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Christian Healing
Lesson 6
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[Christian Healing]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
Lesson Six
The Word
1. In pure metaphysics there is but one word, the Word of
God. This is the original creative Word, or thought, of
Being. It is the "God said" of Genesis. It is referred to
in the 1st chapter of John as the Logos. It cannot be
adequately translated into English. In the original it
includes wisdom, judgment, power, and, in fact, all the
inherent potentialities of Being. This divine Logos was and
always is in God; in fact, it is God as creative power. The
Divine Mind creates under law; that is, mental law. Man may
get a comprehension of the creative process of Being by
analyzing the action of his own mind. First is mind, then
the idea in mind of what the act shall be, then the act
itself. In Divine Mind the idea is referred to as the Word.
2. According to Genesis and all other mystical writings
bearing upon creation, Divine Mind expresses its Word, and
through the activity of that Word the universe is brought
forth. Man is the consummation of the Word, and his spirit
has within it the concentration of all that is contained
within the Word. Jesus is called the Word of God. "The Word
became flesh, and dwelt among us (and we beheld his glory,
glory as of the only begotten from the Father)." God being
perfect, His idea, thought, Word, must be perfect. The
perfect Word of God is spiritual man. It is through
spiritual man, or the
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Word of God, that all things are made, are brought into
manifestation." "And without him was not anything made that
hath been made." The Word is the "only begotten" of God,
because there is but one idea of man in Divine Mind, and
that idea is the perfect pattern of man's character.
3. In the 1st chapter of John it is implied that there are
things made that are not after divine ideals, consequently
not real. The creations of the Word of God are permanent
and incorruptible. As an imitator of Divine Mind, man has
power to form and make manifest whatsoever he idealizes;
but unless his thought is unified with Divine Mind and
guided in its operations by infinite wisdom, his thought
forms are perishable.
4. Mental processes enter into all creations. Physical
science has discovered that every atom has substance,
force, and intelligence; these are the three constituent
parts of mind. Mind is the one and only creative power, and
all attempts to account for creation from any other
standpoint are futile. The creative processes of mind are
continuously operative; creation is going on all the time,
but the original plan, the design in Divine Mind, is
finished.
5. Man cannot know how the thought, or Word, works except
through his own consciousness; consequently he must
understand, control, and put in order his own word, for
through it he comprehends the Word of God. Our most
important study, then, is our own consciousness. The old
Greeks recognized
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this and wrote over the door of one of their temples: "Man,
know thyself." The self of man is spiritual, and when it is
in direct conscious unity with the Father-Mind it has
permanent formative power. Even in his ignorant use of
thought, man's mind is forming conditions, even to the
changing of the face of nature itself. Every thought that
goes forth from the brain sends vibrations into the
surrounding atmosphere and moves the realm of things to
action. The effect is in proportion to the ability of the
thinker to concentrate his mental forces. The average
thought vibration produces but temporary results, but under
intense mind activity conditions more or less permanent are
impressed upon the sensitive plate of the universal ether,
and through this activity they are brought into physical
manifestation.
6. Every idea originating in Divine Mind is expressed in
the mind of man; through the thought of man the Divine Mind
idea is brought to the outer plane of consciousness. In the
organism of man are centers that respond to the divine
ideas, as a musical instrument sympathetically responds to
musical vibrations. Then through another movement on what
is termed the conscious, or most outer, plane of action,
the thought takes expression as the spoken word. There is
in the formed conscious man, or body, a point of
concentration for this word; and through this point the
word is expressed in invisible vibrations. For example, at
the root of the tongue is a brain center, and through it
the mind controls the
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larynx, the tongue, and all the other organs used in
forming words. Following the creative law in its operation
from the formless to the formed, we can see how an idea
fundamental in Divine Mind is grasped by the man ego, how
it takes form in his thought, and how it is later expressed
through his spoken word. If in each step of this process he
conformed to the divine creative law, man's word would make
things instantly, as Jesus made the increase of the loaves
and fishes. But since he has lost, in a measure, knowledge
of the steps in this creative process from the within to
the without, there are many breaks and abnormal conditions,
with more failures than successes in the products.
