TOIL AND POWER

Nothing of value was ever gained without effort. Nature has hidden her hoarded treasures; she guards them. fiercely and jealously as a miser guards his gold. To unlock her frenzied grip, force and violence must be used. A cold sneer is her only answer to the weakling. and it is right that it should be so. Shall man, lord of the earth, child of the I Will, that master lord of the utter universe, kith and kin to infinite intelligence-shall lordly man attain by pleading and beggary? Not so! Only by demand and violence shall mankind attain, by effort and toiling labor. That which is worth having is worth working for without work thou shalt not have. But, behold, the weakling cries aloud: "Why is this? Oh, woe is me! Why has this hard fate been decreed upon me?

Why? Because it must be so. The fuel of life must be replenished. The sinews of the universe must be tensed. Of all the beings in the universe, all tread the smooth and easy path of least resistance, all the kingdom of forces, all the kingdoms of matter, all the vegetable kingdoms, all the animal kingdoms-all, all use up energy and flow smoothly toward stillness. All, did I say? There is one exception. The children of I Will, if they choose, may toil up the hard and stormy path of effort, the path of great resistance. The children of I Will, if they choose, may replenish the fuel of life, may invigorate the dying sinews of the universe, may create energy instead of consuming it. And they who create power possess power.-George D. Lewis in Bloomington Pantagraph.

Pleasure is a temporary thrill of the senses; happiness a great and lasting uplifting of the soul.-Sarah Grand.

CONCENTRATION

Health and power are largely dependent upon concentration. A fainting person can often be restored by a slap in the face, which establishes concentra- . tion. By concentration man becomes master of his physical being and by concentration he overcomes obstacles from without. Ninety per cent of thought energy is wasted in the ordinary human being through lack of concentration. Power is not focussed. It is allowed to dribble away in useless thoughts and idle dreamings. Without concentration one is led into all kinds of mistakes. The alert, concentrated mind sees the path ahead.

Without concentration a man goes through life like a sleepwalker, never more than one-fourth alive to what is going on about him. Concentration is the essence of all knowledge. Without concentration man is controlled by outward things. He drifts, a prey to every wind of suggestion that blows. By concentration be becomes, in great degree, master of his fate, captain of his soul. There is only one way to acquire concentration, and that is by practicing it in connection with your work each day. Practice it in all the common acts of your daily life. Put your mind into the acts of your hands.-Health.

Get the whine out of your voice or it will stop the growth and development of your body. It will narrow and shrink your mind. It will drive away your friends. It will make you unpopular. Quit your whining. Brace up. Go to work. Be something. Stand for something. Fill your place in the universe. Face about and make something of yourself. There is nothing the matter with you. Just quit whining and go to work. —Medical Talk.

into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

"Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. Fear ye not, therefore. Ye are of more value than many sparrows.

"Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves; be ye, therefore, wise as serpents and harmless as doves.

"If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine and goeth into the mountains and seeketh that which is

"If a man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.

"Ye are the light of the world.
"I am the light of the world.

"For as the lightning that lighteneth out of the one part under Heaven shineth unto the other part under Heaven, so shall also the Son of Man be in His day.

"Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

"Behold the fowls of the air; for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather

your Father which is in Heaven that one of these little ones should perish.

"I am the Good Shepherd and know my sheep.

"Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest.

"The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few..

"Behold, there went out a sower to sow his seed; and it came to pass, as he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air came and devoured them up.

"When any one heareth the word of the Kingdom and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the wayside.

"Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth, and forthwith sprang up, because they had no deepness. of earth; and when the sun was up they were scorched and because they had no

root they withered away, because it lacked moisture.

"The same is he that heareth the word and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while; for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

"And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.

"The care of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.

"And others fell upon good ground and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased.

"He that receiveth seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word and understandeth it, which also beareth

fruit.

"Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. * * * I am the living bread which came down. from Heaven; if any man eat of this bread he shall live forever.

"Whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst.

"I am the true vine and my father is the husbandman. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can yet, except ye abide

in me.

* *

"The Kingdom of Heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed * which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all the seeds that be in the earth; but when it is sown it groweth up and becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.

"Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

EACH FOR MIMSELF

Human life as a whole moves, and cannot help moving, toward the eternal ideal of perfection, only by each separate individual advancing towards his own personal and equally unlimited perfection.

