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About Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 2, 1917)
THE POLK OOTOTT OBSERVER, TUESDAY. Jmv o. A LECTURE 3T PAUL STABS SEELEY, C. S; ember of the Board of Lectureship lof The Mother Church, The First I tj Church of Christ, Scientist, in Boston, Mass. Jt.eachinP'ft of Christian Kcionco j o ........ , Irr.n.t-alTv IrnAWn hat,, t, In nrifh ,w.rr., 1 1 1 thinking, but in just what way ob so 'well understood, lhe Ihs- rar and Ebimder of Christian Sei- Mary Baker Eddy, in her ork id ' Miscellaneous Writings, ' ' f this Science, "Its genius is thinking and right acting" (p. 3 ,1 - 0 I 1. l ana in uuumer ui. ner woiks, ; land Yes," she says, "The es- UL t,IUS OUlCIli:6 IB XIUlll. MI1I1K- d right acting'? (p. 12). Man's Fmo n ni th. avnviKBinn t 1 hi. I I Mights. Let us then consider what fistitutes right thinking, its effect n the life of man, and the way by ich one may learn so to think and reby gain the benefits. ORTANCE OF THOUGHT IN HUMAN AFFAIRS (Ve are all deeply interested, wheth- ? have considered the fact or not, subject ot thought. Our fits are in fact the most impor- miug in nio wuiiu tu cttcu one oi Wie are primarily interested in own thoughts for there we find Rns nf lift and ATiatene. . W!. Wo interested in the thoughts of I Ves, friends, our business associ- LM. kind in the thinking of society H T'no'a" We cann"t 1 to agree OB thought is the most essential of j riiigs to carry on the world's af ( la thought government is bas- law has its foundation, business neieived and carried on, human ioijiships are formed; in short, it tbiougbt that the whole scheme rller of our affairs is founded. vi one try to conceive of a day I thinaing.'-'ln it and he wiil zcl thatliought is indeed the M)du8and current of life. Stop iin and the world would be an ixss, a mindless desert. Man 's tti himself and to society de- II' ffipon the thoughts he enter 1 ITis thoughts and bis life go 1 in! UnJ Thfitf ... uiuu iv J HV VUlUVlUCUt ) ins '-parable. . .'' n it is to be through thought 1 iif world it to find the real and I a Wmedy for its iUsr and that nai Vr ?S? r St? a true basis Mind, God, Thus does Thrill? Z "" to light ence untie, not cut. the anrA .... na cmPlete idea of of mind and matt; tu 7"; UM ama and its ages. ' " vume 01 ttie od and His univ OW CHRISTIAW affha IT .T, sometl'nes stands S:htnothr-y . , " fciciiunce anv of .vou may feel shnck,i t .? ltedtoW "" Hi'aii-ai scientists .... , nnt r3 matter is indeed not a substance of itself but mental phenomena, the externalized concep within the past few years said, "Mat ter s a thing of thought which we have constructed for ourselves." An other says. "The . frt . , j.oo aa JB.UOWD to consists wholly of mind, and - - . "wttci- iH n flnithtfnl 3 fiin in . "u ""cer tain influence of the humn Jtiu. gence. ' .nJ 8 PremiSe W3S Ct and everything was in truth mental, he next and far more important ques tion was, how evil. morti ...j its sinful and daZT ere- manifestation. erse. including m an.... J i . ..." ' " enect as the basis for all true tiiougnt. SCIENCE rar bi ilere then Jc v. nn.t -r found th,. f j ,T . - I . man Jesus. i a. nil iTiiii iiipro ctani(ni..i TO, exact, scientific, un changing. MAN'S RELATIONSHIP TO MIND reasoning then from Mind as the primary cause, let us see wW really is. How is he related to Mindf v,nat is nis tunetion, his destiny? The Bible designates man as God's im son, and heir. It also savs that ha ic made after God's likeness, thus mak ing him out to be the livine- rem. iauve or expression of God. These to lead k out of evil into good, out ot error into Tn, t n """ ignoranee in consc.ou of the , a , . . into inMlic ;f"-"ce T"al 6ense of life and serfhnn 2 "U"S'U! 008tel Spirit, .w.; fromH i "rrj1" "6 trUe, f-ts of spirit, 1 Tt., "f . Ti,oi:" . t . "iB ana manhood. Tt ; ". 'uat ne has IIir ,u5' nave tor mnnv t,.. a, . . . " 'uentai at hnml nf ., : confused the Christ-id Kifh tK ;r"rm"non wlll"1 ?dually - h. te i .T? . 