healing affirmations-getting well and keeping well

8/13/2019 Healing Affirmations-Getting Well and Keeping Well

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ClassEllBook 94CopyrightN?____

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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT.


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Copyright, 1921By The Optimist Publishing Company

Published June, 1921

JUL 11 '2

Printed byT. O. Metcalf Company

Boston

CS.A617758


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ToThe Best Ever


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ACKNOWLEDGMENTGrateful acknowledgment is made to Little, Brown& Co. for fragmentary selections of my own,printed in Mrs. Perm's books, The Optimist'sGood-Night and Sunlit Days; also for severalbrief poems, under the heading, A Group ofHealing Poems.


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The LawDesires when expressed inforceful affirmations aredynamic mind forces.


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CONTENTS PaeeThe Law 5Foreword 9Preface 11Affirmation and Concentration . . . . . 13Practicing Affirmations 18'The Silence What it Means and How to

Enter. 19Interlude 21Affirmations 22-64You and Auntie Doleful ...... 65Hints on Health 71Some Health Don'ts 76Partial Breathing .77Bigger than Anything that Can Happen to Him 81Poise and Power 85A State of Mind ......... 88The Slave of a Clock 89Forget It, or the Never Mind Philosophy . 92Healing Scriptures 95A Group of Healing Poems . . . . 105-1 12Healing Service (For the Cure of Fear) . 113Healing Service (For the Cure of Evil Emo-

tions) 115Healing Service (General) 17Healing Aspiration 119A Healing Prayer 1 20A Healing Blessing for Close of Service . . 121


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FOREWORDThe conclusions set forth in this book have been

reached through studies engaged in at intervals of along and rather severe illness, and yet my interestin so-called psychic or metaphysical healing datesback many years. Certainly twenty years ago myattention was called to the fact that the so-calledtranscendental movement strongly hinted, espe-cially Emerson's The Over-Soul, at the modernpsychological conclusions involved in the NewThought.

Later, I read with great interest Henry Wood,Prentice Mulford, Horatio Dresser, and still laterMrs. Eddy's books. Quite recently I have beenhelped by the reading of Judge Thomas Troward'sEdinboro lectures on Psychology, as well as TheLaw of Mind in Action by Fenwicke L. Holmesand Healing Currents by Walter DeVoe.My debt of gratitude to all these is something,though they have been by no means equally useful.But through such studies I have reached the

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conclusion of the validity of metaphysical healing.But in saying this, I do not wish to be understoodas having espoused the correctness of any one of thenumerous cults, whether it be one of the variousschools of New Thought, such as Mental Healing,Spiritual Healing, the Immanuel Movement, orChristian Science.My own conviction is that whoever wishes topractice metaphysical healing will do well to studyall these various forms, which do not differ funda-mentally from each other in philosophy, but onlyin the details of applying the philosophy, and takeout of each what will help him most.

I sincerely believe in metaphysical or psychicalhealing, whether with the patient present with thehealer or absent. I have made this book with thesingle object in view of being useful to the afflicted.To this end, may I not hope that this little book willbe of some service, both for private use and inpublic services.

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PREFACEIn making this little book, my one desire has

been to be of service to those who long to be healed.When I had become convinced in my own illness thatI could appeal to something within, I longed withan almost infinite longing to know how to expressmy desires and to make them effective. I purchasedbook after book in the hope that I could find some-body who would teach me how to express HealingAffirmations. While I did find help, it was toowidely scattered throughout various books. FinallyI became convinced that affirmations of my ownwere better for me than any I could find ready made.Nevertheless, I still believe that the young studentof metaphysical healing will find help in having afew affirmations formulated for him. All othermatter in this book beside the affirmations may beregarded as incidental and the affirmations asfundamental. In formulating the affirmations, Ihad first to formulate a law to which each affirmationshould be made to conform. The law may be

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expressed thus: Desires when expressed in powerfulaffirmations become Dynamic Mind Forces. Thismay not be the most felicitous expression of thelaw, but it will at least make the purpose of affirma-tions sufficiently clear.While in my first planning of this book I had in

mind almost entirely its private use, later it occurredto me that some use might be made of it in publicservices. Such use will be suggested by a fewservices in the back part of the book.Another thing perhaps ought to be explained. It

will be noticed that I have used the personal pronounall the way through. This has been due to the factthat it was difficult for me to remember that I waswriting a book at all. The whole thing has been sopersonal that there seemed a fitness in the use of thepersonal pronoun, and I hope you will be able toremove the apparent egotism and to excuse theapparent informality by just imagining that I amtalking with you.Let me again express the hope that this little

book may serve a useful purpose among those whoare longing for help.

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AFFIRMATION AND CONCENTRATIONTo affirm means, literally, to declare to be true,and to concentrate means to bring all the rays of

one's thought to a focus of intensity; thus, concen-tration brings all the scattered forces of the mind toa common center of attention.

Affirmation is but a form of prayer. It is prayerwithout formal petition. The musician makes whathe calls Songs without Words; so, affirmation isprayer without supplication, but it is prayer nonethe less. It is, or should be, when joined withconcentration, the most earnest form of prayer.But you will notice that concentration may haveeither a constructive or a destructive effect. Forexample: A man may concentrate on his weaknesses,his worries, his diseases, his cares, his sorrows, hislosses; but if he concentrates on his fears and hatredsand worries, he destroys the harmony of the mindand body and renders his whole organism unhappyand inefficient, and so destroys all prospect ofpeace and success and prosperity. Now, just

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because such negative concentration is common, weneed affirmation of a positive character to counteractthe negative influences that are going on within usand around us all the time. Thus it will be seenthat one who makes a larger affirmation in a positiveway and concentrates upon it, sets in operationmachinery which v/ill cure the ills of life; hence thisBook of Affirmations. Your affirmation becomes aprayer to the Divine Intelligence within you, andwhen you concentrate upon that affirmation itbecomes a positive strength in favor of the object ofyour desire.

It may well be asked why we have prepared somany different affirmations in so small a compass.My answer is similar to that made by one boy toanother boy when he asked, Why are there so manygirls in the world?' ' The answer v/as, *'Because thereare so many boys. One affirmation appeals to onetemperament or one cast of mind and perhaps notat all to other people. These may be called simplysample affirmations designed to help realization, andnot one in all the list provided in this little book maybe the one to appeal to you. In any event, it isbetter to make your own affirmation as you feelprofoundly the need.

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Let us suppose that you wake up some morningwith terrible congestion in your throat. The even-ing of that same day you are under engagement tosing; it seems absolutely impossible for you. Youare face to face with the problem Where shall Ifind relief? Probably not one of these that I haveprepared as samples of how to affirm and how toconcentrate will seem to appeal to you. Yet youmust have help. What will you do? You may say,I am Health. God's invigorating spirit is withme. It is working in all the nerves and cells of myvocal organs. Here is an intense affirmation ofprayer. You forget the form of words. Your mindleaps all connecting particles and holds on to theconcentrated idea and you find yourself saying:Health. Vitality. Vocal Organs. God. Hereis an intense concentration which may be a thousandtimes better for you than anything that I have fur-nished. On the other hand, under other circum-stances, some one of these sample affirmationsmay be just the thing you need and may be extremelyuseful.Some one may ask, How many times shall one

repeat an affirmation? I answer, Repeat it untilyou get what you desire. It may be once, it may

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be a thousand times. The point in your goal isrealization. You must hold to that and makerepetition of your affirmation until realization comes,and do not be discouraged, if you are sure you areright. Keep on affirming, a thousand times ifnecessary, until you get what you desire. Finally,I cannot urge too strongly that you shall not bediscouraged if a miracle is not wrought upon youin a moment of time. God moves in a mysteriousway His wonders to perform.' ' All I can say is youmust not lose your grip of faith in the DivineIntelligence within you. He will surely manifest ifyou do not become Weary in well-doing.'Let me give you a chapter from my own experience.

