bonds, for “the barns of the righteous man shall be full.” It means
man should not hoard even the principal, if an occasion arises, when
money is necessary. In letting it go out fearlessly and cheerfully he
opens the way for more to come in, for God is man’s unfailing and
inexhaustible supply.
This is the spiritual attitude towards money and the great Bank of the
Universal never fails!
We see an example of hoarding in the film production of “Greed.” The
woman won five thousand dollars in a lottery, but would not spend
it. She hoarded and saved, let her husband suffer and starve, and
eventually she scrubbed floors for a living.
She loved the money itself and put it above everything, and one night
she was murdered and the money taken from her.
This is an example of where “love of money is the root of all evil.”
Money in itself, is good and beneficial, but used for destructive
purposes, hoarded and saved, or considered more important than love,
brings disease and disaster, and the loss of the money itself.
Follow the path of love, and all things are added, _for God is love_,
and _God is supply_; follow the path of selfishness and greed, and the
supply vanishes, or man is separated from it.
For example; I knew the case of a very rich woman, who hoarded her
income. She rarely gave anything away, but bought and bought and bought
things for herself.
She was very fond of necklaces, and a friend once asked her how many
she possessed. She replied, “Sixty-seven.” She bought them and put them
away, carefully wrapped in tissue paper. Had she used the necklaces it
would have been quite legitimate, but she was violating “the law of
use.” Her closets were filled with clothes she never wore, and jewels
which never saw the light.
The woman’s arms were gradually becoming paralyzed from holding on to
things, and eventually she was considered incapable of looking after
her affairs and her wealth was handed over to others to manage.
So man, in ignorance of the law, brings about his own destruction.
All disease, all unhappiness, come from the violation of the law of
love. Man’s boomerangs of hate, resentment and criticism, come back
laden with sickness and sorrow. Love seems almost a lost art, but the
man with the knowledge of spiritual law knows it must be regained, for
without it, he has “become as sounding brass and tinkling cymbals.”
For example: I had a student who came to me, month after month, to
clean her consciousness of resentment. After a while, she arrived at
the point where she resented only one woman, but that one woman kept
her busy. Little by little she became poised and harmonious, and one
day, all resentment was wiped out.
She came in radiant, and exclaimed “You can’t understand how I feel!
The woman said something to me and instead of being furious I was
loving and kind, and she apologized and was perfectly lovely to me.
No one can understand the marvelous lightness I feel within!”
Love and good-will are invaluable in business.
For example: A woman came to me, complaining of her employer. She said
she was cold and critical and knew she did not want her in the position.
“Well,” I replied, “Salute the Divinity in the woman and send her love.”
She said “I can’t; she’s a marble woman.”
I answered, “You remember the story of the sculptor who asked for a
certain piece of marble. He was asked why he wanted it, and he replied,
‘because there is an angel in the marble,’ and out of it he produced a
wonderful work of art.”
She said, “Very well, I’ll try it.” A week later she came back and
said, “I did what you told me to, and now the woman is very kind, and
took me out in her car.”
People are sometimes filled with remorse for having done someone an
unkindness, perhaps years ago.
If the wrong cannot be righted, its effect can be neutralized by doing
some one a kindness _in the present_.
“This one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and
reaching forth unto those things which are before.”
Sorrow, regret and remorse tear down the cells of the body, and poison
the atmosphere of the individual.
A woman said to me in deep sorrow, “Treat me to be happy and joyous,
for my sorrow makes me so irritable with the members of my family that
I keep making more Karma.”
I was asked to treat a woman who was mourning for her daughter. I
denied all belief in loss and separation, and affirmed that God was the
woman’s joy, love and peace.
The woman gained her poise at once, but sent word by her son, not to
treat any longer, because she was “so happy, it wasn’t respectable.”
So “mortal mind” loves to hang on to its griefs and regrets.
I knew a woman who went about bragging of her troubles, so, of course,
she always had something to brag about.
The old idea was if a woman did not worry about her children, she was
not a good mother.
