SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE
OF 1885
by M. E.
Cramer,
Harmony
Magazine
Vol. 7, No. 1, Oct. 1894.
“Though I bear record of
myself, yet my record is
true.” –John 8:14
He who knows
what is truth, speaks of what is as
eternal life, and of conditions that have
passed away as temporary beliefs.
It was early
one morning in the year 1885, during an
hour of earnest meditation and prayerful
seeking, that I asked the following
questions in faith, believing that they
would be answered, with a willingness to
abide the decision, whatever it might be.
“Is there any way out of these
conditions? Is there any power in the
vast universe that can heal me?”
The immediate and all-convincing response
was not an audible voice, but was an
intuitive response by the life-giving
spirit, which penetrated the body through
and through, and which illumined and
vivified its every atom with newness of
life. From the depths of Divine
perception and understanding I was caused
to know and realize that if I got well it
would be by the power of the Infinite
Spirit. I arose from my chair, and
walking the floor said, “If, if, if
I ever get well, then there is one
way out of these conditions; then I must
seek that way.”
At that time
I had received medical advice, which I
endeavored to obey implicitly, and had
been under medical treatment most of the
time for more than twenty years. At this
point, when I was just giving up hope of
obtaining relief from medical remedies or
through material means, my good husband
and many friends, who were solicitous for
my good, were urging me to see another
doctor, a specialist. My case had baffled
the best physicians, both in the East and
California, many having pronounced me
incurable. The verdict of physicians, as
well as many of the best magnetic healers
and electricians and the majority of my
friends, was, “She is
incurable.” But out of the kindness
of their hearts they urged me to see
another physician, thinking it would do
no harm if it did no good. Being
unwilling to experiment further with
medical treatment, I was opposed to
conforming to their wishes, but concluded
to consult two physicians, personal
friends, who had treated me, one five and
the other two years. I was somewhat
surprised when they both advised me to
conform to my friends’ wishes, for
said they, “judging according to
symptoms you have need of his
services.” For the first time I
rebelled against their decision, and with
firmness said, “No, I will not see
another physician.” My husband then
anxiously asked what I intended to do, to
which I replied, not understanding the
full import of my words, “Get well,
of course,” and went to my room to
contemplate the nature of my conduct, for
I had not before spoken so decidedly in
opposition to the opinions of my friends.
It was during this contemplation that I
asked the above questions concerning my
healing, and received the response.
The last
physician employed, who treated me about
two years, said: “The only hope I
have, whatever, of your recovery, is
based in your remarkable patience and
willingness to endure pain and
suffering.” Quite different this,
from the opinion of one of the best and
most prominent magnetic healers and
physicians who, after having treated me
several weeks, wrote “I would have
some hope of your recovery, if you were
not so patient to endure your conditions,
and so submissive to your sufferings; you
are altogether too resigned.”
During the
entire time of twenty-three years I was
either practicing or arranging to
practice some external method of cure,
fully imbued with the belief that
something must be done, constantly, to
get well, hoping all the while to obtain
relief from conditions to which it seemed
I was subject, and most of which were
believed to be inherited. During that
entire period there was no realizing
sense of bodily ease, mental rest, or
spiritual satisfaction.
While under
treatment in New York, the physician
advised California climate as my only
hope of relief, which, of course
necessitated a long journey in search of
health, which I now know is always with
us and everywhere present. Those who
think according to the popular belief
that we are subject to conditions and
surroundings, will be somewhat surprised
to learn that I lived in this climate for
fifteen years before experiencing any
real and lasting benefits, and then not
because of climate, but because I had
learned that neither climate nor locality
makes whole, but He who makes whole is
Whole in all climates, and in
every locality.
The answer
to my earnest inquiry, as to whether
there was any power that could heal me,
was an all absorbing realization of a
presence not heretofore realized. This
presence was more than personal; it was
omnipresence, and was so real, and so
vivifying and illumining, that I became
It. I realized It to be my Life, my
Being, my health, knowledge and power. It
was as a “consuming fire,” in
that all things became It, and were this
Presence manifested. Simultaneous with
finding myself in God, I experienced the
indrawing of all things; that is, that
all are embraced within one eternal God
and Father, or One Infinite Source and
Cause, and as I looked out over the
Infinite’s Creation, I beheld what
to me was “a new heaven and a new
earth.”
