|
- 322 -
serpents unharmed, to heal the sick and cast out evils in
proof of the supremacy of Mind.
(Standpoints changed)
When understanding changes the standpoints of life and
intelligence from a material to a spiritual basis, we shall
gain the reality of Life, the control of Soul over
sense, and we shall perceive Christianity, or
Truth, in its divine Principle. This must be the climax
before harmonious and immortal man is obtained and his
capabilities revealed. It is highly important - in view
of the immense work to be accomplished before this recognition
of divine Science can come - to turn our thoughts
towards divine Principle, that finite belief may be prepared
to relinquish its error.
(Saving the inebriate)
Man's wisdom finds no satisfaction in sin, since God
has sentenced sin to suffer. The necromancy of yesterday
foreshadowed the mesmerism and hypnotism
of to-day. The drunkard thinks he enjoys
drunkenness, and you cannot make the inebriate leave
his besottedness, until his physical sense of pleasure yields
to a higher sense. Then he turns from his cups, as
the startled dreamer who wakens from an incubus incurred
through the pains of distorted sense. A man who
likes to do wrong - finding pleasure in it and refraining
from it only through fear of consequences - is neither
a temperate man nor a reliable religionist.
(Uses of suffering)
The sharp experiences of belief in the supposititious life
of matter, as well as our disappointments and ceaseless
woes, turn us like tired children to the arms
of divine Love. Then we begin to learn Life
in divine Science. Without this process of weaning,
"Canst thou by searching find out God?" It is easier
to desire Truth than to rid one's self of error. Mortals
|
