product of Man's thought, which is the body.
Make this point clear, for this is the place where man's responsibility for all that is contrary to God, or Good, begins. Let us start right.
The Hebrew Kabala, that system of Jew- ish Theosophy, or God-wisdom, which claims
22 The Living Truth
to be handed down by Patriarchs and Proph- ets, even from God Himself, says : "Thought is the source of all that is." Showing that our modern system of thought creation is an old, old truth, co-eval with the primitive man.
The Word
Genesis, I, 1. It is evident the thought must pervade the Spoken Word. "And God said, Let there be light, and there was light." He spoke of light, and light was made mani- fest. The Mosaic account of Creation, which is the best account of it, does not conflict with the best explanations of modern science. We find here Intelligence, Wisdom, and Order, unexcelled. God's thought was Wisdom, and His Word was its orderly ex- pression in the manifest universe. There was nothing brought forth but that which first had idea or form in the Infinite Mind.
Mind
Genesis n, 4-5. There is really but one mind, which is the God Mind, or the Good Mind. Mind is that quality which conceives, judges, and reasons. Man being put forth from God, is also endowed with mind, or the
The Living Truth 23
faculty which conceives, judges, and rea- sons. Mind is God-like, pure, and true- Idea and Thought
An Idea is that which is conceived in the mind. Thought is the varying expression of Ideas. The Idea is generated in the mind, and is of the Spirit.
In the mind is the fulfillment of all we can desire. For instance, I feel the need of a place to rest. This is the creative Idea, which formulates itself in the Idea of a couch.
The active thought takes this Idea, judges it, reasons over it, concentrates upon it, and evolves the conception of a couch which serves the purpose of a place to rest.
The mind is the storehouse from which came the creative Idea, and the Thought is the worker, or that which gives expression or form in a tangible manner to the Idea. The natural world, in harmony always with the Idea and Thought, readily yields its treasures of iron, wood, wool, and fibres; everything needed for the perfect manifesta- tion of the Idea.
What has all this to do with the healing of a sick body, or the changing of an un- happy environment? Simply this : In the
24 The Living Truth
infinite mind is the fulfillment of every de- sire for health and peace.
Our ideas throng in obedience to our needs, but these Ideas may be happily ex- pressed, or sadly retarded, by the Thoughts, which are the workers, the moulders, the builders ; or the destroyers, or hinderers. It is the Thoughts we think, the words we speak, which express our ideals in perfec- tion, or imperfection. The active, conscious Thought may be spiritual or perfect, ac- cording to the divine Idea in man, or it may be the contrary. This is the law: "To be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritu- ally minded is life and peace." (Eomans, VIII, 6.)
The Science of the Mind
It is to bring the thought up to the high ideal, or idea, that we study metaphysics, or the science of the mind. The Idea is al- ways in advance of its expression. The Idea is always perfect. The Thought is varying ; rightly trained or used, it is always advanc- ing toward perfection.
Supply and Demand Equal Our needs demand the best ; as we obtain a desire there is yet a prompting to some- thing better, and this demand finds its ful-
The Living Truth 25
filment in the universal law of equality, in demand and supply. By the unvarying law of attraction in proportion as we desire, so do we obtain. In the case of the couch, there is no lack of constructive material. The more thought we give to the construction, the more of beauty and utility is developed. The idea of a place to rest, grows more beau- tiful and more restful in visible and tangible expression.
The Idea is Eternal
The Idea is Eternal; the couch may be defaced, or destroyed, but the improved and ever-improving idea remains to produce un- limited couches, each better than the last, if the thought, the builder, keeps pace with the eternal ideal.
Expression of Ideas
An Idea unexpressed is good for nothing. Only when it is wrought out, in persistant thought and the Spoken Word, does it bring its fulfilment. Expressed in the line of good, it brings good. Wrought out in wrong thoughts, it can not fail to bring trouble and inharmony.
Hum^n thought, at best, only approxi- mates the divine ideal. The natural man, moulded after mortal thought, is but a
26 The Living Truth
poorly expressed conception of the real man, tlie God-made man. Just as the couch, by the application of cultivated thought, un- folds into a thing of grace and beauty, so the natural man, through the exercise of high thinking, becomes God's Man, or the Ideal Man, through the regeneration of his builder, the human thought.
Jesus expressed man's possibilities when he said, "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect." St. Paul taught it when he said, "Be ye trans- formed through the renewing of your mind." "As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he." Matt., V, 48. Romans, XII, 2. Proverbs, III, 7. "In his heart" means the deep thought which engrosses him, that ex- pression of the mind he gives himself up to. Such thought builds according to its char- acter, for good or for evil.
It is the law that thought is the moulding, formative power. As we unfold in this course of study we shall find this to be actu- ally true, and an unfailing law. It follows logically then that a change in our thinking will produce a change in our expression. Improved ways of thinking work changes toward health, happiness, and prosperity. This statement is the corner stone of mental
The Living Truth 27
healing, a science as exact and scientific as the science of mathematics.
Striving for Better Things
In our last lesson we spoke of the God always with us. No soul so sinful but it wants to be better. This is the divine ideal striving for better expression. It is rare to find any one who is wholly satisfied. To be wholly satisfied is not a desirable state. Dis- satisfaction, discontent, fault-finding, un- rest, are the misdirected expressions of the soul striving for better things.
Gail Hamilton spoke of "a divine restless- ness7 ' different from this misguided expres- sion, which was the God within, urging us on to perfection. Hence, when we get rest- less and dissatisfied, then is the time to cease fretting and complaining, giving all our thought to the better thing, or the better state, which by the law of God, implanted in the heart of man, is surely and steadily coming to him, in answer to the thought he sends out to meet it. Shall it be the good thought inviting it, or the doubtful, fearful thought, which delays and hampers its com- ing?
Our Sins
It is the purpose of these lessons to dis- cern the better way. It is ignorance which
28 The Living Truth
makes us sick, sinful, and dying. Our sins are our mistakes in the pursuit of happi- ness. Ub one sins except lie feels some greater good to him may result thereby. One rightly feels that the best life affords is by right his own, an inalienable birth- right; but there must be a recognition of the individual rights of others, to the good which God provides for all. God gives to each creation all that it needs for its best expression. The earth teems with life-giv- ing elements, distributed impartially to the needs of each and all. Knowing this, we may rightfully claim we are not creatures of circumstances, but God-like and God- born. Within our souls we have all we need, but Esau-like we miss the blessing, and go into bondage to the world, because of our mistakes in the conception of our needs.
Divine Evolution
The Scriptures teach emphatically the evolution of the human into the Divine. The Old Testament is full of this law, particu- larly in the Journeyings of Israel toward the Promised Land, the book of Job, and the Psalms.
The sensuous conceptions of the Koran, the Persian Vedas, and also the doctrines of
The Living Truth 29
Confucius teach, it, but the grains of truth are smothered in the chaff of Oriental Mys- ticism. The higher teachings of Gautama Buddha, and the simpler truths of Jesus the Christ, fairly blaze with light along the way. Read the Light of Asia, by Edwin Arnold. Make daily companions of Jesus Christ and the Evangels, as aids to right thinking.
Thoughts Transferred
Every effort for self -betterment resolves finally into mental discipline, the shaping of the thought that shapes us. If our thought, trained and regulated, will affect us for good or ill, is it not fair to suppose it will affect others as well? In the very na- ture of good one can not be benefitted with- out helping another.
The true test of any good received is the desire to impart that good to another. If we desire to share the good we receive it goes out from us in vibrations, like emana- tions of light. Well-regulated thought can not be otherwise than a benefit to all who come in contact. No one lives to himself alone, but to a greater or less degree has an influence on those about him. Thought transferrence is a natural law always dig-
30 The Living Truth
cerned in human intercourse. Thomas a Kempis, hundreds of years ago, said, "He who would impart peacefulness to others must have peace himself/' The Metaphysi- cal Healer must heal himself before he is fully qualified to heal others. Helpful and truthful thought is also reconstructive, and that comes only from the heart of the healer.
