The Message of New Thought

wmcm 1914. Co ,

A EN. Br A BE L L . LL

Published March. 1 9 1 4 .

FOREWORD

THOUSANDS oi people are constantly aski n g three q uestion s : Wh at is New Thought ? Wherein does it differ from the o rthodox re ligion s? Wh at is the line of divergence be tween New Thought and Ch risti an Science ? The purpose ofthis volum e is to answer these T n inquiries . o that end it h as been my e deavor on l , not y to set forth the basic ideas New Thou h al o of g t, but s to compare its principles and teachings with those of the orthodox religion s and Christian Science . This course has been adopted for several reasons . So many cults are spri n gi n g into existence whose teachings differ widely from New T those of hought, yet are parading its under banner, that it is thought desirable to state its principles and philosophy with such certainty and clearness that its real mes sage may hereafter be understood and that its name may be rescued from those seeking to appropriate it without warrant . Great efforts have also been made to blend and com vi Foreword

bine the philosophy of New Thought with of I the teachings the recognized creeds . leave it to the reader to judge whether such a

result is possible or not, when he has finished

reading this volume . The hope and belief are freely entertained that the fundamental distinctions between New Thought and Christian Science have been stated in such a manner that they may be The ica l readily understood . e th l va ue s o fthe teachings of New Thought as compared with those of the orthod ox religions are duly set

forth and emphasized , that each may be care

fully studied and weighed . New Thought is largely a restatement of old thought, vitalized with new life and meaning from the discoveries ofmodern psy chology and the latest deductions of science . The reader must bear in mind , however, that the Old Thought was suppressed in the West ern Hemisphere for nearly two thousand years ; for the first time it is sending its illu m in atin g rays to gladden the Western world . The effort has been made to set forth the essential teachings of New Thought in a concrete form in one convenient volume , and to that end I have drawn with considerable Foreword

freedom from modern science , philosophy, and the leading writers on New Thought . The quotations employed embrace some of the best thought of modern times . It is my earnest hope that this volume m ay arouse and animate a general interest in the study of New T hought, and awaken a responsive chord to the beauty and sublimity of its teachings. ABEL EIG ' ALLEN L H m N .

C ONTENTS

rm NEW T HOUGHT D EFINED

O RIGIN OF THE CREEDS

NEW T HOUGHT A ND THE CR EEDS

NEW T HOUGHT A ND CH RI STI A N SCI ENCE

U NIVERSAL MIND I N MA N

MA N ILLIM ITABLE

MA N U NFI NI SHED

As MA N I NK VIII . A T H ETH

' ET I CS OF CR DS I . H THE EE

ETHI CS OF NEW T HOUGHT

'I VOI C S OF NEW OUG . E T H HT

ART OF L V G 'II . THE I IN

TH E MESSAGE OF NEW TH OU GHT

CHAPTER I

NEW THOUGHT DEFINED

“ 0 e can w e w ait no long r, We e sh 0 s u too tak ip, o l ; us we too u ch out ac ess se s Joy o , la n on tr kl a , Fe ess u w sh es w es ecs s s arl , for nkno n or , on av of ta y to ail, m the w w s A id afting ind , Ch n ur ch f e ex anti g o ant O pl asant ploration.

0 m y brave soul, 0 he the s , fart r, far r ail, O a o but s e are he the seas Of God? d ring j y , af , t y not, all ”

0 e e s . , farth r, farth r ail T WAL WH ITMA N.

NEW T U is as HO GHT not, many believe , a name or expression employed to define any o r fixed system of thought, philosophy, relig ion , but is a term used to convey the idea r n of growing o developing thought. In co “ siderin New g this subject, the word should be duly and freely emphasized , because the ” expression New Thought relates only to what is new and progressive . 2 The M essage ofNew Th ought

It would be a misuse of terms to apply the “ ” expression New Thought to a system of

thought, because when thought is molded

and formed into a system , it ceases to be new . When a system of thought has reached ma turit y and ceases to grow, expand , and de veIO p, it can no longer be defined by the “ ” Ne w. word It follows , therefore, as a t of necessary conclusion, hat no system new or thought, no system Of thought defined by

that expression , now exists or ever can exist. “ ” New Thought is the result or creation of Th perpetually advancing mind . e growing mind is n ot content with the past o r its n o achievements . It is t satisfied with systems ofphilosophy o r religion originating in other ages and handed down through succeeding T generations . hey do not satisfy the wants of

the mind . Systems do not grow, mind de l ve ops. It wants something larger and bet

ter ; it wants improvement, growth , and de is velopm en t. It merely the logical and natural effort of the mind in its struggle for advancement ; it is following its basic and in

herent law. A s the growing mind applies thought to whatever enters into consciousness, it gains New Thought D efin ed 3

l s new and en arged conception and , therefore, is e grows , and what it thinks new . N w Thought has been defined as the latest prod uct A of growing mind . distinguished writer h as characterized New Thought as an atti

tude of mind and not a cult . Those who grasp the true meaning and New T is spirit of hought, or, as it sometimes

called , progressive or unfolding thought, do n ot conceive that a finished or completed sys of re tem thought, either philosophical or i i li ous s t . g , a possibili y All systems of D thought change with the flight of time . e T cay follows growth . he philosophies and religions Of to - day differ from those of yes terda of - un y, and those to morrow will be h f - like t ose o to day . History alone demon on strates the truth of this statement . This c clusion is inevitable also from the very laws ’ that govern man s growth and existence . ’ Man s body is not the only result Of the processes of evolution , growth , and develop of ment, but his mind is likewise the product M an is the same great law . an evolved and evolving being, physically, mentally, and

Spiritually. Change and growth are the si Th lent mandates of divinity . e eternal cur 4 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

rent ever moves onward . We do n ot reckon ’ of all n u with all of nature s forces . Back , on e seen yet all powerful , is the universal or law cosmic urge, forever pushing and pro ectin j g man forward into higher physical , mental , and spiritual development. T of hrough the principle evolution , physi cal man was brought to his present state of development . By the same principle has he come to his present mental and sp i ritual con is dition . It a principle operating through E out the un iverse . volution is a movement from the lower to the higher, from the simple th e su to the complex, from the inferior to perior . How can there be a fixed system of thought, a com plete philosophy, a perfect o r ? theology, a defined religion For as man grows mentally and spiritually he moves away A from such limitations . s his mental and r his Spiritual visions expand , the ve y laws of being lead him to higher and still higher conceptions Of philosophical and religious “T truth . hrough Spiritual evolution are we ” led to God . Every system of philosophy or religion is of the result an evolutionary process , the p roduct Of the human mind and understand New Th ought D efin ed 5

. e h e ing Wh n thought changes , when t mind e e is e d velops , when the und rstanding enlarg d , philosophies and religions must likewise

T - change. his is a self evident truth . Were e of it oth rwise, systems thought, philosophies , and religions would be greater than the minds that created them and launched them Upon the world—the things created would be so greater than their creators . Were it not , systems that have no inherent power of growth would become greater than man, i whose very law s growth . M of oreover, fixed systems thought, either be philosophical or religious , are impossible , cause they are not the same to any two persons but convey different meanings to each indi n or . N0 wo vidual t persons thi k alike, have the same conception or understanding of any hiloso hi impo rtant subject, least of all Of a p p al r c o religious subject . N0 two individuals r D are alike o think alike . uplicates have never been discovered in all the broad domain of nature . Scientists tell us that even the molecules ofwhich our bodies are composed differ on e from th e other .

NO m en c e l e two in r ation think a ik , No m en c e l l e two in r ation ook a ik , 6 Th e M essage ofNew Thought

NO two m en c e are e in r ation alik , NO w s su s e e s but are s c e orld or n or h av n , di tin t and w ar e u a separate b a ty .

N0 his individual can convey thoughts , ideas , and impressions entire to another . Language , o r either written spoken , is but a symbol , and at best an imperfect vehicle to convey thought . The meaning of truth is deflected in its trans “T mission . hought is deeper than speech ; feeling deeper than thought ; souls to souls ” can never teach what to themselves is taught . The mental and spiritual visions ofman differ The as the stars differ in magnitude . same light does not shine with equal brilliancy n o the pathway of each individual . What is

on e to . light to , may be a shadow another

Nor are our ideas changeless and fixed . Our thoughts , conceptions , and understand ings change with the advancing years , as the soul receives new influx Of light . As each morning bathes the earth in new light, so each returning day and every recurring season bring new meanings and understandings to the soul . The greatest gift from God to man isa grow on e ing mind , that expands from day to day of r as the light t uth breaks upon it. Were it

The M essa ge oi New Thought

our con ce whole truth , but we can enlarge p tions Of truth and thus bring ourselves nearer

t . the reali y We all live , move and have our being in an atmosphere oftruth ; truth is only assimilated by the individual . It is not sus ce i le pt b of monopoly or systematization . It is n ot encompassed by institutions , but its living spirit is present in every manifested form and Object of nature . es We hear much at times about systems , blish d E ta e . religions , and settled creeds very institution insists on laying its foundation on a dogma . It has been well said that when a church is built over truth , truth flies out at E the window. very creed and every dogma ’ Offered to man undertake to show man s true d Th relationship to Go . e major premise Of every dogma rests upon an idea of God , and yet no two persons can be found with the same M ’ ideals and conceptions of God . an s idea The o f God is but an image of himself . major premise of every creed is the con cep To tion some man had of God . talk about s ettled creeds , the indisputable presumption must be indulged , that all other men have the To same conception of God . have a finished system ofthought or a definite creed respect New Th ought D efin ed 9 ing man ’s relations to God presupposes a perfect and complete knowledge and under Of standing that relation, which is beyond ’ man s comprehension in his present state of

development . When he has attained the mental and spiritual growth necessary to com prehend that relationship in its fullness and

entirety, he will possess all knowledge and all

wisdom , he will be omniscient . It took the Christian Church until the fifth its century to formulate creeds, and yet for fourteen centuries it has been striving to set tle them and mold them into an acceptable ad system . Has it accomplished it ? Are its heren ts any nearer an agreement ? It is no nearer the coveted goal than it was fourteen h a o . undred years g It is creed against creed , an d dogma against dogma , their adherents

still continue to look outward for truth . M an has caught only a few rays from the E great light of truth . ven the agencies of external nature transcend and baffle our un ders an din is t . g We use electricity, it in our

bodies , we see its manifestations , we harness

we n ot . it, regulate it, but we know what it is How light reaches the earth is a puzzle to the n o understanding . Because we do t understand 1 0 The M essage ofNew Thought

l the of these fami iar agencies, meaning na ’ f ture s symbols , must we relinquish all ef o rts to discover their meaning and to find the laws that govern them ? Must we desist in our search for truth ? for Science is a search the secrets of nature . It is an attempt to find the laws governing T the universe . he laws of the universe are

of . the laws God Science , then, in its broad est aspect is a search fo r the knowledge Of A God . s man delves more deeply into the of secrets of nature, the mysteries the uni his W verse, Spiritual visions ill expand and he will have broader and more compre n i of he s ve conceptions God . Yet we are told that religion must be let alone ; that creeds and theologies must not be disturbed , that they are not the subject of inquiry . H OW futile the attempt to set bounds to the processes of thought ; why should not man seek for a better religion as he struggles for better government ? Thought was the first T h step toward civil liberty . hought is t e first ’ step toward the soul s liberty. Truth is the understanding ofthe principles T is illim i underlying the universe . ruth as table and boundless as the universe itself . New Th ought D efin ed I I

Principles and laws are changeless , but our understanding of them changes as our minds gain new conceptions of truth and as they grow and develop . Only as the mind dwells on principles can it advance to a larger un der standing o f truth and higher conceptions of life. Principles are the landmarks to which all things are tied . When man departs from them he enters the jungle of uncertainty and To of confusion . gain higher conceptions the principles and laws underlying the universe is the real work ofman . As he comes into an of enlarged understanding these principles , he directs the current ofhis life in accordance therewith . He grows into a closer harmony with nature , and enters a richer and more satisfying field of experience . A moral and religious life must be a grow ing life, an advancing life , a life positively n M an and consta tly constructive . is either progressing or receding ; spiritually and men tally he cannot stand still . All nature , with her actions and reactions , proclaims this great u tr th in every moment of life . All useful discoveries in science have been the result of progressive and continued thought, thought applied to the discovery 1 2 The M essa ge ofNew Th o ught of o E the secrets f nature . ach discovery has - The been a stepping stone to the next. dis covery ofeach lawbecame a light fo r the dis r E cove y of more laws . ach discovery in na tu is re a benefit to the race, a step forward , ’ n d a enlarges man s understanding of God . M an can grow into a knowledge of his relationship with God and reach o ut toward the divine goal , only as he renews his mind , only as he enlarges his conception ofwhat is within his con sciousness, only as he presses forward into a higher spiritual and mental development . Why should not new conceptions be ap plied to religion as well as governments ? Religion relates to man ’s life and destiny Government regulates man ’s relation with

- his fellow man . Governments have existed T as long as religion . hey both Sprang into T existence with the dawn Of reason . hey T traveled side by side down the ages . hey have changed as man has progressed in civi i liz at on . We do not yet concede the existence of a The perfect government . model government The is n ot yet in sight . struggle to improve government goes on as relentlessly as ever New Tho ught D efin ed 1 3

The before in histo ry. rights of man forever l T assert themse ves. hey have been improved and secured only as he created new ideals of government, only as he applied new thoughts n and ew conceptions to existing governments . The creeds which attempt to set bounds to religious thought, which endeavor to define ’ man s conceptions of God , were given to the world when scientific thinking was unknown and by men whose conceptions ofnature were Th fo rm no better than idle superstitions . e u of lators the creeds , in their blind endeavor to set up a system founded on the oriental E allegory of the Garden of den , apparently did not know that truth has no terminals and cannot be defined or circumscribed . If they had looked into the great laboratory of nature and given thought and study to her processes, they might have there read that nature tells no falsehoods and that her very law is growth,

. T development, and eternal progress hey might hug the delusion that creeds are static , that they are fixed and final , but they could find nothing in nature remotely to hint at limitation or set bounds to her modifying C processes . hange is written everywhere in her symbols . Her pulsations of life growth I 4 The M essage ofNew Thought

and decay, the morning and evening, the of return the seasons , all bespeak eternal T change . here are no fixtures in all her

h as - domain . She her seed time and harvest, l her summer and winter, her heat and co d .

Her pendulum always swings . Everything vibrates and oscillates through of t the broad stretches infini y. Since motion is produces change, everything in nature pass ing through perpetual change . to Let us apply the analogies Of nature man , for is man n ot a part of nature ? The physi cal man is changing as the moments speed a on e our away. Scientists t time said bodies were entirely renewed once in seven years . NOW they have reduced the time to six r M n months o less . a is constantly putting Off old e the and putting on the new, but natur h ever tends toward perfection . From t e amoeba to man was a long and tedious strug gle , but it marks the developing and perfect ing laws of nature . Her movements were to ever from the lower the higher, by the e ceaseless and tireless proc sses Of evolution , to the highly complex and individualized i of t man, consc ous his own personali y and e xistence.

I 6 The M essa ge ofNew Tho ught ling force of man in eve ry important and mo n mento s undertaking . We instinctively turn i from the old to the new . It s the law of ’ ’ is mind , it is nature s method, it God s plan of teaching man to grow. E “ merson said , What is the ground of this ?” uneasiness of ours , of this old discontent What is this universal sense of want and ig n o ran ce , but the fine innuendo by which the ” great soul makes its enormous Claim ? h E Progress is the law of t e soul . vermore the mind Stretches forth toward the infinite , to grasp and reduce to understanding her To mysteries , her wonders , and her secrets . o r bind it to a fixed creed , a defined religion system of thought, is as impossible as to pluck the Pleiades from the galaxy of the stars . The mind that can flash its thoughts across billions of miles from star to star in the hun dredth part of a second , as the scientists tell us is possible, cannot be fettered by fixed creeds , dogmas , or systems , or bend to the authori ty or edict of an institution . A s we constantly advance to higher an d more perfect ideals , we obtain clearer con ce ion s o f pt the principles of truth , we ex pand and extend our Spiritual horizon . We New Th ought D efin ed 1 7 thus come to a better understanding of our Our selves , powers and forces , and the mean f ing o our existence . an as hi M grows only he enlarges s thoughts . How can his thoughts be enlarged except as he takes on the new ? By no other process can he enlarge his conceptions and under A standing of life . s his ideals expand he r comprehends more truth , he moves fo ward , s he extends his vision , he grows , he sees beauty, harmony, and law in all created things . Hence New Thought is a synonym for growth , for development, for perpetual and eternal progress . It recognizes the superior and excellent in man ; it deals not with limi ’ tation s; it sets no bounds to the soul s prog ress , for it sees in each soul transcendental s faculties a limitless as infini ty itself . New T But, some one asks , has hought noth in g but uncertain and shifting conceptions re garding man ’s relation to the universe ? Is New Thought a mere tramp in the field of philosophical and religious thought ? Is it an chored to nothing ? These inquiries do not s create surprise , since for centuries pa t men have been told that a beli ef in certain form u 1 8 The M essage ofNew Th ought las was the first step in a religious life. They have become habituated to creeds , beliefs , and churches of authori ty and therefore deeply impressed with the thought that without them religion must decline and cease to have any N w vitality and strength . e Thought m ay be said to possess one fixed creed , that of an eternal search for truth . It is anchored to that one thought . It believes in truth , but does n ot accept every conception of truth as

final . It realizes that attainment of truth is e a process of evolution , growth , and dev lop ment. M an can acquire truth only as he is men tally and Spiritually prepared to receive it . New Thought is anchored to the idea of fi n d n i g the good and the beautiful in life , the development of latent possibilities in man , and that law reigns supreme in the universe . New Anchored to these principles, Thought moves forward in its quest for more truth , in its search for greater light that leads upward and onward toward a unity with God .

It has not come to eradicate the old , except as the old fades away before the advancing light Of the new . However, we have been told that it is dangerous to put new wine into New Th ought D efin ed 1 9

New Old bottles lest the bottles may break.

T is r n ot . hought const uctive , destructive It

is n ot . here to tear down , but to build up It m e n ot . I ts s mploys addition , subtraction y i s . bol plus, not minus It recognizes that the universe is supported upon the enduring foundation of changeless p rinciples and fixed laws , the result of an infinite and divine intelligence . It realizes also that man may grow into a knowledge and un derstanding of those principles and laws only as his conscious ideals grow from day to day. is of Its goal the understanding of life , man , and a conscious unity of man with God . If its ff is adherents di er, it only in methods and n not in the end sought. It does not enjoi T a en ueS ' leadin methods . here are many v g

Th - of to truth . e arc light sends out a myriad rays , but they all lead to the one light . The adherents o f New Thought worship the omnipresent God, the indwelling God , in

l . whom we ive , move, and have our being They do not conceive of God as distant or a separated from man, but as universal Spirit er its e p meating all nature, finding high st ex pression in man . 20 The M essage ofNew Th ought

N0 better conception of the God of New Thought can be expressed than was given by Pythagoras to the world six centuries before the Christian era . Listen to the great m es sage “ God is the universal Spirit that diffuses itself over all nature . All beings receive their T life from him . here is but one only God , who is not, as some are apt to imagine, seated above the world , beyond the orb of the uni verse ; but being himself all in all , he sees t all the beings that fill his immensi y, the only principle the light of heaven, the father of all . r He produces eve ything . He orders and dis

of . poses all things He is the reason , the life ” and motion of all things . New Thought teaches that the revelation of God to man is a continuous process through in nature , through reason, the whispering of tuition through the events and experiences of The m es life . objects of nature convey their sage only as they awaken the divine impulse e within , the desire to com into harmony with

God . Molding our lives more and more into the divine likeness is the essential thought in any as e t worthy religion ; Plato taught, the high s New Th ought D efin ed 2 1 aspiration of man is the free imitation of ” God . To teach man to come into a conscious real iz ation the t t of divini y within, and the uni y of m an so the Of and God , that out of sublimity can sa le M e his soul he y with the Gent ast r, “ ” The I is e e Father and are one , the supr m e purpos and meaning of New Thought. CHAPTER II

ORIGIN OF TH E CREEDS

NO 'suc Go d m w s m a win h a y or hip y not , Who e s the w ou his fi e s l t orld ab t ng r pin, A h extem e m m us u e w h t ing ; y God t r l it in, w m I own F he C e And ho for at r, God, r ator, H u e H m se H m se u e old nat r in i lf , i lf in nat r ; his m s em ce the wh e And in kindly ar bra d , ol , h ” Dot live and m ove by his pervading soul . H GOET E.

THAT there may be a better understanding and clearer comprehension of the fundamental New T principles of hought, and wherein it differs from the recognized systems of ortho dox theology, I shall undertake to institute a comparison between some of its teachings and T the doctrines of orthodox religions . his is plan of statement adopted , because in no other manner can the distinctions and diver gen cies between the principles of New Thought and those of the recognized theol ogies be so accurately measured and deter mined . At this time there seems to be an imperfect 22

24 The M essage ofNew Thought

Ecclesiastical authorities both in the past and present have not encouraged a critical or careful research and study ofthe foundations upon which theological structures are built . The theologian has been able to vault over great gaps in history with the nimbleness of an athlete , but the inquiring and careful laym an might not be able to accomplish I n the same feat. the Catholic Church the adherents have been told , in unmistakable lan guage, that they must accept the dicta and authority of the Church as conclusive and

final . In the orthodox branches of the Protestant churches a critical review of the origin of the is be creeds not encouraged , and particular liefs and dogmas are enjoined as paramount and absolutely necessary to salvation, and that any doubts thereof would un m istaken ly incur the D ivine displeasure . With them the search for truth is of less impo rtance than the ac ceptan ce of certain beliefs . T his may be called an incredulous age , but in it is nevertheless a reasoning, thinking, and vestigatin g age . Mind is at last becoming is as free . It asserting itself never before . It is refusing to be bound by the edicts and com Origin of the Creeds 25

of t t mands au hori y, which we shall discover in a later page was invented for the sole pur pose ofsilencing the reasoning and investiga

tions of man .

In this twentieth century, too , men are ask

ing why they must be bound by fixed beliefs , which the reason rejects , and why it is wrong M an en to question them . finds himself dowed with reason and is conscious of his rea t e soning faculties , the one quali y and divin gift that raises him above the animal , and asks why he may not exercise those powers in the investigation of religious questions as well as a . M en all others are sking this question , why are the exponents of the creeds so persistent in enforcing their beliefs upon others ? Why s f are they so uncharitable to tho e who dif er, when the mind cannot accept their beliefs ? Why the manifestation of so much displeasure at what are called unbelievers ? Many worthy persons are deeply grieved at what seems to be a growth of independent T thought . hey look upon modern progressive thought as an evidence of a decline in religion .

They worship creeds in the name of religion . T They reject truth in the name of creeds . hey see in ceremonials and forms the highest ex 26 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

T pression of religion . hey worship the Old T and distrust the new . hey assume that a change of thought cannot be productive of Of any good , but must result in the subversion T all religious thought . hey assume that it will lead man from all true considerations Of

a religious life . All religion is based on man ’s conception of

God . Because my conception differs from yours , is it fair to quarrel with me because of that ? That our views of an infinite God differ should cause no surprise . It does not follow, because men question existing beliefs , that they are not deeply religious themselves , that they are thinking at all about religion is evi T dence that they are in fact religious . hat they are not satisfied with the old is evidence that they are t rying to find a better and more M satisfying religion . an ought not to be blamed for seeking the religion that best satis

fies the wants ofhis own soul . Carlyle said “ We will understand that destruction of Old forms is not destruction of everlasting sub is stances ; that skepticism not an end , but a ” beginning . It has been well said that man never really understands a truth until he has contended Origin of the Creeds 27

against it . In this age of intellectual and te ligious liberty we ought to be able to discuss in a dispassionate manner all subjects to which the is mind directed , whether religious or sec ular . In that Spirit let us proceed to a study of New Thought and the orthodox religions and find the important lines of divergence

He ll e s is who wi not r a on a bigot, i He who dares not reason s a slave.

The theology of all so- called orthodox C churches , the Roman atholic , the Greek C atholic , and the various branches of the C Protestant hurch , is fundamentally and in T all essential points the same . heir basic prin ci les p are the same , and they draw their life and inspiration from the one identical source . The Refo rmation was not caused by any im portant differences between the fundamental creeds and doctrines of the Church . When Protestantism broke away from the Catholic C was e hurch , it not because it disput d the C underlying principles of the hurch , but mainly and essentially because of certain abuses and practices it was claimed had grown The sa Of in up in the Catholic Church . le 28 The M essage ofNew Th ought dulgen ces and like practices contributed largely to the separation . When Luther separated from the Catholic C e hurch, he still clung to the th ological ideas of the separation of God and man , original sin , the vicarious atonement, that none outside C the Of the hurch could be saved , doctrine transubstantiation in reference to the sacra ments , the denial of the freedom of the will , all of which, as we shall hereafter find , were first promulgated by the Church while under n the dominion of the Latin bishops . He a n oun ced the doctrine of justification by faith and greatly magnified the functions and im so so portance of Satan , much that we are told that he once hurled an inkstand at the phan tom he called the devil . John Calvin declared that God was outside the framework of the universe and denounced the idea of an immanent God . He adopted from the Catholic Church all the doctrines of a vicarious atonement, including that of elec e tion , which was first announced by Augustin D in the fifth century A . The creeds of both the Older and newer churches after the Reformation continued sub an iall the e the e st t y same , and th y remain sam Origin of the Creeds 29

- The e Of h . C t e to day cr eds the Roman atholic , C l Greek atholic , and the severa branches of the Protestant Church are based on the following : fundamental ideas and declarations First, that man was estranged from God and became a fallen being by reason of Adam’s sin in par Of ser taking the forbidden fruit, when the “ pent said to Eve : Your eyes shall be opened as and ye shall be gods , knowing good and e be evil ; s cond , that by reason thereof man be came by nature sinful and lost ; third , that ofhis r cause lost condition , it became necessa y to have a vicarious atonement to reconcile God

to man ; fourth, that God brought forth Jesus for that purpose ; that Jesus was conceived of Of V M the Holy Ghost, born the irgin ary, ’ and became the vicarious atonement for man s was redemption ; fifth , that Jesus crucified, was buried , and resurrected and ascended into

Heaven , and there sits on the right hand of

God , to judge the quick and the dead ; sixth , that a belief in all this is necessary and essen tial fo r man ’s salvation and a life of happiness in a future world ; that if man will repent Of f his sins and believe this , his Of enses will all

be blotted out and he will be saved in heaven . The three basic ideas are the fall of man , 30 The M essage ofNew Thought the be vicarious atonement, and an absolute T lief in these propositions . his statement the might be enlarged and amplified , but in end we should come back to the same proposi T tions . his will no doubt be accepted by the ologian s as a fair and impartial statement of the underlying principles of the creeds of all

so- i the called Orthodox denominations . It s C C true the atholic hurch , in addition to the to dogmas above expressed , still holds the doc of C trines the authority of the hurch , Apos tolic succession , priestly intervention , etc . , which some of the Protestant churches have omitted from their creeds . But in substance the theologies of the Orthodox Protestant and

Catholic Churches are the same . The adherents of New Thought cannot ac c ept these views of orthodox theologians , for : two reasons First, because they do not rest upon any adequate o r sufficient historical basis . Secondly, because these dogmas find their only support in the theory and suppo sition of the separation of God from man , which the advocates ofNew Thought cannot r admit o concede . How many modern Chris tians kn ow anything of the origin and histo ry Ofthe creeds and dogmas to which they yield

' 3 2 The M essage ofNew Thought

of C early history the hurch, and no historical f B data o any value exist to bridge it over . e tween the Apostles and the first of the so called Fathers ofthe Church there is an inter val upon which no historical light is shed .

