human
Let us no longer slumber in the arms of indifference and ignorance, but awake to truth and righteousness. 'Better be unborn than untaught; for ignorance is the root of misfortune.'
gpt
Blessed influence of one true, loving soul on another. Not calculable by algebra, not deductible by logic, but mysterious, effectual, mighty as the hidden process by which the tiny seed is quickened, and bursts forth into tall stem and broad leaf, and glowing tasseled flower.
human
Oh dear! exclaimed Kate as she laid down the letter containing the lesson on Thought.
gpt
I didn't know we were so responsible for every little thing that comes into our mind.
human
Or goes out of it, said Grace, smiling, as she finished tinting a dainty plaque.
gpt
Now we can understand that 'where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise,'
human
Yes, but I think I prefer the wisdom to the bliss. Do you understand this lecture as well as the rest?
gpt
Why shouldn't we? It is plainly told, and is a natural sequence to the others. I should think it very helpful, and if there really is so much power in thought, it is time people knew it.
human
But what of the people who do not know it? Are they utterly defenseless?
gpt
As long as they believe in the reality of sin, sickness and death, they must suffer from them,
human
Then they ought to know how to learn and understand these things, but I could not tell anybody.
gpt
We can solve any problem by going back and reasoning from the premise. If any shock of sin or sickness come over us, we have simply to remember the spiritual, which is the only real creation.
human
It is not so easily done though. To-day I met the most miserable looking cripple sliding along without any limbs. I held my skirts aside as he passed, and forgot to even think of him as God's child,
gpt
Anything takes time, and we can't expect to leap into perfection at once, but what did you do after he had passed?
human
I pitied the poor creature and wondered what made him so.
gpt
That was the very way to keep him in the same condition, said Grace, rapidly mixing some paint.
human
This last lesson very clearly explains that _every_ thought has an influence, and that you help to make the body manifest whatever you think of it. If you think the real and true, you help to make that show forth, if you only think of the external or apparent trouble or defect, and regard it as the real, you are harming instead of helping.
gpt
I can readily see that we may affect ourselves, but it seems hard to believe that we affect _everybody_,
human
It is because we cannot realize the law of thought transference. I was reading just last week about that. An instance of Stuart C. Cumberland's mind-reading was cited. It was wonderful. And then long ago I read an old book written by Cornelius Agrippa about it, but I was not very much interested, and did not understand nor believe it at the time, so my memory is not worth much concerning it.
gpt
Then you really think I added another weight to that unhappy creature's burden of trouble?
human
It would be best for you to deny his apparent conditions and affirm his real ones, and instead of thoughts of pity, which are only weakening, you could think of happiness and contentment. I truly believe we can learn to think of people this way, if we only catch ourselves for correction every time we think wrong.
gpt
How shall I ever learn to bridle my thoughts?