You are on page 1of 33

1

HEAVEN


BY
LILLIAN DEWATERS


Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the
things which God hath prepared for them that love him. 1 Cor. 2:9

When God is seen with men to dwell,
And all creation makes anew,
What tongue can half the wonders tell?
What eye the dazzling glories view?



LOVINGLY DEDICATED
TO THE HOSTS OF READERS
NEAR AND FAR
WHO HAVE BEEN HELPED ON THEIR WAY
BY
THINKING HEAVENWARD



2

From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of
heaven is at hand. MATT. 4:17.


Jesus did no works of healing prior to his forty days fast in the wilderness.
From that time he began to preach and teach publicly, making known to the
people that the revelation of eternal life would now be declared to them. He
must have meant: Repent ye! Forsake ye the old way of thinking and living;
give up your present erroneous ideas of life; for I am here to instruct you and
to teach you the truth about heaven.

The Master taught that it is necessary for us to put on the seamless robe, the
consciousness that believes in good only, and recognizes God as the only
power; in proportion as we do this, will all evil become unnatural and unreal to
us; suffering and limitation will cease; and we will enter heaven, which is the
abode of love, peace, and harmony.

Try it for yourself. The only proof that a theory is correct is the result
obtained.

Refuse to believe in the reality of all material phenomena, clinging to the
reality and presence of one Mind, good. This is the way to demonstrate in a
practical manner the presence of heaven.

The greatest good that we can do for anyone is to help destroy for him his
belief in the reality of matter. Lo, I [the spiritual reality] am with you alway.

The underlying hypothesis of all the teachings of Jesus is the unreality of
matter. The dynamic force of every single miracle is the unreality of matter.
Nothing but good, the real, possesses duration.

The only absolute phenomena, the only realities of heaven are divine Mind and
its ideas.

Heaven, the perfection of being, can only be entered, entertained, in proportion
as consciousness through the understanding of spiritual realities, separates
itself from every thought which is unlike Go(o)d.

Each must deal directly with the Father. To each may be given the hidden
manna, the new name written; but you must work out [with God] your
own salvation.

3

No one can properly force open a rosebud; nor will it give forth wondrous
bloom without the necessary nourishment. Unfoldment of God comes to each
individual gradually, as he is ready for it, as he reaches out for it and
welcomes it. If you are half-hearted, half awake, you will not accomplish
much.

Stir up the gift of God, which is in you. II TIMOTHY.
Let every man prove his own work. GALATIANS.





4

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. MATT.
5:3.

Those who are humble in thought find easy access into heaven. By humility
are riches and life. PROVERBS.


Heaven, the spiritual kingdom, is a perfection of being to be lived. It is the
world of reality where there is nothing but God and His manifestation.
Suppose this truth about God and heaven is explained to two individuals, both
of whom are in quest of health. The first questions: How long will it take me
to be healed of my sickness and to understand God aright?

The demands of Spirit are that you give up your present erroneous ways of
thinking and living. It may take a day, a week, a month, or even longer for you
to manifest the health which is of heaven; but what if it does? Have you not
been sick in mind and body for months and years? It generally takes time to
gain a working knowledge of music, of art, etc.; and, similarly, it takes time to
gain an understanding of the Science of Life. No human can tell you at just
what moment your sickness will disappear. When you become conscious that
life and intelligence are purely spiritual, your body will then utter no
complaints.

The individual, disappointed that anything is required of him, goes haughtily
on his way, and carries his sickness with him.

The second, bowed with the weight of trouble and disease, yet, with hungry,
earnest expression, queries: How long will it take me to regain health; to run
and leap; to be free again? Upon hearing the demands of Spirit, he exclaims,
with a glad smile, I am willing to try, and to wait. Whereupon, he finds
that he is instantaneously healed of his physical trouble; or else, within a very
short time he is free. The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of
God: for they are foolishness to him. I. COR. We must become as little
children in order to grasp spiritual understanding, in order to understand
God and heaven. God is the sum total of all good. The Bible declares Him as
Life, Truth, Love. God is also ever-present Principle, which destroys the evil
when man stops thinking wrongly and thinks rightly. God is always with us,
and when we cease to think evil the good becomes manifest.

5

Intellect argues; but the simple, child mind drinks unquestioningly of the deep
things of God. The human thought longs to know God; but how does it seek?
The most popular method has been the beseeching method. Do we have to
beseech the sun to shine? No. It always radiates light. We do not have to beg
and implore God for blessings, any more than we have to implore the sun for
light. No matter what we humans do God never changes.


6

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise
ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. MATT. 6: 1.


We should be careful not to put forward our thoughts or deeds for the purpose
of attracting attention. Let us be inspired only by the glad, earnest promptings
of a grateful heart. Cast away personality, sacrifice it, for what is left is the
essence of life Love. TOLSTOY.

The cold, calculating thought which measures and outlines what it should
receive because of what it has given, does not understand aright the law of
giving and receiving. We should give and do right because we love God; not
because we want something in return. Love is the divine way to heaven.
With what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
MATTHEW. We mete what we are, our own character is measured back to
us; in exactly the degree that consciousness comprehends divine Love and
expresses it, will one experience Love returning to him. We possess only what
we give. We receive from Love just what we give out of love. Emerson said:
That only which we have within can we see without. Therefore it is not
necessary nor essential that we seek a prominent locality to shine out our
works of faith. The place to begin our sunshine is in the home. Let us seek
reformation and regeneration there.

