THE GARDEN OF EDEN
Charles Fillmore
Keep a
True Lent
5th Day, Monday. Read
John 14:1-12.
Man's body temple is the
outer expression of the Garden of Eden,
which God gave him to keep and to trim.
Man's primary work in the earthly
consciousness (the Garden) is to use
his creative power to preserve harmony
and order in his world, and to conserve
his powers for divine
direction.
The Garden of Eden
represents a region of being within, in
which are provided all primal ideas for
the production of the beautiful. It
represents the elemental life and
intelligence placed at the disposal of
man, through which he is to evolve a
spiritual mind and a spiritual
body.
The Garden is the
spiritual body in which man dwells when
he brings forth thoughts after the
pattern of the original divine ideas.
The Garden is the substance of
God.
God's greatest gift to
man is the power of thought, through
which he can incorporate into his
consciousness the Mind of
God.
There are twelve gates
which open into this wonderful Garden
of Eden. These gates are the twelve
faculties of mind: faith, strength,
wisdom, love, power, imagination,
understanding, will, law or order,
zeal, renunciation, life. Each faculty,
through the most accelerated mind
action, as in prayer, has been purified
and therefore opens into the very heart
of the Holy City within.
I affirm: "My body is
the temple of God, cleansed, purified,
undefiled, made perfect. Praise
God!"
Faith
6th Day, Tuesday. Read
Hebrews 11:1-12.
Faith is the perceiving
power of the mind linked with a power
to shape substance. It is spiritual
assurance, the power to do the
seemingly impossible. It is a force
that draws to us our heart's desire
right out of the invisible spiritual
substance. It is a deep inner knowing
that that which is sought is already
ours for the taking, the "assurance of
things hoped for."
Faith working in
spiritual substance accomplishes all
things. This is the faith that
co-operates with creative law.
Exercised in spiritual consciousness,
it finds its abode, and without
variation or disappointment it brings
results that are seemingly
miraculous.
Faith in the reality of
things spiritual develops the faith
center in man's brain. When the mental
eye is illumined with faith, it sheds a
radiance that hovers like a halo around
the head and extends in lessening
degree throughout the whole body. "When
thine eye is single, thy whole body
also is full of light."
The halo that the early
artists painted around the heads of the
saints was not imaginary, but real.
This illuminating power of faith covers
the whole constitution of man, making
him master of all the forces centering
about spiritual
consciousness.
I realize that my faith
in the invisible is building a real
abiding substance in my mind and in my
body. Spiritual ideas grow quickly when
planted in the rich soil of my mind,
and my body temple changes
accordingly.
I affirm: "I have faith
in the glorious infusion of the more
abundant life of Christ vitalizing me.
I am lifted up and healed."
Strength
7th Day, Wednesday. Read
Matthew 4:1-11.
Strength is freedom from
weakness; stability of character, power
to withstand temptation. It is the
force or power to do, capacity to
accomplish. "The name of Jehovah is a
strong tower; the righteous runneth
into it, and is safe." Strength
originates in Spirit; the thought and
the word spiritually expressed bring
the manifestation.
Jesus is the greatest
teacher. He is the type that I am
striving to follow, not only in
spiritual culture and in mind culture,
but in body culture. By faithfully
studying and using the methods of Jesus
I am bringing forth the very best that
is in me.
Through Christ the mind
and the body of man have the power of
using strength on various planes of
consciousness. I affirm that I am
steadfast and strong in thought and in
deed, and thus I am establishing
strength in soul and in body. I refuse
to let the thought of weakness enter my
consciousness, but always ignore the
suggestion and affirm myself to be a
tower of strength within and
without.
Supreme strength as
demonstrated by Jesus can be attained
by one who trusts in Spirit and
conserves his vital substance. The
strength of Spirit is necessary to the
perpetuation of soul and body and to
the overcoming of death.
As I relax more and more
and lift my consciousness to harmonize
with the ever-present perfect Mind, I
am invigorated and restored to
stabilizing power. No harm can befall
me. I am made strong through
Spirit.
I affirm: "The joy of
the Lord is a wellspring within me, and
I am established in divine
strength."
Wisdom
8th Day, Thursday. Read
Matthew 7:1-12.
Wisdom is of Spirit. One
can get flashes of understanding at any
time, but the clear light of the
Supreme shines steadily on us as we
become obedient and receptive to the
Supreme's monitions. Jesus always
listened for the "inner voice," and was
obedient to it in His meek and lowly
work among the humblest class of
men.
Spiritual discernment
always places wisdom above the other
faculties of mind. It is pure knowing,
and comes by kindling the inner light.
"The wisdom that is from above is first
pure, then peaceable."
This means that as I
call the righteous judge into action I
may find my standards of right and
wrong undergoing rapid changes, but if
I hold steadily to the Lord as my
supreme guide, I shall be led into all
righteousness.
As I dwell upon this
all-knowing faculty within, I become
conscious of the Christ radiance
lighting my mind, and my whole being is
illumined. My thoughts are quickened
through their conscious relationship to
Spirit. I am flooded with new life,
which raises my organism above the
disintegrating thought currents of the
earth; and thus I am not only redeeming
my mind, but am also saving the flesh
from corruption.
Spiritual understanding
reveals that the resurrection of the
body from death is not to be confined
to Jesus, but is for all men who
comprehend Truth and apply it as Jesus
applied it.
Realizing that I am
awakening to the reality of my higher
self, I affirm: "Christ within me is my
glory. The brightness of His presence
wipes out all darkness, and I am filled
with life and light."
Love
9th Day, Friday. Read I
John 4:7-21.
Love, in Divine Mind, is
the idea of universal unity. In
expression, it is the power that joins
and binds together the universe and
everything in it. Love is a
harmonizing, constructive power. When
it is made active in consciousness, it
conserves substance and reconstructs,
rebuilds, and restores man and his
world.
As I make a perfect
union between my mind and the loving
mind of the Father, I realize a
goodness everlasting and joy beyond
expression. The point of contact is a
willingness and a seeking on my part.
"Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it
shall be opened unto you."
Love is that mighty
power, that divine quality of God that
is expressing through all mankind, and
cannot be suppressed by any outside
force. I now firmly declare that it is
expressing through me, and that no
environment or external condition can
hinder it. Any unloving condition of
the world is no bar to my exercise of
love; in fact, it is an
incentive.
I am not afraid to pour
out my love on all the so-called evil
of the world. I deny the appearance of
evil, and affirm the omnipotence of
love and goodness.
The word love overcomes
hate, resistance, opposition,
obstinacy, anger, jealousy, and all
other error states where there is
mental or physical friction. As divine
love enters into the thought process,
every cell of my body is poised and
balanced in space, in right
mathematical order as to weight and
relative distance.
In quietness and
confidence, I affirm: "God, in His
love, fills me with new life. In His
name I am cleansed, strengthened, and
healed."
Power
10th Day, Saturday. Read
Luke 4:31-44.
Man controls his
thoughts and his feelings by the use of
his innate power. A quickening from on
high must precede his realization of
dominion. "Ye shall receive power, when
the Holy Spirit is come upon
you."
Man is the power of God
in action. The power to control his
thinking is the highest gift given to
man. There is a universal, creative
force that urges man forward to the
recognition of the creative power of
individual thought.
