The Intelligent Substance, from which all things are made, permeates and penetrates all things; and so it is in and through your body. It moves according to its thoughts; and so if you hold only the thoughts of perfectly healthy function, it will cause the movements of perfectly healthy function within you.
Hold with persistence to the thought of perfect health in relation to yourself; do not permit yourself to think in any other way. Hold this thought with perfect faith that it is the fact, the truth. It is the truth so far as your mental body is concerned. You have a mind-body and a physical body; the mind-body takes form just as you think of yourself, and any thought which you hold continuously is made visible by the transformation of the physical body into its image. Implanting the thought of perfect functioning in the mind-body will, in due time, cause perfect functioning in the physical body.
The transformation of the physical body into the image of the ideal held by the mind-body is not accomplished instantaneously; we cannot transfigure our physical bodies at will as Jesus did. In the creation and recreation of forms, Substance moves along the fixed lines of growth it has established; and the impression upon it of the health thought causes the healthy body to be built cell by cell. Holding only thoughts of perfect health will ultimately cause perfect functioning; and perfect functioning will in due time produce a perfectly healthy body. It may be as well to condense this chapter into a syllabus:--
_Your physical body is permeated and fitted with an Intelligent Substance, which forms a body of mind-stuff. This mind-stuff controls the functioning of your physical body. A thought of disease or of imperfect function, impressed upon the mind-stuff, causes disease or imperfect functioning in the physical body.
If you are diseased, it is because wrong thoughts have made impressions on this mind-stuff; these may have been either your own thoughts or those of your parents; we begin life with many sub-conscious impressions, both right and wrong. But the natural tendency of all mind is toward health, and if no thoughts are held in the conscious mind save those of health, all internal functioning will come to be performed in a perfectly healthy manner._
_The Power of Nature within you is sufficient to overcome all hereditary impressions, and if you will learn to control your thoughts, so that you shall think only those of health, and if you will perform the voluntary functions of life in a perfectly healthy way, you can certainly be well._
CHAPTER V.
FAITH.
The Principle of Health is moved by Faith; nothing else can call it into action, and only faith can enable you to relate yourself to health, and sever your relation with disease, in your thoughts.
You will continue to think of disease unless you have faith in health.
If you do not have faith you will doubt; if you doubt, you will fear; and if you fear, you will relate yourself in mind to that which you fear.
If you fear disease, you will think of yourself in connection with disease; and that will produce within yourself the form and motions of disease. Just as Original Substance creates from itself the forms of its thoughts, so your mind-body, which is original substance, takes the form and motion of whatever you think about. If you fear disease, dread disease, have doubts about your safety from disease, or if you even contemplate disease, you will connect yourself with it and create its forms and motions within you.
Let me enlarge somewhat upon this point. The potency, or creative power, of a thought is given to it _by the faith that is in it_.
Thoughts which contain no faith create no forms.
The Formless Substance, which knows all truth and therefore thinks only truth, has perfect faith in every thought, because it thinks only truth; and so all its thoughts create.
But if you will imagine a thought in Formless Substance in which there was no faith, you will see that such a thought could not cause the Substance to move or take form.
Keep in mind the fact that only those thoughts which are conceived in faith have creative energy. Only those thoughts which have faith with them are able to change function, or to quicken the Principle of Health into activity.
If you do not have faith in health, you will certainly have faith in disease. If you do not have faith in health, it will do you no good to think about health, for your thoughts will have no potency, and will cause no change for the better in your conditions. If you do not have faith in health, I repeat, you will have faith in disease; and if, under such conditions, you think about health for ten hours a day, and think about disease for only a few minutes, the disease thought will control your condition because it will have the potency of faith, while the health thought will not. Your mind-body will take on the form and motions of disease and retain them, because your health thought will not have sufficient dynamic force to change form or motion.
In order to practice the Science of Being Well, you must have complete faith in health.
Faith begins in belief; and we now come to the question: _What must you believe in order to have faith in health?_
You must believe that there is more health-power than disease-power in both yourself and your environment; and you cannot help believing this if you consider the facts. These are the facts:--
_There is a Thinking Substance from which all things are made, and which, in its original state, permeates, penetrates, and fills the inters.p.a.ces of the universe._
_The thought of a form, in this Substance, produces the form; the thought of a motion inst.i.tutes the motion. In relation to man, the thoughts of Original Substance are always of perfect health and perfect functioning. This Substance, within and without man, always exerts its power toward health._
_Man is a thinking center, capable of original thought. He has a mind-body of Original Substance permeating a physical body; and the functioning of his physical body is determined by the FAITH of his mind-body. If man thinks with faith of the functioning of health, he will cause his internal functions to be performed in a healthy manner, provided that he performs the external functions in a corresponding manner. But if man thinks, with faith, of disease, or of the power of disease, he will cause his internal functioning to be the functioning of disease._
_The Original Intelligent Substance is in man, moving toward health; and it is pressing upon him from every side. Man lives, moves, and has his being in a limitless ocean of health-power; and he uses this power according to his faith. If he appropriates it and applies it to himself it is all his; and if he unifies himself with it by unquestioning faith, he cannot fail to attain health, for the power of this Substance is all the power there is._
A belief in the above statements is a foundation for faith in health. If you believe them, you believe that health is the natural state of man, and that man lives in the midst of Universal Health; that all the power of nature makes for health, and that health is possible to all, and can surely be attained by all. You will believe that the power of health in the universe is ten thousand times greater than that of disease; in fact, that disease has no power whatever, being only the result of perverted thought and faith. And if you believe that health is possible to you, and that it may surely be attained by you, and that you know exactly what to do in order to attain it, you will have faith in health.