A . D. 0 From the fall of Jerusalem , 7 , to the of r t middle the second centu y, more han two generations lived and passed from the stage of existence , and yet that whole period fur nishes no authentic history of the early D is Church . uring that interval there not a word of Church histo ry that can be drawn from writers who have been designated as Th of Apostolic Fathers . e first mention the doctrine of apostolic succession was by Cyp rian , about the middle of the third century . A It is proper to keep in mind that St . u gustine in the fifth centu ry first formulated ofth e C the modern doctrines hurch , invented of its many creeds and dogmas , and adopted the Latin idea of establishing a church to govern and rule the world . From that date Roman theology governed the Church and i gave to the West ts creeds and dogmas . Greek thought prevailed in the first cen turies of C —C O the hurch lement, rigen , and Athanasius being among its most able expo Origin of the Creed: 33 n was en ts. It mainly thei r thought that of shaped the theology the early Church . They lived nearer the age of the Apostles than the is Latin theologians , and it a reasonable inference that if the creeds and dogmas later announced by the latter had had any existence

in their day, they would have heard of them

and given them to the world . It is interesting to modern progressive of thinkers , who teach the immanency God ,

that God is a universal intelligence , expressing t himself in all na ure , indwelling in man , that the early Fathers of the Church taught the

same great truths . Like the Stoic philosophy, which on the ve ry eve of its decline produced as E M such men Seneca , pictetus , and arcus

Aurelius , they taught that God is indwelling n t was in a ure , that the world directed and “ controlled by an immanent life , of whose beau ty and glo ry outward nature is the direct ” manifestation, and that the spirit of man expressed the highest revelation of the actual T presence of the divine . hey said man was created in the spiritual image of God ; that because he was made in the spiritual image of God is of r , it the law his being that he may ise into the likeness of God and respond to the 34 The M essage ofNew Thought

divine call; that the law of God is not found is in external commandments , but written in N the consciousness of man himself . owhere did they teach the fall ofman or that he was o r dis separated from God , that God was i T saw pleased with h s conduct . hey in Jesus of the the normal man , the master idealist as race , the exemplar set before man a pattern toward whose perfection he should strive and

aspire in the experience of life . Th f e theology o St . Augustine reversed all this and made Adam and not Jesus the normal O man , and this is the view of the rthodox

theologies , even to this day, Protestant and

Catholic alike . The Greek Fathe rs also taught that the mission ofJesus was to reveal man to himself and illuminate his soul with a consciousness ’ T of man s own divine nature . hey did not speculate on the origin ofevil and knew noth t ing of the doctrine of total depravi y, of a m in vicarious atonement, endless punish ent, fant damnation , election , Purgatory, and many other beliefs and dogmas that are still clung to by both Catholic and Protestant and regarded To m by them as essential to salvation . the the resurrection was the immediate standing up Origin of the Creeds 3 5 a —a S i gain in the greater fullness of life , pir n ot of the tual resurrection , a resurrection T body . hey said the only revelation is within ex human consciousness , and not in anything ’ ternal to man s nature ; that the kingdom of God was , as Jesus taught, within ; that it is not through grace coming from without but by a voluntary preparation of the soul in the disci pline and education of life , that man comes into a harm onious and conscious relationship with God . These views were presented with substan C O tial unanimity by lement, rigen , and Ath an asius , and reflected the prevailing theologi cal sentiments from the latter part of the sec r on d centu y until the latter part of the fourth . Although Clem ent proclaimed the immanent and universal God indwelling in man , and knew nothing of the fall ofman and a vicari ous C C saw atonement, yet the atholic hurch fit to canonize him as a saint and revered him as such until the close of the fourteenth cen his tury, when name was stricken from the calendar of saints under the pon tifi ca te of

Clement VIII . It would be interesting to know in which instance the Catholic Church its it manifested infallible wisdom , when 36 The M essage ofNew Th ought

his as or placed a halo around name a saint, when it discovered his teachings were con tra ry to the doctrines of the Church and on that account struck his name from the calen dar of saints . Soon after the passing of the Greek theolo C gians , the hurch came under the influence Th of Latin theology . e Greek loved philos O h h Th t e . e p y, Roman loved power Greek revered truth and saw in the visible Objects ’ of~ n ature God s symbols and gave their mean in The g to man . Roman cared little for phil

Osophy, but loved to exercise his genius for purposes of dominion , conquest, splendor, i . as ts power, and obedience It took proto the e type Roman government, whos genius

was . conquest, power, and slavery Roman theology was formulated to that end . so It found its champion in Augustine , the called St . Augustine who flourished and wrote D is in the fifth centu ry A . . It to him that both the modern Catholic and Protestant churches of the orthodox faith owe the origin , existence , and establishment of their present dogm as is and creeds . He taught that man wholly was separated from God . He the autho r of the doctrine of original sin and the total de Origin of the Creeds 37

t a pravi y of man , the only basis upon which H vicarious atonement could be sustained . e

also invented the doctrine of predestination . H is fertile mind also formulated th e dogma of as as eternal punishment, well the idea of rom ul at Purgatory after death . He p g ed the doctrine of apostolic succession , which was first invented , as we have seen , by

Cyprian . T ertullian , the Roman lawyer, who lived of t r his in the early part the third cen u y, in “ ” Prescription of Heresy first proclaim ed the of idea the absolute authori ty of the Church . The following language is ascribed to Tertul “ lian at a later date : It is a fundamental hu man right, a privilege of nature , that every man should worship according to his own of conviction . It is no part religion to coerce

religion . It should be embraced freely and ” N his not forced . evertheless , original argu ment was so valuable that the Church adopted it bodily and made use ofit even down to the

present . Augustine found the idea of absolute au th ority convenient to silence questioners he could not satisfy and to dispose ofinquiries he could not answer ; hence he proclaimed the 3 8 Th e M essage ofNew Thought authori ty as supreme over the wills and con him sciences of men . With , none outside the C in hurch could be saved , and unbaptized u The fa ts and heathen were eternally lost . t o f necessi y baptism , sacraments , inspiration of the Bible, priestly mediation, and other dogmas originated with Augustine ; in other con ve words , they were invented by him as n ien ces in making the Church a dominating power in the world . It might be ofinterest to the orthodox Prot estan t to stop and contemplate the point that all the important tenets of his creeds had their origin with Augustine ; that he also prom ul gated the doctrine of the authori ty of the C hurch , which subordinates the wills and con s its ciences of men to control , as well as priest ly mediation and other cherished doctrines of the Catholic Church . on e t But, some says , what authori y have you for these bold assertions ? What proof have you of these startling statements ? In good faith it may be answered that all these state ments are supported by historic data of the o r highest order . If u orthodox friends wish m can to read the in concrete form , they find them in a volume written by a man orthodox

40 The M essa ge ofNew Thought room for the dogma ofthe separation of God r the h from man, a necessa y premise for y o thesis Of The p a vicarious atonement . teach ings ofAthanasius would find ready response ro res with the most advanced of modern, p g s ive thinkers . Let us quote further from the same volume None of the individual doctrines or tenets which have so long been the Objects of dislike and an im adversion to the modern theological mind formed any constituent part of Greek T sin l theology. he tenets of original and tota t as re depravi y, expounded by Augustine and ceived by the Protestant churches from the the abso Latin Church ; the guilt of infants , m lute necessity of baptis in order to salvation , the denial of the freedom of the will , the doc of the of trine election, idea a schism in the divine nature , which required a satisfaction to retributive justice before love could grant for iven ess as of g , the atonement a principle equiv alence by which the sufferings ofChrist were weighed in a balance against the endless suf ferin s t n g of the race , the notion tha revelatio is confined within the book, guaranteed by the inspiration of the letter o r by a line Ofpriestly c e t urators , in apostolic d scen , the necessity of Origin ofthe Creeds 4 1

miracles as the strongest evidence Ofthe truth

3. of revealed religion , the doctrine of a sacra i mental grace and priestly mediation , the dea ofa church as identical with some particular

form of ecclesiastical organization, these and other tenets which have formed the gist Of modern religious controversy find no place in the Greek theology and are irreconcilable ” with its spirit . “ t s : C Again , the same authori y ays lement does not speculate on the nature or origin of of evil . He knows nothing the later dogma of as the fall of man in Adam, nor of Adam ” The the federal representative of mankind .

same author further observes that the Rev . J . M N . his Of eale, in the preface of translation the E t astern Li urgies , remarks that he finds no trace in them of the modern theo ry of the atonement as it has been held in Latin and

Protestant churches , according to which the sufferings of Christ were an equivalent for m hu an punishment . To show that Grecian theological thought was predom inant in the Christian Church un is til the Augustine era , it interesting to note m s that St . Augustine hi elf once advocated the c do trine of the immanent, the omnipresent, uni 4 2 The M essage ofNew Thought

— l versal God ideas , direct y at variance with those he afterward proclaimed when he con ceived th e idea ofestablishing an ecclesiastical hierarchy to rule the world . his At one time in career, apparently with “ out difli culty he wrote as follows : For God is diffused through all things . He said him ‘ ’ se lf by the prophet, I fill heaven and earth , and it is said unto him in a certain psalm , ‘Whither shall I go from thy spirit or whither shall I flee from thy presence ? If I ascend up into heaven thou art there ; if I make my ’ e bed in hell , behold thou art there , becaus ” God is substantially diffused everywhere . At a later date Augustine without difficul ty could separate God from man and supply as priestly intermediaries without number, ecclesiastical middlem en between man and

God . In the same volume we read : For a thou sand years those who came after him 'Augus tine'did little more than reafli rm his teach so is ing, and deep the hold which his long C supremacy has left upon the hurch, that his o pinions have become identified with divine revelation and are all that the majority Ofthe Origin of the Creeds 43

Christian world yet know of the religion of ” Christ . It is evident that these creeds and beliefs could not have been perpetuated through fif teen centuries save for that convenient dogma that the wills and consciences ofmen must be t subordinated to ecclesiastical authori y, and that other doctrine , observed and fostered by orthodox Protestantism, that a belief in cer tain formulas is necessary to salvation and that all reasoning and inqui ry about their truth must be effectually and forever stilled . A historical review of the creeds and a religion professedly based upon the teachings of the Gentle Master reveals many strange T h situations and anomalies . he creeds of t e Christian Church originated among dissen s sion , and they have bred contentions , strifes , and quarrels from their beginning to the pres

. was ent We read in Galatians , that all not peace and harmony between Paul and Peter . Their unseemly quarrel was presumably due o t a profound jealousy on the part of Peter, over the fact that circumstances had n ot brought Paul into the company and society ofJesus during his sojourn in Palestine . The M essa ge ofNew Tho ught

Perhaps one of the serious faults ofhuman ity has been unduly to value and emphasize the lives and characters o f those who lived T r lli in the distant past . We find e tu an in the early part of the third century condemning heretics and asserting the authori ty of the

Church . At the great council of the Church D E A . . 1 at phesus , 43 , violent quarrels ensued over the question whether Christ had two na

t . ures or one, and similar questions Let a “ modern historian tell the result : A bishop was kicked to death by another bishop in the of on e course their arguments , and hundred

- and thirty seven corpses were left in a church , to attest the convincing reasons by which the most ruffianly side proved its orthodoxy . At the fifth general council , by a decree the Church expressed its gentleness as follows “ Whoever says that the torments of the de mons and impious men will at length come m m . to an end , let him be da ned Anathe a to ”

O A dam an tius . rigen , , who taught these things Even the former head of the Church did not r escape their fu y . The various creeds are as widely separated and no nearer a union than at any period since T the first creed was prom ulgated . heir peace Origin of the Creeds 45

i T s outward only . heir love and respect for each other are no greater than when the

Roundheads contended against the Cavaliers . M h y ort odox friend , is it a pleasant picture to ? contemplate Are these contentions , strifes , and differences to continue forever ? Why this tenacity over the shading of creeds and beliefs ? Why this jealousy over speculative theories ? The philosopher looking for a cause for every effect is prompted to make this inquiry : Does any part of the entire strue ture stand on a foundation of truth ? CHAPTER I I I

NEW THOUGHT AND THE CREEDS

“ As w e s es e his ew id r ki brok on vi , Go d greatened in his growing m ind; E c e he e m e his ew a h y ar dr a d God an , e his e d e And l ft Old r Go b hind.

He saw the boundless schem e dilate I n s ss m sk c tar and blo o , y and lod ; a s the u e se rew re And niv r g g at, ” e m H drea ed for it a Greater Go d.

T S the HO E who worship the immanent God,

indwelling God , cannot accept the theological Opinions of the orthodox churches for the fur ther reason that they are all based on the dogmas ofthe fall of man and his separation h m e from God , and on miracles and ot er

dieval conceptions . From a careful analysis ofthe p ropositions embraced in the orthodox

theology, it follows as a necessary and logical conclusion that each on e hinges upon the

other and they must all stand or fall together . If man never incurred the displeasure of God or and never was estranged from him, , 45

48 The M essage ofNew Thought was estranged from God and is by nature weak and sinful , when viewed from the stand of as point modern psychology, well as some ofthe tendencies that flow from the belief in ’ of a vicarious atonement, blotting out man s iniquities , and the unethical influences flowing from such teaching, will be considered in subsequent chapters . Perhaps no other thought of God has pro duced so much discord in the human race as the dualistic conception of God and man—the The dogma that separated man from God . C hurch, instead of uniting men , has separated

. its s them If teachings are true , why is thi so T T is ? ruth leads to harmony . ruth har ’ mony. Falsehood leads to strife . Falsehood is strife . was ofhis t When man told total depravi y, ’ God s displeasure with him on account ofthe act of his first ancestor, and his entire separa tion from God , he instinctively looked for a mediator to plead with God for a restoration f T o that lost relationship . his gave rise to the idea of priestly mediation and furnished the priesthood an opportunity to inject and — wedge itself in between man and God inter ’ — pret God s will to man and it has held New Thought a n d the Creeds 49 that vantage point over man for fifteen cen ri tu es. No great teacher ever separated God from n w man . M a as never separated from God —o except in consciousness , nly as he believed H is it. theological teaching caused him to believe it . He felt his degrading position in of the great scheme nature . When the idea of total depravity once took possession of his mind , he became the easy prey of those who desired to control him . Is it strange that man h as at times been weak and vacillating, when his theology made him an outcast ? “ A s Emerson wisely observes : That which T shows God within me fo rtifi es me . hat which shows him without me makes me a ” wa wart and a wen . Never s a more inge n ious idea invented for the control of man — than his separation from God that he had lost th e divine image and was a spiritual men dican t , a wanderer over the face of the earth , without compass and without chart . Out ofthe theological mists and miasma of the past has come duality . Under the glare — ofa spiritual sunlight will come unity uni ty t of t oflife , uni y intelligence , uni y of man and The ofNew T God . adherents hought enter 50 The M essage ofNew Thought

’ tain different ideas and conceptions of man s T relation to God . heir views are widely di vergent from those of the orthodox theologian , and these differences are fundamental . By n o process of reasoning or logic can they be T made to harmonize or blend . hey represent h on e the extreme opposite poles of t ought, the holding to the dual conception of God and

t of . man , the other, the uni y God and man T as hose who accept progressive ideas , New T taught by hought, accept evolution as ’ of so nature s method creation ; that, far as of they can observe , the laws evolution are operating throughout the universe , and that all animate life on this planet is under the E l dominion and control of these laws . vo u tion may now be regarded as universally ac knowledged among scientists , and by all

of . educated men , in every part the world E volution , like every new idea and discovery, was compelled to fight its way to recognition , because it was thought it would disturb the then existing idea of creation , as taught in ’ Genesis . But a few years time has wrought

a great change in thought, regarding the truth ofevolution . When th e writer was a student at the Ohio New Thought a n d the Creeds 5 1

U t e was r Wesleyan niversi y, volution unive sally frowned upon and stigmatized as an atheistic doctrine tending to undermine the C n foundation of the hristian religion . O one occasion a distinguished bishop was brought to the institution to preach a sermon to the

students against it, who warned them not to D be deceived by its false teachings . arwin and Huxley were then regarded as the arch i enemies of religion . But it s a happy circum is stance that this all changed , and that all thoughtful men now accept evolution as a ’ recognized truth and nature s method of cre

ation . The adherents of New Thought conceive of man as the result and product of evolu tion : that he was evolved from the lowest form of animal life ; that he is now the acme of all her operations , representing the highest and most perfect type of all intelligent and T sentient beings. hey conceive that in the

long travail through the countless ages , from ’ man s beginning, there may have been periods his was when progress slow, when his advance was his halted , even intervals when steps were as backward, but on the whole, and one grand ’ has triumphal progression, man s growth been 52 The M essage ofNew Thought

steadily, persistently, and eternally onward and upward , to his present mental and spir i tual stature. Whittier said

Step by step since time began

We see the steady gain o fm an .

They do n ot regard man as sinful or weak tu or was by na re , that he ever a fallen being, or that he was ever separated or estranged from God , or that he ever lost the divine ideal . T m a as hey conceive of n created , not in the physical image, but in the moral , intellectual , and spiritual image , of God . They cannot agree with the orthodox con ception that God ever demanded a vicarious th e atonement for redemption of man , or that an infinitely tender and just God would exact ofso e such a requirement, much less pur and noble a soul as Jesus ofNazareth . They cannot think that God condemned the entire race forever for on e act of their on e common ancesto r, when that act was an effort to step forward and move upward in of ff the evolution and progress man , an e ort to rise above the animal and become a man . Such a conception debases God and gives Him n lower moral qualities tha man . New Thought a n d the Creeds

’ They look upon the account ofman s diso bedien ce and expulsion from the Garden of E O den , related in Genesis , as a bit of riental —an O imagery allegory, the riental method of — to teaching, designed teach another les son , rather than the forced interpretation given Th by the theologian . e Western theologian has employed Western ideas to interpret an O riental document, hence he has not caught h w . o its meaning or truth Alas , much error and wrong have crept into the world to harass and bewilder man , from an interpretation of allegories as facts and offering them to the world as truths . But some one asks if the advocates of New Thought believe in and accept the divinity ? T of Jesus 'es. hey go even farther than their orthodox friends in accepting that divin T n ity . hey do ot require the performance of miracles as a necessary step , to prove the di T vinity of that gentle soul . hey see divinity in every act of his life . Whoever in the sin cerity of his soul could utter the Sermon on the Mount requires no other proof of his T t . a a , di—vini y hey see divinity lso in every m n slumbering, perhaps , and only waiting to be called forth into development and expression . 54. The M essa ge ofNew Thought

With most of us the Christ within is asleep in the ship , and only as the winds and waves of life beat therein , threatening us with ship wreck and destruction , do we find courage to wake the Gentle M aster to still the raging tempests . If the sole divini ty ofJesus is de fi t . nied , the divini y of all men is af rmed t t Jesus taught the uni y of life , the uni y of se God and man . He understood the great cret of life and developed the divine principle h in himself, so that in the consciousness of trut i . s he could say, I and the father are one He the one great masterful ideal , toward whose perfection man should continually and for ever strive . The advocates of New Thought conceive of the vicarious atonement as a plan which permits the individual to shift his responsi bilit y to another, and therefore as an evasion ff of the law of cause and e ect, that whatso ever a man soweth that shall he also reap . Let this thought sink deep into your soul . Neither do they agree that a belief in a par ’ ticula r creed is a prerequisite to man s eternal h welfare . T e thinking man cannot set aside o the results of reas n and the voice of intuition , to adopt a particular belief because he is so

56 The M essa ge ofNew Thought bringing any person into the world by im ’ maculate conception, but regard nature s as method of producing man entirely holy, for i T nature herself s holy. hey regard the ao counts ofthe various immaculate conceptions of of the several saviours the world , recorded as in history, traditions and nothing more, probably having their origin in the ancient the was myth that sun born of the dawn, and h the dawn was a virgin . It as been said that any distrust of the permanence of law would paralyze the faculties of man .

In one sense everything in nature, from leaf — h to planet, is a miracle , not in the sense t at l they are not controlled by universa law, but only in the sense that we do not understand M n is them . a himself the standing miracle “ : of creation . Walt Whitman said Seeing, hearing, feeling are miracles , and each part and tag of me is a miracle ; and a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of ” n ll i fidels. N a evertheless , they are under the control and operation of universal law. It is a fundamental idea of New Thought that the universe in all its parts is governed by universal law; that from the smallest atom up through the infinite planetary systems law New Thought a n d the Creeds 57

reigns supreme ; that the law of compensa tion prevails and holds its sway over every thought and act of m an ; that whatsoever he T sows , that shall he also reap . his law is writ ten in luminous letters on the very dome of ’

. so the universe It stands before man s face , that none can escape it and none can deny it . T is his law as inexorable in the mental , moral , and spiritual world as in the physical uni M verse . odern science, reaching out toward of is a solution ultimate questions , now pro u t claiming the niversal reign of law, the uni y of of all substance , and the existence universal intelligence in nature . The adherents of New Thought conceive ofa universal mind or divine intelligence per v ading and permeating the universe , mani festing in all forms o f creation ; that there is also a unity of life and that each individual is a part of that intelligence and that universal Th life and spirit . e visible forms of nature are the expressions ofthat divine life and in telli en ce the g , and same life and intelligence that seek expression in the bud, the grass blade , the flower, the bird and animal , are also seek T ing expression in man . his awakens in man n a kinship with all created things. In m a this 58 The M essa ge ofN ew Th ought life and intelligence find their highest mani f ation h est and expression . He stands at t e of summit all created beings , the most finished product in the great evolutionary struggle . LA his own h conscious being, aware of kins ip with God , he walks the earth erect and can

sa . y, I am divine

Some one has said , God sleeps in the rock, smiles in the flower, and comes to conscious ” T ness in man . his unity of life , this divine intelligence , pervading all nature and rising to its highest expression in man , is the basic N Th fact in the philosophy of ewThought . e ultimate purpose of all true religious teach ing is to produce a realizing sense of this con T sciousn ess in man . his consciousness en larges the vision of man ’s soul and awakens in him a knowledge and true estimate of the boundless possibilities within himself . Pope caught a vision of this great truth

All are but parts of on e stupendous whole se u e is the s u Who body nat r , and God o l ; C e u et the s e That hang d thro gh all , and y in all am , e the e as the e e e e Gr at in arth, in th r al fram , s the sun e es es the eeze Warm in , r fr h in br ,

s the s s an d ss s the ees. Glow in tar , blo om in tr New Thought a n d the Creeds

has Some one says , all that been said about New Thought is but a restatement of the old pantheistic philosophy . For the sake of argu ? . t ment, suppose we concede it What hen If pantheism means that God is omnipresent in the universe , in nature , both spirit and sub stance , subject and object, being all in all , the is visible and invisible , that the universe a va living whole , expressing itself in infinite riet ? y, are you still opposed to pantheism When you see in nature the manifestation of an intelligence , in every cell and bud the interplay of fo rces producing movement and u repose , nity and variety, the recurring sea a sons , the planets obeying hidden law, growth and decay, the conservation of energy, actions and reactions , all producing a perfect equi librium , does it not suggest to you an infinite is life , a supreme intelligence , and that all God ? , and God is all Is not a spiritual pantheism mo re desirable — than an absentee God a God of finite propor tions dwelling in some distant part of the uni n r h h verse ? We must have o e o t e ot er . Which shall it b e? The highest conception of religion as taught by New Thought is to unfold and de 60 The M essage ofNew Thought velop the soul into harmonious relations with t divine intelligence, and hus come into spirit A s h ual unity with God . t e effect of the orthodox religions is to separate God from New T as man , and hought conceives of God the within man, their ideals of prayer are not Th h . e t e same one prays to an absentee God, h T is other to t e God within . rue prayer not h debasing the soul in t e presence of divinity . Th in lli It is lifting the soul up . e divine te ’ gence is conscious of man s innermost thoughts is before they are uttered . Real prayer not i asking selfish favors . It s bringing the con scious mind into touch with the universal o r is divine mind . It going into the closet and l is out c osing the door ; that , shutting con cio sn ess t as s u of external hings , Jesus taught, and there communing with infinite in telli gence in secret. “ of in I like the prayer Socrates , Give me t of the ward beau y soul , and let inward and ” outward man be at one . “ e Emerson says , Prayer that craves a parti is ular commodity, anything less than all good , ” “ is vicious . Prayer the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of is he View . It t soliloquy of a beholding and New Thought a n d the Creeds 6 1

i h jubilant soul . It s t e spirit of God pro ” n oun cin his g works good . “ Be still and know that I am God is the h voice of the soul in t e true attitude of prayer . Goethe speaks of prayer as God seeking fo r

himself and meeting himself in man . Some on e has defined prayer as the intercourse be our tween oneself and ideal companion . Prayer is lifting up the soul to him who has no eyes and yet He is looking at us; no ca rs and yet He hears us ; no face and yet ” i s T H s smile greets u . rue prayer is lifting the soul into an atmosphere where one feels the the in glow, beauty and harmony of the finite presence and over his soul play vibra he tions from t source of eternal truth and love . God does not come at the sound of a bell or the as dew blare of trumpets , but silently, the

is s - di tilled upon the grass blade bringing life, t so growth , and beau y to the plant, unheard and unannounced God comes to refresh the his soul with unseen presence and power . The votaries of New Thought do not de pend upon one book o r all books for their i w deas, conceptions , and kno ledge of God . To them that book only is inspired which in Spires man and awakens in him higher pur 62 The M essage ofNew Thought

poses in life and a closer uni ty with God . The author of every book that speaks the truth s o wa first inspired . If G d at any age of the world inspired the author of a book, no reason can be conceived why he should not inspire

r . others in eve y age , even this Why should E M not God speak to merson as well as to oses , r ? o to Walt Whitman as well as to St . Paul To attribute the authorship of a book to God or to divine inspiration is not an act of wisdom , unless in every line and precept it breathes a pure morali ty and sets the highest The ideals before man . mistakes , low stand un ards of morality, unethical teachings , and worthy examples are thereby unduly em pha I is sized . t the consensus of opinion among profound thinkers that many things contained in the Bible might have been omitted wi th resulting profit to the race . It records that ’ some of God s chosen people , those held up to the world as the highest exponents of wisdom, freely indulged in the custom of taking many wives and concubines . In the same volume are accounts of tricke ry and deceptions in business matters , cruelties and conduct in n ot wars , that would be tolerated in this or the any other civilized age , and the God of

64 The M essage ofNew Thought profounder lessons than were ever read in o r books taught by man to man . In the book o f t nature we catch glimpses of eternal beau y, of - an ever pervading harmony, of infinite power, of universal order, of an abiding and ’ constant love . In that book man s kinship is with divinity revealed .