Mental Healing
Let us go back to the last lesson and rea- son close to principle. Let us try our prac- tice by the "line and plummet." Man is God-created. God never created that which is unlike Himself. He did not create evil, sickness, or death. Hence, if these appear, they are man-created, and the result of his ignorant use of the creative thought faculty. There is no ill which flesh is heir to, no unhappy condition of life but perverted thought action lies at the base of it. It is hard for the sick one to see this, and it is unwise for the healer to discuss this point with the patient. With gentleness and tact let us try to uncover the underlying mental error, and counteract it with the transferance of the right thought. Apply it silently until it touches and awakens the responsive chords
The Living Truth 31
of Spirit which, lie deep in the nature of every created thing. Your patient may not realize it, but it is none the less true. There is mental error, either native or transferred, at the bottom of all his trouble. He has had wrong conceptions of himself and his place in the universe, and on this founda- tion has piled up a structure of mistakes which are manifest in discordant physical activities. Either he suffers from his own discords or from the transferred discords of another.
Naturally, man loves the right, instead of the wrong. Perfection appeals to human nature. If one makes a choice in temporal things it will be that which promises the most good. Much of what we call natural depravity is but an undeveloped sense of what is best.
The real man is not "born in sin, and con- ceived in iniquity," even though he may so appear to be. Let us then try him by prin- ciple and "judge not according to appear- ances," but give "righteous judgment." Man's sins are but his mistakes in the pur- suit of happiness. We talk of hereditary sins. Man's heredity is from God, but this gift, or inheritance, may be misshaped and distorted in expression by the impure, per-
32 The Living Truth
verse thoughts of ancestry. It need not be held in this distortion. God made him, and His work is good. Gk>d endowed him with all powers and capabilities, to express him- self at the best.
Refuse to think your patient is in bondage to heredity. "He shall know the truth, and the truth shall set him free." Forgive this sin of heredity, this mistake. Release him from the bondage of this mis- take by opening up a larger and grander state of thinking. "Loose him, and let him go." (John, VIII, 32. John XI, 44.)
What is forgiveness of sins? If one makes an error in mathematics it only makes things worse to go on with the cal- culation. Hence, we erase, blot it out, and start aright once more. "I will blot out their trangressions and remem- ber their sins no more." That is for- giveness. If we can not forget, we can not forgive. Teach men to forget ; refuse to speak of sins and transgressions. This is mental science, and true healing. Nature soon covers the hardest fought battlefield with the greenest verdure.
"Remember their sins no more." Let us realize the full force of this, for it means much. If our brother errs and becomes con-
The Living Truth 33
scious of his error, let us blot it out and remember it no more. If we have trouble and affliction through errors, let us blot them out and cease to think of them. It only keeps trouble alive to nurse it constantly in thought and word.
The Christ law is to forgive, even to sev- enty times seven. Only the renewed in spirit can comprehend what this means to do this hard thing, and it is no wonder to such that the disciples prayed, "Lord, in- crease our faith," this faith to forgive, or blot out, when we reason or judge our brother from this basic principle. We are not only required to forgive our brother, but we are to learn the harder lesson of forgiv- ing ourselves. Blot out this dead and gone mistake of ours ; remember it no more. This is the only healthy, hearty treatment for all the inequalities and inharmonies of the past. (St Luke, XVII, 34-5.)
The Real Man
The real man is the sinless expression of God. Sins are generated on the mental or soul plan, and the mortal alone suffers. Hence, lift first yourself and then your pa- tient to an understanding of your true na-
34 The Living Truth
ture. Say, "You and I are God's own chil- dren; we stand above all this semblance of distress, doubt, and weakness, against which our souls and bodies rebel." In this thought of the God, or Good within us, this distor- tion of humanity, which seems to cripple and enslave us, rolls away like the shadows down the mountain side, before the rising sun. We stand erect, noble, God-born, cap- able of dominion and power over seeming unhappy conditions. God helps us here, and tells us, if we ask Him, what and how to do. We stand on the mountain top, in the full, unclouded presence of Infinite Good- ness. In this pure, white light of truth all our iniquities of thought and expression are blotted out, and all our sins (or mistakes) are remembered no more.
Thomas Taylor, Classical Scholar
Thomas Taylor, the English Classical Scholar, in some of his Greek translations, found this expression: "The man that is here, and the man which is there." The accompanying argument was essentially this : That in the universal essence, we pos- sess our perfect selves. That when the im- perfect man, or "the man who is here," de- sires to become the perfect man, or "the man
The Living Truth 35
which is there/' he is at once surrounded by, and conjoined to him, until he becomes what he desires to be.
Let us note this : "He becomes what he desires to be" and no more. He manifests his better self, not in proportion to his ability, but according to his thought, or desire. This philosophy was current among the Greeks, at least four hundred years B. C, showing conclusively that the science of the mind is no modern fad.
Individual Freedom
Truth is from the beginning co-eval with God, who has in all ages revealed it to the enlightened consciousness of His children, and they in turn have made it manifest.
Credit is due to the man and woman of all times who have set the world to thinking. The doctrine of Spiritual supremacy over bodily ills is nothing new. Work it out for yourself, always squaring your demonstra- tion by the living principle. You and I are individuals, not tied to the chariot wheels of any human leader. From Emmanuel, or God with us, the truth is given in just the measure of our needs. This is the law. As we grow in knowledge of the truth our power unfolds. (Phil., II, 12.) So far we
36 The Living Truth
have considered Creation and Intelligence. Let us apply what we have already learned, that the Ideal and Immortal man may be- come the Actual and Conscious man.
Scripture Readings Genesis, I, 4, 5. Matthew, XIX, 17. Acts, XVII, 26. Psalms, VIII, 4, 5. John, I, 4. Romans, VIII, 5-26. Psalms, CXXXIX, 14. John, IV, 16, Corinthians, V, 17. Psalms, CXIX, 18. James, I, 17, Ephesians, XXIII, 24
lesson m
GOD AND MAN: ORDER
Order implies Government and Obedience.
"Open thou mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of Thy Law," (Psalms, CXIX, 180
The wonderful order that pervades crea- tion manifests an all-wise God. Everything moves according to the law of its kind. Each kind is harmoniously related to other kinds, and all are included as fitting parts of a great harmonious whole. There are no mistakes in the Divine Order, no antago- nisms. It is God's universe, the expression of the One Life, and the One Law.
It matters not whether the perfected crea- tion sprang at once into being, or whether through successive ages it slowly unfolded, and is still unfolding. The Divine Idea is perfect, and to perfection it is surely ad- vancing.
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The deeper we search into the science of visible things the more must we be im- pressed with a reverent sense of God per- vading all things.
Each creation is, in brief, the best expres- sion of itself. The limitations of the visible universe are ever receding before the search- ing mind of man. We have the right to ask an explanation of every phenomenon. Each creation stands for something in God's econ- omy which we have the right to understand, since we, as parts of a Mighty Whole, are related to it. Great or small, it has its use and place. Therefore, it is right for us to challenge and question. The God in us calls us to do so.
With the natural vision we see but a small part of the objective universe. Desire to know more led to the invention of helps to closer investigation. On the one hand, the telescope brings distant objects near, and opens to our wondering vision a multitude of worlds where our unaided sight sees only the blue arch deepening into profound dark- ness. On the other hand, the microscope re- veals minute worlds of life and beauty on the things we see, taste, and feel.
It seems as if the human mind had only to desire, and, lo, the Divine Mind, working
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through human intelligence, responds with the means to gratify the demand, and na- tural resources, hitherto unrevealed, are opened up in a way to challenge our reverent admiration.
The Law
Scientific research shows an inborn intel- ligence in every manifestation of life, which keeps it true to the law of its kind.
