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Jesus Christ Heals
Chapter 8
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[Jesus Christ Heals]
[Charles Fillmore's Works] [Unity on the Web Home Page]
Chapter VIII
The Fullness of Time
ALL SANE persons acknowledge the necessity of observing the
laws of health in their daily living, but the great
majority have a human standard. Now that the whole race is
awakening to the knowledge of a higher source of existence
more people every day are giving attention to the law of
Spirit in their life.
"Order is heaven's first law." If we desire to demonstrate
health when we receive more spiritual life, we must order
this life rightly, for if it is not so ordered, mental and
physical discord will ensue. This applies to all that we
think and do. Everything must be brought into order. If we
affirm prosperity, that too must be brought into orderly
relations to the rest of our thinking. We may be declaring
life and prosperity and at the same time be holding some
disorganizing thought. This will produce inharmony and
discord in body and affairs. Lack of orderly arrangement of
thoughts is responsible for many delayed demonstrations of
healing.
We find in the Scriptures constant reference, in symbols
and also in direct language, to order as a fundamental law
of the universe and of man. There must be order in the
spiritual life as well as the material life. All peoples
have observed this, and especially the people of God. Paul
said, "Let all
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things be done decently and in order."
Suggestion is systematically used in the business world,
and unless you are strong in your own convictions as to
what your needs are, you will be loaded up with many things
for which you have no use. The remedy is to establish
yourself in the spiritual law. You will come under one or
the other of these laws, the man-made or the spiritual, and
it is for you to choose which is best.
You want to know then the metaphysics of order as a means
of demonstrating health. How can you order your life by the
divine plan? By accepting it as a truth that there is such
a plan and by making this plan yours through affirming your
oneness with the omnipresent Mind in which this plan exists
in its righteousness. Say, "I am the offspring of God, and
I am one with His perfect wisdom, which is now ordering my
life in divine harmony and health." Ask for wisdom; then
affirm divine order. Put yourself in unity with Spirit.
Then you will come into the consciousness of a new world of
thought and act and find yourself doing many things
differently because the orderly Mind that directs the
universe is working through you. A harmonious relation will
be established in all your ways. Whatever there was in
mind, body, or affairs that was out of harmony will easily
be adjusted when you open the way in your mind for the
manifestation of divine order.
The bringing forth of man even in the material sense is an
orderly process. The birth of Jesus is an example. His
coming was foretold and arranged
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beforehand. It was not left to chance. His mother
"magnified" the Lord before He was born. This illustrates
the truth that it is necessary to have order from the very
beginning. The bringing forth of John the Baptist is an
example of the coming of another state of consciousness and
of the necessity of law and order in prenatal culture.
The same law holds good in our body and our affairs. The
power of the word should be expressed in our homes. We
should surround ourselves with words suggestive of
spiritual things. If words count, and we know they do, we
should be careful of every idea taken into consciousness
through the eye as well as through the ear.
From their inception to their expression words are
important. The law is fulfilled not only in mind but in
manifestation also. Every suggestion that enters the mind
brings forth like expression in act. The time is coming
when it will be unlawful to print in the daily papers any
record of crime or of anything that will bring discord into
the minds of readers. Recently I read of a man who
committed a crime, and in his pocket was found a newspaper
clipping describing almost identically the same criminal
act. His crime was the fruit of suggestion. How many such
suggestions does one large daily paper carry to its
thousands of readers in its recital of the daily horrors
that make up the news?
As the world comes more and more under the spiritual law
editors and publishers will not ask their readers what they
want, but will give them
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what they should have for mental food. And as the people
are raised to higher planes of consciousness they will
demand reading of an uplifting character. They will be just
as careful as regards what they read as they are now
beginning to be in reference to food. There will be the
same demand for pure reading as for pure food. If it is
against the law of the land to adulterate food, how much
more is it against the law of right thinking to adulterate
the truth. We can see the necessity of order and law
according to Spirit. If we would demonstrate health, every
deleterious thought should be kept out of our mental
atmosphere even more carefully than harmful elements are
kept out of our material food.