The us c his ce is e m i of voi h ard, In every message of the bird ; s c e the ee ss T hi arp t of good gr n gra , e e s es ee S e ss Wh r oft t f t of pringtim pa , is the c e h is It ov r of book, e e we ee Wh r in only n d to look, e e we s u be T o r ad how pati nt ho ld , hi That have s gifts of grass and tree.

The Spiritual principle within men can know and interpret nature , because the link that binds together all parts of nature into is one organic , correlated whole itself a Spir l M itua principle . y mind can understand na is ture , because nature herself the revelation of mind , the manifestation of a principle , the ” expression of one root idea . To him whose soul is attuned to nature ’s laws , God appears in the starry vault of night, in the mellow glow of the sunset, in the flower New Thought a n d the Creeds 65

’ the by wayside , in the music of the child s of voice, and in the majestic qualities man . We do not all read these meanings and dis cover these beauties and harmonies in na ’ ture s symbols . Nature gives us back only l what we ay at her feet . If we come to nature

with an unseeing eye , we see not ; if we listen to ca r her message with a dull , we hear not ; s she if we call to her with li tless purpose,

answers not.

T l o n e e s e s u e s e is il app ar who h ar , all nat r il nt ,

S e e e e il nt for v r mor ,

B e its es ce u an u swer r aking wav of for , pon nan ing

s e hor ,

ll on e who e Ti appears h ars.

’ N is ature God s true revelation . All sup

posed revelations given direct to man , trans lated into language and handed down through the centuries , convey at best only an imperfect an d indistinct substitute for the original m es

. T sage Language is imperfect . hought is in i Th is changed ts transmission . e message

not the same to the recipient as the giver, nor does it convey the same meaning to two indi id l v ua s. 66 The M essage ofNew Thought

If we turn to the Hebrew Bible for a guide in our quest for an ideal of God, we find lan e f guag rich in metaphor, expressing dif erent conceptions of deity , reflecting the varied and diverse views of those who thus conveyed their thoughts to the world . We can read therein of re an anthropomorphic God , a God of venge , a jealous God , a God who disliked a part of his children and made others his o f chosen people , a God limited powers , an omnipotent God , a provincial God , a distant Th . e God , and an indwelling God ideals are but the expression of finite minds ; the blind struggle of men attempting to write down and transmit to man their impressions and con cep tions of an infinite God . But nature ever speaks with the same sym as bols . As often we wander from the narrow path , under the spell of phantasms and illu sions , so often does she recall us from our somnambulisms and bring us back to truth be an d . reality We do not plant in autumn , cause nature h as taught us the winter is at hand ; every recurring season and every phe n om en on of nature has its message of truth . M an Of caught his first ideas of law, order, o t e e an f beau y, of mov ment and repos from New Thought a n d the Creeds observation of the symbols and operations of nature . Nature first furnished and displayed the r M an saw he symbols of geomet y. first t

- squares , the right angled and equilateral tri N angles in the starry heavens above . ature She is the fountain and prototype of all law . law f furnished the of cause and ef ect, the most N valuable law ever vouchsafed to man . ature h as her own methods of imparting knowledge , and the nearer we follow them the more wis dom we display . She does not reveal all her as meanings and mysteries . She conceals well s a reveals . She Spreads her symbols before man, and leaves a work for him to perform . in She supplies an innuendo , and bids him r r i te p et and translate ts meaning . N is ature the manifestation of the divine , the expression of the infinite God . We may learn of nature , but we cannot master her meaning . Forever the infinite stretches away E ffi en before us. terni ty alone will su ce to compass and master her secrets . Here man can observe the wisdom of di M n is t . a vini y ever the learner, but never the ’ all master . If man were master of nature s s his e s meanings, her mysteries and secret , id al 68 The M essage ofNew Thought

his . would be destroyed , vision would be lost

If man understood God, and could fathom the mysteries of the universe , he would become tired of God and weary of the universe ; he would weave his dreams about a greater and out more mysterious God . He would reach

toward the infinite , for new mysteries , a new universe that he might learn their hidden

secrets . Stagnation is decay and death ; advancement T is life , is growth . here is no joy like that of

eternal progression . It is the flowering path way that stretches before man and lures him T toward a haven of eternal peace . hat alone satisfies the soul ; it is the divine wanderlust

of man . The adherents of New Thought entertain not the least glimmer of doubt of the con scious identity of the soul after the Change we T call death . his conclusion does not rest on written revelation so much as on the inner ’ revelation of man . It is written in man s na ture ; the soul feels it and Speaks its own di The is vine message . soul divine , and that T which is divine is eternal . his life is but a T threshold of a larger and fuller life . his i ex eri conclusion s borne out by many facts , p New Thought a n d the Creeds 69 en ces of in , reasons , and in the whisperings

tuition . Profound thinkers in these days agree on the unity of life ; that we are part of the great life current of the universe ; that the soul has divine attributes and is a part o f the

g reat divine soul . These ideas found expression in many an

cient religions and philosophies , and find a

receptive chord in the human understanding . The of is kingdom God within you , so spoke is the Gentle Seer of Galilee . Science now T is voicing the same great truth . hat which

divine cannot cease to live . There are times when we feel a conscious ’ harmony with God and nature , and the soul s vision brings us unmistakable glimpses and i presages of a future life . It s the utterance of the divine to the divine in man . Science teaches that nothing in the physical “ is universe lost Atoms are indestructible , is in destructi force indestructible , the soul is ” l m m a rion a . O ble , says F Sir liver Lodge , in

- commenting on this ever recurring question , observes that there is a unity running through the universe , and a kinship between the human

and the divine . Here are some of his further “ conclusions : Meanwhile what has our expe 70 The M essa ge ofNew Thought rien ce been here ? We have not been left soli E . to tary very newcomer the planet, however he helpless and strange be , finds friends await

- sacrifi cin ing him , devoted and self g friends eager to care for and protect his infancy and to train him in the ways of this curious world . It is typical of what goes on throughout con . scious existence ; the guidance , which we ex is ert, and to which we are subject, now, but a phase of something running through the s universe . When the time comes for u to quit this sphere and enter some larger field of ac tion , I doubt not that we shall find there also t hat kindness and help , and patience and love , without which no existence would be tolerable or even at some stages possible . Let us listen to Addison speak across the “ years : Among other excellent arguments for t the immortali y of the soul , there is the one drawn from the perpetual progress of the soul i s t to t perfection , without a possibili y of ever the arriving at it . How can it enter into h thoughts of man , that the soul whic is capa ble of such immense perfection and of receiv ing new improvements to all eternity, shall fall away into nothing almost as soon as it is created ?

72 The M essage ofNew Thought who unerringly guides the bird along the path less coasts and trackless wastes ,

the wa us tre l e In long y that I m t ad a on , e s e s Will l ad my t p aright.

This faith was planted in man for a high ’ moral purpose . It is necessary for man s spir itual of c growth , for the development harac is ter. It the potent influence that makes man more than the animal , that leads him along the upward path to the highest moral and spiritual endeavor . Let us listen to the message of Elizabeth “ Stuart Phelps : Whatever this globe was put wa s . here for, it not for failure Whatever the was unit made for, the race was not made for hopelessness . However black the past, how is ever blind the present, a bright future a philosophical necessity . What has the king, the priest, or the prophet of your dreary creed to look to, compared with the promise open to t the obscurest human soul , hat knows itself a deathless thing ?” “ Let us turn to Addison once more : If man considers his being as circumscribed by the uncertain term of a few years , his designs will be contracted into the same narrow span New Thought a n d the Creeds 73

i he imagines s to bound his existence . How can he exalt his thoughts to anything great and noble, who only believes that after a short term on the stage of this world he is to sink into oblivion and to lose his consciousness forever ?” The late Senator Ingalls , in pronouncing a his eulogy on the memory of departed friend , “ Spoke these memorable words : If the ex isten ce of Burns was but a troubled dream, if his death oblivion , what avails it that the Sen ate should pause to recount his virtues ? Neither veneration nor reverence are due the T dead . hey are but dust . “ No cenotaph should be reared to pre serve for posterity the memo ry of their T achievements . hose who come after them are only to be their successors in annihilation

and extinction . If in this world we have only

t . hope and consciousness , du y must be chimera Our pleasures and passions should be the su guides of conduct, and virtue is indeed a rs i ion pe t t if life ends at the grave . “ Such is the conclusion which the philos o h p y of negation must accept at last . Such is the felicity of those degrading precepts the which make the epitaph end . If the life 74. The M essage ofNew Th ought

is is we of Burns a taper that burned out, then his r treasure memo y and his example in vain , and the latest prayer of his departing spirit h as no more sancti ty to us who sooner or later must follow him , than the whisper of winds h t at stir the leaves of the protesting forest, or the murmur of waves that break upon the ” complaining shore . New Thought is in harmony with the latest utterances of science and philosophy, regard t of ing the uni y life , that it pervades and animates all nature and all created beings . Only as we recognize this fact can we find a rational and substantial basis for the brother O hood fman . To the extent that we realize and under cur stand that the same life , the same divine is rent, that flows through our being the life current in all men ; that we have the same divine source and are governed by the same universal law, shall we be able to grasp the true meaning and significance of the brother hood ofman . When we look beyond the outer form and see a divine soul in every man , and can say i “ w th Walt Whitman , I shall meet the real t landlord, and know hat the great cosmic soul New Tho ught a n d the Creeds 75 is can in and over all , seeking expression, we truthfully and sincerely address our fellow man as Brother .

The heart in thee is the heart of all ; No t e w a valv , not a all , No t e sec is e e w e e ure an int r tion , th r any h r in nat , But on e s u e u e e ess blood roll nint rr pt dly, an ndl C cu u m en as the w e the ir lation, thro gh all , at r of i l o n e e ee i i o n e s s a t u s ts e s e. Glob al , and r ly n tid CHAPTER I V

NEW THOUGHT AND CHRISTIAN SCIENCE

Born from the darkest ages Of superstition is that ancient creed h m te is the e em T at at r n y of good, ccu se h e u the fi e A r d and at f l, to in nit ; For e e t m is h u h v ry a o a living t o g t, D e m the m e s a ropp d fro ditation of God, I ts e er esse ce m m t e v y n of i or al lov , Of the incarnate Deity ; and all The inm ost pulses of m aterial things

A re m edium s for the pulses of his will .

TH E adherents of New Thought conceive of the visible universe with its infinite variety of forms and colors , its manifold substances and elements , as the expression of cosmic or universal mind ; as the product of a divine in lli n T te ge ce. heir philosophy teaches that all created things , from atoms to circling plan ets , the myriad forms of life, the budding a tree , the bursting flower, all nimate life and man , with his infinite faculties , are the mani s fe ted results of divine ideals . In other words , their conception is that these created New Thought a n d Christia n S cien ce 77

r as the entities , which we obse ve external and o visible w rks of nature , are the projected images from a preexisting divine mind . Or we might state the proposition in differ : ent language that God first created the ideals , o r o images of all existing bjects , and these ideals were afte rward externalized as created forms in the visible universe . Carlyle said everything in nature is a symbol—man him self is a symbol , the symbol of God . The contest has been long and discordant between the advocates of idealism on the one hand , and those of materialism on the other, to in telli as the origin of creation , life , and The gence . great issue has been whether there is an infinite creative intelligence , back of all efli cien t nature , all existing entities , as their cause and calling them into existence , or the whether physical universe , and all living t things hereon, resulted from some other cause . The beginning of this century finds the advocates of the materialistic conception , with ’ their strange ideas of creation s origin, in the minority, and that mino rity constantly dimin ishin g in the light of scientific investigation . Few are the recognized scientists who still 78 The M essa ge ofNew Tho ught speak of creation as having any other origin e than a pre xisting divine intelligence . On t of the other hand , the majori y emi nent scientists and thoughtful philosophers , men whose useful discoveries are attracting the attention of the world , are outspoken in their declarations that back of all nature and all its manifested forms is an unseen in telli gence , the divine cause of all existing things . E ven Professor Haeckel , the past master of “ materialism , concedes that the two funda mental forms of substance , ponderable matter and ether, are not dead , and only revealed by extrinsic force , but they are endowed with ” sensations and will . It is difli cult to conceive of sensation and will as existing separate and apart from intel li n e ce. g Wherever there is life , there is intel i l en ce. g In the various forms of animal life, and also in plant and vegetable life, if we but look we can observe an intelligence meet ing and overcoming the difli culties and obsta h cles of environment . T e tree planted among rocks hunts out the crevices to send its roots down to soil and moisture . As ether is supposed to fill all the vast ex panses separating the most distant planets , we

80 The M essa ge ofNew Tho ught that an ideal o r image was first created in the divine mind , and into that image as a mold the was as divine energy centered , and a result created forms appeared in the visible universe . was o r In other words , there first an ideal pic ture in the divine mind, and the object was cre ated according to that divine ideal or image . The first Biblical account we have of an ac idealism we find in Genesis , in the great Th count of creation . e author proceeds as “ follows : These are the generations of the heavens and the earth , when they were created in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens , and every plant of the field , before it was in the earth , and every herb of ” the field before it grew . Here is the declaration that every plant of th e field before it was in the earth , and every

herb of the field before it grew, had been

created . If God created the plant before it was

in the earth , and the herb before it grew, he must have created them as thought images or T ideals in his own divine mind . hey could not have been created elsewhere than in his

own mind , if God was omnipresent and filled

the universe with his presence . T ’ his was God s method of creation , first New Thought a n d Christia n S cien ce 8 1

the as the ideal , then ideal expressed a visible of T he form creation . hus in t first account of dis creation, found in the Hebrew Bible , we The cover the declaration o f an idealism . idealism of the great Creator of the heavens of and the earth . Here is the first record that ideals o r thought images preceded the ex E r ternal and visible forms of nature . ve y plant and every herb was first a thought, an t ideal , and then became an enti y in the visible works of God . “ Later it was said : The universe is the infinite utterance o f an infinite number of thoughts from an infinite and thinking ” source . “ There seems to be a necessi ty in spirit to manifest itself in material forms ; and day and night, river and storm , beast and bird , acid reéxist and alkali , p in necessary ideas in the ” E mind of God , says merson . “ It was said by Judge Trowa rd: If we realize that all visible things must have their o rigin in Spirit, then the whole creation around us is the standing evidence that the starting- point of all things is in thought o r images ideas , for no other action than the fo rmation of such images can be conceived 8 2 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

its in of spirit, prior to manifestation m at ” ter . Listen to Carlyle : What is nature ? Why do I not name thee God ? Art thou not the living garment of God ?” All that man has accomplished in his long the s history, from stupendous monument of s architecture to systems of laws , government , is institutions , arts , and civilization itself, the the of fruitage of thought, result ideals , which o first found existence in mind only . All h j ective things first had a corresponding pic Th ture in mind and intelligence . e bridge the be first existed in the mind of engineer, i Th fore t was objectivized in steel and iron . e sculptor saw the image of the perfect statue , before the marble was quarried from the hills . The be locomotive was first a mental image, fore it became a throbbing and panting ex pression of that ideal . M en of e er speak lightly idealism, when v y thing in our lives and experiences is a stand ing evidence of its truth . We employ ideal ism , either consciously or unconsciously, in every act of life . Whenever we convert r thoughts into deeds , ideas into action , car y e e plans into ex cution , or oth rwise give expres New Thought a n d Christia n S cien ce 83

s e w the u ion to id as, e proclaim tr th of

idealism . E is l Thomas A. dison says : Science most y is imagination . It by conceiving what might h as be , before one seen the way to realize it t e practically, hat scientists have been buoy d

during the p eriod of experiment . e Ideals are the molds for events , the for fo r runners all accomplishment, and the pre Th decessors of all completed things . e truth o four ideals is the real truth of human life . New T as hought is an idealism, are all

esoteric philosophies and religions , all relig

ions that do not separate man from God . It is also progressive , because it recognizes by its fundamental principles and teachings that all healthful and normal ideals must change , e xpand , and develop , as the individual gains

more light and truth , as he expands and grows . “ We must realize that life is a voyage and we

are sailing under sealed orders . We open our orders every morning and this allows us to ” change our course as we get new light .

Progressive minds cannot live on the past. The ideals of o n e generation do not fit the

n o - next . M e outgrow fixed ideas and s called of finished philosophies and systems thought, 84 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

as the bird flies from the nest never to return . is h is It the law of growt , it a fundamental o T requirement f the human mind . his pro pulsion is innate in mind it is the way of the soul . NewThought is progressive and kn ows that pe rmanent an d fixed ideals do not exist . It may, therefore , be defined as an advancing, progressive idealism . Christian Science dif fers fundamentally from New Thought . C is While hristian Science an idealism , it differs from the idealism of New Thought . It may properly be defined as an extreme or abso lute idealism . Its interpretation of the account of creation , as set forth in Genesis ff and heretofore quoted , di ers widely from w T Th that of Ne hought . e authorities of Christian Science say that the only creation of the plants and herbs of the field , according to the account of Genesis , was in the divine T mind . hey hold that the plants and herbs referred to had n o existence in matter and Of were never anything but ideas . course this could be the only conclusion of a philosophy “ o r cult that declares matter to be an illusion ” of the human belief . “ ” Science and Health sets forth the above New Tho ught a n d Christia n S cien ce 85

of account creation from Genesis , and then proceeds to an interpretation and construction “ ofits language as follows : Here is the em phatic declaration that God created all t through mind , not through matter ; hat the of o r plant grows , not because seed soil , but because growth is the eternal mandate of ” mind . From “Science and Health” we also read “ as follows : The only realities are the divine i i mind and ideal . Mind s all and matter s naught . Spirit and matter cannot coexist, or coOperate ; an d one can no more create the can other than truth create error, or vice ” “

. M versa atter and mind are antagonistic , ” “ r M and both have not place o power . atter and mortal body are all the illusions of the r human belief . Ou corporal senses lie and cheat . They are five personal falsities and ” their evidence is to be disregarded . Here we have the unqualified declaration that the only realities are the divine mind and is t idea , and that matter a falsi y and that our T corporal senses lie and cheat . here cannot its be two constructions to this language , meaning is unmistakable . Let us examine the language found in Gen 86 The M essa ge ofNew Tho ught

e as esis , which Science and Health quot s ’ the autho ritative declaration ofGod s plan of T creation . ranslated into modern thought, it says that God made the earth an d the b eav of the ens, and every plant field before it ofthe be was in the earth , and every herb field T fore it grew . his language assumes that the plant at some time was in the earth , and that the herb at some time grew . If the divine idea was the only creation and if the plants an d herbs had no existence except as ideas in the r divine mind , it would be a pertinent inqui y to make , why it was necessary that the plant should be in the earth at all or that the herb au should ever grow . If the distinguished tho r of Genesis conceived of creation as an idea only, and not as a material or external t difli cult reali y, it is to understand or assign any reason why he made any allusion to the was earth at all , for the earth , then as now, either matter or an illusion of the senses . Then the author of Genesis records that w God made the earth and the heavens . Are e to understand that when God made the earth , he was creating an illusion of the senses only ?

If the earth was an illusion of the senses only, why was it necessary to refer to it or mention

88 The M essa ge ofNew Tho ught

is a premises to support the statement, or it mere dictum ? The author no doubt uses spirit in the sense of as she mind and a synonym thereof, because says mind is all . If we assume that matter h as no existence and is only an illusion of the t senses , hen it follows as a logical conclusion that mind cannot coexist or coOperate with is matter, because matter nothing and hence that mind cannot coexist or coOperate with nothing . But if we concede that matter is an existing e t ? C or r ali y, what then annot mind coexist coOperate with it ? I s there not a coexistence and coOperation of mind and matter in all we see and observe in the universe ? Is not every work ofart the cooperation o fmind and mat ? o r ter What is the statue , the canvas , but the result of mind coOperatin g with matter ? Are they n ot executed ideals ? What about our bodies ? Did not mind build them ? Are they not the result of the coexistence and co operation of the two ? Is not the body the temple ofthe spirit ? Sir Oliver Lodge observes that “Life is not energy, but it is the directo r of energy and — . M matter ind determines , life directs the New Thought a n d Christia n S cien ce 89 material and energetic universe is dominated ” and controlled by these agencies . According to the statements of Science and Health” and the recognized tenets of the phil C osophy of hristian Science , our five senses that administer to our daily wants and pleas ures through life are n ot trustworthy or to us be believed , but lie and cheat and delude i constantly. By the teachings of ts philosophy our sense of taste , by which we find enjoyment of the delicious foods nature h as spread before our the us ; sense of smell , by which we catch exquisite fragrance of the rose ; that of touch, by which we feel the warm hand - clasp of a the s l friend ; our sense of hearing, by which ou is lifted up to God through the immortal sym h phonies of the masters ; and the eye , whic reveals to us the unspeakable beauties of na tu of re , the marvelous works creation , and the are betrays the innermost secrets of soul ,

five falsities and delusions. New Thought cannot accept this philoso ’ e olu phy . In man s struggle through the v tion ar of his y processes creation , to present s physical and mental stature, it took million ofyears to bring these five senses to their pres e e an d h ca be ent degree of p rf ction, t ey nnot 90 The M essage ofNew Thought

discredited by the bare declaration that they

are false . Whoever makes the declaration re that the senses are falsities and delusions , lies upon evidence which only the senses can

furnish . its As we take a survey of nature, with t infinite varie y of forms and beauty, we can not conceive of these objective realities as

nothing, or illusions . If we must discredit

the eye , must we blot out of consciousness the m a n ificen t f g panorama of nature , the bright its in galaxy of the stars , the landscape with e t s xpressible beau y, the towering mountain w and verdant valleys , the glories of the da n ,

the mellow glow of sunsets , and man himself, as re falsities and delusions , because the eye veals them ? How are we longer to enjoy the wonders us nature has spread before , when we are con in uall t y reminded that they do not exist, but are only falsities and illusions of the mind ? Such a philosophy will blight the finer sensi

bilities and the imaginative faculties of man . It will retard and prevent the development of en those qualities in man which embellish ,

noble , and enrich his life . ’ ’ s Nature is man s great teacher . It sets God

9 2 The M essage ofNew Thought

the e e dows , through which philosophic y ” in fi n i d looks into tu e itself . Christian Science occupies the position of M the ext reme or absolute idealist . aterialism

represents the extreme opposite view . Their ah conceptions are, respectively, that of the stract on the one hand and the concrete on the other, of the unconditioned and the condi i t on ed . , of the absolute and the relative Judge Trowa rd in speaking of the two conceptions “ : T says hey are not opposed to each other, in t the sense of incompatibili y, but are each the complement of the other, and the only reality The is in the combination of the two . error of the extreme idealist is in endeavoring to

realize the absolute without the relative , and the error of the extreme materialist is in en deavo rin g to realize the relative without the absolute . “ On i the one s de , the mistake is in trying to realize an inside without an outside ; and on the other, in trying to realize an outside with out an inside . Both are necessary to the for ” mation Of a substantial entity. his Christian D . Larson has ably expressed : To views on the denial of matter, as follows

is . To deny matter, and mean it, impossible New Thought a n d Christia n S cien ce 93

se deny the existence of matter, you must refu to act as if it did exist ; that is , you must not use matter in any shape or fo rm, because to do so would be to contradict with your hands what you affi rm with your mind . “ If matter actually was an illusion , you would simply be perpetuating that illusion if you accepted matter in any form whatever . Those who deny matter deny it only as a T a mental concept . hey deny matter in the h — stract, but accept it in the concrete from greenbacks to roses . “ But matter exists only in the concrete ; it does not exist in the abstract, therefore to deny it in the abstract and accept it in the concrete is to accept it Where it does exist and deny it where it does not exist . Then wherein do we find the denial ? It simply is not there ; and what appears to be such a denial is noth ing but a useless process of thinking ; a process that moves in a circle , which brings the mind back to matter whenever it claims to get away ” from matter . New Thought does not lay claim to more than a few rays from the great divine source o r of light, that more than a fragment of truth has been discovered . It advocates , however, 94. The M essa ge ofNew Thought the infinite unfoldment and the possibilities of m an , and that he will constantly reach and comprehend more truth and advance into a h closer relationship wit God . It sees truth r eve ywhere, and knows that the avenues lead ing to its divine citadel are infinite in number . Christian Science seems to have fallen into the error of its orthodox predecessors in be lieving that it has made discoveries heretofore n unk own , and that it possesses knowledge ex elusively conveyed by its teachings . It recog n iz es on e but road leading to truth , and that the one pointed out and circumscribed by the i rules of ts organization . T “ ” hus , in Science and Health , its author, after recounting the acts of divine revelation “

: C . to her, says hristian Science is indivisible There can therefore be but one method in its On e C teaching . From the Infinite , in hristian

Science , cometh one principle and its ideas ; and with this on e principle come scriptural rules and their demonstration , which , like the

- Great Giver, are the same , yesterday, to day, ” and forever . It is unfo rtunate that religious organiza tions have so often become imbued with the idea that God has smiled exclusively upon

96 The M essage ofNew Thought

With all that we hear about a universal re li ion an d g religious tolerance , the world still groans under a burden o fsectarianism and ex clusiven ess A s as . long organizations contend that their system is complete , that they have all the knowledge , that they have found the so perfect way, long will the world be domi n ated by creeds which separate man from man and which have been among the most fruitful sources of all his wrongs .

