Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1908-05-28

q
endless existence. Into all the re-
gions of the soul below this highest
or inmost two streams of life flow,
one inwardly from the Lord, one out
wardly from other finite souls. And
it is this latter interflow of life from
soul to soul that binds all finite souls
into single organism. the universal
man.
Thus the life of man is in no sense
and in no respect self-derived. The
human soul is nothing but an organic
vessel; and it is made alive solely by
what flows into it. And this inflow
ing life enters the soul in two ways,
enc directly from the Lord, the other
mediately through other souls. And
this is true of all the activities bf
life, and especially of it's two chief
activities, thought and feeling.
The capacities Of the human soul
may be grouped under two heads,
namely, intellectual and emotional.
Life flowing into the intellectual ca
pacities produces thought; flowing
into the emotional capacities it pro-
duces feeling and willing, and all
thought and feeling and willing in
man are so produced. Thus our
thought and feeling are not, as they
appear to be, self-derived. They are
the product of these two streams of
life that flow into US increasingly, one
directly from the Lord. the other me-
'diately through other souls. We
know how thought and feeling are
communicated to us by means of what
enters the mind through the senses
that is, by means of language and
visible and tangible objects, and we
acknowledge that such thought and
feeling are communicated, and not
self-derived- So there is no move
ment Of the human mind that is not
a product of an inflow OF thought or
feeling from other minds. This i'm
partation and reception of thought
and feeling We are wholly uncon-
scious of; but 1T is the only explana-
ton of many mental phenomena.
All this may sound like mere spec
ulation; but it is, in fact, only q
somewhat elaborated way of saying
that everything good and true in hu-
man life is from the Lord, and every
thing evil and false is of the devil
and from the devil. This truth the
Christian church has always recog-
! nized as a matter Of doctrine. But to
| hold it merely as a doctrine is not
III d VI ilIld1 duu
| mental principle of right living, and
| we can never make much progress in
| right living until the mind has gained
so clear and firm a recognition of this
truth as will enable it. to shape and
determine AL our thinking and feel
Ing about all our experiences with
evil and talsity and with good and
truth. f'or SO long as we regard the
| right thoughts and feelings that are
| stirred in us as our own, as purely
self-deriYed, we simply make Of them
valued sessions OF our self-life,
and so long as we regard the wrong
| thoughts and feelings that are stirred
In us as oaIr own, we can never rid
ourselves of them
! Thus what we find ourselves deal
ing with i'm all our experience with
wrong thoughts and feelings is other
personalities. Whether they are living
in this world or the spiritual world
we do not know, and it makes no
i difference. They are unclean spirits,
4 incarnate or discarnate, trying to i'm
4 pose their life upon us. SO far as We
\ permit them to work their will in
us they will go ON stirring up in is
Iall sorts of false thinking and evil
/ feeling. But SO far as we are striving
| to become disciples Of the Lord He
gives us authority over them to cast
them out.
Let us note the exact meaning of
these words, He called unto Him His
twelve disciples and gave them au-
th0rity over unclean spirits to cast
them out"
| From these words we may be as
sured in the first place that this au.
thority over unclean spirits to cast
them out is bestowed by the Lord
only upon His disciples. Therefore
if we wish to possess this power over
the Internal Influences that are stir.
ring up wrong thoughts and feelings
in us we must be disciples of the
Lord. A disciple is a learner, and {
disciple of the Lord is one who wishe:
to learn from the Lord.
Calling His disciples unto Him, the
Lord gave them this power. The Lore
calls to us in every truth about righ
living that we give heed to; and WI
listen to His call whenever we accep
any truth as His truth, and therefor,
as the true wisdom Of life. This de
sire for the true wisdom of life ant
willingness to accept it in place of OH,
own wisdom is what opens the mint
for the true wisdom of life to flow in
and this wisdom is all power or au
thority over evil spirits. For no evi
or falsity can exist in the presence o
Divine wisdom. Just as effectually a
light dissipates darkness does trutl
!, dissipate falsity, and falsity is evil
sole defense. The hold that anythin,
has upon our life is determined solel,
by the way we think about it and fee
, about it, The truths We profess t.
G0~1 ,,:I =
: of our evils simply because of our Oh
scure and indefinite conception o
Z them, and our loose and feeble hol,
upon them. Our prime need, there
, fore, is clearer conceptions of tn
! truth; that is, clearer conceptions o
, the right way of looking at all the is
sues and exnarieuces of life and of tn