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Atom-Smashing Power of Mind
Chapter 3
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[Atom-Smashing Power of Mind]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
Spiritual Obedience
Chapter III
I fairly sizzle with zeal and enthusiasm and spring forth
with a mighty faith to do the things that ought to be done
by me.--CHARLES FILLMORE
ZEAL is the great universal force that impels man to spring
forward in a field of endeavor and accomplish the seemingly
miraculous. It is the inward fire that urges man onward,
regardless of the intellectual mind of caution and
conversation.
Paul, the zealot whose name was first Saul, metaphysically
is a symbol of varied significance. He was born of Jewish
parents in Tarsus, Asia Minor, a city of considerable
culture and refinement. He was reared as a Pharisee and
educated as a rabbi in schools in Jerusalem. His one
conception of salvation did not go beyond that of obtaining
it through a perfect performance of the works of the law.
But in truth he was a man of deep religious character and
worshiped the living God.
He was on his way to Damascus to persecute the disciples of
Jesus, no doubt in one instant "breathing threatening and
slaughter against the disciples of the Lord" and in the
next swearing allegiance to the living God whom he
worshiped. "As he journeyed . . . suddenly there shone
round about him a light out of heaven: and he fell upon the
earth." Because of the great blaze of illumination he was
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struck temporarily blind.
Thus through the spiritual power of his own mind,
apparently by accident, he broke into the ethers where his
consciousness was flooded with spiritual light, and he
heard the voice of Jesus saying: "Saul, Saul, why
persecutest thou me? . . . and when his eyes were opened,
he saw nothing; and they led him by the hand, and brought
him into Damascus." This experience illumined, expanded,
and enriched his whole being, and eventually led him into
his life's work: preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ to
the whole Gentile world.
Paul presents a tremendous outpouring of zeal; first on the
intellectual plane as champion of the law and the prophets,
afterward as a disseminator of the freeing doctrine of the
Christ. He was a "chosen vessel" of the Lord, and "not
disobedient unto the heavenly vision." Yet on several
occasions he allowed his zeal to run away with his better
judgment and as a result suffered many things.
Zeal should be tempered with wisdom. It is possible to be
so zealously active on the intellectual plane that one's
vitality is consumed and there is nothing left for
spiritual growth. "Take time to be holy." Never neglect
your soul. To grow spiritually you should exercise your
zeal in spiritual ways.
As children of God our place is at the right hand of the
Father. When man really realizes this, he calls down upon
himself the baptism of the Holy
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Spirit. He soon learns that obedience to Spirit increases
his power to control his thoughts and thus make his world
conform to the divine standard.
When man is obedient to Spirit he will not suffer burdens.
To trust Spirit he must know of its guidance by experience.
By those who have not learned the guidance of Spirit, that
experience must be acquired. Man is spirit and must find
himself before he can communicate with universal Spirit.
Paul had his weak points, but he was a great apostle and
made Jesus' doctrine live. No doubt the light of spiritual
understanding with which his consciousness was flooded at
the time of his conversion carried him a long way in his
ministry. His fearlessness was the strong point of his
character. To him the gospel came first and the things of
the world second. This is what made him a great apostle of
the Lord. When will and understanding are joined in
consciousness man is equal to any emergency.
Without doubt the secret of Paul's great illumination at
the time of his conversion is that in previous lives he had
built up a spiritual consciousness, and on his way to
Damascus he "stirred up" the gift that was within him. The
new race that is now being born on this planet will develop
these unused resources of the mind by realization, audible
prayer, and thanksgiving and bring to the surface the
riches of both the subconscious and the superconscious mind.
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Above all other Bible writers Paul emphasizes the
importance of the mind in the transformation of character
and body. In this respect he struck a note in religion that
had been mute up to this time; that is, that spirit and
mind are akin and that man is related to God through his
thought. Paul sounds again and again in various forms this
silent but very essential chord in the unity of God and man
and man and his body. All Christian metaphysicians are
indebted to him for many quotable Scriptures that fortify
their position that the mind is the center of man's world
around which, to him, all things revolve.
Spiritual realization changes things. In scientific prayer
realization is the high point of attainment. With
concentrated spiritual attention man can affirm in faith
that God Spirit is present and that he, man, is one with
the God presence.
That there is a certain unity also between the mind and the
elements, mystics contend, and this is borne out by the
power exercised by Jesus when He stilled the wind and
stopped the storm.
The question is often asked, Does the race mind affect
nature and to what extent? Some geologists surmised that
exploding bombs might have been the cause of the Japanese
earthquake following World War II. Science cannot verify
this surmise, although it does teach the unity of all
things.
When the scientific world investigates the so-called
miracles of religion and discovers that they
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are being duplicated continually, the power of mind over
matter will be heralded as of great importance to both
religion and science.
Prayer gives spiritual poise to the ego, and it brings
forth eternal life when spiritually linked with the Christ.
"If a man keep my word, he shall never see death."
Jesus understood the realm of divine substance, and it was
obedient to His word. He will continue to draw upon this
omnipresent source of power and also include us in its
life-giving energy if we will abide with Him in the Spirit.
When we understand the innate capacity of the mind raised
to spiritual dominion we cannot but have an increase of
faith equal to doing the works of Jesus, and even greater
works, as He promised.
