Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1917-01-02

not serve two masters. God is One
fand infinite, and His blessings come
not to the self-seeker, to the hypo-
crite or to the worldly-wise, who,
snugly wrapped in the garments of his
self-conceit would try little OF God
in a way of his own.
1t is the self-surrender of her who
gave the widows mite, her earthly
all, the eontrition of the publican,
the brotherly love of the good Sa-
maritan, that marks the earnest seek
er for God and enables him to reach
the heart of ever-present Love. Jesus
said, "Eycept We +. become as lit
tie children, We shall not enter into
the kingdom Of heaven This show
ed that the kingdom Of heaven is not
place but a state of consciousness,
to find which one must acquire the
childlike qualities of love, gentleness,
humility, unselfshness, purity and
goodness. Thus we see that heaven is
not future state of regal refuge
but a present reward for righteous
thinking. Instead of dying his way
into heaven, man must think his way
in, and this is just as true this day
and hour as when Jesus said it. 1t is
these childlike qualities of thought
that one needs to gain an understand
ing Of Christian Science, to gain the
Mind Of Christ, the consciousness of
Truth.
Little by little, through study and
application, one acquires these quail
tiles of thought and comes into living
oneness with ever-present good, God.
Thus is mans consciousness so filled
with goodness that sin, disease, and
sorrow are brought under subjection,
cast out, and destroyed.
PRAYER
Through true prayer man learns to
know God. A correct understanding
of prayer is therefore essential to
an understanding of Christian Sci
ence. Scientific prayer is the modus
Of all Christian accomplishment. A
Christian Science treatmenet is pray
er. As Christian Science explains it,
prayer is not imploring far-away
Deity. 1t is the simple and natural
process of thinking in accord with
the ever-present Principle, incorpor-
cal good, God. 1t is that thinking
which shuts out the claims of mater
ial. sense and places all trust, conf
dence, and faith in God, relying sole
ly upon His power and wisdom to pro-
tect and maintain the integrity Of
His universe, including man. Thus
we see that the Scriptural command,
"Pray without ceasing," simply
means to think righteously always.
Through prayer thus understood man
finds his oneness in Thought and char
acter with God, his scientific and eter
nal unity with divine Mind, ever
lasting good. Through prayer he gains
the light Of Truth in consciousness
that drives out fear, heals disease,
and gives man the moral strength
which resists and overcomes sin. Pray
er is mans active manifestation of
his oneness with God 1t is right
mental activity based on a true con-
cept of God and man. Since sin, dis
ease and all evil is the outcome of
wrong thinking, it must be plain that
the prayer of right thinking is the
only way that overcomes the world,
the flesh, and all evil 1t is mans S
God-given privilege whereby he finds
his oneness with the infinite and his
place in the infinite plan.
"0n earth peace, good will toward
men," was the message that heralded
Jesus ministry. For nearly two
thousand years these words and the
prayer of the Master: "Thy king
dom come. Thy will be done in
earth, as it is in heaven" have been
on the lips of Christendom. But what
is the trouble? Something has fail
ed Somewhere there has been
hitch. Something has been out of |
gear. "This people draw near me
with their mouth" wrote Isaiah,
"and with their lips do honor me,
but have removed their heart far
from me-" The trouble has not been |
with men S words, it has been with |
mems thoughts Rivers of words will |
not bring God s kingdom to earth in a
thousand centuries; universal right
thinking will establish it in a day.
And universal right thinking is no
more and no less than every individu-
al thinking, that is, praying right
ly. We each have a duty to per-
form, not only to ourselves but to So
ciety. The brotherhood of man can
never be fact while an evil thought
remains in your consciousness or
mine. Our words and our thoughts
need to be brought into agreement.
MPS EDDv