Subconscious Religion.
by Russell H. Conwell.
Chapter I
Does G.o.d Answer Christians Only?
What might be the consensus of opinion found in a digest of all the testimonies of mankind cannot be surmised, but it did not appear that G.o.d was "a respecter of persons" through those years of prayer at the Baptist Temple. The prevailing belief, however, was that G.o.d was more willing to answer the sincere disciple than he was to heed the requests of a great sinner. But the fact was also evident that G.o.d does answer the just and the unjust. The a.s.sertion of the blind man before the Pharisees that "G.o.d heareth not sinners" was evidently a quotation from the Pharisees" creed and not a gospel precept. As all have sinned and come short of the glory of G.o.d, no one would be heard if G.o.d would not hear sinners. Jesus was more inclined to heed the requests of John and Peter than he was to listen to the requests of the sacrilegious Sadducee. But a repentant Sadducee would not be neglected, and the fact is apparent that there is a clear distinction between the influence with G.o.d of a righteous man and the influence of a wicked or a frightened sinner.
Here are a few of the testimonies which have a bearing on this important subject. One hardened sinner was so convicted of his completely lost condition that he spent the night in agony, calling on G.o.d for forgiveness. He was determined to fight the battle alone, but his strength failed and he was certain that he was condemned irrevocably to eternal punishment. His prayer availed him nothing. When, at last, he opened his heart to a faithful Christian friend, that friend"s prayer was heard instantaneously, and the seeker knew by an instinct axiomatic that he was received by the Lord.
There is a general belief that G.o.d does hear the pure Christian more readily than he does the vile reprobate. That belief is founded in the moral laws universally recognized in human relations. There may also be a semiscientific reason. The soul which is in tune with the Infinite can more effectively detect and understand the "sound waves" from the spirit world than the soul which is out of tune with G.o.d. In the ma.s.s of the correspondence about which this book is written there are strong testimonies to the necessity and attainableness of a practical harmony with the Spirit of G.o.d. One man who has been long a teacher of psychology wrote that he had made a deliberate test of the matter, and a condensed report of his experience is here given. He sought "to place his soul in communion with G.o.d." He desired that state of spiritual harmony with the divine character which would make him sensitive to every spiritually divine impression. Hence, he prepared himself in this way: he locked himself in his room and gave himself up to the serious business of getting into communication with G.o.d. He began to count his sins of commission and earnestly asking forgiveness; he promised the Lord that he would guard himself against them evermore. He then tried to comprehend the awful list of sins of omission which for a while made him hopeless of G.o.d"s favor. But in deep and prayerful meditation, thinking long on the great mercy of G.o.d and of the propitiation Christ had given, he felt his soul slowly emerge from the slough of despond. Suddenly a strange confidence took possession of his soul and a feeling of glad triumph overcame all doubt of his forgiveness. The a.s.surance that he was getting into harmony with the Spirit of G.o.d became complete. He threw himself across his bed and "let go of himself," making an absolute surrender to the spiritual impressions.
Into such a state the apostles and prophets must have entered to feel the spiritual impulses and see the visions which they recorded. It as an exaltation of the whole being--a temporarily superhuman experience which may be the state of the soul when released from the body. The joy of that hour of oneness with G.o.d cannot be described to one who has not known it. It is higher, purer, more real than other feelings. It is so unlike any other experience on earth. "The soul is lost in G.o.d." The worshiper is outside and above himself. Life gleams as a cloud glows in some heavenly morning. Disease, pain, human limitations, care, or anxiety is nonexistent. A pure peace which pa.s.seth all understanding permeates the whole being. Underneath are the everlasting arms; over him is the spirit face of Christ. But why should he try to convey an idea of that growing answer to his prayer? He knows he is with his Lord. But the less he tries to tell his experience the more confidence his unbelieving friends will have in his sanity. That such harmony with the divine is subject to certain laws is seen in the fact that such elevation of soul is gained only by a full compliance with certain conditions. Some of these conditions are found by experience to be those which are laid down in the Scriptures. The seeker must force out of his heart all malice, jealousy, hate, selfishness, covetousness, unbelief, and give himself up to the opposite feelings. We must go over wholly to pure intentions, holy aspirations, truth-living, kindness, forgiveness, love for all, inflexible adherence to the right, and all in all harmonizing with the divine disposition. Pure holiness must be sought, without which no man can please G.o.d. All those who give themselves over to such a state of surrender to G.o.d have the full a.s.surance of faith which is promised to those who love G.o.d with all their hearts and with all their minds.