You will have this faith and knowledge if you read this book through with care and determine to believe in and practice its teachings.
It is not merely the possession of faith, but the personal application of faith which works healing. You must claim health in the beginning, and form a conception of health, and, as far as may be, of yourself as a perfectly healthy person; and then, by faith, you must claim that you ARE REALIZING this conception.
Do not a.s.sert with faith that you are going to get well; a.s.sert with faith that you ARE well.
Having faith in health, and applying it to yourself, means having faith that you are healthy; _and the first step in this is to claim that it is the truth_.
Mentally take the att.i.tude of being well, and do not say anything or do anything which contradicts this att.i.tude. Never speak a word or a.s.sume a physical att.i.tude which does not harmonize with the claim: "I am perfectly well." When you walk, go with a brisk step, and with your chest thrown out and your head held up; watch that at all times your physical actions and att.i.tudes are those of a healthy person. When you find that you have relapsed into the att.i.tude of weakness or disease, change instantly; straighten up; think of health and power. Refuse to consider yourself as other than a perfectly healthy person.
One great aid--perhaps the greatest aid--in applying your faith you will find in the exercise of grat.i.tude.
Whenever you think of yourself, or of your advancing condition, give thanks to the Great Intelligent Substance for the perfect health you are enjoying.
Remember that, as Swedenborg taught, there is a continual inflow of life from the Supreme, which is received by all created things according to their forms; and by man according to his faith. Health from G.o.d is continually being urged upon you; and when you think of this, lift up your mind reverently to Him, and give thanks that you have been led to the Truth and into perfect health of mind and body. Be, all the time, in a grateful frame of mind, and let grat.i.tude be evident in your speech.
Grat.i.tude will help you to own and control your own field of thought.
Whenever the thought of disease is presented to you, instantly claim health, and thank G.o.d for the perfect health you have. Do this so that there shall be no room in your mind for a thought of ill. Every thought connected in any way with ill health is unwelcome, and you can close the door of your mind in its face by a.s.serting that you are well, and by reverently thanking G.o.d that it is so. Soon the old thoughts will return no more.
Grat.i.tude has a twofold effect; it strengthens your own faith, and it brings you into close and harmonious relations with the Supreme. You believe that there is one Intelligent Substance from which all life and all power come; you believe that you receive your own life from this substance; and you relate yourself closely to It by feeling continuous grat.i.tude. It is easy to see that the more closely you relate yourself to the Source of Life the more readily you may receive life from it; and it is easy also to see that your relation to It is a matter of mental att.i.tude. We cannot come into physical relationship with G.o.d, for G.o.d is mind-stuff and we also are mind-stuff; our relation with Him must therefore be a mind relation. It is plain, then, that the man who feels deep and hearty grat.i.tude will live in closer touch with G.o.d than the man who never looks up to Him in thankfulness. The ungrateful or unthankful mind really denies that it receives at all, and so cuts its connection with the Supreme. The grateful mind is always looking toward the Supreme, and is always open to receive from it; and it will receive continually.
_The Principle of Health in man receives its vital power from the Principle of Life in the universe; and man relates himself to the Principle of Life by faith in health, and by grat.i.tude for the health he receives._
_Man may cultivate both faith and grat.i.tude by the proper use of his will._
CHAPTER VI.
USE OF THE WILL.
In the practice of the Science of Being Well the will is not used to compel yourself to go when you are not really able to go, or to do things when you are not physically strong enough to do them. You do not direct your will upon your physical body or try to compel the proper performance of internal function by will power.
_You direct the will upon the mind, and use it in determining what you shall believe, what you shall think, and to what you shall give your attention._
The will should never be used upon any person or thing external to you, and it should never be used upon your own body. The sole legitimate use of the will is in determining to what you shall give your attention, and what you shall think about the things to which your attention is given.
All belief begins in the will to believe.
You cannot always and instantly believe what you will to believe; but you can always will to believe what you want to believe. You want to believe truth about health, and you can will to do so. The statements you have been reading in this book are the truth about health, and you can will to believe them; this must be your first step toward getting well.
These are the statements you must will to believe:--
_That there is a Thinking Substance from which all things are made, and that man receives the Principle of Health, which is his life, from this Substance._