1 0,)stai''8rf "V- t . -"c ui- uauges a materia fm. tK , aua ooeuieiit ' Christian Scienee sense of beinff. p,r"ual L fcVl1 not yield its n,,,.,! . cental transformation is recoe-ni u, "r.'' -et'ause n"1" J''Y to ' " . '. m ill ir makes nlflin Ka . . j- . moiuicuon Detween the personal Jesus and the Christ, the true idea of God, which must come to each individual consciousness and resurrect it from f ding to a corporeal suvm.,- i ' . ship a fleshly concept, and Jesos said -". ine nesh profits nothing. Jesu was a human person. Christ is the iai idea of life which Jesus understood and exemplified better than all others, but able and understandable bv each nf V terms of course apply to the real and K This true idea must be individur uui io ine mortal and B'V understood before man can know 7 nlbLffiaSAered and destyd by uu. mis aues 1 1 mst be through a different oV f i (Ihiiiking than any which has i Aiernlly known to mankind hd present time. Speculative phil- .iy physical science, mere intel- rj usm and lofty idealism, schol- tbi ology, materia medica, ne - if , hypnotism, mesmerism, and ' oher systems of thinking, (jiven every- opportunity to i isrnanity's need for happiness, and peace, have fallen far if that need. Words and the- here hava been a plenty, bnl las been a poverty of works. "1 TEE ONLY SOURCE OF IN 11 1 ' TELLIOENCE kt feekmjp an answer to the ques- ' r think rightly, Christian i n i-.iimizes that there must arily lie a basis or' standard ac- 1; to vhich thought may be red as nht or wrong, the same tnematicaj law measures with ess the correctness or incorrect- mathematical thinking. What this standard? A perspective world as w$ see it- shows us Jere is in it good thinking, bad matter and. material ohe- ii'ese must be accounted for lj rational basis reached for the ation of evil and the establish- ! good. V I w explanation of Christian Sci-i Pre. Eddy has pointed out with aiseernment the total dissimi- wtvveen Mind and matter, mind fating intelligence. matter ! for the exact opposite of in fo, non-intelligence. She btJd- fW the theory that intelU- w thought could come from I fei'gent matter, and accepted r tasonable premise that intel- Bust come from Mind, and f thought and- life is the out m expression of Mind. She P attribute matter or evil to F intelligent eanse, Mind, be I th express ignorance, discord fWiticn,- which are contrary to sane. r SUPPOSITIONAL OP rOSITE OF GOOD SJ fact we know in onr dailv suppose its opposite, the Hi n. so in the universal or . P- Eddy diseernMl tbnt und r aortal and material is I' f 6t wHhout ""npromise, and , wntlnSs so clearly eluci "" "'o mws or t ie niu ht:..j j ,, . "uc JU11IU and the scientific way in which these oe used to submo-nto come, and destroy all evil and disease, that. TTIIIIlWir. i i ' UA uianKina have through their application in thought been healed, comforted, and purified. Her with the Bib e. that thm. ; God, divine Mind, who ciWo., i good, has been proven hv rfi.i- works to be the basis and starting point of right thinking. EVIL CAST OUT THROUGH RIGHT THINKING The distinction drawn by Christian Science between the mortal and the imorxai, the material and the spirit ual, is no new thing, no personal opin- ".. lh ,s a spiritual and eternal iact, tne central truth of the Bib, This Science noints out that ;t i through the correct understanding of tne one true Mind and his relatinnshin A 4l.i nr. .... r m umi mina that man may free him sen irom all evil conditions. He learns to put out of thought the mil and temporal sense of existence, with its sinful and diseased beliefs, and gradually gains that consciousness which knows only good and is not sub ,ieci to sin, disease or death. This is but the reiteration in present-day lan guage of the statement made by Paul to the tiomans, that, "to be carnallv nimnea is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." There is nothing strange about spirituality or spiritual mindedness. Spirituality is simply goodness. Spiritual mindedness is right thinking, that is, thinking in accord with the one true cause, divine Mind. If all evil, sin, and disease is mental, then it must be apparent that the thin? to be done is to stop think- tog evil and to Jlunk only good. From the world's point of view it may seem a monumental if not an im possible task to cast out all evil think ing. Without a sure and certain law to go by it would be so. But to the man who has gained even a slight un derstanding of the demonstrable su premacy of the divine Mind over all evil, the accomplishment seems but the natural and inevitable outcome of the law of God, operating through right thinking or spiritual under standing. THE NATURE OF MIND uousiem sense of man. Rut it io ti real man we want to know about and bring to light. Since God is Mind ana Mind s only mode of expression must be through its ideas, the very important fact is seen that the real