Such servants of G.o.d can offer prayer which avail much more than the frightened call of the worldly minded, egotistic, and selfish enemy of good people and good principles. G.o.d loves all men with an everlasting affection. But the kind of intensity of his affection for the saint and the transgressor is quite different. Christ loved the priest and the Levite in a true sense, but he loved the Good Samaritan more. He can love and care for his own without encouraging evil. He could not be just and show no partiality for those who obey him fully. He never fails to hear the cry of any contrite heart, but even among the disciples John was especially beloved.
Chapter II
Conflicting Prayers
This chapter leads into the wilderness. Just beyond it is the insane asylum. The most bewildering, confusing, and dangerous region is the mora.s.s of conflicting prayers. No human theory concerning them is even helpful. The labyrinth is absolutely trackless to the human mind when once the worshiper becomes entangled therein. So we will not attempt to explain any of the even unthinkable intricacies of its strange region.
Nowhere in the Bible does the Lord answer the questions which millions have asked about it. Two persons, equally sincere, pray for success in a matter where the victory of one must be the defeat of the other. Nations at war pray hard and long for victory, and not even G.o.d can answer both.
Something must be taken from one to give to another, while the one in possession is praying that he may keep it. One"s loss is another"s gain.
The employer prays for a profit on his business, and the laborer prays for higher wages. The white man and the colored man prays for his own tribe. The Samaritan and Jew, worshiping the same G.o.d and having the same family inheritance, believe it is a duty to hate each other, and each calls for G.o.d"s curses on the other. Many an honest investigator has entered this region of doubt and mystery and managed to back out while still in his right mind. But he has returned the worse for the experience. All sorts of foolish speculations have been given creedal expression until men have declared, with strange a.s.surance, that man cannot trust his reason or his conscience in any matter. They have tried to prove that the laws of nature are inflexible and that prayer cannot have any influence whatever in current events. Gifted men and women of culture and high purpose have convinced themselves that there is no evil, that men never sin, that the Bible theories concerning prayer are fanciful and too miraculous to be possible. "Too much study hath made thee mad," said the practical Roman to the Apostle Paul. The old Roman had probably seen so many religions that he had no faith in any. The religious maniacs are those men who have broken down their brains by laborious study over these insoluble problems. Therefore, while no one should discourage reasonable research anywhere, and while it is not sacrilegious or foolish to think on these things, it does seem best to admit that to the most faithful Christian there are unsearchable things of G.o.d which he cannot sanely hope to understand in this life. "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts." We cannot expect to achieve a knowledge as great and extensive as that of the Creator, and must be content with our reasonable limitations. "What I do ye know not now, but ye shall know hereafter." Satisfied, then, with the promise of that future full revelation we should study all that Providence places before us for investigation and never let go of what we are sure we do know. We will distinguish, as clearly as possible, between our imagination and our knowledge, and with a level head and our feet on solid ground we will live by a faith that is reasonable and never become blindly reckless.
The lightning struck a tree near a neighbor"s residence last week. He knows that to be a hard fact. He does not know much about the electric currents in the atmosphere, neither does the most experienced scientist; but the neighbor knows that the lightning did splinter that tree. From that fact he entertains a faith in a possible return of that event and by faith he puts up a lightning rod on his barn.