7. However, every word has its effect, though unseen and
unrecognized. Jesus said that a man would be held
accountable for "every idle word," and a close observation
of the power of mind in the affairs of the individual
proves this to be true. What we think, we usually express
in words; and our words bring about in our life and affairs
whatever we put into them. A weak thought is followed by
words of weakness. Through the law of expression and form,
words of weakness change to weakness the character of
everything that receives them.
8. The nerves are the wires that transmit the mind's
messages to all parts of the body, and these parts, being
thought formations, carry out, in their turn, the word that
has been spoken into them. Talking about nervousness and
weakness will produce
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corresponding conditions in the body; on the other hand,
sending forth the word of strength and affirming poise will
bring about the desired strength and poise. Your talking
about a weak stomach will make your stomach weak. Your
talking about your bad liver will fix that idea in your
liver. The usual conversation among people creates ill
health instead of good health, because of wrong words. If
the words speak of disease as a reality, disintegrating
forces are set in action, and these, in the end, shatter
the strongest organism, if not counteracted by constructive
forces.
9. As an example of the vibratory power of the spoken word,
a vocalist can shatter a wineglass by concentrating upon it
certain tones. Every time we speak we cause the atoms of
the body to tremble and change their places. Not only do we
cause the atoms of our own body to change their position,
but we raise or lower the rate of vibration and otherwise
affect the bodies of others with whom we come in contact.
By telling the little child that he looks sick and tired,
the mother produces these conditions in the child's mind
and body. If the mother addresses words of health, life,
and strength to the child, these will set his bodily
functions into activity and they will express the harmony
of the dominant thought.
10. Thus every word brings forth after its kind. The "seed"
is the creative idea inherent in the word, the nature that
it inherits from its parent source--God. The enthusiast in
floral culture, who hovers
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over and talks in loving tones to his flowers, always has
success with them, while his neighbor, who is cold and
indifferent, fails. The mental emanation and the creative
word are the forces that stimulate the receptive
intelligence of nature, and although the enthusiast may
know nothing of the law of mind, he is using it in its most
effective mode, the creative word. In like manner the
spiritual healer mentally and audibly speaks to the same
all-pervading receptacle, and it responds by building up
wasted tissues and weakened functions.
11. Mind is everywhere and its avenues of expression, like
the ether waves of radio, run in every direction. The
wonderful discovery that messages can be sent around the
earth without wires should forever silence those who have
been incredulous when thought transference through a like
ether is claimed. But there is a means by which ideas may
be transmitted even more rapidly than by mental vibrations,
and that is unity with supreme Mind. This Mind exists as
the absolute, the unlimited. In its consciousness there is
no apartness, no separation, and whoever puts himself into
its consciousness can accomplish things instantly.
12. When the centurion said to Jesus, "Only say the word,
and my servant shall be healed," the Master said that He
had not found so great faith in all Israel, and His healing
word was: "As thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee."
We must have a certain amount of faith in the substance of
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the invisible and in its ability to do our will. When Peter
recognized in Jesus that inner principle called Christ, the
Son of God, the response was: "Flesh and blood hath not
revealed it unto thee, but my Father who is in heaven." The
Father must have been present to Peter as He was to Jesus,
and the "heaven" in which Jesus said that the Father was
must also have been there. The fact is, Being is always
present. Mortal ignorance and lack of faith prevent our
realization of this truth. The more we believe in the
wisdom, power, substance, love, and life of the one Mind,
the greater is its activity in us and our affairs. Not only
should we have faith in the All-Presence, but we should
also develop our understanding to the end that we may know
why the All-Presence manifests through us. Physical science
is today in advance of religion in its recognition of a
universal life substance and intelligence. Religion is
looking for this mighty Creator away off in some distant
heaven, right in the face of the distinct teaching of Jesus
that God is Spirit and that His kingdom is within man.