There is no break in the chain of being. From the lowest form of active life, found in the slow-moving slime of the ocean depths up to the highest expression of Glo- rified Humanity, the Living Christ, the one life and the one law unfolds in orderly suc- cession. It is the law that the lower should lift up to find its full expression in the next higher, and by that same law, that which the higher receives from the lower, should be and is paid for in some helpful act or office. Nature pays what she owes, as as right and honest
The mineral kingdom, rich in life-giving chemicals, aspires to the vegetable kingdom next beyond. God gives it the means to aspire in the multitude of seeds committed to its care. It takes the seeds, wraps them about with the warm soil, gathers in the moisture, stores the sunshine until the seeds
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burst their bonds, push out in tender shoots of root and foliage from the enfolding soil, to become things of life and beauty in the upper air — each kind taking with it the rich elements of the mineral matrix suited to its peculiar need, and which will give to each kind its best expression. Mark this : Each only takes from this rich store "Its own" At the very start it indicates a lesson of hon- esty and unselfishness.
Next : The vegetable kingdom, manifest- ing itself in grasses, shrubs, and trees, yield- ing its plentiful harvest of fruit and foliage, gives its sustenance and pleasure to the an- imal kingdom, just beyond ; while the lower orders of the animal kingdom, in food and service, minister to man, the highest type. Next : Man, true to his higher self, aspires to God, the Spiritual Essence of the Mighty Whole. The law is always the advance, and never retrogression.
The Recompense
Now for the recompense. Man tills the ground. He brings to light the hidden treas- ures of the earth's deep places. Through his ever active thought he develops each thing to its highest use. The vegetable returns to the mineral all that is useless to its future
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advance (another lesson in honest econ- omy) to enrich the mineral wealth of the world. For instance, coal, which is, in brief, vegetable matter returned to the mineral kingdom, is rich in stored sunshine. Here, in the hidden laboratories of the earth, it is again prepared to minister to human needs in light and heat-producing elements.
The animal kingdom also returns its wastes to the vegetable, enriching and mak- ing it productive for new vegetation.
Next : Man, the highest form, aspires to Spirit, and Spirit, descending through man, and all beneath him, gives abundant life. So the circle of existence is complete. Al- ways acting, ever renewing, life immortal, and unending, the lower putting forth to the next higher, and the higher finding its ultimate use in the welfare of the lower.
Mutual Need
God is no more necessary to His creatures than are His creatures necessary to Him. This is not an irreverent statement. Man is the sum total of all that lies below him, and the promise of all that lies beyond him. He is the fulfilment of the law. The same law which forms the jewels in the mine, which holds the stars in their courses, which
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tinres the ebb and flow of the tides, even the law of Spirit, which creates and dominates the whole, finds its expression in man, and operates to npbnild and uphold him. God needs him. His law needs direction, and man is the exponent.
Man's nature is in accord with this : Law and order, and not chaos, or destruction. Therefore, he does not need to struggle and strive to subdue that which seems to be evil. Only believe! Make manifest the good, by calmly taking hold of the next duty, know- ing if one aspires to the good, according to the law, the difficulty will regulate itself.
We shall not get the secret of true living until we train the thoughts to conform to the law of Spiritual progress. Do they take the stately trend toward the next good, or do they grovel and retrograde to that which lies below? "To the next good" is the men- tal science slogan.
According to this law of advance no one should be wholly satisfied. To be dissatis- fied is good, if one does not make it an occa- sion of discord. It is the law that we should watch for the next good, but it is conflict with the law to give thought to the next evil. Here comes in the Intelligence talked of in the last lesson. Let us make no mis-
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take in the discernment of Good. Things change when rightly interpreted. Wealth, power, intellect, are but means to an end; means which must be honestly obtained, and wisely used toward the desired unfolding into true living. Selfishly obtained and self- ishly used they will only result in harm.
Physical Inharmony
Hahnemann, the founder of the great Homeopathic School of Medicine, bases this system on his assumption: "Every mani- festation of disease is Nature's effort toward a cure." Their motto is "SimiMa Similibusi Curantjr" or "like cures like.7' For spe- cific symptoms he prescribed that remedy which would produce the same symptoms in a healthy subject. The more violent the symptoms the less of the remedy, even to the hundredth or thousandth attenuation. A disease is a Dis-ease, or lack of ease, an unrest, which a beneficent nature makes in an effort to readjust. On homeopathic basis then call it a good, strive to understand its purpose, help it along to its purpose, and thus cast it out.
"Agree with thine adversary quickly." In other words, don't get disturbed over it.
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Such is all our unrest, whether it be in on* bodies or in our environments. The perfect Spirit of the Good within is working to ad- just us to our perfect expression. Cease fretting. Look for the next good. Strive to see God even in the most unhappy condi- tions.
"Agree with thine adversary quickly, whilst thou art in the way with him." What is this agreement with the adversary? Is it to fall in with it, talking of it, thinking of it, abiding with it, in self-pity that we are so afflicted? Rather let us meet it with this assertion : "What is the lesson I am to learn from this experience? I am on my way to something better. Lord, teach me how I have transgressed in thought. Lead me to the next good." In so doing we come to an agreement. Then it follows there is no longer an impending judgment, no paying to the "uttermost farthing." This Adver- sary is anything which disturbs us. The Judge to whom we are delivered is the Law unchanging. The officer is the combination of unhappy events which arise to hamper and enslave us, and to commit us to re- straints which are the "prisons" from which we can not emerge until we have paid the "uttermost farthing" or the full penalty.
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Circumstances
There is a motive in every phenomenon. It appears in obedience to the law. There is no such thing as chance, or fate, or luck. In the common acceptance of the term, noth- ing ever happens. The law is unchanging. It is God's law, and it is God's expression. It operates just as accurately in its penal- ties as in its benefits. Here is a point in theology. Who punishes? "Thou art of purer eyes than to behold evil, and canst not look on iniquity." Hab., I, 13. God does not punish. Punishment comes because we array ourselves in opposition to the law, in- stead of working with it, and thus get its penalties, instead of its benefits. Let us ex- amine the phenomenon of physical disease. We have proved it is the inharmonious thought which has made the inharmonious body. As there is a law for every mani- festation, so is there a law which produces this particular ill. When Mental Science comes to be fully understood we shall be able to trace a given disease to a given men- tal cause, just as directly as we trace a ray of light to the central sun.
Even current events move in obedience to the law. "As ye sow, so shall ye reap." If we recognize the good, as individuals, or
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nations, we shall surely reap the good in proportion to our recognition.
" Acknowledge ELLrn in all thy ways, and He shall direct thy paths. " How many times we look back to some tragic event of our lives, only to discern that that which we then thought a calamity was but a Divine leading to some higher and better thing ; an altitude we could not have reached had we not endured that specific trial, at that par- ticular time. Our thoughts were changed, our intelligence was awakened, our souls de- veloped. We were made better men and women. We see now the God-leading. It was our uplift, instead of our downfall. "In all thy ways" means the dark ways, as well as the light ways.
Thoughts and ideas must be sharply de- fined. An idea is of the mind. Mind is of God. Hence, the idea is the God-impulse, or the good impulse, prompting to better things. Our thoughts are the workers or the builders by which these impulses are made manifest. We must not let them waste or ruin that which would build for happiness and prosperity. See that your thoughts are trained to the Divine Ideal. Then shall we accomplish with no loss of time or wasted effort.
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All thought to the contrary is a hin- drance, while mental expression in the line of the law leads unerringly to the best in the direction of our desires.
Necessity
There are arbitrary necessities of life which may be more readily ministered to, if we observe the law. We must have cloth- ing or we shall suffer from exposure; we must have food or the body will waste away. Food needs, shelter needs, raiment needs, are as much under God's care as are spir- itual needs. The current of events sets so strongly against some unfortunates that they seem unable to fulfill their require- ments. What is the reason? It is the out- raged law of supply and demand. God's bounty is for all. Man's selfish view of the law is to grasp and get, instead of "Share and share alike." The law is to take your own and not that which belongs to another. Any other interpretion of the law is false, and is productive of all the sin and misery in the world.