We may consider ourselves fettered by our environment, and be inclined to
blame certain existing circumstances for our inharmonious condition.
Environment is our opportunity to become strong and to overcome limitation.
Whatever place we occupy, that is the place for us to be. In that place we have
lessons to learn; weaknesses to overcome; ideals to work out.

An individual cannot demonstrate more than he understands of Principle. In
proportion as he honestly, earnestly and industriously applies what he already
knows, will his understanding be increased. Newness of life and regeneration
flows in us, in proportion as it flows from us. Understanding and its use are
metaphysically equivalent. What we receive from the Father we must give out
to the world, keeping a perfect equilibrium between the inflowing and the
outflowing, the receiving and the giving.

A pool cannot be kept sweet and clean unless there is an outlet as well as an
inlet. It is our business to keep the outlet open. Unless we are using for the
service of others what God has already given us, or what has already been
unfolded within us, we will find it a long, dreary road to spiritual
understanding. Some one has said: We should never think, say, nor do
anything except with the object of helping another or becoming ourselves
better men.
7


Our progress depends upon the number of hours out of the twenty-four that we
think rightly. Every man is responsible for his own living. He makes it by his
thought. Every time we reverse a wrong thought it becomes easier for us.
Shakespeare said: And many strokes, though with a little axe, Hew down and
fell the hardest-timbered oak.

No thought is ever lost, the dye of it stains the universe.

A thought is like the smallest seed;
When given a place to grow,
It bursts into a living thing,
Like unto that we sow.
Whateer you do, watch how you think;
Make no mistake in this;
Whateer you sow, will surely grow,
And yield you woe or bliss.





8

Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, but lay up for yourselves
treasures in heaven. MATT. 6:19, 2O.

Right ideas are treasures in heaven, worldly beliefs are treasures upon
earth.


Poor people are those who are not conscious of the ideas of divine Mind, and
of their relation to them. One may have accumulated a fortune of dollars, acres
of land, mines of gold; yet, if he has not secured these things from the one
Father, the only resource, he has not even touched the hem of the garment of
true riches. The lily in the field does not strive for anything. It is content to
feel the warmth of the sun; the thrill of the rain; the touch of the wind; and
unfold daily in its simple, fragrant beauty. Oh, if we could only know and
content ourselves to rejoice that divine Love and the realities of heaven are all-
sufficient for us!

The light of a new day is dawning upon us. The day of ridiculing mental
healing has passed. The world is waking to the knowledge that the miracles of
Jesus are based upon universal, spiritual law, present now as much as then.
To-day there are millions of spiritual, mental workers throughout the world
bringing good, health, joy, and prosperity into their own lives and into the lives
of others, by applying the words of the Master: And ye shall know the truth
[the facts of Life], and the truth shall make you free [and your knowledge of
Truth shall free you from all seeming power of evil]. It is the Truth, and our
consciousness of oneness with it, which purifies, transforms, and redeems us.

If our desires have God in them they must be fulfilled; for this is the secret
spring which yields us prosperity and success. External wealth comes from
righteousness (right-use-ness) or the use of right ideas. Outer symbols follow
naturally the consciousness of inner wealth.

As he [man] thinketh in his heart so is he.
PROVERBS.





9

Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. MATT.
7:21.


By no means are all who profess to worship God His true disciples; nor by any
means are all these worshipping ones entering heaven. Only those who are
demonstrating their understanding of Life by their healing works, by
removing sickness, sin, and limitations by the Christ-method, are entering
heaven. Eternal life must be earned; and there is a price to pay for it.
Opportunity is now; but our use of opportunity determines our rate of progress.

Let us be about our Fathers business now; the night cometh, when no man
can work. This means that we may let opportunity slip by too often; and,
when we would behold Truth, because of our continued stay in darkness,
Truth, the light, may seem afar off to us.

When is the best time for us to learn the truth about ourselves? About God?
About heaven? Now. What is spiritual understanding? It is the revelation of
Truth to the individual consciousness. We each have to seek within our own
consciousness this revelation of the living Christ. Realization cannot be given
us by any human being; nor can it be bought with any coin. Each of us must
seek and find the way to eternal life. We prove our knowledge of God, our
understanding of Life by our works. There is no other method of
determination. Jesus endowment was from on high. It is from this same
altitude that the Christ-mind will come to us.

Ultimate salvation from all sin is inevitable. St. Paul says: Every knee shall
bow to me [be humbled], and every tongue shall confess [acknowledge] to
God. ROMANS.

With all thy getting get understanding. All that there is to be learned is
within the reach of man. To be open and receptive to new and true ideas is the
attitude of mind necessary, if we desire to grow in understanding and
knowledge. Begin simply. What you do not understand to-day may be clear to
you to-morrow. Within is the foundation of good and it will ever bubble up if
thou wilt ever dig. MARCUS AURELIUS.

10

Take thought about your thought. Every thought has an effect. Just consider
how true it is that the greatest miseries of the world come through wrong
thinking. When right thinking commences, righteousness begins. We must
not attempt to put new wine into old bottles. Many try to do this. It is one
thing to get hold of a new idea; it is quite another thing to let go an old idea.
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear [open] ... I will come
in. REVELATION.

God knocks on the door. Man must open it, he must open up his
consciousness, be quickened, in order to receive and retain good. It is the
spirit that quickeneth; ... the words that I speak to you, they are spirit, and they
are life. JOHN.