Machines that measure the energy used by the mind acting on
the brain cells have already been invented, but there is no
account of the brain voltage of a person in prayer. When
such measurements have been made we shall know something of
the capacity of the mind in its highest range of
expression. Jesus also called attention to the power of a
group praying with Him. "For where two or three are
gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of
them."
The first mention of this dynamic power of the Spirit is
found in Acts 1 and 2, when the early followers of Jesus
were gathered in the "upper chamber."
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They all became spiritual dynamos, as revealed in the Greek
word translated "power." These disciples had been with
Jesus for over three years, but did not have the
inspiration or power that was poured out upon them at this
historical gathering, which has ever since been an
outstanding example of the marvelous spiritual experiences
of those who are of one mind and heart in their group
worship of Jesus the Christ. It is recorded that the Spirit
came upon them like a wind and sat upon each of them in
"tongues . . . of fire."
To one who gains even a meager quickening of the Spirit,
Christianity ceases to be a theory; it becomes a
demonstrable science of the mind.
We must not anticipate better social and economic
conditions until we have better men and women to institute
and sustain those conditions.
Jesus said that He was the bread and substance that came
down from heaven. When will our civilization begin to
realize and appropriate this mighty ocean of substance and
life? A finer civilization than now exists has been
conceived by many from Plato in his "Republic" to Edward
Bellamy in "Looking Backward." But a new and higher
civilization will be developed only through the efforts of
higher and finer types of men and women. Philosophers and
seers have looked forward to a time when this earth would
produce superior men and women, but save Jesus none has had
the spiritual insight to declare,
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"Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass
away, until all these things be accomplished." The Greek
word genea, here translated "generation," does not mean a
little span of thirty-three years of life, but covers the
whole race history in its multitudinous births and deaths,
incarnations and reincarnations throughout the millions of
years since we began to function in creative Mind. It is
out of this race that the new race is to come forth. "Ye
are the people." The time is at hand for those who are
spiritually ripe to stand forth and realize their spiritual
identity. Jesus pointed to this when He said, "Say not ye,
There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest?
behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes, and look on the
fields, that they are white already unto harvest."
Prayer, communion with God within, realization, awakens
spiritual consciousness and develops true spiritual
character. It is the only way to cleanse and perfect the
mind and thus permanently heal the body. It is good to get
still and think about the inexhaustible resources of
infinite Mind; about its presence in all its fullness and
its readiness to manifest itself when the law is complied
with. Pray with persistence and pray with understanding. Be
instant in prayer; and never allow anything to keep you
from having your daily quiet hour of communion with God,
your own indwelling Father.
One day little Billy and Johnny were climbing
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around in an old apple tree. Finally they walked out on a
limb, and were holding to the boughs above them. But the
limb on which they were standing proved to be rotten and
gave way, and the boys came tumbling down to the ground.
Johnny was hurt and began to cry. But Billy got up with a
smile on his face and began brushing the dirt off his
clothes.
"Why ain't you hurt?" moaned Johnny. "You was out further
on the limb than me."
"I prayed," was the happy reply.
"You didn't have no time to pray," retorted Johnny.
"But it didn't catch me, because I was already prayed up
ahead," explained Billy. "So I wasn't scared. I know'd I'd
be all right."
"Behold, the man!" Jesus Christ is the type of a new race
now forming in the earth. Those who incorporate into
consciousness the Christ principles are its members. Sir
Francis Galton, the father of eugenics, says: "There is
nothing either in the history of domestic animals or in
that of evolution to make us doubt that a race of sane men
may be formed, who shall be as much superior mentally and
morally, as the modern European is to the lowest of the
primitive races." It is now being revealed in the
renaissance of Christianity, which is pouring its light out
upon the world, that this new race is forming in the souls
of the spiritual-minded in every nation of the
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earth. These are "the called" of Scripture, who are being
gathered together in spiritual consciousness, and will
eventually come forth to rule the world with Jesus Christ.
Emerson says: "Great hearts send forth steadily the secret
forces that incessantly draw great events, and wherever the
mind of man goes, nature will accompany him, no matter what
the path."
Let us remember that God is Spirit and all that emanates
from God is spiritual, including man. The dominion that God
gave to man in the beginning, as recorded in Genesis, is a
dominion over spiritual ideas, which are represented in the
allegory by material symbols. Hence to exercise his
dominion man must understand the metaphysical side of
everything in existence. Mind is at the bottom of all life
and substance. The mind was not "invented" by the brain,
but it has evolved the brain as its most efficient
instrument.
Divine Mind is the one and only reality. When we
incorporate the ideas that form Divine Mind into our mind
and persevere in those ideas, a mighty strength wells up
within us. Then we have a foundation for the spiritual
body, the body not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.
When the spiritual body is established in consciousness,
its strength and power is transmitted to the visible body
and to all the things that we touch in the world about us.
In the economy of the future man will not be a
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slave to money. Humanity's daily needs will be met in ways
not now thought practical.
In the new economy we shall serve for the joy of serving,
and prosperity will flow to us and through us in rippling
streams of plenty. The supply and support that love and
zeal set in motion are not yet largely used by man, but
those who have tested this method are loud in their praise
of its efficiency.
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