History should be scanned carefully, before laying claims to exclusive knowledge or to Di P th a the sole discovery of truth . d not y g

- five oras say, twenty centuries ago , that God was all in all , as all great thinkers have ever done ? Did not Bishop Berkeley and others teach the philosophy of absolute idealism ? Have not mental and spiritual healing been as practiced with more or less success , far back as the records of man extend ? The advocates of New Thought do not at tach much importance to special revelations is to the particular few . It believes that God revealing himself to man at all times and has so been revealing himself in all ages , and he whose mind is attuned to the ha rm on ics of truth can hear and understand these revela tions . New Tho ught a n d Christia n S cien ce 97

“ : Walt Whitman says —I find letters from God dropped in the street and every one is ’ s s igned by God name, and I leave them where ’ are whereso er they , for I know that I go, others will punctually come, forever and ” T ever. New hought believes with Walt can s Whitman , that man forever find letter W from God , and that Others ill punctually h r . w e come, forever and ever It accepts truth i ever t may find it . It looks upon completed systems , revealed theologies , and fixed cults , as already in senile decay. Christian Science has performed a most valuable service to man ; it has broken over creeds and dogmas which stood as barriers in ’ the path of man s progress . It has shown man a new way. Its danger lies in building around him a new barrier higher than the one he has surmounted . The world is less ready now than ever be fore to concede a monopoly ofdivine wisdom to any philosophy, theology, institution, or cult. While institutions continue to discour age , restrict, and forbid the widest search for truth in every byway and avenue that open to its the mind , so long will they retard growth and hold the individual in bondage to their 98 The M essage ofNew Thought

edicts . So long as they limit their adherents to the mental and spiritual food prepared and seasoned in their own theological kitchens and limit them to such interpretations as they place re upon accepted writings , so long will they main Spiritually inert and stagnant . Instead of spiritual growth , development, and prog ress , there will be arrested growth , Spiritual and moral decay . Institutions that still continue to practice medieval methods are out Of harmony with the T progressivism of the twentieth century . hey have not caught the spirit of truth o r the tem T peram en t of the age . he Roman Catholic Church still sways its weapon of authority En over the wills and consciences of man . cyclicals are promulgated in Rome against what is called modernism . What is modern ism but the God - given right of man to think ; but a free and unobstructed pathway over which the soul may travel ? Think of six hundred priests at one , time in one cathe dral , holding up their hands and taking a solemn oath that they would not teach mod e tnism i It means that they would not claim the right of man to think for himself ; that they would not teach an immanent or indwell

CHAPTER V

UNIVERSAL MIND IN MAN

“ Thou Great Etern al In fin ite ; Thou Great Unboun ded Whole ; Thy Body is the Unive se Thy Spi i is the Soul ; r , — r t I f Thou dost fill Im m ensity I f thou art All in All ’ ’

en I m in hee an d u m e I m e e at . Th T Tho in , or not h r all

N L i T I TE LIGENCE s universal in nature. his might seem to be a bold statement, were it not supported by observation , by reason, and by the authority of the leading scientists of the w E ha i s o rld . very object in nature s t counter E i part in the unseen . xternal nature s but the expression of the invisible . We wonder at the beauty and majesty of the visible and forget t is ee u hat back of it all the uns n, far more bea tiful and transcendent . Universal intelligence finds Cxpression in of every object nature, reaching its highest

manifestation in man . We live in an atmos here of p of intelligence, unconscious its pres ence ; the material man knows only the mate 100 Un iversa l M in d in M a n 1 0 1

The o f the os rial . man vision rejoices in p session ofthe intangible ; to him the invisible is the real and the permanent ; the visible , the on e shadowy and the unreal , the is the e is caus , the other the result ; one the ideal , the other the expression . Every individual may find access to the universal intelligence , this infinite storehouse , and draw at will from its inexhaustible sup ply when he has come into the conscious rela io hi t n s p of his own soul with the divine soul . The universal mind speaks to the mind in h The touch wit the universal . trained soul hears and understands . s of e We ometimes Speak an omnipr sent God , and yet pay homage and give reverence to a - is distant God , a non resident God . If God omnipresent, his Spirit breathes in the clod , the leaf, the animal , and in man . If God is i God e in omn present, if is intelligenc , then telligen ce is universal and accessible to man . We cannot well account for the existence of un thought, its mysterious origin and power, less it is a radiation from the universal mind that pe rvades all space and finds a dwelling The of place in man . flow thoughts and the of existence ideas , enveloped in obscurity and 1 02 The M essage ofNew Thought

s er e e b a c sta t s urce my t y, hav ev r een on n o of speculation in man .

We do n ot e our u s mak tho ght , They grow in us like grain in the wo od ; The is the s es c are n ture growth of ki , whi h of a , ” An d n u e is od at r of G .

We s the s cannot call thought oul , but they o are more properly the attributes f the soul . T can hey cannot be analyzed , neither they s be measured, nor can their wondrou powers T afll be . b e calculated hey the understanding, they transcend the wonders of the imagi nation . “ No e s u e es scepter or thron , nor tr ctur of ag , nor b road empire can compare with the won o f T ders and grandeur a single thought . hat alone of all things that have been made com h o T is prehends t e maker fall . hat alone the key which unlocks the treasure o f the uni e vers ; the power that reigns over space, time, T is sover and eternity . hat under God the eign dispenser to man of all the blessings and glories that lie within the compass of posses ” o r sion the reign of possibility. Men sometimes speak of brain as the origin l T i an and source of a l thought . his s only

1 04 The M essage ofNew Thought

in e universal intelligence exists all natur , is ex which science giving to the world, the treme materialist stands alone .

We live in an atmosphere of intelligence. We are unconscious recipients of its wealth as and beauty . Genius has been described A s nothing more than a divine plagiarism . e the inland bay opens out into the great oc an , so our minds have their outlets into the infinite ocean of intelligence and thought . Sometimes the inland bays of our minds are nearly closed by jutting headlands, yet through a narrow channel the great ocean at times sends its cur rents of wisdom and inspiration . T hought has its origin , then , in the reser voir of infinite intelligence and flashes from of To thence to the mind man . give recog n ition of to the existence this infinite supply, this fathomless storehouse, and learn to draw from it at our will and pleasure, according is to our wants and needs , the most priceless ’ h secret in man s life . T e consciousness of this truth gives man the key to all accomplishment . It unlocks his latent powers and awakens his slumbering possibilities . It sets before him new ideals , creates within him the enthusiasm and confidence necessary for the accomplish Un iversa l M in d in M a n 1 05

n s m an s ir me t of all great results . It make p itual t s o e an d , because he feels hat he live , m v s, has his being in a divine atmosphere. M the it Prentice ulford, one of pioneer wr “ ers New T : s e of hought, says A uprem The power and wisdom govern the universe. supreme mind is measureless and pervades Th e . e ndless Space supreme wisdom, power, r and intelligence are in eve ything that exists, A s from the atom to the planet. we grow more to recognize the sublime and exhaustless wisdom, we shall learn more and more to de e mand of wisdom, draw it to ourselves , mak it a part of ourselves, and thereby be ever T making ourselves newer and newer. his e means ver perfecting help , greater and greater power to enjoy all that exists , gradual e the transition into a higher state of being, and development of powers which we do not now

realize as belonging to us. We are the limited yet ever growing parts and expression of the ” s . upreme, never ending Whole “ T E n s : s s s . t homa A diso ays All cientis , in getting nearer and nearer the first great c e f ha r t aus , eel t t about and through eve y hing ” there is the play of an eternal mind . was b It said y the late Lord Kelvin , that 1 06 The M essage ofNew Thought

biologists are absolutely forced by science to believe wi th absolute confidence in a directive ” power. E n in the e n his merso , op ni g paragraph of e on s r ssay hi to y, most clearly elucidates and s : emphasizes thi sublime truth . He there says “ There is one mind common to all individual n E i m e . very man s an inlet to the same and o t all the same . He that is once admitted to

' the is the right of reason, made a free man of h e. as whole estat What Plato thought, he

has . may think ; what a saint felt, he may feel has an What befallen any man at y time , he can understand . Who hath access to this uni is is versal mind, a party to all that or can be is the done, fo r this only and sovereign ” his agent. Again we read in studies of na “ ture : We lie in the lap of universal in telli e us its genc , which makes organs of activity set and receivers of its truth . Who can bounds to the possibilities of man ? Once in hale the upper air, being admitted to behold we the absolute natures of justice and truth, learn that m an has access to the entire mind he is s the of t Creator, him elf the creato r in ” finite . I t is of the utmost importance that we let

1 08 The M essage ofNew Thought d e ogmatic paradoxes, fad from the mind, when m an learns he has access to the mind of the Creator . This simple truth undermines all the cunningly contrived structures that separate man from God . n s What are all the bulls , excommunicatio , an d th e s encyclicals of Rome , of all potentate n d the a prelates of earth , to one who has come into the consciousness of this sublime truth ? What power have they with their man - made theologies to separate you from this divine source or break your relationship with God ? How vain are ecclesiastical anathemas to him

- who feels , knows , and realizes the all envelop in g presence ' Who stands between man and

God , when the divine mind Spans the imagi nary gulf created by the ingenuity of the theo logian ? It is not surprising that those who claim to stand between God and man should be con cerned about the growth and development of those ideas and should from time to time warn their followers of what they term their sinis T e ter and pernicious effects . hey plainly for see that their growth means the enfranchise con ment of man , and that as he comes into a sciousn ess of this truth the vocation of the Un iversa l M in d in M a n 1 09

ecclesiastical middleman will pass away for s ever . They ee under it a new order of things and the constant and eternal advancement of man . M an is no longer a mental and Spiritual serf, but is coming into the estate God intended o he should occupy and enjoy . What Plat h has t ought, he may think ; what man wrought, s has he may accomplish ; what a aint felt, he s may experience , when he comes to a consciou

realization of his oneness with God . When man can feel the rhythm and pulsations of this divine intelligence surging in upon his being, and realize that infinite source of power, he will find himself emancipated from fetters and limitations ; he will enter a new world of limitless mental and Spiritual devel O n pm e t. Not Since the sublime declaration of Jesus “ ” h the that I and the Father are one ; t at is , A M was in I , the soul which in Jesus and is all men and the Father, the universal soul , the

divine intelligence , are one , has a greater or mo re universal truth been Spoken to man . It was the impassioned utterance of the divine h t e . relationship , oneness of God and man This is the essence and meaning of the Em 1 1 0 The M essa ge ofNew Thought erson ian h philosophy, the great message of t e i gentle seer of Concord . H s one theme was the greatness of man, the illimitable develop m an ment of his soul , the oneness of and God .

Among all the treasures of literature , what message to man is more priceless than this ? What utterance has awakened in man a greater realization of the true worth of his th e own nature, of infinite depths and riches of his own soul , and the boundless possibilities that stretch before him ? The masters of ho t ught, the illumined of all the ages, have T s w Spoken the same great truth . hey a the divine in man , and ever strove to lead him to the consciousness of that truth . More than twenty-fi ve centuries ago Py “ thago ras Spoke the great truth that M an is a is microcosm of God . In other words , man an epitome of the universe , a God in embryo . Before Abraham led his flocks and herds into C the land of anaan , the masters of thought of E gypt expressed the same great truth , when “ ” T he h . t t ey said , He is I and I am He his is utterance of the illumined in all th e past . 0 N great teacher ever belittled man , or The emphasized his weakness or defects . as wise never Spoke of man weak, helpless , or

1 1 2 The M essage ofNew Thought be added unto you ' Even those who heard these words fall from his lips had vague ideas of the kingdom about which he Spoke . Some of his followers sought places of honor in the T h new kingdom . hey t ought it was to be a temporal kingdom , with a material domain , sur with a distinct location , with a court rounded with pomp and circumstance . Many ’ ideas expressed in later ages regarding JesuS S meaning about the kingdom of God have n ot shown marked advance over those first enter i ed n ta n by his immediate followers . M e a re s is the till propounding the question , Where kingdom of God ? Jesus left no room for h doubt . He did not fail to express is mean in g. He left no reason for posteri ty to quibble “ The over the great message , kingdom of God ” is within you . He spoke for all time and to hi all men . His words were not meant for s D isciples alone , but for you and for me and do for the millions yet unborn , the king m of

God is within us. The most of us failed to hear these words echoed from the pulpits in the past. We heard Sin more about original , predestination , the t t necessi y of baptism , total depravi y, and other dogmas equally destructive to the soul ’s prog Un iversa l M in d in M a n 1 1 3

T ress. heology did not have much to say about this sublime utterance of the Gentle

Master . Perhaps it saw the logical sequence of emphasizing this truth . If the kingdom of was God was within man , where the ground for the declaration that man was wholly de raved? was p If this were true, how it that some men were born for eternal damnation ? is is If the kingdom of God in man , where the foundation for the separation of God and th e man , major premise of all the orthodox theologies ever invented ? How little has been extracted from the great, priceless message of Jesus , in nineteen hundred years . For about sixteen centuries man ’s defects and weaknesses have been ex loited p and emphasized , when he was told by Jesus he had the kingdom of God within so him . If man was inherently bad as de icted a p , how did the kingdom of God find dwelling- place within him ? The is is the question often asked , what so kingdom of God , often Spoken of by the Gentle Master ? What are we to understand by the terminology of Jesus ? A kingdom sug gests some on e having the qualities and at

tributes of a king or a ruler . If we were to 1 1 4. The M essage ofNew Thought

S e G t i in our p ak of the kingdom of rea Br ta , e be c c re m aning would learly omp hended . The listener would know we spoke of Great Britain as an entirety ; its broad expanse of territo ry ; its organized govern ment ; its Parliament ; its laws ; its Strength ; its force ; its its in silent, unseen power ; character and fluen ce s we as ; in hort, Should be understood in cluding under the phrase the kingdom of Great Britain everything sheltered and pro tected beneath the folds of her flag . the won What, then , is meaning of all this — derful message to m an the kingdom of God is within you ? What did Jesus mean ? H e l his aid marked emphasis on statement, and tried to impress his hearers with its impor tance He did n ot use his language in a narrow and restricted sense . He meant that he l s in t same order, the same aw , the same telli en ce e g , the sam justice , the same powers, h the s t e same attributes , and ame infinite and eternal soul that exist in God and pervade the universe also exist in man . He did not mean to be understood that all these attributes and qualities in man had reached a perfected state , but they were there , as an d either developed or incipient powers ,

1 1 6 The M essage ofNew Thought when we seek the kin gdom of God all things s s his hall be added unto u . By incomparable parables, Jesus illustrates the growth and de velopm en t ofthe kingdom of God or the king dom h . as t e of heaven He Spoke of it leaven, as of was and the grain mustard seed, which the of n was smallest all seeds , but whe it grew the greatest among the herbs and became a so tree, that the birds of the air came and lodged in its branches . By these parables he showed that the kingdom of God n ot only who grows and expands, but to him seeks it, to him who has found and recognized its power, all things Shall be added . ? What, then , are the things to be added Are they something to be enjoyed in another state o r o of existence, something to be enj yed in this life also ? l t Jesus instructed men how to ive in his life, not in the next . He taught a religion of life, n re a religion of joy, a religio of industry, a li i g on of peace . When he said all things should be added , he meant here and now ; he meant peace , power, tranquillity, plenty, and the maste ry of the individual over circum stances and environments . Jesus laid down on e rule by which man Un iversa l M in d in M a n 1 1 7

E might find the coveted treasure, xcept a see the man be born again , he cannot kingdom ” of God . He meant that man Should turn about and externalize his changed thought

into a worthy and upright life . If he had

been leading an unclean and degrading life, he Should reverse it and live a clean and up The . was right life rule simple , that the Spirit should dominate the material in his life S a and that he hould get way from limitations, t h recognize the divini y wit in himself, and transmute that divinity into a constructive and

useful life . The first step tothis attainment is for man to come into a consciousness o fhis own divine nature and let the divine mind find expression i in the thoughts and acts of h s daily life . When he recognizes these qualities within t himself, and turns toward the new goal , hen like the seed of mustard the kingdom within

will grow, expand , and develop and he Shall come into a life of accomplishment and abid

ing reality. What is the great subconscious mind in man discovered through the agencies of modern as psychology, but the kingdom of God , de cla red by the Gentle Master ? The discovery 1 1 8 The M essa ge ofNew Thought of modern psychology has thrown new light on the mysteries of mind and brought to light i the laws by which it s governed . In a degree ha it s revealed man to himself . It has ana l zed y and mentally dissected the mind , and in discovered qualities, powers, and attributes

of was . man, which he previously ignorant It has overturned many preéxistin g theories and s opinions long cherished, upposed to be per an n l m e t y intrenched and established . By it m an is discovering the forces and powers of t has the great soul wi hin ; better than all , it found the law by which man can unfold , de velo p, and control these forces and make them o hi obedient agencies f s will . M an is realizing that the great subconscious mind is an infinite Storehouse of intelligence t and power, and hat when he has learned the l is aws by which it reached , impressed , and controlled , he may draw from its inexhaust ible depths at will to supply his needs and is s wants . He coming into the consciousnes “ that the great subconscious, the Great With ” own is in , his masterful soul , the link that D unites him with the Great ivine Soul . He is learning that the subconscious controls the

1 20 The M essage ofNew Th o ught

Storms of discontent and anxiety are Stilled t within , he expresses in his life the beau y, the the of harmony, and power of kingdom God within . CHAPTER VI

MAN I LLIMITABLE

O the e u e m en sc e ce we sa can ru n w nly g n in of i n , y , t ly k o how u e e um w e e but hum tt rly b yond, not only h an kno l dg , an c ce is the u e s we wh ch u e an d e on ption , niv r al po r of i nat r lif ” r —H T SPEN an d u h a e m es s. ERBER CER tho g t anif tation .

THERE never was any conflict between true T religion and real science . ruth was the real Th has b goal of each . e only conflict been e on e tween those defending creeds on the hand , and the narrow and intolerant scientist on the T . oo of other often the real business each , of was the rational pursuit truth , forgotten in o their zeal t defend a cause . Many persons seem to think that God en dowed man with reason and then inflicted up on a so t him religion , that here would be an i en eternal conflict in h s soul . M have been told that reason and revelation are con tradic tory and that man can only become religious

when he denies intelligence , ceases to think,

and surrenders himself wholly to a belief . 121 1 22 Th e M essage ofNew Th o ught

The logical sequence of their reasoning is this : man has been given a mind and clothed with the power of abstract reasoning, but his eternal welfare depends upon his ignoring the reasoning ofhis mind . “ Some writer has said : Every branch of has Science , with the Clergy, gone through three stages : First they say it is absurd ; sec on d is , it against the Bible ; third , we always ” so kn ew it was . We have heard vastly more about disturb in g faith than about seeking truth . A hun ger for truth is the first step toward real re li i n T g o . here never was any conflict between be truth and truth , but the only conflict was “

. C tween truth and error arlyle said , Wise man was he, who counseled that speculation

Should have free course, and look fearlessly toward all the thirty- two points of the com ” pass , whithersoever and howsoever it listed . on e But, some says , scientific investigation ? The disturbs faith . What of it disturbance of faith or, more properly Speaking, beliefs , is the first movement toward real progress . What if it brings a revision of all creeds and traditions ? Is that to be weighed against the discovery of truth ?

1 24 The M essage ofNew Tho ught

e our beings , in whom we live, move, and hav being . “ E The As merson says , true idea of omni presence is that God reappears in all his parts ” T in every moss and cobweb . his is the God of science, the only omnipresent God . When science finds the way to lead man into a recog n ition t and union with hat divine intelligence , what will science be but the highest form of religion ? Is it unthinkable that in due time science may supplant theology and become the only living church ? But some one says this is an extravagant ? and unfounded assumption . Is it More men rely on the voice of science to - day than ever before It has the respect and con fi T dence of the intelligent world . hey turn to the the scientist for evidence of continued , of conscious identity the soul after death , and

- they are not turned away empty handed .

Science proclaims the unity of all substance , the reign of universal law, and the existence ofan omnipresent divine intelligence . When men rise to that degree of development and is enlightenment that their one quest truth , they will be found enrolled in the ranks of i scientists and l sten t to what they say . M a n I llim ita ble 1 25

the r Alfred Russel Wallace , contempora y D of arwin, whose contributions to science and to our knowledge of evolution is gratefully acknowledged by the whole scientific world , “ ” his The of in work entitled World Life , in speaking of organized life says : What we absolutely require and must postulate is a mind far higher, greater, and more powerful than any of the fragmentary minds we see around us; a mind not only adequate to direct and regulate all the forces at work in living or an ism is g , but which itself the source of all as e those forces and energies , well as the mor ‘ fundamental portions , of the whole material ” : universe . He continues If, as John Hun

T. . s ter, H Huxley, and other eminent thinker is n ot con se have disclosed , life the cause , the uen ce so e q , of organization , we may believ that mind is the cause and not the consequence ofbrain development . “ The is first implies there a cause of life, independent of the organism through which it is manifested , and this cause must be per be sistent, eternal life , any other supposition ing essentially unthinkable . And if we posit o f eternal life as the cause life , we must equal l as y posit one eternal mind the cause of mind . 1 26 The M essage ofNew Thought

And now that we are led to believe that the t is is atom i self highly complex, that it a s of ystem revolving electrons or corpuscles , h the m s held toget er by tremendous forces , y tery becomes deeper Still and we find it quite hopeless to realize what is the nature of the out of controlling power and mind , which such unimaginable entities has built up the vast material universe of suns and systems of our h which eart forms a fractional part, to gether with that even more complex world of ” life ofwhich we are ourselves the outcome . Even the chemists are beginning to see di i rect ve forces back of all nature. Professor E H . . Armstrong, the learned chemist, says , “ The general impression produced by known facts is that directive influences are the perma nent influences at work building living tis ” sues . the Professor Larkin, astronomer, in writ “ t a t Fo r ing on his subject, rem rked hat a year n o o r t past book, pamphlet, let er had been received at the observato ry containing argu ments against the scientific necessity for the existence of a creator to account for the uni ” “ : verse . He continues Science now de m ands a conscious power within protoplasm

1 28 The M essage ofNew Thought

n T r a intellectual and listening world . hey a e the utterances of men learned in their profes s of ions , studious of nature , long and patient experience in the study and investigation of e physical phenomena , and who hav delved h of deep into t e wonders and mysteries life . These are the mature observations and conclu T sions of unbiased and thoughtful minds . hey o f are flashes light from an unexpected source , whose ben efi cen t rays bring joy and gladness ’ n to the soul of man . They enlarge man s u derstan din t e g of himself, hey give him a mor complete conception of his place in the uni verse and the possibilities that await the fu T ture man . hey are worthy of our deepest thought and contemplation . When did theology give to man a message half so precious as this ? In what theological book did you read of the greatness ofthe com ing man ? Theology said man was finished . What a conception in view of man’s arrested ’ development . Man s weaknesses and imper fection s have always been emphasized and enlarged . It remained for science and phil osophy to accentuate his greatness and possi i bilit es. Much criticism has been heaped upon sci M a n I llim ita ble I 29

T e ence and philosophy in times past . hey hav been Charged with removing the prop from ’ t man s fai h and belief, but they are awakening in him a greater fai th and a stronger belief . They are revealing to him a knowledge ofhis o n w inherent worth and greatness . “T i he human mind s illimitable . What a message to man ' The very thought vitalizes ’ and quickens every energy ofman s being and arouses the sublimest emotions of the soul . If man is still a slave to the thought that he is weak, inherently bad , and insignificant, what message is of such transcendent value to him as that mind now manifesting in him is iden tical in every quality and attribute with divine mind ? If there is in man a spark of slumbering manhood , will not this arouse it to the highest activity ? What will kindle the smothered fires ofthe soul so much as this thought ? If man has not discovered the hidden forces and his own can e powers of soul , what tidings giv him such inspiration o r lead him to that dis cover as of e y, the latest utterances scienc and philosophy ? “ What a piece of work is man ' How noble in reason ' How infinite in faculty '” Truly 1 30 The M essage ofNew Thought did the great Master of thought have a keen e of insight into th greatness m an . Whatever man h as accomplished in his up ward p rogress Since he was declared in her l has of su ent y bad , been in the face adverse g gestions and retarding influences . Limita i Dis tions were always set before h s face . couragem en t marked every Step of his long T h as so sur and rugged pathway . hat he far mounted all obstacles and that he has made so much intellectual and moral advancement is the standing and indubitable proof of his own divine qualities . To sum the up the results at present time, we find the most noteworthy ofmodern phil oso hers p , scientists , and psychologists in agreement upon the fundamental questions respecting life and intelligence in nature and that they are the basis of the physical uni T verse . hey are in unison on the point that life and intelligence are manifest in all created forms , from electrons , atoms , molecules , up through the in fi n itude of nature to her highest i the organized existences . It s also said that electrons are endowed with intelligence and all e understand what to do , to build objectiv forms found in nature .