That hour
was the beginning of my realization of
the oneness of Life, for a gleam of its
truth flashed across my mental vision at
that time which I now understand to be
the at-one-ment of the whole—of the
Creator and creation. Dear reader, from
that moment I have not questioned
concerning “The Way,” nor
have I known any authority but
self-evident Truth.
Prior to
this experience, the presence and
omnipresence of God had been but a vague
belief; I know it was with me, as it is
with many persons at the present time, a
very vague belief: for if any one had
asked me if I believed that absolute good
was everywhere present, that the Infinite
Life was manifest perfectly within all
living, in that there is one God and
Father of All, who is in you all, and
through you all, and above you all, my
answer would have been, no! I do not; and
this is the test of realization or
non-realization.
At that time
I had no thought of healing and teaching
others, or doing any of the work in which
I am now engaged.
This to me
was going unto God: “coming unto
me,” finding God to be All in All,
and abiding. I was certainly changed in
the twinkling of an eye, and can say,
each day, and in the ever present
now, “God hath begotten
me.” I am here to bear witness of
the Truth.
In most
convincing and satisfying ways have I
been caused to realize and enjoy the
freedom of Truth. I certainly have
everything, in realization, to be
thankful for. The Truth has enabled me to
turn mountains of
“Difficulties” into the sea
of oblivion. My first promise, after the
realization of the omnipresence of the
Supreme One, was essentially this, that
if I could be healed through a knowledge
of truth, which to know makes free, I
would endeavor to serve the Truth, with
singleness of purpose, to the best of my
ability. I was conscious that the One to
whom this promise was made was witness of
all things. This thought was somewhat
startling when the full import of the
promise was realized. The Truth realized,
of being whole now, was so much more than
the hope of becoming whole, that it
destroyed all disposition to say
“Lo here, or lo there;” for
the kingdom of heaven was found to be
within, and everywhere apparent. The
actualization of the presence of one
living and true God, was the rending of
the veil of separateness, and made
visible to me the truth of the living
things of substance; and as
“Through faith we understand that
the worlds were framed, by the Word of
God,” it was self-evident that
through faith our bodies were formed by
the word of God.
At this
point the question that naturally arises
is, were you instantly healed? The answer
is this: I at once saw the unreality of
the conditions, and was free from the
belief that they had any power, or could
control for either good or ill. Thus the
ax was struck at the root of the tree,
and the old conditions passed away as
fast as I disowned them by dropping the
old habits of thinking and believing.
When my
friends heard that I was recovering my
health, they called for the purpose of
inquiring what it was that had benefited
me; and when they found me, as they
expressed it, looking like a new person,
they would say: “Is it true that
you are getting well?” “Is it
possible?” “Can you sit up
all day?” etc. This enabled me to
see with what strength of conviction they
held me as being “incurable.”
This determined me to free myself from
their beliefs, and I saw that the only
way to accomplish this, was to free them
from their false beliefs about me. So
when any of my acquaintances inquired
about my health, I told them that I was
quite well. I discovered that to enjoy
health, it was necessary to break up the
habit of inquiring as to your feelings of
ease or disease. Putting this discovery
into practice enabled me to realize
freedom from the environments of the
thoughts and beliefs of others. It was
not long until my friends asked me to
give them treatment, and as I believed
that I should do unto others as I would
that they should do unto me, and as I
wanted to appear in their sight as being
whole, I was glad to hold them in the
consciousness of being whole.
Among my
first patients were three cases of
healing that stand out more clearly in
memory than others, at this time. My
first patient was a young lady friend,
whom the doctors had pronounced as having
quick consumption. Her friends were
contemplating taking her to another
physician for a special examination of
the lungs. The day before the examination
was to take place, she called to see if
it were true that I was getting well, and
I coaxed her to come to me every day for
a week, before going to the doctor, which
she did; and before the expiration of
that time she realized perfect healing,
and has been free from that hour.
My next
patient was one who had been an invalid
for seventeen years. She was thoroughly
healed; and from that time has
demonstrated the freedom of Truth in
perfect health.
After the
healing of this case, the wife of a
physician who had attended her for
several years, asked me how I came to
heal her; she said: “How did you do
it? What did you call her disease? My
husband believed her to be
incurable.” To which I replied:
“Truth made her whole, and I
neither saw nor named disease.”
The third
case was one that had suffered extreme
pain, at times, for more than five years,
and had tried the so-called cures of the
best physicians. She was faithful in
coming to me every day for three weeks;
at the expiration of that time she
suddenly realized that she was
healed.
