Читать книгу The Spiritual Writings Of Annie Rix Militz - Annie Rix Militz - Страница 5

AS with our mental eyes we look forth over the world and consider its people, and what they are living for, and what they are most earnestly desiring, we find that all mankind have one common pursuit, and all are desirous of but one thing, and that is Happiness.

No matter by what name they are calling their desire, whether it is power, honors, riches, health, peace, love, or knowledge, everyone and all can be summed up and brought under the one name, Happiness.

Not only does everyone pursue happiness, but everyone at sometime believes that he can have it, and at all times he believes that he has a right to have it.

Some think that they have ceased to look for happiness - the word seems too large to them, but there is one word that represents what they think they can have here and now, and that word is Satisfaction.

"Oh, to be satisfied!" they cry, "Oh, to be at rest!" Yes, it is true all can have satisfaction, and not only may we be passively, quietly satisfied, but it is our right and our privilege to be happy actively, joyously happy here and now, with not a sorrow to mar our joy, not one thing that can interfere with our happiness. In other words, we can enter into eternal, unchanging bliss now, in this time, and it is right for us to believe so to believe that all good is for us to-day, and to ask, to seek, to knock until we are consciously one with our own true state of being, pure happiness.

All along the ages have arisen great souls, grand masters of life, who have believed in man's right to happiness, and, believing so, have given all they had, their whole lives, all their energy, love, and whatever they prized into the service of finding how this happiness may be attained, and, with one accord, we find of them saying that to know the Truth and to live the Truth is the one and the only Way to eternal happiness, and he who once knows the whole Truth, need never know sickness, sorrow, evil, death, poverty, or any other wretchedness ever again.

"Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." -John 8:32. Free from what? Free from every evil condition; free from every material limitation to which mortals seem so in bondage. And if we are not free, if something still prevents us from having what we desire or doing that which we wish to do, then we may know that we must rise up out of some ignorance, and we must seek and receive the whole Truth, for it must be the whole Truth that shall set us wholly free.

It has been argued that when we have found the whole Truth we shall know it, in that it fulfills three conditions of perfect happiness. It should give us ( 1 ) Health of body, (2) Peace of mind, (3) The key to all knowledge. Since these three conditions have been fulfilled in students by these teachings we see that we can truly call this gospel, Truth.

In order that we may walk the Way with understanding and profit we must, in this first lesson, see that we start from the same point that is, that we all stand together upon one Foundation Principle, and standing together there, we shall see that we cannot but walk together from principle to principle, and every deduction and conclusion must be taken from alpha to omega. We shall know that if we have not believed in all these principles, and not only believed them but lived them, that it will not be hard for us to understand why we have not had that happiness we desire, or manifested that perfection we would show forth.

The first principle of Truth is: God is good and God is omnipresent. Upon the acceptance of this principle depends your receptivity to all that follows.

"Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord." Is. 1 :18. There are three statements in the wording of this principle which may be called the first axioms of Truth, viz:

1 God is.

2 God is the Good.

3 God is omnipresent.

An axiom is defined as a self-evident truth. Taking this definition in its highest sense we can see why the truth "God is" can be called axiomatic. No external evidence or human argument can prove to you that God is. Such can be corroborative witness to what you have already received from within, but let us rest forever in this understanding that only God can prove to you that God is, and that proof comes from the divine within yourself.

Every thinker believes in a cause back of all that he observes about him. Some call this great cause Force, some, Nature, some, Law, some, The Great First Cause, some, The Unknowable, but by far the greater part of those who have most earnestly pondered upon the idea have given it the name of some deity. In these teachings we have chosen to use the name God, because it includes all that is in the other names and more. The name Force would seem to exclude the attribute of love, Nature seems often strangely blind and merciless, while with the name God it is not difficult with most people to associate those higher qualities omitted from the others. Another advantage accruing to the name God is that it is one in its Anglo-Saxon root with the word Good.

Let us now consider our second axiom, "God is the Good."

It is agreed by all the wise that have most blessed the world that the First Cause is good. Those who call it Force, or Law, agree that it is good, as evidenced in the theory of "the survival of the fittest," or best, in all species. The devotee of Nature believes that all her efforts are towards bringing forth health, beauty, and good in manifold ways. It is not difficult for us to agree that God is good. Let us enlarge upon this basic statement, God is the Good. What do we mean by the Good?

The highest goodness must be that which is so good that it is never anything else. It is that which is everlastingly, unchangeably, universally good in other words, the Absolute Good.

God is that Good which is good for all people at all times and in all places. It is not that which is good for one race and not for another, or for one sex and not for another, or for one age and not for another ; that is only relative goodness, passing shadows finally swallowed up by that sun of righteousness the Great Good of All.

If we begin to consider that which everyone believes is good for himself we shall enter upon infinity, for the good things of God cannot be numbered. We will state a few in order to lay our foundation stones :

1 HEALTH is GOOD. Everyone believes that health is good for himself and good for his loved one. Always, everywhere, health is good. Listen to this simple logic, this syllogism:

Since God is Good,

And Health is Good,

Therefore God is Health

And Health is God.

"For I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." Ps. 42:11.

2 LIFE is GOOD. By Life is not meant that condition of earthly affairs between birth and death not many see that good but that Principle, that Power that lies back of the sparkle in the eye and the glow on the cheek, that great Essence and Presence whose beginnings materialists have, all in vain, so ardently sought. No mortal has ever touched Life or confined It to form or definition, but all agree that It is as unknowable and undefinable as God, and, like Deity, only appreciable through Its effects or manifestations.

Listen to our reasoning:

Since God is Good

And Life is Good,

Therefore God is Life

And Life is God.