This spiritual law is operative in food and clothing. If we
think about order and harmony our taste in material things
will change. We shall desire the purest foods, and there
will be more harmony in the colors we choose to wear. "If
God doth so clothe the grass of the field . . . shall he
not much more clothe you?" Some people think it is
impossible for man to be clothed like the lilies. But if
man stands above all creation, has he not power to clothe
himself in the richness and glory of Spirit? Out of the air
we may manufacture the things we eat and wear. This is not
a flight of fancy. Chemists are already considering the
possibility. It is not an assumption of theoretical
metaphysics that we may be able to make our food and
clothing from the air, but a logical conclusion that
follows the understanding of God as the omnipresent source
of all that appears.
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So long as we believe in the slow processes of what we call
nature we shall place ourselves under a law of slowness.
But if we know the spiritual law of health and the power of
the word, we shall bring into operation in our lives an
entirely different law. Where is the limit to the power of
thought?
So let us begin anew and lay down the law of order in all
that we do. If there is a tendency to hurry, let us stop
and affirm divine order and rest ourselves in its poise.
Geologists tell us that our world has been whirling around
the sun for over five hundred million years. So you see
there is no need to hurry. Remember that you live in
eternity now. This thought of omnipresent eternity will
alleviate nervous tension. Put every thought and act under
the divine law. Even if you think you are going to miss a
car, do not hurry. Another car will be right along, and if
your mind is in divine order, it will be your car.
If you are disorderly and indefinite along any line, put
yourself at once under the order of Divine Mind by
affirming daily that the same law that swings the stars in
the cushioned ethers is operative in and through your life
and all your affairs.
All people who have studied metaphysics and understand
somewhat the action of the mind recognize that there is one
underlying law and that through this law all things come
into expression; also that there is one universal Mind, the
source and sole origin of all real intelligence. First is
mind, then mind expresses itself in ideas, then the ideas
make
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themselves manifest. This is a metaphysical statement of
the divine Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The
trinity Mind, the expression of Mind, and the
manifestations of Mind are found in simple numbers and
complex combinations everywhere.
The metaphysics of the Hebrew Scriptures are based on this
law of the Trinity. They were written far ahead of the race
thought, and it is probable that those who wrote them did
not understand all that was involved in the word of the
Spirit. It is seldom that great writings are fully
understood. Not many years after Shakespeare's demise a
book aiming to give the names of all the English poets was
published in London, and Shakespeare's name was left out.
It is said that a great man must be dead five hundred years
before his work will be appreciated.
In the King James Bible the Hebrew "Jehovah" has been
translated "Lord." Lord means an external ruler. Bible
students say that Jehovah means the self-existent One, the
I AM. Then instead of reading "Lord" we should read I AM.
It makes a great difference whether we think of I AM,
self-existence within, or "Lord," master without. All
Scripture shows that Jehovah means just what God told Moses
it meant: I AM. "This is my name for ever, and this is my
memorial unto all generations." So instead of "Lord" say I
AM whenever you read it and you will get a clearer
understanding and realization of what Jehovah is. God was
known to the Israelites as Jehovah-shalom: "I am peace."
You can demonstrate peace of mind by holding the words "I
am peace."
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If we start any such demonstration and try to apply the I
AM to personality, we fall short. This is frequently the
cause of lack of results in carrying out the laws that all
metaphysicians recognize as fundamentally true. The mind
does not always comprehend the I AM in its highest, neither
does it discern that the all-knowing, omnipotent One is
within man. This recognition must be cultivated, and
everyone should become conscious of the I AM presence. This
consciousness will come through prayer and meditation upon
Truth. In Truth there is but one I AM, Jehovah, the
omnipotent I AM that is eternally whole and perfect. If you
take Jehovah-shalom into your mind and hold it with the
thought of a mighty peace, you will feel a consciousness, a
harmonizing stillness, that no man can understand. This
consciousness is healing in itself. It must be felt,
realized, and acknowledged by your individual I AM before
the supreme I AM can pour out its power. Then you will know
that you have touched something; but you cannot explain to
another just what it is, because you have gone beyond the
realm of words and made union with the divine cause. It is
the quickening of your divinity through the power of the
word. This divine nature is in us all, waiting to be
brought into expression through our recognition of the
power and might of the I AM; so Jehovah-rapha is "I am he
that healeth thee."