Now, we know that mother-fear is responsible for many of the diseases
and accidents which come into the lives of children.
For fear pictures vividly the disease or situation feared, and these
pictures objectify, if not neutralized.
Happy is the mother who can say sincerely, that she puts her child in
God’s hands, and _knows_ therefore, that he is divinely protected.
For example: A woman awoke suddenly, in the night, feeling her brother
was in great danger. Instead of giving in to her fears, she commenced
making statements of Truth, saying, “Man is a perfect idea in Divine
Mind, and is always in his right place, therefore, my brother is in his
right place, and is divinely protected.”
The next day she found that her brother had been in close proximity to
an explosion in a mine, but had miraculously escaped.
So man is his brother’s keeper (in thought) and every man should know
that the thing he loves dwells in “the secret place of the most high,
and abides under the shadow of the Almighty.”
“There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh
thy dwelling.”
“Perfect love casteth out fear. He that feareth is not made perfect in
love,” and “Love is the fulfilling of the Law.”
INTUITION OR GUIDANCE
“In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.”
There is nothing too great of accomplishment for the man who knows the
power of his word, and who follows his intuitive leads. By the word he
starts in action unseen forces and can rebuild his body or remold his
affairs.
It is, therefore, of the utmost importance to choose the right words,
and the student carefully selects the affirmation he wishes to catapult
into the invisible.
He knows that God is his supply, that there is a supply for every
demand, and that his spoken word releases this supply.
“Ask and ye shall receive.”
Man must make the first move. “Draw nigh to God and He will draw nigh
to you.”
I have often been asked just how to make a demonstration.
I reply: “Speak the word and then do not do anything until you get a
definite lead.” Demand the lead, saying, “Infinite Spirit, reveal to me
the way, let me know if there is anything for me to do.”
The answer will come through intuition (or hunch); a chance remark from
someone, or a passage in a book, etc., etc. The answers are sometimes
quite startling in their exactness. For example: A woman desired a
large sum of money. She spoke the words: “Infinite Spirit, open the
way for my immediate supply, let all that is mine by divine right now
reach me, in great avalanches of abundance.” Then she added: “Give me a
definite lead, let me know if there is anything for me to do.”
The thought came quickly, “Give a certain friend” (who had helped her
spiritually) “a hundred dollars.” She told her friend, who said, “Wait
and get another lead, before giving it.” So she waited, and that day
met a woman who said to her, “I gave someone a dollar today; it was
just as much for me, as it would be for you to give someone a hundred.”
This was indeed an unmistakable lead, so she knew she was right
in giving the hundred dollars. It was a gift which proved a great
investment, for shortly after that, a large sum of money came to her in
a remarkable way.
Giving opens the way for receiving. In order to create activity in
finances, one should give. Tithing or giving one-tenth of one’s income,
is an old Jewish custom, and is sure to bring increase. Many of the
richest men in this country have been tithers, and I have never known
it to fail as an investment.
The tenth-part goes forth and returns blessed and multiplied. But the
gift or tithe must be given with love and cheerfulness, for “God loveth
a cheerful giver.” Bills should be paid cheerfully; all money should
be sent forth fearlessly and with a blessing.
This attitude of mind makes man master of money. It is his to obey, and
his spoken word then opens vast reservoirs of wealth.
Man, himself, limits his supply by his limited vision. Sometimes the
student has a great realization of wealth, but is afraid to act.
The vision and action must go hand in hand, as in the case of the man
who bought the fur-lined overcoat.
A woman came to me asking me to “speak the word” for a position. So
I demanded: “Infinite Spirit, open the way for this woman’s right
position.” Never ask for just “a position”; ask for the right position,
the place already planned in Divine Mind, as it is the only one that
will give satisfaction.
I then gave thanks that she had already received, and that it would
manifest quickly. Very soon, she had three positions offered her,
two in New York and one in Palm Beach, and she did not know which to
choose. I said, “Ask for a definite lead.”
The time was almost up and was still undecided, when one day, she
telephoned, “When I woke up this morning, I could smell Palm Beach.”