The observer notices that sin brings its own punishment in many cases, and he has faith that such will be the universal experience of the future. So he keeps his soul insured by safe and sane investment in righteousness. Every sane man knows that we must at all times walk largely by faith. Faith is a const.i.tuent part of the natural human const.i.tution. The degree of faith determines the character of the individual. Faith, like water, seeks its level. But the greater its safe elevation, the greater its power. Faith must grow reasonably, like a grain of mustard seed. It also develops mysteriously by natural increase until the fowls of the air nest in its branches and its growing root will cleave off the side of the mountain. The patriot, earnestly seeking victory, lets no possible agency pa.s.s unused to overcome the enemy. When he has prepared fully and laboriously for the battle he will then pray for the help which G.o.d may give him. Even should he strongly doubt that the Great Power moving on events beyond his knowledge can or will hear him, yet he will not fail to pray. Any man who calls on the Christian"s G.o.d will not ask him to aid an unholy cause. A murderer seeking an opportunity to kill will not call on G.o.d for aid. The thief ever fears some providential interference with his plans. The Christian ever hopes for G.o.d"s aid, and asks for it because his aim is a G.o.dly one.
Herein is found the safe position for the believer to take. We can pray for the heathen, although they do pray against their own good. We can pray for victory in some holy war, because the enemy are praying really against their own good. Because their cause is unrighteous, their victory would be a great loss to them. Hence, even the great prayers which sublimely pet.i.tion for the nations, and which include the whole world in their range of vision, are consistent only when man realizes his weakness and his ignorance, and adds to every prayer the reservation, "nevertheless, not my will but thine be done."
He is the wisest servant of G.o.d who can pray from the camp that he may conquer if his cause be really just. The preacher who enters his pulpit with an almost agonizing prayer that G.o.d would aid him in his presentation of the Christ to men must ever ask that G.o.d will turn aside any arrow which would do harm to the cause. In his ignorance or weakness he may mistake the Gospel message, or may not present the whole truth, and he must ever ask that, whether he gain or lose in the esteem of his congregation, the truth shall always prevail. Christian nations are often wrong in their diplomacy or in their wars, as they discover after a while. The Lord, therefore, gave them that for which they would have asked had their hearts been right with G.o.d and their intentions been Christlike toward men.
Sometime we shall understand. But now the seeming inconsistency of asking the Lord to aid his own cause, or praying that Christ may soon come into his own kingdom, is ever a stumbling block to the doubtful ones. If the Lord has all power and has a sincere desire to make the world good, why does he not do it by one sweep of his hand or by one magic word? What is the reason for his commandment to pray to him and to ask him to do that which he wishes to do and can do himself? All these questions lead into the wilderness. We do not know. We cannot suggest any hypothesis which would make the sovereignty of G.o.d and the free will of man reconcilable. Man"s mind is so constructed that it is impossible to believe that the Creator controls all things and arranges the details of even our thoughts and yet leaves man free to choose to defeat the Lord by his own thoughts and actions. It is impossible fully to believe that man can voluntarily do evil without in some way interfering with the designs and power of G.o.d. If G.o.d undertakes to save the world, and "would not that any should perish," but that all should come unto him and live, and yet sinful man can defeat or hinder the accomplishment of his purpose, then the thinker must conclude that G.o.d is not supreme. Yet when we keep our minds within their reasonable limits and fall back on our common sense we must believe that G.o.d is all-powerful and also that man is free to be sinful. The facts are actual facts, although we cannot reconcile them. There is but little we frail mortals can understand about such matters. Let us, therefore, carefully hold to the facts which we can comprehend, and never a.s.sume that things which are, surely are not, or that things which are not, most surely are. There was a bowlder in the highway yesterday. We don"t know how it came to be there. We know it should not be there. But there it is, and he would be idiotic who tried to go on as if the stone were not there. Behold! there is set before every man good and evil. "Choose good that thou and thy seed may live." We know that in a thousand matters we can choose the good or choose the evil. We see also that liberty is limited by great laws and there are a myriad of things a man cannot possibly do and about which he has no choice. When a man reaches those limitations his responsibility for choosing ceases.
With these simple facts the teaching of the Bible is fully in accord.
The necessity for sustenance and protection beyond our ability to supply is ever a great apparent fact. The recognition of that fact leads the thoughtful man to prayer. Let us, therefore, have a care not to venture too far into the wilderness of the seeming theological inconsistencies.