We should not fail to think always of the spiritual law
under which the I AM moves. It is possible for man to take
I AM power and apply it in external
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ways and leave out the true spiritual law. In our day we
are proclaiming that man can use I AM power to restore
health and bring increased happiness; in fact, that through
righteous, lawful use of the I AM he can have everything
that he desires. But some people are using this power in a
material way, neglecting soul culture, building up the
external without taking the intermediate step between the
supreme Mind and its manifestation in the outer. We should
remember that the soul must grow as well as the body. For
example, a man was overtaken with physical disability and
loss of eyesight some years ago. In his extremity he turned
to the spiritual law for help and was very faithful in its
mental application. I saw him not long since; his physical
condition was unchanged, but there was a great change in
his mind. He had found the light and he was filled with
inward rejoicing. He had become blind that he might see.
However his family thought all his dependence upon Truth
had been a failure because his physical sight had not been
restored. During all these years however he has managed his
business, and it has prospered, and his family has been
well provided for. He was himself for a time disappointed
and rebellious because his eyes were not healed; but now he
is glad, because through the prayers and meditations he has
found the inner light. His physical sight will be restored
when he has made the complete connection between mind and
body.
So if you find yourself disappointed because you do not at
once demonstrate health or success, be at
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peace and know that your earnest prayers and meditations
are working out in you a soul growth that will yet become
manifest beyond your greatest hopes.
It is easier to seek the Truth willingly and be watchful
and obedient than it is to be forced by some severe
experience. Hard experiences are not necessary if we are
obedient to the Truth that saves us from them. Time should
be given to prayer and meditation daily. We cannot grow
without them, and no man who neglects them will
successfully develop his spiritual powers.
The great I AM is not far away from man. Spirit is closely
connected with the little things of daily life. "The
kingdom of God is come nigh unto you." This means that the
mighty One is with us in all ways. We are all in touch,
heart with heart, and a real sympathy makes us one. In
reality we all love the simple life. The pomp and parade
and pageantry of the external world do not satisfy the
soul. It is the small things that touch the heart and
appeal to us. We want realities. Even in the drama we
demand the realistic. I once read of a playwright who tried
to give all his scenes the touch of realism, and in one
place he had electric fans so placed that they would blow
to the audience the odors of the viands that the actors
were eating, thus convincing the people that the food was
real.
While one of his plays was being given a cat strayed in,
stretched before the fireplace, lay down and went to sleep.
The audience applauded. This added a touch of naturalness
that the playwright
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was anxious to introduce as a permanent feature of the
play. But it is hard to get a cat to do things when you
want it to do them. However the playwright set himself to
studying how he could induce the cat to go through with its
part, and he hit upon this plan: About noon each day he
shut the cat up in a very small box so that it had no room
to stretch; then he let it out just at the time its
appearance on the stage was desired. Of course the first
thing it did was to stretch, then drink from a saucer of
milk set ready for it; then it would lie down before the
fireplace and go to sleep. So he solved the problem, and
this little touch of commonplace realism became the hit of
the play.
It is on such little things as these that success hinges in
the play called "life." The I AM might is not in the storm
nor in the earthquake nor in the fire but in the "still
small voice," according to Elijah.
We are receiving new truth in all fields, and if we are to
use it, it seems most important that our religion be
progressive, that we get new and higher concepts, and that
we see deeper and more scientific relations in the lessons
and experiences of those who have preceded us in study and
demonstration of spiritual Truth.
