Your right to be happy

Foreword

IN republishing this book it is believed that its message is vital for the present day. Never was humanity in greater need of understanding and applying the teaching of Jesus Christ. Modern psychology is exploring the deeper regions of the mind and is making known the causes and results of mental action. The importance of right thinking is- becoming more apparent to all. In the last analysis true happiness is dependent upon freedom of spirit. Only the power of Christ can really deliver a person from the bondage of his own mistaken thought and action, and from that of others. Just as scientifically and certainly today as nineteen hundred years ago, *Hhe Truth shall make you free.^^ World conditions can only become right as individuals awaken to fellowship with God and to cooperation on this basis with one another.

V vi FOREWORD

We are learning much about the psychic realm and our relation with the unseen. Mastery in this, as in the outward world, is dependent upon spiritual laws. We may increasingly learn these for ourselves if we are willing to be taught by the spirit of Christ. Thought communication has already been proven a scientific fact by many in their own experience, and true love knows no barriers in God's universe. We are all one family and we may become spiritually conscious of this if we are willing to live in harmony with our Father.

The spiritual problem of today is an educational one. How may we create channels of thought in ourselves and in others through which life-giving spiritual influence may come. The truth which Christ taught in simple language has the greatest transforming power, but to get the attention of many it must be restated in a modern scientific manner. All who have seen deeply, realize that true religion and true science are one, for they express the thought and action of one spiritual being whom we recognize as our Father. The life and the teaching

FOREWORD vii

of Christ are susceptible to the deepest scientific analysis, but in their fullness they can never be measured. Our insight into the higher spiritual laws, or God^s way of working, is dependent upon the degree to which we admit Him to our hearts and lives. Only as the evernew life of God becomes a conscious reality in our daily living, can we go forward with peace and joy in the service of God and our fellow men. As an aid to spiritual realization and progress this book will be of service to many.

Le Roy Jeffers.

Preface

A SERIES of addresses that proved helpful to many who heard them were so commended that the author yielded to the many requests to have them printed, that a larger audience might profit by them. This book is an outcome of many years of experience, practice, and study, especially study of the Greek New Testament in connection with that of such remarkable persons as George Miiller, Dr. CuUis, Dorothea Triidel, and many others whose lives of prayer have shown wonderful works, or demonstrations, if that word be preferred.

The reality of the spiritual world and its essential relation to what is called the material world must, in the progressive unfoldment of human life and possibility, become increasingly the reliance of all mankind in meeting the issues of daily life, experience, and service. Man in his ages of progress has grown, and in growing

iz

X PREFACE

has outgrown many things and grown into many other things. The vision of what ought to be lures us to use all right means to make what ought to be to become manifest as we work together with God as his children. Science, so marvelous in its achievements in many other lines, must do its proper work in spiritual lines, to the inestimable good of mankind, and to the establishing of that order of things called the Kingdom of God on the earth. Once let mankind turn to spiritual things and their practical use, as already to material, and a progress will result surpassing all our present conception. The universe is a unity throughout.

To help in some small measure such a development of the unknown but spiritually conceived results, this book is brought to the hands and the use of those who wish to take part in the great development, beginning in their own selves the spiritual work.

F. S. Van EPS.

Contents

PAGE

I. Rejoice 1

II. The Consciousness of God .... 30

II THE CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD "The Lord Is at hand/'

WHETHER Panl meant Christ or God makes little difference to ns, so far as onr study of the way of life and of happiness is concerned. If we were merely interpreting his words to ascertain what he had in mind and wished to convey, it would be important to decide the meaning and reference of "the Lord.'' Our purpose, however, is not merely exegetical ; on the contrary, it is to get out of the words the suggestion which they may afford.

There is nothing to hinder our seeing in these words even greater meaning than Paul saw when he wrote them, a fulness of meaning greater than at first appears. Their value to us is what they mean to us; and this is not limited to what the writer had in mind, but it extends also to what they suggest to us, what they set us to thinking and doing. Often the suggestion of a passage is greater than the strict meaning of the words. While one reads, if he watches himself closely, he will find that some passages seem to have a meaning which the printed page does not show. A reader often gets from what he reads much that the writer did not have in mind at all. So also a hearer gets more of personal value to himself than the speaker means by the words that he speaks. The suggestion and the awakening may be more than the actual meaning of the words. This is where the Holy Spirit's work is especially manifest. Read Peter ^s address at Pentecost and that after his healing the man at the gate of the temple. What struck the people with such power that the church had thousands added to its members at once? The addresses were simple, the mere story of the Christ. The results were all out of proportion to the apparent cause; but the Holy Spirit, through the awakening of suggestions in the hearers, produced the marvelous results.