11

And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching ... and preaching the
gospel of the kingdom [of heaven], and healing every sickness and every
disease among the people. MATT. 9:


The great Teacher united preaching and healing, and this is what we should do.
It is he who teaches by healing and heals by teaching that shall wear the crown.

Religion is the endeavour to understand and practise the law of God. The real
test of religion is: Are its doctrines demonstrable? There is not a passage in
the Bible which warrants the once popular belief that sickness and death are
the will of God. Just supposing it were true that God sent sickness to certain
individuals. Now, when the physician with his medicine kit arrives at the
bedside of the patient, isnt he a sinner, an accomplice with the sick man,
daring to defy God? If the sick one thinks God sent him the sickness, how
dare he even attempt to get rid of it, and still affirm his allegiance to God?

Doctors and nurses also would be defying God every hour of the day, even
daring to keep good individuals out of heaven.

And the hospital! Would it not be the home of a defiant, rebellious people,
working in opposition to the will and law of almighty God? Awake thou that
sleepest. Let the Christ Truth give thee light (understanding).

Evil, with its false accompaniments of matter, sin, sickness, and death, is but a
false belief, unsustained by God. Physical deformities are not man, nor any
part of man. The mortal body is but the visible expression of mortal mind. As
we remove error from thought it ceases to appear in effect.

God is Truth. To believe evil is true is to break the commandment to have
only one God. What is untrue must be unreal; for only that which is eternal is
true and real. Sin, sickness, and death are not eternal; they come not from God
and cannot be true. God made good only. All that is opposed to good is
uncreated, unfounded, hence with no true or lasting existence and subject to
destruction. Jesus destroyed sickness, sin, and even death. His thought was
free from the belief in the power and reality of matter.

We have been deceived into believing that we are material beings in a material
world and that we are subject to sickness and death. There is no truth in such a
theory. In truth man is now spiritual and perfect in the kingdom of heaven.
But we see the perfect creation, heaven, all wrongly because of our wrong
concept. We see through a glass, darkly. We see heaven through a mist,
the material senses which cannot cognize God.

12

Even, at present, we can discern some of heaven; for all the love, the peace, the
harmony, the good, the pure, we see around us, is of God, and must belong to
heaven.

In other words, the kingdom of heaven is yours just to the extent that you get
into it. How far are you in?

The baptism of John symbolized the cleansing and purifying of the mind of all
wrong thoughts and beliefs. Jesus submitted to this baptism. It is necessary
that we also let all fear, worry, prejudice, narrowness, be washed away in the
cleansing water of denial; and let the inner kingdom be entered by affirmation
of its reality.

Every one must learn and practise the methods of Christ Jesus. Why not now?

Nothing is conquered until self is overcome. Repent ye therefore, and turn
again, that your sins may be blotted out. ACTS (R. V.).

Who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth? - GAL.



13

As ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand. MATT. 10:7.


Jesus recognized that heaven is within reach of all; nay, even here for us to
behold. Many a one has pictured heaven as the dwelling-place of God and His
angels; and presumed it was beyond the clouds, where the white throne is,
upon which rests the book of life. Hymns tell us that loved ones shall meet
beyond the river, where harps are played, and where the streets dazzle with
gold. Had Jesus believed that heaven is in the skies he would have located it
there.

What is simpler and clearer than the truth that heaven is where God is? Can
we think of God and heaven separated? Obviously, no. Therefore, since God
is everywhere, it necessarily follows that heaven is everywhere. Simply
because one has not experienced heaven does not deny the fact that heaven is a
present reality.

Suppose one found himself out in the ocean, dying of thirst. Although water
surrounded him, believing it to be salt, he did not partake of it. But he hears a
cry from a distance, Dip down and drink, you are in fresh water!
Immediately he drinks and lives. Now, what has changed the man from a
dying to a living condition? Merely his thought. His wrong belief yielded to
the voice of truth. It is just like this in regard to heaven and the material world.
People believe the world is material and so starve, thirst, suffer, die. Now
what is the truth? God and heaven are right here but are hidden to the material
senses. This kingdom for which all mankind is looking, is the world of reality,
waiting for mans recognition and acceptance. It is heaven that we see in
proportion as old things (thoughts) have passed away.

The material man is but a false sense of the real and spiritual man. It is only
this false view which needs correction and destruction. Jesus tells us in John
8: - that the natural man is not the true man.

Through daily study of the Bible and spiritual literature, we can dwell mentally
in heaven, though we walk on earth, until this earthy thought-world fades from
our consciousness, like a dream, and we know even as also we are known.

Whosoever ... shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my
Father which is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will
I also deny before my Father which is in heaven. MATT. 10: 32, 33.

14

We should always be ready to voice the truth; gratefully acknowledge good
whenever and wherever the opportunity is afforded us. We best confess our
understanding of Life, by sin forsaken; by sickness destroyed; by limitations
removed. When we are showing to the world that our hearts are humble,
grateful, tolerant; that our desires are pure, holy, and unselfish; and, that
through spiritual realization we preach the gospel, heal the sick, then are we
confessing God before men.

God confesses us whenever we confess God. When we realize that our present
sickness is not of God, that it has no place in us and we have no place in it,
then does God confess Himself to us, then will perfect health be revealed to
us, in manifested wholeness of body.