I made this affirmation, I am Vitality. It wasnot easy to see how, with an apparently impotentleg and an impotent arm, I could be Vitality, butday after day I kept making this affirmation untilVitality became Reality, and I began to feel and thento acquire power and so came at last the realizationwhich I had been affirming.But do not deceive yourself by turning yourmouth into an automatic machine repeating words

that remind one of the manner in which someformal church men repeat the Lord's Prayer, so

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rapidly and with so little thought that it remindsone of an automatic electric hammer that makesone indistinguishable blur of sound. Such affirma-tion is worse than none, because it not only does notget the patient anywhere, but it makes a mockery ofhis own faith.

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PRACTICING AFFIRMATIONSTo make affirmations anything more than mere

words or lingo, you should remember that theyare subject to the

Law of cause and effect, orto state it more clearly, thus:

Desires expressed in forceful affirmations aredynamic mindforces.Remembering this law, repeat the following:I think health I think strength I think vitality.(A moment's silence)I breathe health I breathe strength I breathe

vitality.(A moment's silence)

I feel healthI feel strength I feel vitality.(A moment's silence)I am healthI am strength I am vitality.

(A moment's silence)I am a temple of the living God.Do not forget the law enunciated above:Desires expressed in forceful affirmations are

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THE SILENCEWHAT IT MEANS AND HOW TO ENTERThe so-called silence/ ' as used by those who prac-

tice metaphysical healing, rests not only in logic andcommon sense, but also upon the teaching of theScriptures. By a simple test, one can easily con-vince himself that mental and spiritual power maybe stored by the simple device of shutting out theworld and keeping quiet, while Jesus said, Whenthou prayest, enter into thy chamber and shut thedoor/' In other words, be quiet.*'Yet to the beginner in the practice of meta-physical healing, it may be wise to give a hint ortwo about going into the silence.For at least fifteen minutes each day, better

fifteen minutes in the morning and fifteen minutesin the evening, go into a quiet room alone, take aneasy position and be still. It will be good if youaccompany your quiet mood with closed eyes anddeep regular breathing. Soon you will have a senseof deep peace with all the world, life's cares will slipaway, life's worries be forgotten, and you will sayGod is in me and all around me. You will feel anew sense of power. When you have this deepsense of peace and the conscious feeling that you are

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in immediate touch with God, then ask God forwhat you desire. Do not ask with the feeling thatyou may or may not receive, nor with the feelingthat somewhere, sometime, if God gets time, He willhear you, but with the faith that God hears andanswers now. Jesus promised: Whatsoever yeshall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.And again he said, According to your faith, be itunto you/'Of course, it is wise to fortify yourself in any

emergency or for healing another or for self-healingby going into the silence. But if every man, womanand child in the world, quite independent of theirreligious beliefs, could practice going into the silencefor fifteen minutes a day, it would do much, notonly to establish peace and poise, but to destroy thehabit of hurry and worry. Not only so, but severalnervous diseases would go quite out of fashion andthe doctors could drop out of their vocabularyseveral familiar terms. Moreover, men's workingpower would be vastly increased and they wouldwork without becoming tired, for they would workwith serenity and without friction.

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INTERLUDEIn another volume, in my story How I was

Healed of Paralysis, I have made it clear that theoffice of the healer is exceedingly important, but itis only fair to say that all through this treatment, Imade perpetual use of these and other affirmations;therefore, whether with healer or for self-healing,such affirmations may be used with great benefit.But do not forget that affirmations formed byyourself are even more useful than any that can beframed for you. The following affirmations aredesigned merely as a suggestion of how to affirmand how to concentrate on the affirmation.

I have learned by experience that it is desirable,if convenient, to lie quietly, with closed eyes, whilethese affirmations and the paragraphs with them beread aloud by the nurse or some friend. And nomatter, even though the patient loses consciousnessand goes fast asleep, let the reading continue. Itoften happens that the subconscious mind absorbsas successfully as does the waking mind.

GEORGE L. PERIN.[ 21 1


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AFFIRMATION/ am \indncss and courtesy.In my inmost soul I love others as I do myself, arid I

feel good-will toward all.

Nothing is fundamentally more harmonizing thankindness and good will. I had almost said that aspirit of grouchiness and carping criticism is whollyinconsistent with good health. Nothing will morequickly bring into the soul a spirit of health than anaffirmation of kindness and courtesy. If you wantto remove an enemy the sure way is not to hunt amethod of getting even with him, but the sureway is to remove him as an enemy by affirming love.Sometime it will be necessary to put this affirmationinto a kindly deed, but when so expressed it is sureto be effective.

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AFFIRMATION/ do not wor\ alone,God is wording with me every hour.I will do my worfy as unto God.I am in partnership with the living God.

One hot July morning a boy was hoeing corn in afield. Apparently oblivious to the heat and indif-ferent as to the exactions of his toil, he whistledwhile he worked. A dust-laden traveler stopped hishorse, drew up to the fence, and called out, Hello,my lad, I am curious to know how you can hoe cornon a day like this and whistle while you work.Well, sir, replied the lad, I don't know, unless it isthat I feel somehow that I am a-doin' somethin' that

even the Almighty couldn't do if I wasn't here tohelp Him. What fine faith is that In partnershipwith GodSo is every honest, earnest man who does well somework that needs to be done. How the task is

dignified There is no drudgery to the man whofeels that he is working v/ith God. #

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AFFIRMATIONGod is the supremefad in my life.Temporary pain or disease is of little consequence.God rules my life.

Many of us make the mistake of wrong emphasis.We are thrown off our balance and made hystericalby a little pain or temporary illness, while we forgetaltogether the presence and power of God. Weneed to remember the great, supreme, fundamentalfact of God in our own life. The merely trivial andtemporary will not trouble us because we know thatit is trivial and temporary. When we feel pain orthe lack of harmony anywhere in our bodies wesimply need by an act of faith to affirm the supremacyof the great creative spirit in our own lives. Let usexpress our desires in forceful affirmations and thenremember that such desires are dynamic mindforces.

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AFFIRMATION/ am in partnership with the great creative intelligence,

* * *

I am one with the Father. Therefore I am heirto all that God has made. I have all the strength Ineed because God is all power. I am guided in allthat I need to know because God is all wisdom.But in saying this, I need to remember the silence.Every day I must listen and listen to the intimationof the divine voice. I must hear what God wouldsay.God is all supply; therefore, I shall not want.God is love; therefore, I am filled with the highest

love and affection.With such divine partnership I shall always berich. But I shall remember that a partnership withGod implies not merely an ownership in His richesbut it implies also an obligation to do my part;hence, I shall serve the Lord with gladness.

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AFFIRMATIONToday I shall work confidently and therefore effectively.I shall neither hurry nor worry, nor will I be nervous

and irritable.I shall go straight ahead in the consciousness that God

is with me and all is well.