One Sunday, in the course of his sermon, a pastor spoke in a certain way the words, ^^Not yet/^ A member of that church, a business man, felt the effect of those two words in connection with some important matters in his business, and they led to the solution of perplexing problems that had for some time weighed heavily upon his mind. The pastor knew nothing of what was taking place in his listener, nor did any one else in the church. The suggestion and application of the words were greater than the statement in which they occurred. To the hearer they had a special meaning which the speaker did not have in mind at the time.

The suggestion and helpfulness of Paul's words are great. That God should be near at hand is not strange, since he is omnipresent; and that he who said, ^^I am with you all the days, even to the consummation of the age,'' should be at hand manifesting himself as he promised, is what we should expect. That the Infinite should reveal himself to the finite being whom he created in his own likeness comes to us as an inference from the very fact of that likeness. Because human beings are alike, they are drawn into social relations. The affinity of man to God accounts for man's natural craving for the society of the Infinite and his never being satisfied until he has found and realizes this supreme requirement of his being. So the assurance of the nearness of this Being is and must be full of suggestion and help.

1. The words suggest that, if the divine Being is at hand or near, it is possible for us to realize this presence and receive benefit from it. Already the way to realize the presence has been partly explained. Go away by yourself in some place in which you will be without interruption. As God is a spirit and man is like him, it must be in the spirit that communion and realization must take place. That about one which thinks, feels, and wills is the spirit, the essential self. The higher sensibility through which the consciousness of God is possible is finer than the five senses through which we become conscious of external objects ; and incidentally we may remark that the higher sensibility is more reliable, because it brings to our knowledge absolute truth and is never mistaken. One is not mistaken in what he perceives through intuition. One may question whether he sees a real scene or a mirage, or whether any phenomenon perceived by means of the senses is a reality ; but he can not question the reality of himself. The self is known by means of intuition; and Grod is known by means of the same.

Withdraw your attention from the senses, and get just as still in your mind as you can. Let down and let go; let yourself stop thinking as nearly as possible. No one can stop the mind^s action; but, just as one can close his eyes and concentrate upon hearing, so can he withdraw attention from one way of perceiving and concentrate upon another. Do not try force, but repose. Hold yourself in a receptive attitude and let the realization come to you, let the divine inflowing take place. If you go to sleep, it will not be strange, for the suspension of consciousness in hoth is similar ; but presently you will make a turn, and when you withdraw attention from the senses you will find a higher activity attracting your attention and upon this you will concentrate. In sense-perception, we are passive to external vibrations, as of sound ; and we are active in taking in and understanding them. So, in this higher perceptive power, we are passive and receptive to the vibrations or emanations from the Infinite, and active in taking them into ourselves so that they become our own ideas, feelings, and purposes. Practice in this line makes it easy and delightful, and, if necessary, it becomes expeditious. It can be very quick.

2. Again, the words suggest that, if God is near, we have reason to rejoice; for when one realizes the presence and fulness of the supreme want of the soul, there can be no place or time for anything but joy and rejoicing. The very ground and condition of all happiness and satisfaction is present. Besides, as one rejoices in the Lord all the time, he keeps the consciousness of God as a permanent state, a ceaseless experience.

3. Still further, since the divine presence is an assured fact, there can be no reason for anxious thought of any kind. Is not the Creator and Euler of the universe right here ? It is not as if God were off in the heavens and had to come to onr assistance when we call, or things might go wrong in his absence. There is no absence of God in fact; what has seemed his absence is only man's not recognizing him. The sun always shines ; but the earth turns now one side and now the other towards the sun. It is our turning our thought from God that makes it seem as if he had turned away from us. The true ground of complacency and trust is the consciousness of God as a living reality. If we will only dwell upon this sublime fact, hold our attention upon it, until we have concentrated the entire energy of the spirit upon it, we shall experience a sense of repose and security which nothing else can produce. God right at hand, Oronipotence surrounding and filling us as the air surrounds and fills us. Where can be danger or difficulty?

