HONOR EDNA L. CARTER ESUS, in all his teachings, impressed the importance of discerning the real things and seeking them. By precept and parable he showed the folly of allowing one's self to be deceived by the things that are transitory. Every spiritual blessing has some counterpart in the artificial world, and there is a need of knowing which is true. For instance, there is a real prosperity founded on spiritual law, and there is an appearance of prosperity brought about by various methods that do not take the law into account. Seeing the uncertainty of riches apart from the law, and the vexation. and trouble that go with them, many people who desire only the things of the Spirit have put away as evil every thought that tends toward prosperity, thus shutting off their supply. This illustrates what happens in every case where men become confused as to what spiritual blessings really are. One of the blessings promised all the way through the Bible is honor, but it is sometimes regarded as evil. Honor is a gift of God, and it comes as a result of obedience to the Divine Law. David acknowledged this in his prayer recorded in I Chron. 29:12: "Both riches and honor come of thee." When Solomon chose wisdom and knowledge that he might be a good king, God said to him: "Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches and wealth and honor" (II Chron. 1:12). Of Wisdom it is written: "Length of days is in her right hand; and in her left hand riches and honor" (Prov. 3:16). "She shall bring thee to honor, when thou dost embrace her" (Prov. 4:8). In the 18th verse of the 8th chapter of Proverbs Wisdom is represented as saying, "Riches and honor are with me; yea, durable riches and righteousness." Proverbs 21:21 adds a little further to this testimony: "He that followeth after righteousness and mercy, findeth life, righteousness and honor." True honor is not found by seeking it of men. "How can ye believe, which receive honor one of another, and seek not the honor that cometh from God only?" (John 5:44). This text shows not only that honor cannot be found by seeking of men, but also that such seeking is faith-destroying. "How can ye believe?" Jesus implies that it is impossible, and here is an explanation for many of the demonstrations that do not work out satisfactorily. In some subtle way, honor of men is desired and sought, and the Spirit is quenched thereby. "I receive not honor from men" (John 5:41). "By humility and fear of the Lord are riches and honor and life" (Prov. 22:4). "Before honor is humility" (Prov. 15:33). The blessing of honor is "to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life" (Rom. 2:7). All through the Scriptures the attainment of honor and the attainment of life go hand in hand. Honor is not the empty applause of men, but the true worth of the man who is so rooted and grounded in Spirit that he is unmoved by either praise or blame. It is first a consciousness of spiritual integrity that carries one along through all the overcoming experiences, and later receives recognition by men. At times this recognition may seem entirely lacking, but it is not to be sought. It will come when the inner spiritual growth makes it possible. The tendency is to make too much of what others think and say, and this must be entirely overcome before one is worthy of the true honor. The crowning text of him will my Father honor." all is, "If any man serve me, These are the words of Jesus. To serve him is to obey the law as he set it forth. Such obedience develops humility and overcomes all self-seeking, so that the way to honor is opened in mind. Obedience means loyalty. In the multitude of doctrines everywhere being set forth, there may be a temptation to follow some "lo here" or "lo there" for the sake of temporary honor or advantage, but the Father honors only those who are loyal to his Son, Jesus Christ. "He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him.” A REASONABLE THEORY I have a theory about the coldness of the earth. The earth was once all warm from north pole to south pole. Why is it such a frozen mass now? Was the earth once destroyed by a flood because of man's wickedness? Were Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed because of the wickedness of those cities? Is it now becoming uninhabited because of man's wickedness? We do not know just what the sins were that brought the waters of the flood, but in the destruction of the cities of the plain, it was because of their foolish licentious life, they were destroyed by fire. Now, what is causing the destruction by cold? I think it is hatred. Men and women hate each other and cannot, therefore, love God. The first little hatred sent out from a human heart materialized as a little frost, then a bigger hatred came and it appeared as a snowflake. This was followed by a still larger and stronger hate, which became in appearance an icicle. Then as hatred became general on the earth, it materialized as snow and ice everywhere. The earth could not produce, and there was no sustenance for living things upon it. Some one must speak for the earth, over which man was given power and dominion, or soon there will be no man left to have dominion over it. Charlotte Bronte, in one of her books, says: "There has always been a remnant of righteous people upon the earth, or the whole earth would long ago have suffered the fate of the cities of the plain."-M. E. Bucknell. No man is hurt but by himself. Diogenes. EXTRACTS From Letters Written to Students and Patients by the Society of Silent Unity In regeneration and generation the life forces work in directly opposite ways. In regeneration they work toward the building of the eternal spiritual Christ body in the individual. In generation the force and substance is given to building of bodies for others; therefore, regeneration leads to eternal life, and generation leads to death. it Those who would enter the regeneration life find necessary to overcome all the tendency of the mortal man toward generation, and to conserve the life substance for the building of the eternal body. It is the only way to eternal life. * * Those who look for support by making a business of healing will fail in the end. Everybody should take up teaching and healing through pure love for mankind. This should be the first consideration and incentive. If you love all mankind enough to take up the work without any thought as to where your food and raiment are to come from, you may rest assured that the God of Plenty will take care of those things and of everything you need. He who does the will of the Father should look for the abundance of every good thing in his life. If he is not well supplied, it is because he does not know and declare the Law of Prosperity and is not obeying it. This is just as much a sin as any other transgression of the Law. * This society is an aggregation of people who know the law of mental action, or are learning it, from its positive side, and they have combined for protection against outside destructive race beliefs. They are not subjects of the law, but masters. They are not aggressive and do not dominate or dictate to any, but knowing the truth that sin, sickness, death, poverty, or any failure to realize here and now their highest ideals, are shortcomings, they assert their inherent rights and proceed at once to lift themselves out of these inert states of consciousness. We must understand that thinking is not a vague, indefinite, incomprehensible will-o'-the-wisp which we cannot control or direct. Thinking is a process that ultimates in dynamic vibration, and the "thought stuff" can be sensed and seem on its plane just as plainly as the current generated by the electric dynamo. This is the symbol side of Divine Science, but it is also an essential side to those who have to do with it, for we never fully realize that the physical universe is mentally sustained until we see our thoughts going forth in form and becoming living, sentient parts of it. The Unity Spirit-the Spirit of Truth-the Comforter and Helper-the Father-Mother Consciousness, offers you perfect security from "astrals," "elementals," and every fearful thing which the man in imagination separated from God can conjure up. All you need to do is to hold yourself in love-the One Supreme Love. God is Love, and when you go into the silence with the thought of God's Omnipresence you need have no fear. Light gives no place to darkness, and your realization of God's presence makes a light in your consciousness that puts out even the suggestion of darkness. However, you are not to go into the silence to mentally drift, but to become an emanating center of light and love yourself. "Let your light shine." The class thought held persistently makes you a mental battery that connects by induction with other like batteries, and thus chains of positive mentality are formed into which no negative power can possibly enter. Do not join this society expecting to be helped unless you are willing to work spiritually yourself. Negation is the symbol of death, wherever you find it; action is the symbol of life, and life is joy. We recognize that as a man sows so shall he also reap, but we deny that he has to wait until the crop gets ripe before he can cut it down. The thrifty husbandman |