the one Mind, the greater is its activity in us and our affairs. Not only should we have faith in the All-Presence, but we should also develop our understanding to the end that we may know why the All-Presence manifests through us. Physical science is today in advance of religion in its recognition of a universal life substance and intelligence. Religion is looking for this mighty Creator away off in some distant heaven, right in the face of the distinct teaching of Jesus that God is Spirit and that His kingdom is within man.
13. But physical science falls short in that it fails to recognize the unity between omnipresent Intelligence and the knowing principle in man. Science is seeking to know intellectually, or from the plane of forms and shapes, that which is of the mind. Physical science has recognized the presence of the creative forces, but it does not know the power that moves them. Divine metaphysics has discovered the moving power to be the thought and word of man, and is proving the truth of this principle through results in a multitude of directions.
14. The spoken word carries vibrations through the universal ether, and also moves the intelligence inherent in every form, animate or inanimate. It has been discovered that even rocks and all minerals have life. This is proof of the omnipresence of the one animating substance. Man, being the highest emanation of Divine Mind, has great directive power and is really co-operator with God in forming the universe. We should be speaking words of truth to everything, not only to mankind but to the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms. The fine discernment of the poet reveals that "the very stones cry out" where a tragedy has occurred. The all-penetrating ether receives our thoughts and words, like the wax cylinder of the phonograph, only a thousand times more accurately; it preserves them and echoes them back to us in continuous vibrations. There are no secrets and no concealments. Jesus said that what you think and speak in the inner chamber is proclaimed from the housetops, and now we know why this is true. The very walls of your room, aye, even the substance of the atmosphere in that room, are proclaiming over and over the words that you have spoken there, whether you are present or not. For example, a woman rented a room in a certain city. Several nights in succession, just as she fell asleep, she heard a man talking incoherently about the grain market. This continued for some time, and she mentioned it to the landlady who informed her that the room had been last occupied by a dealer on the board of trade.
15. The power of the word is given man to use. The better he understands the character of God and his own relation to humanity, the more unselfishly will he exercise this power. Some are using it in selfish ways, but this should not deter others who have a better understanding of the law from using it in righteous ways. "If ye shall ask anything of the Father, he will give it you in my name," is a promise that none should ignore. If we need things and if they are necessary to our happiness, it is not sacrilegious to set into action this higher law in attaining them.
16. The curses of the witch and the blessings of the priest have always been believed in by so-called ignorant and credulous people. In the light of modern revelation, the charge of ignorance should be shifted to the unbelieving. The word of one in authority carries weight and produces far-reaching effects. The fiat of the physician that a certain disease must result disastrously to the patient will, when believed, counteract all the healing forces of nature. A pin scratch has resulted in blood poison, because there was no proper denial that such a result might follow.
17. Man has the power to deny and dissolve all disintegrating, discordant, and disease-forming words. Knowledge of this fact is the greatest discovery of all ages. No other revelation from God to man is to be compared with it. You can make yourself a new creature, and you can build the world about you to your highest ideals. Do not fear, but speak to the law supreme the desires of your heart. If your word is selfish, that which will come to you through its use will be unsatisfactory, but you will profit by the experience and thus learn to speak words of righteousness only. But it is your duty as expresser of the divine law to speak forth the Logos, the very Word of God, and cause the Garden of Eden, the everywhere-present Mind-Substance, to manifest for you and in you in its innate perfection.
The Power Of Words
(To be used in connection with Lesson Six)
1. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue."
2. "The tongue of the wise is health."
3. "He that guardeth his mouth keepeth his life."
4. "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles."
5. "A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul."
6. "Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than of him."
7. "Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones."
8. "The lips of the wise shall preserve them."
9. "Put away from thee a wayward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee."
10. "Shun profane babblings: for they will proceed further in ungodliness, and their word will eat as doth a gangrene."
11. "He that would love life, and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak no guile."
12. "To him that ordereth his way aright will I show the salvation of God."
13. "I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me."
14. "What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile."
15. "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment."
Lesson Seven
Spirituality or Prayer and Praise
1. By the employment of many symbols the Bible describes man in his wholeness--Spirit, soul, and body. The symbols used are men, places, tents, temples, and so forth. The name of every person mentioned in the Bible has a meaning representative of that person's character. The twelve sons of Jacob represent the twelve foundation faculties of man. The name of each of these sons, correctly interpreted, gives the development and office of its particular faculty in triune association; that is, its relation to consciousness in Spirit, in soul, and in body. For example, when the sons of Jacob were born, their mothers revealed the character of the faculty which each represented. This is set forth in the twenty-ninth and thirtieth chapters of Genesis.
2. It is written of the birth of Reuben, "Leah conceived, and bare a son, and she called his name Reuben: for she said, Because Jehovah hath looked upon my affliction." The emphasis is upon the word "looked," and by referring to the concordance we find that the meaning of the word Reuben is, "One who sees; vision of the son." It is clear that this refers to the bringing forth of sight.
3. "And she conceived again, and bare a son: and said, Because Jehovah hath heard that I am hated." Here the emphasis is upon the word heard, and we find that Simeon means, "That hears or obeys; that is heard." This is the bringing forth of hearing.
4. "And she conceived again, and bare a son; and said, Now this time will my husband be joined