1 3 2 The M essa ge ofNew Th ought

t the Shall be, when he shall stand for h in full ofhis Stature mental and spiritual manhood , a free man , divested of all thought of limita his h tion , conscious of own true wort and greatness . With these thoughts Sinking deep down into his subconsciousness , man gains a new view and estimate of life and feels a deeper rever C ence, not only for the divine reator of all things , but also a sublime reverence for the i n majesty of h s ow soul . He obtains a new h his own fait in forces and worth , the first true Step to all progress and advancement . He sees his kinship with the divine and the possibilities and duties that flow from that t e i Th of lation sh p. e consciousness the divine in man creates worth without vanity ; strength ,

. V poise , and serenity without egotism anity and egotism are not qualities that flow from ’ the consciousness of man s divine kinship . T t hey belong to undeveloped minds , those hat n have ot touched the universal . If life and intelligence exist throughout nature and are present in all its manifested forms , then it follows , as a logical conclusion , that life and intelligence are in every electron , atom , molecule , tissue , nerve , muscle , and

I M a n I llim ita ble 1 33

i bone of the human body, a fact heretofore g nored or at least not expressed by medical science . is it s far If this conclusion correct, suggest reaching consequences and possibilities in ’ man s development. The medical profession has Spoken much and kindly about natu re and its marvelous powers of healing, and they have said that medical science can act only as an aid and assistant to nature in the cure of disease . When pressed for the meaning it attaches to nature and what it understands by e the term , it has never been able to illuminat the questioner with an intelligent answer . It speaks of chemical activity and chemical ac as as tion the cause of physical change , when , ac Professor Larkin says , the term chemical i tiv ty only obscures the problem . The physiologist, in seeking an understand its ing of the human body, the mysteries of

- life currents , the building and tearing down in telli p rocesses , has failed to discover that an gence pervades and guides the Operations of nature, including everything in the physical

of . h as organism man If he discovered it, he h as not made his discovery known to the world . 1 34. The M essa ge ofNew Thought

Alfred Russel Wallace continues : Now in none of the volumes of the physiology of th can animals , at I have consulted , I find any h attempt whatever to grapple with t e. funda of mental question the directive power, that in o r as every case first secretes , it were creates , of l the out the protop asm of blood , special molecules adapted for the production of each e rv material bone, muscl , ne e, Skin , hair,

. t feather, etc , carries hese molecules to the exact part of the body where and when they o com are required , and brings int play the plex force that alone can build up with great rapidity so strangely complex a structure as

a feather adapted for flight . “Of course the difficulties of conceiving be how this had been done and is being done , e as fore our yes , is nearly great in the case of any other specialized part of the animal body ; but the case of the feather of the bird is unique an d the be in many ways , had advantage of ing wholly external and being familia r to r on eve y e. “ It is also easily accessible for examination either in the living bird or detached feather, which latter material offers wonderful mate r rial for m ic OSCOpiC examination and Study .

1 30 Th e M essage ofNew Th ought

so m a manifest in more perfect forms , we y in telli well conclude that the forces , life , and gence within us are working to build health ful , normal , and perfect bodies . for What a startling fact contemplation , that an intelligence pervades every atom and molecule of our physical organism and con trols all its functions and activities . We pause

on - and reflect its far reaching consequences , when we consider it from the standpoint ofthe psychologist . If intelligence holds dominion the over physical universe , it includes the physical organism of man and that in telli gence is subjective . It can be impressed with of ideas health , power, ability, and other de sirable qualities , with the certainty and con sciousn ess that results will be measured by the thoughts conveyed to it and the manner in which they are impressed upon it .

In other words , the subjective intelligence will respond to the suggestion it receives from T on e un the conscious mind . his thought locks the door to the mastership ofman over T the forces and powers within him . hat he can guide and control that intelligence within , to build , renew, and accomplish according as of he wills and suggests , is a fact the utmost importance to man . M a n I llim ita ble 1 37

A s we look forth into nature and study its ffi n ot im os processes , we find it is di cult, if p to of sible , conceive it and the hidden forces trying to find expression in manifold forms

as other than intelligent . What is it that gives th e flower a grace and beauty that no artist

can match , but an intelligence endowed with a sense ofbeauty ? What is it that builds the tree with such graceful symmetry and propor

tion , but an intelligent agency possessed of artistic qualities ? What constructed the phy sical organism but an intelligent architect hav ing a perfect understanding of the marvelous mechanism necessary to perform its proper functions ? The wonder is that we ever looked for other than an intelligent cause for all we see in na

u . On t re every hand we see beauty, propor at tion , order, grandeur, and harmony the

tributes and symbols of mind . When we

stand , we are not conscious of holding our is selves erect, but there an unrecognized

power which sustains us in an erect position . When life is extinct and the intelligent forces to e is cease act, when the prop of intelligenc

gone , the body falls . We marvel at the developments ofphysical 1 3 8 The M essage ofNew Thought science and pay our grateful ackn owledg ment for its noteworthy benefits to man in his long and tedious struggle toward enlighten h n o o ment . But it as t accomplished all r sup ’ plied all man s wants . i Modern psychology has also done ts work. What discove ry in twenty centuries compares i t has w th this , hat man learned to tap the uni ofhis own versal mind , the infinite reservoirs s oul , and thereby create health , ability, char a ? cter, or any other quality he may desire

M an is at last discovering himself . “Science started with the stars and ended ” with the soul . We are following an illu mined pathway that leads to a knowledge of the soul .

1 40 Th e M essage ofNew Thought

within himself . But he is awakening from “ his the The long dream, to realization that ” full measure of a man has never been taken and that the infinite path of progress stretches away before him . E who has lmer Gates , given the profound est thought to the human mind and has anal yz ed it as carefully as any modern psychol “ o ist : T g , says hat through consciousness we n ra r put ourselves e ppo t with cosmic mind . Subconsciousness is the great ocean ofmental life ; our conscious states are merely th e rip ” ples that strike on the shore . 0 I quote the following extract from the lec tures on mental science delivered in Edin burgh by Judge Trowa rd “ We have experimental proof ofthe exist of ence in ourselves transcendental faculties , the full development of which would place us in a perfectly new sphere oflife . “Universal intelligence subsists throughout on e nature , inherent in every of its manifesta tions . For the present, it will be suf fi cien t to realize that the subjective mind in ourselves is the same subjective mind which is at work throughout the universe , giving rise to the in fin itude ofnatural forms with which M a n Un fin ished 1 4 1 we are surrounded and in like manner giving rise to ourselves . “ We never get beyond the law of cause and i r effect . We externalize in our outward c cum stan ces precisely our ideas of the universal mind . “ M an has depths which reach beyond all our philosophical soundings , with lights that to reachin s no seer has ever revealed us , with g of his being only divinely felt in his own soul and never revealed to others . M an n ot of is a religious being, conscious his greatness and infinite possibilities . To him all life is the reaching out for these possi ili i Th b t es. e search for the larger life is the endeavor to find himself . “ l to Whatever gives us arger being life , whatever brings us to the goal , whatever solves ou r our problems , breaks the clouds before eyes , helps us to look up , teaches us to step ” forward , is a religious service . We feel the breath of inspiration at the realization that the subconscious mind within is one and the same as the universal mind that produces all things in nature with which we our are surrounded , and which produces also selves . Why Should not man be a religious 1 42 The M essage ofNew Thought

e e t e b ing, wh n a hought of such moment nters into his consciousness ? It enables him to see a e e r new m aning, nay, a kinship , in ve y object the - e his of nature, from grass blad beneath feet to the planets circling through endless space . ’ When this truth dawns on man s reason and c he s onsciousness , sees a religiou meaning in all beauty, in all order, in all harmony, in all the that opens mind to truth , in every new revelation of nature. It all enriches life and leads man upward and helps him in his strug d gle to see and know Go .

Why has the heart restless yearnings For heights and Steeps untrod ? e c the ce l Som all it voi of onging,

And others the Voice of God .

“ Victor Hugo remarks that The religious fact is not the Church ; it is the opening ofthe r is o f the the ose , it the breaking dawn , it is i nesting of the bird . The religious fact s na ”

u . t re , holy and eternal M an has not yet conceived of his own The r greatness and possibilities . evolutiona y processes ofnature have culminated in the pro duction of a being who walks the earth in an

1 44 The M essage ofNew Th ought

t the is an imagina ion bridging infinite , man is he n ot yet a perfect being . He only in t i of is . s process creation , he unfinished He r undergoing an evolutiona y development, he is still far from the goal at which in due time he will arrive . A s we take a survey o f the world and the h various types of plant and animal life , t eir the change and development, as we study rock th e he s o f and mineral , and observe t working h is un nature , we discover t at creation yet h . T e finished master hand is still at work. Creation is now as rapid as in the six days mentioned in Genesis . Her processes never Th . e ac rest rocks are still building, glacial on to tion still goes , the rivers continue carry ’ silt to the seas . Nature s laboratory was never its more active, since the earth first swung into o rbit . The theologian h as always considered and

Spoken of creation as finished . Until science and reason demonstrated its impossibility, he contended that the world and all created things that dwell thereon , including man , were created in six days oftwenty - four hours each . He also said God was satisfied with his T work and rested o n the seventh day . his was M a n Un fin ished 1 45

his conclusion because , he said , he had read n it in a book . M a read a different account in of the open book nature, in the rocks , the riv

ers , the lakes , and the eternal hills . The same unseen forces that are building the rock and manifesting in new created

forms , is also at work in man , developing new

power, strengthening existing faculties , and pushing man onward toward a more complete n S m and perfect State . M a has not been y

metrically developed . His advisers limited their efforts to the cultivation of his Spiritual

side , and that mainly through the influence

of the emotions . Fear was the incentive held

before his mind . The preparation was not

so as . much for this , for a future life His

slumbering possibilities were not known . If was an he to be great or strong, it would be in of other state existence . M an to is a triune being, and make him a perfect man requires a three - fold develop T is ment . hat development only normal and symmetrical that endeavors to perfect him

. The physically, mentally, and spiritually development ofone phase ofhis being and not Th the others is abnormal . e theologian was e never able properly to instruct man , becaus 1 46 The M essage ofNew Tho ught

he never understood man . What did he know ofthe subconscious mind in man ? What un derstan din g had he of the hidden forces and powers in man ? It was the blind leading the

blind . Modern psychology has enabled man to dis T i i cover himself . hrough t he s gaining faint glimpses of the powers of the great soul with i n of h i of wis , t at reservo r intelligence and dom to which he may find access when he has

learned the way . He i s learning the potency of : is t thought that thought his empire , hat thought is the avenue to the infinite treasures of t the subconscious mind , and tha thought i can control h s entire personality . M an is only at the threshold of real great is ness and real power, only with feeble taps

he knocking at the door of the great within . When he has awakened to the consciousness of t the forces within himself , to build a perfec

body, to develop higher mental and Spiritual is to- powers , he will look upon man as he day E n o . e t as a pygmy and a dwarf y has seen , n or ear heard , neither has it entered into the imagination of man to conceive o fthe glories

that await the coming man . a Henry Harrison Brown , writing on cre

1 48 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

This is the one and only great fact in hu on e un man experience , the fact which when derstood will redeem the race from all slavery to matter and will give man control of his Th destiny . e great fact is by thought power to build ideals ; man controls that subconscious is Th divinity which he . e conscious man con

trols the God in man . These are great words coming from a note T worthy modern thinker . hey strike the key of T note modern psychology . hey point man o h of t the pat way power and accomplishment . They show him how to reach the great sub f o . conscious , the source all power Like all great teaching his message is simple , concise,

and easily comprehended . How unlike the impenetrable mazes theology h as always set T before man . hought is the force that opens the door to the storehouse of wisdom and

power . By thought power to build ideals , man becomes a builder, a creator ; he controls i ‘ the subconscious divinity which he s. Long ago modern psychology demonstrated that the subconscious obeys the mandates of thought,

is amenable to the power of suggestion . Here The the same truth is stated in another way . discovery of the law of suggestion marks the M a n Un fin ished 1 49

of s birth modern psychology, and modern p y chology is the great revelation to man of his o n w masterful powers . We can all follow the simple rules laid r r n down fo ou guidance . We ca create ideals

if we desire . We can develop ideals of health , of of mental superiority, high moral stand

of . ards , power and success When we have to learned form and hold these ideals , with

confidence in results , we have Opened the door

to the great within .

C D . so hristian Larson , who has written ’ of : understandingly man s hidden forces , says “ The destiny of every individual is hourly be

ing created by himself, and that something that determines what he is , to create at any is or t particular time , nothing more less han hi ” s ideals . ’ The of real secret man s power, then , is to or create proper ideals thought forms , and thus control the subconscious divinity within him . As thought controls the subconscious , the of great reservoir intelligent forces , so man di rects own T . he his welfare and destiny key, ’ to then , to man s power is think constructively, o f think positively, create ideals health , of of of cheerfulness , happiness , and accomplish 1 50 The M essa ge ofNew Th ought

ha h . s e ment When he learned this secret, h as become master over things and circum stances . At last we come back to the great hi i b t as s so s e. ruth , a man thinketh in heart Science is finding evidence corroborative of has h the what the philosopher t ought, of what i t dealists have always laid Claim to , tha t s hought controls matter, that mental image a re molds into which cosmic life and energy flow is ; that matter thus Shaped into forms, corresponding with the ideals first created . Results have been published of an experiment by means of the infallible test of the camera, that would seem to bear out the Claim that thoughts may be embodied in mental forms o r images , and that atoms and molecules of mat ter will shape themselves into forms corre i Spon d n g to those images . The materialistic scientist m ay view this s is tatement with utter incredulity, but it no m ore unthinkable or improbable than that thought and even the human voice may be carried over long distances by means of no other conductor than either that fills all Space. as It is not mysterious as life or growth , which we know exist but do not understand , and a thousand phenomena which baffle all under standing .

1 5 2 The M essa ge ofNew Th ought

These 'thought images'were held in the mind while the attention was fixed upon a drop of th e solution of one of the mineral salts oforganic life upon a microscopic Slide and afterward photographed .

In other words , these are thoughts photo graphed through matter . Since these thought forms are fixed in the same kind of mineral compounds which are now known to be not only the builders of the human o rganism , but also the material medium of all its functions, us both physical and psychical , they furnish some very interesting and reliable data upon which to construct a rational system of psy cho h sics p y , not only embracing an explana tion of every known fo rm of mental m an ifes ta ion t through matter, but also suggesting possibilities in psychology almost beyond ” belief . These experiments would seem to bear out the conclusion that mind , external to matter, can control matter . If this is an established its can overesti fact, importance scarcely be mated .

Some one asks how this can be done . What is the explanation of mind Shaping matter, when matter is separated by distance from the M a n Un fin ished 1 53 person sending forth the thought ? An im pos i sibil t sa . y, you y

In answer to the expressed doubt, it might is well be said this the result of investigation, i of experiment . I ts cause s in the field of science and it is the business of the scientist T to find it and offer it to the world . his sug ff as gestion , however, may be o ered , not a con clusion t o , but only as a hypo hesis from which t reason . Scientists tell us there are no solids in na uS ture . What seem to the hardest and densest substances are not solids , but the electrons and corpuscles forming the same are sep a rated and do not touch , but revolve around each other with certain great and specific

. is is velocities All nature in motion, all vibratory. It h as been well said that thoughts a re forces . If they are forces , it follows that they can create vibrations and also that they can travel through Space . If thoughts send vibra is n ot tions through space , it possible for them to affect the atoms and molecules of which is us matter composed , which scientists tell are in constant and rapid motion ? The wireless instrument creates vibrations 1 54 The M essage ofNew Thought

that travel through ether, penetrating and h passing t rough what we call solid substances , to be again taken up by a like instrument and m translated into language . Scientists su up the recent resul ts of wireless telegraphy as follows : Boats have been steered to right o r left, stopped , started , reversed , accelerated , retarded , and controlled in every way by an e operation in a wireless plant on the Shor . — No wire from man to boat waves of electric ” force only . Mental telepathy seems to be an established is fact, which nothing less than sending t houghts through space , which are received , understood , and translated by other minds . If ? thoughts were not forces , how could this be

If they did not create vibrations , it would seem difli cult to understand how they could travel through space .

Professor Larkin , in an article on the “ : power of thought, said It is natural fo r us to think that no object can be formed without a previously formed thought pattern . This would be as impossible as for an iron casting without a mold and a mold without

a pattern . “ ‘ ’ The word matter as used in chemistry

1 56 The M essage ofNew Thought

e reality, growth, and developm nt. When man becomes conscious of the creative an d

- ever renewing forces within himself , he will t is find the renewing hand of na ure, which ever leading him toward the new and perfect. The fact that scholars and students fro m every part of the world are listening to Berg ’ son s utterances proves that his philosophy h as struck a responsive chord which is to have a ff marked e ect in molding modern thought . I t h i all leads to one central thought, t at man s becoming conscious of the greatness of his own being and the illimitable powers of his own mind and soul ; that he is constantly and for s ever evolving, passing through the processe of creation and growth , gradually reaching higher and higher levels , moving onward and upward toward the perfect man that he is yet to be . When the consciousness of this truth takes possession of his entire being and person r s ality, he will make mental and mo al stride such as man has not yet experienced in reach ing out toward the ultimate goal . CHAPTER VIII

AS A MAN THINKETH

M is the m s e - we m s m es ind a t r po r that old and ak , m an is m e e m e he a es And ind , and v r or t k The h u h Sh wh he w s tool of t o g t, and aping at ill , B s h h us s h us ring fort a t o and j oy , a t o and ills He h s sec e c m es ss t ink in r t, and it o to pa E m e is but his - ss nviron nt looking gla . A MES LLEN J A .

NATURE does not thrust powers and accom plishm en ts upon us . In her infinite wisdom she E left us a work to perform . ndowed by na was ture with incipient powers, it left to man or as to develop them not, he should de r te mine . Wisely was it ordained when man was created that he should eat his bread by the hi sweat of s brow . Labor has been the pro pelling force in man’s progress and advance ment in civilization . Without it he would have placed no value on that which satisfies his his wants and ministers to comforts . We value that most which we accomplish by our l l “D eff . i own orts , either physica or menta a 157 1 58 The M essage ofNew Th ought monds are found only in the dark places of the earth ; truths are found only in the depths ”

V . of thought, says ictor Hugo That we may have a due appreciation of the h us forces and powers wit in , we must learn to T s unfold and develop them for ourselves . hi we can do only by the exercise of our own l thought and will power . If we wish menta can power, we have it only as we exercise the faculties of the mind and thus develop and educate them for the work that devolves upon i k us. s e If we wish character, thought the y to its development . If we desire accomplish ment along any chosen line, we must put forth the thought and effort necessary to produce

- e the sought for results . If we wish to utiliz he as t subjective forces within, only we prop erly train the objective mind to play upon them and impress its thought upon them can we expect valuable or important effects . Cause and effect are written everywhere in The is the universe . law of compensation

our . ever before eyes If we would evade it,

it steps in our pathway to block our progress .

We must ever pay the price . Wherever there

is ff . an e ect, there was first a cause e we r e Everything in the univ rse that obse v ,

1 60 The M essage ofNew Th ought

a faint understanding of the import of th is

golden proverb . We must first realize that the subconscious mind h as control of the func tions and forces of the body ; that it is the great mental and Spiritual Storehouse ofman ; that it is amenable to every suggestion of the “ objective o r conscious mind ; th at the con

scious mind acts , the subconscious reacts ; the c onscious mind produces the impression , the subconscious produces the expression ; the c is onscious mind determines what to be done, the subconscious supplies the mental material ” can r and necessary power, before we unde i s stand t full meaning and significance . T ranslated into modern language , we would say that as a man thinks deeply and reaches down into the subconscious mind and im presses it with his thought the subconscious m ind will respond according to the nature of the thought and impression . “ Plato said : Thinking is the talking of h ” T . t e soul with itself . hought is dynamic T houghts are not things , but the forces back of T is things ; the creators of things . hought

is is . power, thought force , thought cause “ Our to - days are the result of our past think - our ing, our to morrows the result of present A s a M a n Thin keth 1 6 1

e e our own l thinking. W hav been menta s our own parent , and we shall be mental Chil s dren . All that a man does and brings to pas ” is the vesture of thought . There is a correspondence between thought

s. and deeds , thoughts and Circumstance Thoughts produce conditions in our physical our bodies , in lives and Circumstances , accord

ing to the character of those we harbor . “ Emerson says : The key to every man is his t an d thought. S urdy defying though he look, he has a helm which he obeys , which is the idea hi after which all s facts are classified . He can only be reformed by showing him a new idea ” hi own which commands s . Eve ry thought accompanied with deep

feeling, or impressed upon the subconscious ff mind , produces Chemical changes and e ects T upon the body . houghts of fear and anxiety disturb the functions of the body and bring

s . a weaknes and disease Pleasant, greeable , s and joyful thought bring health, strength, n d a poise . “ The pleasantest things in the world a re

pleasant thoughts , and the greatest art in life is to have as many of them as pos ” sible . 1 62 The M essage ofNew Thought

The s s an d law of mind are fixed , ab olute , s th e sum eternal . We are the result of total of T s our thinking . hought a re revealed I n our faces and manifested in our lives. As we see o f glance in the mirror, we the reflection our n i r thoughts. M e foolishly believe the s r t thought are thei own , and hat they may entertain them in secret and keep them to T themselves . houghts are not secrets ; they E is are not their own . very thought registered T s in the archives of the soul . hought pencil l T fur the ines in the brow . hought plows T rows in the Cheek . houghts reveal their T character in th e expression of the eye . he is an d face the mirror, reflecting the mind thought of its possessor Walt Whitman says

S u e the e e or ri i the c u tr r a nt ring pav m nt d ng o n y oad,

lo 'such faces.

Faces e s ecisi c u su e l of fri nd hip, pr on , a tion, avity, id a ity ' — The Spiritual prescient face the always welcom e

common benevolent face. The s c e ces s the u e ce a r d fa of infant , ill minat d fa of

the mother of many children . h e u the ce e e T e c . fa of an amo r, fa of v n ration The ce r its the c s e fa withd awn of good and bad, a trat d face;

1 64 The M essage ofNew Tho ught they will quickly become actualized in you r w out ard life, in the form of good conditions . C a n d e ontrol your soul forces , you will be abl s Th to Shape your outward life a you will . e difference between a saviour and a sinner is h on e h as all t is , that the a perfect control of the forces within him ; the other is dominated and controlled by them .

D e u u the r est w ll in tho ght pon g and , And the grandest you shall see; Fix u u the est yo r mind pon high , the es ou s be And high t y hall .

l e What we sow, that shall we a so reap . Som men seem to think this law applies only to out ward acts and relates only to the sowing in a physical world . But the same law governs mind and thought . T houghts of revenge, hatred , jealousy, envy, and lust affect and mold the Character and lives of those who harbor them as certainly as effect follows cause . Sooner o r later they will be externalized and manifested in every w out ard circumstance and condition of life . Thoughts generate health or toxins in the system according to the kind of thought enter in d T f ta e . o houghts malice , fear, hatred, and As a M a n Thin keth 1 65 envy interfere with the normal functions of ff r the body, a ect its secretions , gene ate poisons , T r . esulting in disease houghts of health , thoughts of joy, thoughts of kindness , bring joy and health to him who entertains them and sends them forth .

If we think ourselves inherently bad , we shall reap the fruits of that thought . If we conceive of ourselves as weak and unworthy, “ ” as Whitman said , Asking leave to be , we shall develop those qualities and actualize them in our daily lives . If we recognize divine attributes as our inheritance , we shall grow into the likeness of those attributes . : Whitman said I believe in you , my soul T the other I am must not abase itself to you . o me the converging objects of the universe per ll ” petua y flow . It is the man of conscious power within that ’

. his wins in life s contest He is great, because Th thought was first great . e man who is con scious of the potentialities of his own nature and couples energy with that thought, is mas h ter of circumstances . He is the magnet t at attracts power, attracts success ; he is Success .

A man may have a lofty opinion of himself, but as long as he thinks small thoughts he will 1 66 The M essage ofNew Thought

be small . M an can only become great as he re thinks great thoughts , and to think g at thoughts he must seek to gain a larger con sciousn ess of real worth an d superiority. i I s e m . t Greatness Strength, without gotis is n ot power, with a desire that others Shall “ e recognize that power . Jesus said , Bless d are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth . “ ” He did not employ the term meekn ess as “ ” i was the synonym of weakn ess . H s thought that man should be great without parading it, without ostentation : strong without letting it T be known . his is the essence of all greatness . By the law of suggestion the subconscious mind is amenable to the thoughts and impres sions it receives from the conscious o r objec Th im tive mind . e subconscious registers the pression which is again given expression in Th the life and character of the individual . e subconscious faithfully reproduces eve ry men tal idea o r state contained in the impression . The law is as unerring as the law of gravita

. s . tion As i the suggestion, so is the result The subconscious is a rich soil , and the seed thought planted therein by the conscious mind will produce according to its kind . If we plant flowers , we shall pluck flowers . If we

1 68 The M essage ofNew Thought

easy to understand how beliefs stamped upon a e youthful minds are perpetuated in adult g , r Th whether they are t ue or false . e subjee tive mind receives them in an impressionabl e

age , and there they remain and grow through ou C un t the years of life . ertain institutions derstan d the psychological law perfectly and therefore insist on what they call religious r inst uction in early life , before they encounter any opposition from auto - suggestion or inde Th r n pendent thought . e religious inst uctio usually consists ofteaching certain creeds and n dogmas , and in most instances playing upo the emotions to cause their teachings to be h as impressed upon the subconscious . Fear been the favorite influence to cause these im pressions to become permanent in the subcon scious . T hese impressions , being ground into the subjective mind , remain to bring forth fruit after their kind in the succeeding years . It is n o evidence of their truth that they remain M en as fixed belief in mature age . believe what was impressed on the subconscious mind in early life , because that belief has become so

firmly planted therein that it becomes a habit . Habits thus formed in childhood prevent the A s a M a n Thin keth 1 69

mind from accepting any line of thought that r does not accord with those habits o beliefs . T hey are accepted as fundamentals , and logic

and reason are powerless to overcome them . or Yet these habits and beliefs , however firm

fixed they may become , may or may not be T true . hat they are thus believed in mature is life , by men of the highest intellectuality, no o evidence f their truth . M en of greatest mental attainments differ as widely in their religious beliefs as the op osi of T p te poles the universe . hey cannot all The be true . question is asked , Why do intel ligen t men differ so radically ? The explana tion lies in a study of psychological law, that the subconscious mind is so thoroughly im pressed in childhood that the impression is never eradicated , but remains a fixed and per en manent habit and belief through life . M are compelled to believe as they do by reason of the deep impression on the subconscious T mind . hese impressions are so strong that they color and warp everything that enters

i . into the mind thereafter, even education tself Thus education and training become merely o r servants of u earlier beliefs . T i cc hen, too , ecclesiastical author ties and 1 70 The M essage ofNew Thought

clesi astical reverence are important factors in silencing youthful minds from questionin g T what they are told . hey are taught that they

must accept the instruction given , as the final n t comma ds of authori y, and to make further e inquiries would tempt the divine pati nce. These become deep and lasting impression s

on the subconscious mind , the tendencies of which a re to preclude further inquiries in l ater years . A s long as the world continues to cu ng to the idea that some men are clothed with ex clusive t authori y to teach truth , or that their t so authori y cannot be questioned , long will they be able to fasten beliefs upon the human mind that reason and judgment cannot dis lodge or eradicate . So long as the child is taught that it is dan gerous to think except as his Spiritual advisers tell him and that he must accept their inter retation has so p of what been written , long will he refuse to see or accept truth o r enlarge i his h s conceptions of truth . Whatever intel is lectual attainments may be , he likely to

M r. remain a spiritual slave . Larson has well “ said , When you accept anything as final , you bring your mind to a standstill in that Sphere

CHAPTER I '

ETHICS OF THE CREEDS

Be e in m n s is the on e the n t causes li f li itatio , o ly thing, tha m ec use we us m ess m u the c e e li itation , b a th i pr li itation pon r ativ c e an d a s we e e s e our prin ipl ; in proportion lay that b li f a id , u r es w ex an c e s e an d m e un d t bo nda i ill p d, in r a ing lif or ab an w ” blessing ill be ours.