man must be and therefore is the nnt. come of Mind, is Mind's idea, and is I a otato P : n - ..mo ui uuusciuusness iorever ex pressing God. He is a celestial; di vine in nature, the individualized idea oi uod. Itis function and destiny is forever to reflect "and express Mind and intelligence in its limitless un foldment. Man is forever predestined to reflect God, and this is the on!v predestination there is. So Christian Science teiches that man, the real, true, normal man, is iorever linked to God as idea is lint. ed to mind, for God is Mind and man is Mind's idea. The real man. beins' mentai ana spiritual, cannot be, and therefore is not, materially, physical ly, or mortally conditioned; since such conditions are temporal, not th ouspnng or eternal Mind, but of its opposite, mindless matter. Man idea cannot fall away from or be sep arated irom uod, for Uod is his intel ligence, his life, his substance: nor can uoa abandon, overlook or fore-et man, ior ne cannot be separated from ms manifestation. Man's life, health, and well-being are therefore always a matter of divine concern. This unity oj. man ana uod is a most essential point in the teachings of Christian Science, for without some intelligent grasp of original cause and his right ful relationship to that cause, man is without a guiding star bv which to chart his way out of the wilderness of earthly woe. THE ATONEMENT Since God cannot evolve anvthina unlike Himself, man must possesifthe same quality and substance as his creator. Jesus.said, "I and my Fath er are one." If we fail to recognize the relationship between God and man here indicated, we fail to grasp the basic truth ot being, the vital part of Christianity, the very key to the sal vation of mankind. This oneness of man with God in quality but not in quantity is indeed the doctrine of atonement as Christian Science ex plains it, or the doctrine of at-one- nient. Seen in the liirlit of Christian ! Scienee the doctrine of atonement is no longer a human doctrine but a spir itual fact, namely, man's natural and eternal oneness with God, ' divine Mind. Man separated from God would be like a number severed from math ematics, or a tone separated from mu sic, or a rny of light separated from the sun. He would be a non-entity. As the number is one with mathemat ics, as the tone is one with music, as the ray of light is one with the sun. so man is one with God. So long as God is, man is. They are eternally God. This ages and is the saving importation of trod, the emanation of His Wo a goodness, ever extended to him h tired of the husks of mortality, would itJiurn ro fllS f ather's hnnaa on,! o.J, mi uiguer and better things. FALSE CONCEPTS When we begin to lay hold of the true sense of being, actually to real ize m spite of all the conflict and dis tress of mortal existence that there is indeed a God who is altogether suuu, wuo is ail-wise and all-powerful, and who is now available to help us uveieome ana master evil just as soon as we. turn to Him, then our thinking begins to change. We begin to seek for and to set aconnintiwl with God, to obey the Scriptural command, "Acquaint now thyself with him. and be at peace." A stranger is one who is unknown, strange. God is therefore stransre in us ir we do not actually know Him. This foreign concept of God as strange is just what Christian Science is here to remoV-e. Let us suppose that Mr. A. and Mr. B. live in the same community. A coihmon belief in the community is that Mr. B. is unap proachable, distant, difficult to under stand. Mr. A., without any personal investigation, believes the report and holds aloof from Mr. B., although he is in dire need of a friend. Mr. B., in fact, is not the kind of a person common reports has made him out to be; he is not distant or difficult to un derstand, but on the contrary is easily approachable, is interested in doing good, is charitable, kind, and glad to help others. What hoe kept the men apart ? What has ma'de them strang ers? Nothing but a false concept en tertained by Mr. A., a concept which Canse signifies power. Bivinc Mind correlated in thought and action, a being the one cause, it must have all relationship clearly denned Dy Jesus Pposititious or supposed op- IJos creation, which is the JT Sbe cofniiwd that Mvil are merely temporal tbe visualized concepts of rf md, the op- power, Being the only Wind, it must be all-wise. Being the only true sub stance, there is nothing to limit