That G.o.d does answer men and women, thousands can testify. They have tried it fully. They cannot explain why G.o.d thus works out his complicated schemes, but they know that he does work in that way. It is established fact. The Great Teacher and Saviour also prayed. That is enough.
Chapter III
Subconscious Religion
In Leipzig, Germany, in 1866 there stood an old three-story mansion, used as a manufactory of mechanical toys. An American student attending the university was invited to visit the showrooms in the upper story and became intently interested in the surprising exhibition of inventive genius. As the visitor descended to the second and first floors he visited the rooms where machinery of many kinds was turning out various parts of the toys. But when he ventured to descend to the cellar to look at the power plant he found "No admission" on every door. But he was more disappointed when he was told that the "designing room," where the toys were invented and the drawings made, was in the subcellar. In order to preserve their patents and their secret processes, even the workmen on the upper floors were forbidden ever to look into the subcellar.
That ill.u.s.trative fact came forcibly to mind when meditating long over a letter written by a praying student and author who said that he felt sure that the only direct pa.s.sage between the human soul and the world spirits is through the subconscious mind. From that subcellar of the soul come ideas, impulses, and suggestions which most largely influence our actions. But we are forbidden to enter that department to examine the plans or listen to the wireless dispatches from the spirit world so continuously received there. "No admission" is posted on every door to the subcellar designing room of the human soul. We get the blue prints of new plans, or read suggestions for new or improved work sent up to our brains. But who makes them we do not know. In the impenetrable regions of our mental and spiritual nature are formulated many ideas and moral laws which we must blindly obey. A man is what he thinks, and the larger portion of his thinking is originated or molded in his subconscious self. That is evidently the meaning of the reference by Peter to the "hidden man of the heart." It is amazing to the careful student of our mental const.i.tution to find out how meager is the part of our thinking which originates in the suggestions of our five senses.
From the Grecian and German philosophers some psychologists derived the hypothesis that the subconscious self is only the aggregation of all the faint or half-formed ideas which are not strong enough to force themselves up into full recognition by the brain. Consciousness includes only those thoughts which the brain accepts and uses in positive action.
That theory seems to be in a measure, true. There are faint suggestions and half-formed motives of which we catch glimpses and which never seem to be fully developed. Also the natural instincts of our animal nature still continue and persist in our higher station in the creative order.
It can be noted by anyone that perhaps not one in a thousand of our muscular contractions or of our decided actions is consciously dictated by our will. The human race is seemingly, in a large measure, a collection of automatons. We are generally moved about by powers and mechanisms beyond our comprehension and are unconsciously working out designs in the making of which we have no consciously important part.
It is difficult to write clearly on such a subtle theme or explain what is known concerning autosuggestion or explain the laws which, in a measure, control the unconscious part of human life without using technical terms or scientific formulas beyond the understanding of the everyday reader. But, plainly stated, a human being uses but a small inclosure in which he can move on his own conscious volition. We are fearfully and wonderfully made. "What I would not that I do and what I would that I do not" was not the exclusive experience of the Apostle Paul. But it is the common experience of all mankind. A man"s thoughts, happiness, and usefulness are the products of his moral character. His "subconscious self" is his real character. What one does consciously may not represent his real character, but that which he does without meditation or conscious limitation represents the true disposition or tendency of his real nature. Inasmuch as ye are disposed by nature or by second nature to be a good Samaritan or to aid "the least of these," ye have lived a continual good deed for the Master. The redeemed soul is one whose permanent disposition, called his "subconscious" or "subliminal self," is controlled by the magnetic influence of the spirit of truth and goodness. The few matters on which the brain acts directly are the deeds of the conscious mind. They are controlled by the will and reasoning powers of the independent portion of man"s being. They may or may not accord with the heart"s general impulses or they may be the direct product of the heart"s purposes. The will and the subconscious self interact, each influencing the other. This thought presents "a logical contradiction" which has puzzled many great minds.
