CHAPTER III
THE SUPREME POINT OF VIEW
When we are upon the mountain top of life and look upon things from this lofty point of view, we discover that all is well. Wherever we may turn our vision we find the same—all is well. We can see all things and yet all is well with all things; the good alone is in evidence; everything is in the likeness of God, and we conclude that everything actually is as it was originally created by God—very good.
But when we descend to the valley we find many things quite different, and the problem is whether the scene on the mountain top was simply a beautiful vision, or the scene in the valley an unpleasant illusion.
To the mind in the valley the life of the valley alone seems real; to the mind on the heights the beauty and glory of sublime life alone seems real, while the regions below are but the undeveloped beginnings of some better day.
To decide which of these two minds is right is not necessary; we cannot know the truth by what seems to be true from a single point of view. It is results that demonstrate, therefore we must find what effect life in the valley has upon the whole of life, and what effect life on the heights has upon the whole of life.
To live in the valley alone, ignoring everything that may come from lofty realms, is to live in darkness, trouble and pain. This we know. To him who secludes himself in the lower regions of existence, nothing seems to be wholly well; there is usually something wrong or defective with everything with which he may come in contact, and life at best has but little to give.
How different, however, everything becomes when we begin to live on the heights. We not only find that all is well in these upper regions but all things become well in the lower realms the moment we begin to live in the upper. We must therefore conclude that all is well when we are well, but that we are not well unless we live on the heights.
We also conclude that the vision of the soul is true, that the ideal alone is real, and that man can see all things as they are only when entering sublime existence. And as all is well from the viewpoint of sublime existence, to think the truth man must always think that all is well.
To live in the lower realms is to live in pain; to live in the upper realms is to live in peace, freedom and joy. Then why should we continue to live in the lower, while wholly ignoring the upper? Why should we declare that the lower alone is real, and that the upper is but a pleasant dream? Is pain more real than joy? Is bondage more real than freedom, death more real than life?
True, daily experience sometimes seems to contradict the vision of the soul, but if darkness be present now, does that prove that light is always a mere dream? When we are wholly out of harmony we cannot understand, for the time being, how there can be any harmony; all seems to be discord; but the moment we fully recognize the absoluteness of universal harmony, discord is no more.
When all does not seem to be well in daily life, we may not feel that we can truthfully say that all is well, but there is a marked distinction between the outer appearance of discord and the inner reality of harmony; and it is the inner reality that we should live.
When discord appears on the surface, the cause may be found in the fact that we have descended from our true place; we have tried to go away from harmony and have thus produced discord. But the moment we return to harmony, the discord disappears, and all is well.
We must conclude therefore, that so long as we remain in the reality of harmony, all will be well, because all is always well in the world of harmony, and the world of harmony is the true world, the only true world—the world in which man was created to always live.
And we must remember the great truth that so long as man lives in the world of harmony there can be no discord anywhere; so long as he lives in the upper regions nothing can go wrong in the lower regions. The lower states of life are but effects of what man does, and when man is on the heights he will do only that which is well because all is always well on the heights; therefore, since like causes produce like effects, all will be well in the valley so long as man lives on the mountain top.
This being true, every person should always think that all is well, and should always live in that sublime life where all is absolutely well. Thus, that which is well, will manifest in every part of life, while that which did not seem to be well will pass away. Live in the true, and the whole of life becomes true.
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Whoever discerns clearly the spiritual essence or divine substance which is the basis or soul of all reality, will manifest in the form, not only purity, but absolute immunity from all disease and from all adverse actions among physical elements and forces. His body will be spiritualized in proportion to this understanding, and will establish itself more and more firmly in that state of being where divine nature reigns supremely. To spiritualize the body is to give greater strength, more perfect health and more youthful vigor, as well as higher quality, to the body. To establish the body in the consciousness of the spirit is to give the body absolute protection from weakness or disease; in the spirit we find all the elements of perfect being for body, mind and soul, and we place the body in the spirit when we realize that every atom in the body is filled, through and through, with the real substance of spirit.
Make yourself a living example of the power of spirit. Do not permit a single weakness to continue for a moment. Do not say that you will be in the future; say that you are now; and you are, because you are the exact image of the Supreme. |