The denial of your personality does not destroy your Individuality, but, to the contrary, establishes it. Fear not; "He that loseth his life [loses the limited personal conception of life] for my sake [the Truth's sake] shall find it [the true Individual life]." Matt. 10:39.
LESSON III. WORDS, THEIR USE AND POWER,
GOD is supreme Intelligence, Wisdom, Understanding, Reason, all of which can be comprehended in the one word, Mind. God is Mind, and since God is the great first cause, therefore Mind is the great first cause. Divine Mind is the one creative power and source of all true manifestation.
What can be predicated of God is true of Man, who is the image and likeness of God. Man's mind is the cause of all that is in his life. Solomon says, "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7), and the Hindu Dhammapada expresses the same idea in the following words:
All that we are is the result of what we have thought; it is founded on our thoughts, it is made up of our thoughts. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him as the wheel follows the ox that draws the cart. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him.
Thoughts are the product of Mind, and the means through which Mind works. The thoughts of divine Mind are pure and good, true, and full of life and health, and they produce heavenly conditions. In the measure that man's mind dwells upon the pure and the good, he enters into health and happiness. The only real thoughts that man has are those from the Mind of God, in which is no evil imagination, memory, or production. "To think the thoughts of God after Him," as the great Kepler said, is to have a mind filled with noble, wise, loving thoughts in which there is no mixture of error or evil.
Discord and disease arise from a mixed mentality in which is belief in both good and evil as real. Pure thoughts result in pure manifestations, but mixed thoughts show forth as a mixture, an adulteration, in the bodies and circumstances of the thinkers.
The mind of man is set in order by the science of God, and all the good thoughts are gathered and ascribed to their divine source, while the beliefs in evil are separated, as the tares were taken out of the wheat in the parable (Matt. 13 : 30), and cast out into nothingness.
Divine Science and logic systematize and arrange thoughts, so that their nature is known, and name and place are given to them.
Life proves to man that a mind filled with good imagery, with peaceful, loving, gentle, trustful thoughts, is in Heaven, while one who dwells upon evil, malice, revenge, injustice, pain, and misery is in hell. For Heaven and hell are states of mind. "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things : and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things." Matt. 12: 35.
All the health and happiness you have is the result of your belief in Good, which, in order to persist, must have its foundation in the true knowledge of God. If you would be constantly happy, that is, manifest your true Being which is at peace, strong and healthy, prosperous and full of love and knowledge, you must think good thoughts not only "now and then" but perpetually, which means the casting out of every other kind of thought.
We must begin to put out of our minds miserable, gloomy thoughts, not letting memories of injuries, sorrows, and mistakes possess us, and allow only those thoughts which give power and presence to Good remain in our mentality. We must put from us every doubt and fear, all discouraging thoughts of every kind, and hold fast only to those thoughts that God thinks.
Whoever is in a state of happiness is in Heaven, no matter what his surroundings may be, for Heaven is a consciousness, not a place. The Kingdom may be represented by a place filled with joy, beauty, and goodness, but primarily it is within our hearts and minds, and does not depend upon externals for perpetuation. We must find Heaven within ourselves, regardless of our associates and environments. As soon as we identify ourselves with the Divine within we become powers to externalize our inward happiness in forms which fitly symbolize God's creation. "And when he [Jesus] was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation : neither shall they say, Lo, here ! or, lo there ! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you." Luke 77:20, 21.
Jesus Christ came to teach men to look for Heaven right in their midst. He called his teaching "Preaching the Kingdom of Heaven," which is, in other words, declaring the ruling of the Good. At one time he contrasts it to the old preaching : "The law and the prophets were until John : since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it." Luke 16:16. He declared that every nation must hear of this teaching before the end of the old conditions could come (Matt. 24:14), and he has but one instruction to all his followers as to their preaching: "As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt. 107. What does the phrase "at hand" mean? What do you mean when in writing a letter in answer to a correspondent you say, "Your letter is at hand ?" Do you mean that it is coming by and by ? No. You mean that it is in this place at this present moment here now. So also Jesus meant: The Kingdom of Heaven is here now. Is not this the good news the gospel we are to proclaim the world over?
The Christ still says to you, "Go, preach the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand." Preach goodness and happiness as the only real presence and power (kingdom) in all the universe.
Must we speak contrary to the senses? Did not Jesus do so? With thousands of poor, hungry, sick, miserable creatures around him he still declared the true Kingdom. And while he spoke Heaven came to one after another of those cripples and miserable beings he proved his doctrine by his works.
Does it seem to you that you are telling a lie to say these things? Then remember that you are speaking of everlasting things only, and you will see that your words are true. The student of divine things ceases to think or talk about worldly and temporal appearances as though they were realities, but he lets his "conversation" be "in heaven," and enlarges upon the bright side of life, and learns to meditate upon and discuss the enduring things of Being.
When you say there is no evil, sin, sickness or death you are speaking of the real World ("My kingdom is not of this world"), where none of these things have any place.
When you say, "I am pure and holy," "I am strong and well," you are speaking of the real I, the true Self, and not of the personality called by an earthly name, and which but represents you for the time being.
Is it not written in the Scripture, "Let the weak say, I am strong" (Joel 3 :10) ?
Ignore the personal claims of sickness, believe only in the Son of God, and identify your I AM with the pure and holy, healthy, immortal Son of God. So also when speaking to others address the Real in them, and you will no longer feel that you are saying that which is not true in denying the senses, and declaring your neighbor well and strong. "Speak ye every man truth to his neighbor . . . and let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbor." Zech. 8: 16, 17. "He that speaketh truth showeth forth righteousness ... the tongue of the wise is health."Prov. 12:17, 18.
The Good is all about us and in us. We live, move, and have our being in Health, Life, and Love. God fills all things as thoughts fill the mind. But nothing comes forth without the Word. "All things were made by him [the Word] ; and without him was not anything made that was made" John 1 13.
Words are the expression of Mind. Words are thoughts made visible, or brought to consciousness and realization.
We are continually speaking words, but not always aloud, for there are silent or mental words as well as audible. These words are forming and reforming, unforming and deforming