Helen Van-Anderson

“ Let us recognize, then, the allness, the tenderness, the sacredness of this divine Love by submerging ourselves in it, until all thoughts of evil, suffering or hatred are lost in its embrace.
"'Lift up the gates that the king of glory may enter in,' sang David, and we too cry aloud with earnest aspiration that the gates shall be lifted away, that into our consciousness may come the high tide of omnipresent Love. 'Love alone is wisdom, love alone is power, and when love seems to fail it is where self has stepped in and dulled the potency of its rays.'
"God is our substance. ”

“ It is utterly impossible for you, who are spiritual, to be influenced by any thought that is opposite the spiritual, as it is impossible for the light to coalesce with darkness.
"'You are God's child, made in His image and likeness, and must be perfect like Him, for His conditions are changeless and eternal. Listen to this glad message that tells you absolute Truth. Realize that as God's child you can not suffer, for spirit knows no suffering. You can not be weak, for God is your strength; you can not fear anything, for God is your refuge and fortress. ”

“ Oh, when will the world worship in the unity of the spirit?" sighed Grace, longing for the time when questionings and controversies would be at an end.
"Here is Mrs. Dyke, for instance," she resumed, presently, "what is she striving for but to live the true religion as she understands it? I can respect any honest people who live up to their belief, and the Christian who moans and sighs and looks doleful because he thinks it is his duty to do so, is much higher in my estimation than the one who believes it to be right, but fails to live accordingly." ”

“ We begin the ascent of the mount of transfiguration, and though we come to many steep places, though we sometimes stumble over rocks of ignorance, though we encounter clouds of doubt that veil the glorious peak from our longing view for a time, though we meet wild beasts, (untamed human nature) , though we cross shadowy valleys and dark ravines, lighted only by the torch of faith, we shall have transcendant glimpses of the fair Beyond, shall breathe the perfumed air of Zion's Hills, and be transported with delight at the never ceasing revelations made to the true seeker after eternal wisdom. ”

“ To the warm, sympathetic heart, that knows the deepest needs of humanity, the 'mercy that endureth forever' is an established fact of the universal Love. To understand this Love is to be at one with it, to do the works and think the thoughts of Love. It is essential, then, first to understand the law of effort, then faith, then love, then spiritual understanding, which is the goal toward which we all hasten—understanding of all spiritual things, understanding of God, who is all spirit. ”

“ Inspiration means an 'inbreathing,' a breathing in of true knowledge, and because the omnipresent Good comes into every consciousness prepared to receive it, there is an inbreathing in accordance with the readiness to receive. Intelligence is like the air, to be breathed by every living being. Thus far, humanity has expanded its lungs of consciousness only enough to have inhaled fundamental truth, or what is recognized as such, but we are constantly receiving more, and in proportion as we receive, do we know what we receive. ”

“ We have believed in minds, when there is but one Mind.
"This false force, this false mind, is variously called the evil or carnal mind, the mind of the flesh, the old man, the serpent, the devil, the adversary. It is simply the opposite or contradictory of the Good, the god of evil.
"Beside every true or positive statement there is a false or negative claim, and in so far as we are ignorant of the true, we are in bondage to the false. To believe the claims of error is to be bound; to know the reality of truth is to be free. ”

“ To fast from all selfishness is to keep the true fast, so beautifully described in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah. 'Is it not to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, to break every yoke? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily.' Here is the fruit of atonement, the result of understanding, for understanding God and being at one with God, is in reality the same. ”

“ Her mind is divided between a conception of good and a conception of its opposite—evil. The result is years of hopeless praying, years of hopeless waiting. 'A house divided against itself can not stand.'
"'Pray, believing that ye have received.' Thus, 'I thank Thee, Father, for the perfect reflection of Thyself in my son. He is whole because he lives in and of Thy wholeness. I thank Thee that Thou hast already done more than I could ask. 'It is finished.' Into Thy hands I commend my all.'
"In this is the simple recognition of the All-Father, His love and His omnipotence. ”

“ It is this negative quality of thought that holds the world in bondage. To destroy it is to destroy all inharmony. On the other hand, note the influence of the happy-voiced individual, who comes to us so running over with the joy and beauty of life that we catch the thrilling inspiration of his mood and begin to enjoy the same sunshine, see the same beauty and feel the same happiness. ”

“ Pearl says, we go our way, quietly denying all appearance of evil, proving the law of Good by recognizing only the Good in thought and speech.
"How beautiful this teaching is! and how wonderfully the spirit leads us into all truth. But it can not teach us if we talk error, or deliberately judge others. Never till we are faithful in acknowledging the one Principle of Life will it prove itself the only power over us. ”