In this secret communion with the Father we receive that recompense which satisfies. Here is the secret of true inspiration. As you place yourself where the sun shines upon you and in

T^E CONSCIOUSNESS OF GOD 37

you, lighting and warming you; so place yourself where the Being who is infinite wisdom and love may pour into your entire being the illumination of the Spirit, the divine and life-giving warmth of infinite love. Faith is this susceptibility to the Spirit's action; so it is easy to see how the marvelous works which have been called miracles are attributed to faith and are said to be done by means of divine power. In this attitude of complete susceptibility, that power finds no resistance in one, and he becomes a conductor of divine power.

When one seeks this spiritual communion and becomes susceptible, the first experience may be accompanied by disturbance of mind, body, and circumstances. Should this be your experience, be assured of this, thai the power that is working in you is bringing things into harmony in you ; and so these outward and inward disturbances are the obstructions being removed, the jarring and the tearing loose of whatever does not conform to the higher power. Soon all becomes harmonious. The brook is disturbed where it flows over obstructions. What are the obstructions in one ? Such things as are called doubts, distrust, fears^ set opinions, prejudices, and unwillingness. Willingness is a great help to all advancement; a conductor of all good. Through this its perfect manifestatioij takes place.

If you look at your New Testament, you will find that where it reads in the text ^^ coming'' it reads in the margin *^ presence.'' The word in the original does often refer to the presence of one coming; but its primary meaning is ^^ being by or near," and so, ^^ presence." It is the realization of the actual being beside or by one that constitutes the consciousness of God which makes rejoicing easy and anxiety impossible.

The constant practice of getting this realization of the divine keeps life perpetually full and bounding. Make a practice of this silent communion every day and many times a day. It is well to take an hour in the morning, even if one has to get up early to do so. It is better rest and recuperation than sleep; because sleep is natural, and this rest and this restoration are supernatural. Sleep is an unconscious surrender to the vital contact with the Creator; this silent commnnion is conscious surrender to the inflowing of eternal life. The former is natural ; the latter supernatural. Since the very nature of God is spirit, and man is created like him, nothing can be plainer than that all communion between God and man must be in spirit and reality. It is therefore necessary to retire into the secret chamber or inner sanctuary of one's own spirit where he is in vital contact with the infinite Spirit, if one is to realize God as present, if he is to be led by the Spirit of the truth into all the truth, if he is to realize the coming of the risen Christ, if he is to experience the baptism of the Holy Spirit. We must get still outside and inside, relax from all tension and strain. As we suspend consciousness of the outer, we awaken consciousness of the inner and concentrate upon it.

It must not surprise us, if, when we first attempt this silence, and even for some time, it seems as if our thoughts are all in a riot, and that they are more noisy and tumultuous than we have ever known them to be. It is only that we are now for the first time looking into a region of our being which we have not known, and we have not before known what was going on there. Now we mnst learn that divine presence which brings to ns the peace of God which will keep our heart, all this region into which we are looking, and all our thoughts, all these activities that seem so riotous, bringing all into order and harmony. If we are going to give ourselves to God for direction and power, our entire being must be brought under the discipline of obedience. If we remain faithful, we shall find all this done for us. Paul brings up the same thing in speaking of ^^ warring and throwing down reasoning and every high thing that is exalted against the knowledge of God, and bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of the Christ.'' Victory must begin right here, in one's self.

While one is in this state of inward spiritual concentration, in this secret room, a strong sense comes^ of Another as present, unseen by means of the eye, unheard by means of the ear, and yet near; nearer than any external object, near as the self to itself, and known as the self is known, with absolute certainty, by means of the intuition. There is an awakening in one's self of intelligence, feeling, and will ; of the entire being as spiritual and like God; and the effect is beyond description. It is the consciousness of God, the realization of his presence ; it is union and fellowship with him, the Spirit of the truth guiding into all the truth.

When in the silence of the spirit we speak our words, we should let their meaning and suggestion linger in the mind, and let a real sense of the unseen come to us in power. This is feeding on the word, assimilating its substance ; and the word becomes flesh in us, entering into our very life and blood and muscle. It becomes bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, and does not merely become our settled thought and belief; and further still, it extends to circumstances and to all our relations with people and things. So, if our word is ^^ rejoice" and everything else uplifting, cheering, encouraging, strengthening ; and if all this is based upon what we surely know to be true, we shall have joy, happiness, and satisfaction upon a scientific basis, indeed, upon an eternal basis.

