Lesson 6
THE WORD
Charles Fillmore
Christian Healing
1. In pure metaphysics there is but one word, the Word of God. This is the
original creative Word, or thought, of Being. It is the "God said" of Genesis.
It is referred to in the 1st chapter of John as the Logos. It cannot be
adequately translated into English. In the original it includes wisdom,
judgment, power, and, in fact, all the inherent potentialities of Being. This
divine Logos was and always is in God; in fact, it is God as creative power. The
Divine Mind creates under law; that is, mental law. Man may get a comprehension
of the creative process of Being by analyzing the action of his own mind. First
is mind, then the idea in mind of what the act shall be, then the act itself. In
Divine Mind the idea is referred to as the Word.
2. According to Genesis and all other mystical writings bearing upon
creation, Divine Mind expresses its Word, and through the activity of that Word
the universe is brought forth. Man is the consummation of the Word, and his
spirit has within it the concentration of all that is contained within the Word.
Jesus is called the Word of God. "The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us (and
we beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father)." God being
perfect, His idea, thought, Word, must be perfect. The perfect Word of God is
spiritual man. It is through spiritual man, or the Word of God, that all things
are made, are brought into manifestation." "And without him was not anything
made that hath been made." The Word is the "only begotten" of God, because there
is but one idea of man in Divine Mind, and that idea is the perfect pattern of
man's character.
3. In the 1st chapter of John it is implied that there are things made that
are not after divine ideals, consequently not real. The creations of the Word of
God are permanent and incorruptible. As an imitator of Divine Mind, man has
power to form and make manifest whatsoever he idealizes; but unless his thought
is unified with Divine Mind and guided in its operations by infinite wisdom, his
thought forms are perishable.
4. Mental processes enter into all creations. Physical science has discovered
that every atom has substance, force, and intelligence; these are the three
constituent parts of mind. Mind is the one and only creative power, and all
attempts to account for creation from any other standpoint are futile. The
creative processes of mind are continuously operative; creation is going on all
the time, but the original plan, the design in Divine Mind, is finished.
5. Man cannot know how the thought, or Word, works except through his own
consciousness; consequently he must understand, control, and put in order his
own word, for through it he comprehends the Word of God. Our most important
study, then, is our own consciousness. The old Greeks recognized this and wrote
over the door of one of their temples: "Man, know thyself." The self of man is
spiritual, and when it is in direct conscious unity with the Father-Mind it has
permanent formative power. Even in his ignorant use of thought, man's mind is
forming conditions, even to the changing of the face of nature itself. Every
thought that goes forth from the brain sends vibrations into the surrounding
atmosphere and moves the realm of things to action. The effect is in proportion
to the ability of the thinker to concentrate his mental forces. The average
thought vibration produces but temporary results, but under intense mind
activity conditions more or less permanent are impressed upon the sensitive
plate of the universal ether, and through this activity they are brought into
physical manifestation.
6. Every idea originating in Divine Mind is expressed in the mind of man;
through the thought of man the Divine Mind idea is brought to the outer plane of
consciousness. In the organism of man are centers that respond to the divine
ideas, as a musical instrument sympathetically responds to musical vibrations.
Then through another movement on what is termed the conscious, or most outer,
plane of action, the thought takes expression as the spoken word. There is in
the formed conscious man, or body, a point of concentration for this word; and
through this point the word is expressed in invisible vibrations. For example,
at the root of the tongue is a brain center, and through it the mind controls
the larynx, the tongue, and all the other organs used in forming words.
Following the creative law in its operation from the formless to the formed, we
can see how an idea fundamental in Divine Mind is grasped by the man ego, how it
takes form in his thought, and how it is later expressed through his spoken
word. If in each step of this process he conformed to the divine creative law,
man's word would make things instantly, as Jesus made the increase of the loaves
and fishes. But since he has lost, in a measure, knowledge of the steps in this
creative process from the within to the without, there are many breaks and
abnormal conditions, with more failures than successes in the products.
7. However, every word has its effect, though unseen and unrecognized. Jesus
said that a man would be held accountable for "every idle word," and a close
observation of the power of mind in the affairs of the individual proves this to
be true. What we think, we usually express in words; and our words bring about
in our life and affairs whatever we put into them. A weak thought is followed by
words of weakness. Through the law of expression and form, words of weakness
change to weakness the character of everything that receives them.
8. The nerves are the wires that transmit the mind's messages to all parts of
the body, and these parts, being thought formations, carry out, in their turn,
the word that has been spoken into them. Talking about nervousness and weakness
will produce corresponding conditions in the body; on the other hand, sending
forth the word of strength and affirming poise will bring about the desired
strength and poise. Your talking about a weak stomach will make your stomach
weak. Your talking about your bad liver will fix that idea in your liver. The
usual conversation among people creates ill health instead of good health,
because of wrong words. If the words speak of disease as a reality,
disintegrating forces are set in action, and these, in the end, shatter the
strongest organism, if not counteracted by constructive forces.
9. As an example of the vibratory power of the spoken word, a vocalist can
shatter a wineglass by concentrating upon it certain tones. Every time we speak
we cause the atoms of the body to tremble and change their places. Not only do
we cause the atoms of our own body to change their position, but we raise or
lower the rate of vibration and otherwise affect the bodies of others with whom
we come in contact. By telling the little child that he looks sick and tired,
the mother produces these conditions in the child's mind and body. If the mother
addresses words of health, life, and strength to the child, these will set his
bodily functions into activity and they will express the harmony of the dominant
thought.
