CONCERNING AGE
IN THE true thought of life years have no power to take from life that which God has given it. Years have no power to take from life that which God has ordained shall be endless, permanent, enduring, eternal life. When we can conceive of life as eternal life, then we shall see that since God is eternal life and has made His Son like Himself, His Son must be given eternal life.
Doesn’t Jesus Christ tell us plainly, “He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life?” (John 3:36) “I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish.” (John 10:28) “For as the Father hath life in himself, even so gave he to the Son to have life in himself.” (John 5:26) “I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly.” (John 10:10)
Jesus Christ resurrected His body temple from the tomb, and He lives in this spiritualized body now, although we cannot see Him with the limited, material vision. He promised that the things He did all His true followers would do; and “greater works than these shall he do.” (John 14:12)
It is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Col. 1:27) Christ is the life principle within each one of us, and we must recognize this indwelling life to be our ever-increasing life.
You know there is a great deal of overcoming to do that no one can do for us if we expect to inherit this wonderful thing that Jesus intended us to have, eternal life.
We must overcome the bonds that the mortal mind has made for us, and it is not a small matter, we find. As we study the ways of eternal life we put aside all bondage to years and remain in the eternal consciousness of youth of mind and body that God has given us to demonstrate His divine law and plan.
The race mind introduces into the consciousness the thought of age, unless we rise out of it by an understanding of the unchanging life of Christ within us. The age belief says that at a certain period the body begins to grow a little sluggish, and to take on flesh, and to be less alive. The cell structures respond to this error belief, and the person becomes tired easily, and the body slows down or suffers from pains. All this, you see, is mental. Then there is the physical cause of age. One who does not understand that the body requires certain definite care day by day fails often to do that which is truly best for the body. It is a common error among us that we do not exercise, and rest, and work, and eat, and drink as we should. Food habits are perhaps the most direct in their effects on the system. If you were in a happy state of mind and doing a reasonable amount of work that you love and were eating the foods you should have, your limbs and feet could not trouble you. Swellings and stiffness and soreness are evidence of accumulations in the blood and the tissues. Healing will come through taking the right mental attitude, and getting right down into the body and telling it the Truth; then following up this treatment daily with really sensible and scientific living habits. Supply the foods that are needed, so that the blood stream can be clean and vital and enabled to do its work of washing out the accumulations and rebuilding and perfecting the muscles, and nerves, and bones, and tissues.
We cannot advise you in the matter of operations; nor do we promise good results from prayer when the individual is deliberately going contrary to the spiritual law of life and health. Youth and the good looks of youth are the fruits of young and eager and joyous and loving attitudes of mind and heart. Obedience to the law of love and life results in harmony and order in the organism. The flesh pictures forth the fixed attitudes of mind.
To resort to patchwork is to get temporary results without changing the cause that produced the imperfection. Rejoice that you have the vision to see the trend of your subconscious mind as pictured forth in your flesh; and pray for more light and for courage to walk in the light.
None of us really likes to see the results of the belief in age, and inharmony, and sorrow, and lack of love, and the sense of human weakness. But it does no good to call them “common” or to seek to patch them up by methods that shock the nerves and make demands upon our resources—without an appreciable improvement in our mental attitude. The only real help is in raising ourselves into the Christ consciousness and permitting this consciousness to work out into all the detail of our daily living.
Know that the word of God is in your mouth and in your heart. Rejoice that this is true, and speak the words of Truth with joy, and power, and love. Expect your words spoken and sung to bring results. Weed out all the destructive and negative thoughts and words and tones. Study your voice as an eternal gift of God that has as its source the power and beauty and harmony and substance of God ideas, that responds to your every emotion and thought. Expect it to improve.
Let go of the mental attitude that causes a sense of burden—that belief in age that weights one down with “years.” You live in God, not in years; in deeds, not in figures upon a dial. Instead of thinking, “I’m getting up in years,” get into the youth spirit of joy in living and loving.
You are a good man. We can feel the goodness and the sincerity and the loyalty of your soul as we read your letter and pray for you.
You will notice that we did not say a good “old” man, for you are not old. You may have given way to some of the race beliefs in age and failed to take care of yourself and to make full free use of the abundant life and substance of God. But you are really not old.
Now we’ll explain. You are a threefold being. No doubt you have learned the facts from your Bible that the Spirit of God dwells in man and gives him breath. And that man has a soul. And a physical body. But have you really studied these facts to understand them, so as to know how to use this threefold nature in the way that God intends?
We have learned and are proving that the very presence and life and intelligence of God are ever abiding in man’s being. The Spirit of God is what gives you intelligence and life. Spirit has developed for you that life which we call the soul. And the soul has built the body, and ever continues to renew and rebuild it day by day.
Spirit has no age; it is eternal, as God is eternal and unchanging. The soul is not old in the sense of its being full of years and decrepitude. The soul is ever unfolding God’s ideas, and these are un-changeable. The development of soul qualities causes the individual to be more and more mature in his judgment and his expression, and as the soul is ever keeping in touch with that which is true of God and the Son of God, it is ever refreshed and eager for life’s experiences.
The body, which is made up of the action of thoughts of life and love and substance and power and intelligence, in every one is never old. The very substance that gives the body its form and that nourishes and sustains it is ever new and responsive to the thoughts of life that are impressed upon it.
We are proving that the body is entirely renewed in less than a year, and that one can renew and rebuild it and change its appearance by changing one’s thoughts and living habits.
Now, aren’t you beginning to take a new interest in life? Won’t you stop the next person who says that you are a good “old” man? Let him know that you are being renewed and that God is finding you ready to represent Him in your thoughts and acts.
Physiologists who keep careful watch of the ways of the body now declare that we are renewed bodily in less than a year. Why should flesh age when it is renewed so often?
It must be that the old molds of the mortal mind and the ideas that belong to it need to be remodeled, and the remedy is “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.” (Rom. 12:2
Keep on praying for faith, because it is through prayer that you develop all your wonderful qualities of soul. It is not the drugs that do the healing; they are just something tangible upon which to place your attention while God in the midst of you is doing His work of restoration. “I am Jehovah that healeth thee.” (Exod. 15:26)
So do not think of drugs as being even “props,” for they sometimes fill the system with poisons that hinder the healing power of Spirit in its work. If you need something visible to the human eye upon which to place your faith, it might be better to study along the line of dietetics, and give your body the right kinds of food. Right thinking and right eating go hand in hand in keeping one healthy.
The more you think about God’s presence of life, purity, love, strength, and health in every fiber of your body temple, the stronger will become your consciousness that your organism is the temple of “Christ in you.” God is already in every part of your being, so it is just a matter of being conscious of oneness with Him. Your thoughts of Truth form this consciousness.
We are glad to write your mother, to help her see herself as God sees her and to make use of her God-given power to renew and transform her mind and body through the application of Truth. But we’ll not help her to be “old, old, old in years.” We’ll help her to see that the years only add their wealth of experience and development; that the body never grows old, in fact every cell of the body (if we give it any chance at all) is renewed and replaced in less than a year. So none of us is a year old! The only reason for some folks’ seeming to be old, and weak, and inactive is their persistence in thinking the same old thoughts, and getting into ruts, and failing to make use of the good things provided for their needs. Often folks form the habit of taking foods that they do not need and that burden the system year after year. After a time the mechanism that at first handled these food burdens breaks down, and then there are accumulations that begin to hinder perfect circulation and renewal. Then so-called heart trouble, or high blood pressure, or intestinal disorders, or wrinkles, or failing members or senses may show up. Those who do not understand begin to say, “He is getting old.” Not so; he’s simply disobeying the health rules!