The word Jehovah
(Christ) is charged with spiritual
power far above and beyond any other
word in human language.
The power center in the
throat is the open door between the
formless and the formed worlds of
vibration pertaining to the expression
of sound. When the voice has united
with the life of the soul, it takes on
a sweetness and a depth that one feels
and remembers. But sweeter and deeper
still is the voice of one who has made
union with Spirit and can say with
Jesus, "Heaven and earth shall pass
away, but my words shall not pass
away."
I cultivate a loving
attitude of mind toward everybody, and
my voice is rich, warm, and mellow. As
I pray and realize spiritual dominion,
I feel vital and energetic and my voice
is strong and vibrant and brilliant.
Through these vibrations I feel the
power of unity with the higher self
more quickly than in any other way.
"All power is given unto me in heaven
[mind] and in earth [body]."
In His name I affirm:
"All the issues of my life are stirred
to action by the quickening Christ
power, and I have dominion over my
thoughts and my feelings."
Imagination
2d Sunday. Read Acts
10:9-35.
The imagination is that
faculty of mind which images and forms.
Everything that is manifest was first a
mental picture and was brought into
expression by this forming power. Man
accumulates a mass of ideas about
substance and life, and with his
imagination he molds them into
shape.
Those who look to the
Holy Spirit for guidance find that its
instruction is given to all who believe
in Christ, and the command is to make
all things after the pattern shown
Moses on the Mount as found in Exodus
25:40.
The Spirit of truth
projects into the chamber of imagery
pictures that, rightly understood, will
be a sure guide for all people who
believe in the omnipresence of mind.
The imagination will carry out any idea
or set of ideas that the I AM reflects
into it, hence theories are not to be
trusted. There must be evidence in
works. This is accomplished by the
working power of the world.
With my imagination I
lay hold of perfect ideas and clothe
them with substance. My body is the
product of my mind. In my communication
with God, the imagining power of my
mind is playing an important part. It
receives divine ideas, and in dreams
and visions reflects their character in
the consciousness. According to the
Scriptures this is the opening of the
heavens and the seeing the "angels of
God ascending and descending upon the
Son of man."
With my imagination
fixed on Spirit, I affirm: "In the
quietness and confidence of Spirit, I
see myself as God sees me, His perfect
image and likeness."
Understanding
11th Day, Monday. Read
Luke 2:40:52.
Spiritual understanding
is the ability of the mind to apprehend
and realize the laws of thought and the
relation of ideas one to another. It is
that something through which we
understand God and
ourselves.
Understanding reveals
that love and wisdom should work
together, that power should be
expressed through love, and zeal should
be tempered with wisdom.
Intellectual
understanding comes first in the soul's
development, then a deeper
understanding of Principle follows,
until the whole man ripens into
wisdom.
Those who are being
educated in Truth through the power of
the word will finally arrive at the
place where the true light from Spirit
will dawn on them, and they will see
with spiritual understanding and have
proof of the reality of the Christ
Mind.
I realize that God is
supreme knowing. That in me which
comprehends is understanding; it knows
and compares in wisdom. Its comparisons
are not made in the realm of form, but
in the realm of ideas. Understanding is
that in me which knows how to
accomplish things. I claim my Christ
understanding at all times.
If willfulness of the
mortal tries to take over, I gently
deny it power, and affirm for spiritual
understanding. At all times I hold for
absolute freedom in the Lord. God is
the one principle; we are all as free
to use God as we are free to use the
principle of mathematics or music. The
principle never interferes, but if it
is to be rightly applied, I must
develop understanding.
I affirm: "Divine
understanding in me unites with the
Holy Spirit, and I always know what to
do."
Will
12th Day, Tuesday. Read
John 1:1-18.
The will is the
executive power of the mind. The
commandments of Jesus teach the
Father's will. Those who keep them are
therefore at one with the will of
God.
It is possible to get
very close to the kingdom of heaven by
doing good works and surrendering to
Spirit the various faculties of the
mind, but we can never fully enter into
and abide in heaven, or divine harmony,
without surrendering all that makes up
the personality, of which the will is
the center.
The will may be said to
be the man, because it is the directive
power that determines character
formation. When man wills the will of
God to be done, he forms spiritual
character. The use of the regenerate
will is for the sole purpose of
spiritual unfoldment.
When the will of man
adheres to wisdom faithfully, and
carries out in its work the plans that
are idealized in wisdom, it creates in
man a consciousness of harmony and
peace. Spirit breathes into such an
individual continually the necessary
inspiration and knowledge to give him
superior understanding.
I bring the divine will
to bear in my consciousness by
understanding, by appropriating
universal wisdom, by affirming, "Not my
will, but thine, be done." God is
potential, unformed will; man is
manifest God will. I now link my will
with the principle of divine force in
order to develop superior executive
capacity. After this manner I am
swiftly bringing forth faculties that
under the slow action of mortality
would take ages to develop.
I affirm: "The will of
God is uppermost in my consciousness,
and I am glorified in my
understanding."
Law
13th Day, Wednesday.
Read Galatians 6:1-10, 16.
Divine law is the
logical process by which divine
principle, or God, manifests. The inner
spirit of the law is the spiritual way
of life that Jesus taught and
lived.
Divine law is the
universal something in us of which we
all are conscious, and tells us when we
are doing right and when we are doing
wrong. It may be defined as the innate
knowing of right and wrong, and this
knowing may be quickened. The
quickening does not come by the study
of material things, but by
concentrating the mind on the Christ.
Man does not make the law; the law is,
and it was established for our benefit
before the world was formed.
There is a law of
spiritual and mental growth constantly
at work in the mind, raising man from
sense consciousness to spiritual
consciousness. The nature of the
universe is purity and goodness.
Abiding in the Christ consciousness,
man aligns himself with divine law. He
becomes "the light of the
world."
Today I find I am one
with the infinite law of expansion--one
with the principle of never-ceasing
growth and development toward the
fulfillment of God's perfect idea that
is firmly infixed in all
creation.
Divine law cannot be
broken. It holds man responsible for
the result of his labors. "The law of
the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus" is
the action of true ideas working in my
mind and in my body.
I affirm: "My house is
set in order, and I press forward
toward the goal of
perfection."
Zeal
14th Day, Thursday. Read
Luke 10:30-42; 11:1-4.
Zeal is the affirmative
impulse of existence; its command is,
"Go forward!" Zeal is the mighty force
that incites all things to action; the
eternal urge behind all things. To be
without zeal is to be without the zest
of living. Zeal and enthusiasm incite
to glorious achievement in every ideal
that the mind conceives.
Zeal should be tempered
with wisdom. Some persons get so fired
with zeal when they first tackle a job,
that they quickly grow tired, and fail
to carry it through to completion. The
need is for control,
equalization.
Watch the pull of a
giant locomotive; note how it slowly
but steadily moves forward, almost by
inches at first but gradually
increasing until its mile-long train
swiftly disappears in the
distance.
"The zeal of thy house
hath eaten me up" means that the zeal
faculty has become so active
intellectually that it has consumed the
vitality and left nothing for spiritual
growth. Excessive zeal in religious
forms of worship eats up the purely
spiritual. When we become very zealous
in observing the rites of the church we
are prone to forget the church itself,
which is Christ.