“ Consciously and unconsciously we lighten the pathway, lift the burdens, sanctify the sorrows of the world by sending out and receiving this subtle thread of thought, so fine in its essence and quality, that any one and every one may feel its strengthening presence.
"It is the negative or mortal thought that produces disease. See how grief bends and breaks the strongest constitutions, furrows the cheek, dims the eye, takes the appetite, impairs the mind. ”

“ This Life is good, and in It we live even as God lives in us. Oh, wondrous life that flows on and on, without beginning, without end, even as the river sings: 'Men may come and men may go, but I go on forever.'
"God is Truth, all truth, wheresoever or by whomsoever recognized, is the everlasting Truth that must forever be.
"There is not a community or church, not a society or family, but is organized and held together by some phase of the all-embracing and perfect Truth. ”

“ Ignorance is the opposite of truth, and one who is ignorant of truth is subject to the carnal mind which leads to death. When we know truth, we know the opposite of death, which is life, so when Christ the Truth, which is life, shall appear, we shall be glorified with the knowledge of eternal life, and just as far as we realize truth we manifest it, do we not?" She appealed to Grace, as if the thought were too good to be true, and must needs be confirmed before she could believe it. ”

“ Realizing as we must ourselves the wondrous truth concerning his real self and all which that implies, we impressively and with the most thrilling conviction affirm for him that only health, strength, joy, courage, peace, satisfaction, can come to him as the child of God, the idea of Mind in the power of the Thought that thinks him into being. We assure him that he can recognize and reflect nothing but Good, that he can manifest only the Father whose son he knows himself to be. Nothing but Mind can affect him. ”

“ The denial of matter, for instance, makes us more spiritually minded.
"When denying, try to realize there is no space, but that anywhere you send your thought it will go, and as you think or say the words, you will be denying error for the world as well as for yourself, as every thought is world-wide in its influence, and helps to free or bind humanity, even as it is truth or error.
"To deny is to put out of mind, to erase, as it were, the false beliefs. Be earnest, be faithful, and you will have an abundant reward. ”

“ When tests are required of us similar to the turning of stones into bread, healing the lepers, raising the dead, will we realize our dependence on the word of God which is the 'bread of life?' Temptations to dare the protection of the power, give us an insight to the very same trial of Jesus, and when we are led up to the mountain of knowledge from which we may view the pomps and vanities of the world, realizing the superior insight that gives power, then comes the decisive question—shall God or mammon gain our allegiance? ”

“ There is an indelible but invisible stamp of truth marking the utterance of those through whom this Mind is expressed, and the invisible something within us, sometimes called the 'Spirit itself,' sometimes the 'light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world,' will recognize and appropriate its own. ”

“ God, therefore, is the Divine Power that creates and sustains all things—the All-Power, the All-Intelligence, the All-Mind, the All-Love, the All-Substance, the All-Harmony, the All-Life, the All-Good, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent. ”

“ Hayden had an abundance of friends without [Pg 11] troubling herself to cultivate in any warm fashion, the friendship of a poor little music teacher, thought Kate, somewhat bitterly.
"But after all, Kate, life would need more than luxuries to make it my ideal of happiness. I should want every human being to be agreeably employed; every woman, no matter how much or how little she might have, should be occupied with something that she could put her heart into and speak to the world through her work, whether it be painting pictures or darning stockings." ”

“ Peculiarities of disposition that we thought overcome, may manifest themselves very unexpectedly and cause us great annoyance, not only because we may have congratulated ourselves on having risen above them, but because it would be a mortification to us to have our friends know that we who believe in the possibility of such high moral attainments, should be guilty of these old weaknesses and follies. In every way, the tempter—mortal thought—may show us the fallibility of human nature and tempt us to disbelieve in our high ideals. ”

“ Each of us is a distinct flower or tree in the spiritual garden of God,—precious each for its own sake in the eyes of Him who is even now making us,—each of us watered and shone upon and filled with life for the sake of His flower, His completed being, which will blossom out of Him at last to the glory and pleasure of the great Gardener. ”

“ Pearl spoke of our method as the science of silence, and told us not to be zealous without judgment, not to speak when silence would be golden, not to act so as to bring reproach upon our cause or ourselves, but remember to 'avoid even the appearance of evil.' She said many in their first joyous enthusiasm and overwhelming conviction would indiscreetly tell people 'there is no matter,' for instance, so eager were they to bring everybody into the sweet liberty of the spirit ”

