We
know that things are not always
what they seem. For instance,
the earth and the sky do not
meet—the horizon is simply the
limitation of our vision, but
not a thing of itself. We also
discover that the hurt has
largely disappeared from
experiences we have had, which
at the time we were having them
seemed very trying.
We know that a two-dimensional
mind looking at a cube would not
see the cube; to it, the cube
would look flat. Similarly, at
our stage of evolution our
three-dimensional minds might
well be looking at that which is
four-dimensional or more. So if
our gaze is focused only on the
physical, we might be looking
right at the spiritual, the
mental, or the intellectual, and
not see it. Science has proven
that there are almost infinite
variations of vibrations of
color and sound that the human
eye and ear do not detect
because they are not perfected
enough.
There have been people like
Jesus, and a good many others,
who have experienced what we
call cosmic consciousness. They
have looked through the material
universe into a spiritual
universe, and they have
announced this spiritual
universe. If we could for one
moment break through this shell
that we are looking with, we
would see reality. We believe
that there is a Spirit in
humans. This Spirit is God. This
same Spirit is in all people,
and the Spirit that is in you is
the Spirit that is in me. It is
one Spirit, just one, always
one. The Spirit that is in the
dog is the same Spirit. The life
principle in the tree is the
same thing. There is one Spirit,
but there are different
manifestations of it.
This thing that we call the
personality is the objective
evidence of the use we are
making of our invisible and
subjective individuality, the
projection of the power,
presence, and intelligence in
us, as us. In other words,
consciousness itself is God—one
indivisible, infinite, and
eternal reality. Our conscious
use of our individuality
personifies it.
I have always held that ideas do
not belong to anyone. All ideas
derive from God, therefore no
idea belongs to anyone, but we
all have access to every idea in
the divine providence. It is
like the figure two. What
intelligent mathematician would
say, “The figure two belongs to
me”? The mathematician knows
that it is impersonal; the
concept belongs to the universe.
It can be used many times and
there is just as much left.
We need to believe that reality
is already delivered to
us—reality as we see it,
according to our awareness of
it. This is the whole essence of
spiritual mind treatment. How
can we give an effective
treatment if we are just
mumbling a lot of words? A
treatment must not be like that.
We must believe in our own
treatment if it is going to be
effective. How can we believe in
it unless we first believe that
there is such a thing as Spirit,
and that Spirit is right here
responding to us and expressing
as the experience or the
condition we wish to enjoy?
All life is One, and God is the
One Life in which we all live.
Even the power by which we
measure out our limitation is
God. One of the great fallacies
of theology has been the
inability to see that negation
and affirmation are identical,
and are not two separate things.
This is the hardest thing we
will ever have to understand.
When we treat someone for
spiritual healing, if our minds
do not get any farther than the
appearance, then the appearance
will not be changed. It is only
as the mind transcends the
appearance that the appearance
can be changed, because a mental
concept is the original
causative factor.
In a certain sense we dramatize
life. We are thinking, feeling,
desiring, warm, and colorful
beings, and I am glad we are,
and I do not think we have to
change at all. The great souls
like Jesus, Emerson, and Whitman
who delivered real spiritual
insight for the ages have been
very spontaneous, very sweet,
very simple souls, and most of
them even had a good sense of
humor.
Here is the thing that Jesus
uncovered: We do not have to
become immortal; we are
immortal. We do not have to
become spiritual; we are
spiritual. We do not have to
become geniuses; we are
geniuses. We do not have to go
anywhere—“Neither shall they
say, Lo here! or, lo there! for
behold, the kingdom of God is
within you.”
We wish to experiment with this
reality to see what we can do
with it. Every time we work for
a spiritual healing we are
experimenting to see what we can
make the Mind do for us. The
Mind is creative because it is
God.
Through spiritual mind treatment
we endeavor to more specifically
express reality in our objective
life, thus becoming more
successful in every legitimate
undertaking. The idea that God
is trying us is all wrong. God
is not trying us; we are merely
gradually waking up, and the
awakening is what we call a
process of evolution, our
awakening to what already is. I
do not mean that a building is
an eternal thing, but the mind
that built it is an eternal
thing. I think that every
temporal thing which is good
should be enjoyed to the utmost,
because we are dealing with an
infinite Spirit which by its own
divine imagination creates all
that is out of itself.
We must think of ourselves as
being the way we would like to
be. We do not make the thought
creative; it is God. There never
was a human thought. All thought
is divine, even though it is
divine in a humanly
circumscribed way. We need not
look for some other power; we
have power now. It is the only
power we will ever know. Since
it is invisible, the essence of
reality, it transcends anything
that is visible. The appearance
is true and real but not
self-creative. We should forget
all the negative arguments,
forget all the reasons why it is
not so, and begin to think of a
few reasons why it is so.
To live affirmatively is to live
as God lives, so we must plunge
beneath the appearance. Here is
where the test comes. We are
testing ourselves to see whether
we can forget evil and conceive
more good, let go of limitation
and take hold of the limitless,
let go of the appearance and
embrace reality.