The great Industrial problems, the wide- spread Socialistic agitations of the day, even the bloodthirsty Anarchy and the wars, are but the fevered manifestations or mistaken
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ways of man to express God-born impulses toward the realization of better tilings.
The Christ Way
Men strive, fight, argue, until the world is swept with inharmony. What is the rem- edy? Not in resistance and strife. No greater reformer than Jesus the Christ, no grander exponent of Socialism, ever ap- peared on the earth. He says, "But I say unto you that ye resist not evil." "As ye would that others should do unto you, do ye even so to them." The natural impulse is to resist, to fight. There is surely a more excellent way. The time is at hand when arbitration will supersede resistance. Arbi- tration is thought directed to right ends. Turn on the light of truth. Create a mighty sentiment which shall touch the God in Man. Then shall the voice of the people be the voice of God, and there will be noth- ing to fight about. This is the domain of good, and the right way into it.
Attraction
It is an undeviating law of Nature that like seeks like. We attract our own. We get our own, always. If a handful of dif-
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ferent seeds were cast upon the fruitful soil each seed would take from it just the ele- ments needed for its proper development. One comes up rich in lime, another in iron, phosphate, or soda. One takes on a bitter taste, another sweet, salty, or acid taste; true to its nature ; each to express its use in the divine economy. If a community of men were brought to live under the same conditions, like would seek like. A com- munity of interests might mark the outward man, but in a mental and moral sense they would separate into groups of similar thought. Such is the history of all religions, of all social and political classifications. Following this law into the domain of our personal needs and surroundings, it still holds good. This is the fixed Principle by which the whole universe coheres. We get that which we think the most about. This teaches us to be watchful of our thoughts that they do not bring us undesirable things. All that we need for our best expression is ours. God has given it to us. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added onto you." The thing we need exists as a part of us, and not far away. Affirm, "I am a part of that which I desire, by an unfailing
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law it gravitates toward me. I will fulfill the condition through which it comes to me. I am receptive, not doubting, nor unrestful." The seeds which fell from the hand of the sower, in the parable of Jesus, were equally fruitful. Some fell on stony places (hard, unreceptive natures) where they were scorched. Some fell among thorns ( critical, unkind thoughts), and were choked. Some fell by the wayside (heedlessly) and the fowls of the air ( trivial thoughts ) devoured them. Some fell upon good ground (sin- cere, receptive thoughts) and bore fruit a hundred fold.
S elf -preparation
If we are to get returns for our desires, we must prepare ourselves to receive by weeding out everything which would hinder the full enjoyment of the thing desired. What is this thing I ask for? What will it profit me? What is my capacity to put it to its best uses? Am I fitted to receive it? If not, what can I do?
The Book of Books gives an answer: "Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse (that is, the best of yourself) that there may be meat in my house, and prove Me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open the windows of Heaven, and
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pour ont such a blessing that there shall not be room to receive it."
Make God a living factor in your daily- life. This implies that we think the good, speak the good, and do the good, on every possible occasion. That we guard ourselves also from any thought or act of another, which is counter to the good. The prayer of Jesus for His disciples was this : "I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep from the evil." Necessarily, we are brought into contact with much that is evil or unde- sirable. Exercise the Principal, and over- come. A knowledge of the law leads us to understand how many of our failures are due to a misdirected energy which wastes and worries us. This waste and worry, righty interpreted, are like the symptoms of disease. Nature's efforts to keep us in the right way. "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liber- ally, and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him." A further condition is that we are to "ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think he shall receive anything of the Lord. A double-minded man is un-
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stable in all his ways." (James I, 5-8.)
The law is, " Advance." There is always good ahead. When we have reached the point to which we aspire we shall find it an outlook to something greater and grander ahead. There is no weariness in this ad- vance, no struggle to attain. Just the tran- quil development which comes from always being at one's best.
"I came that ye might have life, and have it more abundantly"; knowing which, we can realize the Life Eternal, which is now and here. We have the promise that even the last enemy, Death, shall be overcome. This is the ultimate of a well-ordered exper- ience. The order is progression, the law is Love,
LESSON IV POWER: KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
"A wise man is strong. Yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength/' Prov. XXIV, 5.
In the nature of things Power is inborn. The creation of any object involves a mani- fest purpose, and the ability to fulfill its purpose in and of itself. We naturally ask of any new thing, ''What is it made for, and how does it operate"? All of which ques- tioning is a tacit recognition of its ability and utility. Power is a latent force to be brought out and applied. There is but one power in the universe, the God-power, or the good-power. Power, therefore, being of God, and like Him, is always to be depended upon, infinite, unswerving, and unchang- ing.
There is one power, just as there is one light, one atmosphere, each put forth from the one source of being. But the manifesta-
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tions of power are as many and as varied as there are objects in the universe.
Thus far in our lessons we have consid- ered : 1st, Creation, or a putting forth from God. 2d, Intelligence, or that which dis- cerns the purpose for which it was made. 3d, Order, or the law which keeps it true to the purpose for which it was made, and now we come to the next natural need, the Power, or that which makes possible all that God-wisdom process for it, as a part in the active, vital Whole. God gives the power, but man gives it direction through the thought forces which are the makers and builders. Shall we direct this God-force to its best expression, or shall we misdirect and waste these forces by which we live? Knowledge is power, and it is by the know- ing of what we say and what our environ- ments mean that we are to direct this power. We came out from God (Creation) . We are assigned to our places in the divine harmony (Intelligence). We are fitly equipped for our purpose in life (Order). And, in a logical sense, if in no other, we are endowed with power to manifest our- selves at our best. Let us be surely estab- lished in this fact. Know it. Then may we develop readily in obedience to the law. To
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do this demands that we recognize our God- born selves, and appreciate the good there is in us, and round about us. The man of power appreciates himself, and lives up to his best. Know this, and when tempted to doubt, affirm, "I am one with Infinite life, intelligence, order and power. I am created for a purpose in God's own plan, I am Ac- tivity, Wisdom, Strength, not irresolute, ig- norant, or weak. I am victorious over every difficulty."
Human power lies in mental supremacy rather than in brute strength. If this were not so man would indeed present a sorry spectacle. His horse is superior in muscu- lar strength, his dog is keener in the sense of smell, the little ant outranks him in in- stinct, the bee is the better builder, the spider the more accurate geometrician. The elements might freeze, burn, or drown him, yet over all these he has dominion and power, through the exercise of mental and spiritual knowledge.
When we take the ground that everything and everybody is in its last analysis, God- created and spiritual, we have planted our feet on the bedrock Principle which har- monizes the world. There is but one power, the God-power, or the good-power. What-
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ever comes to us not in accord with the good is powerless in itself, and is always subject to the good.
The evils of life are man-made conditions to be overcome. Yet they are the lawful manifestations of false thoughts, and false words. We say lawful, because it is the law that word and thought will invariably man- ifest in conditions according to their kind. Now we can see why knowledge is power, a productive force derived from right think- ing and right speaking. We also see that the law works as positively in its penalties as in its benefits. "My words are spirit, and they are life," said Jesus, meaning by this they are creative and life-giving.
Organisms are not life, but the expres- sions of life. / am in my body, which is not me, but my expression. God works in me. I have nothing to do but to express the life- giving impulse. Only to let it work un- trammeled by any fears or doubts. To know and practice this, means life eternal. This explains the Christ's words: "I am come that ye might have life, and have it more abundantly." "To know God is life . eternal." Christ within us is the inward impulse to health and cure. Knowing, not intellectually apprehending, this, and hav-
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ing faith because I know I need not be sick, I need not be poor, I need not be sinful, nor unhappy. These false conditions are but expressions of abnormal thoughts and words which I, as an expression of the Infinite Life, have no right to entertain. These have no power "to whom ye yield yourselves serv- ants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness." To know then that God is our life, that He carries on the secret processes of our physical exist- ence, that he pervades all the universe, gives no place whatever for these falsities. One sees at once the supremacy of truth. "Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free."