The divine command is,
"Take time to be holy." I am quick to
do the bidding of Spirit and use a
portion of my zeal in establishing
God's kingdom within me. I do not put
all my enthusiasm into helping others;
my own unfoldment is of great
importance to me. I love to aid my
brother, but I do not allow that idea
to rob me of the power to demonstrate
Truth for myself.
I affirm: "My zeal is
tempered with wisdom, and I maintain a
perfect balance within and
without."
Renunciation
l5th Day, Friday. Read
Matthew 18:21-35.
The accumulated effects
of sins of past lives, is a burden that
those who accept it expect to carry for
ages, or until they work out of it.
They are weary treadmill travelers from
birth to death. There is no such
hopeless note in the doctrine of Jesus.
He came to bring a full consciousness
of abundant life, complete forgiveness,
redemption from all sin, and victory
over death and the grave.
The law is Truth, and
the truth is that all is good. There is
no power and no reality in sin. If sin
were real and enduring, like goodness
and Truth, it could not be forgiven but
would hold its victim forever. As I
enter into the understanding of the
real and the unreal, a great light
dawns on me, and I see what Jesus meant
when He said, "The Son of man hath
authority on earth to forgive
sins."
The Son of man is that
in me which discerns the difference
between Truth and error. As I get this
understanding, I am in position to free
my soul from sin and my body from
disease, which is the effect of sin. In
spiritual understanding the I AM of man
forgives or "gives" Truth "for" error;
the mind is set in order, and the body
healed. The moment man realizes this he
puts himself in harmony with the Truth
of Being, and the law wipes out all his
transgressions.
In His name I affirm:
"The law of the Spirit of life in
Christ Jesus makes me free from the law
of sin and of death."
Life
16th Day, Saturday. Read
John 4:1-26.
Life is a phase of
Being, the expression of which
manifests as animation, activity, and
vigor. The consciousness of eternal
life places one in the stream of life
that never fails.
The whole race needs a
spiritual quickening of the life
principle; its origin is in Divine
Mind. Life is the gift of God. "Stir up
the gift of God, which is in thee." To
think intently about life is to quicken
it into action. To talk about energy,
force, power, life, will make the life
currents flow swiftly throughout the
whole being.
To Jesus the God
presence was an abiding flame --a flame
of life everlasting that He felt in
every cell of His body making Him more
and more alive, cleansing and purifying
Him until He became every whit
perfect.
By mastering carnality
Jesus opened the way for all men to
attain eternal life. During our higher
realizations of Truth we are often
conscious of this abiding flame working
in and through us.
I now make alive all the
cells in my organism by mentally
infusing into them the Christ
consciousness. This is the new birth,
which is transforming my body and
raising it to electrical energy. This
was carried to its fulfillment by Jesus
in the resurrection of His body. The
next step in divine evolution is the
spiritualization of the body, or the
Ascension.
The quickening life in
me is now brought into expression by my
holding and repeating this statement of
Truth:
"I have the Mind of
Christ. My words are spiritually
quickened and they are alive
forevermore. I am filled with the
vitality and vigor and health of Jesus
Christ."
Conservation
3d Sunday. Read Isaiah
55:1-13.
We should ever remember
that our youth, which we love so well,
never really dies; it merely falls
asleep in the realm of the
subconscious. People grow old because
they let the youth idea fall asleep. By
using spiritual understanding they can
awaken it.
The awakening of
youthful energies is necessary to one
in the regeneration. The body cannot be
refined and made, like its Creator,
eternal before all the thoughts
necessary to its perpetuation are
revived in it.
Jesus represents man in
the regeneration; that is, man in the
process of restoring his body to its
pristine purity where it will live on
perpetually without old age, disease,
or death. A necessary step in this
process of body restoration is the
quickening of the vitalizing energies
in the subconsciousness that feed the
body and give it the life force that
renews its youth. Eternal youth is one
of the God-given ideas that man
loves.
Waste of substance is
the great sin that results in body
disintegration. It is the sense mind
that causes all waste, whether in the
organism or in the more external realm
called the world. Jesus came to save
men from sin and to make them ready for
an abundant entrance into the glorious
kingdom of Christ, which is to be
established on the earth.
We can get at the
subject of conservation definitely by
considering the life "hid with Christ
in God," for the hidden protected life
is the conserved life.
I now make conscious
union with the substance of all
spiritual attributes as I
affirm:
"Through Christ the
divine economy is active in me, and I
conserve the spiritual essences in all
phases of my life."
Jesus Christ Our
Helper
17th Day, Monday. Read
Romans 8:1-11.
If God had not planned
to make Jesus a continuous working
factor in our civilization there would
be no good purpose for His having been
sent, and for the great sacrifice that
He made. He came to show us "the way,
and the truth, and the life," and He
promised "Lo, I am with you always." He
also promised that He would be with us
as a teacher. "When he, the Spirit of
truth, is come, he shall guide you into
all the truth."
No one is overlooked.
The helpful hand of Jesus is extended
to all. Whoever you are, wherever you
are, Jesus in His spiritual
consciousness is waiting for your
mental recognition. Whatever your
object, He will show you how to attain
it. "Whatsoever ye shall ask in my
name, that will I do."
Jesus developed the
innate powers of mind and body and
thereby became a citizen of the heavens
or realms where dwell the sons of God.
He did this by the power of His
word--by releasing the imprisoned
electrons of His body and raising them
to spiritual consciousness.
Why do we not see Jesus?
Optics show that man's eyes are limited
in sight. They are aware of rays of
light within a very narrow range. The
microscope reveals a world of living
things to which the natural eye is
utterly oblivious. Both below and above
the range of human vision living
entities exist. We sometimes feel the
presence of what we cannot
see.
Affirm: "I rejoice in
the restorative power of Jesus Christ
now working mightily in a new
consciousness of life in my soul and
body."
Evolution
18th Day, Tuesday. Read
Romans 8:18-39.
In every man the Christ,
or the Word of God, is infolded; it is
an idea that contains ideas.
Evolution is the result
of the development of ideas in mind.
What we are is the result of the
evolution of our consciousness, and our
consciousness is the result of the seed
ideas sown in our mind. Therefore
spiritual evolution is the unfolding of
the Spirit of God into expression. It
is the development achieved by man
working under spiritual law. Humanity
is the garden of God, of which the soil
is the omnipresent thought
substance.
The Christ, or Word
(Son) of God evolution of man is
plainly taught in the New Testament as
the supreme attainment of every man.
"For the earnest expectation of the
creation waiteth for the revealing of
the sons of God."
Without some evidence in
us of the Christ man we are little
better than animals. When through faith
in the reality of things spiritual we
begin soul evolution there is great
rejoicing; "we rejoice in hope of the
glory of God."
Christianity teaches the
complete law of evolution.
"God said," and thus God
created that which was to appear, God
planned man and the universe, and
through His word projected them into
creation as ideal principles and
immanent energies acting behind and
within all visibility.
I affirm: "I am one with
the ever unfolding, ever increasing
Spirit of divine understanding. My
whole consciousness is ripening into
perfection."
