The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1908-05-08
THE PULPIT.
a BRILLIANT SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. LEWIS T. REED.
Theme: Suggestive Therapeutics.

congregational Church the pastor.
tie Rev. Lewis T. Reed. preached
sermon on The Theory and Practice
of Suggestive Therapeutics. The
text was from Matthew S:13: And
Jesus said TO the centurion, Go thy
way; and as thou hast believed, so be
IL done unto thee. And his servant
was healed in the selfsame hour. y
Mr.. Reed said:
In this theme of The Theory and
Practice OF Suggestive Therapeutics,
IL is not my purpose 10 eXpound nov
elites or 10 satisfy curiosity, but to
assist all of you who worship here TO
lay hold of some of the great princi-
pies within this movement by which
il will be possible for you 10 live con-
fidently and joyfully. / should be
glad TO make all of you practitioners
of the art of suggestive therapeutics.
There are a few great principles
which il is essential YOU should honor
and obey. First-the power Of sug-
gestion. We have been wont to be
optimistic about everything that takes
place in our lives. provided nothing
evil appears at once on the surface.
We have proceeded on the faith that
the psychical system could take up
and dispose successfully of every sug-
gestion made to it. Evil thoughts,
envy, anger, greed. concupiscence,
gluttony-all the vices abhorred by
ST. Paul might present their vile pic
lures to the mind, and as long as We
did not act on their suggestion. we
still preserved our character. We de-
luded ourselves with hope that we
were what we appeared TO be. And
now we have had 10 learn afresh the
truth of that Scripture: LAS a man
thinketh in his heart, so is he" !
know of no process in mans life more
calculated to give him serious
thought than this function Of the
subconsciousness of storing up the
suggestions that the outer life brings.
Day by day as We touch the world,
and get our own reactions of courage
Or eowardice, OF self-control or self
defeat, of purity or selhshness, or
love or hate, We are continually drop
ping, dropping these suggestions into
the reservoir of this subconscious self,
TO come forth some day to bless or
curse. Abraham Lincoln lives day by
day the sacrificial life of the burden
bearer of this people. Day by day,
hour by hour, he gives himself the
suggestion of devotion, sacrifice and
utterance has come, takes up his pen
and writes on a few scattered sheets
the supreme English masterpiece of
half century. Benedict Arnold was
always passionate and revengeful.
Day after day, year after year, the re-
action of life on him resulted in sug-
gesting to his deeper self hate, envy,
pride, and self-will. When his hour
for expression came, he took up his
pen to sign his name TO the betrayal
Of his trust. There is nothing in the
process of the soul that needs to
cause us more of JOY and more of
Tear than this amenability of the soul
TO suggestion.
Secondly, you must come to new
realization of the supreme place of
the will. Heredity must have some
place in the formation Of character,
although that place is not yet very
clearly determined-bu the most
weighty discovery of the present day
seems to me this rediscovery of the
regal power of the will to do right;
These psychologists, and.shypnotists,
In their Investigations into the uneX-
plored tracts of personality have come
across not only a God-like aspiration
after virtue in every soul, but also
an unlimited power for the attain
ment Of that aspiration. Just as the
Master of Life stopped over the Grip
pie, saying, Arise and walk" and
knew that within that stricken form
there was the ability 10 rise and
walk; so modern psychology stoops
over every sinful soul and repeats the
Scripture command, BE ye there
fore perfect" for ye are in the image
of your Father in Heaven, who is
perfect. This is a tremendous doc
trine of individual responsibility. 1t
Is an old Scriptural doctrine, but it
gains a new force when, by the mod
ern hypnotists' appeal TO the soul of
goodness in man, you see the drunk
ard go forth new man, the spend
thrift reformed and the invalid made
well. IL there are in us those pos
sibilities of virtue, there is no escape
for us from the responsibility of at
tanning that for which We were Gre
ated. There has come to us the con-
viction that inspired jeremiah: I'm
those days they shall say no more.
The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children's teeth are set on
edge. But every one shall die for his
own iniQuity; every man that eateth
the sour grapes his teeth shall be set
on edge" There is no more proper
Incentive to earnest living than the
realization of the fact that God has
intended life TO be perfect for every
creature; and that IL il is otherwise,
the fault is in ourselves.
Ozark Is the world TO thee: thyself
art the reason why" Whoever would
possess the reality OF the Christian
life must achieve the victory over his
moods: and the most heartening mes
sage of this or any age is that by our
God-given endowment Of the will II is
possible for us 10 give TO the deeper
life OF the soul the suggestions of
courage and faith and patience and
strength, which altogether means
eternal life.
In the third place, you will have 10
form for yourself very likely a new,
and very stern, doctrine OF sin and
vir,ue. The old doctrine OF a forensic
justification before God was an ad-