Our failure to demonstrate any scientific principle does not impair its truth. How often we are brought in contact with some fatal disease, and are tempted to declare the whole science of mental healing unreliable; when the truth is, we, the patient, and the people round about are not large enough to discern the spiritual truth. Jesus and His apostles raised the dead to life, they healed seemingly incurable diseases instantly ; they made the lame to walk, the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and made no failures.
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How often we impotently pray for the Christ-power, unmindful of the truth of an ever-present God within, animating every cell of the body, and Who would work through us if we would let Him. Jesus knew this ever-dwelling consciousness of the Father.
We have ever this indwelling Christ, and His assurance that "The kingdom of God is within us." Knowledge, absolute knowl- edge, is the measure of our power. Know- ing, we should speak as one having author- ity and not in the halting, doubting speech which leads to failure. The positive recog- nition of the Christ within is the power against which the gates of hell shall not prevaiL
Let us then train our erratic thought to a full recognition of the God within. Let the conscious spirit in me speak to the spirit in you; let our spirit words, instinct with God-power, fall into contact with, what to us is this manifestation of inharmony. God in me, who is Love and Power, speaks to the God in you, waking the God-like reply.
Let us recognize the dynamic force of the thoughts. What have we to contend with? Thought is vibratory force, as much as elec- tricity is vibratory force. In fact, it is the
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greater force, since the mind of man is bringing out this electrical force to larger uses, and adapting it to the commonest needs of daily life.
It has been our custom to speak of the material universe as "first." We speak of the solid earth, the solid rocks, the everlast- ing hills, but science is revealing material things, and all forms, as orderly rates of vibration. If we place grains of sand on a smooth, hard surface and subject it to vibratory force the sand will arrange itself in undulatory lines or specific shapes, ac- cording to the rate of vibration. If there are imperceptible globules of moisture on the window pane, the vibrations of the cold air outside will arrange them into shapes according to the intensity of the cold, the wonderful frost shapes rivaling the artist's pencil, in fern-like frond, star, and crys- tal. The snowflake, which is perfectly geometrical in its star-like beauty, is but a drop of water subject to the vibra- but a drop of water subject to the vibra- tions of the frosty air. It has been demon- strated that sound vibrations shape the plastic material about us. A Mrs. Hughes of London entertained scientific circles not
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long ago with, her remarkable experiments in voice figures.
A simple instrument, consisting of a re- ceiver and a flexible membrane, upon which were scattered some Lycopodium Seed and tiny dust particles, was her only aid. She sang into the instrument, and the tiny par- ticles assumed definite shapes, such as spirals, stars, and wheels. On one occasion a perfect daisy appeared. For weeks she strove to reproduce it, and finally succeeded in producing just the precise inflection of the note which produced it, and was able to form daisies at will.
Vibrations, as related to sound, unfolds an interesting line of research, which may reveal the direct cause of many abnormal physical formations. The disintegrating power of a rhythmic vibration is well illus- trated in the passing of numbers over a bridge. Military commands are to "Break step" lest the rhythmic sway of the regular step break down the bridge.
It is scientifically true that our thoughts go out in vibratory force. Just as there are sound waves, light waves, or heat waves, so there are thought waves. The higher vibra- tions of soul force, manifested in concen- trated thought, will change form and
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structure, will dissolve hard formations; just as the cold or heat vibrations will change the drop of water to ice or steam. There is no seemingly solid element in the human body, but is amenable to this change, even the densest structure, the periosteum, or bone covering, is permeable.
The most powerful forces are light and heat vibrations, their correspondences in the spiritual realm are Intelligence and Love, which practically means the knowing and the doing.
In recognition of this lies man's power. This brings fearlessness and freedom. We do not have to beseech and pray to a higher Power afar off to give us efficiency. We are already equipped with all the power we can use, and every aid we need is fully given in the natural use of the things at hand. "All things are possible to them that believe." "Commit thy works unto the Lord (that is, the operative force of God's Law) and thy thoughts shall be established." The great forces of nature are the silent forces. We are not to struggle for power. It is ours already. The only striving is for self -con- quest, that we may bring our untrained minds into recognition of our birthright, as children of the Omnipotent God. And we
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must never feel driven to anything. This puts us in bondage. Power does not lie in the enforced will, but in an intelligent com- prehension of our fitness. Helen Van Ander- son gives this affirmation: "God works in me to will and to do all that is necessary for me to do." Is it necesswry for my well- being or that of another that I should do the things presented? If so, then I have the power, the way of accomplishment will unfold. This makes us watchful of oppor- tunities, and keenly alive to the ordinary happenings. Many an opportunity for bet- terment offers, which we, through ignorance, or indifference, let pass. We see its value only when another takes it profitably from us.
"I have the power to accomplish within myself. God aids me to express myself at my best. I am at one with God and His Law. Nurturing my lower qualities I come in conflict with the law, and suffer thereby." Will-power is exhaustive. Understanding is helpful and recreative. Will-power, as con- trasted with understanding, is like the foamy rush of troubled waters, compared to the silent, even, and irresistible flow of the mighty river. Will-power is aggressive. It is the burlipg of one's self against a cii|s
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rent of circumstances and environment. Understanding takes one aloft, to a level above contention and strife, into the higher atmosphere of steadfast freedom. I never need force myself. Let me take up each duty knowing I have the power to fulfill. I am only to do the best I know for the pres- ent moment, understanding that the best method of successful performance will plac- idly unfold as the work goes on. I can not fail. I am capable of my best expression.
A knowledge of this bit of Mental Science goes far in the demonstration over physical weakness and bodily decay. "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."
Power is developed by concentration. There is no royal road to the development of power. It is not what another helps us to do that give true power, it is the individ- ual effort or exercise that makes us truly strong. When we want a thing, or to do a thing, it is no effort to concentrate.
The point of power is The Silence reached in that wonderful repose, where the thought is held in abeyance, and the mind energy is directed along the line of action where we
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can scarcely think at all. Once having felt this wonderful thrill of spiritual exultation one can never forget its power. We know then what it can do for us. It is then that the thought goes out in waves, sweeping all before it. Its mission is to readjust and renew all that is abnormal and unhealthy. If it is unhappy environment, or disagree- able conditions, it places us in such relations to them that they are powerless to harm. It is the soul victory, which comes through a new consciousness of powers we hitherto had not known. Here is absolute calm. We think only good thoughts, have only visions of good things. Here we are willing to leave all to the undeviating law of spirit.
"Cast thy burden on the Lord ( Law) , and He shall sustain thee !" "Commit thy way unto Him, and He shall bring it to pass." This is no lazy shifting of responsibility on the Almighty, but a calm and tranquil as- sumption of our duty, sure of Divine help and guidance. Concentrated thought is al- ways calm. A resolute calmness under difficulties is always power.
Go into the sickroom with a calmness born of conscious nearness to the Divine, and you can not help doing good. With a
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right understanding of the direction of your forces your place is as helpful and as legit- imate as that of any physician with a uni- versity diploma. Do not assure what you do not know, but dignify your honest effect as it deserves.
To control the thought, and to send its forces to the side of unchanging good, is power.
It gives such a sense of dominion to feel that all things are true to an Infinite plan ; a plan which includes life, health, and hap- piness, instead of the poor apologies for the same, with which the Metaphysician so often comes in contact.
LESSON V THE HEALING POWER: PHYSICAL HEALTH
If we have faithfully studied the preced- ing lessons, we are now prepared to make a fundamental statement: "Life is deeper than the outward manifestation." It is not the organism which sustains and maintains the life process. What matters it then if the leg is lame, or the heart weak, or any organic function disturbed? Even though Medical Science has passed the fatal ver- dict we know that Spirit, underlying every manifestation, is ever present to create anew. It does create anew. Proven in thousands of cases beyond a doubt.