Speak such words as these in the way just described: ^^I am now in the presence of God. Father, fill me with thine o\mi thought and love, and inspire me with thine own purpose and power. I thank thee. Now I am thinking the thoughts of God, as the Spirit guides me into all the truth. I am moved with divine motives and emotions. I am determined upon the right course, and I have received power to pursue it to victorious achievement. I feed on the bread of life, and I drink in divine life and truth." Speak these words slowly, thoughtfully, conscientiously; and let their meaning and suggestion permeate you and become your own thought. Keep yourself in the spirit of these words for an hour, and then go to your work. It will surprise you to see how everything seems to fall into line and all things vibrate in harmony with your own thought as you have set it going in that hour in which you touched the chords of the deep movements of the spirit and of causation.

There is a rhythm of harmony which means spiritual realization, mental development, health of body, success in undertakings, and that general welfare of all things which we call prosperity. If we can for five minutes every day touch that rhythm, we shall realize that which we are seeking. There is a region of our being in which all is perfect, a region of spiritual perfection, of health, happiness, and prosperity, a region of peace. It is beyond the storms and the violence of human events. This has been called heaven, because it is higher than the ordinary plane or sphere of human life as people in general have lived. Only one has lived fully in this state as a man, the Christ, the ideal Man. Here are the true wealth and success and everything else that we can desire, and it is our privilege to live now in this sublime state, in perfect freedom.

It might be thought by some who consider themselves very busy that they can not spare the time to abandon all thought of business and let down from the cares of the day, especially during the hours of business. But it will be

44 YOUR RIGHy TO BE HAPPY

found not only possible, but also profitable, and soon a necessity of successful business life. It is found that many of the most prominent men of business, those who are busiest with great and multitudinous affairs, are following this way and they owe their success to it. It would surprise many people to know the number of prominent persons who have learned and are applying this method.

Does the mechanic lose time when he stops his work to sharpen, adjust, and set in shape his tools? Is it losing time when one suspends action to see how best to direct his action? Can the mechanic afford not to take time to sharpen his tools ? Can he do good work without it ? To let down from business and get near to God, to realize his presence, is to sharpen and adjust one's tools, is to direct his action in the best way. Why stop to eat and drink? Is it not to get nourishment, so as to be able to do one's work? Equally necessary for the highest efficiency is taking nourishment into the essential man, feeding on the bread of life, drinking in the very life of the ideal Man.

It is in the silent intercourse of the finite spirit with the infinite Spirit that all this takes place. In the consciousness of God as present is also the consciousness of that inflowing from the divine of the life-current which the blood symbolizes. We receive now the same physical life and power which have been promised after death; and as we receive it into ourselves we receive the resurrection life and power which give one supernatural and superhuman efficiency. The business man, the professional man, the successful man in any line of action, the person in any walk of life, can make use of this most potent means of gaining and accumulating energy, and not only not lose time by it, but also gain not only time but results far transcending any that might be otherwise obtained.

Professor Phelps admirably says: ^^It has been said that no great work in literature or science was ever wrought by a man who did not love solitude. We may lay it down as an elemental principle of religion that no growth in holiness was ever gained by one who did not take time to be often and long alone with God.

'This kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting. ^ In no other way can the great central idea of God enter into man^s life and dwell there supreme.''

This love of solitude, whether one realizes it or not, is love of the divine presence. In that state in which one thinks that he is alone, and his best thoughts come most easily to him, he is especially susceptible to the action of the infinite Mind upon him. He has thought that by getting away from people and affairs he has been able to think better, and has regarded the thoughts and purposes that have seemed to well up from a secret fountain in his own mind as originating in himself; but he has merely been thinking God^s thoughts, letting the inflowing from the Infinite fill and inspire him. Kepler, studying the heavens and receiving into himself that divine inflowing, suddenly exclaimed as he noted the grand conceptions that were filling his mind, ^'Oh, God! I think thy thoughts after thee!'' Dorner, the famous theologian, says: '^We think God through God." This is the true secret of originality and the source of genins. This is the secret source of all growth and development. One must ^Hake time to be often and long alone with God/' Every one has time for what he really wants and loves to do. When one does not do, it plainly shows that he does not wUl to do.

