Series 2 - Lesson 9 - Annotation 3
Give original illustrations of the power of the imaging faculty.
3. Here are some stories of the efficient use of the imaging faculty.
A woman needed a new place in which to live. She began giving thanks for the perfect place already prepared for her, and she felt secure about the place being provided. After a church service she was led to speak a friendly word to a stranger who introduced her to a friend, also a Truth student, who wanted someone to live with her. The woman who needed a new place to live was thus guided to her new home, a household of peace, beauty, and quietness.
The story is told of Luther Burbank, the horticulturist, taking home a prickly, thorny cactus and transplanting it in a "garden of love." Daily he blessed the cactus, telling it it had no need of spines and thorns for protection as it was now in a "garden of love." The spines fell away one by one, and a lovely plant remained.
This story appealed to a woman who had a cantankerous woman friend. Mentally the first woman, a Truth student, placed her cantankerous friend daily in a "garden of love" in her heart, and daily she blessed her. The attitude of both women changed, and a great change came into the life of the woman who had had the "barbed" tongue. She became happy and people noticed the change in her. The Truth student kept the secret of her constructive use of the imaging faculty, the imagination.
A woman often lay awake at night worrying about her son who traveled. She recalled the story of the baby Moses being placed in an ark of bulrushes and left in the hands of God. She decided to do the same thing in prayer with her son. In her thought she safely surrounded her son with love, wisdom, and protection, forming a mental "picture" of his being guarded and brooded over by the Presence of God, She placed her son in his "ark" every night, and she slept serenely.
A young man's mother was experiencing a mental breakdown. He was inspired with the idea of imaging her as she had been when he was a half-grown boy. When he prayed for his mother, he saw her in his mind's eye as relaxed and smiling, her brow smooth, and her body free from tension. She became receptive to God's healing power, and in a few months' time she was relaxed, happy, and healthy.
A man desired very much to go to Europe for advanced study. He prayed, "The Spirit of the Lord goes before me and prepares the way for my coming." He had, however, no definite conviction about making the trip. During a period of meditation and prayer he "saw" himself sitting on the deck of a ship. Then he felt assured that his plans were working out in divine order. The trip, the period of study, and vacation were manifested and were completely satisfying and rewarding.
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Preceding Entry: Define "imagination."
Following Entry: What is the first thing necessary in demonstrating perfection in body or affairs?