No man works effectively whose spirit is in aflutter. A fundamental condition of good work andgood health is quiet and confidence. One needsto work as if he had all the time there is, all thestrength that is needed, all the power that the jobrequires. Such confidence can be secured only oncondition of faith that God is present and in chargeof all the circumstances. Thus he may take hismind from the contingencies and address himself toeach stroke of the task. Thus there shall be nowasted effort, thus shall there be no dissipation ofpower or failure of effort, and at the end of the dayone may work almost as freshly and effectively aswhen the day began.

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AFFIRMATIONJoyMy word today is JoyI meet my jrlends with joy.I feel joy when I see the sun.Joy is in the wind as it blows on my chee\.The bird's song is joy to me.All life is full of joy.God is life and I am one with God.God is all in all.

Do not merely say joy. Feel joy in your inmostheart. Act joy Do something to fill some otherheart with joy.Let words and thoughts and feelings and actions

harmonize.

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AFFIRMATIONI am a spirit of love.I am life eternal

God is love. Love is Life eternal. Love springsspontaneously within my spirit and is the life of myspirit. Love is the transfiguring energy of myspirit. Love is the grace, beauty and perfection ofmy character.Here we have linked together two great dynamicwords love and life. Not only are they dynamic

when linked together, but love is the great harmoniz-ing force of the universe. Where love abounds allthe faculties and emotions must dwell together inpeace and harmony, and not only must there be forthe healing of men, the great propulsive power ofvital force, but there must also be the peace whichpasseth understanding.'

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AFFIRMATION/ will work with a feeling of responsibility. When I

have done the best I can, I will leave the resultwith God.

So shall I have power and peace.

Every man is responsible for his motive and forpersonal interest in his work, but no man is respon-sible for the results of his work. Let each man dothe best he can and leave the result with God.Then shall he have power, because his strength shallnot be dissipated with anxiety about results. Heshall have peace, because he knows the results arewith God.

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AFFIRMATION/ hate a consciousness of the almighty goodness and

the love of the Father.This consciousness is a transforming power to ma\e

me feel /ore and kindness for every human being.This kindness and love a ill act to give me peace and

health.

Love has been well called the greatest thing inthe world.

It is the harmonizing emotion which binds thehuman race in one. Eecause I love and God loves,I may say I and the Father are one. In the absenceof love, it is warring or conflicting emotions whichoften produces ill health. Where love is there ispeace, hope and joy. Hence it is that one of ourhighest affirmations is to be found in the simpledeclaration, God is Love.

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AFFIRMATION/ believe in the Presence and Power of God.He is with me now whether I sleep or wake.My faith lays hold of and brings into operation His

divine life and intelligence.

Yet it is not enough to merely say you believe inGod. This declaration could be made and is oftenmade by a rank atheist. His declaration is purelyintellectual or theoretical. To make this affirmationgenuine and helpful you must feel the presence andpower of God in you and around you. You mustthink of Him as your God now. You are not tothink of Him as one who may be available somewhere.You are to think of Him as one who is available nowand here.

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AFFIRMATION/ will praise Godfrom whom all blessings flow.

Whether I have what I want or not, still what Ihave is from God, and is an evidence of His goodness.No greater mistake could be made by one who

wishes to invoke the healing power of God than toform the habit of grumbling about what he has not.Grumbling is wholly negative.Gratitude is positive, dynamic.By a great eternal law which Jesus enunciated,

the gifts of God multiply through gratitude and use.It would hardly be putting the case too strongly

to urge that every formal affirmation should beclosed with a sentence of thanksgiving.

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AFFIRMATIONLife Life Life Life

Do not hesitate to condense your affirmation intoa single word. It is not the number of words thatcounts, it is the idea. At all hazards let your ideabe dynamic, and if it is dynamic, ultimately it willbe effective. I remember when my right side wastotally paralyzed. For many days, when I couldsee almost no sign of life, I gave myself consolationand helped to win back new power by the simplerepetition of this little word life life life lifeBut each repetition was like a great inspiringprayer. And how good it is to feel the life comingback, creeping silently from day to day over mywhole right side, bearing new witness to the factthat I am a child of God. Scientific men agree thatthe body is made up of infinitesimal cells. But whatnone of them can tell is exactly how or how rapidlynew cells are made. But I shall cling to my faiththat God's power is expressed in the growth ofcell-life.

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AFFIRMATIONGod is life:I am one iciih God.Therefore, I am a pari of God's life.TheicorldisfuUoflife.Let life abound in me as it did in Jesus.

Just as men lose power by losing touch with God,so they lose their sense of life by thinking of life assomething apart from themselves. One needs tofeel that the whole world is throbbing with life. Onedoes not secure more abundant life by absorbingpoisons of one . kind or another. One securesabundant life by keeping in touch with the greatforces of vitality. Never forget that you are onewith God Affirm this truth repeatedly every day.If you are persistent and affirm with faith, yourfaith will come into expression in more life.

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AFFIRMATIONTreatment for Fault-Finding

/ am in a good world.My world is governed by a good God.The people around me are kind and thoughtful.I will abandon all habit offault-finding.

There is no doubt that the habit of fault-findingoften has a serious effect upon the bodily health.One's mental attitude towards those with whom heis in daily relations should be constructive andpositive. One may easily reason himself into theconviction that his fault-finding is entirely just. Itmay be just, but is it worth while? Much of thefault-finding does no possible good, but it does havethe serious effect of poisoning the mind of the onewho finds fault and directly injures the health.

If you have such a habit, end it Now.

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AFFIRMATIONCreative life is flowing into me and through me.Creative life will renew all my jaded faculties.Creative life will renew the energy of my depleted nerves.Creative life will restore me to perfect Health.

When I use the phrase Creative Life I do itadvisedly under the conviction that creative lifeis parallel with subconscious mind, and that thesubconscious mind is indeed the builder of the body.The sick man, therefore, can never make a mistakewhen he appeals to the creative mind within, forevery such appeal has its answer within the greatcosmic creative mind, which we call God. It is aprayer to God with a new meaning based on arealization that there is something in man funda-mentally corresponding to the nature of God.Make this affirmation a hundred times daily and

you will surely feel the answering blessing.

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AFFIRMATION/ will be \ind to every man, woman and child with

whom I come in contact.I will be cheerful and hopeful.I will trust in God and bravely face the future.

Just as the evil emotions affect the body harm-fully, so the good emotions affect the body helpfully.While it may not be a fundamental motive to bekind for the sake of being well, there is no questionthat the man who practices kindness will morecompletely harmonize all the faculties of his nature,and keep in better bodily health. The value ofcheerfulness as a therapeutic agent is witnessed bythe fashion of our times in the service of cheerfulliterature, while some of the most eminentmedical writers of the world have declared theirbelief in faith in God as a healing agency.

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AFFIRMATIONI am a temple of the living God.And the spirit of the Almighty dicelkth in me

These words: I am a temple of the living God,in a little different form, we began reading when wewere children in the Sunday School, and ever sincethen at intervals, the minister has been repeatingthem in his sermon. And yet it is pretty safe tosay that most of us have had no genuine realizationthat the words are true. But as a motive in life,they are really fundamental. I am a temple of theliving God. The spirit of the Almighty decs dwellin me. Such affirmation can not be held withoutfilling life with positive good.

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AFFIRMATION/ trust in God.So trusting I believe in myself.