The Blood of
Jesus
19th Day, Wednesday.
Read John 6:41-65.
Through the power of His
word Jesus purified and spiritualized
the natural blood in His body until it
became a spiritual life stream, into
which all may enter and be
cleansed.
Through the power of His
word Jesus broadcast the spiritual
electrons of His body into the race
thought atmosphere, that they may be
apprehended by all who believe in
Him.
This Lenten season I
realize that I am baptized in His
spiritual life stream, and am purified
and cleansed. The electrons of His
blood, which I appropriate, are centers
of energy and life within, and they
uplift and strengthen me.
Jesus called the bread
He had blessed His body and the wine
His blood. As I appropriate words of
Truth, "eat them" so to speak, I
partake of the substance and life of
Spirit and build the Christ body. Thus
I partake of the body and blood of
Jesus, the true sacrament that
vitalizes the body by renewing the
mind.
The blood of Jesus in me
is the life contained in God. The crown
of life is attained by living eternally
in the presence of God. Attainment
depends on the understanding of the
science of right thinking. My way to
eternal life lies in my acknowledgment
of my oneness with the Christ of
God.
In His name I am
gradually transforming and regenerating
my blood and my body. Thus I am saved
by Jesus Christ.
Realizing victory over
every limited belief of the mortal, I
affirm: "I rejoice in the restorative
power of Jesus' blood now working
mightily in me to renew, to restore,
and to make every whit
whole."
The Body
Temple
20th Day, Thursday. Read
Matthew 6:16-34.
God created the idea of
the body as a self-perpetuating,
self-renewing organism, which man
reconstructs into his personal body.
God created the body idea, and man, by
his thinking manifests.
I realize that I shall
have a perfect body and a perfect world
when I understand and use the perfect
word, the word that contains all the
attributes of God. Therefore, I declare
that my words are being charged with a
full understanding of Divine Mind and
its inhering ideas, and that I
consciously apply this understanding in
all of my feeling, thinking, speaking,
and living and am therefore steadily
putting on the Christ in mind and
body.
Overcoming step by step
the limitations of material thought, my
body becomes more refined and
increasingly radiant.
The law is that my body
is transformed by the renewing of the
mind. By affirmation the mind lays hold
of living words of Truth and builds
them into the body. As I enter into and
abide in the Son of God consciousness I
have eternal life and my body is
transformed into pure flesh manifesting
the perfection of Spirit.
To bless is to invoke
good on that which is blessed. It is to
confer God's good on something or
someone. Therefore I bless my body
temple, and declare its purity and
strength and beauty. I pour out upon my
body temple the oil of love and clothe
it in garments of praise.
Realizing that the body
of Christ in me is the result of my
spiritual thought that maintains its
unity with Spirit even in
manifestation, I affirm:
"The Word of God in me
quickens my mind, and my body is
transformed into the likeness of His
glorious body."
The Grace of
God
21st Day, Friday. Read
Matthew 5:17-20, 38-48. "As far as the
east is from the west,
So far hath he removed
our transgressions from us."
Grace means good will,
favor, disposition to show mercy.
Therefore, we do not hold ourselves as
bond servants of the law, but as
recipients of the grace of God, as sons
of the Most High.
The grace of God extends
to all people, not alone to one sect or
creed. All men are equal in favor with
God.
The grace of God is
greater than the laws of man. We may
make certain laws and restrictions for
ourselves and "his servants ye are whom
ye obey." If we are servants of the
law, our obedience is unto death; if we
are servants of righteousness, our
obedience is unto life. To become
recipients of that which the Father
would bestow, we should take the
element of grace into consideration;
that even beyond what we ask, seek,
earn, or deserve under the law, God is
more than willing to give.
God, as the great
creative principle of the universe,
will always meet us more than half way.
By becoming receptive to the "grace of
God," we receive the measure of God's
provision, which exceeds any of our
imaginings.
I realize that "grace
and truth came through Jesus Christ";
that is, the real saving, redeeming,
transforming power comes to me through
the work that Jesus did in establishing
for the race a new and higher
consciousness in the earth. I enter
into that consciousness by faith in Him
and by means of the inner spirit of the
law that He taught and
practiced.
I affirm: "Through the
grace of God I am forgiven and
healed."
Fourth
Dimension
22d Day, Saturday. Read
John 21:1-17.
The fourth dimension is
that which embraces and encompasses the
other three; it is realization, the
doing away with time and space and all
conditions. It is the process in which
forms lose their apartness and become
one under divine law. The human mind,
with its limited reasoning faculties,
is bound by time, space, and
conditions. By itself it can get no
further into the spiritual realm than
reason will take it; but when we invoke
the aid of the Christ in us we go
beyond reason into the realm of pure
realization; then we have attained the
consciousness of pure be-ing, the
fourth dimension of the
being.
The one way to enter the
realm of the fourth dimension, or of
realization, is through scientific
prayer, commonly named "the silence."
First, I take with me the word Jehovah
and go within and hold it steadily in
mind, until the word illumines the
whole inner consciousness. I am now
functioning in the fourth dimension,
and the way is open for concentrating
on the prayer I have in mind for the
special demonstration.
I fix my attention
powerfully on the consummation of an
idea until the idea has nucleated a
certain amount of thought substance,
and I am assured that it will be
followed by that silent power of
thought which, working throughout my
whole being, is bringing forth the
thing desired.
When my thoughts radiate
with the speed of spiritual light, they
blend with creative Mind (called by
Jesus "heaven"), and that which I ask
for is done.
I affirm: "The
illuminating power of Truth awakens and
quickens my consciousness, and I
discern clearly."
The Sabbath
4th Sunday. Read Mark
2:23-28; 3:1-6.
The true Sabbath is the
consciousness that we have fulfilled
the divine law in both thought and
act.
The sabbath is a very
certain, definite thing. It is a state
of mind that man enters or acquires
when he goes into the silence, into the
realm of Spirit. There he finds true
rest and peace. The seventh day means
the seventh or perfect stage of one's
spiritual unfoldment. Man had become so
lost in the darkness of sense
consciousness that he could not save
himself, so the Saviour came. When man
lays hold of the indwelling Christ, the
Saviour, he is raised out of the Adam
consciousness into the Christ
consciousness. He then enters the
seventh stage of his unfoldment, where
he finds sweet rest and
peace.
The Sabbath as an
institution was established by man. God
does not rest from His work every
seventh day, and there is no evidence
that there has ever been a moment's
cessation in the activity of the
universe. We do not quarrel with our
brother over the observance of the
Sabbath. If he says we should worship
God on the seventh day, or on the first
day, in either case we acquiesce. Not
only do we do God's service in praise,
song, and thanksgiving on the seventh
day and the first day, but every day.
In the true Sabbath our mind is turned
to God every moment, and we are ever
ready to acknowledge His holy presence
in our heart and life. "The sabbath was
made for man, and not man for the
sabbath."
I affirm: "I rest in the
consciousness of the true Sabbath, and
my heart is filled with joy and
satisfaction."
The Idea
23d Day, Monday. Read
Luke 5:141.