She had been there before and knew its balmy fragrance.
I replied: “Well, if you can smell Palm Beach from here, it is
certainly your lead.” She accepted the position, and it proved a great
success. Often one’s lead comes at an unexpected time.
One day, I was walking down the street, when I suddenly felt a strong
urge to go to a certain bakery, a block or two away.
The reasoning mind resisted, arguing, “There is nothing there that you
want.”
However, I had learned not to reason, so I went to the bakery, looked
at everything, and there was certainly nothing there that I wanted, but
coming out I encountered a woman I had thought of often, and who was in
great need of the help which I could give her.
So often, one goes for one thing and finds another.
Intuition is a spiritual faculty and does not explain, but simply
_points the way_.
A person often receives a lead during a “treatment.” The idea that
comes may seem quite irrelevant, but some of God’s leadings are
“mysterious.”
In the class, one day, I was treating that each individual would
receive a definite lead. A woman came to me afterwards, and said:
“While you were treating, I got the hunch to take my furniture out
of storage and get an apartment.” The woman had come to be treated
for health. I told her I knew in getting a home of her own, her
health would improve, and I added, “I believe your trouble, which is
a congestion, has come from having things stored away. Congestion of
things causes congestion in the body. You have violated the law of use,
and your body is paying the penalty.”
So I gave thanks that “_Divine order was established in her mind, body
and affairs_.”
People little dream of how their affairs react on the body. There is
a mental correspondence for every disease. A person might receive
instantaneous healing through the realization of his body being a
perfect idea in Divine Mind, and, therefore, whole and perfect, but
if he continues his destructive thinking, hoarding, hating, fearing,
condemning, the disease will return.
Jesus Christ knew that all sickness came from sin, but admonished the
leper after the healing, to go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come
upon him.
So man’s soul (or subconscious mind) must be washed whiter than snow,
for permanent healing; and the metaphysician is always delving deep for
the “correspondence.”
Jesus Christ said, “Condemn not lest ye also be condemned.”
“Judge not, lest ye be judged.”
Many people have attracted disease and unhappiness through condemnation
of others.
What man condemns in others, he attracts to himself.
For example: A friend came to me in anger and distress, because her
husband had deserted her for another woman. She condemned the other
woman, and said continually, “She knew he was a married man, and had no
right to accept his attentions.”
I replied, “Stop condemning the woman, bless her, and be through
with the situation, otherwise, you are attracting the same thing to
yourself.”
She was deaf to my words, and a year or two later, became deeply
interested in a married man, herself.
Man picks up a live-wire whenever he criticises or condemns, and may
expect a shock.
Indecision is a stumbling-block in many a pathway. In order to
overcome it, make the statement, repeatedly, “_I am always under direct
inspiration; I make right decisions, quickly._”
These words impress the subconscious, and soon one finds himself awake
and alert, making his right moves without hesitation. I have found it
destructive to look to the psychic plane for guidance, as it is the
plane of many minds and not “The One Mind.”
As man opens his mind to subjectivity, he becomes a target for
destructive forces. The psychic plane is the result of man’s mortal
thought, and is on the “plane of opposites.” He may receive either good
or bad messages.
The science of numbers and the reading of horoscopes, keep man down on
the mental (or mortal) plane, for they deal only with the Karmic path.
I know of a man who should have been dead, years ago, according to his
horoscope, but he is alive and a leader of one of the biggest movements
in this country for the uplift of humanity.
It takes a very strong mind to neutralize a prophecy of evil. The
student should declare, “Every false prophecy shall come to naught;
every plan my Father in heaven has not planned, shall be dissolved and
dissipated, the divine idea now comes to pass.”
However, if any good message has ever been given one, of coming
happiness, or wealth, harbor and expect it, and it will manifest sooner
or later, through the law of expectancy.
Man’s will should be used to back the universal will. “I will that the
will of God be done.”
It is God’s will to give every man, every righteous desire of his
heart, and man’s will should be used to hold the perfect vision,
without wavering.
The prodigal son said: “I will arise and go to my Father.”
