THE NEED OF GOD'S KINGDOM. The present age of the world is the epoch in which mind is to be the ruling factor. It is the end of a cycle, the time of the harvest. The time has arrived when the sons of God are to be emancipated from the thraldom of flesh; they are to stand forth clothed in the peerless beauty of divine sonship. As perfected men and women they are to rule the earth; not as individuals, but as a body patterned after the divine man of the heavens. The sin of selfishness is to be removed; the curse of oppression is to cease; the reason for the struggles of the past ages is to be manifested; the rewards for overcomings are to be meted out to the ripened souls. Each according to his fitness will find his true place in the celestial kingdom which shall be established upon earth. Dear friends, and readers, we lovingly call your attention, at this most momentous period of the world's history, to the importance of doing, to the necessity of united action, to the need of recognizing your sonship. If you are unable to realize that you are a son of God, or if you cannot recognize your divine right to the dominion, you are in no condition either to receive the dominion, or to have conferred upon you the rights. of a heaven-born son. You will never possess the dominion unless you first believe that you have it. In order to obtain control of the mind, and soul powers, which give man the dominion, one must realize, nay, he must believe without a doubt, that he has the strength to command. The mountain top of attainment is far removed from the turmoil of earth. The mountain sides are steep and most difficult to scale. Each step upward means much suffering, much patience, and much perseverance. Many disappointments are to be met, many obstacles are to be overcome. The faithful performance of the little duties proves man's worthiness and entitles him to be trusted with the greater ones. Despise not the little opportunities which are presented to all from day to day, from hour to hour. The little acts may appear trivial in themselves and of little importance, yet they are the means whereby soul powers are developed. The little opportunities lead to a comprehension of the marvelous working of creative law. The man who is faithful to the little tasks will soon realize that he is slowly awakening into the realm of soul, into that land where darkness cannot enter, into the presence of his God and his Creator, into that world where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. The man who conscientiously performs his daily tasks, recognizing that the little things are sent in order to prove his fitness to perform the greater, will quickly rise to a position of trust, will soon recognize the true beauties of a righteous life, a life in harmony with the mind and will of God. The soul that is awakening to a recognition of its true nature, soon develops to the point where it is constantly able to perceive and enjoy the ever increasing beauties of the Father's kingdom-that kingdom in which there are many mansions, not made by hand, but by the potency of thought,—of divine thought, which is eternal and fadeth not away. How many of our readers realize that today they are building those conditions which they are to enjoy tomorrow? How many know that in the ages past they builded the environments in which they find themselves to-day? The wise man builds according to the divine plan, the foolish according to the selfish desires of his heart. In order to comprehend the divine plan, the individual must consecrate all that he is, and all that he hopes to be, to Him who created all things. Man, though but an atom floating, as it were, in the great immensity of space, can know the Master's will, can foresee the purpose that the Father had in mind when in the ages past he commanded this world's birth. The things that men truly desire will assuredly come to them: the length of the time required to bring into manifestation the longings of the heart depends entirely upon the concentrative powers of the mind. The kingdom of heaven must be established upon earth, because the sons of men desire that that celestial state exist. It will not appear, however, until the need has become manifest; and the need cannot arise until an understanding of its use is born within the breast, until the knowledge of its necessity as a factor in the unfoldment of the race, is understood by the soul. Even then it will not appear until the desire grows strong enough to draw to earth the required conditions. It is through the potency of spiritual command, understandingly sent forth, that the necessary heavenly condi tions can be established and maintained. The establishment of the kingdom of heaven is needed on earth in order that man may find a place wherein he can reach the crowning ultimate of his creation,—an immortal, conscious existence. There must be a place separated from the perverted conditions of earth, wherein one may with safety die to the old and be reborn into the new. When man receives the celestial birth, he becomes one of the immortals, he cannot die; the life of the Father-Mother has become his life; the currents of eter nal, spiritual potency have been established within the organism. A great deal has been written during the past few years about the possibility of gaining immortality and retaining the physical body: as a rule the subject has been handled by those who have little comprehension of what immortality implies, or of the methods to be applied to bring about its accomplishment. One thing we will say, and all who comprehend