If there is science in the universe, there must be science
in the Mind that projected the universe. If there is
mathematical accuracy and order in the material world,
there is a like accuracy and order in the mental world. If
there is science in the relation of atom to atom, if there
is science in the current
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that flows over the wire and sets in motion the electric
fan, there must be science in the Mind back of all these
manifestations.
God created all things by His mind, by His thought, by the
power of His word. The divine fiat went forth, "Let there
be," and there was. The one Mind is still projecting itself
into the universe, and its law of health is expressed by
man through thought rightly directed. The highest
expression of divine thought is man. God created man in His
image, in the image of perfect health. How important then
that man should study the science of mind and in every way
seek to find the law lying back of the harmonious universe
in which he functions.
If we make living cells through the power of thought, we
should know something of the law underlying the process. On
every hand thoughtful men are searching for the scientific
cause of things. Here is an illustration that came to my
attention. The woman in the case, an ardent Unity student,
had a husband who thought Truth was all foolishness. She
did not urge it upon him directly, but she would call his
attention to various healings. He paid no attention until
his mother was healed of a mole on her face. This woman
said to her husband: "Your mother's healing was due to the
withdrawal of her nourishing thought. That mole is gone."
"How did it go?" he asked, showing some interest for the
first time. His mother said: "I withdrew the nourishing
thought. Before that I had mourned over it and wished it
were not there, and that nourished it and
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sent vital forces into it and it kept growing." "I
suggested that she quit thinking about it," said the wife;
"that she quit nourishing it, and it gradually withered and
disappeared." The husband said: "I can see how through our
thought we do nourish these conditions in our bodies. If
there is such power behind this healing system I am willing
to think about it. There is something satisfactory in
knowing that one may learn how healing works. I can see as
a reasonable proposition that mind acts on the body through
nerves and that the conditions are nourished by thought.
When Mother stopped thinking about that mole, it was no
longer nourished and consequently disappeared. That appeals
to my reason. I thought this was a religion, a sect; but if
it is something that a logical mind can understand, I want
to know more about it." You will find persons like that
everywhere. They think this is some new religion, and when
they come to understand that it is absolute science they
are willing to look into it. This man saw the truth when it
was explained to him.
We may nourish a good thing by thinking how good it is--a
beautiful face, a beautiful form, whatever it may be that
is good; but suppose we take the negative side, shall we
then get results also? Yes, absolutely. We shall get just
what we think about. The thought of nourishing is a very
good thought, because it shows us just what we do. Our mind
draws upon the vital forces, and according to physiological
laws we alter our tissues. Either we tear down our bodies
or we build them up.
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Is that all that is necessary? No, that is only one phase
of mind activity. Withdraw the error; then build in the
good. Some people leave out this second step. When you get
into this understanding of the mind it is always good to
use both the denial and the affirmation. Sometimes the
denial will produce wonderful results. But this law of the
mind working on the body is applicable to both the inner
and the outer.
You will get suggestions from newspapers. You may read
about some healing drug and a description of how your cold
is going to develop into pneumonia and then into
consumption if you do not buy some of it. You read the
advertisement, which describes in minute detail how
terrible you feel, and you say, "Yes, that's my case
exactly." If you do this, you will nourish that sick
thought. Is it wise then to let this law of mind operate in
this way? No. Avoid these things. Don't give yourself up to
them.
The universe was not created through illogical assumptions
of law. Law is its foundation. There are no miracles in
science. Jesus did no miracles. All His marvelous works
were done under laws that we may learn and use as He did.
As the body is moved by mind, so the mind is moved by
ideas; and right here in the mind we find the secret of the
universe. This is where Jesus differed from ordinary men:
He knew He was the Son of God; He knew the power of
spiritual ideas to do mighty works: "The Father abiding in
me doeth his works."