I N l i view of our know edge of the law of m nd, law the power of thought, and the undeviating of of suggestion , as revealed by a study mod s of ern p ychology, and the influence thought f sub as af ecting character and personality, the ject of what should be taught to growing

minds becomes a topic of universal interest . More especially do these questions rise to a profound degree ofimportance when they are considered and analyzed in reference to re li ious g thought and training . The consideration of this line o f thought r suggests an inqui y of the deepest con cern . Has the religious instruction of the past been of that healthful and constructive kind that leads to the highest mo ral and Spiritual devel 172 Ethics of the Creeds 1 73

opm en t? H as it been creative in its tenden cies and effectual in developing the highest personali ty in man ? H as it been at all times ethical and conducive to a strong and robust morality ? What effect have these teachings had on the development of character ? We should be able to approach the study of these

questions with open and impartial minds , and bring to the discussion the Spirit of fairness which the consideration of such questions re

quires for an intelligent solution . There can be no reason why these questions should not be treated with the same unbiassed judgment that we bring to bear on the solu

tion of all secular questions . No i so nstitution is venerable , or clothed

about with such authority , that it should not be willing to invite an examination of its un

derlyin g principles and a study of its methods . N o institution , whether encompassed by tra di ion s be° im m un e t or not, should from a fair investigation o r a just and intelligent criticism T is by thoughtful men in every age . ime the l l great leveler, and u timately men p ace a just

estimate upon all institutions . It has been truthfully said : Humanity has never really had but one religion and on e 1 74 The M essage ofNew Thought

T worship . his universal light has had its n its s uncertai mirages , deceitful deflection , and its shadows ; but always after the n ights of see an d error we it reappear, one pure ” s like the un . It is not necessary to confine our investigations to the religious teachings of the past . We may with equal propriety direct our inquiries to a consideration of the religious instruction still administered to the young and to ceremonials and rituals con stan l T ff t y observed and practiced . hey o er an interesting field for psychological study T who and metaphysical investigation . hose assume the right and authori ty to administer religious instruction seem either to have never given study and thought to the great lessons s l ll o e of modern p ycho ogy, or who y to ign r f i T the ef ect of ts teaching . hey seem to dwell a n in the p st, ignoring the truths that moder io psychology brings to men , a revelat n and knowledge of his own mind and soul that ought to be heeded by all who assume the

responsibility of presenting religious thought . Th o e neophyte is taught that a Clean , m ral , of upright life , with the strict observance the l Golden Rule, a one will not answer his needs ; that a religion of works is not sufficient for

1 76 The M essage ofNew Thought less have a supreme faith in creeds an d dogmas . It has been said, whether truth or is n ot for t fully not vouched , tha with on e exception eve ry murdere r ever executed in the city of Chicago had a supreme faith and belief in the whole doctrine ofthe atone ment . Since faith or belief is not n ecessarily h ed linked wit character, but may be exercis s it is by men who are stranger thereto, dan geron s teaching to make faith the supreme ’ fact of man s existence . Belief is a Slender on foun da prop , unless reared the enduring of t . ions morality, character, and manhood The truths of psychology are Slow in mak ing their way against established religious customs . We observe that public oral con fessions of wickedness , depravity, and weak ness are constantly made by religious worship ers as a part of the recognized and established T i public worship . hey publicly confess the r a manifold sins , accompanied with the declar tion that they are without health or strength . The idea seems to prevail that the worshiper can l only approach God , and that God wil in only listen , when the worshiper comes T the attitude of a spiritual mendicant . hese Ethics of th e Creeds 1 77

e e r c r monials and ituals , adopted hundreds of s was u n year ago, when psychology nknow e was and wh n metaphysics a jargon , are still revered and preserved on account of their antiquity and because they were adopted by i the authority of an institution . What s an institution but “the lengthened shadow of one man ?” These ceremonies called worship are af fi rm ation s s con and sugge tions , made by the The scious to the subconscious mind . laws of psychology reveal thei r effect upon the T subconscious mind . hey are seeds sown in he l t subconscious , and wil bring forth fruit in abundance after their own kind . If they are not spoken with ‘ tender feeling and from l the innermost depths of the sou , they are idle and useless exercises and become as sounding o l brass r a tink ing cymbal . If they are not poured forth from the fountains of a sincere heart, however sonorous their utterance, they h a r must fail to reach t e divine c . If they

Spring from the innermost depths of feeling, with the spirit of true devotion, they become of t seeds weakness , depravi y, and disease, in he h planted t subconscious , whic by an ll unerring metaphysical law wi germinate, 1 78 The M essage ofNew Thought

an d r a ar e l e o the grow, p oduce h v st ik unt seed sown . These conceptions of worship o riginated from thinking of God as a monarch seated a n e r b on distant thro e, s parated f om man y a r r n e gulf, and man app oaching the th o s rv n d in a e ile a dependent attitude. A l though Jesus came teaching a religion o f the m an democracy, brotherhood of , and the et the h as Kingdom of God within , y church continued to cling to and conduct its wo rship on n the monarchical pla and idea . True worship is n ot a confession of wea k

t . s m an ness and depravi y God doe not want , H is own e created in imag , to worship Him o r in in fear the attitude of a culprit. Jesus his instructed followers , when they prayed, o the an d to g into Silence Shut the door, but did n ot tell them to debase themselves in ’ God s presence . It is a strange conception also to thin k of pleasing God by a stately worship of pomp Th . e n and circumstance great soul , feeli g of the throbbing pulse the divine within , od walks and talks with God . It realizes G as an enveloping presence, sweet as the e f breath of ternal spring, bringing inef able

1 80 The M essage ofNew Thought

i . s light, health , and strength It look w thin , th e l s it comes into touch with universa oul , it finds joy and serenity and th at peace that is n o surpasseth th e understanding. Health t brought to th e body by thinking or talkin g of disease ; n eith er is peace brought to the sin soul by thinking or talking of . These perverted ideas of worship grow out of the erroneous idea th at God and m an are Th separated by a gulf . e th eologians said was t man weak, indigent, and sinful , and hat he must look outward and elsewhere for t t i light, heal h, and strength , ra her than nto hi l T th e depths of s own infinite sou . hey s clothed God with vanitie , like a temporal H is despot, jealous of His subjects , own chil H is dren , and that He will not bestow bene fi ts has H im until man pleased , either by a worship of craven humility or by that of pomp and splendor . These are the fruits of ’ r the theological conception of man s fall , o ig Sin inal , and his separation from God . t tur In the beginning of the wentieth cen y, as we look forth into the world and th ere observe the constant increase of crime and an d insanity , the depravity , poverty , disease, r ou wretchedness eve ywhere apparent, did y Ethics of the Creeds 1 8 1 ever pause and ask for the cause of these conditions ? Why is not man a more nearly perfect being ? What accounts for this in e crease of crime and insanity , now stablished by statistical and indisputable proofs ? The question recurs again and again , in this age of general education and enlightenment. Why is this so ?

There must be a cause for these effects . The theologian would say the devil is getting the upper hand of God ; that man has ceased to be religious and neglects the religious r con sanctua y. He would attribute present dition s to the evil that Adam brought into l ’ the wor d , now manifesting itself in men s lives . T e hes explanations , or any other we might re ceive from the theologian, might have ffi or su ced in medieval times , in an age of his theology, when man farmed out thinking to the Spiritual advisers and accepted the of commands ecclesiastical authority, but they will not answer the requirements of an Th age of thought and reason . e reasoning faculties of man require a more rational so lu ion Th t . e thinkin g man looks for a deeper cause and cannot bend hi s mind to such 1 82 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

H is his ex sophistical explanations . reason , erien ce s his s ul p , and the intuition of own o T is l reveal to him another cause . his a socia ofth e problem, engaging the attention world , and refo rms will be of small avail until the i true cause s found . are Psychology, science , and enlightenment as i fast exposing this , many other fallac es of the past, supposed to be conclusively estab lish N t o r ed. o hing is final conclusive but in stitu truth , a fact which some religious or tions seem never to have grasped , at least ’ The s n ever ackn owledged . key to a man life is his thought. Thought makes character .

Thought develops the soul . Thought makes T the man . hought is expressed in the per li T or is son a t . y hought, either good bad , ’ manifested in all men s lives . Never did Emerson Speak more wisely “ than when he s aid : He who knows that is power is in the soul , that he weak only because he has looked for good out of him so s and elsewhere , and perceiving, throw on own himself unhesitatingly his thought, s instantly rights himself, tands in the erect

. M en position , works miracles have looked outward and elsewhere and have depended

1 84 The M essage ofNew Thought given man strength to contend with and m as ter the forces with which he is surrounded ? The church has always claimed the prerog ative of providing the spiritual education of man . It always begins with the plastic mind h s o . a c n of childhood It told the child , and tin ues is to tell man in mature life , that he in th e inherently bad , weak, and a worm sin is his is a dust ; that natural state , that he fallen being, and has no power within him s tw elf , but must look ou ard and to another hi n for all s help and strength . He has bee taught that only as he believes in a vicarious atonement can he hope to escape th e con se q uen ces ofhis own sinful nature and tenden cies and be reconciled to and find harmony with God ; that to find a secure place in a future world is the supreme purpose and aim in life . The has great theme of theology been, can t what man do to be saved , instead of wha can he do to make life beautiful , true, and — T good a life worth while . hese theological ideas have been set forth in catechisms pre pared for the young, in order that in early life , before reasoning was mature , they might T become fixed , settled , and established . hat Ethics of the Creeds 1 85 these theological tenets might sink deep into r youthful minds , it was made compulso y that r they be thoroughly committed to memo y. They were also taught that if they believed and repented of their sins and wrongdoings , whatever they might be, they would all be blotted out and remembered against them no T more . hey were told that they were weak and indigent and that there was only one power to rescue them from their lost con was dition , and that in repentance and a belief in the vicarious atonement . What should be expected of the boy or girl Starting out in life burdened with such thoughts and ideas ? They are suggestions of n re weak ess and depravity , impressed upon ce tive sub p minds , sinking deep into the s con cious , there to germinate , grow, and work throughout the years of their lives . Bur den ed with such teaching, would you expect the boy or girl to develop character, to be to the n n brave , and to be strong meet co te d in g forces of life ? At th is point we must not lose sight of the great truth that there is an unerring meta physical law that regulates the force and ef fect ofeach thought impressed upon the sub 1 86 The M essage ofNew Thought conscious mind ; th at whatever is sown will grow ; that each thought and impression is a seed that will bring fo rth fruit after its kind and will find expression in the life an d personality of the individual . T aught moral weakness, would you look for moral strength ? Taught that they were sinful by nature , have you a right to expect ? T b e goodness aught fear, how could they ? T brave aught dependence , should you look ? I n for independence, character, and virtue — structed that a belief and confession a cer — tain mental conclusion would relieve them of the consequences of a misspent life, would set f in aside the laws of cause and ef ect, the en tive i Th c to an ideal life s removed . e C he proverb says , all one a thief and will steal . “ D : h Christian . Larson says T e knowl edge that counts is not the knowledge of evil , nor facts about the missteps of man , but that knowledge that informs us how man may bring forth the greatness and the beauty that The s are latent Within . kn owledge that count is not the knowledge that tells us how to avoid the wrong, but how to increase the power of the good .

1 88 The M essage ofNew Thought

h as n processes of nature . She her actions a d she has er reactions , her Springtime and summ t win of life and grow h, and her autumn and ter of death and decay. She has her season the for the bursting bud, also for falling N e leaf . ature symbolizes th se two principles s l in colors . Green symbolize ife and growth ; the yellow betokens death and decay. Nature has endowed man with a will th at must determine by which of these contending he e h principles will be controlled , wheth r t e positive and the building or the n egative and the unbuilding . Whatever strengthen s is n s i the will constructive, whatever weake t is destructive . Whatever prompts man to step forward and upward is constructive ; whatever induces him to step backward is destructive . Whatever points man toward self- maste ry is constructive ; whatever tempts him to submit to his baser nature is destruc

- tive . Whatever increases self reliance and confidence in his own powers is constructive ; whatever takes away self - reliance and causes man to rely on others is destructive . What ever produces in man the consciousness of the indomitable forces of his own soul is constructive ; whatever inspires man with a Ethics of the Creeds 1 89 sense of weakness and inferiority is negative

and destructive . Whatever establishes a Spir ’ itual paternalism over man s soul to be exer cised by others weakens his moral fiber and makes him a slave of external forces . The r instruction given to man, whethe r or is eligious secular, valuable or otherwise according as it strengthens the on e or the E other of these contending principles . duca tion th at augments the power of the will is constructive ; that which weakens it is de

s . is tructive Applying this test, it plainly ’ apparent that the greater part of man s re ligious instruction has had the direct tendency and effect of weakening and destroying his H is - power of will . will power being weak h as ened, he become defenseless and depend ent upon external influences , the victim of r superstition and the slave of fear. P ac tically the entire scope of man ’s religious

has . teaching been negative in character Fear, weakness , and moral depravity have been the ideals set before man . Even the Ten Com m an dm en ts are mostly negative and place before man ’s mind the evils they would have him refrain from . The more thoughtful of the orthodox 1 90 The M essage ofNew Thought clergy are now outspoken in th eir declara tions that we cannot make men good an d s r c be trong, that characte annot developed, by repeating to th em the negative comman d T ments . he lawgiver from whom Moses bo rrowed th e Ten Commandments might have told man to be honest, instead of not i . s s to steal When a man honest, he doe not ’ n i i n wa t to steal . When kindness s n a ma s heart, he does not want to murder. What the world needs is more positive teaching M en and less negative. and children alike ’ n o are t made good and strong by don ts . Negative rules of conduct do n ot build char wom acter, do not develop manhood and n hoo T a d. hese qualities are built up only as the latent divinity and forces with in are called forth into expression an d activity. on e i But, some says, your character zation ofthe quality of theological instruction is not borne out by observable and recognized re s lts u . Look at the vast array of noble men re and women living model religious lives, vealing the sublimest examples of manhood t e and womanhood, who have received the i iou T l g s instruction you now criticise . hei r

1 9 2 The M essa ge ofNew Thought est ideals before the world ; we must n ot forget also that they have at times set the has es e n lowest. If man tablish d a fair sta d n ot t a so ard of Civilization, we must forge l the relentless religious wars fought in the n ame of the Prince of Peace . Civilization was not even a n ame when religious institutions controlled the lives and welfare of men . Whenever these institutions h the were supreme in power, t ey were ever faithful allies of tyrannies and despotism . They remain so to day in certain countries an l of the world . M has made social and civi advancement only as he broke away from of s the restraining influences these institution , only as he exercised independent thought an d

as . action, only he felt the spirit of democracy The Christian nations have had the highes t ideals before them by which to direct thei r r work . When divested of eve y vestige of s theology, the life and simple utterance of Jesus have been the great example befo re o n r the eyes f m a . With a perfect unde of of standing the laws life , he presented the completest ideal and type of manhood the world has yet observed . For nearly two thousand years that idea' h as stood before Ethics of the Creeds 1 93 man as the most potent influence in molding his oh life, in spite of the hindrances and struction s thrown around it by the ingenious T oh subtleties of the theologians . hey have scured the idea'by theological perplexities and limitations . They raised him to a pin l n ac e to which man could not hope to aspire . They separated him from man by a gulf so wide that man could never hope to bridge it . N t has o withstanding all this , man been led by that great ideal into a truer realization of the brotherhood of man and to a higher and better conception of life an d his rela T tion to God . heologians told man to wor ship Jesus , rather than to follow his foot o steps . Jesus directed man what t do ; th ey told him what to believe . The purpose oftheology was to make man religious by fear . It labeled him with the of mark an outcast . It held before him the of threat eternal punishment, as the motive for a religious life . It prescribed a belief and repentance as the antidote for what they ’ termed man s lost condition . Fear never developed virtue or established moral char acter. Fear has ever been the fruitful mother ’ of re man s woes and misfortunes . Fear 1 94 The M essage ofNew Thought

ards n t l t all growth, whether physical , me a , e l o r spiritual . Science and experiment rev a it as a source of physical weakn ess an d as r s the prolific mother of disease . It dest oy r th e power of will ; it is the enemy of p rog ess . It chills eve ry worthy and benevolent im pulse in man . on e Do in n e Some asks , you believe the ato ? ment Not in a vicarious atonement. I would feel myself debased to cast my Sins and offenses on that Gentle Soul who never had a thought but love and kindness for man . in t If I believed the vicarious atonemen , I would have to believe in the separation of r h as God and man, which eve y one who is caught the inner vision knows only a fable , i . s and a superstition God universal , God is was omnipresent, God dwells in man, God never separated from man except in belief except as he follows the false light set up by e an Augustine, to make a vicarious atonem nt possible . Do in ? 'es in I believe an atonement , a real atonement ; each soul has its own atone ment . It must be purged of the dross and su erfluities can p of life , before it become Th i pure . e atonement s finished when the

CHAPTER '

ETHICS or NEW THOUGHT

“ ru is the On e ea the u e se the I w H a r T th r lity in niv r , n ard N m the Pe ect us ce the e e L e. can be ony, rf J ti , t rnal ov othing I e u a e to n or e m . t es e an dd d it, tak n fro it do not d p nd pon y ”— i N D . man , but all m en depend upon t. SWA H I VIVEKE AN A

THE supreme purpose of religion is to teach E h s t e man to live a normal life . t ic and ligion cannot be divorced ; they go hand in

t . hand , they supplement each o her T he best religion teaches the purest ethics. n Only from true religion ca pure ethics flow . The is religion that not ethical , that does not teach the highest morality, is not true . When o f u h we discover a religion absolute tr t , we shall possess a code of perfect ethics . T is ruth is constructive ; error destructive. T is is ruth alone ethical ; error unethical . T ruth expands the mind ; error contracts it . Truth alone prepares the mind for the re ce tion o f p more truth ; error, however inno cen tl un fi ts y espoused , it for the reception o f E truth . rror repels truth ; it invites mo re 196 Ethics ofNew Tho ught 1 97

T con error . ruth broadens the mind ; error T fuses and weakens it . ruth builds moral T character ; error tears it down . ruth eman s cipates man ; error enslave him . “ Frank Crane observes that There is only one thing in the universe of men and near is of men that always good , full health , sound of ness, and peace , whose apples are the sub stance o f the soul and whose leaves are fo r the t healing of the nations , and that hing ” T h s is is truth . heosophy a well said there has no religion higher than truth . Another “ s T is o fGod aid , ruth the property the pur i suit of truth s what belongs to man . Goethe “ wrote : It is not necessary that the truth be made clear ; it is enough if it hovers about us like a Spirit and produces harmony ; if it vibrates through the air, gravely and kindly, ” like the sound of a bell . If the one great fact could be impressed

upon men , that they can only come into har as h mony with God they approach trut , and the nearer they get to truth the closer they

come to God , it would be of more value than all the theological dogmas spoken since time T on a h began . his e f ct would liberate the u man mind and send it on its joyous discovery 1 98 The M essa ge ofNew Tho ught

for the greatest of all treasures man can m an possess , truth . It would emancipate the from fixed and narrow beliefs , which are real hindrances to the discove ry of more h his fo r th e trut . It would prepare mind reception and assimilation of larger ideas

and a broader understanding, the first steps

toward true p rogress and real life . When the theological mists and fogs which fo r so many centuries have hung like a pal' e over the race are dissolved and brushed asid , we find that real religion is the living a life. Religion that is kept for speculation and

theorizing and not for use is not religion . is h as Religion for use alone , and no man T is any that he does not use. hat religion best that fashions men ’s lives by the highest of t — ideals truth , justice, and morali y that inspires the mind to reach out for still higher conceptions of truth . To h s lead man into an onest, industriou , moral , and unselfish life, to bring him into d harmony with the laws of nature , to buil his is character, to develop Spiritual nature, the supreme end of all philosophies an d all N s religions . ature and truth are the basi of ’ on e his in man s life, and th m man and all

200 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

is m ore exalted ethical standards . It true t o r e t hat positive beliefs , more prop rly fai h , h are essential to all growt and developmen t. ’ The s our own illim i belief in one self , in t able possibilities and the universal law of f of the se cause and ef ect, the justice univer , a re o the good in other men, essential t all true progress and th e symmetrical develop “Th i ment of man . e fearful unbelief s the ”

C . unbelief in myself, says arlyle For fifteen hundred years or more theology has th e dealt in negative beliefs, belief in ’ in si n ifi can ce his in man s g , weakness, and a t his own bili y to build character, and now as o f the light reason reveals man to himself, his and the potentialities of own soul , they

lament the decay and loss of those beliefs . Their contracted vision sees only darkness M en h e in the Spiritual Sky . of t ought s e h as e growt and development, such beliefs fad

and disappear . The masters of thought in all ages taught man how to live, how to act, not what to T believe . hey were content to give man

e . rules for living, not formulas for b lieving The Gentle Seer of Galilee laid down few ’ re rules for man s guidance, but they all Ethics ofNew Thought 20 1‘

The his e h lated to conduct . essence of t ac H is direc in was re . g alization, not belief e so e so e tions w re simpl , few, that men hav overlooked them o r said they were im prac ticable in a practical age . His whole life and career was one grand protest against form u l as and rules . He was the greatest heretic h of his age . Were he to return to eart again, h The t e present church would so brand him . essence of all his teaching is embraced in the on e incomparable statement, Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you , do ye even

so t . to hem How simple , how fair, how

s . equitable, how explicit and easily under tood There was never a truer expression or com le r p te definition of the term justice. Did t you ever Stop to think what cruel y, wrongs , and bloodshed would have been spared the race if this simple rule had been e e observed , ven by thos who pretended to be the followers of him who gave it to the world ? In modern times we call this rule h i t e . ts square deal A gleam of wisdom, e utility, and justic is beginning to penetrate ’ is e the men s minds . It not only influ ncing s of mind individuals , but also governments , I is h s s . t t e tate , and political institutions 202 The M essage ofNew Th o ught

basis of all movements to abolish war an d i h bring about international peace . I t s t e f ll o a r . N o s foundation t ue diplomacy ati n , as see individuals , that it does not pay to “ i s r s The e v olate thi ule of ju tice. dic of ” r God a e loaded . Selfishn ess is the fruitful cause of all vi i c ous and culpable conduct . Jesus undertook to tell man how to eradicate selfi shness an d r H is was emove it from his life . antidote

e e on e e. r xpress d in word , Lov Love you for e was the e enemies, return good vil, acm of his thought.

Self is the only prison that can ever bind the soul ; is h an h e u l Truth t e only angel that c bid t e gat s nrol .

Never was a completer code of ethics given

to m an than in the S ermon on the Mount .

I ts principles are true to th e laws of nature . Their bare statement is a demonstration of h t w o re s . heir truth, to him thinks and a ons Their truth and wisdom intuitively flash upon T the soul . hey embody the wisest rules pos ’ s . ible, for the solution of all life s problems They give man the key to a life of honest

of o f . purpose, a life success, and a life power The Golden Rule is the best business

204 The M essa ge ofNew Th ought

The h betterment of man . Sermon on t e Mount is a standing pro test against much of h of M n i t e code Moses . a s not made b ette r by the practice of c ruelty or the exhibition of is u o he s revenge . Morality not thr st int t oul an on the point of a sword . M can only be s hi made moral a he changes s thought. Until his m his be thoughts are oral , life cannot moral . s n or Yet the world did not believe Jesu , his do professed followers believe him, even Our to this day. Christian civilizations still follow the law ofMoses and reject the teach ings of Jesus . Society still persists in mur dering men , because they murdered other men . We still practice the law of retaliation , lex ta lion is the , an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth .

When did the orthodox churches , whether C C Greek atholic , Roman atholic , or Protes tant, ever enter a protest against the horrible spectacle of capital punishment ? We assume the right of taking human life , which God only can give . Society, in sending the homi or cide to the gallows the electric chair, effectually declares him unfit to live in their commonwealth , although deprived of citizen Ethics ofNew Thought 205 ship an d confined behind bars at hard labor for the remainder o f his life ; yet it always i-tn lores t e p God to accept him in heaven, re his e t he sto d to lib r y and citizenship , that may there become a resident and permanent e is d inhabitant. Soci ty says he not goo e us e s as nough for , but recomm nd him worthy of a place in heaven . What would Jesus say to the proposition h of anging or electrocuting men, who said to “ ?” C the woman , Go, sin no more ould you of r conceive him installing an electric chai , ’ ? say or . adjusting the hangman s noose You is ? this blasphemy. Is it Jesus never shrank

from the performance of a duty . He would not enact a law that he was n ot willing to

execute . H as any religious convention or confer ence or synod or any of their branches ever raised a voice against capital punishment ? The horrible tragedies are still enacted , ex

cept where certain American states , realizing

the folly and atrocity of the system , have l abolished it by egislative enactment. At any time during the last thousand years the C its hurch could have caused abolishment, so C M had it desired , but the hurch loved oses 206 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

i more than Jesus . We read of s x thousand executions in on e nation during one adm in is tration C a re , although the hurch and State is as united . It only men have broken away from Church domination and become inde t e e r e pendent, hat they hav b come cha itabl enough to abolish the death penalty even for

larceny. Our whole system of criminal law is based h M on t e law of Moses . We follow oses i T e u nstead of Jesus . h ir tterances cannot h i both be true . If t e law of retaliation s M right, because oses said so , why not follow all his laws? Why not sacrifice with burnt offerings ? For did not Moses so direct ?

When our forefathers killed witches, they had the sanction of Moses and no doubt h depended upon him for authority. It as h been s aid that we are governed by t e dead . bu We are not only governed by the dead, t by those who have been dead four thousand years . A s long as law sanctions a system of retal iation , cruelty, and hate, and practices meth ods e is of getting even , what kind of id als it setting before the individual ? Must the indi vidual rise above the Standards and prae

208 The M essa ge ofNew Tho ught

h s r Th n criminal t ought into ou minds . e o ly i reform s to reform the mind . can ? Some one asks, How I love my enemy The is the e answer simple enough , a com li h n h p s m e t is easy. If you banish atred and m alice from your mind , if you treat other as men you want them to treat you , you will e have no enemies . If you have enemies , blam yourself , you made them . ’ The great lesson for man s consideration is that we are under the control of a Simple

n . yet inexorable law . We get what we se d We govern not only the thoughts we send

us as . forth , but those that return to well Our argosies come homeward bound , laden with the same kind o f merchandise as on

tw . their ou ard voyage John Burroughs sang, “ My own shall come to me . Henry Victor Morgan has beautifully and truthfully writ ten :

There comes to my heart more and more s i fi e S us Thi n nit pirit of tr t, i S e e - see s That n pit of all arth ming wrong , i The universe ever s j ust .