the subject will bear witness to its truth: no man or woman will gain immortality in this age unless the kingdom of heaven is established upon earth. It is an impossibility for man to gain an immortal existence and remain a dweller, a co-laborer with those immersed in earth conditions. Even were it possible to gain an absolute knowl edge of the laws of mind,-which one cannot do as long as he lives from the mind that controls animal life,-it would be utterly impossible to overcome the powers of death and the grave. Unless the individual comprehends the different mind realms, and knows how to enter the super or divine realm, he will always remain mortal, always be receptive to the sting which causes the physical body to disintegrate and turn to dust. As long as one remains under the control of the mind whose power is expressed in the command "Increase and multiply and replenish the earth," so long will he be compelled to undergo the change called death. No man, even though he possess the mental powers of a thousand men, can defy the command of the supreme mind which rules all life that is engaged in generation. The mind that governs generation, or creation, has supreme power over all life bound by that law. It is for this reason that it is well nigh impossible to rise above the plane of sense; and, in fact, it would be impossible, were it not for one fact, God has said, "If you will obey my voice indeed, I will be your strength, your power." An understanding of this power is man's salvation. It is only after he has learned to apply this power, that he begins to comprehend the grandeur of an immortal existence. It is not until he feels the alliance which has been established between the finite and the Infinite, that he begins to understand the law which governs his higher nature. When he begins to perceive the law governing cause, he understands that it is only through the united effort of a body of people, sanctified and consecrated, that immortality in the flesh is possible. Only through an absolute reliance upon the power of God, can man develop that confidence, that faith, which is so necessary to a realization of the possibility of becoming, although bound to a physical body, a celestial, immortal entity. An understanding of the need of an alliance with God permits the soul so to unfold its powers as to be able to draw sustenance from the virgin mind of its Creator,—that mind which in its absolute purity is unsullied by the taint of disease, decay, or death. It is impossible for one to live from that mind, and all must live from it who would become immortal,-who is at all allied to the sensuous practices of a perverted and sinful world. Dear friends, carefully examine your hearts; see that the temple of God is kept pure and holy; see that it is kept free from unholy desires. You must labor diligently, you must cultivate trust in God, in order that faith be established within your breast. Remember that if you do your part, God will do his. If you think right and act right, the time will come when the Spirit will lead you from the sorrows of earth to the joys of his kingdom. "Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul, As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past. Let each new mansion, nobler than the last, Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast, Till thou at length art free, leaving thine outgrown shell A PSYCHIC LAW. Bismarck is dead-killed by the lack of sympathy. To within a few weeks ago no foreign diplomat stood higher in the estimation of the Americans than Bismarck. But an unloving wish (shall we call it ingratitude in return for our good wishes?) prompted him to say he hoped the Americans would be taught a memorable lesson by the Spaniards in being quite tolerably whipped. This turned the tide of American sympathy against him, and immediately the old man began to fail. The withdrawal of such a powerful stimulant, and perhaps substituted in large measure by unloving wishes, was too much for even an "iron chancellor," and he had to surrender his material fortress to the tomb. This teaches another lesson to the world concerning a young and vigorous nation like the American. It is that mind is as powerful as matter in ordinary material affairs as the above; that thought can kill as well as bullets when fired from honest or temperate minds against selfish or intemperate ones; and that the great or popular minds cannot afford to court the ill-will of a whole nation like ours. This extract, taken from the Light of Truth, appears in sev eral of our exchanges, and whether it refers to a fact or a coincidence, I am, of course, unable to say; but for years past I have observed that when any one gets the ill will of a number of persons it is very apt to make him sick. Some years ago there came under my notice an instance of a "hard-fisted" speculator, living in this vicinity. While going to his honse one day, I passed through a psychic current of anger and hate. I stopped, and, analyzing it, found that its course was directly toward the house of this man, who was then sick. Further investigation showed that it ran in a northerly direction from where he was. I afterwards found that the locality in which he had been conducting his speculations was almost in this direction from hist home. I called his attention to what I had discovered, and, while he ridiculed the suggestion, yet he admitted that there were persons in the locality indicated who were very angry with him. He soon after got well, as, knowing the cause of his illness, he put his will against it. |