Chapter 3
Life Is a School
1. Life is a school. The Great Schoolmaster knows just what problems we need to keep us alert and to bring out the wonderful qualities that the Father has measured out for us to come up to. That is our purpose in life, to succeed in bringing forth God’s perfect idea of the perfect man.
2. In the beginning God created man in His own image and likeness, even as He created the little seed to bring forth of its kind. “As lives the flower in the seed, so lives the Christ in me.” The germ of God-likeness slumbers in us, and it should be our true aim in being to make manifest this perfect Self, or Christ of God, in our lives.
3. All of us sooner or later come to the place in our development where we are no longer satisfied to go on living the old life, without the knowledge or our oneness with God, the Source of our being. Sometimes, when we reach this point in our soul’s progress, we do not at first know just what is taking place. We may become restless and dissatisfied. We may go through experiences which we do not understand. We may even be tempted to think that our good has gone from us. But just as surely as there is God the one Presence and one Power, we shall find that all is well, and that we are but going from one room, as it were, into another, larger and lighter room.
4. As we leave old circumstances, beliefs, habits, and desires behind, and seek to understand and to enter into and get the blessings out of the larger life which is ever opening to us, we are filled with a sense of peace, freedom, and assurance that all is well. We should then turn our attention within and devote ourselves to those thoughts and acts which make for poise, order, health, and success.
5. As we realize that we are God’s children, that we have power and authority to think and to speak the good and true and to have it manifest in harmonious relations and pleasant surroundings, we no longer invite or submit to inharmony, misunderstandings, or limitations. We place ourselves in God’s keeping and think Truth, and it directs us in ways of peace and pleasantness.
6. As we think of others as God’s children, we see them in a new light. We understand how it is that they are trying to unfold and use the faculties and powers God has implanted in them, and we have compassion if they seem to fall short at times. We also have power to speak Truth for them, to bless them, and to help them.
7. “Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” All of us are hungering and thirsting after righteousness. All of us are learning how to receive that which feeds and satisfies us. So, you may rejoice this moment that the Holy Spirit is blessing you with the very things you need, and will continue to show you more and more of Truth, until you put on the full Christ consciousness.
8. Do not bother about anything that has been, or that seems to be taking place at present, or that is to come in the future. Leave past, present, and future in God’s hands. Leave yourself in God’s care and keeping, and just do that which will furnish Spirit with the necessary co-operation and the necessary materials to be converted into harmony of soul, strength, and health of body. Keep your thoughts free from worry. Keep them on matters close at hand, on God’s presence and power.
9. Sometimes the soul gets so anxious about what it wishes to do that it tends to neglect the body. This is not fair to the body, nor to those who must take care of the body when it is neglected. Your first duty, then, is to bless your body. Get your thoughts right down into it, and praise its wonderful work. Learn what it needs and arrange for supplying those needs.
10. Sometimes things happen, in the realm of the senses, or in connection with the physical body, which cause one to depreciate the body, or even to wish, almost, that one did not have it. In such an event, the soul may reach out so much that the body is neglected until it suffers. Suffering is one of the means of drawing the attention of the soul back to its beautiful temple. The Christ Mind can and will direct the soul in taking up its wonderful work in the body, that it may continue to have this very necessary vehicle of expression. The light of the Christ Mind enables one to see all things in right relation, so that peace can prevail.
11. We believe that the whole creation responds to man’s consciousness. If at times some of the lesser creations or formations disturb him or his possessions, he should study to change his way, or learn more about the part of the race mind that has caused the malformation. Learning to understand the divine plan of life, and being obedient to it, gives wisdom in dealing with the undesirable tendencies. We should declare that there is one Intelligence, one Power, one Life, and one Substance, and that no destructive elements will counteract these righteous expressions of God Ideas. God will establish order within and without. God’s law of equalization is effective everywhere. For everything that has its place upon the earth, there is righteous satisfaction, and there is plenty for all under divine law.
12. We should help others to get away from the old race beliefs about life: that we are born, grow to maturity, have children, rear them, and then decline and die. We can and must help others to catch the higher vision of living, the development of soul qualities that make life a beautiful and helpful experience. There is so much to be seen and learned and done, that surely one cannot experience all of it in “threescore and ten years.”
13. I am convinced that we are coming to the time when we shall be obliged to face eternal life—to bring the soul face to face with the Christ power, and to hold it to the true course of life until the real plan of life is known and fulfilled. The eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil resulted in man’s finding what he thought was a way out of his shortcomings: giving up and going to sleep. Most of us have outgrown that childish way. We have taken it upon ourselves to learn about the uses of the mind, so that we are waking up our faculties and discovering the law of health. Now we must learn what is truly worth while and devote ourselves to it. As we do this, we shall find that we are independent; that we really can decide for ourselves what we will do, and carry out the plans.
14. You are a three-fold being. No doubt you have learned 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, tried to understand them, that you may know how to use this threefold character in the way that God intends?
15. We have learned that the very presence, 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 the mental life which we call the soul. The soul has built the body and ever continues to renew and rebuild it day by day.
16. pirit has no age; it is eternal, as God is eternal and unchanging. The soul is not old in the sense of being full of years and decrepitude. The soul is ever unfolding God’s ideas, and these are unchangeable. The development of soul qualities causes the individual to be more and more mature in his judgments and his expressions. The soul ever keeps in touch with that which is true of God and the Son of God, and is ever refreshed and eager for life’s experiences.
17. The body, which is formed by the action of thoughts of life, love, substance, power, and intelligence in everyone, is never old. The very substance out of which the body is formed, and which nourishes and sustains it, is ever new and responsive to the thoughts of life which impress it.
18. e know that the body is periodically renewed. We can renew and rebuild it and change its appearance by changing our thoughts and living habits.
19. First of all, remember that God is omnipresent—as present as the very life in which you live, move, and have your being; the very substance out of which your body is formed and nourished; the very intelligence which is within you, in every nerve, brain cell, and structure of the body. God is the very love which draws together and holds in perfect harmony (if you will only allow it) all the elements of your being. God is the very Light which enables you to understand yourself, others, and all God’s creation, so that you may always think Truth, the true state of all creation.
20. Pray for understanding. Claim your oneness with God. Study your relationship with Him so that you may know how to lay hold of the abundant life, intelligence, substance, and love, so that you can build these into your soul and your body, to perfect your expression. When you have come to the place where you are ready to co-operate with the Source of all good—your indwelling Lord—you are bound to receive His help.
21. From the beginning, all of the qualities and capabilities you need in order to make for yourself a perfect destiny have been implanted in you. Through your study, understanding, and practice of Truth principles you are finding how to awaken, develop, and set free into righteous expression all of these inner spiritual resources.
22. Set aside regular periods every day for prayer —times that are most convenient for you. Use words of Truth during your silence periods. As you change your thinking and bring it into line with Truth principles, a transformation will take place in your consciousness. Your mind will become keen, awake, alert, illumined, and your body temple will be filled with new life. You will be inspired with new and practical ideas that will enable you to succeed in a larger way.
