How I Used Truth - Lesson 10 - Annotation 7
Do we overcome sickness, poverty, sin, and the like, or what is it that is overcome?
7. In reality, we do not overcome sickness, poverty, sin, and the like, for in Spirit they have no existence. What we overcome primarily are the error beliefs in the human consciousness that have produced these negative conditions.
How I Used Truth Lesson 3 Annotation 10 deals with an "overcomer" and what is to be overcome. We have learned that an overcomer has "come over" into a new state of consciousness. This is the consciousness of Truth, or Christ consciousness. Because we have risen in consciousness we have a new premise upon which to base our thinking, feeling, speaking, acting, and reacting. This means that we look upon conditions of sickness, poverty, sin, and so forth as appearances only, formed by ignorance of Truth and misapplication of our mental powers. The limited and error beliefs that have been built up must be erased. We replace them with the truth that health, abundance, success, and harmony belong to us now as sons of God.
We are to come into the realization that we need not fight negative conditions for they have no power over us. We are then a long way toward overcoming, having learned how to handle such conditions. We must come to understand that overcoming is done in our own consciousness. We let go of the old concept by denial, and we get a new concept through the process of affirmation. Then we are able to perceive and conceive the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of man. Overcoming is not merely a perception of spiritual principles; it projects into our conduct so that our thinking, feeling, speaking, and acting are based upon Truth.
God is absolute good; therefore God could not be the author of sickness, poverty, sin, or any limitation. When we are confronted by appearances of this nature we must have the courage to look into our own consciousness for the negative beliefs lodged there. We find in most cases that the basic belief back of all negative or error thoughts is the belief in the absence of some good. We must come to the realization that "There is no absence of life, substance, or intelligence anywhere" (Emilie Cady Lessons In Truth 4:23). Such realization can help us to do the right denial work that can dissolve the belief in the absence of good and the other beliefs that stem from this error thought.
"The way of overcoming is, first, to place one's self by faith in the realization of sonship, and secondly, to demonstrate it faithfully in every thought and act. One of the laws of mind is that man becomes like that with which he identifies himself. Christ is the one perfect pattern. Everyone desires to overcome all errors. Each should, therefore, be wise and identify himself with the Christ" (Keep a True Lent 180).
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Preceding Entry: How may we be free from all undesirable conditions and circumstances?
Following Entry: What is meant by the statement, "There is no evil"?