The doctors theories change; but God never. Every year new diseases are
invented. Some rush to get them as they would to secure the latest style of
gown. The human mind is always changing, that is why there are so many
fresh causes and cures for diseases. Heaven, the truth, remains, and
there is no disease in God. People should not study disease in order to cure it;
but they should study health. Can anyone learn of mathematics by studying
mistakes? Can anyone learn music by studying discords? No. Therefore, to
learn of health we must study God.

People run hither and thither seeking satisfaction in multitudinous ways, yet
without finding it. Why? Because they are denying God before men. Because
of their restless, unsatisfied minds, they seek places of gaiety and amusement,
and with what result? They starve their souls, and they become nervous,
irritable, anaemic, and diseased. God, good, has been denied such an one
according to divine law. In order to have true life, with its fullness of joy, we
must feed the thought with Truth the bread of Life. Then will the love of
God satisfy you. Put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for
the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. ROMANS.

In the degree that we understand and demonstrate the truth of God, we are in
heaven. When we deny God we are in hell. We make our own heaven and our
own hell after the fashion of our thoughts. The time is fully ripe for us to wake
up and get out of wrong thinking (hell) into heaven, the consciousness of right
ideas. This world of perfection is here now, if we would but see it.

At last the veil is lifted;
I open my eyes and lo!
I stand in the midst of heaven,
With its beauties all aglow.

15

To be sure, there are those who will scoff at the idea that heaven is here! They
can only associate heaven as up yonder, a place of many mansions. How
ridiculous that heaven is here! Do you remember that centuries ago people
exclaimed, How ridiculous that the earth is round? Yet, it was scientifically
proven that the earth never was flat, it always was and is round. What became
of the flat earth? It went out of the peoples minds, the only place it ever
existed. Now, as the flat earth was only a lie about the round earth, so it is true
that this material world is but a lie or mistaken sense of the real world, heaven.
Men changed the truth of God into a lie. ROMANS.

God is one God and present everywhere. More and more will we become
conscious that heaven is among us. Even now, those of us, who look for it,
will catch a glimpse of it.

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first
earth were passed away; ... and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,
nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain. REV.





16

Verily I say to you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a
greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of
heaven is greater than he. MATT. 2:11.


John the Baptist was a great messenger; yet he was without works. He had not
the right understanding of God; and he who comprehends and demonstrates the
realities of heaven is far greater than he who has faith without works.

The knowledge Jesus possessed of this faith was such that he was able to heal
every form of disease and overcome every limitation; and he said: The works
that I do shall he do also. He called twelve disciples and gave them authority
over unclean spirits ... and to heal all manner of sickness. The metaphysical
interpretation of some of the names of these disciples are: Simon, faith; James,
judgment; Andrew, strength; Philip, power; John, love; Bartholomew,
conception; James (son of Alphaeus), order; Simon (the Canaanite), zeal;
Matthew, receptiveness. When we call forth these qualities of consciousness
we must be lifted from all fetters.

We should not use prayer or treatment simply and entirely to restore physical
harmony. True, physical and moral reformation are inseparable. Watch for
moral improvement as well as physical relief. Why does it happen that an
individual may find that he is not getting rid of his sickness, under spiritual
treatment? Whenever a person is not healed after a long period of treatment let
him search in his own thought for the reason.

Jesus said: I thank thee, O Father, because thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to babes. MATT. The Master
recognized that it was the operation of wisdom that the understanding of the
Science of Life should unfold in the simple childlike thought. The wise and
prudent are they who spend no time contemplating the wealth of spiritual
ideas, but employ their minds in gaining the wisdom and education of material
ways and means.




17

For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his
own soul? MARK.


Let a great scholar or financier or lawyer lie at the point of death, will their
accumulated knowledge of mathematics, money, law, save them? No. These
are as so much sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. God is all that can help
a man when he faces his enemy, death. Yet a healing word of truth felt and
uttered by some simple, unassuming mind could easily be the means of
prolonging the sufferers life.

How true it is that a rich man cannot enter the kingdom of real living. Our
duty is to be rich in love. Love is. We learn addition by adding; art by
painting; Love by loving. Love cannot be bought by the purse, nor from the
without. Love is established within the consciousness of man.

Newness of life, regeneration, flows in us in proportion as it flows from us.
Should we love our father, brother, husband, less because we have started into
this new and profitable way of thinking? We have heard it remarked, I have
known Christian Science to separate a family. It is too sadly true that families
have been separated after a member has become a seeker in Christian Science.
But let it be remembered that it is a lack of Christian Science which has caused
the separation. It is foolish for one to expect that, because he has found the
truth and attends the Christian Science services, other members of his family
must fall in line. And he is sadly lacking in spiritual growth and
understanding, if he leaves his home because they will not think as he thinks.

Christian Science stands for better living. It makes us love more, not less; it
teaches us to be humble, patient, kind, charitable, self-sacrificing. If it is not
doing this in our lives then we are not Christian Scientists. It is well to
remember, along this line, Jesus words: And I, if I be lifted up ... will draw
all men to me. The secret of drawing our loved ones into the fold of right
living with us, is for us to be lifted up in consciousness. As we show our love
and tender good-will toward them, in spite of their attitude toward us, this in
due time will prove the one available attraction.

Treatment is the realization of the spiritual facts concerning God and man. In
reality, in Gods kingdom, heaven, there is no misunderstanding, no friction.
Every idea of God works in love and harmony-with another.





18

Whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my
brother, and sister, and mother. MATT. I2:50.


