Article July 10, 1902 Issue

Spiritual Consciousness

S. F. S.

The Hoopeston (Ill.) Herald

A spiritual perception or understanding of God, the divine Principle of all reality, is the great need of men. That this need is felt is shown by the general stir in religious thought throughout the world. There seems to be a great breaking up of old ideas; people are breaking away from the leading-strings by which they have so long been led, and this, as it seems, is not because of any insubordination, but from a longing for a higher view-point, whereby they may gain absolute truth regarding God and man. This desire for Truth is inherent in man because he is God's child. He feels he must arise and go to his Father. Hence whatever barriers have been set up about him, whether by custom, education, or by fear, he is bound to overthrow.

The voice of Truth is always sounding, and the awakened thought hears it, and can no longer be satisfied with husks. The thoughtful Christian sees these things without fear or disquietude. What earnest child of God has not grieved at the seeming deadness to spiritual things in the community about him; at the slow progress of his church or society in bringing mankind to the knowledge of God? Who of these has not longed for a nearer, clearer manifestation of the teachings of Truth? We read in God's Word, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper," and why is it that this assurance has not been satisfying to mankind, and aroused that joy and trust which a promise of the Father should give? Is it not because these promises are accepted theoretically and the world is passively believed without being made practical through the spiritual understanding? All men wish for health, but there is no health without harmony in thought and life, and this harmony can only be gained through the practical application, or demonstration, of the understanding of Truth.

Men do not like to be told unpleasant things; they cry as of old: "Speak to us smooth things." Yet this fact remains unchanged: there must first be the breaking up and emptying out of old ideas and stereotyped usages, and the reliance on dead rites and ceremonies must give way to an awakened consciousness that God is an ever-present power for good, of which man can partake now, or just as soon as he will set self aside so that he can see that the promised land is all about him. Self has been casting such a shadow that the real has been obscured, and the shadow has been taken for reality. The Psalmist says: "Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law."

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