But our appeal here is to the everyday experience of sincere, truthful Christians concerning their communication with G.o.d through the subconscious mind. One writer states that she has often received trustworthy messages from the spirit world in dreams and in unusual impressions during waking hours. This statement often arouses the general prejudice which some of the extreme spiritualists or deceivers have brought upon the theory of mental communication with the departed; but it should be examined on its own merits without bias. The testimony of the millions who believe or hope that they have had messages from their beloved who have gone on before counts for much and is not a testimony confined to professional mediums. The rejection of the theory that it is possible for angel beings to communicate with mortals, and that they are sent of G.o.d to do so, involves the rejection of the whole Bible as a divinely truthful Book. If there is no open path through the subconscious self to the spirit world, then the recorded visits of the Holy Spirit to the hearts of men are only idle tales. The disbelief in the soul"s ability to hear heavenly voices or receive spiritual suggestions from other spirits would destroy all trust in supernatural religions. G.o.d does speak to man in the events and laws of the material life, and he also speaks to us in the "quiet, small voice" as he did to Elijah at Sinai. There appears to be no alternative but to believe in that declaration, for to reject it is to reject the whole body of Christian teaching. We will not entertain such a suicidal proposition.
The indestructible spirit body is the same being and possesses the same characteristics in the material body that it possesses when separated from this limiting framework of the earthly body. It is indestructible, but it can be modified in disposition while in this body. That statement, for the sake of brevity, is mentioned dogmatically, but it will be ill.u.s.trated by the following testimonials.
One writer who evidently has been reared to believe sincerely in "emotional religion," who shouts and groans and wrings his hands at any devotional meeting, but whose probity and strong good sense are the admiration of his friends, states that he knows "that his Redeemer liveth, by the direct a.s.surance of the Spirit." He claims that when a man tells him a lie he feels the presence of evil. He testifies that in his most exalted moments following a season of fervent prayer he knows what it is to realize the fact that he lives and moves and has his being in G.o.d.
There are thousands of men and women whose wild behavior in religious meetings is only the natural evidence of a disordered mind. The negro camp meeting and the whirling of the Egyptian dervishes seem to be much alike in their manner of working up a religious excitement. The unbalanced mental condition of some truly honest worshipers causes distrust of others whose good sense in other matters is never questioned.
Other writers tell of their experience of some overpowering emotion which came so logically in answer to their prayer that they cannot doubt that such was truly the fact. A man prayed that he might be protected through the night. He awakened from sleep, moved by an "inward impulse"
irresistible, and went to the barn to find, as he opened the stable door, a little blaze creeping toward the haymow. It was easily extinguished then, but ten minutes later would have been entirely beyond control. The fire was caused by a lighted cigar dropped carelessly on the stable floor near the horses. Another writes that he is naturally emotional and dares not trust himself on any pinnacle, as he always feels when on any high place a strange desire to leap off in suicide.
He states that the sensitiveness of his emotional nature becomes most acute in religious gatherings, and that he has never found himself mistaken when he has followed the leadings of that spirit. His wife writes that he had, for years, planted the crops which he "felt like planting" after attending a religious meeting. She adds that while, at first, she had regarded his "moods" as accidental emotions, she had learned that his crops planted in those moods were always profitable investments. Another who had been trained in the Friends" meeting to wait for the Spirit to move him went so far as to wait for the same impulse in all his undertakings. He tried to lay his business ventures before the Lord in silent prayer and then go in the direction the Spirit indicated. He related how, when once he was lost in a thick forest on a cloudy day, he prayed until his "sense of direction" became so clear that he started with closed eyes to take the direction toward which his inward impression impelled him.
Another acted always on the impulse of the moment in speaking to a friend or to a stranger upon religious matters. Another wrote that she had observed for many years that the praying housekeepers were guided in their work by the most trustworthy intuitions. Few is the number of women who guide their domestic affairs by the rules of cold science, and the larger part of a mother"s movements in the care of her children are the unconscious results of special intuition. She claims that in the intuitional nature of the human soul there is such nearness to the divine nature that the especially sensitive soul "feels impulses from across the border."