Those of us who are loving and serving with the same right spirit the one Mind
are truly related in thought.

Now what is the will of my Father? Jesus is our perfect example. He did the
will of his Father; and, as we think the way Jesus thought, speak as he spoke,
heal as he heated, are we doing the will of the Father. Those of us who are
doing in some degree this will, are truly and eternally related.

The love for a stranger, who is following with us after the manner the Master
taught, is a purer and more perfect love, than the love for one called a sister or
brother, who lacks this one eternal bond of fellowship.

What did Jesus believe Gods will to be, regarding sickness and death? Did
Jesus think they were sent by God? No. Had he believed a man was better off
after he died he would not have resuscitated him. He worked to do away with
death. Without sin, sickness, and death, would not this be a very good
foundation for heaven right here?

Jesus denied the error and affirmed the truth. That is what we must do. Jesus
said of Lazarus, He is not dead, in spite of the fact that he had been in his
grave in the earth four days.

Denials and affirmations do not change God one iota; but they do put us into
harmony with Gods law. Denials tear down and help destroy the hold evil
seems to have upon us. Affirmations are constructive and build up. Denials
purify and cleanse the mind from mistakes, worries, fears. Affirmations give
us courage, strength, power.

What things soever ye desire ... believe [affirm] that ye receive them, and ye
shall have them.MARK.





19

To you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God [heaven]: but to
them that are without, all these things are done in parables. MARK 4:11.


Jesus taught us the way to understand the mystery about heaven; but to them
that are without, those whose minds are not centred in this scope of vision,
all healings and prophecies are incomprehensible.

Love and life are intimately associated. Love is the essence of God. It is the
mother principle which purifies all who dwell within its presence. Even
human love, when given out of purity, will transform and purify a character. It
is because a mother renounces self for her child that her love is glorious and is
brought nearer the divine nature of Love.

Jesus taught the selfless way. He loved, seeking not his own, but anothers
good. Jesus radiated happiness wherever he went; for he radiated love and
truth. He wept at the grave of his dear friend Lazarus.

Why? It was not because he was sorry that he had died. Jesus wept because of
the grossness of the minds about him. With all his heart, he yearned to have
them understand the truth about God. Faithfully, perseveringly, unselfishly, he
had laboured with them, and had healed and regenerated many; yet, now, when
he came in their midst, they held but one idea, Lazarus is dead. Why did
they not reach out to him, even yet, for help? Why were they so slow to grasp
this truth, that he who had done so many mighty works could, even now,
resuscitate Lazarus? It was because of their manifested lack of spirituality,
that tears sprung to the Masters eyes.

Who of us that has entered the path of divine understanding and seeth our
brother, our sister, our mother, standing without has not yearned for this dear
one to have the spiritual quickening? Yet we cannot do the work of another.

Jesus aim was that each would arise and go to my Father; then will death
cease, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.



20

The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man which sowed good seed in his field
... But when the blade was sprung up, ... then appeared the tares also ... Didst
not thou sow good seed? ... from whence then hath it tares? MATT. I3:24,
26, 27.


The human consciousness reasons thus: If heaven, good, is all, whence then
cometh evil? No matter how real pain, trouble, sin, may seem to us, it has
been demonstrated that they can be utterly wiped out of thought and body
through realization of the truth of Being. The belief of the flat earth existed
because of the ignorance of the round earth. The belief of disease, sin,
limitations, exists because mankind is ignorant of the spiritual, harmonious
man. As ignorance is put off and understanding unfolds in the human
consciousness, heaven becomes a living, present reality, real and tangible now.

There are those who listen to the great facts of Life, but they have stony
ground, and not much earth. These are a class of people who feel an
inclination to attend a metaphysical lecture or attend a church service or listen
to the healing experiences of others. They think the way looks attractive; but
they have no depth of earth, not sufficient consciousness of good, to grasp
the ideas of Spirit. Of course, spiritual ideas cannot take root in minds full of
materialism. The laying of one or two bricks never made a mansion.

The Bible doesnt say, With a very little bit of endeavour you will find Me.
But it does say, And ye shall find me, when ye shall search for me with all
your heart. God is present help; but there must be a recognition of this fact, a
turning to God with all desire, earnestness, purpose, and love, before Gods
presence will become manifested.

An individual may, with enthusiasm, delight in playing cards; in theatre-going;
in dinner parties; in reading a vast amount of unprofitable literature; in running
around briskly all day and accomplishing little worth while; then, when
Sunday arrives, he may seat himself in the first pew of one of the most
fashionable churches, and expect he is doing as much as is required of him.

Without a fitness for holiness, can one receive holiness? A great sacrifice of
material things must necessarily precede spiritual understanding. The question
is: How are we spending our thought our time?

21

Jesus was always about his Fathers business, the business of loving,
serving, teaching good. So must we be if we would have God dwell within our
hearts. God must become to us the spring of all health, enjoyment, gladness,
abundance. It is possible for us to learn of this divine power, and for us to call
upon it to sustain, protect, and guide us into the realm of perfect and eternal
bliss and peace.

22

The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took,
and sowed in his field when it is grown, it ... becometh a tree, so that the
birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof. MATT. 13: 31, 32.


The seed of the mustard is one of the smallest of seeds; yet, when the seed
attains full growth, it has become the greatest of herb trees. There are many
who eschew Christian Science, and believe it to be without value, the least
of all the sciences. Yet, let a mortal grasp even a grain of the spiritual
understanding of Life, as taught by Christian Science; let him cultivate and
thereby multiply this seed, within his consciousness, and he will soon find that
he is being led by the right path into heaven.

