"Thought is an actual motive Force, more powerful than any other motive
force in the world. It is not the mere pulsation in a particular set of
brain cells, destined to pass away into nothingness when the pulsation
has ceased. Thought is the voice of the Soul. Just as the human voice
is transmitted through distance on the telephone wires, so is the
Soul's voice carried through the radiant fibres connected with the
nerves to the brain. The brain receives it, but cannot keep it--for it
again is transmitted by its own electric power to other brains,--and
you can no more keep a thought to yourself than you can hold a monopoly
in the sunshine. Everywhere in all worlds, throughout the whole cosmos,
Souls are speaking through the material medium of the brain,--souls
that may not inhabit this world at all, but that may be as far away
from us as the last star visible to the strongest telescope. The
harmonies that suggest themselves to the musician here to-day may have
fallen from Sirius or Jupiter, striking on his earthly brain with a
spiritual sweetness from worlds unknown,--the poet writes what he
scarcely realises, obeying the inspiration of his dreams,-and we are
all, at our best, but mediums for conveying thought, first receiving it
from other spheres to ourselves, and then transmitting it from
ourselves to others. Shakespeare, the chief poet and prophet of the
world, has written: 'There is nothing good or bad but thinking makes it
so,'--thus giving out a profound truth,--one of the most profound
truths of the Psychic Creed. For what we THINK, we are; and our
thoughts resolve themselves into our actions.
"In the renewal of life and the preservation of youth, Thought is the
chief factor. If we THINK we are old--we age rapidly. If, on the
contrary, we THINK we are young, we preserve our vitality indefinitely.
The action of thought influences the living particles of which our
bodies are composed, so that we positively age them or rejuvenate them
by the attitude we assume. The thinking attitude of the human Soul
should be one of gratitude, love and joy. There is no room in Spiritual
Nature for fear, depression, sickness or death. God intends His
creation to be happy, and by bringing the Soul and Body both into tune
with happiness we obey His laws and fulfil His desire. Therefore, to
live long, encourage thoughts of happiness! Avoid all persons who talk
of disease, misery and decay--for these things are the crimes of man,
and are offences against God's primal design of beauty. Drink in deep
draughts of sunshine and fresh air,--inhale the perfume of flowers and
trees,--keep far away from cities and from crowds--seek no wealth that
is not earned by hand or brain--and above all things remember that the
Children of Light may walk in the Light without fear of darkness!"
Something in this latter sentence made me stop, and look again around
me--and again I felt sure that the room was growing darker, and not
only darker but smaller. The purple silk hangings which draped the
walls were almost within my touch, and I knew they had not been so
close to me when I first sat down to read. A nervous tremor ran through
me, but I resolved I would not be the dupe of my own fancy, and I set
myself once more resolutely to the study of the volume before me. The
next paragraph which attracted me was headed