It would be an infinite gain if every man could goforth to his daily task absolutely believing in him-self and especially if his belief could rest upon thesure foundation of faith in God. We all of us needsuch re-enfcrcement.Many workers stand abashed before their em-ployer, not because they really need to, but becausethey somehow jump to the conclusion of his supe-riority. If there are a few men who go about withoffensive conceit, there are many men who plantthe seeds of failure for themselves by assuming anair of unwarranted humility. If you belong to thisclass, begin to-day to say,/ believe in myself, I believe in myself, I believe in

myself.I can do good work. I will do good work.Go forth, child of God, and win

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AFFIRMATION/ feel I am a spirit of life vitalizing the sympathetic

nerve.I concentrate my attention on the life that is now

flowing through the entire nervous system.I will feel life stirring all sluggish currents to positive

activity.I will concentrate on this inflowing force until I feel

that every cell in my body is charged with itsvitalizing energy.

If I have concentrated my attention on the lifethat is now flowing through the entire nervoussystem, how can I help vitalizing the sympatheticnerve? This is precisely what affirmation andconcentration do for one. They cultivate positivevital force, and bring a feeling of growing strength,whatever the ailment may be. Concentrate onthese words and do not be discouraged, even thoughit takes a little time to observe results. God doesnot mock men. Keep on affirming.

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AFFIRMATIONGod is my infinite supply; therefore, I am followed

and filled with everlasting abundance.My dependence is upon God and God never fails.

I must remember that I have all I need to workwith. Strength is mine and wisdom and intelli-gence. I shall work effectively because omnipo-tent power is mine. I shall work without hurry orworry because I have peace and the consciousnessthat all is well. So many people lack the real touchof power in their work because they feel that theyare on the point of exhausting their strength orwisdom or power or health. Such fear does butparalyze one's skill because it is a form of atheism.He who would have any quality of genius must walkwith faith.

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AFFIRMATIONHappiness today is mineI shall be happy all day long.Even as God's smile is reflected in His sunshine, so my

happiness shall be reflected in my own smile.

Blessings on the man who smiles Not the manwho smiles for effect, nor the one who smiles whenthe world smiles, but the man whose smile is bornof an inner radiance, the man who smiles when theclouds lower, when fortune frowns, wrhen the tidesare adverse, the sunshine of whose heart breaksforth in smiles. Such a man not only creates hisown fair world, but he multiplies himself an hundredfold in the courage and strength and joy of othermen.

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AFFIRMATION/ regard my world as an opportunity for service.I will no longer clamor for rights, but I will be glad of

opportunities and privileges.And I will be happy.

Some people think so much of their rights and solittle of their opportunities that the natural order isentirely reversed. The man who lives to serve willbe the happy man. The man who is always clamor-ing for his personal rights will be nervous, fretfuland unhappy.When you go forth today, go looking for oppor-

tunities to serve, and not for the vindication of yourrights.The man who comes to serve is always welcome.

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AFFIRMATION/ am rich in thought and feeling.I am rich in hope and aspiration.I am rich in resources and opportunities.I am rich in faith and love.The world itself is mine and God is mine.

Do not harbor the thought of poverty. Whoeverthings poverty will be poor. Whoever thinks wealthwill be rich.

If you are working with God as a child of God,then your supply cannot be exhausted. Do notentertain the notion for a moment that you cannotbe anything or do anything that you may wish to do.

Great things are born out of great thoughts.You are a child of God.Do not treat yourself like a pauper. Think success.

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AFFIRMATION/ will trust in God.God is my refuge and strength.God is my deliverance. He will never fail me.

Many other things may be desirable as a con-venience, but not as a permanent reliance. If youare looking for unquestioned help, you may acceptthe proffered help of friends or income or position,but you will not look with certain reliance upon anyof these. God alone satisfies. You have only totake a step or two backward to see that God alonefurnishes all you have, even your daily bread.However rich you may be in things, you are poorindeed without God. God is your inexhaustiblesupply. Faith in God is our anchor, and we learnfrom a thousand voices that we can never driftbeyond His love and care.

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AFFIRMATIONThe divine life is now flowing through my entire

nervous system.I fix my mind upon this in-flowing life-force until I

feel that every cell in my body is charged with itsvitalizing energy.

If you are to be healed or do a successful workanywhere, you must dismiss from your mind allthought of being alone. If you think of yourselfas alone, you separate yourself from God and fromthe great creative energy of the universe.Remember there can be nothing between you and

God. God is the life of your life.Have faith in the inflowing love and life of God.

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AFFIRMATIONMy help cometh from the Lord, which made Heaven

and earth.I am a son of God. I am heir to all that is.God is with me, and I shall not want.

We lose our strength because we forget its source.We get to thinking that the source of our strength issome temporary thing. A hundred times a weekone needs to say with the Psalmist, 'The Lord is mystrength. The very saying of it will help to linkup the soul with its God, and a reinforcement ofstrength will come. We are weak only when wethink weakness; when we substitute thought-strength, then we are strong. In the same way, weare poor because we think we are poor. I need toremember that I am heir to all that is. We live in aGodless world only when we lose our faith in theover-brooding, in-brooding God. Naturally whenwe have dropped God, the source of all supply, we feelpoor, not because we need to, but simply because wehave lost touch with God.

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AFFIRMATIONGod is with me every hour in light and in darkness.His infinite love abounds as tender as that of a mother.Like a child in pain I cry out to my Father. He

answers, Here, my child, I love you evermore.So comes healing peace.

My little four-year-old boy lay sick and restless,fever-flushed at night, while I lay beside him in thedark. Every now and then the child, half sleeping,half waking, would call out, Fadder. Yes, dear,the answer came. Hello, Fadder, please sayhello to me, Fadder, every little while. Then hewould drop again to sleep. I have often thoughtthat the little fellow was but expressing a commonhuman instinct. The shadows made him lonely,and he was more comfortable if he could hear anassuring voice as he journeyed to dreamland.Children of an older growth meet the shadows, too,and if they only had faith enough and knew how toarticulate the cry, would they not often say to God,Please say hello every little while, confident thatHe would answer, Yes, dear, I am here, and inHim we would find peace and rest.

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AFFIRMATIONHealth

As I have said elsewhere in this volume, it is notthe form of words which furnishes the healingpower. It is sometimes the mental picture. Rest-ing after an illness of several months on my sleepingporch in New Hampshire, from where I could seethe great pines lift their dark green branches to thewestern sky, one day, half sleeping, half waking, Isaw distinctly on the roof of an old barn whichhelped to make up one of the loveliest pictures Ihave ever seen, the word, Health. It appearedto be in rather large, distinct letters. Shall I callit a message direct from God to my tired nerves?At all events, let me say that the picture of theword Health has recurred again and again, andalways it has brought healing blessing. SometimesI have seen it on the roof of the old barn and manytimes in the sunset clouds above the pines. Oftenin large, distinct letters, and then again from thedeep tones of purple down to the faintest shades ofazure. But always when the vision has come it hasbeen like an inspiration. I like to believe that thisis one of the ways in which God has spoken to mysoul with healing power.

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AFFIRMATIONToday I will open the windows of my soul

That Love may enterThat Joy may enterThat Good-will may enterThat Thoughtfulness may enterThat Sympathy may enter.

If I open the door wide, these guests will enter myvery soul.

This is God's world and love is abroad in it waitingfor a welcome. Joy and sympathy are also seekinga refuge. Good-will and thoughtfulness will follow.Has life seemed a dull gray? Has there been nogleam of rose? These dear guests, if I admitthem, will make a magic re-action in my soul. Ishall feel love, I shall feel joy, I shall feel good-willand thoughtfulness and sympathy, and the feelingwill be far-reaching. Other's lives will be blessedwho need the cheer and comfort that my guests willcarry to them, more perhaps than I realize. Thesunshine that comes in at my open door will be likehealing balm to my soul, and to all others withwhom today I come in contact.