In the Scriptures ideas
are symbolized by fish. An idea is the
original, primary, or unlimited thought
of Being: in God-Mind, the eternal Word
or Logos. In the idea are involved all
the potentialities of that which is to
be evolved through man. The idea itself
becomes the evolving power through
which it makes itself
manifest.
Ideas are catching. We
are all heavily charged with ideas.
When ideas are released they spring
forth and pass from mind to mind, being
"recorded" as they fly; when they are
expressed the whole race is lifted
up--because true ideas are charged with
the uplifting Spirit. We bring divine
ideas into manifestation by making
ourselves one with them, becoming
conscious of our indwelling Christ Mind
and our oneness with the
Father.
As the son is to the
father, so is the idea to the mind.
Mind is one with its ideas, so the
Father--God-Mind--is one with its
offspring, the idea--the Son. Mind is
coexistent with its ideas, and there is
continual interaction and communion.
The Father and the Son are one--are
coexisting, interacting, and
intercommuning in will and purpose. It
was from the grand idea of divine life
that Jesus healed the sick and raised
the dead.
Spiritual inspiration in
me is an inflow of divine ideas;
activity of a spiritual character;
understanding that comes from God. It
is the inbreathing of Spirit. The
breath of God infused into me has
endowed me with super-life. "He
breathed on them, and saith unto them,
Receive ye the Holy Spirit."
I affirm: "In the
presence and power of the Christ idea
in me, I proclaim my
perfection."
Healing
24th Day, Tuesday. Read
Matthew 9:14-38.
Health, real health, is
from within and does not have to be
manufactured in the without. It is the
normal condition of man, a condition
true to the reality of his
being.
The first step in all
spiritual healing is the using of
faith, and the next step is to become
open and receptive to the stream of
healing life. Spiritual healing
restores to perpetual health because it
erases the error thought and cleanses
the mind.
Through the exercise of
faith and our word, our spiritual
quality is fused into unity with the
power of Christ, and the healing is
marvelously accomplished.
It is said that the
early Christians, before going forth to
do their mighty works, commanded the
new life in Christ to come forth and to
imbue their consciousness with its
healing potency to such an extent that
it would flow through them and heal all
those to whom they
ministered.
They discovered that
when they repeated over and over the
most powerful prayer Jesus ever
uttered, the Lord's Prayer, the hidden
Christ within each one of them was
called into action. They further
discovered that the fifteenth time they
realized the prayer the waters of
tribulation as well as all manner of
diseases began to subside, and that
their realization lifted the
consciousness of those who were asking
their help. All tribulation and disease
dropped away.
Experience proves the
power of words to bring health. In
healing myself, I talk to my body,
repeating necessary denials and
affirmations. This raises my
consciousness to spiritual reality
where all healing power
originates.
I faithfully affirm:
"Through Jesus Christ, God's vitalizing
energy floods my whole being, and I am
healed."
Peace
25th Day, Wednesday.
Read Matthew 5:14-40.
"Still in thy right
hand carry gentle peace,
To silence
envious tongues. Be just, and fear
not: Let all the ends thou aim'st
at be thy country's Thy God's and
truth's."
--Shakespeare
The great thought waves
that move the world are set into action
by deep thinkers.
Peace and understanding
of spiritual realities arise in the
mind when it has made the inner
contact. When we know the work of
Spirit in transforming mind and body,
we shall see that the crushing of
personal ambitions releases spiritual
ideas of far-reaching
influence.
Jesus went back to the
very source of all discord, and showed
how all resistance and antagonism must
cease. He did not stop to argue whether
the cause was just or not, but He said,
"Agree with thine adversary quickly";
"If any man would go to law with thee,
and take away thy coat, let him have
thy cloak also." To the mortal mind
this seems like foolishness, but Jesus
spoke out of the inner wisdom that
knows that it is dangerous to allow any
kind of opposing thoughts to form in
consciousness. He knew that the
universal law of justice would adjust
all matters, if men would trust it and
cease fighting mentally for their
rights. This is accomplished by
bringing the Christ, the Prince of
Peace, to bear in all our affairs. "My
peace I give unto you."
I praise God for the
peace of my own higher self. I rejoice
and am glad in the possession of the
Holy City within. With my inner vision
I see the gates open wide, and holy
peace pervades my
consciousness.
I affirm: "My mind is
stayed on Thee, and I rest in Thy peace
and power."
Heaven
26th Day, Thursday. Read
Matthew 13:24-53.
God idealized two
universal planes of consciousness, the
heaven and the earth, or more properly,
"the heavens and the earth." One is the
realm of pure ideals; the other, of
thought forms. God does not create the
visible universe directly, as man makes
cement pavement, but He creates the
ideas that are used by His intelligent
"image" and "likeness" to make the
universe. Thus God's creations are
always spiritual. Man's creations are
both material and spiritual, according
to his understanding.
Jesus, of all those
claiming intimate acquaintance with
spiritual things, gave heaven definite
location. "The kingdom of God is within
you." This kingdom is now ready. "The
fields . . . are white already unto
harvest." The conditions are ripe. But
only those come in who are willing to
exchange for it their ideas of earthly
possessions. Every earthly link must be
broken, every mortal love crucified.
This is the way Jesus entered this
kingdom, and His way is the way we must
all employ.
Heaven is everywhere
present. It is the orderly, lawful
adjustment of God's kingdom in man's
mind, body, and affairs; it is the
Christ consciousness, the realm of
divine ideas, a state of consciousness
in harmony with the thoughts of God.
Heaven is within every one of us; a
place, a conscious sphere of mind,
having all the attractions described or
imagined as belonging to
heaven.
I realize that faith in
Spirit and the ultimate dominance of
the good in me will restore me to the
heavenly consciousness from which I
descended.
I affirm: "Heaven within
is one perfect harmonious life,
substance, and intelligence, and I
rejoice."
Principle
27th Day, Friday. Read
John 5:19-47.
Principle and Truth are
one. Divine Principle is Truth in a
universal sense, or as it pertains to
Elohim God. Satisfaction comes to us as
we live according to
Principle.
Universal Principle, the
oversoul of this planet, was working
its way into expression through Jesus.
The same work that Jesus accomplished
is being accomplished by all
men--though perhaps very
slowly.
To demonstrate Principle
keep establishing yourself in certain
statements (affirmations) of the law.
The more often you present to your mind
a logical and true proposition, the
stronger become the inner feeling of
realization.
As the principle of
music moves through tones, so does the
principle of mind move through ideas.
Therefore God, as Principle, moves
through the expressed thought of Divine
Mind.
The mind of each
individual may be consciously unified
with Divine Mind through the indwelling
Christ. By affirming at-one-ment with
God-Mind, we eventually realize the
perfect mind which was in Christ
Jesus.
"Have this mind in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus: who,
existing in the form of God, counted
not the being on an equality with God a
thing to be grasped, but emptied
himself, taking the form of a servant,
being made in the likeness of
men."
I affirm: "Principle is
Truth. I know the Truth, and the Truth
makes me free."
Miracles
28th Day, Saturday. Read
Matthew 14:15-36.
The first miracle in our
consciousness is the transforming of
the water of thought into the wine of
thought, through introducing into the
consciousness some of the "angels of
God," or true ideas.
In reality miracles are
events that take place as a result of
the application of a higher law to
certain conditions.