It is, indeed, often an effort of the will to leave the husks and swine
of mortal thinking. It is so much easier, for the average person, to
have fear than faith; _so faith is an effort of the will_.
As man becomes spiritually awakened he recognizes that any external
inharmony is the correspondence of mental inharmony. If he stumbles or
falls, he may know he is stumbling or falling in consciousness.
One day, a student was walking along the street condemning someone
in her thoughts. She was saying, mentally, “That woman is the most
disagreeable woman on earth,” when suddenly three boy scouts rushed
around the corner and almost knocked her over. She did not condemn
the boy scouts, but immediately called on the law of forgiveness,
and “saluted the divinity” in the woman. Wisdom’s ways are ways of
pleasantness and all her paths are peace.
When one has made his demands upon the Universal, he must be ready for
surprises. Everything may seem to be going wrong, when in reality, it
is going right.
For example: A woman was told that there was no loss in divine mind,
therefore, she could not lose anything which belonged to her; anything
lost, would be returned, or she would receive its equivalent.
Several years previously, she had lost two thousand dollars. She had
loaned the money to a relative during her lifetime, but the relative
had died, leaving no mention of it in her will. The woman was resentful
and angry, and as she had no written statement of the transaction,
she never received the money, so she determined to deny the loss, and
collect the two thousand dollars from the Bank of the Universal. She
had to begin by forgiving the woman, as resentment and unforgiveness
close the doors of this wonderful bank.
She made this statement, “I deny loss, there is no loss in Divine Mind,
therefore, I cannot lose the two thousand dollars, which belong to me
by divine right.” “_As one door shuts another door opens._”
She was living in an apartment house which was for sale; and in the
lease was a clause, stating that if the house was sold, the tenants
would be required to move out within ninety days.
Suddenly, the landlord broke the leases and raised the rent. Again,
injustice was on her pathway, but this time she was undisturbed. She
blessed the landlord, and said, “As the rent has been raised, it means
that I’ll be that much richer, for God is my supply.”
New leases were made out for the advanced rent, but by some divine
mistake, the ninety days clause had been forgotten. Soon after, the
landlord had an opportunity to sell the house. On account of the
mistake in the new leases, the tenants held possession for another year.
The agent offered each tenant two hundred dollars if he would vacate.
Several families moved; three remained, including the woman. A month
or two passed, and the agent again appeared. This time he said to
the woman, “Will you break your lease for the sum of fifteen hundred
dollars?” It flashed upon her, “Here comes the two thousand dollars.”
She remembered having said to friends in the house, “We will all act
together if anything more is said about leaving.” So her _lead_ was to
consult her friends.
These friends said: “Well, if they have offered you fifteen hundred
they will certainly give two thousand.” So she received a check for
two thousand dollars for giving up the apartment. It was certainly a
remarkable working of the law, and the apparent injustice was merely
opening the way for her demonstration.
It proved that there is no loss, and when man takes his spiritual
stand, he collects all that is his from this great Reservoir of Good.
“I will restore to you the years the locusts have eaten.”
The locusts are the doubts, fears, resentments and regrets of mortal
thinking.
These adverse thoughts, alone, rob man; for “No man gives to himself
but himself, and no man takes away from himself, but himself.”
Man is here to prove God and “to bear witness to the truth,” and he
can only prove God by bringing plenty out of lack, and justice out of
injustice.
“Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you
the windows of heaven, and pour out a blessing, that there shall not be
room enough to receive it.”
PERFECT SELF-EXPRESSION
or
THE DIVINE DESIGN
“No wind can drive my bark astray
nor change the tide of destiny.”
There is for each man, perfect self-expression. There is a place which
he is to fill and no one else can fill, something which he is to do,
which no one else can do; it is his destiny!
This achievement is held, a perfect idea in Divine Mind, awaiting man’s
recognition. As the imaging faculty is the creative faculty, it is
necessary for man to see the idea, before it can manifest.
So man’s highest demand is for the _Divine Design of his life_.
He may not have the faintest conception of what it is, for there is,
possibly, some marvelous talent, hidden deep within him.