it, fierefore it must -be everywhere. Mind's expression or manifestation, winch is its creation, mnst necessarily be mental and spiritual, since effect teiust have the same character and na ture-as its cause. Mind's creation too must be harmonious and good, be ing the creation of an all-wise and all-inttlligent cause. There being no cause precedent to Mind, there can be no antecedent cause. Mind, there fore, mist be and is self-existent and eternal, without besrinning and with out eni Now this Mind, as stated before, i the one God. and as un derstood in Christian Science is sy nonymous with Spirit. Father, Love, names whieh the Scriptures apply to Deity. , Loving consideration mnst then characterize Mind's relationship with its creation. Intelligence, wis- had no basis in fact, was not the out come of truth, but was simply a false belief, a lie. Mr. A. was deprived of Mr. B.'s friendship and friendly as sistance for no reason at all. The false concept was the barrier. What was needed to restore a normal rela tionship was the truth in trie con sciousness of Mr. A. It not the lesson plain? What is it tut a false concept that is between suffering humanity and God? It is ,ust that and nothing more. How many have accepted the common su perstition that uod is distant, unap proachable, and difficult to uderstand, even while the Bible describes Him as a God "at hand" and not afar off, who has said, "I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people." Christian Science dispels our false concepts of God, does away with mys tery, superstition, ignorance and fear, and enthrones in man the true con sciousness of God which shows Him to be all-good, all-powerful, ever available, all-wise, to be the God who presently "healeth all thy diseases," hv reiorm. All educational effort is but BUMpiaiHinff Of ifmnvont J i:.;a ed concepts of being with more intel- .. UUKi. iyranny and slavery have as JPwlly as man's thought has gained a clearer sense of .iSms oi man. The whnlo cess of mental change seems the na tural and richt wav to h.ttn- ti.: And so it is not only in attaining bet- that far more important "realm of T"s"1 vmea oeals with man's rela tionship to God. Through the teach ings of Christian and limited concepts of God and man o'o Kivim; wav to that tno , being which liberates fmn, tho t ny of sin and the slavery of diseased ucutua. The greatest proclamation of cipation ever uttered was sriven hv .To sus when he said, "Ye shall know the iruin, ana the truth R ial! m.i,. " t, e i;ixiiiiiir. irnnur uriHn -n i ... ....... Mt i true iviiiie we ueiieve what is fnlso Tm, objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time. No more can an erroneous concept of God and the true iuea oi mm be in thought together. TWO. CHANGES MAN'S VIEW POINT That consciousness must ehnno nn. on which has dawned the true idea of uoa and man. Life's outlook cannot remain the same. In place of regard: ing himself as a mortal of a few days ci muse in a world of injustice, mis ery and woe, to weather the storms as best he may or be crushed hv them with a vague concept of God, distant and indifferent to his needs, man be gins to give place in his conscionsnes to the true and eternal idea of en- ation. He finds himself coming into conscious touch with his creator and begins to recognize the meanine- nf jonn s statement "Our fellowship is un tne r atuer. ' ' Through the shad ows of mortality he begins to see light ' " mat ne nas indeed a part to Ml in the infinite plan. With his new understanding ho reasons that if God be good and all-powerful and man is in reality His idea, onlv good can be man's birthright. Anil from this simple but basic truth he begins to meet and master evil's claims. when he said, "As the Father know- be they mental, "physical, moral or of other nature. Being acquainted with God, it is well to remember, is simply a state of mind; in other words, true con sciousness, To know God man must be thinking correctlv about God, and that is just what Christian Science is helping man to do. When the gentle man of Nazareth voiced the message. "Kepcnt: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, he voiced the demand of Truth to those of every use. laboring in the shadow of ignorance, superstition and fear. Repent simply means to change vour Some men think this privilege, oth me. even so know I the Father." THE CHRIST-IDEA In place of an obscure, mysterious. or doubtful concept of God and His