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AFFIRMATIONGod speaks to men.Sometimes He speaks to men through me.God is the author of my vocal organs.He will heal them and make them strong and efficient.

As St. Paul teaches us, the body is not one member,but many, and yet, as he says, all fitly joinedtogether in one. This sounds like mere common-place, but when we invoke healing power for thebody, it is far more than commonplace, for, just asthe regular physician may seek to reach the head orthe throat through medicine taken into the stomach,so in metaphysical healing, one seeks to reach theremotest parts of the body through thoughts takeninto the brain, on nerve currents, until they reachthe distant cell families. There is no reason, there-fore, why congestion in the throat or lungs may notbe put to flight by these positive affirmations oftruth, for it is concentration upon affirmations oftruth that help to build the body. But rememberit is not how much you read that affects yourconsciousness, and not even how much you mayknow about mental states, but it is how much youreally absorb of faith which finds expression in thevitalizing energy of your being.

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AFFIRMATIONGod is my Lord and my God.

There is too much praying in the second personplural and too little praying in the first personsingular. I call the former prayer with words alone, the latter is prayer with the spiritual conscious-ness. Public prayer, when we say our Fatherinstead of my Father is peculiarly open to this objec-tion. The affirmation for which preparation hasbeen made in the silence is less likely to be subjectto such criticism. But no matter whether theprayer be public or private, the thing I urge is thatelement born of personal, spiritual consciousness ofGod's indwelling presence.

Once, many years ago, I saw a young woman in aSalvation Army meeting kneel as in the very presenceof God, without obvious choice of words, and inprofound simplicity and sincerity pour out her soulas to her own God. Thus alone does demonstra-tion come. We must speak to our own God. Forseveral years Thomas Didymus said, My Lord andmy God At last there came a time when he said,My Lord and my God. Healing power is bornof the spirit of Thomas when he could say My Lordand my God.

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AFFIRMATIONWith all the intensity of an earnest mind, I desire life.God is life. Every cell in my body desires more life.Ever nerve cries aloudfor more life.God will give me life more abundant.

* * *

There is no more favorite theme in the gospel ofJesus Christ than that of Life. Jesus everywherespeaks lightly, or not at all, of what men call death.But he exalts and magnifies life as if it were some-thing very precious.

It is therefore reasonable to believe that there isin the universe a very abundant supply of life. Ithas never been exhausted or even nearly exhausted.The individual may feel poor for the lack of life,but there is no lack in the universe, for God Himselfis life. Nor do the atoms of which the body iscomposed ever forget their natural hunger for morelife. Every cell in my body desires more life.Every nerve does indeed cry aloud for more life.Whatever lack there may be is but a lack of control.When one has learned through the law of mind hemay control life and the renewal of life by his ownthought, he may send the blood whithersoever hewill to any part of the body, to any weak or diseasedorgan by the simple power of thought.

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AFFIRMATION/ am vitality

One of the greatest metaphysical healers in thecountry says of this affirmation:'Think vitality, breathe vitality, eat vitality, and

know that you are the unlimited vitality of God;thus you will become a magnet for almighty vitality.Think toward each organ of your body: You areVitality. You are so filled and thrilled with vitalitythat there is no place for disease or decay in you.All is vitality. Keep this up unceasingly, and itwill make you so positively vital that health andhappiness will reign throughout your whole being.

This affirmation may be elaborated thus:I am vitality.I think vitality.I breathe vitality.I sleep vitality.I eat vitality.I drink vitality.I know that I am the unlimited vitality of God.

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AFFIRMATIONHealth, Strength, and Vitality, God with me.Health, Strength, and Vitality, God with me.Health, Strength, and Vitality, God with me.

* * *

One disappointing fact in the familiar Christiantheology, whether it be conservative or liberal, isthat there seems to be no place for a clearly defineddoctrine of the immanence of God. Men say theybelieve in God and then act as if they believed in thedevil. Men say they believe in the immanence ofGod, and then act as if they believed He were amillion miles away. The great doctrines of theFatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Manneed to be supplemented with a vital faith in theimmanence of God; in other words, men need tobelieve in a God who is here, a God who is herenow. Men need a God for every place, for everyevent, for every accident, for every emergency. Ineed a God with me.Put your very soul into this affirmation. Repeat

it and repeat it until it is fairly burned into yourconsciousness.HEALTH, STRENGTH, -and VITALITYGOD WITH ME.

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AFFIRMATION/ am life.I am health.I am strength.I am wealth.I am freedom.I am joy.

All this I am because the abounding life and loveof God flows in my veins and vitalizes my nerves.Here is a great dynamic positive affirmation which

will bring health and strength. When you makethis affirmation, do it with power and with faith.

Let faith, your positive faith, fill the several wordswith new meaning, I am life, I am health, I amstrength, etc.Make this a real affirmation of your own positive

thought by filling it with faith. Make theseaffirmations as frequently as you can do so, feelingthat they are vital.

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AFFIRMATION/ am never alone.God is here.He will help me and heal me.

* * *I used to reach home about the time our little girl

of four was going to bed. Often I would spend ahalf hour at her bedside telling her stories. At theconclusion of the story-telling I would hear herprayer and leave her for the night. On one of theseoccasions she asked many questions about God.As she was a timid child, I tried particularly to em-phasize the thought of God's presence with her.As I was ready to leave, she asked, Will you pleaselight the gas before you go? Oh, no, said I,you don't need the gas, for God is with you all thetime. Even in the dark? she asked. Yes, Isaid, all the time, even in the dark. Then shedrew a long sigh and replied, Well, I'd rather havegas than God. Dear child, how like the rest ofthe world she was. The light v/as near and shecould understand it, while in spite of all my effortsGod was far away. Many a man would ratherhave gold than God. But the reason for that isthat he does not understand how trivial and tem-porary gold is, nor how fundamental and imperativeGod is. Yet there will surely come a time in eachlife when gold will not buy the fundamental neces-sity, nor gas light the way. Then this little childgrown older will gladly hear the voice of God.

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AFFIRMATION/ trust in God.So trusting, I believe in myself.There is no room in my mind for the slavery of fear.Wording with God, nothing can defeat me.

In order to see how widespread is the slavery offear, one has only to make a brief but obvious cata-logue of things men do fear. Men are afraid ofsickness, afraid of death, afraid of accident, afraidof poverty. They are anxious lest they may losetheir work, afraid of public opinion, afraid of criti-cism, afraid other men will not appreciate them.Thus does fear hamper them and weigh upon theirminds, like the dead body of a giant. What slaverycould be worse. As Prentice Mulford says: Fearcripples the spirit, and diseases the body. Fear iseverywhere. Fear of want, fear of the poorhouse,fear of starvation. Fear has become with millionsa fixed habit.

Unless fear can be uprooted from the mind itwill do untold damage. It is an evil emotion.Every emotion, good and bad alike, leaves its im-press upon the body. It changes the secretions ofthe body and may even destroy life. Whoeverwould keep well must exorcise fear as he wouldexorcise any other devil from his mind or any otherpoison from his body.

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AFFIRMATIONTreatment for Insomnia

/ will be calm. God is with me. All is well. TonightI shall sleep. I shall rest. I shall forget all theresponsibilities of the day. I shall not freU norworry, nor be anxious.