Right thinking is the key which unlocks the door of heaven; and one enters this
realm of glory in proportion as his thoughts objectify themselves in freedom
from fear, sin, sickness, and limitations. While one is going through this
process of entering heaven, and good is gaining a permanent place in his
consciousness, the birds of the air flock to him. Humans, desirous of gaining
release from suffering, are attracted to him; and, inspired by his faith, they, too,
seek the one way of deliverance.

It is the blessed privilege of every one of us to receive revelation and
inspiration; for we know that the Father is impartial with His love and that
heaven is within reach of us all. Let us each - build on our own foundation,
subject to the one maker, God. Truth cannot be copyrighted. Heaven is free to
us all. Mrs. Eddy was an ardent apostle of liberty and equality and believed
that for divine Truth there is no ecclesiastical monopoly. God is not only
good, but infinite good; not confined to certain places nor to particular
individuals.

Man has omnipotent good as his Father; the vista of eternal life and abundance
of bliss reaches out before him. But we must let the love of God enter our
hearts. Nothing can grow and ripen into its fullness without attention and
cultivation. Merely planting a seed does not insure it fullness of growth. The
seed is the Word of God and in order to bring forth the harvest, the perfect
man, we must give this seed constant attention.

Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the
form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God. PHIL.





23

The kingdom of heaven is like to treasure hid in a field; the which when a man
hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and
buyeth that field. MATT. 13:44.


When we recognize what Truth requires of us, are we willing to sell all our
mortal belongings, part with our erring thoughts, in order to possess
Truth? If not, then are we ready to enter heaven? That is the price we all must
pay. We are called upon to give up a quick temper, jealousy, anger, self-
righteousness, if we would receive the blessings of heaven. We are called
upon to give up feelings of annoyance, haste, impatience, vexation, if we
would enjoy the wonders of calm, undisturbed mentality. To grow in thought
and demonstration we must also give up petty narrow-mindedness and put on a
broad and truly liberal and progressive view.

The only way to have and to hold health is to remove sin in thought and in
deed. A sinful man cannot enter heaven; nor should he, harbouring evil in his
thought or manifesting it in his actions within his home, or without, entertain
the notion that he can, by repetition of certain spiritual formulas, demonstrate a
healthy body. The body is but the objectification of the thought. It is wrong
thinking and acting which quicken or retard the normal action of certain organs
of the body. Thoughts are things. Therefore if you want good things you must
have good thoughts.

Do not expect miraculous healing without fulfilling the law of right thinking.
All permanent healing, all lasting reform, comes about through spiritualization
of thought and regenerated living. Now, God does not demand that we do all
this at once. Nothing in nature grows immediately from a seedling into its full
and mature being. All plants go through certain processes of growth. So with
man. A baby does not learn to walk firmly and unassisted all at once. He
generally learns by degrees and after much endeavour.

Spiritual revelation, inspiration, and growth are acquired according to
individual readiness and capacity. Only as the little understanding is practised
does it become larger understanding. Only as the first bit is used is room made
for more of it. All we have to do in order to have more is to use what we have.
We cannot use what we have without increasing it. It resembles the money we
put into the bank, which draws interest on just what it is, no more, no less. We
receive interest, growth, from our good thoughts and actions according to their
value. It, therefore, is not the amount of what we have, but the use of it, which
increases its value.

24

Use what you have to-day and you will find that you will have more to-
morrow. Harvest is the result of your own sowing. How long would a master
of music be able to play with wonderful dexterity without daily practice? The
promise to do good to-morrow is no excuse for the performance of poor work
to-day.





25

Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into
the kingdom of heaven. MATT. 18:3.


Until mortals become as yielding and as teachable as the child mind, they
cannot comprehend Life, nor partake of heaven. How true it is that the
first shall be last; and the last shall be first. When we caught the first glimpse
of this wonderful truth about God, did we not immediately think of Mrs. So-
and-So? She is such an earnest Bible student! Surely such an one would
gladly welcome this new way of right thinking! And how surprised and
pained we were, when she looked askance at us, and thought we were absurd.
Why, she had been a student of the Bible for twenty years, and was perfectly
satisfied with her understanding of Life! Often those whom we judge of
spiritual advance, are the very last; and the simple unassuming ones, who we
judge would not be so receptive, are the first to welcome these glad tidings.

If we have not become converted, trans-formed or changed from wrong
thinking into right thinking; if we are not spiritually alive; if we have not the
Christ mind, we are not alive at all. Such is the teaching of the Scripture. In
order to be really alive, we must be purified and regenerated. We must
become perfect even as Jesus Christ. Each of us must face this proposition
some day for we can never get away from it. The more quickly we get rid of
the carnal mind the more quickly shall we get alive. God is not the God of
the dead, but of the living. God is always a loving Father, but only as man
becomes conscious of it through right thinking and understanding does he
enter into sonship.

Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon
thee. ISAIAH.

To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the
midst of the paradise of God. REVELATION.





26

The kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his
own servants, and delivered to them his goods, ... to every man according to
his several ability. MATT. 25:14, 15.


He who understands what the law of life requires, yet hides his talent and
allows it not to benefit himself or his brother, that servant shall be cast into
darkness. Mental darkness and mental suffering overtake the one who yields
not his love and obedience to divine Principle.