creation. Christian Science unfolds, as we have shown, the true idea or scientific concept of God and man. which is the corner-stone of right thinking and living and the way to Christian healing. The coming of this true idea of God and man in your con sciousness and mine, is the coming of the Christ that is to free us from the bondage of evil and destroy all disease. It is important that we un derstand just what is meant by the Christ. Christ is defined on paee 583 Recognizing that his true selfhood is the reflection of God, man seeks to order his thinking so that onlv eood- ness and love, God's thoughts, will ever be manifested in his conscious ness. With the true idea of iwrfeet God and perfect man as his model he seeks always to think in accord with God, good. Man is God's living wit ness and expression, the very embodi ment of good. Knowing God as incor poreal good, he knows that Deity can never appear in physical outline hut is manifested in His ideas, and that therefore every good thought and ev ery kind word or deed is God in ac tion, Love expressing itself as man's real selfhood. Realizing as never he fore the neames of God, he strives earnestly to think so as to be at-one th Him. He seeks each day and hour to think and to live up to his highest understanding of life as God, and so far as in him lies to let his true selfhood ever appear in thought and act. He is putting off the old man, as I'aul terms the mortal self, and is putting on the new man of God's making. EVIL'S LIE We have already slated that, as ex plained in Christian Science, all evil, sin, disease and mortulitv in but the supposititious opposite of the spirit ual and true creation. To he sure, evil's universal lie is a big one -bill what of that ? Can any one pet nearpr truth or in any way change truth by telling a big lie or by telling many It must Ua .... . mtnlli, ,i "v --.v..,bu.y. man must km.vrl)U11; thing of its nature and l,o wK enough to detect its deceit ft.: -uhtle. ties, bring its ijes from unA p (1()VBr Until he is wise, man ... i..- good. "How much few., it ; wisdom than gold!" said fcWoiuon. and Jesus admonished his followers, to be as wise as serpents. 0: a man reflects God does h. for all wisdom is in God. i imi; nous to Mind, and is naturally a ea oy Mind's idea, man. Wisdom so gained transcends all mortal opinion and human conjecture. It enables man to judge and act righteously, to avoid useless conflicts meet evil with good. It enables him to distinguish between the things of the moment and the things of eterni- -ty. Wisdom points the right way in every human situation and exalts Principle, which is Gmt. tn h. i, t J D UUW lawgiver in man's dailv life. WATCHFULNESS NEEDED Equipped with divina u.;f1 becomes a watchman at the door of consciousness, alert and vigilant. Ho scrutinizes the thouditB that aoelr ,,. trance there, separates just so far as he knows how the chaff wheat, the false from the true. lh mortal from the immortal, and rejects X the evil and mortal as having no right to enter. Keeping his mind filled with goodness he finds to be the best pro tection against all evil. Fear. dis-. couragement, hatred, disease, dishon esty, selfishness, lust, and all sin. he strives to keep out of his thought, for he knows that they are not of God and therefore do not properly belong to His reflection, man. He aarons tn disagree with these thieves and rob bers that would deprive him of hai. puiesB and health und desixiil hi character. "Whatsoever workoth -abomination, or mnketh a lie," as John puts it, he seeks to exclulln rmm his thought. He stops tolerating evil " in consciousness, stops talking about or awcuing upon it, but turns upon as an enemy and drives it out with thoughts of Truth. Ho begins to real ize that man as God has made him not the slave of evil in anv form bijt has dominion over it. Evil cnu ave no more power over mini than er Ins Muker, since man is one with God. UNCOVERING EVIL Christian Science shows mnn how to defend himself against evil in every form. It shows that evil seeks tn con. trol and reach man either through nient.nl suggestion, that is, through evil thoughts thrust into his conscious, ness, or by way of the physical sens-. es. In the last analysis both methods are suggestion. Evil's subtle argu ment always jsffti Science and Health explains, "It i IV (p. 280). It seeks to make muii Jjeiieve its claim of sin or sickness is a part of his rcaffelf. Man finds that, just because the