Would you find a cure for worry? Believe in GodAlmighty. Believe that this world belongs to God,that you belong to Him; that, come what will, Hewill take care of you. A friend of mine assures methat she derives great comfort from this simplelittle speech, which she makes to herself, God ishere; I will trust Him. And it is a good speech forany one to make. My plans have failed, Nevermind, God is here; I will trust Him. My fortuneis lost, Never mind, God is here; I will trustHim. Yes, God is here, He is mine and I am His.This is God's world. I am God's child. ThoughHe slay me, yet will I trust Him. Fear hath tor-ment. Trust hath everlasting peace.

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He that \eepeth me will not slumber.We are all lying in the arms of God.God's healing love wraps us about as with a garment.God's healing life flows through us while we sleep.

We may lose our consciousness of God, but Goddoes not lose His consciousness of us. We cannot goout of His sight. God's healing love does indeedwrap us about as with a garment. God's healinglife does indeed flow through us while we sleep andit is good for us with the last breath at night to feelGod's inflowing love. As a simple scientific fact, itis probably true that healing goes forward moresurely while men sleep than when they are distractedby waking sights and sounds.Nothing could be better for the sick man than

to say with all earnestness as he goes to sleep: Thedivine spirit is flowing into me and through me.Let Thy blessing heal me, and let me not be afraid,for Underneath are the everlasting arms.' '

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/ shall sleep sweetly tonight knowing that God's hindand strong protection is over me, under me,around me.

ho harm can come to His helot ed.

He giveth His beloved sleep/'The responsibilities and cares of the day areforgotten.It is cool and quiet in my room.There is blessing in the night air as it blows

upon my cheek.Our Father in Heaven, as we lie down tonight,tired but not discouraged, we thank Thee for the

strange mysterious renewal that comes from sleep.In some magic way, the hew cr which we co notknow, Thou pourest out Thy spirit upon us while weare unconscious. It enters into our hearts andminds, into our veins and bleed, and. behold, weawake refreshed and strong for a new day.Be Thou with us while we sleep tonight. Amen.

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AFFIRMATION(May be used in case of insomnia)

/ turn away from all the harry and worry of the day.My body is now entirely relaxed.I will sleep.I am now becoming quiet.I shall soon be fast asleep, and shall sleep quietly until

morning.

Whoever would quickly find the consolations ofsleep should learn to form the habit of dismissingthe cares of the day, and especially is this true formental workers. Many people stretch out the workof the day indefinitely into the night in perfectly fruit-less fashion by turning over and over all the facts ofthe day's experience in the mind, until the brainbecomes congested and incapable of sleep. Whenone has finished the work of the day and retired,he will do well to find an easy position and thenentirely relax. This may be done by talking directlyto the parts of the body, thus: arms, relax; body,relax; neck and head, relax; spinal column, relax;and so on, until finally the whole body, every organdown to the toes and fingers, is thoroughly relaxed.Then say: I am now becoming quiet, I will sleep,sleep, sleep, I shall sleep quietly until morning.

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AFFIRMATION(Four comprehensive affirmations expounded byElizabeth Cady)

First, God is Life, Love, Intelligence, Substance,Omnipotence, Omnipresence, Omniscience.

Second, / am the child or manifestation of God;and His life, love, wisdom, power, flow into and throughme every moment. I am one with God, and amgoverned by His law.

Third, / am Spirit, perfect, holy, harmonious.Nothing can hurt me or make me sick or afraid, forSpirit is God, and God cannot be sick Qr hurt or afraid.I manifest my real Self now.

Fourth, God works in me to will and to do whatso-ever He wishes done by me; hence, I cannot fail.

Her exposition is in part as follows:In reality, God is forever in process of movement

toward us, that He may manifest more fully Himself(all good) through us. Our affirming, backed byfaith, is the grip which connects the car of our con-scious human need with the ever moving cable ofHis power and supply. They who have claimed theirbirthright by thus calmly affirming their onenesswith God know how still they can be from externalplanning and effort after they have called intooperation this marvelous power of affirmation.

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YOU AND AUNTIE DOLEFULA health conversation in which you play the part

of Sam Hopeful.Enter Auntie Doleful. Finds Sam Hopeful

seated.AuntieGood morning, Sam, how are you?SamPerfectly fine, auntie, if I were any betterthan I am I should immediately find a job in a stone

quarry.AuntieThat's rather brave talk, Sam, somebody

told me you were paralyzed.Sam shucks, auntie, may be they were

talking through their hat.. Anyhow, paralysis isonly one of those big names that the doctors use.The fact is that the right side of me was rather tiredout and I am letting it take the rest cure.

AuntieWell, Sam, I guess you will have plentyof time to let it rest. I have heard that paralysislasts several years.SamGood, I guess that old side of mine canstand it; besides, I thought I never should have achance to do any more reading, but now I've got allthe time I needa good chance to catch up.AuntieA chance to catch up, Sam I guess

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how are you going to stand the everlasting racket ofthese children of your daughter's?SamWhy, good gracious, auntie, these children

never make any racket. There are only four ofthem and if they should make a noise, I'd just turnmy deaf ear toward them and go on with my read-ing. We get on finely together, and they nevertrouble me.AuntieThey never trouble you, Sam? Don't

they talk you almost to death?SamGood gracious, no. I suppose they do talk

sometimes, but I just don't hear them.AuntieBut what do you do when they yell?SamWhy, I just think harder, and by and by

they stop.AuntieWell, for my part, I don't see how you

can hear yourself think at all, when all four of themget to yelling at once.SamWhy, auntie, they hardly ever do all yellat once, and if they do, I just call them my quartette.AuntieBy the way, Sam, how do you like this

kind of weather?SamJust fine.AuntieWhy, Sam, I don't believe you know a

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there and see it rain. The sun hasn't been out allthe morning.SamThat's all right. This is just my kind of

weather. I don't want to go out doors anyhow.AuntieWhy, Sam Hopeful what are you talking

about. This is now the seventeenth day of themonth and we haven't had one really good day thismonth.SamWhy, Auntie, I've looked out of the window

nearly every day this month, and I should turn itright around the other way, I haven't seen one badday. They have all been good days.AuntieHow is Charlie's business? Somebody

told me that he was having rather hard sledding.SamWell, I don't know about that. He was in

yesterday with a good broad smile, and I didn'thear him say anything about any sort of adversityor any dullness in his business.

AuntieYes, I suppose Charlie is a good deallike you. He hasn't sense enough to know when itrains, or to know when he is bad off. He is toomuch like you to even know when he is sick. Isuppose he wouldn't know it if he were paralyzed onboth sides. But for my part, I don't propose to beindifferent when things go bad with me.

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Sam I don't call it being indifferent to smile ortake a hopeful view of business or the weather orone's health. The fact is there are too many weathercroakers and too many health croakers. If thingsare not quite normal, the best way is to take acheerful view of things and address oneself to thebusiness of abolishing friction. Don't you think so,auntie?