No e e the l e matt r how h avy oad, nor how bitt r the s we e w trial hav kno n , u e c us e the ust Tho gh brok n and r h d in d ,

We are reaping j ust what we have sown . Ethics ofNew Th ought 209

We attract the people who are attracting

us. If we are worthy, we count the worthy T is r as our friends . here also a law of e The pulsion . We repel what we are not. h onest man does not attract the criminal , nor en vice versa . M foolishly think that the law of giving as taught by Jesus related only to A s money o r tangible property . usual they Th misunderstood his meaning . e law as stated has by him embraces everything man to give , whether money, tangible property, kindness , h o r sympat y, charity . It likewise includes r the opposite , hatred , malice, envy, and eve y h evil t ought the mind sends forth .

Give and ye shall receive . How simple s ' the tatement, yet how profound the law How lightly h as the world valued this great i utterance ' Nature s evenly balanced . We c can annot disturb her equilibrium, but we

. us fail to find our own If men value , it is because they see value in us. We weigh ourselves ; we judge our own qualities and defects ; we record the verdict, other men read it. The h e is et ical l sson of greatest value this , is that man under the dominion of law, that he cann ot escape the consequences of his own 2 1 0 The M essage ofNew Thought

E r thoughts an d acts. ve y unworthy deed its e r brings own punishment, and likewis eve y h i s ow worthy act as t n reward . Some on e has we n ot fo r wisely said , are punished our “

our . s : The Sins , but by Sins Pindar ang Gods themselves cannot annihilate the actio n ” that is done . Most creeds have mistakenly taught man that he is punished by some be s a s ing outside himself, ometimes capriciou T and changeable being . hey have devised ingenious methods by which they thought he might escape the consequences ofhis own i acts . Such teaching s unethical and cannot produce high moral results . n i h M a s both t e actor and the judge. He r must judge himself . He cannot escape e th n sponsibility . Responsibility is e foundatio of all moral teaching . Without it man can not develop character, and without character of there cannot be any high order morality .

T - T h hese are self evident truths . his is t e only creed worth while . It gives strength for worthy living ; it impels us to a realiza tion of our best and leads to honest thinking, honest deeds and honest lives . Since we can never get beyond the law of f cause and ef ect, and because absolute

2 1 2 The M essage ofNew Th ought you make better men and women ? Do you give men something worthy an d uplifting to carry into their daily tasks ? Do you work well in eve ry- day affairs ? D o you help m en to solve properly and wisely their life p rob lems ? Do you set before them the highest ? motive for honest, upright, and moral living Do you place before men the highest ethical standards ? D o you reveal to man the limit less powers within himself ? Do you make has n plain that he must reap what he sow , and must accept the consequences of his own thoughts and deeds ? s If your religion, your philosophy, creed or dogmas unequivocally comply with thes e as e tests , pragmatism will accept them tru . as e If they do not, it will reject them untru ; are if your theories are not true , they not ethical . If they do not come up to the Stand se ard of truth , you have no right to impo

M . them upon man . ake good or quit talking N0 religion should be encouraged which does con struc not make man strong, that does not tively develop his best qualities and point him unerringly to the highest standards . Pragmatic philosophy demands of all t e li ion s — an d g three qualities truth, utility, Ethics ofNew Th ought 2 1 3

Ne T morality . w hought invites these tests to all its teachings , to which all philosophies , e religions , dogmas , and creeds must ultimat l of y submit their claims . What is true of men is also true religions , philosophies , and creeds , they must be known by their e f the fruits , by th ir ef ects upon lives and characters of men . The final test of a creed is not whether it has remained unchanged for hundreds of is years , but whether it giving men and women strength to resist the temptations of life and build unassailabl e moral Characters . This is a utilitarian age in more senses than on e The - . religions of to day must bow to is this requirement . Whatever unethical , whatever tends to weaken the moral fiber of e man , whatever would reliev the individual of t responsibili y, whatever belittles man , whatever seeks to sap the foundation of the of f law cause and ef ect, finds no place in the code and philosophy of New Thought . New Thought proclaims a religion for to a day, religion of life, a constructive religion, a religion founded on the highest principles of morality, a religion that brings man into harmony with nature and God . 2 1 4 The M essa ge ofNew Th ought

M an to e u cannot be brought practic virt e , o r a moral life, either by fear or cruelty , but only as his thought comes into harmony with as e s that kind of a life , only his d sire prompt so i him to live it. Whatever awakens in h m ofhis own an d he the consciousness divinity, t e possibilities of great r and better things , is whatever leads him on the upward path , a long step toward a no rmal moral and relig ious life. When that consciousness takes hold of e man , he becomes moral and r ligious by of u e choice , he lives that kind a life beca s is er it attractive , because it leads him to bett an d things , because it brings him peace plenty and into harmony with God.

2 1 6 The M essage ofNew Thought

of strained imagination , fanned by the fires e ignorance and superstition, they hav given f o him powers second only to those o G d. The histo ry of the Christian Church has been the history of Satan . Borrowing the idea of t evil from ancient pagan superstitions , hey have cultivated and fostered it, magnified m and strengthened it, until in the deliriu of their superstition they represented it as in car n ated an d in a being active , powerful , possess ing all the destructive instincts of a demon . While they thus exalted Satan to this high he Station, they at the same time told man an d was weak, unworthy, sinful by nature , unable to cope with Satan or resist his temp i T tat on s. heology somehow never brought of m n peace and good cheer to the heart a . It has hung like a somber pall over his life I o e . ut of and destiny . t has Shut the sunshin

o . M an d j y, beauty, and gladness has tolerate d it through fear alone , not because he love or respected it . It has always wandered of the h through the valley Shadow of deat , of rather than over the hills light and beauty. ’ It has cast its darkened shadow over life s e the pathway, rather than to illumin it with of rays joy and hope . Voices ofNew Thought

T e of h ologians thought of evil , talked evil , and meditated upon evil , until it had a fixed T abode in the human imagination . hey dwelt upon evil more than upon the good . They were not aware that they were giving Strength to the supposed enemy against which The they inveighed and contended . slogan has ever been how to fight the devil , how to T overcome evil . hey said good could only prevail when Satan had been dethroned and evil had been put underfoot and demolished . The theologian always approached the problem from the wrong angle . He pre ferred to be a destroyer rather than a builder, and as a consequence he not only did not de s e troy evil , but he gave it added forc and power by magnifying its importance and hi exalting its standard . He gave s thought o n con t evil till it became a habit. He u sciously grew into the likeness of the so E called monster he sought to destroy . ven M artin Luther could follow this phantom , until in his frenzy he could hurl an inkstand at an imaginary fiend . He surpassed even the imagination of the Catholic Church in clothing Satan with importance . The e s ofNew T conc ption hought, regard 2 1 8 The M essage ofNew Thought

’ its ing evil and influence on men s lives, are widely at variance with these theological i views . Its estimate of evil s less exalted than that accorded to it by theology. It recognizes evil only as the absence of good and as possessing only negative qualities ,

. e functions , and powers It do s not regard e as vil a positive force or entity, but, more properly speaking, a misdirected energy, f o . b e force , or power, good itself It may said to be an improper use of a power that

is . e s in itself good In fact all forc s , power , and energies in the universe are created fo r good purposes and are good in themselves. It is only as they are improperly applied and misdirected that they become evil or “E . e other than good vil is merely privativ , is is not absolute ; it like cold, which the ” absence of heat . The principl e may be illustrated as fol lows : The purpose of each of two individuals n is ultimate happiness . O e seeks it by en er f - gy, honest ef ort, and self denial , resulting in a prosperous , contented , and peaceful life . Th H e other has a different plan in life . e t seeks the same end , but by the employmen his - in tem of wits , tricks , self indulgence , and

220 The M essage ofNew Th ought

M an has been taught to think of a devil d has a x an fear a devil , until he fi ed place in Th e his imagination . e th ological teaching has always impressed the subconscious mind with the imaginative force and power of Th o . e f evil theologian , ignorant the prin ci les of n p of psychology and the laws mi d , has impressed these negative thoughts upon the subconscious mind until the thought o f ev its h as the il , force and power, become settled habit of man . The mind gives life to conditions to which i sow e consciousness s directed . If we negativ the thoughts in subconscious , we shall reap negative results . When we consciously dwell e e upon the subject of evil , we give mor lif and power to evil . We grow into the like ness of that we think of most . We are shaped in the molds of our own thought. We take on the character of that which most engages T i . s a our attention his a scientific fact, a e basic law, vital truth in the study of th se problems . It is therefore evident that any system of thought or training that gives the least attention possible to evil and as much attention as possible to good , will directly les sen every form of evil and increase every of form good . Voices ofNew Thought 22 1

The best way to overcome the devil is to ignore him and do good ; he will then be

come good himself . We cannot expel dark

ness from a room by fighting it, but only by i letting in more light . Light s the only solvent for darkness ; good is the only solvent

for evil . “ Emerson says : Nerve us with incessant ’

fi . D af rmations on t bark against the bad , but ” chant the beauties of the good . E xcept as the individual , either actively o r passively, invites and entertains them , evil t so- houghts , called malicious animal magne tism r in flu , and similar imagina y powers and en ces find no place or recognition in the code New T To of hought. the man or woman of

character, of positive and normal thoughts , they are as harmless as the rustling of leaves i on another continent . It s only the man

of flabby mind , with negative and passive af characteristics and qualities , that can be f d Th ecte thereby . e world does not Show m arked advancement in thought by changing the name of devil to malicious animal mag s n eti m . Whether we continue to impress the subconscious with the existence of a force or entity called the devil o r malicious 222 The M essa ge ofNew Th ought animal magnetism can make little difference ; the weakening effects are the same . When man has learned that he has the power wi thin himself successfully to resist e all external influences , all imaginary and vil e forces , he will become a free man and ceas to be a slave to all such visiona ry forces . M an can only be free as he eliminates a n d banishes the last vestige of fear from his T i n . h s t mind hen only will soul expand , he only will he grow and develop into the of stature true manhood .

OPTIMISM

New Thought teaches a sane and healthy optimism . Optimism produces positive ef feets on character and a larger outlook o n o life . Pessimism dwarfs the s ul and un fi ts a man for the larger vision necessary for a successful and useful life . As we take a practical survey of life an d as men in their various walks , we observe a rule that optimistic and cheerful men suc ceed a n d , and by the same token gloomy Th pessimistic men end in failure . e opti s mist brings good cheer, joy, and happines

224 The M essage ofNew Th ought direct the seeming wrong an d bring success out of apparent failure. He lives in mental sunshine because he has learned how to make h hi own in things right . He as faith in s herent forces to accomplish desired results. is is n ot He does not say all good , when it good . He says , if things are not right, I will make them so . He does not deceive himself The true optimist has a supreme es faith coupled with untiring energy. He do u his best, and dwells in the happy conscio s hi w ness that s o n will come to him . The optimist looks for the divinity in man , the beauty in life, and worships the omni E r h as present, indwelling God . ve y man divine qualities , and he who seeks them will The r at be rewarded . qualities in eve y man a re tract like qualities in other men . If they good , they attract the good . If bad , they n the attract the bad . M a Silently radiates

- good to his fellow man . As man speaks to the e men through the soul , he awakens sam The qualities and instincts in their souls . divine responds to the divine . The conscious influence of man is small ; the unconscious power, the inner light, that is in silently radiates to other men , the real Voices ofNew Thought

fl en . uen ce in life . M receive what they give

If they give value , value is recognized and given in return . It is the law of giving . M en find their true place by what they ex in own press their lives , by the qualities they carry to their daily tasks . Our attitude toward life determines what T r we get out of it . he world catches ou smile and in return smiles back . If we carry to frowns the world , we are compensated with T e frowns . h optimist fills life with mental sunshine , he illumines the world with glad ness and joy . He carries good cheer to the of lives his fellows , he radiates hope and hi i peace from s life and personality. H s f presence stills the passions o men . He turns of n on the discords life into music . He u c sciousl y catches the rhythm of the universe , its he moves with eternal currents , he keeps of step with the vibrations nature , he breathes of hope , he finds the peace and harmonies life . When he passes over the great divide, he leaves the world a little better and life a little sweeter. 226 The M essage ofNew Thought

D EVELOPMENT OF MAN

The chief function of New Thought is to show the way for the symmetrical develop f Th ment o man . e riddle of the universe as would be of no value, except we apply the kn owledge thereby gained in the furthe r development ofourselves . Knowledge is but he of is fo r t plaything man, until it utilized his advancement. It gives value only as it i s used . The results of science are beneficial only as his e they help man in upward struggl . What is philosophy until it is distilled into wisdom and used to lead out and develop the higher and better qualities of man ? Re li ion e g is not normal , that does not conf r upon man a normal and symmetrical devel m n op e t. A religion that stops with a creed does n ot meet the important and essential n wants of man . M a is a triune being and — - requires a three fold development physical ,

. U mental , and spiritual ntil he is so devel i . U s oped , he is abnormal ntil he developed physically, mentally, and spiritually, he lacks some of the essential qualities of a well rounded man .

228 The M essage ofNew Thought

No was risk, therefore, incurred in laying T claim to their truth . hey could be estab lished as doctrines of the Church by an ap r the peal to ignorance and supe stition, under mighty weapon of ecclesiastical authority . But it was a dangerous assumption of power to the assert ability to heal , because unless it was th e made good and demonstrated , n false claim would be exploded . Assertio without fulfillment would bring derision and ridicule . Because the Church had departed from the teachings ofJesus and had become th e a commercialized institution, it had lost power to heal and dared n ot make such a o he claim t the world . T Church confined its efforts to a blind struggle for Spiritu a l n o development alone . Apparently it did t see the necessity fo r a symmetrical develop th e t ment, to round out and build perfec man . M an requires a perfect body as a suitabl e temple for the mind and a fit tabernacle fo r m he . u t soul Intellect, soul , and body are tually dependent . Healthful thoughts pro duce healthful impressions on the subco n

scious , which in turn give expression in The im healthful bodies . conscious mind Voices ofNew Thought 229

presses health, the subconscious expresses it . M ind and soul cannot properly express them n T selves i an imperfect body . he physical man , the intellectual man , the spiritual man , constitute the normally developed man . H e is i o alone the perfect nstrument f expression . Intellect is imperfect until it finds its ex pression in feeling, which the soul only can supply . Mind does not reach its zenith until i it has touched the universal , unt l the con scious mind h as come into touch with the Th subconscious . e soul only can give life and permanency to the utterances o f mind .

What the soul speaks , lives . What the intel ex resscs is lect p , untouched by the soul , only T fo r . h o a day e n e supplements the other . Thought is without power until it is E touched by an emotion . motion vitalizes thought, it gives it form , power, beauty, and The expression . message touched by the can soul be read and reread, and always new beauties and new meanings are revealed . The hi man that speaks from s soul is heard . Th i i e man that writes from h s soul s read . These are the immortals in the world of T thought . hese are the masters whose thoughts survive the ages . 230 The M essage ofNew Thought

A RELIGION FOR TO-DA'

New Thought is n ot a religion of yester da o r for o fo r y, a philosophy t morrow, but ’ - is to day. It a religion of life and for man s I i use. ts purpose s to teach man how to the e live now, and to find highest and b st

. Our e our d in life yesterdays are gon , to ay i “ i s . s here Yesterday only a dream, to ” is morrow only a vision . We cannot co n can u es trol the past, but we perform the d ti

o- To - - of t day. day will be the past to mor row e t , we can only mak it glorious by ac ing o- well t day.

the fl s e l e s is a t Away with im y id a, that if with a pa t en e t d d, ’ ’ e e s Now - n Now an d PaSt - e e s e e Th r o ly , no th r n v r d as has e e . a p t, it n d ’ Away with its obsolete story and all of its yesterday s sorrow ; ’ e e s - s e an d t of Th r only to day, almo t gon , in fron to an s to- rr day st d mo ow.

EUGENE F. W A RE.

On e trouble with the world is that we have of b - been living under religions y gone ages , o E instead of religions for t day. ach gen cration will practice a religion suited to the

23 2 The M essage ofNew Thought the decline of church attendance and the r has easons therefor, but the true reason ever been stated ? When the Church utters its thoughts suited to this age , sanctuaries will en as - fo r be crowded . M are hungry to day h ob Spiritual food as ever in t e past . They j ect to the quality that is set before them . We hear much about standing by the relig ion ofour fathers , and books have been writ is r ten o n that subject . It said if their eligion was good enough for them, it is good enough T is on for us . hat argument based senti ment alone . If we had always observed that principle , we should still be living in the stone age and worshiping stone idols . We honor our fathers for the virtues they devel o T ped under their religions . hey walked by he t best light they had . Must we walk by the ? same light, when we have found a better Who knows but they would be traveling ? by the new light, were they here Jesus of his as broke away from the God fathers , every great and illumined soul has done . We have heard nothing but the history o f revelation to other men and those only who

lived in the dim ages of the past . We wan t of us of his a revelation God to , instead the Voices ofNew Thought 233

o t ry of a revelation to others . Why should n ot God reveal himself to - day as much as in any age ofthe past ? H as the gulf widened tw so God be een man and God, that refuses longer to reveal himself ? Are there none worthy to receive the divine message ? M e n still need light . Why should God cease to bestow it ? God reveals himself to as man the same in the ages past. He speaks

through the same symbols as he ever did . If t we read hem aright, we must see and know

God. we can l If we listen, hear the stil

small voice . The outer forms of creation reveal the in E b his . e ward and spiritual merson, as cast eyes over the landscape bathed in the mellow of sun was sa rays the setting , heard to y, “ Go d is was o be . t , all God Life meant and can be made a beautiful and grand real i r ty. To those who have caught the inne v of isions the soul , nature forever yields a o message of light, a panorama of j y and glad ness . Listen to the evidence of Helen Keller, “ who sees only with the inner vision : The Splendor of the sunset my friends gaze at is across the purpling hills wonderful, but the sunset of my inner vision brings purer 234 The M essage ofNew Thought

is delight, because it the worshipful blending of all the beauty that we have kn own or de i s red . To s of him who sees , the star heaven are e is e nvoys of beauty, the landscape a pictur can The no artist paint. spheres circling in their orbits and the return of the seasons he T is speak divine order and wisdom . here ever a music of nature to the listenin g ca r. ’ When man s inner and outward senses are all ture harmonized, he sees sublimi ty in na , he hears the voice of God .

The ur s u e cl foot t n p no barr n od, u But ha th pon it written God .

The of is learn to i e great secret life to , l v ’ The in harmony with nature s laws . laws of ’ of fo r nature are the laws God , and are man s guidance and direction ; for is not man a part o f nature ? These laws have their punish r as as ments and ewards , unfailing the tides o Th f the sea . e man who disobeys them finds existence a disappointment and life a Th failure . e man who obeys them finds life i t . H s a satisfying reali y, a life worth while is n world filled with harmony and satisfactio .

236 The M essage ofNew Thought forces which when called forth will make o f of him master self , circumstances and r environment, and bring him into ha mony

God. and unity with High ideals , faith in of the grandeur and majesty your own soul , ’ n eces of man s oneness with the divine, are r o sa y and initial steps t this mastery. Emerson saw the importance of this con sciousn ess in man and thus expressed himself “ is to see - It easy that a great self reliance , the a new respect fo r divinity in man , must work a revelation in all the offices and rela tions ofmen ; in their religion ; in their edu cation ; in their pursuits ; their modes o f living ; their associations ; in thei r property ; ” in their speculative views .

NEW THOUGHT AND PROSPERIT' Poverty is not essential or perhaps not con ducive to the highest order of Spiritual de l ’ ve opm en t. Prosperity should be every man s portion and is necessary to a useful and well rounded life . It enables man to find time for study and contemplation . It permits him to stretch forth a helping hand to assist his needy brother . Voices ofNew Th ought 237

The first step to a life of financial pros ’ eri is of own p ty the recognition one s worth, the limitless possibilities and powers within is himself . Financial acquisition not always Too synonymous with a successful life . often money becomes master over the man . N0 A successful life is more . life is suc cessful that does not result in the mastership of No is the individual over things . slavery more pernicious than financial Slavery . Suc “ cess has been defined as The attainment and preservation of a practical and legitimate ”

. The ideal useful life , the constructive life , the life that lights the pathways of others to higher ideals , and awakens their conscious ness to the divine powers within themselves and brings peace an d contentment to him i s . who lives it, the successful life M oney, wealth , and position do not always M i bring happiness . oney s sometimes the of E fruitful cause unhappiness . xternals , however pleasing, however rich and varied

of . they may be, are not a sure Sign happiness The of soul grows weary externals , they are . cast aside and new externals are necessary o r ac to take their place . Gold is good bad i cording as we master t o r let it maste r us. - 238 The M essage ofNew Thought

Mee the e fla e the Sea d of toil r, m of Suc we e the n es u ets m e h r am of yo r po for . e a curse the M t l of Mammon, of world, Du the u n -S e w s e the le g from mo ntai id , a h d in g n, Se a the s e m en rv nt am I or ma t r of . S e m e curse o u e m e ess ou t al , I y arn , I bl y ; s m e b oard m e fie s ssess ou Gra p and , a nd hall po y Lie m e die m e c e m e e m e for , for , ov t , tak

n e e ou e m e . A g l or d vil , I am what y mak

There is only on e source of true and en

d . uring happiness , and that is from within It comes only when a man is at peace with is his own soul . Complete happiness ours only as we give happiness to others . If there is on e discouraging feature observable in the is present outlook, it that too many men and t t e women are imbued with , the idea tha h y t must be constantly entertained , hat happi ness comes from externals alone .

CONSTRUCTIVE THOUGHT

Constructive thoughts are the only thoughts T worth while . hey alone build ; negative

thoughts bring confusion and destruction . On e of the useful lessons for man is so fa r to master himself that he can rise above such v as r negati e thoughts fear, malice, hat ed ,

240 The M essage ofNew Th ought

r l l T e s to t . , to ead them a ife of prosperi y hey have been told that the poor we should al Th has ways have wi th us. e charity extended T only been for immediate relief . hey have not inspired the desire and determination for better things , in those to whom they have T is extended charity. rue charity to cause the t a individual to find himself, h t he may supply his own wants and rise to thrift and prosperity. It has been a favorite theme of the theolo E t . gians , to dwell on the pover y of Jesus very circumstance and event in his life have been emphasized to Show that Jesus was poor and hi T had not where to lay s head . hey was the the said Jesus friend of poor, because is w s he was himself poor. It true that he a the friend of the poor ; he healed them and ministered to their wants without price . But was he the friend of more than the poor, he was the friend of all men and saw in every man a brother. How little they reckon of the wealth and t ' resources of Jesus, whom hey called poor N ’ He was not poor . ature s storehouse stood open before him . He whom the winds and t waves obeyed , he who fed the multi udes Voices ofNew Thought 24 1

l with a few oaves and fishes , he who brought

- cheer and gladness to the wedding feast, “When the conscious water looked up on her ” Lord and blushed , was not poor . Plenty and abundance were his without the asking .

Precious ointments anointed his body, costly h robes adorned his person . T e wealth of the i universe was h s to use . His outstretched hand was always filled . He used what he needed , he had no use for more . He did not discourage human labor and f his ef ort, but encouraged industry in all his teachings . By incomparable parables he praised and commended the industrious and thrifty servants and condemned the slothful . He looked upon work as the normal business and function of man . He read aright the f Th o is . e analogies nature, that all work Father works and I work ; nature works and man works . He taught man to work and also to have faith and confidence in results, that he would garner where he had sown . When Jesus told his listeners to take no e thought of the morrow, he did not intimat that they should neglect the duties and work - H is was of to day . message not to cease Th . e from work, but to forget anxiety Spar 24 2 The M essa ge ofNew Thought r so ows work unceasingly, and should man . But why worry about the rewards and the future ? His message to man was to work with a purpose and trust to the infinite giver of all for the just rewards and fruits of hi s toil .

TH E LAST CHANCE

New T hought presents a religion of life , and that the best preparation for the contin of ued existence the soul , after the last great T is . has change, a life worth while here his been the message of the masters of thought in all ages . ’ Nothing in man s life is higher than duty ; nothing is more ennobling than service ; noth h ing diviner than an unselfish life . T e con sciousn ess of such a life is the best asset to D Th i carry over the last Great ivide . e d s ciplin e thereby experienced will best fit the soul for the enjoyment of greater and better things . A religion of works brings peace to “ the soul , which it will have and enjoy When ” the last day is ended and the worlds lie dead . of St . James believed in a religion works . “ With him Pure religion and un defiled be h is t fore God and t e Father this , to visit he

2 a o N o h 44. The M ess ge f ew Th ug t

“ will be obse rved that the word doeth is

his t . the key to hought In all history, no great teacher laid more emphasis on duty and N e conduct than th e M an of Galilee. on have been heard who Spoke less of belief . What makes character ? I s it a particular e ? is —a con b lief It living a life life useful ,

r . C st uctive , and unselfish haracter is not our quickly formed , but it will determine future status and welfare . We are living o in eternity n w. We are making life a hell o r a heaven as we live it here . Have we any reason to believe it will be otherwise in an other State of existence ? M an striv is an evolving being, growing, ing, and moving onward toward the perfect man . But it is unthinkable that he should o r h become perfect in an instant, ot erwise tha n by the Slow processes of growth and of evolution . We Shall enter the portals our next state of existence no better or worse than we live here . If we have not built Char acter here, we shall not have it there . If we have not lived in harmony with God here , we Shall not be in harmony with him there . Unless our souls are fitted for enjoyment here , they will find none elsewhere . Voi ces ofNew Thought 245

FEAR

Fear h as no abiding place in the philos N w T ophy of New Thought . e hought ’ would eliminate it from man s mind , and thus make him free . While fear controls, man cannot be free .

Religious institutions , through fifteen cen turies or more, have ruled their followers mainly through the influence of fear, and are

Still wielding that mighty and potent weapon .