God never performs
miracles, if by miracle is meant a
departure from universal law. Whatever
the prophets did was done by the
operation of laws inherent in Being and
open to the discovery of every
man.
By the power of his
thought Elijah penetrated the atoms and
precipitated an abundance of rain.
Jesus used the same dynamic power of
thought to break the bonds of the atoms
composing the few loaves and fishes of
a little lad's lunch--and five thousand
persons were fed.
Science is discovering
the miracle-working dynamics of
religion, but science has not yet
comprehended the dynamic directive
power of man's thought. All so-called
miracle workers claim that they do not
of themselves produce the marvelous
results; that they are only the
instruments of a superior
entity.
Jesus said, "He that
believeth on me, the works that I do
shall he do also." As I go on in the
exercise of spiritual faculties I shall
strengthen them and understand them
better and I shall cease to talk about
anything as miraculous.
I affirm: "The clear
unclouded mind of Jesus Christ
dominates all my thinking, and I
discern the omnipresent laws of
Spirit."
The Overcomer
5th (Passion) Sunday.
Read John 20:19-31.
An overcomer is one who
recognizes the Truth of his being and
is renewing his mind and body and
affairs by changing his thoughts from
the old mortal beliefs to the new as he
sees them in Divine Mind. He is one who
demonstrates the divine law, not only
in surface life but in innermost
consciousness. Spiritual power,
mastery, and dominion are attained by
the overcomer. "He that overcometh, I
will give to him to sit down with me in
my throne."
The way of overcoming
is, first, to place one's self by faith
in the realization of sonship, and
secondly, to demonstrate it faithfully
in every thought and act. One of the
laws of mind is that man becomes like
that with which he identifies himself.
Christ is the one perfect pattern.
Everyone desires to overcome all
errors. Each should, therefore, be wise
and identify himself with the
Christ.
No external condition or
circumstance can hold man in bondage
when he makes mental contact with
God.
It was to the overcomer
that Jehovah spoke when, through one of
the old prophets, He said, "I will
restore to you the years that the
locust hath eaten."
We have many blessings.
Begin to praise God for the abundance
of all things; your words will crack
the omnipresent ethers, and good will
flow to you from every
direction.
The work that I have to
do as an overcomer for the world is to
help establish a new race
consciousness, a new heaven and a new
earth, "wherein dwelleth
righteousness." By being true to my
highest understanding of Truth, I never
swerve to the right nor left for any
reason.
I affirm: "I am an
overcomer, through Jesus Christ and I
rest in the realization of His grace
and power."
Patience
29th Day, Monday. Read
Hebrews 11:17-40; 12: 1-6.
Patience is a state of
mind that beholds the world from the
harmony of the Christ Mind, a freedom
from personal thinking. It is an
attitude of mind characterized by
poise, calmness, and a quiet restful
trust, especially in the face of trying
conditions. It has its foundation in
love. "Great peace have they that love
thy law; and they have no occasion of
stumbling."
The first requisite in
the development of patience is
spiritual understanding. The larger our
vision of life, the more freedom we
feel, and we are spared the friction
and frettings that come to those who
are centered in personality.
Whether one is patient
or not depends on his view of life. If
he is selfish and self-centered and
lives in a material world, bound by his
own interests, he lacks the qualities
that go to make up patience.
We may take the gift of
patience and make use of it. We may
receive it by faith, and then work it
out in every department of our being by
daily practice of Truth.
Patience gives
self-control. We unfold the capacity to
direct our behavior in right ways, a
result of spirituality.
I realize that I am
feeding my consciousness on divine
patience. When my thoughts are in
harmony with divine law, they develop
my body into God's beautiful,
indestructible temple. "Let us run with
patience the race that is set before
us, looking unto Jesus the author and
perfecter of our faith."
I affirm: "The serene,
calm, trustful Spirit now accomplishes
all the desires of my heart. I rest in
peace."
Divine
Judgment
30th Day, Tuesday. Read
Luke 6:37-49.
Human judgment is the
mental act of evaluation through
comparison or contrast. Intellectual
man always judges his fellow man.
Divine judgment is of spiritual
consciousness. When we awaken to the
reality of our divinity, the light
begins to break on us from within, and
we know the Truth; this is the
quickening of our judgment faculty.
This faculty may be exercised in two
ways: from sense perception or
spiritual understanding. If its action
be based on sense, its conclusions are
fallible and often condemnatory; if on
spiritual understanding, they are
safe.
The judgment faculty
discerns Truth and balances the
faculties in righteousness. In the
Scriptures judgment is often applied to
the action of Divine Mind in its work
of judging, especially to the
experiences that come to man through
the working of the law of justice. Man
redeems this faculty by placing it in
the Absolute, by declaring and
realizing that its origin is in God and
all its conclusions are based on Truth.
This gives a working center from which
the I AM begins to set our thought
world in order.
I do not judge others as
regards their guilt or innocence. I
consider myself and how I stand in the
sight of the Father. I begin reform
with myself. The judgment seat of
Christ is within me, and a judging, or
discerning between the true and the
false is going on daily in me as an
overcomer; I am daily reaping the
results of my thoughts and my
deed.
I affirm: "My judgment
is just, because I seek not my own
will, but the will of the
Father."
Spiritual
Substance
31st Day, Wednesday.
Read Matthew 13: 3-9, 18-23.
There is a kingdom of
abundance of all things, and it may be
found by those who seek it and are
willing to comply with its laws.
Substance exists in a realm of ideas
and is powerful when handled by one who
is familiar with its
characteristics.
Spiritual substance is
the source of all material wealth and
cannot suffer loss or destruction by
human thought. It is always with us,
ready to be used and to make the
consciousness potent and fertile. In
this connection Jesus said, "I have
meat to eat that ye know
not."
Just as the earth is the
universal matrix in which all
vegetation develops, so this invisible
Spirit substance is the universal
matrix in which ideas of prosperity
germinate and grow and bring forth
according to our faith and
trust.
I know that any seed
words that are planted in omnipresent
Spirit substance will germinate and
grow and bring forth fruit "after their
kind." Just as the farmer selects the
best seed for planting, so I must
choose the words that will bring forth
the rich harvest of plenty.
To gain control of
Spirit substance I grasp it with my
mind; that is, lay hold of the idea
back of it. Right thinking is necessary
in using my mind constructively to
bring about right results.
I affirm: "Divine
substance flows in all its fullness
into my consciousness and through me as
prosperity into all my
affairs."
The Atonement
32d Day, Thursday. Read
John 17:1-26.
Jesus played a most
important part in opening the way for
mankind into the Father's kingdom. This
was accomplished by His overcoming the
belief in death.
Atonement means the
reconciliation between God and men
through Christ. Jesus became the way by
which all who accept Him may "pass
over" to the higher consciousness. We
have atonement through Him.
"Christ . . . who his
own self bare our sins in his body upon
the tree, that we, having died unto
sins, might live unto righteousness; by
whose stripes ye were
healed."
The whole race was
caught in the meshes of its own thought
and, through drowsy ignorance, would
have remained there had not a break
been made in the structure, and the
light of a higher way let
in.