AuntieOh, that is what some folks say, but formy part, I propose to call a spade a spade. I don'tfall for all this new-fangled health talk.SamWell, auntie, don't you think it is better totalk health up than to talk it down? Isn't it betterto talk hope than despair? Isn't it better to lookon the sunny side of life than the shady side? Isn'tit better to talk victory than to talk defeat?AuntieWell, I agree, Sam, that it makes onefeel better.SamYes, auntie, it makes one feel better and it

is better. The big doctors among the medical mentell us that every time we have a thought or anemotion it has some effect on the body. Now ifthat is so, don't you think it is a mistake to paintevery case of sickness in colors of despair? Most ofthe doctors are not specialists. And even if they

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were, they don't know everything. God made menfor good long life, and I take my stand on this fact.God is a better doctor than most of the doctors.Paralysis or no paralysis, I want to live, and I'mgoing to keep right on living, till my HeavenlyFather speaks the final word. When He says it ishopeless, I will believe it, and not a minute before.

AuntieWell, Sam, you and I are old friends, andyou know as well as I do that I am not anxious tohave you die.SamNo, auntie, I know you are not, but youhave just got in the habit of looking on the dark side,

and you and other people unconsciously do a gooddeal to hurry folks into an early grave by exaggeratingtheir ailments, and painting all your pictures insomber colors. For my part, I wonder that anypublic man is able to live at all if he ever meets withany bodily illness. People burden such a man witha million tons of unhealthy gossip.Auntie-Well, Sam, I must be going, it don't

look as if it was going to stop raining today.SamThere, auntie, look out doors, and you will

see that it has already stopped.AuntieSo it has, well then I will go right away.

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SamAll right, I suppose I must be branded asfunny, just because I happen to believe that healthis contagious instead of disease. I am even willingto be called queer, if it will make the world a littlestronger and a little more cheerful. Good-bye,auntie. Let us talk health up instead of down.And God be with you till we meet again.

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HINTS ON HEALTHI hope to be able to make it clear, before I have

finished this little volume, that I am not riding anyhobby, nor am I the slave of any momentary experi-ment. Health by Bran may be wise in individualcases, but it is not a universal panacea. Healthby Dope is equally unreliable. I recognise bothmind and body. Agencies for keeping the body ingood condition are both physical and mental.What I shall say here under the heading, Hints onHealth, I say neither as a physician nor as a meta-physician. These Hints are based upon a littlecommon sense and a good deal of observation andsome experience. I shall try to keep on safe groundby speaking only of those things v/hich everybodyought to know and everybody may know. I shallfeel perfectly safe in saying to the healer and toevery man who would be healed of disease that goodnutrition is fundamental. Nutrition is as importantto the man as good soil is to the maple tree or to thecrop of potatoes or wheat or corn. Nutrition is thestuff that the body lives and grows on. The man'sbody is made up of some billions of cells; these cellswill become weak and anemic and finally perishunless the body is supplied with proper nutrition,

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My next keyword is Assimilation. If nutrition isneeded for the nourishment of the body, assimilationis needed to make nutrition effective. It is notenough that food shall pass through the body; itdoes not achieve its end unless it passes into theblood.On the road to assimilation and nutrition anotherimportant keyword is Mastication. He has a rockyroad before him who forms the habit of throwinghis food into his stomach in chunks. The habitshould be early formed of liberal chewing, or, as ournew dictionaries give us permission to say, Fletcher-izing.Yet one more keyword is Irrigation. To make food

ready for assimilation it should have a fairly liberalquantity of fluid mixed with it, and it will be a prettygood practice to let this fluid be taken in the formof water, though I have known some people whohad a prejudice in favor of other kinds of drink. Itdoes not militate against what I have said aboutirrigation that it is difficult to find a half-a-dozendoctors who entirely agree on how much fluid shallbe taken in twenty-four hours. My own advicewould be, if you are going to guess at it, to makethe quantity about two quarts, and if you do not

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want to guess, take a leaf from the book of natureand drink when you are thirsty, and the same leaf willalso tell you to eat moderately when you are hungry.While I am speaking on this subject of food

quantity, let me say that there is probably no worsehabit among average men than the habit of gorgingor eating all the time a little more than can beproperly digested and assimilated. The habit of menis analagous to the foolish mistake of throwing intothe manger of a horse five bushels of oats at one time.Not only does such feeding not nourish, on thecontrary, it clogs up the system and makes alldigestion and assimilation impossible. A goodgeneral rule as to quantity is to stop eating whileyou are still a little hungry. Many men literallyeat themselves into an early grave. A friend ofmine, borrowing a simile from his familiarity withthe automobile, calls it Fouling the cylinders.

Let us now turn from the important subject ofAssimilation to the no less important subject ofElimination. There are other means of elimination,but there are four that are perfectly obvious; oneis Excretion of waste matter from the Bowels, andthen the Kidneys, the Lungs, and the S\in. These,and a few others of less obvious importance, are the

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means by which the great Creative Intelligence hasplanned to eliminate the poisons from the body.In the interest of health all these organs must beregularly performing their functions; otherwise,poisons are being stored somewhere, and, if stored,then always in dangerous quantities, for any quan-tity whatever is dangerous. Neither the skin, northe lungs, nor the kidneys, nor the bowels can besafely neglected; if they are neglected, then auto-intoxication will surely ensue and disease mustultimately follow. This is one reason for my adviceto look carefully to irrigation, or water drinking.It is hardly too much to say that, if these foursources of elimination could always be kept active,then the body of man would always be healthy.There is, therefore, little wonder that the in-

telligent physician on being called for the first timein any case of sickness immediately addresses him-self to these various sources of elimination, for heknows that in all reason the cause generally liesthere and if he can remove the cause he will oftenremove the disease.

I said in starting these Hints on Health that Ibelieve in both Mind and Body. What I have saidthus far relates generally to the Body, but I want

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to say that thought and the use of thought is perhapsequally important both as cause and cure of diseaseand in many forms of disease far more important.Whoever will make an intelligent study of the Sub-conscious Mind and the Sympathetic NervousSystem cannot fail to see that Body and Mind areintimately linked together and that Mind has to dowith the automatic functioning of the largest partof the bodily organs, and through the instrumen-tality of suggestion and autosuggestion such func-tioning is unconsciously influenced, and may be,when necessary, consciously directed.Here stands justified the plea of all metaphysicalhealers for mental atmosphere in treating disease;in other words, their plea that all sick people be sur-rounded by the most cheerful conditions in theinterest of rapid recovery. Not only so, but thisrelation between Mind and Body also justifies theirdeclaration, that it is vastly important in the interestof \eeping well, that the whole community be per-vaded with an atmosphere of cheerfulness andoptimism. They properly insist that it isn't fair toanybody to think him from health into disease, andit is not fair to the sick man that he be thoughtinto an early grave.

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SOME HEALTH DON'TSDenials as well as affirmations have some thera-

peutic value, though as it seems to me, affirmationsare better than denials. But it must not be forgottenthat an affirmation may take a negative form ofstatement. Here, then, are a few will not's :

I will not gossip.I will not seek employment as if I were making an

apology.I will not do my work in a slip-shod fashion.I will not face the past.I will not waste my time reading about crimes and

murder trials.I will not anticipate failure.I will not talk about sickness and death.I will not miss a chance to be kind.I will not hate anybody. *I will not worry.I will not be sarcastic.I will not be angry.I will not be jealous.I will not think evil.I will not be afraid.How would it be to go over these Don'ts each

morning before starting the day? Thus you willspecifically commit yourself to these negativeaffirmations.

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PARTIAL BREATHINGUnless it be the use of food and water, there isnothing more fundamental to good health than

proper breathing. There is a critical moment at thebirth of every child when life is problematical. Thereis another critical moment at the end of life when itis also problematical. It is all a question of oxygen.Can the baby and the old man secure oxygen enoughand quickly enough to sustain life?