It is coming to be seen, and it is certain to be seen with increasing clearness and force, by business ifien and by other persons of thoroughly practical views and methods, that the teachiQgs of Jesus Christ are the soundest principles of practical business and of all other relations of mankind. Nothing better could be imagined as a practical guide to successful and satisfying life than the Sermon on the Mpunt. When the mist of ecclesiasticism and sanctimony which has hung over these matchless words shall have be$n burned away as the day of true enlightenment advances to noon-tide glory, their meaning and worth in practical, every-day living will come with irresistible power to people of all classes. Not religion or science or philosophy did he teach; but life, practical, abundant, eternal, was the object of his coming and teaching and work. ^^I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly/' He said nothing about religion. Not once is the word recorded of him. The entire life is to be from God and in God and for God.

Some one has beautifully said: "^^ Cheered by the presence of God, I will do at the moment, without anxiety, according to the strength which he shall give me, the work that his providence assigns me. I will leave the rest, it is not my affair. '^ How fully these words put before us the consciousness of God as the inspiration of life and action, as the true secret of the most eminent success. Here is no feverish excitement, no irritating ambition, no burning restlessness and smarting under circumstances, no anxiety as to results or the judgment of mankind. Is not this our Longfellow's idea of success, to do one's own work in whatever sphere he may be, without one thought of praise or of blame?

Life is lived moment by moment; success is achieved moment by moment. As one does in the wisdom and the strength of God imparted to him the work that the divine providence assigns him, he can not fail to achieve results which tell forever in the advancement of mankind.

You may have had hard luck, as the world counts luck. You may be feeling '^down/' and as if every man^s hand is against you, and that every attempt that you may make will prove to be a disappointment and failure, just as so many things have done before. Do you know that you are facing towards zero, and that everything will seem to be bearing you downwards towards nothing, unless you change the action of your mind? You have got down under the situation, instead of getting above it and mastering it. You are letting the Juggernaut car run over you, instead of getting into it and riding. It can be your destruction or it can be your means of escape and safety, just as you get under it or upon it.

Go by yourself alone with God, determined that you will have this mental current turned in the right direction. Face away from zero or nothing towards infinity or all there is. Declare yourself a child of God, and claim your birthright of freedom. Success is yours ; and when you face in that direction, beginning with rejoicing and realizing the divine presence, a turn will come in your affairs, as the turn in your mental state, and greater success than you ever dared to imagine for yourself will surely come to yon.

, The causative movement of mind which shapes the body and the circumstances has long been set in a negative direction. Now, since we are coming to understand the higher truths and laws, we are making a complete change in our thinking and doing, in this motion of spirit, this creative or formative energy, and so we are changing the condition of body and of circumstances from undesirable to desirable, bettering both body and circumstances, because we are bringing about harmony or order. A higher ideal is being worked out into manifestation. This process is changing all the relations of things, bringing about a different state of vibrations, and this, to a superficial glance, seems as if things were getting worse. This, however, is not true. Things are simply adjusting themselves towards the perfect rhythm.

^^The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table'' gives a curious picture of the breaking up of old and settled things, using as his basis of comparison the turning over of a stone in the field and so revealing the strange things hidden under it, the bugs and creeping things, and the grass that could not grow. ^^Next year you will find the grass growing tall and green where the stone lay; the ground-bird builds her nest where the beetle had his hole ; the dandelion and the buttercup are growing there, and the broad fans of insect angels open and shut over their golden disks, as the rhythmic waves of blissful consciousness pulsate through their glorified being.''

''There is meaning in each of those images. The stone is ancient error. The grass is human nature borne down and bleached of all its color by it. The shapes that are found beneath are the crafty beings that thrive in darkness, and the weaker organisms kept helpless by it. He who turns the stone over is whoever puts the staff of truth to the old lying incubus^ no matter whether he do it with a serious face or a laughing one. The next year stands for the coming time. Then shall the nature which has lain blanched and broken rise in its full stature and native hues in the sunshine. Then shall God's minstrels build their nests in the hearts of a newborn humanity. Then shall beauty — Divinity taking outlines and color — light upon the souls of men as the butterfly, image of the beautified spirit rising from the dust, soar from the shell that held a poor grub, which would never have found wings, had not the stone been lifted.''