“ Adam signifies error, clay, unreality. Christ signifies Truth, Spirit, Reality. If we believe in things that appear to be the creation, we are believing in nothingness, which so proves itself by death and disintegration. If we believe appearances to be the sign of the real, we are acknowledging the spiritual to be the all, hence it proves itself by making even the body its sign, manifest life, health, perfection. ”

“ He is like a column of light against which no darkness can be thrown; like a true answer to a problem which any number of wrong answers can not change. Spiritual like God, he can only recognize and appropriate what is God-like. Henceforth he knows himself and his Father, knows that whatever he may ask (realize) will be granted unto him. Knows that he must acknowledge the Truth, and he will abide in the kingdom of Good. ”

“ To the patient who is ignorant of truth, mortal thought has a power, because he has acknowledged it as having power, but in our silent conviction of its powerlessness, we speak the true word that sets him free. The whole secret lies in our own freedom from belief in this false power. ”

“ Could we always be the cleansed pane, Truth would melt away all error, just as the sun melts the frostwork, but being still in the current of human thought we must wait patiently for further power to reveal the God-likeness. ”

“ Surely, the heart that overflows with an inbreathing of the divine, must be able to teach the common heart of humanity, else what is the use of inspiration?
On her way back to the house, Grace passed the blasted tree, described by Mrs. Clayland, but she had no desire to study destruction or death. It was life, living things, that she would portray. Was there not beauty and grandeur everywhere, hinting of Infinity? ”

“ Hayden almost sternly; then suddenly softening her tone she added, "Dear heart, we must not let self judgment or self condemnation creep in upon us to leave [Pg 317] their blight of discouragement or failure. No, the only way is to keep our eyes fixed on the mark of the high calling, resisting nothing, carrying on our lips, success, in our hearts love, in our lives truth. By the outer we judge nothing: by the inner we know all. Personally, that is, physically we are only a part of all external limitation. Individually, that is, spiritually, we are the potentiality of Infinity itself." ”

“ We never argue audibly with unbelievers. Argument kills the spirit of any religion, and the person who desires to prove his position by argument is not ready to be convinced by the spirit. If you are obliged to carry on a conversation with an argumentative person, silently deny all his statements of error, and with calm positiveness affirm for him intelligence, wisdom, and a desire to know truth. In other words, recognize his spiritual self, which is in perfect peace and harmony, and the outward disturbance or inharmony, which is simply nothingness expressed by him, is annulled. ”

“ A mind-picture is a symbol representing some thought. For instance: Suppose while I sit in the silence, there comes to my consciousness a fragment of landscape, a child's face, a storm, a sun. These are ideas symbolized. If it be a pleasant scene, it may be to me a glimpse of the 'green pastures and still waters' that David sang about when depicting the life of the righteous. It would mean peace for my patient. If the symbol be a child's face, it may mean that I must become as a little child in order to be led into the kingdom. ”

“ As to the infallibility of what is thus revealed, we must remember that while truth is always infallible, there is a possibility of its recognition or conception being tinged to a greater or less degree, with our erroneous judgements, and as the light, pure in itself, is colored by the glass through which it passes, so is the divinest truth colored with the quality of mind through which it comes to the world. ”

“ There is but one great Mind, one great Thinker. All thoughts of this Mind, which is Infinite Goodness, must be infinitely good, and man is the crown and apex of the wonderful creation—is made in the image and likeness of God. ”

“ This is the highest conception of the denial of self. The mortal self is to be set aside, our immortal consciousness awakened into oneness with the Father.
"MacDonald has beautifully said, 'Oneness with the mighty All is the one end of life—God or chaos is the only alternative.' We say God works through man to will and to do, and implicitly trust the divine Intelligence that guides every waiting child.
"We choose the Good and reverently await our leadings. In every stormy trial, in every doubtful moment, in every hard-pressed circumstance we stand aside and let the divine will work through us. ”

“ As inspiration is inhaling or breathing in Truth, we can readily understand that 'God, Truth, Principle, is no respecter of persons.' That it is a 'miraculous influence which qualifies man to receive and communicate divine truth,' is in a sense true, for the works of God are always 'wonderful,' but there can be no setting aside of divine law, as some erroneously suppose, for the performance of these things that seem unaccountable to human reason. ”

“ Wrong thought as the real cause of disease, opens new avenues of information; but we continue to explore and discover. Any kind of thought opposite the good is sure to break forth into some form of disease-pictures, and the question is, what kind of thought is it which thus reflects itself upon the patient's body? All error will produce pictures of error. The world's naming of the belief in heredity is the naming of its greatest error, or belief in sin, because that implies all sins of the flesh as manifested in the body. ”