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Before you can realize the mighty power of ideas you must
unify them. All must pull together. Get your ideas in
divine order, and a mighty mind force will begin to work
for you right away. This divine order is necessary to the
upbuilding of both mind and body. This divine order is the
"kingdom of heaven" so often referred to by Jesus. To
attain this unity and harmony of mind it is necessary to
have perfect statements of Truth and to adhere to them in
thought and word. States of mind can be set into activity
just as through the manipulation of gases, electricity, and
so forth we may purify or impart certain potencies to the
atmosphere. In a far larger degree ideas change the race
thought atmosphere. Jesus had a grasp of divine ideas, and
if we believe in and follow Him we shall come into the
Christ state of mind. We become like-minded by entering
into the absolute Mind. In the absolute Mind there is only
harmony.
Spirit is a vigorous stimulant. It uplifts the whole
consciousness, vitalizes the organs, and gives us courage
and endurance. It also tends to make one supersensitive. In
this state one is liable to more rapid waste, especially if
fleshly indulgence of any kind is gratified. Failing to
restrain one's passions and appetites quickly burns up the
cells, and then the collapse is even more complete than
before the healing. In order to guard against this students
should be instructed carefully in the truths of Being. They
must learn that "the wages of sin is death," that they must
master their appetites and passions.
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As man unifies his own mind forces in the one Mind his body
is lifted up into a new state of harmony. If he is not
demonstrating this principle, it is because he is not
unified with the one great harmonious Mind. He is not
expressing this Mind as he should because he is not
realizing his oneness with it. Resolve to become one with
God through Christ. Harmonize yourself with Him and all
your world will be in harmony. Be on the alert to see
harmony everywhere. Do not magnify seeming differences. Do
not keep up any petty divisions but continually declare the
one universal harmony. This will insure perfect order and
wholeness. The Christ Mind is here as the unifying
principle of this race, and we must believe in this mind
working in us and through us and know that through it we
are joined to the Father-Mind. That is the Father's house
to which, like the prodigal son, we have all so long been
seeking to return. In the consciousness of the Father-Mind
the unity of God and man is demonstrated.
The fact that you can always return to the Father's house,
the ideal world, carries with it the possibility of
fulfillment in your life expression. In Being you cannot
shirk expression. To think is to express, and you are doing
that without cessation. You may deny that these things of
the world have existence, yet so long as you live in
contact with them you are recognizing their place. A
wholesale denial of their existence keeps you even as a
house divided against itself. A reconciliation must take
place before you can demonstrate the power of the Christ man
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over death. Jesus did not say that His body was nothing,
but He did say, "I have power to lay it down, and I have
power to take it again." He laid it down in corruption and
raised it up in incorruption. He found that His ideal was
not being expressed in the body, which was subject to
decay; so He let the corruptible be crossed out and from
the ruins raised the body of light, which appeared and
disappeared at will. This was the fulfillment of His
ministry and the demonstration of the power of the Spirit
to overcome the last enemy, death.
All men desire to overcome disease and death. The
fulfillment of this desire would be the perpetuation of
existence in form. So in the last analysis we see that we
all want to continue our chain of expression indefinitely,
without break. This has always been the desire of mankind,
and the whole world is today and ever has been fighting
this monster death. Oceans of medicine are swallowed daily,
millions of doctors are exerting all their energies, and
prayers unnumbered are uttered in a blind struggle to
vanquish this dreaded enemy of mankind. This indicates a
most powerful desire to be fulfilled. Jesus showed how it
might be done and gave the recipe. He said, "Verily,
verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my word, he shall
never see death." He also said: "The word which ye hear is
not mine, but the Father's who sent me" and "The words that
I have spoken unto you are spirit, and are life."
There is a chain of mind action connecting cause and effect
in all the activities of life. This chain is
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forged by man, and its links are thoughts, words. Jesus
laid great stress upon the power of the word. Yet He was
wise in the injunction that His words should be kept; that
is, men were to keep before them the ideal that He had.
This realm of the ideal is the realm from which the word
draws its substance, and its character determines the
result.
