seven days; and on the eighth day was a solemn assembly, according unto the ordinance.

GOLDEN TEXT-Blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.- Luke 11:28.

The secret longing of every soul for righteousness, indicates that we are born pure and holy, and all our unhappiness is caused by failure to comply with the law of our being. When we listen to this inward. standard of perfection, and see how far short we have fallen, there is a soul sickness, or sadness, follows. But we should not grieve. Sorrow is a paralyzer of effort, and when we let it lay hold upon our mentality there is weakness soon manifest in our bodies.

This lesson is a treatment against grief. "Mourn not nor weep." Instead of grief the people are told to "eat the fat of the land . . . Neither be ye grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." It is found in metaphysical healing that the kidneys are at once effected by grief. This is because we believe we have lost something, and the sense of elimination is excited and stimulated beyond its normal capacity, and this over-taxation leads to inflamation and weakness.

But joy and generosity are strength-giving, and when we realize our possessions are sufficient and so abundant that we can give to those who are in need, we are giving ourselves a practical treatment for strength.

It is a law of our being that we shall continually "go forward," or progress. In this lesson today we read that the walls of Jerusalem had been completed, and the people had a feast day in commeration.

Then the Law of Moses was found to contain a command that the people dwell in booths in the feast of the seventh month. This means that when we have completed the structure of our organism in a certain natural degree, indicated by the number seven, we are to forge ahead and set a standard for

future achievements, indicated by the booths on top of the houses.

All observances of religion have a foundation in some need of the soul. The soul grows through a constant influx of new ideas. This is its feast, and this lasts three days, which indicates a three degree action; Spirit, soul and body.

Lesson 12. December 17.

PREPARATION FOR THE MESSIAH.- Mal. 3:1-12.

i. Behold, I send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in, behold, he cometh, saith Jehovah of hosts.

2. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fulllers' soap: 3. And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and refine them as gold and silver; and they shall offer unto Jehovah offerings in righteousness.

4. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be pleasant unto Jehovah, as in the days of old, and as in ancient years.

5. And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith Jehovah of hosts. 6. For I Jehovah change not; therefore ye, O sons of Jacob, are not cofsumed.

7. From the days of your fathers ye have turned aside from my ordinances, and have not kept them. Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith Jehovah of hosts. But ye say, Wherein shall we return?

8. Will a man rob God? yet ye rob me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. 9. Ye are cursed with the curse; for ye rob me, even this whole nation.

10. Bring ye the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and prove me now herewith, saith Jehovah of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

II. And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith Jehovah of hosts. And all nations shall call you happy: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith Jehovah of hosts.

12.

GOLDEN TEXT -Behold, I send my

he shall prepare the way before me.

messenger, and Mal. 3:1.

"There is great power in quiet, for God is in it."

REPORTS OF THE WORK IN KAN

SAS CITY.

[That UNITY readers may know somewhat of the character of the teaching in our local meetings, the following stenographic reports are printed. These are not complete reports, but of the most salient points, according to the judgment of the reporter, Miss Millie Chandler.]

Monday Evening Healing Meeting. Held at Unity Headquarters, 913 Tracy Ave., Kansas City, Mo. Charles Fillmore, speaker.

How shall we gain the confidence of our patients in this power to heal? How establish that confidence that makes it an easy matter to heal, an easy matter to be healed? We must believe in it; we must have faith in it. There are many mental states that switch us off, that turn us away from that confidence, and we have constantly to handle them, we have to be on the alert.

Fear is perhaps the most formidable foe we have to deal with. We are all afraid that we will not acquire this spiritual presence. We are afraid that if we do get it, it will not do the work, and we let these fears all stand in the way of the acquirement of confidence in the power of that unseen Force.

What shall we do? Why, we must drill ourselves into fearlessness. We must acquire this ability to take hold. Insist upon being fearless. If you take a bold stand you will accomplish wonderful things, So many people waver and doubt. Simple minded people, those who are not intellectually loaded up, have this confidence and get results. It is because they expect it as a matter of fact. They say, "This is so.

I am the expression of this Life, this Intelligence; I do believe." And, lo, and behold, they get results right away. But if you have been in the habit of looking on all sides of the theological question, you will probably find it necessary to do a good deal of denying and affirming, cut away a little here and cut away a little there out of your mind. "As a man

thinketh in his heart, so is he." And Job also said, "That I feared has come upon me." We wonder why it is that we have such a hard time. is because we give ourselves up to fears.

It

There is a life flow that is constantly tending to happiness, and it is much easier to go with the current than to go against it, are opposing this life flow. perverse sometimes.

and yet some people The human mind is

"It thrusts its fists against the posts
And still insists it sees the ghosts."

I know people who are constantly afraid they are going to be sick, but always escaped. I remember one lady who had a habit of calling me up by phone every time she went on a car. She was afraid she would have car-sickness, but she never did. I always assured her that she would be all right, and I know that was all she needed, and that was the extent of the treatment.

You will find in your own experience that if you put away the fear of this and the fear of that, you will come sooner into the clear current of Absolute Truth. And the truth is, there is nothing to be afraid of. Ninety-nine out of every one hundred are afraid of sickness. Now, if you are in the absolute fearlessness of the Spirit, sickness will not hurt you at all. If you had the consciousness of the Spirit, you could go right into cholera or yellow-fever, and it would not affect you. How is it the doctors and nurses go where contagious diseases are constantly present and do not take them? Because they have to, that is all.

It is found that sailors shipwrecked on the ocean can live only four or five days without food, and yet, people fast forty days without suffering. Now, why is this? It is the fear of starvation that brings the result. So you can see the power of the mind to overcome these appetites and conditions of the body when it has confidence in itself. If you have

confidence, with the power of the Spirit you can do almost anything. I believe anyone if

sufficiently conscious of the power of the Spirit might run a sword into himself and be healed. Fakirs in India do run swords into themselves and are healed instantly.

If you learn to control these currents that run through the body, you can produce health in yourself just by thinking. Now are you going to send powerful or weak thoughts to your kidneys, or to any part of your organism? It is necessary to establish confidence, not only in your ability, but in the Universal Sustaining Force. Have a strong will and forceful power. The Jesus Christ man recognizes his own will, and at the same time he opens himself to the Great Universal. We must put away fear and doubt and all things that make us cowards. Stage-fright is a very common error in human consciousness. Its foundation is fear of what people will say of us. Deny this, and affirm the Universal Fearlessness, and the work is done. We have frequently carried children through school examinations and all that sort of thing by affirming fearlessness for them.

I notice in the people I meet every day that those who have a good deal of confidence "laugh and grow fat," while those who are timid, grow scrawny. I would not say that everybody who is scrawny is dishonest, but they are cheating themselves some way. It may be they are stealing from their stomachs. Now come out into the Universal and be fearless. Do not be timid about what the world says.

Prof. LeRoy Moore: Our Brother Fillmore was talking about treating children for success, and this brought to my mind the case of a girl who came to me one Sunday morning and said, "I have a great deal of trouble with my algebra," and she was worrying about it a good deal. I said to her, "Do not think any more about it until tomorrow morning, and then go to the table and work that example.