His demand should be: “_Infinite Spirit, open the way for the Divine
Design of my life to manifest; let the genius within me now be
released; let me see clearly the perfect plan._”
The perfect plan includes health, wealth, love and perfect
self-expression. This is the _square of life_, which brings perfect
happiness. When one has made this demand, he may find great changes
taking place in his life, for nearly every man has wandered far from
the Divine Design.
I know, in one woman’s case, it was as though a cyclone had struck
her affairs, but readjustments came quickly, and new and wonderful
conditions took the place of old ones.
Perfect self-expression will never be labor; but of such absorbing
interest that it will seem almost like play. The student knows, also,
as man comes into the world financed by God, the _supply_ needed for
his perfect self-expression will be at hand.
Many a genius has struggled for years with the problem of supply, when
his spoken word, and faith, would have released quickly, the necessary
funds.
For example: After the class, one day, a man came to me and handed me a
cent.
He said: “I have just seven cents in the world, and I’m going to give
you one; for I have faith in the power of your spoken word. I want you
to speak the word for my perfect self-expression and prosperity.”
I “spoke the word,” and did not see him again until a year later. He
came in one day, successful and happy, with a roll of yellow bills in
his pocket. He said, “Immediately after you spoke the word, I had a
position offered me in a distant city, and am now demonstrating health,
happiness and supply.”
A woman’s perfect self-expression may be in becoming a perfect wife,
a perfect mother, a perfect home-maker and not necessarily in having a
public career.
Demand definite leads, and the way will be made easy and successful.
One should not visualize or force a mental picture. When he demands
the Divine Design to come into his conscious mind, he will receive
flashes of inspiration, and begin to see himself making some great
accomplishment. This is the picture, or idea, he must hold without
wavering.
The thing man seeks is seeking him—_the telephone was seeking Bell_!
Parents should never force careers and professions upon their children.
With a knowledge of spiritual Truth, the Divine Plan could be spoken
for, early in childhood, or prenatally.
A prenatal treatment should be: “Let the God in this child have perfect
expression; let the Divine Design of his mind, body and affairs be made
manifest throughout his life, throughout eternity.”
_God’s will be done, not man’s; God’s pattern, not man’s_ pattern, is
the command we find running through all the scriptures, and the Bible
is a book dealing with the science of the mind. It is a book telling
man how to release his soul (or subconscious mind) from bondage.
The battles described are pictures of man waging war against mortal
thoughts. “A man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” Every
man is Jehoshaphat, and every man is David, who slays Goliath (mortal
thinking) with the little white stone (faith).
So man must be careful that he is not the “wicked and slothful servant”
who buried his talent. There is a terrible penalty to be paid for not
using one’s ability.
Often fear stands between man and his perfect self-expression.
Stage-fright has hampered many a genius. This may be overcome
by the spoken word, or treatment. The individual then loses all
self-consciousness, and feels simply that he is a channel for Infinite
Intelligence to express Itself through.
He is under direct inspiration, fearless, and confident; for he feels
that it is the “Father within” him who does the work.
A young boy came often to my class with his mother. He asked me to
“speak the word” for his coming examinations at school.
I told him to make the statement: “I am one with Infinite Intelligence.
I know everything I should know on this subject.” He had an excellent
knowledge of history, but was not sure of his arithmetic. I saw him
afterwards, and he said: “I spoke the word for my arithmetic, and
passed with the highest honors; but thought I could depend on myself
for history, and got a very poor mark.” Man often receives a set-back
when he is “too sure of himself,” which means he is trusting to his
personality and not the “Father within.”
Another one of my students gave me an example of this. She took an
extended trip abroad one summer, visiting many countries, where she was
ignorant of the languages. She was calling for guidance and protection
every minute, and her affairs went smoothly and miraculously. Her
luggage was never delayed nor lost! Accommodations were always ready
for her at the best hotels; and she had perfect service wherever she
went. She returned to New York. Knowing the language, she felt God was
no longer necessary, so looked after her affairs in an ordinary manner.