If you were held in the
meshes of a great spider web, and
someone made a hole through which you
could pass, you would go where the hole
was and would make your escape that
way. Jesus made this aperture in the
race thought and thus threw open wide
the door into the spiritual
realm.
His Christianity had a
living God in it, a God that lived in
Him and spoke through Him. It is a
religion of life, as well as purity.
Men are to be alive; not merely exist
half dead for a few years and then go
out with a sputter, like a tallow dip.
Christ's men are to be lights that glow
with a perpetual current from the one
omnipresent energy.
Declaring my unity with
this power, I affirm: "The redeeming
word of Jesus Christ, 'I am the
resurrection, and the life,' makes me
whole and perfect."
Mount of
Transfiguration
33d Day, Friday. Read
Matthew 17:1-13.
Transfiguration is
always preceded by a change of mind. In
transfiguration, ideals are lifted from
the material to the
spiritual.
Going up into the
mountain to pray means an elevation of
thought and aspiration from the mortal
to the spiritual viewpoint. When the
mind is exalted in prayer the rapid
radiation of mental energy causes a
dazzling light radiation from all parts
of the body, and especially the
head.
Even our so-called
physical body reveals a radiant body,
(which Jesus referred to as sitting on
the throne of His glory), which
interlaces the trillions of cells of
the organism and burns brightly. Jesus
gave His disciples a glimpse of His
radiant body when He was transfigured
before them. "His face did shine as the
sun, and his garments became white as
the light."
He was very advanced in
spiritual consciousness and was
developed to a larger degree than
anyone else in our race. But we all
have that body of light, and its
development is in proportion to our
spiritual culture. Jesus did not go
down to corruption but, by the
intensity of His spiritual devotions,
transformed every cell into its innate
divine light and power. When John was
in the spirit of devotion Jesus
appeared to him and "his eyes were as a
flame of fire; and his feet like unto
burnished brass." Jesus lives today in
that body of glorified light in a
kingdom that interpenetrates the earth
and its environment.
Jesus is my Way-Shower.
In His name I affirm: "My mind and body
are radiant with the light of Spirit,
and I am triumphant, glorious,
splendid."
Transmutation
34th Day, Saturday. Read
John 2:1-11.
Transmutation--"The
conversion of one element into
another."--Webster.
In consciousness
transmutation is a changing in action
and character to conform to spiritual
standards. It is well said that the
mind is the crucible in which the ideal
is transmuted into the real.
Jesus said that all
power was given to Him in heaven and in
earth. He manifested His power in a
small way by multiplying a few loaves
and fishes to feed more than five
thousand persons. In various other
instances He demonstrated that He had
an understanding of the transmutation
of substance. He raised His flesh body
to an energy level far higher in
potential life and substance than any
reached before. We see that not only
the mind but also the body is affected
in the process of developing out of the
natural into the spiritual.
The leaven of the
Pharisees and of Herod (Mark 8:15)
represents limited thoughts. When we
attempt to confine the divine law to
the customary avenues of expression and
scoff at anything beyond, we are
letting the leaven of the Pharisees
work in us. When the mind is raised up
through affirmation to God's
omnipresent substance and life, we are
not only fed, but there is a surplus.
This is the teaching of Jesus, and it
has always been exemplified by His
faithful followers.
I realize that through
the law of transmutation every error
thought in my consciousness is
transmuted into its spiritual
correspondence.
I affirm: "Spirit in me
is transmuting my body into pure
spiritual substance, and my soul
rejoices."
Palm Sunday
Palm Sunday. Read John
12:12-50.
Palm Sunday is the
Sunday preceding Easter. Jerusalem, the
Holy City, symbolizes within us the
habitation of peace, possession of
peace, vision of peace, abode of
prosperity within us.
In man Jerusalem is the
abiding consciousness of spiritual
peace, which is the result of
continuous realizations of spiritual
power tempered with spiritual poise and
confidence. Jerusalem symbolizes the
great nerve center just back of the
heart. From this point Spirit sends its
radiance to all parts of the
body.
Jesus symbolizes our I
AM identity. His going up to Jerusalem
means our taking the last step in
unfoldment preparatory to the final
step, when the personality is entirely
crucified and the Christ
triumphs.
Jesus riding the ass
into Jerusalem means the fulfillment of
the time when the spiritual I AM within
us takes control and lifts all the
animal forces up to the spiritual plane
of mastery, purity, and
peace.
When the I AM takes
charge of the body a new order of
things is inaugurated. The vitality is
no longer wasted. Through high and pure
ideals the whole consciousness is
raised to a higher standard.
The hosannas of the
rejoicing multitude and the spreading
of their garments and branches of trees
before Jesus, represent joyful
obedience and homage that all the
thoughts in one's consciousness give
when an error state of mind is
overcome. "Blessed is he that cometh in
the name of the Lord."
In the name of Jesus
Christ I affirm: "The Spirit of Him
that raised up Jesus dwells in me, and
I am made perfect."
The New Race
35th Day, Monday. Read
Revelation 21:1-7; 22: 1-7.
"These things shall be!
a loftier race
Than e'er the world hath
known shall rise
With flame of freedom in
their souls,
And light of knowledge
in their eyes.
* * *
"Nation with nation,
land with land,
Unarmed shall live as
comrades free:
In every heart and brain
shall throb
The pulse of one
fraternity."
The time is ripe for the
advent of a new race, the advent of the
spiritualized man. This will be brought
about, not by a miracle or the fiat of
God, but by the gradual refinement of
the man of the flesh into the man of
Spirit.
The true overcomer is
qualifying himself to become a member
of this superrace. It is well for such
a one to cultivate the childlike spirit
and let go of all tense striving, even
for spiritual things. In the
realization of protecting, providing
love, all the strain of fear and
anxiety will be removed and life in
abundance will then find easy entrance
into the consciousness, bringing
strength and health and eternal youth
and life.
Spiritual harmony in man
depends largely on the right relation
of the inner and the outer realms of
his consciousness. Expression is the
law of life. Whatever is expressed
becomes manifest. I realize that as an
overcomer, I am working also for the
whole world, establishing a new race
consciousness, "new heavens and a new
earth."
I affirm: "The redeeming
law of God is awakening with me, and I
am a new man in Christ
Jesus."
The Fire of
God
36th Day, Tuesday. Read
Acts 2:1-21.
Fire represents the
positive, affirmative state of mind, as
opposed to the negative or watery
state.
The fire of God (Holy
Spirit) is the Word of God in action.
It burns out the dross of negation in
consciousness, and reveals Christ.
Tongues of fire represent the
illumination of thought, in
demonstration of Spirit's presence and
power. The flame of fire symbolizes the
light of intuition that burns in our
heart.
While the light of
intuition (flame of fire) burns in our
heart, there is no loss of substance.
In thinking there is a vibratory
process that uses up nerve tissue, but
in the wisdom that comes from the heart
this "bush" or tissue is not consumed.
This is "holy ground," or substance in
Divine Mind. When man approaches this
he must take off from his understanding
all limited thoughts of the Absolute
("put off thy shoes from off thy
feet").
Spiritual fire is a
symbol of the destruction of evil and
error. The fire of Spirit never ceases
its life-giving, purifying glow. In it
all error is burned up in consciousness
and the purified man then manifests
this "fire" as eternal life.