10. Thus every word brings forth after its kind. The "seed" is the creative
idea inherent in the word, the nature that it inherits from its parent
source--God. The enthusiast in floral culture, who hovers over and talks in
loving tones to his flowers, always has success with them, while his neighbor,
who is cold and indifferent, fails. The mental emanation and the creative word
are the forces that stimulate the receptive intelligence of nature, and although
the enthusiast may know nothing of the law of mind, he is using it in its most
effective mode, the creative word. In like manner the spiritual healer mentally
and audibly speaks to the same all-pervading receptacle, and it responds by
building up wasted tissues and weakened functions.
11. Mind is everywhere and its avenues of expression, like the ether waves of
radio, run in every direction. The wonderful discovery that messages can be sent
around the earth without wires should forever silence those who have been
incredulous when thought transference through a like ether is claimed. But there
is a means by which ideas may be transmitted even more rapidly than by mental
vibrations, and that is unity with supreme Mind. This Mind exists as the
absolute, the unlimited. In its consciousness there is no apartness, no
separation, and whoever puts himself into its consciousness can accomplish
things instantly.
12. When the centurion said to Jesus, "Only say the word, and my servant
shall be healed," the Master said that He had not found so great faith in all
Israel, and His healing word was: "As thou hast believed, so be it done unto
thee." We must have a certain amount of faith in the substance of the invisible
and in its ability to do our will. When Peter recognized in Jesus that inner
principle called Christ, the Son of God, the response was: "Flesh and blood hath
not revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven." The Father must have
been present to Peter as He was to Jesus, and the "heaven" in which Jesus said
that the Father was must also have been there. The fact is, Being is always
present. Mortal ignorance and lack of faith prevent our realization of this
truth. The more we believe in the wisdom, power, substance, love, and life of
the one Mind, the greater is its activity in us and our affairs. Not only should
we have faith in the All-Presence, but we should also develop our understanding
to the end that we may know why the All-Presence manifests through us. Physical
science is today in advance of religion in its recognition of a universal life
substance and intelligence. Religion is looking for this mighty Creator away off
in some distant heaven, right in the face of the distinct teaching of Jesus that
God is Spirit and that His kingdom is within man.
13. But physical science falls short in that it fails to recognize the unity
between omnipresent Intelligence and the knowing principle in man. Science is
seeking to know intellectually, or from the plane of forms and shapes, that
which is of the mind. Physical science has recognized the presence of the
creative forces, but it does not know the power that moves them. Divine
metaphysics has discovered the moving power to be the thought and word of man,
and is proving the truth of this principle through results in a multitude of
directions.
14. The spoken word carries vibrations through the universal ether, and also
moves the intelligence inherent in every form, animate or inanimate. It has been
discovered that even rocks and all minerals have life. This is proof of the
omnipresence of the one animating substance. Man, being the highest emanation of
Divine Mind, has great directive power and is really co-operator with God in
forming the universe. We should be speaking words of truth to everything, not
only to mankind but to the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. The fine
discernment of the poet reveals that "the very stones cry out" where a tragedy
has occurred. The all-penetrating ether receives our thoughts and words, like
the wax cylinder of the phonograph, only a thousand times more accurately; it
preserves them and echoes them back to us in continuous vibrations. There are no
secrets and no concealments. Jesus said that what you think and speak in the
inner chamber is proclaimed from the housetops, and now we know why this is
true. The very walls of your room, aye, even the substance of the atmosphere in
that room, are proclaiming over and over the words that you have spoken there,
whether you are present or not. For example, a woman rented a room in a certain
city. Several nights in succession, just as she fell asleep, she heard a man
talking incoherently about the grain market. This continued for some time, and
she mentioned it to the landlady who informed her that the room had been last
occupied by a dealer on the board of trade.
15. The power of the word is given man to use. The better he understands the
character of God and his own relation to humanity, the more unselfishly will he
exercise this power. Some are using it in selfish ways, but this should not
deter others who have a better understanding of the law from using it in
righteous ways. "If ye shall ask anything of the Father, he will give it you in
my name," is a promise that none should ignore. If we need things and if they
are necessary to our happiness, it is not sacrilegious to set into action this
higher law in attaining them.
16. The curses of the witch and the blessings of the priest have always been
believed in by so-called ignorant and credulous people. In the light of modern
revelation, the charge of ignorance should be shifted to the unbelieving. The
word of one in authority carries weight and produces far-reaching effects. The
fiat of the physician that a certain disease must result disastrously to the
patient will, when believed, counteract all the healing forces of nature. A pin
scratch has resulted in blood poison, because there was no proper denial that
such a result might follow.
17. Man has the power to deny and dissolve all disintegrating, discordant,
and disease-forming words. Knowledge of this fact is the greatest discovery of
all ages. No other revelation from God to man is to be compared with it. You can
make yourself a new creature, and you can build the world about you to your
highest ideals. Do not fear, but speak to the law supreme the desires of your
heart. If your word is selfish, that which will come to you through its use will
be unsatisfactory, but you will profit by the experience and thus learn to speak
words of righteousness only. But it is your duty as expresser of the divine law
to speak forth the Logos, the very Word of God, and cause the Garden of Eden,
the everywhere-present Mind-Substance, to manifest for you and in you in its
innate perfection.
Lesson Six
The Power Of Words
(To be used in
connection with Lesson Six)
1. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue."
2. "The tongue of the wise is health."
3. "He that guardeth his mouth keepeth his life."
4. "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles."
5. "A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his
soul."
6. "Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool
than of him."
7. "Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the
bones."
8. "The lips of the wise shall preserve them."
9. "Put away from thee a wayward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee."
10. "Shun profane babblings: for they will proceed further in ungodliness,
and their word will eat as doth a gangrene."
11. "He that would love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue
from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile."
12. "To him that ordereth his way aright will I show the salvation of God."
13. "I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep
my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me."
14. "What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see
good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile."
15. "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in
the day of judgment."
