HEALTH FROM GOD.
I will give a chapter here to explaining how man may receive health from
the Supreme. By the Supreme I mean the Thinking Substance from which all
things are made, and which is in all and through all, seeking more
complete expression and fuller life. This Intelligent Substance, in a
perfectly fluid state, permeates and penetrates all things, and is in
touch with all minds. It is the source of all energy and power, and
constitutes the "inflow" of life which Swedenborg saw, vitalizing all
things. It is working to one definite end, and for the fulfillment of
one purpose; and that purpose is the advancement of life toward the
complete expression of Mind. When man harmonizes himself with this
Intelligence, it can and will give him health and wisdom. When man
holds steadily to the purpose to live more abundantly, he comes into
harmony with this Supreme Intelligence.
The purpose of the Supreme Intelligence is the most Abundant Life for
all; the purpose of this Supreme Intelligence for you is that you should
live more abundantly. If, then, your own purpose is to live more
abundantly, you are unified with the Supreme; you are working with It,
and it must work with you. But as the Supreme Intelligence is in all,
_if you harmonize with it you must harmonize with all; and you must
desire more abundant life for all as well as for yourself_. Two great
benefits come to you from being in harmony with the Supreme
Intelligence.
First, you will receive wisdom. By wisdom I do not mean knowledge of
facts so much as ability to perceive and understand facts, and to judge
soundly and act rightly in all matters relating to life. Wisdom is the
power to perceive truth, and the ability to make the best use of the
knowledge of truth. It is the power to perceive at once the best end to
aim at, and the means best adapted to attain that end. With wisdom comes
poise, and the power to think rightly; to control and guide your
thoughts, and to avoid the difficulties which come from wrong thinking.
With wisdom you will be able to select the right courses for your
particular needs, and to so govern yourself in all ways as to secure the
best results. You will know how to do what you want to do. You can
readily see that wisdom must be an essential attribute of the Supreme
Intelligence, since That which knows all truth must be wise; and you can
also see that just in proportion as you harmonize and unify your mind
with that Intelligence you will have wisdom.
But I repeat that since this Intelligence is All, and in all, you can
enter into Its wisdom only by harmonizing with all. If there is
anything in your desires or your purpose which will bring oppression to
any, or work injustice to, or cause lack of life for any, you cannot
receive wisdom from the Supreme. Furthermore, your purpose for your own
self must be the best.
Man can live in three general ways: for the gratification of his body,
for that of his intellect, or for that of his soul. The first is
accomplished by satisfying the desires for food, drink, and those other
things which give enjoyable physical sensations. The second is
accomplished by doing those things which cause pleasant mental
sensations, such as gratifying the desire for knowledge or those for
fine clothing, fame, power, and so on. The third is accomplished by
giving way to the instincts of unselfish love and altruism. Man lives
most wisely and completely when he functions most perfectly along all of
these lines, without excess in any of them. The man who lives
swinishly, for the body alone, is unwise and out of harmony with God;
that man who lives solely for the cold enjoyments of the intellect,
though he be absolutely moral, is unwise and out of harmony with God;
and the man who lives wholly for the practice of altruism, and who
throws himself away for others, is as unwise and as far from harmony
with God as those who go to excess in other ways.
To come into full harmony with the Supreme, you must purpose to LIVE; to
live to the utmost of your capabilities in body, mind, and soul. This
must mean the full exercise of function in all the different ways, but
without excess; for excess in one causes deficiency in the others.
Behind your desire for health is your own desire for more abundant life;
and behind that is the desire of the Formless Intelligence to live more
fully in you. So, as you advance toward perfect health, hold steadily to
the purpose to attain complete life, physical, mental, and spiritual;
to advance in all ways, and in every way to live more; if you hold this
purpose you will be given wisdom. "He that willeth to do the will of the
Father shall KNOW," said Jesus. Wisdom is the most desirable gift that
can come to man, for it makes him rightly self-governing.
But wisdom is not all you may receive from the Supreme Intelligence; you
may receive physical energy, vitality, life force. The energy of the
Formless Substance is unlimited, and permeates everything; you are
already receiving or appropriating to yourself this energy in an
automatic and instinctive way, but you can do so to a far greater degree
if you set about it intelligently. The measure of a man's strength is
not what God is willing to give him, but what he, himself, has the will
and the intelligence to appropriate to himself. God gives you all there
is; your only question is how much to take of the unlimited supply.
Professor James has pointed out that there is apparently no limit to the
powers of men; and this is simply because man's power comes from the
inexhaustible reservoir of the Supreme. The runner who has reached the
stage of exhaustion, when his physical power seems entirely gone, by
running on in a Certain Way may receive his "second wind"; his strength
is renewed in a seemingly miraculous fashion, and he can go on
indefinitely. And by continuing in the Certain Way, he may receive a
third, fourth, and fifth "wind"; we do not know where the limit is, or
how far it may be possible to extend it. The conditions are that the
runner must have absolute faith that the strength will come; that he
must think steadily of strength, and have perfect confidence that he has
it, and that he must continue to run on. If he admits a doubt into his
mind, he falls exhausted, and if he stops running to wait for the
accession of strength, it will never come. His faith in strength, his
faith that he _can_ keep on running, his unwavering purpose _to_ keep on
running, and his action _in_ keeping on seem to connect him to the
source of energy in such a way as to bring him a new supply.
In a very similar manner, the sick person who has unquestioning faith in
health, whose purpose brings him into harmony with the source, and who
performs the voluntary functions of life in a certain way, will receive
vital energy sufficient for all his needs, and for the healing of all
his diseases. God, who seeks to live and express himself fully in man,
delights to give man all that is needed for the most abundant life.
Action and reaction are equal, and when you desire to live more, if you
are in mental harmony with the Supreme, the forces which make for life
begin to concentrate about you and upon you. The One Life begins to move
toward you, and your environment becomes surcharged with it. Then, if
you appropriate it by faith, it is yours. "Ye shall ask what ye will,
and it shall be done unto you." Your Father giveth not his spirit by
measure; he delights to give good gifts to you.