I have the assurance
that I shall not be left partially
cleansed, that the purifying work will
be complete. "Our God is a consuming
fire," also He is life, love,
substance, power, intelligence,
Truth.
In the name of Jesus
Christ, I affirm: "The Holy Spirit
flares its cleansing, purifying flames
throughout soul and body, and I am made
whole and perfect."
Holy
Communion
37th Day, Wednesday.
Read Luke 22:1-23.
"And as they were
eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed,
and brake it; and he gave to the
disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is
my body, And he took a cup, and gave
thanks, and gave to them, saying, Drink
ye all of it; for this is my blood of
the covenant."
The first step in
drinking of the blood and eating of the
body of Jesus is to resolve this whole
Scripture back into the primal ideas.
The only way to appropriate these ideas
is through the very highest activity of
mind as in prayer.
The benefit of taking
Holy Communion is the establishing of
our acceptance of the Christ whose
coming we celebrate within our mind and
heart. The bread used in the churches
symbolizes substance, which we consider
the Lord's body, a body of spiritual
ideas; and the wine used symbolizes His
blood, which we consider life, or the
circulation of divine ideas in our
consciousness that will purify our mind
and heart and renew our strength,
freeing us from all corruption, sin,
and evil, and bringing forth in us the
abundant, unlimited life of God.
Through the appropriation and
assimilation of the substance and life
in our own consciousness, we blend our
minds with the Father-Mind and there is
a harmonizing of every fiber of our
body with the Christ body, which is
life and light. As our mind and heart
are cleansed of untrue thoughts and
beliefs, and as we feed on living
ideas, our body takes on the life and
light of our divinity, and eventually
will become living light.
I affirm: "God's pure
life and substance are constantly
renewing and rebuilding His holy
temple, my body."
Gethsemane
38th Day, Thursday. Read
Mark 14:32-42.
Gethsemane is symbolic
of the struggle that takes place within
the consciousness when Truth is
realized as the one reality. It is a
condition that man works through when
he recognizes that God is all and that
he must be willing to sacrifice all for
God.
There are always deeply
rooted error thoughts stored away in
the subconsciousness, and on their own
account they come forward to crucify
the new unknown power, the so-called
impostor, the in-dwelling Christ. The
Christ is presumably captured by these
thoughts, which try to carry out their
aims in the darkness of the
subconscious mind. But error can kill
out only error. The Christ itself may
be held in obscurity for a while, but
it cannot be done away with. That which
died on the Cross when Jesus was
crucified was the personality; the
Christ resurrects itself from the very
depths of the subconsciousness, and
error is hanged on the gallows it
prepared for the doing away of the
newborn spiritual ego.
This breaking up and
passing away of old error states of
mind and making ready for the new is a
process in soul evolution of all those
who are faithfully following Jesus. In
all systems of thought concentration
and spiritual attainment, the will, the
executive faculty, plays the leading
part. Therefore I prepare my
consciousness for the reception of
these new ideas. I say with Jesus, "Not
my will, but thine, be done." I realize
that new inspiration is flowing
steadily into my consciousness as I
affirm: "Old error thoughts are passed
away. I am a new creature in
Christ."
Crucifixion
39th Day, Good Friday.
Read John 19:1-42.
Jesus' crucifixion on
Calvary was a final step in a work that
had been going on in Him for
thirty-three years, and when He arose
He was entirely free from the carnal
mind with all its limitations. He had
overcome all the carnal tendencies
which He had taken on that He might
free the race from its
bondage.
The word crucifixion
means the crossing out in consciousness
of certain errors that have become
fixed states of mind; it is the
enactment by a master of the final
extinction of carnal mind, the giving
up of the whole personality in order
that the Christ Mind may be expressed
in all its fullness. This is
represented by the crucifixion of
Jesus.
Calvary means "the place
of a skull." The carnal mind has
appropriated the brain and its skull
and it is here that the final battle is
fought. Every time we give up error
there is a crucifixion.
The three days Jesus was
in the tomb represent the three steps
in overcoming error. First,
nonresistance; second, the taking on of
divine activity, or receiving the will
of God; third, the assimilation and
fulfillment of the divine
will.
I deny the self that I
may unite with the selfless. I give up
the mortal that I may attain the
immortal. I dissolve the thought of the
physical body that I may realize the
spiritual body. This is a mental
process with a physical
effect.
I affirm: "Yea, though I
walk through the valley of the shadow
of death, I will fear no evil; for thou
art with me; thy rod and thy staff,
they comfort me."
Resting in
God
40th Day, Saturday. Read
Isaiah 11:1-10; 12:1-6.
After Jesus' crucifixion
He was laid to rest in the tomb of
Joseph of Arimathea. Jesus represents
the expression of the I AM identity.
Arimathea represents an aggregation of
thoughts of lofty character, a high
state of consciousness in man. Joseph
represents a state of consciousness in
which we improve in character along all
lines. We not only grow into a broader
understanding but also we increase in
vitality and substance. We are resting
in God, and at the same time gathering
strength for the power of greater
demonstrations to follow.
A degree of cleansing, a
wiping out of sense consciousness has
been accomplished. By mentally
reviewing our experiences, we recognize
that nothing is really destroyed, but
rather transmuted. Through faith we
take stock of the progress we have made
and find that we are getting a
consciousness of radiant substance and
of a higher life. Nothing is lost. When
sense consciousness is raised to a
higher plane all that belongs to it is
saved with it.
In reality the invisible
cannot be seen, touched, or
comprehended by the outer senses, yet
in this realm a great and mighty work
is being accomplished.
Today I realize that the
leaven that "leaveneth the whole lump"
is the Truth. The word of Truth within
me is not idle, but quietly spreading
from point to point. This process will
continue until my whole consciousness
is vitalized by the Holy
Spirit.
I affirm: "I rest in the
consciousness of eternal life and
strength, and I am made
perfect."
The
Resurrection
Easter Sunday. Read John
20:1-18.
Easter is the
celebration of the resurrection of
Jesus. Its inner meaning and spiritual
significance is the awakening and
raising to spiritual consciousness of
the I AM in man, which has been dead in
trespass and sin and buried in the tomb
of materiality.
"I came that they may
have life, and may have it abundantly."
The resurrection is the raising up of
the whole man--spirit, soul, and
body--into the Christ consciousness of
life and wholeness. This Jesus did. The
tomb could not hold His redeemed
perfected body temple. Resurrection is
accomplished by the quickening power of
the Holy Spirit.
Every time we rise to
the realization of eternal, indwelling
life, making union with the
Father-Mind, the resurrection of Jesus
takes place within us. All thoughts of
limitation and inevitable obedience to
material law are left in the tomb of
materiality.
Jesus was born into the
race thought so that He might
reconstruct it in conformity with the
divine law. He thus became our
Way-Shower, our Saviour, our
Helper.
Today the light of Truth
is illumining my mind, and I rise up in
the majesty of my divine sonship and
proclaim myself to be the child of the
Most High, free from all belief in sin,
sickness, and death.
I affirm: "In unity with
Christ I realize that I am resurrected
into the life, light, and power of
God."
The
End
* * * * *