Mental Science, as a means of healing, is no longer an experiment, but an established fact. No school of medicine exceeds its cures, no system of philosophy discredits its wisdom. It invites the broadest investiga- tion of every phenomenon ; it points the true way out of all sickness, sin, and death, not
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by an illogical denial, but by a knowledge of the truth. "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free," All the ab- normal conditions do exist on the mortal plane, but only as stages of growth. "I am come that ye might have life and have it more abundantly." If we have learned our lessons thus far as we should we are pre- pared to say with confidence, "nothing exists for us except through our recognition of it." Hence, as we no longer see disease and discomfort as the necessary factors in human experience, we are no longer in bondage to them. Our part in life is to manifest God, or Good. When we know our place in the perfect plan, when we under- stand the construction of these physical temples in which we dwell, when we under- stand the constructive or the destructive power of the active, conscious thought, then do we hold the key to life eternal, as well as here and now. This is the ground where you may have oft-repeated argument with the patient. Are you so well-grounded in the truth that you can deal wisely and well with the impaired organism before you? Let us explain :
What is the source of Life and Power?
How is it evolved?
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What is the reconstructive force, and how applied?
Where is this pain and weakness?
Why did these particular organs manifest inharmony?
What is your mental remedy?
These questions are more fully answered, especially the last two, in the advanced course, The Physical Body, and its Relation to the Mind. But through the instruction already given it is easy to give a mental treatment. The advanced course more clearly designates the special treatment for given diseases. Go over the ground patiently, Body, Soul, and Spirit, until the truth dawns on each particular aspect. Heart and Soul aglow with Divine Truth get into that place where you, your patient, and GOD are all alone. Hold steadfastly there, in that pure Presence, until all ab- normal conditions are shut out from your consciousness, and the whole reconstructed body stands pure and healthy before your mental vision. Hold steadily there, refus- ing to recognize anything but health and peace. Be positive! Think only of that which God has abundantly given you for your best expression.
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Affirmation is the strongest denial. Af- firm the good and there will be no chance to consider the evil. Let your patient tell the whole story of the malady as it appears to him. What he thinks is as important to you, as the opinions of the doctors. Give helpful, not pitiful, sympathy. Tell as much by tactful questioning, or by encouraging information, as will explain your under- standing of the case. Do not make an effort to win his confidence. Be yourself, and true to your own convictions. His confidence is his own subservient to nobody's opinion. The Mental Healer has often been charged with Hypnotism, which is malicious, and untrue. Never coerce the thought of an- other. Simply show the more excellent way of thinking and acting.
It is never wise to antagonize a patient. Far better say nothing. Let the higher thought vibrations fill your own soul. Then will they flow out to his life centers like vital currents from a battery, until both are filled. Then will the nerve-centers respond in full and free vitality. Medical Science has given the disease a name and such a symptomistic classification as will make it intelligible to the studied practitioner.
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Sometimes this frightens the patient, and added suffering is the result of the fear.
Christened with a many-syllabled name, and prescribed for in unintelligible Latin, sometimes makes a mountain out of a mole- hill.
The Metaphysician, who knows the pa- tient as body and soul, may safely place reliance upon the natural healing power of Nature, directed by the intuitive perception.
Material medicines are always experi- mental. That which helps one often fails with the other, because of the tempera- mental differences. Again, the so-called specifies of one generation are ruthlessly set aside by the discoveries of the next. Each era of medical practice has its fads.
The Metaphysician is seldom equipped with the technique of the medical schools. Still, as the real doctor is not alone the polished output of the university, but funda- mentally endowed by Dame Nature, the hon- est mental healer may win an honorable title to public respect. Stand your ground !
We study the human body as a unit. With us there is no complication of diseases, as entanglements to be adjusted. The mental cause, which lies deeper than the physical
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manifestation, is our point of attack. To uncover the disturbing thought often re- quires both tact and skill. We find the force of the Master's Words : "A new command- ment give I unto you, that ye love one an- other."
Through an understanding of Truth it is ours to know how to calm the destructive fears and anxieties, to sweep away false ideas of self, and to use with understanding the silent thought-forces which renew and reconstruct. We speak to the God-born, healthy creature who stands behind this ap- pearance of disease. We break the chains of this mortal belief. We speak to the souls in prison, we let the oppressed go free.
This is no mere sound of words, but the active, living Principle, which our faithful- ness to the Truth will render wonderfully effective.
Power
You have all the power you can use, but only an understanding of Truth makes it available. In the Christ with us is the true light which 'lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
In this light we have always our full meas- ure of knowledge and power. We may get
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in-for-mation, or that which, formulates the idea from others, but until the Natural In- telligence answers with its flash of light we are still in the dark. St. John says, "If the anointing ye have received from Him abideth with you, ye need not that any man should teach you/' which means, if we live in the truth, speak the truth, think the truth, the inward Wisdom will surely respond. Again he says, "Ye have an unc- tion from the Holy One, and ye know" Not, ye shall know sometime, but ye know now.
Hence, in any time of doubt ye may truth- fully say: "I know the right way, I have the God-wisdom right with me now. Let me think according to principle, and God will certainly show me the way." The true Metaphysician lives the truth day by day.
To live the truth is to make it so vital that we can not live without it. There is no other way to get the needed direction in time of trouble. We have each, doubtless, had some experience with that intuitive flash of intelligent action which comes in time of danger. We say, "I do not know why I did it, but it was just the thing to do." This experience is no mere happen- ing. It is the outward manifestation of in- ward wisdom.
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Sincerity
We must be honest and earnest, diligent in our business, and staunch, to our under- standing of truth. This not only gives us a needed dignity among our fellows, but it helps us to avoid insincerity in word and deed. It is far easier to deceive others than to deceive ourselves. Mental science brings us often to our own judgment seat, where we pay our penalties in hard experience.
It pays to watch for the little helps by the way which are so often unheeded. With our awakened perceptions we are often sur- prised at the inspiration we receive from the little things close at hand. The still, small voice of ordinary events, the timely word from an unexpected source, the in- sistent under-current of our own thoughts are each and all indices of the great law by which "All things work together for good/' to those that love the good.
Consecrated to a pure purpose our every experience is helpful. We do not need to struggle to get into our right place. We are in the right place now. Just be ready to do the next good thing. If it be the hard place, when we have filled it as we should, we shall be taken out of it, into the larger and better field of action. Acknowledge,
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thankfully, the little helps. Do not mourn the loss of place or opportunity, which may seem wrested from you by cruel fate. Cling all the closer to Principles, and know that God wants you in the best place you are capable of filling.
As a result of our study we grow indiffer- ent to many things we once thought neces- sary to our happiness. Little annoyances no longer held us in bondage. We grow very indifferent to the little frets of life. Through spiritual understanding we are lifted into that higher atmosphere where such trifles do not come. This getting into the higher place does not mean the neglect of the smallest duty, for this would not be right. We feel rather a finer perception of duty, and are the more careful to fulfill our obligations.
Again : We have no false ideas of labor or self-sacrifice. We do things not because they are expedient, but because they are right. We discern the best methods of doing things, and thus avoid a waste of energy. We now know it is because of wasted, ig- norantly wasted, constructive energy that we grow old and pass away. "Because he hath known my name he shall call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him
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in trouble, I will deliver Mm and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation," was spoken only to those who have set their love on the good. From this high standpoint we shall regard things "by and large," as the seamen say. Evil will be lost sight of in the larger good which is ours. It will become a thing we can best deal with by letting it alone. By refusing to consider evils we cut the cords which bind us to them, and are set free to follow goodness and truth. Remember al- ways that which we do not recognize, we do not have. This is Power. This dual life of what seems to be, and what we desire to be, becomes as one. We are able to work peacefully out of hard places. Our watch- word is: "Advance to the next good." Forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching forth unto the things that are be- fore. I press forward to the mark of the high calling in Christ Jesus. We know there is no such thing as luck or chance, only Law. Work with the Law. Work with the Law, and not against it. Herein is power manifest in a hundredfold return in Health and Happiness,
LESSON VI
USE
"Stand fast therefore in the liberty where- with Christ hath made us free and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." Gal., V, 1.
