Saturday, January 21, 2017

PEACE AND PROSPERITY

Peace be within thy walls and Prosperity within thy Palaces." In this statement from the 122nd Psalm we find that peace and prosperity go hand in hand. People who are manifesting the appearance of lack are in a state of fear and confusion. They are not wide-awake to their good and miss leads and opportunities. A peaceful person is a wide-awake person. He sees clearly and acts quickly. He never misses a trick.

I have seen people discordant and unhappy changed completely. I will give an example in order to prove the working of the law. A woman came to me in a state of abject sorrow. She looked the part. Her eyes were blurred from constant weeping. Her face was haggard and drawn. The man she loved had left her and she was certainly the most demagnetized creature I had ever seen. I noticed the shape of her face— large eyes, far apart and a pointed chin. For many years I was an artist and have got into the habit of looking at people from an artist's standpoint. As I looked at this forlorn creature, I thought, her face has the modeling of a Botticelli. I often see Rembrandts, Sir Joshua Reynolds, etc., in people I meet. I spoke the Word for this woman and gave her my book, The Game of Life and How to Play it. A week or two afterwards, in walked a very dashing person. Her eyes were beautiful and she was very pretty. I thought, her face has the modeling of a Botticelli. Suddenly I realized it was the same woman! She was happy and carefree! What had happened? Our talk and the book had brought her peace.

"Peace be within your walls!" Your "walls" are your consciousness. Jesus Christ emphasized peace and rest. "Come to me all ye that are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest." He was speaking of the Christ within, your superconscious mind, where there are no burdens and no battles. The doubts and fears and negative pictures are in the subconscious. When I was returning from California some years ago, I came in an aeroplane. In the high altitudes I had a queer detached feeling. In that high altitude we are at peace with ourselves and with the whole world. In the high altitudes the fields are always white with the harvest. Only the emotions keep you from reaping your harvest of success, happiness and abundance. We read in the Bible "I will restore to you the years the locusts have eaten." We might well paraphrase it and say, "I will restore to you the years the emotions have ruined." People are rocked with doubts and fears, bringing failure, unhappiness and dis-ease.

I read in a daily paper that the laws of the mind are being generally recognized and understood. It has been found that the fear of failure is the greatest of all fears, and at least seventy-five per cent of those examined psychologically have this failure fear. Of course, this may refer to failure of health, failure in business, finances, love, success, etc. Other important fears are fear of the dark, fear of being alone, fear of animals. Some people fear they will be misunderstood, while others fear they are losing mental control. Constant and continued fear affects the glands — interferes with digestion and is usually associated with distressing nervous symptoms. It robs the body of health and destroys happiness.

Fear is man's worst enemy for you attract what you fear. It is Faith turned upside down. It is really Faith in evil instead of good. "Why are ye fearful! Oh! Ye of little faith?" The fearless, unfettered mind attracts to itself all good. Whatever you desire or require is already on your pathway. "Before ye call I have answered."

Suppose we paraphrase the Scriptures and say: "Whatever you desire or require is already planted on your pathway." Often a new word will give you sudden realization. If you are in need of any information, it will be given you. A friend told me of this surprising working of the law. She was translating an old Italian manuscript on the life of an early Persian ruler. No books in English had been written on the subject. She wondered why the publishers were holding back its publication. One evening she was eating her dinner at the Automat. She fell into a conversation with a man at the same table. She told him of the work she was doing and of the translation of the early Italian manuscript. He suddenly volunteered the information; "You'll have a hard time getting it published because this Persian ruler's ideas conflict with the ideas of the present government." He was a student and scholar and knew more than she did on the subject. Her question was answered and at the Automat. Such information could, usually, be gleaned only in the archives of some public library. God works in unexpected places His wonders to perform. She had worried about it, but when she was peaceful and happy and unconcerned, the information sailed in over a calm sea.

"Our feet shall stand within thy gates, 0 Jerusalem." Jerusalem stands for peace and the feet for understanding. So understanding always brings us within the gates of peace. How can a person attain peace when his whole life is in a turmoil? By taking an affirmation. You cannot control your thought but you can control your words, and eventually the word wins out. Most people have attracted inharmonious conditions because they have been fighting their battles and carrying their burdens. We must learn to get out of God's way so that He can harmonize or adjust the situation. The word "harmonize" is a very good one, for I have seen crooked places made straight, and adjustments made, that no human mind could have thought of. All that the Kingdom affords is yours, if you will give Infinite Intelligence right of way, for it has already supplied a lavish supply for every demand. But It must be fully trusted. If you doubt or fear, you lose your contact with this Supreme Force. So if you are filled with doubts and fears, it is necessary to do something to show your faith. "Faith without works (or action) is dead." Active Faith impresses the subconscious with expectance and you keep your contact with Universal Intelligence. Just as Wall Street watches the market, we must watch our Faith market. Often the Faith market is down. Sometimes it goes down and down until a crash comes: some unhappy situation which we could have prevented. We realize we followed reason instead of intuition.

A woman told me how she had several definite leads not to follow a certain course. In spite of this she followed the reasoning mind and great unhappiness developed from it. Intuition is our unerring guide. Practice following it in little things, then you will trust it in big things. I have a friend who is very intuitive. She sometimes calls up and says: "I've just had a hunch to call you up so I thought I would find out what it is about." Invariably I have some mission for her.

We are indeed living magic lives — guided, protected and provided for. All fear would be banished forever with a realization of this amazing system the Universal has provided for man. He would be unmoved by adverse appearances, knowing as the early Hebrews knew, "that Jehovah goes before and every battle is won."

A friend told me a very interesting story. A man in the paper business in Kalamazoo, Michigan, has given away a thousand of my books to his employees. He went into business on a small capital and gave up cold judgment and reasoning. He has built up a twelve million dollar business by following leads and hunches. All his workers have a knowledge of metaphysical law.

Another man who built his business upon the law of giving and receiving met with the same amazing success. He came to Philadelphia with a little money and bought a magazine, an old publication. His desire was to give the people a great deal for a very small price. He believed in the law of giving. It proved to be one of the most popular magazines. He gave the public the best in the way of stories and illustrations and paid well for them. The more he gave, the more he received — millions poured in!! "Peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces!! Peace and prosperity go hand in hand. "Great peace have they that love Thy law and nothing shall offend them." This law is the law of non-resistance. "Resist not evil, overcome evil with good." Transmute all failure into success, lack into plenty, and discord into peace. 

{transmute
tranzˈmjuːt,trɑːnzˈmjuːt,transˈmjuːt,trɑːnsˈmjuːt/
verb.
change in form, nature, or substance.
"the raw material of his experience was transmuted into stories"

subject (base metals) to alchemical transmutation.
"the quest to transmute lead into gold"}

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