Here, again, after a day"s study of the many accounts concerning the impulses awakened by prayer, we lay down the correspondence with a sigh of regret that nothing absolutely conclusive for or against prayer is to be found. We must still believe or disbelieve according to the measure of faith. In the courts of law attorneys often establish their cases by the use of what is termed "c.u.mulative evidence," where they secure the testimony of many witnesses to the same fact. If that custom be applied to the establishment of the fact that emotions and impulses are sent in answer to prayer the number in its favor would be overwhelming. Down in the subcellar of the mind there may be a tunnel leading through to the palace of G.o.d. Millions believe that is a fact. No one can prove it is not so. Therefore, with the reasonable student, the testimony of the many will still be considered trustworthy. The soul of G.o.d speaketh often to the soul of man. A great writer on secular subjects confirmed the general impression when he forcibly wrote, "You can get almost anything you want, if you only want it hard enough, and long enough, and with faith enough."
Chapter IV
Praying for Visions of Heaven
A st.u.r.dy young farmer"s boy who had inherited a strong body, a clear mind, and a good family name sat under a maple tree in the hayfield at the hot noontide. He was eating a cold lunch and at the same time reading an article in the weekly paper. The editor had written an editorial on the romantic history of the poor country boys who had risen to world-wide fame and to enormous riches. When he had reread the article he tossed the paper aside, lay back on the odorous new-mown gra.s.s, looked up at the deep-blue sky, and watched the pa.s.sing of a pure-white cloud. A vision of what the world might be to him came in a dreamy way. Other boys as poor as he had graduated from college, had made great scientific discoveries, had married rich and beautiful women, had traveled in far countries, had feasted with kings, had held high office, and had written great books. Why could not he follow their example? It seemed impossible, and with a deep sigh he arose and seized his scythe.
But the vision could not be obscured. As his strong muscles drove the sharp blade through the thick gra.s.s he kept muttering to himself, debating pro and con the possibility of an ignorant farmer, living far away from city civilization, and too far from a railroad to hear the whistle, to become powerful in national affairs. How did they start?
What did they do first? When his return swath brought him again near the shade of the tree where he had eaten his lunch he caught up the weekly paper and read again the editorial. Then he left his scythe in the gra.s.s and went into the shade, leaned against the gnarled trunk of the old tree, and, wholly engrossed in earnest thought, forgot his work. He reviewed his own simple life and examined his own plans and ambitions.
He had expected to marry some one of the strong, sensible, country girls and bring her home to live with the old folks, as his father had done. He had a dim idea that he would inherit the old, stony farm some day. He had a latent ambition to raise more corn than his father had raised and to clear a large piece of woodland which for centuries had hidden the mountain side. He would build an addition to the stable and put in a new pair of bars near the brook where the cattle went to drink in winter. He had also a half-formed purpose to join the local church, and perhaps some day he would be an elder.
At last he aroused himself and, with a half-angry impulse, he began to strike the gra.s.s with his scythe as if the gra.s.s were some sneaking enemy. He could not arouse again the sweet content of the forenoon. He had caught a glimpse of that far-away land, and while he did not hope ever to enter it, yet the thought disturbed him.
The next Sunday the echo of the old church bell, along the narrow, but beautiful, Berkshire valleys, called him to church. The cows were milked and fed, the old horse curried, and the ch.o.r.es hastily finished when he ran down the road to overtake the old folks. But the grand forest, the sheening, cascading brook, and the brown fields were not the same to him that they were the day before. The cows and horses in the pastures near the road had lost their fascination and value. The hills seemed lower and the grain fields more narrow, the cottages seemed shrunken, and the old church was but an awkwardly built bungalow. All had changed. His clothing was coa.r.s.er woven and the most attractive girls in their Sunday attire were rude specimens of country verdancy.
As if by a preconceived purpose to accelerate his sweeping mental changes the preacher that morning took his text from the Proverbs of Solomon, wherein he stated that wisdom is more valuable than gold or rubies. The speaker ill.u.s.trated his sermon by showing the value of an education. He mentioned the happiness of the men and women who knew the structure of vegetation, of animals, and the laws which control their life. He mentioned cases of self-made men who had read good books and whose minds could walk with G.o.d through his wonderful natural creations.