Los Angeles herald., 1908-05-24

thought and speech, But in the hours
when right thinking is not spontane-
ously present, the beginner must NEEDS
bring to bear upon himself all possible
discipline by training thought into
obedience to the highest and best he
knows. To this end it is often valu-
able to enthrone in ones mind and
heart the written statements of the
Word of Truth, and to utilize them
by holding in memory Bible texts, anu
sentences found in Science and Health,
which declare the omnipresence and
omnipotence of Him who keepeth
Israel" When the suppositional forces
of error, by some sharp attack, so
scatter Individual thought that con-
fusion and disaster seem probable, and
clear understanding seems for the mo-
ment to have fed, some well-known
and well-loved text becomes a rock
of refuge, and affords at once that
mental steadiness which redeems the
situation, and turns the tides of
thought toward the eventual proving
of the supremacy of good. Many,
many times does the student of Chris
tian Science find himself leaning upon
the Dist Psalm, or the scientific state
ment of being" Up. 468 of Science and
HEALTH, and being lifted thereby to
a clearer sense of the power of God to
redeem and rescue His own.
Must Declare Truth
It is a very simple situation. At the
moment when a declaration of the
truth has possession of an individuals
thought, the erroneous opposing sugges-
tions can find nothing upon which to
stand. A false suggestion must be men
tally accepted ere it can pose as reality
or power, and the consciousness which
is glowing with the activity of Truth,
declared and understood, offers no foot
hold to error.
Much time and effort are wasted in
the fruitless plans of the human will,
i'm the incessant search for material rea-
sons and personal causes, and in the
doubt, fear, uncertainty, regret, specu-
lation, comparisons and limitations of
the common habits of thought. The
weary hours spent in such friction and
turmoil may be transformed into sea-
sons of peace and gladness, If thought
is disciplined to relinquish such turn
ing and overturning, and to declare,
with simplicity and persistence, the
absolute truth. Such self-control bring
the fruit of declared truth in a purified
heart, chastened will, a sounder judg
ment; and thus ''evil shall be put out"
and deceit shall be quenched." GAS for
faith it shall flourish" and corruption
shall be overcome" This simple pro-
cess of thinking and speaking the right
thing instead OF the wrong thlng, the
truth instead of the error, opens the
gates of thought toward heaven; the
Word of God, if declared, enters the
arena of human affairs today and is
indeed God dwelling with men, to wipe
away all tears from their eyes" God
is Love; love held in thought, spoken,
lived, means God dwelling with men.
Love forgotten, neglected, ignored,
means a futile, neetipg dream of exist
ence wherein God is not to be found.
So every quality of God is estab-
lished with men as it is found, loved,
understood, and kept active in daily
thought and deed. God is always the
same God, as available to one as to an
other. but that one who keeps his
thoughts bright with the activity of
God-likeness, finds is God at hand more
readily than does he who lends his
thoughts to the moth and rust" of
uEgodliness. For thought makes every
one what he is each day.
Strive to Know Self
So each man should strive to know
himself as God knows him, and to cease
thinking otherwise. Only of an un-
demonstrated sense of truth can 1t be
said that it hath been so long without
fruit" Declared truth transforms the
human deserts into gardens of glad
ness, and the wilderness way broadens
into great fields of plenty.
To the genuine Christian Scientist,