Success

JOHN MERRILL.

The secret of a happy and successful life is in having a consciousness filled with the realization that God is all-presence and all-power. The secret of a happy and successful day is to know God, and to be confident that nothing can separate us from infinite Love.

When we first realized these new old truths, it seemed that it could be no difficult task to be ruled by Love and to rule by love. Our anticipations of an immediate realization of the ideal condition of life received something of a rude shock, when we attempted to demonstrate our newly-gained sense of Truth, and learned a little of the obduracy of the claims of the flesh and the immensity of the work to be done. The limiting fears and beliefs of mortal mind, so long believed, are not uprooted in a day; the attainment of peace and harmony is the result of mental and spiritual growth. Jesus prayed, "As thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us," and in this prayer He revealed man's glorious possibilities.

Christ Jesus commands all men to follow in his steps. His marvelous demonstration were the result of growth in grace. Thirty years of preparation, of self-immolation, and of spiritual communion preceded his great work for mankind. If the great Teacher required this long period for growth, how much more necessary it is that his disciples give their entire time to the same lofty endeavors. The plant must have its silent undergrowth, the individual his silent spiritual development. Expression depends upon impression, that which is felt within; demonstration depends upon spiritual attainment, inward growth, righteousness.

Looking recently at a beautiful sunset, I thought, Why is it that a gorgeous sunset, like exquisite music, ofttimes makes people sad? Then I realized that it is because a wonderful expression of beauty and harmony makes one feel with keenness the poverty of his own spiritual attainment. The kingdom of heaven is within, but if one is conscious of but little sense of harmony within, the prodigal display of the symbols of harmony without emphasizes painfully one's lack. But he who has an established consciousness of the Science of being finds all experience joyous and grand.

Love for God and man must be the controlling impulse, the impervious armor, and the sword. It is the understanding of divine Love that solves all problems, destroys all obstacles, and delivers from all disease and sin. Without love man is without hope and without God in the world. The failure to express love in any thought, word, or act is a departure from the only road to Christly attainment. Success peace, and happiness depend upon the trueness of the Christly love within; they can be obtained in no other way. Man can help himself only as he dwells consciously in Love, and he can help his brother only as he expresses love. "All's love, yet all's law." God is Love,—the source of all law, and apart from God we plant in vain.

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