I decided to
set apart one afternoon each week for
free treatment, and invited all to come
who would. The number that generally came
was from fifteen to twenty. After
experiencing the results of the
treatment, they requested me to instruct
them in my method of healing, which was
the beginning of my teaching.
During the
hours devoted to silent meditation and
affirmation of the good, I realized that
the mental change taking place was the
mental act of passing from the individual
to the universal; and at one time, while
making absolute statements of Life, I saw
the fallacy of the popular belief that
there is a lower self and a higher
self, for Cause and effect must forever
be united. With this realization, passed
away the belief of the separation of
Divine Mind and body. I saw that holiness
consisted in oneness; that Spirit and
body are at-one in truth. I realized from
the beginning, that Infinite Mind and it
manifest, was the All in All. When there
was no longer two self-hoods, and no body
of falsehood to deny, my health sprung
forth speedily, and I realized a body
free; and could say this day: “A
body thou hast fitted me.”
One day,
after having treated seventeen cases with
a marked degree of success, I experienced
a realization of wholeness beyond all
previous conceptions: I realized the
passing from, or the blending, of the
individual mental conception into the
conception of the Universal Mind of
Consciousness. In thought, I paused, to
ask myself: Am I drifting away from my
family and friends? But intuitively I
knew that in Truth, where “I
Am,” there dwell my family and
friends. There can be no truth in the
belief in separation of families, either
interests or feelings, because of
spiritual understanding and realization,
since there is one God and Father of
all.
The
principal thought that I held while
treating the seventeen cases, was the
Infinitude, Omnipresence, and Allness of
God; that God is Spirit-hence, all that
is, is Spirit; that the Holy Spirit
comprised the whole; whose law is Love. I
affirmed that the perfect demonstrations
of God were before me, and that His Love
reigned everywhere in all living.
Upon
retiring that evening, I was blessed with
a realization that was more than a mere
conception. I realized being
Omnipresent Mind.
As soon as I
laid my head upon the pillow, I
consciously withdrew from the body and
looked upon it lying upon the bed, and
realized it to be a thought, within My
Mind. I then said inquiringly:
“Where am I, and
what am I?”
Simultaneous with this question, I saw
another form, white and ethereal in
appearance, vapory and cloudlike; this
form enveloped the one lying on the bed,
and pervaded it through and through. My
realization was, that it was, beyond all
question, a thought in My Mind. Then I
thought with increased earnestness:
“Where am I, and
what am I?” And in
answer to my question, there was before
me, within my consciousness, a
six-pointed star, pure and clear as
diamond light; its center calm and clear
as pure crystal, and radiating the Light
of Life. I knew unto a certainty that it
was a center of consciousness, or
conscious action within My Mind. I
intuitively understood its connection
with the forms I had previously seen. I
knew it to be also a thought in My Mind.
Again I said, with even more emphasis:
“Where am I, and
what am I?” And
simultaneous with the asking of this
question the third time, was completed
the realization of the full consciousness
of Being. “I” was that
Omnipresence which lies back of all form;
the Mind which contains within
Itself the things that are seen; the Mind
not seen, but which Itself is
Consciousness. “I” was not
only conscious, but was consciousness
Itself.
This
consciousness was absolute Stillness and
illimitable Light. As I thought of the
immensity of Omnipresence, form appeared
with Me, and I pervaded it.
The Universe of forms were forms of
Thought within My Mind, which to Me were
transparent, and I was present in all. As
my attention was again directed to this
individual form, from which it had been
withdrawn, I perceived that to Me it was
transparent, and I pervaded it. This
consciousness of Being was the
actualization of Truth that I had, with
earnest conviction, claimed of the
Allness of God. In this realization I
experienced the true relation existing
between Cause and effect; or I saw the
Unity and at-one-ment existing in the
Mind Infinite, Its action and the result
of action, which is the All in All. And
thus I learned the lesson that The All is
Infinite Mind or God, and It, or Him,
manifested.
As I again
opened my eyes to the world of form, my
experience was that the bliss of Being is
the most perfect peace imaginable. Do you
wonder at my teaching the Unity of Life,
and the Divinity of All Living? Do you
wonder at my earnestness in preaching
this gospel of freedom, or at my
determination to do all in my power to
forward this movement of Truth and extend
it throughout the world, and bring all to
a knowledge of the Truth of Unity and
Brotherhood?
This
Consciousness of Being has been the one
and only basis for all the work in which
I am now engaged, or have been
instrumental in
inaugurating.
(Formerly at
Northwoods Divine Science Resource
Center)