The "sayings" of Jesus were charged with tremendous
significance. They raised the idea of man and God far above
what had ever before been conceived. They so far
transcended the thought plane of the people that even His
followers could not accept them, and many "walked no more
with him." It is but a few years since the followers of
Jesus began to grasp the power of the word as taught by
Him. Who in the past has taken Jesus literally and sought
to overcome death by keeping His sayings? Many have
believed in His doctrine, and a great ecclesiastical
industry has been built upon it as a foundation; but who
has taken in full faith the words of Jesus and made them
flesh of his flesh and bone of his bone by not only
believing in them but by saturating his mind with them
until they reincarnated themselves in his body? This
achievement is the secret of every spiritual demonstration;
it is not only a concept of what is true of Being but a
carrying out in thought, word, and act of that concept.
If I can conceive a truth, it follows that there is a way
by which I can make it manifest. If I can conceive of
omnipresent life as existing in the omnipresent
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ethers, there is a way by which I can make that life appear
in my body. When once the mind has accepted this as an
axiomatic truth, it has arrived at the point where the
question of procedure arises. No one ever fully sees the
steps he is to take in reaching a goal. He may see in a
general way that he is to go on from one point to another,
but the details are not definitely clear to him unless he
has gone over the ground before. The architect tells the
builder to follow the plans. So in this demonstration of
the spiritual powers that are ready to find expression
through man he must be willing to follow the directions of
one who has proved his efficiency by demonstration.
We all intuitively know that there is something wrong in a
world where poverty, suffering, and sorrow prevail. We
would not, any of us, create such a world. We all want to
see these things blotted out in this world. This is the
index pointing the way to the possibility of doing so.
Whatever we see as wrong is for us to right. Lack of health
is not prevalent in God's universe, and if such lack
appears anywhere it is the work of man, and it is our duty
to do away with it.
There is a way, the "highway of the Lord." Will you take
that way? It is a broad way, and there is room for
everybody. Jesus called it the kingdom of the heavens and
said that "all these things" should be added to those who
sought it. This implies that you do not have fully to enter
this kingdom in order to have the things added, but you do
have to "seek."
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You must turn your attention in the right direction; then
they begin to come to you.
This is being proved by many thousands in this age who have
accepted the promises of Scripture literally and are
looking to God for every need, health included. They may
not in the beginning of the seeking have a single thing to
encourage them. They just accept the promise, proceed to
carry it out in faith, and act as if it were true, and all
at once new life and new strength are theirs. This
encourages them to go on still further in seeking this
kingdom of God, and eventually they will demonstrate the
perfection of Christ.
These are they who have wisely used their one talent. They
may not have caught sight of the holy of holies in the
inner sanctuary, but they are gradually getting closer and
closer to it. This is the step that everybody is commanded
to take. Trust God in all things, and see the result made
apparent by the mental currents that you set going all
about you. You may not be able to point out just how each
separate word of allegiance to the Father took effect, but
as the months go by you will gradually observe the various
changes that are taking place in your mind, body, and
affairs. You will find that your ideas have broadened
immensely to begin with. The little world has been
transformed into a big world. You have begun to think about
realities instead of appearances. Your mind is more alert,
and you can discern when before you were in doubt. Your
body is vital, and you are free from inharmony and weakness.
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You are not so fearful. The consciousness that there is a
divine hand guiding the universe and you has given you a
feeling of security. This has extended to your body and
your affairs. There is an absence of prejudice and
faultfinding in you. You do not judge so harshly. You are
more generous, and others respond by being more generous
too. Things are coming your way now where you once thought
they were blocked.
This is not only true of your own particular life and
affairs, but if you are observing you will notice its
effect in a measure upon those with whom you come in
contact. They are getting more substantially healthy and
happy. They may not in the remotest way connect it with you
or your thoughts, but that does not affect the truth about
it. All things have their cause, and every cause is mental.
Whoever comes in daily contact with a high order of
thinking cannot help but take on some of it. His mind takes
it on unconsciously just as his lungs breathe the air of
the room. Ideas are catching, and no man can live where
true ideas of wholeness and abundance and peace are being
held without becoming more or less infected with them. "For
none of us liveth to himself." Health is the divine
heritage of every human being.
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