ing as he ought to know. What we need is a wholly different point of view. Then, in possession of true Science, we should be able to found the special sciences on Divine wisdom.
Matter is a term which Quimby uses in so many ways that some of his statements are scarcely intelligible. Matter is what appears before us in the physical world, without intelligence, inanimate; it can be condensed into a solid by mind-action, undergoes changes as the result of mental changes and responses in “the fluids” of the system; it is the natural man's mind, the stuff which ideas are made of, “an idea used like language to convey some wisdom to another,” “the shadow of our wisdom,” in which are all our beliefs, opinions, emotions; and so as "spiritual matter” or substance it is “an idea seen or not, just as it is called out,” and is compared to a belief or casket. “Matter which is seen is the condensation of the matter not seen, and the unseen matter is mind.” “God, not being matter, has matter only as an idea.” “God is not matter, and matter is only an idea that fills no space in Wisdom.”
What is meant by this apparent confusion is that we should disengage our thought from matter altogether at times, in order to look upon life with the spiritual eye. If by the term “mind” you mean a vague, airy something without influence on the body, then Quimby shows that it is indeed substantial, that thoughts are things which take shape or condense and come forth in bodily manifestation. If by the word “spirit” you mean anything as indefinite as spiritists believe in, he points out that spirit too is substantial, is alive, not “dead.” But when you realize what he means by “substance” your thought has travelled far from material things to the thought of God, in whom is no matter at all, who manifests Himself through matter as a mere vehicle or language. “There is no such thing as reality with God except Himself. He is all Wisdom and nothing else.” “All will admit that God is not matter, for God sees all things. His right penetrates the darkest places, and not a thing can be hidden from His sight.” You must see the true Substance or “invisible Wisdom that can never be seen by the eye of opinion” before you can look forth upon the panorama of the world, beholding forms taking shape, coming and going at the behest of spiritual powers.
