CONSIDER THE LILIES How does the lily grow? What is the secret of its wonderful beauty? It toileth not, neither doth it spin. It lives among its sister flowers breathing the same air, basking in the same sunlight. Flowers of every name, color, shape and perfume are there, yet the lily manifests only the lily type and individuality; displaying its own form, perfume and color and all the peculiar expressions of its own loveliness. So we see that it grows by attending strictly to its own lily ideal and taking to itself that only which it needs to bring out that ideal; selecting from the bounty in which it finds itself just what it needs and no more to round out and complete its expression. To keep pent up that which is given us to manifest is like putting our light under a bushel, or hiding away money where it is idle and of no use. God is the giver of all our gifts. He has bestowed upon us all and finished his work, and now our part is to let this all become manifested or expressed. From him are infinite and eternal posibilities. We see and hear with eternal perception and infinite understanding in love. Love (unselfishness) is the beginning of the creation of God. Nothing begins till Love enters within. The moving force and compelling power toward all manifestation is from within. Within are our ideals. And whatever in the infinitude of God's understanding our ideals are, they force themselves into expression. And the lily is single-eyed in its perception of its own, and polarizes all its atoms toward perfecting itself in its own way. The lesson is plain and simple, and stands as a rebuke to the greed and selfishness of the world that is forever crying out, What shall we eat? what shall we drink? and wherewithal shall we be clothed? Other flowers there were to be fed and clothed upon, but the lily had no envy and did not covet its neighbor's goods; content in faith that its own would come to it. It had faith in the possibilities within its own self; knowing God, the all Father, the giver of all its gifts, the provider all bountiful, to be at the center of every manifestation of life; pressing out into expression all ideals, bursting open leaves and buds into perfection of form, beauty of color and sweetness of perfume. Fear not then to trust Ideals. Make them broad and high and grand, and with them lifted up in hearts full of joy and praise we may attract all that is needed for their realization. The world is teeming with the vibrations of spiritual substance, and we may absorb and breathe in with every breath its fertilizing power. It is true that we are every day eating and drinking the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, all unconscious of the holy sacrament. The great world Universe is made up of the diffused Christ Jesus, like the box of precious ointment which, when broken, filled the house with its sweet perfume. "Take, eat, this is my body which is broken for you.” Broken and crushed until it has become infinitesimal; so fine and superfine that all life may take in its substance; so diffused that even the lily may absorb it, feed upon and wax strong and grow beautiful. Man himself lives, moves and has his being in the same eternal substance. His love (blood) and his substance (body) pervade the water we drink and the air we breathe; and to breathe in his substance and drink of his love, will perfect us in the purity, beauty, harmony and perfection of life. The secret of the lily is the mystery of expression. God moves mysteriously, but in considering the lily we may gain a glimpse of God's mysterious ways. The flower lives, moves, buds and blossoms in the Infinite Substance the etherialized body of the Lord Jesus Christ-and transmutes that Substance into a pattern of beauty after its own model, by the power of individual choice or appropriation while resting in the everlasting arms of Omnipotence. It trusts and grows in beauty and sweetness, and radiates that beauty and sweetness to all who pass it by. And the lily toileth not. Show me thy way. "Be as a flower content to be, to grow, A child of love, unargumentative. Content to be and know, as thou dost live, The simple secret of the Universe." -Lydia-A. Duncan. "A GOOD PLEDGE" This is the heading of a card being distributed through its agents by a well-known insurance company. The New Thought is evident in every line. Thus we behold the gradual fulfillment of the prophecy that every knee shall eventually bow to the Truth. The items of this pledge are as follows: 1. I will speak no unkind or harsh word of anyone. 2. I will repeat no unkind remarks I hear of anyone, and discourage others as much as possible from saying unkind things. I will judge my neighbor leniently, remembering that my own faults are probably far greater. 4. I will never say one thing to others and yet think quite differently; this is hypocrisy. I will make no injurious remarks on the failings of others, remembering these words, "Consider thyself lest thou also be tempted." 6. I will put the best construction on the motives and actions of all my neighbors. 7. I will act unselfishly and peaceably. A TALK ON CHRISTIAN HEALING BY CHARLES FILLMORE. NOTE-This article appeared originally in th Pictorial Review for March, 1910, and was written especially for that magazine. The Review is published at 853 Broadway, New York.-Editor. Christian healing as taught and demonstrated by Jesus Christ, has for its basis the forgiveness of sin. "Thy sins be forgiven thee; go and sin no more," said the Great Physician. It is not a new therapeutic system, and its object is not mere physical healing, but a complete cleansing of the mind and body through the higher law of Spirit. An appeal to the understanding, and a quickening of the spiritual nature should be the object of every treatment. The patient should be taught that his ills are the direct result of his sins. Sin is not confined to moral delinquencies, but includes non-recognition of the Divine Law. Jesus taught Truth; his teaching is a real science, and when understood, it sets men free from sin and all of the effects of sin, even to the overcoming of death. "Ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free." Jesus did not teach a tentative doctrine of life, but did a permanent work in harmonizing and reconstructing the body. He did not heal men's bodies only, but quickened their souls. "It is the Spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing." If one could heal physically all the people on earth, it would not benefit the race as a whole. So long as the present understanding of the law of life prevails, like conditions in the body will be reproduced. The one and only permanent remedy is a change of mind. It is the peculiar and special office of the Christian minister to bring about this change of mind. Every minister is a representative of John the Baptist whose message is, "Repent ye, repent ye;" that is, "Change your mind." The baptism of John is symbolical of mental cleansing and purifying, while that of the Holy Spirit is the descent into consciousness of Divine Truth and the Christ life. Every minister should understand man in his three-fold nature, spirit, soul and body. He should be a metaphysician, which includes a broader comprehension than that generally understood by the term psychologist. The metaphysician deals with the Absolute, and his science is spiritual. The right relation between soul and body is revealed by spiritual science only. Here, words and ideas are the healing agents. As a practitioner of twenty years experience, I can testify to the marvelous results obtained in mind and body through the use of simple words representing Absolute Truth. False thoughts build up false structures in the body, and true words destroy them. It is a sin to think evil. The thought produces exactly the same results in the organism as if it had been carried out in act. Jesus taught that the lustful thought was adultery. Thoughts of all kinds, which the thinkers would not allow themselves to carry out in act, are retained, and becoming subconscious, finally destroy the body. "When lust hath conceived, it brings forth sin; and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." In the consciousness of the Absolute, that is, the Omnipresent Spirit which Jesus defines as God-the minister realizes that he of himself does not do the work. "It is not I, but the Father within me. He doeth the works." This spiritual consciousness is attained through prayer, meditation, and study of the character of the Mind of Being, the Great Three-in-One Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This brings man to inspiration in which there is a pouring of the thoughts of God into the mind of man. Then man realizes as did Jesus, "The words I speak unto you are not mine, but the |