Fear has been the enemy of man in all ages . Fear has enslaved the individual to in stitu Th e tions . e soul withers and pines befor its blighting influence . ’ Fear has displaced man s will and made h a him obedient to the wills of others . It s made man a Spiritual peon , dependent on has others for light and guidance . It drawn the curtain of ignorance and superstition be tw een man and God . What has man to fear, ? A s is but himself man what he thinks, he h as nothing to fear but his thoughts . If man has is his t was done wrong, it because hought

first wrong . 'ou have been told to implore God for the forgiveness of your sins and that they should 246 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

? all be blotted out . What about yourself Suppose God should forget and wipe away t your iniquities, does hat help you to forgive yourself ? Think back over the years of your life and see if you cannot find some Spoken word or neglected kindness to those ou who have gone to their long rest, that y would give your wealth to blot from memory. A s Victor Hugo said : On e can no more prevent the mind from returning to an idea, than the sea from return ing to the shore . In the case of the sailor it is called the tide ; in the case of the guilty it is called remorse ; ” God upheaves the soul as well as the ocean .

If we violate no laws, we pay no penalties ; f con se if we break them, we suf er the just uen ces re q of our acts . What a travesty on li ion can g , that man be made to believe that on some e stands between him and God . If we we are punished , we punish ourselves ; if “ am are rewarded, we reward ourselves . I ” he t Captain of my Soul .

HAPPINESS New Thought is the philosophy of joy and happiness . Happiness is indispensable to a life of the highest accomplishments and

248 The M essage ofNew Tho ught

individual creating cheerful states of mind . It can be cultivated as any other art or ac li n I the com p shm e t. ts growth depends on o i individual and the power f h s will . A strong will can produce cheerful states of as can e mind , just a weak will be productiv C of morose mental states . heerful attitudes of the a re mind are constructive, opposites destructive . Cheerful mental states do n ot depend upon ' as be external circumstances . Happiness , A s l fore stated, comes from within . Cheerfu t e mental attitudes produce health, hey increas the power of every function and every talent T . en in man hey illumine the mind , they ’ large the understanding, they widen the soul s T of vision . hey send a current life and t health through the body ; hey bring joy, strength , and character to the individual . Walt Whitman found good fortune in him self

l - e e e the O e Afoot and ight h art d I tak p n road,

e ee the w e e m e H althy, fr , orld b for , The w e e m e e wherever I long bro n path b for , l ading Choose . — Henceforth I ask not good fortune I myself am good

fortune. Voices ofNew Thought 249

NEW THOUGHT AND MODERN PROBLEMS

The principles enunciated in NewThought have never been tried in the solution of the social and economic problems that con n l cen sta t y confront society . After all the turies is of theological teaching, the world Still divided by contentions and disagree M en an a ments . are Still separated by t g on ism s and dissensions , each individual and class seeking to take advantage of the other. ’ Selfi shn ess still dominates man Man s

is his - hand still raised against fellow man . is If it not individual against individual , it is organization against organization , class against class . Labor is arrayed in fierce war fare against capital , and capital against labor . i Labor s in antagonism also with itself . The Public servants are still dishonest. his Th briber still plies trade. e grafter is abroad in the lan d . It is lamentable that these conditions Should T exist in this twentieth centu ry. here must ‘ T i e . s be a cause here a cause for eve ry efl ct. Conditions can only be changed as the cause i T i s changed . rue reform s centered at the cause . 250 The M essage ofNew Thought

The o ld teaching has n ot brought the en golden era so long desired . M will do right when they understand that no other T course will pay. hey will cease to do wrong when they kn ow that every wrong they per petrate will recoil on their own heads . In h of ot er words , when the law cause and efi ect t s h t , hat what oever a man sowet , hat is so shall he also reap , understood and thor ’ oughly impressed upon men s minds that they dare not ignore it, we may confidently look o f for the dawn a new and greater era . When men fully appreciate that for every wrong they commit they punish themselves , that for every unwo rthy act there is a swift and in flu relentless punishment, the restraining ence of this teaching must have a beneficial and permanent influence on their lives and

characters . on e is But, some says , not this maxim old , t hat whatsoever a man soweth , that shall he ? also reap , and has it not always been taught t Yes , in a way, but at the same time and wi h far more emphasis the theological doctrine ’ has been impressed on man s mind , that he may escape this law and all its effects and consequences if he will but entertain a cer

252 The M essage ofNew Th ought

i . s than trust We reap what due , a harvest of contentions and strife . “ Emerson says : But because of the dual t constitution of all hings , in labor as in life, can The there be no cheating. thief steals h from himself . T e swindler swindles him self . Human labor through all its the forms , from sharpening of the Stake, to t o r is on e im constitution of a ci y an epic , mense illustration o f the perfect compensa E tion of the universe . verywhere and al ” is ways this law sublime . “ “ sa C t e is I y, says arlyle, her not a red Indian hunting by Lake Win n ipic can quar rel with his Squaw, but the whole world must smart for it. Will not the price of beaver rise ? It is a mathematical fact that the cast ing of this pebble from my hand alters the ” center of gravity of the universe . We might beg to suggest that even relig ious organizations might well profit by the of E observance these principles . ven the followers of the Prince of Peace a re not at peace . It is creed against creed , dogma against dogma , and doctrine against doctrine . is exhibi Instead of a display of love, it an T tion of contempt and hatred . hey find Voices ofNew Th o ught 253

ll on e be fault with the fo owers of religion, cause of an act said to have been committed n everthe nineteen hundred years ago , which less theologians said was preordained of God o from the beginning f the world . Yet they T ’ still hate the Jews . hey filled the Jews head with the egotistical thought that the ’ T so Jews were God s chosen people . hey declared because they had read it in a book T written by the Jews about themselves . hink of the proposition , that God would pick out a little handful of people and heap his favors on them and ignore the other races of the world . Greece , with her heroes , her scho lars , her artists , her love of beauty, her great ness , could not be considered with the chosen

. t race Py hagoras, Plato, Aristotle , Socrates , M arcus Aurelius , Seneca, and others were Th was not among the elect. e Jew alone ’ God s favorite . T e hen, becaus they also read that a small mob of Jews crucified Jesus on a charge of heresy, for fifteen centuries they have kicked f and cuf ed the Jew over Christendom, have out of C con fis driven him hristian countries, cated his property, penned him up in ghet tos s , deprived him of civil or religiou rights , 254 The M essage ofNew Thought

u all the of m rdered him, under banner the cross ; and still they dislike the Jew . If the h as Jew any disagreeable qualities , who made t the o r the C ? The hem, Jew hristian Jew T is what the Christian has made him . hey Still condemn the Jew for the one act of the

. n ot mob Why, if Jesus had been crucified , there would never have been a Christian re l s igion . I it not time the Christian world should take off its hat and apologize to the Jew ? On e be the t claims to church of au hority, E is is the others deny it . ach one sure it right, and the others are all wrong. Wor shiping the same being, they refuse to wor T ship together . hey tolerate each other out dl wa r . y, only because the law compels it see Where the law does not compel it, we one C C hristian nation , with hurch and State out united , driving and murdering the de scen dan ts of the nation which gave them their sacred book. The want of harmony and these un char itable opinions must continue to exist so long as men conceive of God as separated from man and dwelling in some distant part o f the universe . As long as men entertain such

256 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

t as t insti utions , all masters of hought have done . Insti tutions are made by human units and are the product of individual thought .

They are no greater than their creators . n ot Jesus spoke to individuals , and to churches or institutions . The advocates of this teaching recognize no spiritual authority save the voice of the E soul , speaking to each individual . ach soul of can interpret aright the oracles truth . N They speak by intuition to each soul . 0 can t other convey hat meaning to us. He that has found the light within and has felt the promptings of his own soul asks no au hori o i t ty how he shall worship G d. H s knees bend only at the command of his own Th manly soul . e reliance on authority the means the decline of religion , withdrawal ” of Th the soul . e soul is no follower . It as i s knows its own way, the bird knows t its course . It follows own light Uner t ingly it reaches up toward the divine . Voices ofNew Thought 257

New Thought is a philosophy of the liv

- . I ing, a religion for to day t does not dwell in i the past . It leaves ts yesterdays behind as - Th it advances to its work of to day. e pres is t ent the time of opportuni y, of action ; the past holds memories and reflections only . The is past was not perfect, the Golden Age The yet to be . world is steadily converging E on toward that one divine event . very c e structive life brings it n arer . Life is not enriched and nourished by re grets and lamentations over the lapses and T faults of life . here is nothing constructive T sa or upbuilding in such thoughts . hey p the energies of the mind and unfit man for

- the highest duty and expression for to day .

If we indulge the memory, let it rest only on the beautiful and cheerful spots of the past . is of Life a series experiences . We must look upon each as necessary to bring us to our present state of development . If any had been lacking, we should probably have been different now . Each experience teaches a lesson ; each speaks words of wisdom and 258 The M essage ofNew Thought

o who T truth t him listens . hey build up or c tear down character, ac o rding as we read the lessons they impart . If we interpret them aright, they bring understanding and strength . It brings neither peace nor strength to brood and worry over the mistakes we have T made . We cannot recall them . hey be

. us long to the past, we to the present Let t can accept their lessons , forget hem if we , and turn our faces toward the rising sun . E is ach morning the beginning of a new life , E the exhilaration of hope newly born . ach evening bespeaks the dawn of a new day . us Sparingly, at least, let exercise charity toward ourselves . At times , if we can , let us blot out some of our iniquities and remember them no more . Let us remember the past only to profit by its experiences in the work

- of to day. New Thought believes in a sound and glor ified body as the only fit habitation for the indwelling soul . It teaches that health is man ’s normal condition and that he is equipped for the real work o f life only as he possesses a healthy body ; that all disease and sickness are the results of consciously or unconsciously violated law . Herbert Spen

260 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

“ Victor Hugo says : There is on e specta cle grander than the sea ; that is the sky . There is on e spectacle grander than the sky ; that is the interior of the soul . E ofus is of e ach a symbol God , an epitom “ A s old Let e r . of th unive se the knight said , the universe be to thee no more than the re o flection of thine own heroic s ul . CHAPTER 'I I

TH E ART OF LIVING

Our lives are songs ; w es the w s God rit ord , And we set them to m usic at leisure the s is sa d the s is And ong , or ong glad ” A S we choose to fashion the m easure.

We m us wr e the s t it ong, h e e the w s W at v r ord , h e e the m e m e e W at v r rhy or t r, be sa d we m us m e And if it , t ak it glad, we e m s m e s e w u e sw e e . And if t, t ak it t r

TH E philosophy of New Thought offers a — key to the essential life the life worth while . I New Thought is a philosophy of life . t leads man out of the labyrinths of weakness , the of doubt, and darkness into sunlight hope, strength , and courage . The is of art of living the art thinking, for life has no values except as thought molds — them except as thought creates ideals for the individual to shape and pattern his life after. How we shall live is the most mo ’ menton s question for man s thought and con 261 262 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

is sideration . It paramount because during i s t existence we mold Character, either good o r is r a bad , which the only asset we car y aw y it at s close . n Life is not built to any fixed plan . O e idea'will not suffi ce for all lives . Individ uals cannot follow the same guide , because all persons differ and the orbits of their re E spective lives cannot be the same . ach person is endowed wi th some distinct and The of his superior quali ty . real purpose life should be to develop that gift and bring it into activity and expression . the We must, therefore , begin with propo sition is that life an individual function , a problem for each person to work out in the manner best suited to his own individuali ty. E E h ach must be shaped by his own ideal . ac must follow his own line of cleavage . The r is the inqui y is often made , What ? Of ultimate purpose in life course, mil lions would say that the real object in life is to observe certain formulas and require ments that will secure one a safe place in the

next world when death ensues . But this does not answer the question or satisfy the inquir

ing mind .

264 The M essa ge ofNew Tho ught

i of p n ess. We Spend the larger portion life in discovering and laying aside our cherished ur illusions and discarded ideals . O great est n illusions , the ones that most mo opolize h our t ought and energies , are those we treas r T u e of happiness . hey fade away and van

ish as we travel along the highways of life .

After all , we gain much wisdom from nature . see or ca rs If we have eyes to , to hear, she will furnish guides that will pilot us safely l its toward the essentia life , which in last analysis and ultimate meaning is a life of

happiness . Happiness has been defined as the warm glow of a heart at peace with itself . How to

find happiness as here defined , how to pos

sess it, how to make it our own , is one of the To great arts and secrets of life . study the t art of living, we should begin wi h certain fundamental truths which form the basis of

all constructive thought about life . With out these fundamentals we Can only travel the i fi rugged and d f cult path of experience . We should know something of the laws that en

ter into life, that shape and give it destiny, before we can bring intelligence and under

standing to a discussion of the art of living . The A rt ofL ivin g 265

of Without a study of the nature man, the mysterious power of the mind which con t t trols him , some hing of our relationship wi h of nature and the universe , the law causation , the greatness of man , our approach to a knowledge of the essential life will be slow and tedious. We might as well try to sail the trackless seas without compass and with ’ out as to s s s chart, ail life eas without these pilots .

We should begin with the law of causation, he law a d ff r t of cause n e ect, written eve y in T where nature . his law enters into life in every moment of time . Whatsoever a man T i s . s oweth , that Shall he also reap his law as absolute in the regulation of mind and thought as in directing the orderly move h n n ments of t e physical universe . M a is u der the dominion of law, and every thought i s manifested in outward life .

Life is ruled by a spiritual helmsman . T Truth exacts constructive thinking . hought is the great factor in life . Right thought

means right living . Constructive thought N means constructive life . egative thought means an empty and negative life . The kind and quality of thought deter 266 The M essage ofNew Thought

n T mi es the kind and quality of life . hought is expressed in the personali ty an d molds the w n f is out ard circumsta ces o life . It mani ’ fes ed in t life s results. We receive that which i n s t n n . We our due ; o hi g more, othing less pay the price ; we do not get som ething fo r n we n othi g. We take out of life only what in O l as s ul . t put n y we ake to life a full o , l r n l do we live a full ife . If we ca r y i to ife an t a is a e an d emp y soul , our rew rd desolat i r barren life . Life yields on ly wh at t e i T ce ves. hese truths should sink deep into the understandi n g as they light the pathway r of that leads to the a t living. It follows as a natural sequence that the Violation of these laws brings its own swift and relentless punishment. If we break a re them, nature sets up her impediments , we our ff the frustrated in e orts , we fail to reach

Th i . real in life . e converse s also true If th we keep em, nature smiles her approval and we reach out toward the constructive

and essential in life . T hen , everywhere we are reminded of the t in telli uni y of life, that universal life and

gence that pervade the universe , manifesting an d expressing itself in all objective nature

268 The M essa ge ofNew Th ought

own is the live your life, the message of r n great in eve y age . M a makes himself miserable by attempting to follow the blazed on trail of others . M an can only work to e i hi wn on e s s o . pattern , and that Be your self . Remember that you are an infinite soul and that no human standard will serve you

as . T an ideal hink your own thoughts , even though they jostle the intrenched thoughts o f the ages . The essential life is not found by traveling i the path of conventionalities . It is only d s covered as on e revolves around his own axis . The conventional life is only a seeming life , a counterfeit, and never a true life . Follow ing the ideal of another accounts largely for in the misfits in life, the human derelicts that

- i . s fest the world As man is self reliant, he i i s s . strong ; as he dependent, he weak We forget to look within for the true source of all wisdom , for the light that lighteth “ every man that cometh into the world . It is only as a man puts o ff from himself all see external support, and stands alone , that I ” him to be strong and to prevail . From the divinity within we gain the philosophic in ’ stin ct correctly to appraise life s values . We The A rt ofL ivin g 269

D are all subject to illusions . ay and night T t they dog our footsteps . hey are ever wi h Th of us. e mirages life lure us on and on, over many a dreary league . We cherish the illusion that the never- rest o r can ing impulse , divine urge within , be T stilled and satisfied . enaciously we cling The to this alluring Sophism . divine unrest is a part of ourselves and cannot be satisfied . It is the divine seeking the divine ; it is the infinite within trying to find expression , which the finite cannot satisfy. In vain we search the world for something to satisfy this eternal longing . We foolishly believe that wealth , travel , society, excitement, intel lectual attainments , will still this tumult of the soul . We forget that we are playing the temporary and finite against the eternal and f the infinite . We of er to the soul toys and t of of play hings time, the trifling expedients f the hour . Their ef ect is momentary only, ’ they vanish before the soul s returning tides . We cannot still that infinite and surging ’ s wa n derlust force, the oul s , that forever pushes and impels us onward to new experi o nces , into new currents , but we can modify, us mold , and refine it until it will lead along 270 The M essa ge ofNew Th o ught

he of t ascending scale life . We may direct ’ the soul s urge from the prose oflife into the r of r ealms poet y and beauty. We m ay change the desire for th e tangible into a fo r th e s of the hunger pos ession intangible , he s but t great oul within forever speaks . ’ When the divine throbs cease and the soul s t is a n d umult stilled , man will be in peace harmony with God . n h h h K owing t ese trut s , understanding t ese fundamentals , we are better fitted to enter of Th upon the active experiences life . e lawyer must be skilled in the fundamentals of the law before he can intelligently enter upon the practice of his profession . So man should have knowledge of the underlying principles of life before he can safely enter into its activities or find its satisfying realities . Only then is he able to turn away from the illusions and phantoms that crowd his path . Discrimination is a large part of the work o f — life weighing, judging, and appraising D its eventualities . iscrimination is judging, elimination is acting ; they are the judicial n Our and executive functio s of man . years are spent in discarding the unessentials for s the es ential , the unreal for the real , the false

272 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

a ? N is i d ro for ye—ar ature construct ve an p gressive her processes ever tend towa rd n d growth a perfection . Something in us responds to the constructive and building Our r l forces in nature . only ea satisfaction i l s in accomp ishment. Wealth has no rewards to compete with the joy of giving expression to the inner h The r V s t e . e the t ision of soul po t, a tis , t in the thinker, find heir joy in creating, l Th giving expression to their idea s . e cre i l l ator of ideals alone s immorta . When a l hi s e. else passes away, creations alone surviv H is i work may not bring gold, but t brings h as something far more precious , because he given expression to the promptings of a soul . Ideas alone are deathless . The e work of life that creates , that giv s e e xpression , that adds substance, that push s the world a little farther along, that makes a it a little better, that inspires in some one new hope , that lights up some darkened path — way, is the life worth while the life that brings peace and satisfaction to the soul . To know the art of living we must know much of nature . Until we catch its deeper us e of meanings , until it kindles in a sens The A rt ofL ivin g 273

of beauty, of order, proportion and sublim

ity, the valuable ideals of life have evaded us . When we can recognize an intelligence of back of the rose , possessing a spirit sense and beauty ; when we can discern the sym metry and proportion of the tree , the gran

deur of the landscape , the splendor of the sunset, as the expression and handiwork of a

divine intelligence , we recognize a kinship with the grass blade and flower and feel the

touch of the universal soul . u A kinder impulse Stirs our nat re , the th e in grosser things of life fade away, finer stin cts rule and govern our lives . Without h t ese conceptions , how commonplace is life, how little nature yields ' We live in the midst of beauty and see it not ; we are encompassed ’ by music and hear it not . Life s melodies are wasted on the unheeding soul . See deep ” “ C see enough , says arlyle , and you music ally ; the heart o f nature being everywhere ” ’ music . We miss the value of nature s ideals , we reject her best gifts to man , we Spurn her

richest bounties , we enjoy only the common

things of life . Of all servitudes known to man , the most h rv the debasing is t at of spiritual se itude , 274 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

r i s s. lave y to dogmas , creeds, and nstitution h th e rv is After t at, most oppressive se itude the h s th e tyranny of t ing , and great majo rity of mankind voluntarily bend their necks to T re its galling yoke . hings a masters of men ; h t ings , not mind , not soul , are the controlling The factors in life . love of things over f shadows the love o humanity . We carry f our gifts to the shrine o things . We bestow on h our care , our patience and industry t ings . T h hings monopolize thought, t ey dominate T h h life . hings have t eir value and t eir lim i T n itat on s. heir use and value must ot be unduly minimized , neither must they be over

. T rv valued hings are obedient se ants , but

- T or harsh task masters . hey are good bad r according as they se ve or as they master . Beautiful things awaken beauty in th e soul when it is attuned to beauty . When not so

‘ u th e feelin s att ned , they awaken rather g of vanity and display. What we call civilized man is in part a barbarian ; he has not conquered the love of display, the wild barbaric Strain in his own nature . We instinctively crave display ; we assume the superior attitude ; we love to daz ~

o r° wan zle with gaudy splendor . F t of riches

276 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

men use the dollar as the yardstick to measu re ’ T he fi n life s values . hey do not discover t er r h of l sensibilities o t e real friendships ife . The dollar friendship vibrates only to the o r s o f selfish touch . What d the wo shiper M ofth e so idas know finer impulses of the ul , u of the comradeship and riches of cult re , of the r the joy of giving, of the peace of t anquil soul ? The soul is bankrupt in the presen ce on l of riches . The glitter of con ven ti a i is M as cold as the Arctic stream . oney alone Th does not pay returns on life . e real divi den ds on r th e life are love, se vice , friendship , T th e . good, the true , beautiful hese bring h sur asseth that inner peace to the soul , t at p

understanding and expression . Before we discover the true art of living

or the secret of the essential life , we must learn to exercise a fine judgment and toler ance in adjusting and tranquilizing the con in i s t gen c e of life . Until we are able to judge others with the same consideration and ju dicial fairness that we employ in judging ourselves , we lack the essential qualities of a

- well developed life . Until then we have not learned the secret of avoiding the conflicts and antagonisms of life . We must be able to The A rt ofLivin g 277

’ ’ view life s facts from another s standpoint. We must judge him and ourselves by the T same rules and standards . his is not an easy task . It requires a fine judicial tempera ment to submerge self to the point where the scales of justice will evenly balance between dis ourselves and another . It requires a fine ciplin e to develop these qualities to th at state of perfection . With most of us self outweighs all other considerations in pro n oun cin g the judgments of life . But in the last analysis the standard of even justice is the only rule to employ in dealing with our

- . U fellow man nless we adopt it, we shall in time disown our own judgments . You say it is impossible to overcome the so lingering relic of selfishness in us , that we can deal as justly with our fellow as our Th ffi selves . Why should it be ? e di culty lies in our inability to view Situations from

- ri i the same angle as our fellow man . We c t r cise others for n ot obse ving the square deal . is Yet most of us merit th e same censure . It the little fellow in life who can see only his i own rights . It s only the big man who can

sa . y, I am wrong The diffi culties of life arise largely out of 2 78 The M essa ge ofNew Th o ught

rifl The t es. little rift widens into a gulf that might have been bridged over with a word The of or a smile . sad tragedies domestic

life usually begin with th e trivial . We are — too proud to retreat too stubborn to yield — and so the breaches oflife widen . A little of of word kindness, a little look love , might un have healed them all . How useless and called for are the usual tragedies of life ' ’ On e of life s most valuable secrets is to

avoid conflicts and contentions . Prevention ,

' as is th e in troubles in disease , always best i remedy . Prevention s more effective and Too acts more speedily than cures . often we

condemn without knowing the facts . We O r View situations from one angle only . u

judgm ents are based on imperfect knowledge . How little we know of the circumstances and ’ environments that influence men s acts . We cannot always see or understand the silent

forces that Shape situations and events . Yet

we are always quick to judge . How much t a better to exercise a little chari y, a little p tien ce , and a little consideration , in our trav

els along the paths of life . A little tolerance would soothe and tranquilize the passions of

men , the streams of life would run a little

280 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

e s o f pleasant, worthy, and agreeable vent life . It should also be trained to fo rget those things that bring with them a train of sa d and disagreeable reminiscences . Some things — in life are too sacred to forget the mem

‘ t c of th e o i s childhood , of family, of friends , kindnesses and pleasantries of life . Such memories are constructive and keep alive the

finer instincts of the soul . Likewise the memories of the disagreeable experiences of life are destructive and disturb the peace and serenity of the soul .

We should cultivate the art of forgetting, as well as the art of remembering . Discrim in ation is necessary in training the forces un and powers of memory . Forgetting the pleasant and disagreeable incidents of life , re the memories of wrongs and injuries , and taining in their place only the agreeable and pleasant, is one of the valuable arts of life . — Forgetting and remembering the one is h as fine an art as the ot er . A good memory is a fine forgetting . It is the ability to leave off sad the useless for the useful , the for the pleasant, hatred for love, the deformed for on the beautiful . It is planting in the subc scious a rose instead of a thistle, a seed of The A rt ofLivin g 28 1

kindness instead of hatred, which in due time will blossom forth in the full radiance of t their beau y, in the personality, life, and character of the individual . We cannot live a well - rounded life until we are able to eliminate and banish fears , our anxieties , worries , and frettings from T minds . hese negatives do not add any r strength or value to life, but on the contra y undermine and sap the energies and poten of T cies mind . hey impair the judgment and unfit it for its highest duties and functions . They introduce confusion and disturbances into the mind , when calmness and Strength are the primal qualities necessary for the solution of our problems . When we live in an atmosphere of serenity and calmness , we gain poise and con fidence to car ry with us into our daily tasks ; we give our faculties opportunity to act and bring to the solution ’ of life s problems th e highest degree of efii ci n e cy .

We live in the great present, the eternal r now, the grandest epoch in all the ages . Ou ideals must be great, to harmonize with the great present . We cannot live the full life by taking our standards from the past. We 282 The M essa ge ofNew Thought

th e h ofth e s must feel t rill pre ent, to develop h h t e best wit in us . A s h th e t is is age of progress, an age of de velo m en t o ur the p , lives must be kindled by ’ s re ame spirit, to meet life s demands and i r n Th re q u em e ts. e age gives much and quires much . It imposes a great responsi ’ w bility on every actor in life s drama . If e our the re act well part, we must accept s on sibilities p imposed, in whatever walk of

. T h life hey give man strengt courage , and wisdom properly to solve life s problems . Let us pick up these th reads of philoso phy and weave them into th e web and woof h of the fabric of life . Let us realize t at the constructive is the only life ; that to create ’ is a joy ; that to build is life s purpose and ’ man s function . Let us each remember that the latent pos sibilities of a divine soul are inherent within us , slumbering perhaps , but only waiting to be called into development and expression .

Let us remember that we may create, that we may build , that we may be a positive force in the world , that we may lift the burden from some struggling life , that we may radiate joy and kindness , gratitude and