Our full development into the freedom of the sons of God depends upon the use we make of our understanding. In the line of the Law there is a perpetual unfolding, something good to learn throughout Eternity.
In the order of our study we have ac- quired a fair conception of the fundamental facts of existence. Creation, Intelligence, Order, Power, and now we come to Use, as the practical embodiment of our newly de- veloped understanding.
We know that we exist, or stand out from God, and to be God-like or good is our birthright, not a something to be learned or imparted to us. We are endowed with In- telligence to express our purpose in the Di- vine Plan. We know our relationship with
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every other manif estation of created Energy is of an orderly, lawful nature and there need be no clashing of interests in the divine order.
We know we are, by right of our God- born heritage, endowed with all we need for our best expression as sons of God. All we have to do is to live in harmony with the God Law.
Our lessons are now narrowed down to personal application. The question to con- sider closely is, "What is my part in the Divine Economy, and how may I best per- form it?" Emerson says, "There is a guid- ance for each one of us, and by lowly listen- ing we shall hear the right words."
There are no wastes or burdens in the right use of our faculties. Hence, as an economic factor in the expenditure of our life forces, we should understand clearly what the right use means. And here comes in that lowly listening of which Emerson speaks. In our last lesson we spoke the Christ indwelling wherein "were hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." This is the Monitor to Whom we are to incline the listening war.
It is not always pleasant to take a retro- spective view over the life path we have
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trodden. It is marked and marred too many times by the mistakes which have only brought us pain and sorrow. Our forward path is henceforth to be bright with our newly acquired understanding of truth. We know, indeed, that straight is the gate and narrow the way that leadeth unto life. It is hedged on either side by undeviating prin- ciples, but "its ways are ways of pleasant- ness and all its paths are peace."
It is a mental conquest we are from henceforth to achieve. Happiness, health, and prosperity are all included in the power and capability of a well-ordered mind. Think rightly and all things will work to- gether for good.
Take time for mental cultivation. It is one's privilege to often be alone, in the si- lence, with God. The strength we need to meet the duties of the day is surely to be gained when we wait in expectant silence for the direction of the inner voice; or as Geo. Fox, the Quaker, called it: "The In- ward Light." Here, again, is Emerson's lowly listening, and it is what Jesus meant when He said, "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet (the secret place) and when thou hast shut the door (that is, when all intruding things have been shut out) pray
80 The Living Truth
to thy Father, which is in secret (the God within), and the Father which seeth in se- cret shall reward thee openly." This means that the teaching of the silence shall be made practical in better modes of living. It is not always easy to get into the silence. To banish confusion of thought take, and hold, some strong statement. "Be still and know that I am God." "The Lord is in His Holy Temple. Let all the earth keep silence before Him." "Peace, be stilL" "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you."
Wait here until the senses are subordinate to a sense of waiting. Until it seems as if you were alone in the desert at midnight, with only the silent wastes of sand beneath your fed: and the starless sky overhead. Nothing but yourself and God. After a time it will seem as if the stillness was alive with soundless vibrations of the Spirit. Father Ryan, a Southern Priest, wrote a beautiful poem.
The Valley of Silence
I walk down the Valley of Silence,
The dim, distant valley alone, And I heed not the sound of a foot step
Around me, save God and my own,
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And the hush of my heart is as holy As ever the angels have known.
In the heart of the Valley of Silence I dream all the songs that I sing,
And the music floats down the dim valley Till each thought finds a word for a wing,
That to man, like the dove of the Deluge,
A message of peace it may bring. Far out on the deep there are billows
That never shall break on the beach. And I have had thoughts in the silence
That never shall float into speech. And I have had dreams in the silence
Too lofty for language to reach.
Hold yourself profoundly in the silence and ask what you most desire. The answer may not be immediate. You may fall asleep. But never mind, try again. Refuse to be disturbed. Say to these wayward thoughts, "Go thy way, and when I have a more con- venient season I will call on thee."
Then will the perplexities resolve them- selves into calmness. Then will the clear thoughts from the higher plane come in. Then will just the word you are waiting to hear come to give the necessary direction, the word it is safe to follow.
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"Acknowledge me in all thy ways, and I will direct thy paths." Prov., Ill, 6.
The answer will surely come. Sometimes it comes with the first waking thoughts of the early morning. Sometimes in the hurry and rush of the day's work. Sometimes in the still, small voice which interweaves it- self through our varying thought like the thread of a song. You will know it to be the inward truth, for it will be sharply defined from ordinary thinking.
This is more than common perception. "Out of the depths have I called to thee and thou hast heard my voice." These inward promptings are not to be discarded. Jesus Christ referred to this when He said to cred- ulous people: "Ye discern the face of the sky and of the earth, but how is it that ye do not discern this time? Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?" Luke, XXII, 56-57. There are those so in harmony with this inward teach- ing that they direct successfully the sim- plest affairs of life by its dictation.
By cultivating our highest impulses we shall find out just what we are good for and along what lines we may be the most suc- cessfully employed. We shall prove the truth of our basic statement.
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"We are put here for our specific purpose in the Divine Plan.
"We are fully equipped for our own par- ticular duties,
1 We are given the requisite wisdom to dis- cern the best way to perform successfully all that is required of us."
It is human to plan, to question, to doubt. It is divine to look up, to believe, to trust. By this aspiration, belief and trust, we, come into right relation to the "Soul of things," as Prof. Denton called it. This "Soul of things" answers to the call of our own souls, responding in the fulfillment of desire.
"Before they call I will answer : and while they are yet speaking, I will hear." Isa., LXV, 24.
The highest evidence of spiritual advance- ment is the change in our desires. We rise above so much that once was, or seemed to be, necessary to our happiness. In the clearer light of the New Thought they seem like the veriest trifles, too small to waste thought upon.
We see the world with broader vision. This boundless universe of which this vast earth is so small a part; this great multi- tude of humanity to which I am related;
84 The Living Truth
this law of harmony which orders the mighty whole ; myself a constant revealing ; God over all, and in all; I belong to them and they to me. All that I need is mine and close at hand. "Seek, and ye shall find/' It is mine to claim and use, but not if I agree to its opposite.
"Son thou are ever with me and all that I have is thine."
Not by a jealous comparison with some one seemingly more fortunate than ourselves are we to recognize our own, for in that way we are acknowledging a lack. Rather let us affirm : "I am of God, I have enough." "I am satisfied with the bounty of my God." "Fear not, little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
By affirmation and acknowledgment we come into relation with the real quality of the thing we desire, just as surely as the needle of the compass is drawn to the un- seen attractive force beneath the Polar Star. Everything in natural form or entity exists first in the spiritual form or the idea, and also in the human mental concept be- fore it is wrought out in the material. Hence, the truly successful one in any line is the one who gets closest to the spiritual concept by the clear, steady thought.
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We have learned the law that the natural takes on the quality of the thing which at- tracts it. If we believe in old age and de- crepitude, then shall we attract and possess all that tends to materialize the condition. Little ills creep in upon us and we unthink- ingly let them come. Little cares accumu- late, and we tell them over and over as if loth to let them go. The plastic muscles lose their tone, the flesh grows flabby and wrinkled, the voice gets thin, the eyesight fails, while we neglect the tonic, thought, until the years which should have brought us added graces have made us infirm and old. "The inward man is renewed day by day." II Cor., IV, 16. "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive."
The place to begin the new life is here and now. The charm of this New Thought Life is that we do not have to be qualified by stages of preparation for its practice. Every act of your life has fitted you for the place you now occupy. With all its mis- takes and all its blessings let it drift away. Take a New Thought of things from this time on. Perform the next duty in the very best way. Find out just what you desire to do, think it over and over again. Eealize that you lack neither the ability nor the
86 The Living Truth
wisdom to do it in the right way. Keep at it in thought and mark how the inspiration to successful performance unfolds out of sometimes barren conditions.