Rise and place the candle where it belongs; not under a bushel, to be of no use,
but upon a candlestick, in its proper place. Mans consciousness is like
water flowing through a land. If the mouth of the stream is dammed up, the
water settles back and becomes stagnant. No matter how much flood of clear
water is let in, you cannot purify the stream until the dam is opened and the
impurities are let out. So, no matter how much you read, ponder, study,
until you let out the wrong thoughts and feelings, your consciousness cannot
become purified.

Giving up the wrong, letting in the good, is the one way to advance into the
radiance of heaven. Keep an outlet as well as an inlet to your thoughts; give
good as well as receive good; talk good as well as think good; feel good as
well as believe good.

There is no difference between the demand upon the beginner and the demand
upon the more experienced. Each must stand upon his own convictions. All
the teachings of Jesus were for the purpose of-I leading man to the
consciousness of his oneness with the Father. All real power is in God waiting
to be brought into visibility by our recognition of it and our use of it. Our joy,
our health and prosperity, everything about us, is derived from the ideas we
hold in thought. Let us then give out this real substance of the heart as though
we were stewards of God handing out His inexhaustible supplies. We are all
equally entitled to good, heaven, for everything is Gods and we are His
offspring, the sheep of His pasture.





27

If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the
kingdom of God [heaven] with one eye, than having two eyes to be cast into
hell fire. MARK 9:47.


Should we be in doubt whether or not we are sinning in a particular thought or
deed, let us pause and reason about it. Whenever there seems to be a dual of
us, one reasoning one way, the other of us in an opposite way, it is more than
likely we are harbouring wrong and serving evil. Doing good never troubles
us; never causes us worry or disturbance. When we are doing right we
generally know it; it is when we are not doing right that we begin to question
and argue with ourselves. This is a good sign that we are doing wrong; and if
we are doing wrong, or if any thought we possess off ends us, no matter how
cherishing the possession may be, let us pluck it out. It is better for us to have
one eye (thought) than to have two (a double thought).

When we have done the thing which Truth requires of us, who of us has not
felt the calm of sin forgiven?

It is only with the single eye that we see heaven. Were we in a great room
filled with all the luxuries of this mortal life, and yet, for some reason, did not
see and were not conscious of this abundance, of what use would it be to us?
None. Heaven with all its presence of joy, glory, wonder, harmonies, and
realities is right here; yet, because of the mist of matter, we have not beheld
it. But there are thousands upon thousands who have entered in some degree
into this millennium.

Man is not a separate being possessed of a life which begins, matures, dies,
and decays. Mans life does not flicker out like a candle. Jesus asked:
Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? Nothing can
cut man off from his source of life God; heaven or reality.

When all shall know the truth of God,
When truth shall error leaven,
Then all upon this earthly clod
Shall find that here is heaven.



28

And there appeared an angel to him [Jesus] from heaven, strengthening him.
LUKE.


All of us who have by spiritual realization conquered sin, sickness, and
temptation have experienced the visit of an angel. For what is an angel? Is it
an apparition with wings humanly outlined? No. An angel is Truths own
voice speaking in individual consciousness. When we have passed a night in
watching and praying, have we not been strengthened as was Jesus? There
comes a time in the experience of all of us when we are tested.

The author calls to mind one never-to-be-forgotten angel visitant. The life of
my babe was at a low ebb; and because of the law held over contagious
diseases, I was compelled to call in a physician for diagnosis. It was the
opinion of three physicians that the child was afflicted with an epidemic of
disease and must be taken at once to the hospital. Upon my urgent request
they granted me from four P.M. until eight A.M. for the healing to be
accomplished in Christian Science. Although the babe was being treated by a
capable Christian Science practitioner I felt that much depended upon myself
at this critical moment. Taking the Bible I entered the closet, and shut the
door, with but one idea, to have it out with this belief of evil. And I did.
Toward the early hours of the morning, I began to gain a deep realization of
the presence of God; but the thought kept recurring to me: How do you know
that you have done enough? How do you know that the babe is healed?

I turned over in my mind the Bible passages where angels visited the patriarchs
and talked with them. Oh, that I might hear the voice of an angel now!
yearned my heart. Then, with sudden inspiration I seized the Bible and opened
it. My eyes rested upon words which seemed to blaze out separate from all the
rest: And the Lord sent his angel, saying, I have heard thy prayer. Could
ever an angel speak plainer than that to human consciousness? Instantly my
soul responded, It is finished. I was strengthened and at peace. Calling up
the practitioner I found that she, too, had realized the healing.

In the morning the doctors consented to allow the babe to remain in the home;
but under their constant watch. They also installed a trained nurse who
examined the child every four hours.

The healing took place rapidly and continuously. The temperature dropped
seven degrees, to normal. Within less than 48 hours the little one was
pronounced to be in an absolutely normal condition. And this was to their
great amazement.

29

A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it
shall not come nigh thee. PSALMS.
30

A rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. MATT. 19:23.


If we depend upon material possessions or money for our happiness we are not
on the road to the right understanding of heaven. What does money claim to
do for us? Does it not say: I give you food; I give you shelter; I give you
raiment? Nay even more than this for it says: Without me you cannot
live. Surely if we believe that mere money is the support and maintenance of
our existence we are a long way from heaven. Every material object is a
symbol of reality. Therefore the dollar stands for something there is a true
idea back of it. Money is that idea of God which furnishes all expressions of
substance which supplies us in every way. He who unites his thought of
supply with the dollar can hardly enter heaven.