13. But physical science falls short in that it fails to
recognize the unity between omnipresent Intelligence and
the knowing principle in man. Science is seeking to know
intellectually, or from the plane of forms and shapes, that
which is of the mind. Physical science has recognized the
presence of the creative forces, but it does not know the
power that moves them. Divine metaphysics has discovered
the moving
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power to be the thought and word of man, and is proving the
truth of this principle through results in a multitude of
directions.
14. The spoken word carries vibrations through the
universal ether, and also moves the intelligence inherent
in every form, animate or inanimate. It has been discovered
that even rocks and all minerals have life. This is proof
of the omnipresence of the one animating substance. Man,
being the highest emanation of Divine Mind, has great
directive power and is really co-operator with God in
forming the universe. We should be speaking words of truth
to everything, not only to mankind but to the mineral,
vegetable, and animal kingdoms. The fine discernment of the
poet reveals that "the very stones cry out" where a tragedy
has occurred. The all-penetrating ether receives our
thoughts and words, like the wax cylinder of the
phonograph, only a thousand times more accurately; it
preserves them and echoes them back to us in continuous
vibrations. There are no secrets and no concealments. Jesus
said that what you think and speak in the inner chamber is
proclaimed from the housetops, and now we know why this is
true. The very walls of your room, aye, even the substance
of the atmosphere in that room, are proclaiming over and
over the words that you have spoken there, whether you are
present or not. For example, a woman rented a room in a
certain city. Several nights in succession, just as she
fell asleep, she heard a man talking incoherently about the
grain
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market. This continued for some time, and she mentioned it
to the landlady who informed her that the room had been
last occupied by a dealer on the board of trade.
15. The power of the word is given man to use. The better
he understands the character of God and his own relation to
humanity, the more unselfishly will he exercise this power.
Some are using it in selfish ways, but this should not
deter others who have a better understanding of the law
from using it in righteous ways. "If ye shall ask anything
of the Father, he will give it you in my name," is a
promise that none should ignore. If we need things and if
they are necessary to our happiness, it is not sacrilegious
to set into action this higher law in attaining them.
16. The curses of the witch and the blessings of the priest
have always been believed in by so-called ignorant and
credulous people. In the light of modern revelation, the
charge of ignorance should be shifted to the unbelieving.
The word of one in authority carries weight and produces
far-reaching effects. The fiat of the physician that a
certain disease must result disastrously to the patient
will, when believed, counteract all the healing forces of
nature. A pin scratch has resulted in blood poison, because
there was no proper denial that such a result might follow.
17. Man has the power to deny and dissolve all
disintegrating, discordant, and disease-forming words.
Knowledge of this fact is the greatest discovery
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of all ages. No other revelation from God to man is to be
compared with it. You can make yourself a new creature, and
you can build the world about you to your highest ideals.
Do not fear, but speak to the law supreme the desires of
your heart. If your word is selfish, that which will come
to you through its use will be unsatisfactory, but you will
profit by the experience and thus learn to speak words of
righteousness only. But it is your duty as expresser of the
divine law to speak forth the Logos, the very Word of God,
and cause the Garden of Eden, the everywhere-present
Mind-Substance, to manifest for you and in you in its
innate perfection.
The Power Of Words
(To be used in connection with Lesson Six)
1. "Death and life are in the power of the tongue."
2. "The tongue of the wise is health."
3. "He that guardeth his mouth keepeth his life."
4. "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul
from troubles."
5. "A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the
snare of his soul."
6. "Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is
more hope of a fool than of him."
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7. "Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul,
and health to the bones."
8. "The lips of the wise shall preserve them."
9. "Put away from thee a wayward mouth, and perverse lips
put far from thee."
10. "Shun profane babblings: for they will proceed further
in ungodliness, and their word will eat as doth a gangrene."
11. "He that would love life, and see good days, let him
refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips that they speak
no guile."
12. "To him that ordereth his way aright will I show the
salvation of God."
13. "I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my
tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the
wicked is before me."
14. "What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many
days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and
thy lips from speaking guile."
15. "Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give
account thereof in the day of judgment."
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[Christian Healing]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
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