"Whatever thy hand flndeth to do, do with thy might."
That is the way. In an old English Church there is this inscription in the quaint lettering of centuries ago, "Do ye nyxt thynge," which is helpful coun- sel. Wisdom comes through concentrated thought in the line of duty. How are we to know what is duty?
Think about it. If it is a duty then will the right direction be given so that it is easily performed. The unfolding of the way will be like something we have forgotten and desire to recall. We keep the mind upon it and soon we strike trains of thought which will lead up to it, or touch something re- lated to it. Suddenly, while we are about the business of the day, it flashes upon us and the way is plain. The reason of this is, in the real Mind, the realm of ideas, is stored all that pertains to us and our work in life.
Our standard of excellence is the good, pure life lived not from expediency, but because it is good and pure. By such an
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ideal we stimulate ourselves and become a stimulus to others.
We can not force others to live better lives. The choice is with the individual. St. Paul said: "Behold, I show you the more excellent way." This is all we may lawfully do, except to remove or, better still, to help them to remove obstacles from the way. One's own thought must unbar the doors to truth and freedom. This is the law.
Man's first, last, and only lesson is to get acquainted with himself, with his own soul. Then may we act and think according to Principle. To be yourself and not the weak copy of another, to believe in and cultivate the best in yourself is to help everybody.
Such is the relation of man to man and to the universe that the excellence of one helps all the rest. Self-cultivation does not mean selfishness, but the broadest love.
It is the law that we always get our own. Our own comes to us whether we will or not. We should, then, be watchful that we do not get title to things undesirable. Thought is formative as we are attractive. No disease will take root in the body except the soil is prepared for the reception. No sick bodies, no disturbed conditions, no false
88 The Living Truth
environment, comes to us except we are neg- atively prepared for it. "Thou wilt keep Mm in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee." This, the law as well as the Gospel. Perfect peace means life and health.
Jesus said at the Well of Samaria : "Who- soever shall drink of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but it shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life." Every generation of life in truth adds one to the physical growth and activity. The allotted "Three score and ten" is an exploded fallacy.
"Ye ask and receive not because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts." What are lusts? Inordinate desire not in accord with the God-given purpose of life. We have no right to that which must be taken from another's rightful share to enrich us. Such a misappropriation can only make us poorer in the end. In some way or another there will come into our lives a most bitte* lack which hurts where we are the most sensitive. Mankind is one. Out of the All-providing Good each may take his own, but nothing more.
To level up this universal supply is not the dole of charity nor the chill act of duty,
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but just the sunny cheer of loving kindness.
In doing good we should not limit its meaning to the benevolent act or intention, in the sense of helping with sympathy or substance one seemingly more unfortunate than ourselves. Never do a loving kindness with a sense of our abundance and their emptiness, or feel that a kind Providence, Good Luck, or so-called Fortune, had failed them and lavished upon us. God is no re- spector of persons. His Providence is for all. Let us then supply the temporary need with a sense of stewardship. Let us silently or audibly awaken them out of their de- pendent sense of non-recognition. Speak to them mentally of their own share in the boundless goodness of the Infinite which it is their privilege to enjoy, each according to the need, but which is given only through recognition and receptivity.
Receptivity means the persistent thought toward a definite end. This explains why the worldly successful gets the money, the position, the fame so persistently sought for; while the one who takes less thought for worldly benefits gets the hard knocks, the poverty, and the toil.
According to this same law, the per- sistent seeking for the higher life rarely
90 The Living Truth
fails to get temporal, as well as spiritual, blessings. "Seek first tlie kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you." You will tell me of many royal souls who lived up to a high standard and yet were overthrown because they could not command the money and means to realize their hopes. This is un- deniably true, but it is none the less true they neglected their own rights in the Al- mighty Plan.
They failed to observe the laws of their own bodies through which their lofty souls were to function, laws which are as im- mutable as any universal law. They neglected to "Kest in the Lord," to wait patiently for Him that He might give them the desire of their hearts. They carried burdens they need not have carried had they fully realized "Not I, but the Father that worketh in me, He doeth the work."
The solution of the great social question, "How to get rid of Poverty," is stirring the world. Equal distribution through anarchy and war will never solve the problem. It will come only through the knowing of what God is, and the understanding of the two- fold nature of Brotherly Love.
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide
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in yon, ye shall ask what ye will and it shall be done unto you," To live or abide in the spirit, which is in the Christ word, is to keep in the current of good things. It is to get in close touch with the substance or substantial things of Universal Good. Spirit means life, and life means manifest relations to all created things. It also means the mighty moving Principle which orders the flow of events, just as the unseen and unfelt motion of the earth controls the mighty flow of the ocean currents.
Through these lessons we have acquired a New Thought of God and Man. We know now that the ignorant abuse of God-given faculties is the sum and substance of all sin. Some of the most dangerous traits of char- acter, if rightly used, would be admirable and powerful for good. Let us then try to understand the lawful use and not the abuse of individual characteristics. Our education as the competent physician requires that we know the body as well as the soul. That we understand the nature and office of every part and how this splendid mechanism may be helped or hindered by the individual temperament. We do not need to change characteristics, but to direct them aright. Ours is a moral work as well as the physi-
92 The Living Truth
cal. Spirit does not need our help. TMs is of God and always perfect, as God is perfect.
The true Metaphysician should be able to trace closely God's plan. You, my stu- dents, know the "Mark of the calling." Press forward to it if you would be effective in your chosen work.
One of the greatest helps is the constant realization of the Presence of God and his Kingdom within. This gives a new inter- pretation to the prayer "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."
This kingdom is the divine center from which we live. "To come" means the reveal- ing of it to our consciousness. On earth means our bodies and all that pertains to natural things, and Heaven means God's own peace.
The kingdom within is the divine center from which we live. Still, as we may stand in the sunlight with eyes wilfully closed and realize only darkness, so by doubts, fears, and any wrong thoughts we may bar the gates to the kingdom.
"Open thou mine eyes that I may behold the wondrous things out of Thy Law." Af- firm, "I will see the light, and Uve the truth." Ps., XXXVI, 9.
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I know I am defended from sickness for Spirit is the regeneration and reconstructive power." John, VI, 63. James V, 15,
"I am not poor for The Almighty is my defence and I shall have plenty of silver." Job, XXII, 25.
"I can not be unjustly spoken of for "They shall be hid from the scourge of the tongue." Job, V, 2L
"I can not faint or die, for Christ came that I might have life, and have it more abundantly."
If we cultivate a stubborn faith, the calm- ness of a well-balanced mind, a self-respect from moral strength and purity of purpose, a clear hand in time of danger which is best acquired by a knowledge of that with which we have to deal, the faculty of adapting one's self to the needs of all, a love of doing good for the sake of good, a spirit of kind- ness which is above all preference or preju- dice, then may we safely and confidently assume the title and office of Metaphysician.
94 The Living Truth
SLUMBER SONG
Now I lay me down to sleep,
The weary day is done.
I know the Lord my soul will keep
The Lord the Loving One,
The care-worn garments of this day
I gladly lay aside.
I know no fear since Thou art near;
In safety I abide.
I hear the sea waves on the sands
In slumbrous cadence fall
Like pulse beats of the One Great Heart
Whose life includeth all.
I hear the night winds through the trees
Respond to restless deep,
Thy voice Lord calling through the dark
My child lie down and sleep.
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The soft gray shadows close me in,
My weary eyelids close.
I know the Eye that never sleeps
Shall guard my night's repose.
I know Thine all-enfolding care
O'er me and mine will keep
A shepherd's watch, in love and trust
I lay me down to sleep.
Lord Thou art with me all the night
As Thou art everywhere,
And I shall wake to see the light,
Still folded in Thy care.
Oh, blessed faith! Oh, Holy trust!
My heart forever keep.
I know no fear since Thou art near,
I lay me down to sleep.
—SARAH F. MEADER.
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