Jesus was the wisest man who ever walked among us; he also was the richest.
Whatever he desired came immediately into visibility. Jesus had no houses, no
lands. What he had was an abundance of inner riches. He proved for us that
outer wealth or material symbols follow naturally the consciousness of inner
riches.

What did Solomon desire above all things? Wisdom. He asked for the very
best gift and because he became rich in ideas he became possessor of great
material wealth.

All things that the Father hath are mine. Abundance is unlimited; it is as free
as the air. Jesus when he had only a very little bit with which to feed the
multitude gave thanks for it; and the little grew into an abundance. Let us bear
this in mind; for the attitude of thanksgiving is the foundation for all
demonstration.

Wealth of consciousness! That is the secret to wealth of manifestation. Have
you faith that this is true? Faith is the substance of things hoped for. It is
faith which takes hold of divine substance and brings it into visibility.

Do not limit your supply to certain individuals nor to specific channels; but
rather put yourself in touch with the one supreme and universal substance.
Whether one is prosperous or not depends altogether upon the ideas he is
holding in mind.





31

Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.
MATT. 5:48.


The metaphysical interpretations of the Bible contain many wonderful and
beautiful meanings hitherto unsuspected. For centuries the Bible was
interpreted in a biographical, exoteric, religious sense. Not until Mary Baker
Eddy discovered the key to the Scriptures, was it even suspected that the Bible
contains a perfect analysis of individual man and that the Bible offers a
perfect plan whereby man may obey the command of the Master and become
perfect.

For too long, it has been believed that man will become perfect after he
reaches heaven; that it is sacrilegious to even intimate that one might become
perfect without dying. Now, with the light of Christian Science, we know that
death does not bring heaven to us, nor does death take us to heaven.
Personal regeneration is necessary before we can gain even a glimpse of reality
heaven. The Bible now becomes something vital, a bubbling spring of
eternal life and love. Historical and personal experiences as given in the Bible
show the stages of individual unfoldment.

When is the best time to begin to put on this perfection? Now. For the eternal
now is the only time. All that has ever been valuable, all that will ever be
worth while, is now. The establishment of perfection of true consciousness
rests, not upon the false sense of time, but upon the true sense of time. There
is a wrong sense of everything; there is a right sense of everything. The wrong
sense of time is minutes, hours, days, years. The right sense of time is the
unfolding of spiritual ideas. When we dwell in the wrong sense of time we
have destruction, whitened hair, furrowed cheek, stooped shoulders, and,
finally, dead bodies. When we take hold of the true sense of time, we take on
construction, we bring into our bodies a renewed sense of life, which
springs from thought within us. The lines of our faces are softened, our eyes
blaze with the fire of love burning within us; our bodies are strong and erect.
The establishment of the Christ mind within us does not rest upon time in its
wrong sense, but depends upon our realization and demonstration of the truth.

It is the undue attention to the morrows cares which ofttimes robs to-day of its
great opportunities. Jesus said, Take ... no thought for the morrow. Surely
there must be enough in each day for us to keep us busy and employed! Let
to-days unfoldment meet to-days need; and give no attention to to-morrow,
until it becomes to-day.

32

Do we ever get rid of trouble by thinking and brooding over it? The best way
to kill trouble is to shut the door immediately upon such thoughts and flood the
mind with heaven real thoughts. Some one has said: Control your
thoughts and the secret of health, happiness, and success is in your grasp.

The attitude of praise and thanksgiving is the foundation for all demonstration.
Next to the sunlight of heaven is a cheerful face and a radiant countenance. It
is the bright eye and unclouded face which tell that the thought within is glad
and happy. What a wonderful thing it is to realize that our Father is
omnipotent and omnipresent good! That He is God to us all; that He has
provided for us such an inexhaustible supply of abundance that it would be
impossible for any of us to lack; that His abundance is as free as the air. All
things that the Father hath are mine.

The Bible says:

Now, is the day of salvation. Now, O Lord, thou art our Father. Return
ye now every one from his evil way [thought].

Now is the time to learn the truth about heaven. Now is the time to understand
the Masters words, Be ye perfect.

It is very helpful to spiritual growth to meditate upon the vastness, greatness,
and grandeur of Gods creation. Those of us who are acquainted with some
knowledge of heaven continually see more beauty in every living, growing
thing in the universe. For all nature teems with praise and gladness.

Through metaphysics we learn how to interpret reality. Everything in the
material universe hints the existence of spiritual reality. Nature is full of
beautiful ideas of God. The rose is an idea of love; the lily purity; the violet
modesty. The cedar represents strength; the oak hospitality; the olive peace;
and how wonderful the expressions of the birds which represent the aspiration
and melodies of the soul! The dove is an idea of peace; the bluebird cheer; the
sparrow impulse; the robin love. We should think and talk good; think and
talk Life and dominion, until we see ourselves filled with the abundance of
heaven. This is the absolute way to priceless and eternal salvation, and
Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. REVELATION.
Several hundred verses in the Bible tell us to be glad; let the fruit of our lips be
continual praise for the unspeakable gifts of Life, Love, and all good, which
are truly ours; for all is here now for us to have and enjoy.

In this world of beauty
Naught goes really wrong;
Every trial or sorrow,
33

Ends somewhere in song.
Once to feel earths gladness
It is worth the strive;
Oh, the joy in Gods world,
Just to be alive!

You might also like