What a dreadfully pernicious superstition is that under the influence of which men-neglecting the inward work upon themselves, which is the only thing really needed for their own and society's welfare, and also the one thing in which man has full powerdirect all their strength towards arranging the life of others, which is beyond their power, and (for the attainment of this impossible aim) employ violent means, certainly evil and injurious to themselves and to others, and which more surely than anything else remove them both from their personal and from the general perfection!—Leo Tolstoy.

I

T IS argued by some, who do not perceive the truth of revelation, that there is no forgiveness of the violation of natural law. Let us consider this in the matter of healing. Healing is taking place all the time, and we know that it is the presence of wholeness that is doing the work. It is argued that if you violate the law you must suffer the penalty; that there is no forgiveness of natural law, and no forgiveness of mental and moral states that are a violation of law. Men and women have gone to insane asylums through supposing these false statements to be true.

Forgiveness of sin is proven in Divine Science not to be an exceptional manifestation of supreme power; it is the revelation and effect of the supreme nature of omnipresence. The law of forgiveness is the practice of the Almighty Good-the one God.

Freely you have forgiven, now freely forgive yourselves-give up former habits freely and you will demonstrate fully.

It is said that if you put your finger in the flame of fire it will burn, pray as you will; and ye Divine Scientists have demonstrated instantaneously over severe burns through denying so-called natural law and affirming the Truth. It is further argued that if you fall any distance you will break a bone, however pious you may be.

Is it indeed true that there is no forgiveness in natural law? What a strange-looking audience this would be if there were none! The boy cuts his finger, and the Spirit, present within and

around him, begins to heal it at once. He breaks his arm; the same Spirit, the only power, begins to knit the bone. He burns his finger; the same Holy One provides a new skin. Some say that it is nature that does this, but Spirit is everywhere present and is manifest in nature; hence it is the source and cause of nature who gives to all life and breath and all things, and it is the same source and cause which does the healing; it is the Spirit expressed in man which, to know, gives a realization of freedom.

No explanation but a scientific one can enable us to see that the work of each one, personally, is to drop all claims of sin in connection with the world.

Shall we think that the Holy Spirit that heals the finger and helps the man to a new skin, and knits the bone, cares nothing for the moral and mental state and will not illumine those who in calculation have fallen short of Truth? No: the law is beneficent in all things. Forgiveness, in the Greek, means sending away of sin, doing away with the habit of falling short of Truth, ceasing to miss the mark of Oneness.

It has been proven time and again by scientists that if we cut a finger, burn the hand or break a bone, we need not suffer what is generally called the penalty. When we work in concert with the power which begins the healing at once, there is immediate redemption from the whole. thing; the healing is instantaneous, the bone has been knit strongly together without pain or soreness. Neither healing nor redemption is barring the doors in one place and opening them in an

other. Literally speaking, it is bearing away the conditions not at one with ease; it is doing away with the claims and theories formulated in a supposed separation from God; it is ceasing to identify ourselves with the claim that there is anything but the absolute Good -the Eternal Substance.

WHENCE COMES SUFFICIENCY The Lord shall open unto thee his good treasure.-Deut. 28:12.

Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. Job 22:25.

A THOUGHT CHANGE This world is infinitely rich and boundlessly beautiful, yet its people starve with hunger of body, heart, and soul, and a thought can change it all.

A thought change, and all is changed.

A change of thought and the world's riches are revealed.

The beauty and power of man comes forth when man's thought is changed.

What a miracle that thought can do all this!

Trust in the Lord and do good, and verily thou shalt be fed.-Psa. 27:3.

The Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.-Psa. 84:11.

I cause those that love me to inherit substance; and I will fill their treasures. -Pro. 3:21.

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land.—Is. 1:19. And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.-II Cor. 9:8.

My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.-Phil. 4:19.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning-Jas. 1:17.

If you want to be want to be gloomy, there's gloom enough to keep you glum; if you want to be glad, there's gleam enough to keep you glad. The choice is your own.

at all.

Yet, with a change of thought, he can have all that he desires.

And then, the greater wonder still, the greatest of all-that, in spite of thought having all this power to change earth into heaven or hell, it cannot change

man.

Man is divine, and must ever remain divine.

He is glorious life, and cannot be changed.

He is creator, and creator he must ever be.-Alma Gillen.

WHEN WE WOULD ALL BE MISSIONARIES

A well-known agnostic was present at one of Henry Ward Beecher's lectures, and after the address the man presented one of his daughters-a beautiful girlto Mr. Beecher, saying:

"Mr. Beecher, here is a girl who, according to your ideas, is a heathen."

"Well, my dear," said Mr. Beecher, "if all heathens were as pretty as you are we would all become missionaries."