3 SUBSTANCE is GOOD. What is Substance ? Metaphysicians define it as that which is the reality of being, that which is the genuine, indestructible presence that is back of the appearance called "matter." Its essence is unchangeability. It is eternal, incorruptible, infinite, and unlimited. It is Being, of which materiality is the shadow. What is Substance with the metaphysician is Spirit with the theologian, and in these teachings Substance and Spirit are synonymous terms used interchangeably.

Again we reason:

Since God is Good,

And Substance is Good,

Therefore God is Substance

And Substance is God.

"God is Spirit," says Jesus (Wilson's Emphatic Diaglot). God is one Spirit, in, and through, and the reality of all manifestation the beauty, grandeur, and glory of the universe.

By this time the observing student will be cognizant of our methods of meditation and deduction, and can himself start with correct premises and arrive at true conclusions, proving to his own satisfaction that God is all that is pure Goodness universally, eternally,, impartially good.

Practice meditating upon what is good for all people at all times and in all places, and then see how God is that, and your foundation is sure.

4 LOVE is GOOD. Unselfish, pure, unchangeable Love is good for all. God is Love.

5 INTELLIGENCE is GOOD. God is Intelligence -- Wisdom.

6 TRUTH is GOOD. God is Truth.

We need not put any limit to our enumeration of the Goodness that is God. God is Peace, Prosperity, Purity, Strength, Trust, Faith, Rest, Power, Freedom, and so on to infinity. But it is enough for our foundation Statement of Being to dwell upon certain thoughts of God now, and charge our minds with one short statement only: God is Health, Life, Love, Truth, Substance, and Intelligence.

Let us now consider our third axiom, "God is Omnipresent."

God is everywhere. God fills all, and is the very being of all that is. God is All in All. Let us see to what conclusions the acknowledgment that God is omnipresent will lead us. Since God is good and God is omnipresent, then Good is omnipresent, Good is everywhere. Since God is Health and God is omnipresent, health is omnipresent, health is in and through all things. Life is omnipresent, love is omnipresent, truth is omnipresent, substance is omnipresent, intelligence is omnipresent.

All that can be predicated of God can be declared true of all that is good. God is Omnipotence, therefore health is omnipotent, and so also is life and love.

Repetition of these truths in every conceivable form is the mental method of hammering, "driving home,' 7 stamping, and solidifying the foundation of that building which is to be the center and headquarters of all our coming demonstrations. Too much attention cannot be paid to this first lesson. A student that is well grounded upon the basic principles will find all the subsequent lessons easy to comprehend and practice.

Who are you? "Know thyself has ever been the inspired injunction. Every sage has expressed this thought in some manner: "If man would only study himself and know himself, then he would know all things nothing would be unknown to him." This is true. If man knows the true Self of him, then he must know God, for the true Self is one with God.

Moses spoke of Man's oneness with God as Man being made in the image and likeness of God. Jesus spoke of Man's oneness with God as the Son being one with the Father. "I and the Father are one."

God is divine Mind. Man is its Idea. God creates or thinks Man. God thinks upon Himself, images Himself, speaks the word, "I am." Man is that Word.

You are the thought of God, the idea of the divine Mind. You have no existence apart from God. The perfect Mind never loses one of its thoughts ; so you, God's thought, cannot be lost out of His mind. "In him we live, and move, and have our being."

The thought is always like the thinker, therefore Scripture says Man, who is the thought, is like God, who is the thinker.

Therefore this is the truth which you must speak for yourself and realize is true : Since God is Health, I, who am the image of God, must be healthy not sick. It is true that I am, in reality, strong and well.

Since God is Spirit, I am Spirit. I am, in reality, spiritual, immortal, healthy, and harmonious.

I am Divine, not mortal;

I am Holy, not sinful;

I am Wise, not ignorant,

Because God is All,

And beside Him there is none else.

The Idea of God is one with God. Since God is All in the universe, there is only God only God and His Idea, His Son, and that Idea is God. For since God is All, there is only God for God to think upon. "This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God [the Father] and Jesus Christ [Man, the Son] whom thou hast sent."

The real Self of you is the Christ, one with the Father. You are not a mortal, sickly, weak, and foolish being, as it would seem you are. In reality you are all that is everlastingly divine and perfect. This is the truth about yourself.

It is not enough to listen to these teachings only, they must be practiced. These truths must be used in order that they may be proven good and desirable. We know that with music, one will not be proficient who only listens to the theories, but does not apply them. So it is with the Life. We must live its principles every day every hour, every moment thinking some good thought, some God-thought.

If one hears, that is, listens carefully and obediently to these lessons, and then practices them all he can, he has built his house upon a rock, and no matter how he may be assailed by sickness or trouble, it can get no hold upon him, but he will stand, and the more the storm beats about his house the more secure he will feel himself within.

But he that hears, be he ever so attentive and pleased with the doctrine, but does not do may know why some problems seem too hard for him, and sickness and disaster undermine him.

Build upon rock by continual practice of the Word. Jesus called this "praying always."

In the interim between the study of a lesson and the next hold this statement in mind, often silently repeating it : Only the Good is true.

Copy the following, and mentally repeat it every night and morning :

God is Health, Life, Love, Truth, Substance, Intelligence.

God is All.

God is Omnipresence, Omnipotence, and Omniscience.

I am the Thought of God, the Idea of the divine Mind. In Him I live, move, and have my being. I am spiritual, harmonious, fearless, and free. I am governed by the law of God, the everlasting Good, and I am not subject to the law of sin, sickness, and death.

I know the Truth, and the Truth makes me free from evil in every form and from all material bondage, now and forever.

God works through me to will and to do whatever ought to be done by me.

I am happy. I am holy. I am loving. I am wise.

I and the Father are one. Amen.