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this not in dreamy sleep. In our day-dreams we can
recall that for which the poet Tennyson expressed the
heart's desire, -
the touch of a vanished hand,
And the sound of a voice that is still.
The mind may even be cognizant of a present flavor and
odor, when no viand touches the palate and no scent
salutes the nostrils.
How are veritable ideas to be distinguished from
illusions? By learning the origin of each. Ideas are
emanations from the divine Mind. Thoughts,
proceeding from the brain or from matter, are
offshoots of mortal mind; they are mortal material
beliefs. Ideas are spiritual, harmonious, and eternal. Beliefs
proceed from the so-called material senses, which at one
time are supposed to be substance-matter and at another
are called spirits.
To love one's neighbor as one's self, is a divine idea;
but this idea can never be seen, felt, nor understood
through the physical senses. Excite the organ of veneration
or religious faith, and the individual manifests
profound adoration. Excite the opposite development,
and he blasphemes. These effects, however, do not proceed
from Christianity, nor are they spiritual phenomena,
for both arise from mortal belief.
Eloquence re-echoes the strains of Truth and Love.
It is due to inspiration rather than to erudition. It shows
the possibilities derived from divine Mind,
though it is said to be a gift whose endowment
is obtained from books or received from the
impulsion of departed spirits. When eloquence proceeds
from the belief that a departed spirit is speaking, who
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