CHAPTER XIII
THE ROYAL PATH TO WISDOM
Solomon prayed for wisdom and received it; any other soul may do the same. God is infinite wisdom; and "all that the Father hath is mine"; we need
simply go and receive our own. We may receive from the supreme mind, at any time, as much wisdom, on any subject, as our own minds can possibly appropriate, and we may also receive, from the same source, the power to appropriate more.
The wisdom that comes from God does not simply pertain to the soul or to the life of some other world, because God is the original source of all wisdom, and therefore we may receive light directly from Him on any subject whatever. Nor does the wisdom that comes from God need special interpretation; it is sufficiently clear for anyone to understand who is in harmony with God.
When higher wisdom needs interpretation, it is not from God, but is simply the mystical ideas of minds that have not found the clear light of the Infinite mind. The mystical wisdom of man is complex and confusing; the wisdom of God is simple and illuminating; the former produces darkness and doubt; the latter produces that faith that knows.
When we learn that real wisdom comes directly from God, we shall no longer seek knowledge through the training of the senses to discriminate between illusions; nor shall we depend upon experience for instruction. Real wisdom does not come from experience; experience can only tell us how it feels to live in illusions and overcome illusions, but it tells us nothing about how it feels to live in the real and ascend into the greater and the greater life of the real.
The mind that lives in the light of the Most High, knows the result of any experience long before that experience arrives; therefore, to such a mind, experience can convey no information. If the experience is pleasant, it is welcomed and received for the joy it brings, but if it is not pleasant, it is avoided, and the mind that is taught of God, knows beforehand whether any particular experience will be desirable or not.
To live with God is to gain good from every source, be the source physical, mental or spiritual; but the wisdom that comes with this good does not come from these various sources; it may come through these sources because to live with God is to touch God everywhere, and thus receive wisdom from God through every channel in the world.
To be taught of God is to pray for wisdom, to depend upon God for wisdom, and to live so near to God that we shall be in the light of His wisdom. Whatever we wish to know, we should take it to God, and let His spirit lead us, guide us, and inspire our minds with the truth desired.
The mind that is led by the spirit will not go wrong; or if it should temporarily be on the verge of taking a misstep, something will interfere. This something may seem to be special providence, and in a certain sense it is, because the Infinite is ever ready to do for man whatever he may wish to have done.
When we place ourselves in the hands of the Infinite, He will find a way, and this way will be revealed to us before it is too late. Sometimes it may not appear until the eleventh hour, but it invariably comes in time. We may therefore rest assured in this faith and know, "That I will not forsake thee nor leave thee; I am thy Redeemer, I will care for thee."
The great secret of all the inspired minds of the ages may be found here; they seemed to have super-human knowledge, they spoke with authority, and their words have been universally received as the truth; the reason being, they lived in the light of the Most High; they were taught of God.
To be taught of God it is necessary to live with God, walk with God, and open the mind completely to the great influx of supreme light from on high. It is necessary to be in such close spiritual touch with the Infinite mind that we can feel the thought of God, and think His thoughts after Him. And this any soul can do. To live with God is the simplest life of all, and also the most beautiful; and to walk with God requires no effort whatever. Any soul that can lift up the mind towards supreme spiritual realms can walk with God now.
When we place ourselves in that position where we can be taught of God, it is then that we begin to use the mind in the highest sense. It is then that the mind becomes so transparent that the light of Infinite wisdom can shine through and manifest itself in all its brilliancy and glory. It is then that the Word becomes flesh, and the truth of divine being is unfolded in the personal life of man.
The true function of the human mind is to think with the Infinite mind, because the human mind is an inseparable part of the Infinite mind. When the human mind tries to think alone, it becomes confused, and the ideas that it may form are mere illusions.
It is therefore evident that all the ideas in the world that have been formed while the human mind was trying to think apart from the Infinite mind, are illusions; and the wisdom of the world is full of such illusions. We can remove them completely, however, by turning to God, and opening our minds completely to the clear light from on high.
When we begin to receive the wisdom of God, we find that the wisdom of the world was the cause of our trouble; we were living in darkness and could not see the way, therefore took many missteps and made many mistakes; but when we open our minds to the wisdom of God we are in the light, the way is clear, and we shall not go wrong any more.
However, we are not required to ignore everything that man may say in order to receive the pure wisdom of God. God speaks through everything and most of all through man. When we desire, with the whole heart, to be taught of God, we shall constantly receive wisdom from God, and it may come through a million channels, including the mind of man, but we must remember that the mind of man does not simply mean the minds of other men; our own minds are included in the mind of man, and as we grow in the spirit we shall receive most of our divine wisdom with our own mentalities as the principal channel.
This is the great goal we have in view, but we cannot place our own minds in perfect touch with the Infinite mind unless we think of all minds and all things as being channels for the wisdom of God. When we can see God in all things, then we shall meet Him face to face. When we can receive His wisdom through all things, then we shall hear His voice, speaking directly to us, in the beautiful silence of our own soul.
When we enter this silence, as we may at any time, we know we are in communication with God, and we may learn the truth about anything that we have sought to understand. God is not a God of the future state alone. He is the God of all time, even the present, and He is at hand ready to lead us aright in everything that we may wish to do in the present. We may be taught now, by Him, in all things pertaining to physical and mental existence as well as the very highest spiritual existence. And the more we ask of God the more we please God.
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"Lay not up for yourself treasures upon earth." Where the heart is there our treasures will be also, and when the heart is in the earth, earthy, all that is beautiful in life will be lost. Our treasure is that which we love the best, but it is not wisdom to give our best love to things. Give your best love to the spirit of things and you will receive not only the visible form, but also that sublime something that gives life and loveliness to the form. Seek the riches of the spirit and you gain wealth and happiness that shall never pass away. The richest man in the world is he who has found the diamond fields of the soul, while the poorest is he who is burdened with things that have not the spirit of things. It is our privilege to have abundance of all that is rich and beautiful in the visible world, but it is the wealth and the beauty of the soul that gives happiness; it is the treasures we lay up in the spiritual within that make all other treasures worth while.
When we know that God is life, power, health, harmony and joy, we will receive those blessings in boundless supply whenever we feel that His presence is here. When we attain the consciousness of the omnipresence of God, we will receive from God whatever we know to be in God. |