body says, "Vou have a pain," he docs not have to resjiond, "Yes, I have a pain and I am sick," or because mental suggestion says, "I hate that man," ho needs to accept such a thought in to his consciousness. He learns that these claims of evil arc just a part of evil 's lie about man. They are no part of the one infinite Mind or its mani festation, and man has every reason in the world to dispute them and deny tncir legality. Jle learns to assert with all the authority of (Sod Himself what is the fact of being, namely, that man is in reality rimdo by God, is His likeness and idea, is divine in quality and character: (hut he cannot be sick because flod never made him sick, but made him erfet and no forever maintains him; that all the claims of discordant and diseased ma terial sense are contrary to God, good, therefore a lie and incapable of en croaching, infringing or iming up- lies, or by putting all the lies t.,- i o . . . ,,,:,; of organized i, ., ' . " u , mi iiihi m crcmure. nevauw: bh-.uciw is not a phenomenon of God he knows that it cannot be a rondition of man gether in some form of organized falsity? Is there any more truth in a million lies than in om-f Is the sum of a column of zeros more than zero or is a zero a big as a goose- egg any nearer something than one as small as a pin-head? Of course not. :r4.:- f CnA m-hi..h ' 'Od, divine ujaimi-ittiiv" comes to the flesh to destroy incarnate error. uinsi men is ine iru- dom, love, foodness, harmony, are or uoa ana man r seen to mark the natural order of this I place the wrong concept of existence ... i I ." A lw tinman Miniuinlln(S!l. creation. Perfection l its stanoar.i j ra. ---- and n element of evil or destruction I is there. Acknowledring the divine Mind as the alow cause. Christian f-uene then reasons logically from esu?e to effect sad brings ont what mu-t be t. .Kilt hum and the 0" iverse -h.li inr fro and are the s-j pearl one trait r;A csj en" this negative nature J" he spoke of it as "a which . - . .. .., - is no troth. 1 ''."Mter are . llu ""-liefs, mental in ehar-J pres-ion f Mini This is the -, mind. especially as it pertains to religion, is I The question confronting each one of ,e..ueu u. .... K. ;f :. . . i. IT- mn.h !.., r. . in "Vhe y" -Hd- change your to be dominated and foo.cd by the oW' bfMr!!wdv!- put away false concepts of .eemmg reality of evi.'s lie, expressed ' . - - . . , . , i;,uf rni- now. nerp bl Dunn, is i ut- found the harmonious state of being, even at the point of eonseion-iness. for Jesus also said. "The kinedom of God is within yon." MENTAL TRANSFORMATION NECESSARY With a correct understanding of di vine Mind as the one intelligent cause. and man as Mind's eternal idea. who real selfhood is goodness, as the basis for right thinking. Christian Sci ence shows man how to make this troth practicable in bis daily prob- This true idea, the spiritual idea, of God and man, taught by Jesus, is what Christian Science makes plain to the world today. It is the Christ which shows the coincidence and spir itual agreement between Ood and man. lhe cnrisi-iaea is muveu of great price, the redeemer. !th a-imir. It ciimes to each of ns in sin, disease, mortality and mater ial man? DIVINE WISDOM REQUISITE One does not find the warfare with the world, the flesh, and all evil, an easv task; bo is there anything that is worth while that ts really easy? Only tbe foolish man is content with the sluggard's ease. Ijke a man in an obstacle race, the student of Chris tian Science finds plenty of things to oeupv his attention, obstacles liiai cannot be dodged must be over come in only m ay. He must keep! lem. The method is tbe up15iir'!i who is of and in Ood. God atone is the substance and condition of man. He knows too that there is nothing in .God's man that can respond to mental suggestion. Man is animated by tbe divine Mind alone. Such con scious realization of the spiritual facts of being is a Christian Seience treatment It is an antidote that evil and sickness cannot withstand and a specific for mental suggestion that is unfailing, for it bas all the power of Ood behind it It is Ood-enfoieed. It is God imparting Himself through His idea and is omnipotent to the tearing down of the strongholds of evil. A Christian Scienee tn-atimnt delat- error and liberates mam. Tl.os thnmtih right thinking Christina tiuv fc the sick, breaks in fifcl t'-iv .ttin .f a IwniiliM thlT 1. nf. tie cannot get ahead (Continued on last - r