Part 11 (1/2)
”We come together as many, but should go away as one. We now have thousands of Christian healers all over the country who are striving as never before to live a higher life, to work for humanity according to the Master's teachings, and it becomes us, as true disciples of such a leader to so live that we shall see the fulfillment of that blessed promise: 'Greater works than I, shall ye do.'
”Let us recognize the use and beauty of unity. Let us be as one, and then, like the brave and faithful Joshua, we shall be able to break down the walls of any Jericho.
”Christ followers, truth seekers, friends! Make use of the golden privileges of to-day, use every moment for the furtherance of good, make every silent thought or uttered word a stream of influence that shall cause the desert to blossom like the rose. Send your thoughts out to the grand reformers, the women workers and the men workers, the tired mothers and the anxious fathers, the faithful teachers and the innocent children. Sow the seed diligently, no matter what the soil. Never mind the coldness, the indifference, the slighting disparagements, for bye-and-bye will come the harvest. Do in all ways as you would be done by.
'Thou must be true thyself if thou the truth wouldst teach, Thy soul must overflow with truth, the true results to reach.'”
CHAPTER XIII.
”One Holy Church of G.o.d appears Through every age and race, Unwasted by the lapse of years, Unchanged by changing place.
”From oldest time, on farthest sh.o.r.es, Beneath the pine or palm, One unseen Presence she adores, With silence or with psalm.
”Her priests are all G.o.d's faithful sons, To serve the world raised up, The pure in heart her baptized ones, Love, her communion cup.
”The Truth is her prophetic gift, The soul her sacred page; And feet on mercy's errand swift Do make her pilgrimage.”
--_Longfellow._
The next day Mr. Hayden, with great interest, read the letter containing the first lecture, which was given the day after the reception reported in the last chapter. Pertaining to the lesson he read:
”How I wished you were with me yesterday, and could see the fifty eager faces as they gathered in the cla.s.s room and waited for Mrs. Pearl.
”Some sorrowful and careworn, some filled with the marks of suffering and pain, some hopeless and despairing, some careless and gay, some merely curious, but all expectant and interested.
”It matters not with what varying motives a ma.s.s of people meet together, there is a common chord of sympathy, which, if rightly touched, will cause the many to think and feel as one, and herein lies the secret of a teacher's power. Mrs. Pearl has this faculty of gathering and holding the thoughts of her audience, and I could not help noting the calm and satisfied expression as they went out after the lecture.
”The first lesson is about The True Foundation, and while much of it is what we have known and believed, it is stated in a new and interesting way. I will give it, as nearly as possible, in her own words:
”It is necessary to have a common premise in order to sustain a harmonious argument, and the first thing is to find a base or foundation from which and upon which to build. Our doctrine is to be established by sound reasoning and scientific argument, and we must go back to the beginning and learn something about the First Cause of all things.
”In ancient times students devoted themselves to the study of pure reasoning, and they found that by putting themselves in harmony with First Cause, they attained a power, by certain lines of thought and through the speaking of words, to perform wondrous works, healing the sick, having dominion over all creation.
”They discovered the different results of speaking words of science, which are words of truth, and words of error or words contrary to reason. Right, true words brought forth right and true conditions to everyone around them, but deviation from this line of reason, would bring discord and trouble and undesirable conditions. These wise thinkers declared Mind to be the First Cause of all creation, and announced the study of Mind and the words and ways of Mind, to be the profoundest theme that could engage the attention of man.
”We find this philosophy and these conclusions corroborated by the Bible, which we shall consider and prove to contain revelations of changeless, eternal truth.
”Truth is universal, and whatever is true in one part of the universe must be true in all parts. That which has been understood and conceded to be true in all ages and climes is what we call universal truth.
”Because the first chapter of Genesis, then, agrees in all essential particulars with the accounts of other nations and among other peoples we consider it universal truth.
”Because it is so beautiful, logical and spiritual, we revere it; because our own inner consciousness of truth agrees with its statements, we concede it to be as accurate and reasonable an account of Creation as we have, and we are therefore willing to use it as the basis of our argument.
”We read: 'In the beginning G.o.d created,' but a more literal and spiritual rendering would make the pivotal statement, 'G.o.d creates.' Now we know there can be no beginning or end to Omnipotence, hence there must be a continuous creating, and thus the term 'beginning' could only refer to the manifestation of what had already been created. How was the creation manifested? By the Word. 'G.o.d said, let there be light, and it was so,' and by every 'G.o.d said,' was manifested the thing which He said was to be.
”The word G.o.d is an abbreviation of the Anglo-Saxon of Good, the two words in that language being identical. To many this will be an aid to realizing the omnipresence G.o.d, and add to the reverential sense of that personal nearness which makes the Deity a Father and an ever-loving Friend.
”G.o.d is not person as to form or personal limitations, yet personal in the sense of Presence and intelligent communication with intelligent beings. Jesus said truly, 'No man hath seen G.o.d at any time, because the eye of the flesh cannot perceive spirit.' Through the quality or influence of Good, Intelligence, Love and all we may name as soulful, we perceive and feel G.o.d's presence.
”Thus in the spiritual sense, the 'pure in heart may see G.o.d.' We can, too, perceive the quality of G.o.d in Good, as we perceive the attributes of the sun in its light. As the light of the sun warms the dark earth, making it fruitful, so the divine Light (Intelligence), s.h.i.+ning upon our earth nature, makes it fruitful because of the presence of its Creator.