It will therefore be seen how very important isthe subject of proper breathing.Let it not be thought a thing inconsistent withthe purpose of this book that I stop to emphasize a

subject like this. I have already tried to make itclear that I believe in physical forces as well asmetaphysical. I have also tried to make it clearthat I hold in the highest esteem the work of thewise and conscientious doctors. Let me add at thispoint my conviction that there is no class of pro-fessional men in the community who do more ab-solutely unselfish work than the doctors. My chiefdifference with them, so far as I have any, is thatmany of them are slow to recognize the value ofMind Forces in the treatment of disease, whereas Ibelieve that these forces are exceedingly important.

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Furthermore I feel sure that if we would frankly usethese forces to their limit, often it would not he nec-essary to resort to the doubtful experiments of some-what experimental drugs. Let me return from thisdigression, then, to say that one of the most obviousprecautions to take in the interest of good health isto insist upon correct breathing. Ordinarily cor-rect breathing will be described as deep breathing.To substitute deep breathing for the ordinarybreathing of the average man would be an immensegain, but it is not scientifically nor practically cor-rect. The ideal to be aimed at is really completebreathing or breathing in every part of the lungs,the upper, lower and middle region, and to achievethat result obviously requires some practice. Mostmen can survive for a time by rather spasmodic hit-or-miss breathing in one little corner of the lungs,but they cannot survive healthily. They will beopen to all sorts of attacks upon the various organsof the body.

Let me stop long enough to point cut some of theparticular points of attack. Not to breathe cor-rectly is analogous to the pollution of a city's watersupply. We may liken man's blood supply to thewater supply of a city. Unless the blood can be

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properly oxygenated almost any organ in the bodywill be open to the attack of disease germs, but withstrong currents of healthy blood flowing throughthe veins, men become relatively immune to everysort of attack. Besides this general danger in-volved in careless breathing, of course there is theever present hazard to the lungs. It is perhaps nottoo much to say that the race would become immuneto tuberculosis if all men could be persuaded topractice complete breathing for two generations.The fact that most men with consumption are

narrow-chested is strongly suggestive of partial andinadequate breathing.Not only this, but we know from actual expe-

rience that breathing has a powerful effect upon thatcommon ailment which furnishes the medical pro-fession with the largest part of its business, Common Colds.Though I am not a doctor, I hazard nothing when

I say that if upon the appearance of the symptomsof a cold men would take more air and less food, in other words, if they v/ere to stop for an hour andbreathe deeply, or more correctly, breathe com-pletely, and then fast for a day, the cold woulddisappear. Just try it, but do not imagine that

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this advice vitiates my point of emphasis, viz.:that Mind is immensely important in the treatmentof diseases; in other words, that we may neverproperly neglect the reactions of the mind upon thebody.

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BIGGER THAN ANYTHING THAT CANHAPPEN TO HIMMr. George Kennan, the famous historian of cur-

rent happenings, was writing of the heroism ofsoldiers, thousands of them, who were returningfrom battle in every state of mutilation, carried onflat cars and suffering indescribable tortures, butnever groaning and rarely frowning amid theirsuffering. When he had finished his descriptionhe added, significantly, Isn't it fine to see a race ofmen who are bigger than anything that can happento them.

Since then I have thought much of this phraseand its meaning. For years since that time I havebeen on a tour of inspection and I find that men whoare bigger than anything that can happen to themare not so very rare after all.One day I met a man and his wife. I had thought

that they were very ordinary people at all eventsno better or bigger than average folks, but two daysbefore I met them I learned that they had buriedthe last of six children, (all they had) all of whom haddied of diphtheria within one week. And there theywere going about their home without a murmur, with-out a complaint, not even thinking of themselves

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as martyrs to the Providence of God, blamingnobody, but quite ready to take up the next taskand perform it bravely. Then I said, Isn't it fineto meet men and women who are 'bigger than any-thing that can happen to them.' 'When I was quite a boy I also saw a man one day

standing in the midst of the dust of a threshingmachine in operation. Suddenly all the machinerystopped, and an exclamation of horror escaped thedozen or more men who were engaged in this harvestoperation and it was seen that both arms had suddenlybeen drawn into the cylinder of the machine. He wasstill living when he was released from his perilousposition. He wholly recovered his health, but botharms were absolutely destroyed at the shoulder. Hedid not die and he did not complain, but in a spiritof marvelous heroism he still went about tasks whichotherwise would have seemed quite impossible, andI have been thinking again, What a fine thing it isto meet a man who is bigger than anything that canhappen to him.During the late World War I have also been observ-

ing, and I have found that over widespread areasthere occurs this superiority of men over whatevercan happen to them, for everywhere throughout

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Great Britain and France and Belgium men by thethousands, tens of thousands and hundreds of thou-sands have been mowed down like grass before amowing machine, or wheat before the reaper, and asswath after swath have disappeared other thousandshave swept in to fill the ranks in response to anidea, and generally without complaint, and the worldhas rejoiced in the fact that men have been biggerthan anything that could happen to them.But this spirit has been peculiar to no country

and no race. Many years ago, while I was in Japan,there occurred a fire one night in Tokio when sixthousand homes were burned and twenty thousandpeople were rendered homeless. The next daypeople were walking calmly about the devastatedregion saying shikata-ga-nai (there is no help forit) . Then I saw that even here, without the form ofChristian philosophy, people could be bigger thananything that could happen to them.But did we not see the same thing illustrated a

little later in San Francisco, where great buildingsalmost touching the sky fell into heaps like a pack ofbroken cards, while acres upon acres in the burneddistrict were scarcely more than heaps of ashes, andthousands of people were rendered homeless, and

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thousands of others fleeing from the stricken city, and yet, these people, who seemed at first tohave their spirit crushed, pulled themselves together,rebuilt upon the ashes of the old city, faced thefuture with sublime faith and proved by theiractions that they were bigger than anything thatcould happen to them.What is going to happen to us, to me, to you, to

your family, to your country? Not one of us knows.But happy are we if, when the happening comes,we are bigger than anything that can happen to us.What can make us bigger than anything that canhappen to us ? No form of words, surely no formalphilosophy, Christian or otherwise, but the realityof faith in the Eternal in us. That can make usbigger than anything that can happen to us.

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POISE AND POWERIt is rather easy to see how poise is related to

power, but not quite so easy to see how it is relatedalso to health. The meaning of mental and spiritualpoise can easily be illustrated from what we know ofphysical poise. To be well poised means to standsquarely on one's feet. To lack poise means tostand more or less out of balance.You see at once how this is related to power. The

man standing more or less out of balance or out ofpoise is never prepared to carry a heavy load. Outof poise, he is easily crushed to earth; whereas,standing with both feet squarely upon the earth,leaning neither backward nor forward, neither to theright nor the left, even a small man is a marvel ofphysical strength. Another illustration of therelation between poise and power is often witnessedon the ball field. On account of being compelled toact rapidly and while still out of position a ballplayer is often unable to throw with accuracy orcatch with certainty. The trouble is, he is out ofpoise.Much bad work, both physical and mental, results

from lack of poise. The man who lacks poise iseasily surprised and therefore easily defeated. No

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man who has lost his poise can strike a heavy blow,nor strike it with precision. Whether you be awood-chopper, a prize fighter, a school teacher, amerchant or a minister, the exigencies of your workcall for accuracy and power, and therefore, forpoise. The difference between a putterer and aman of power is a question of poise. I think itperfectly safe to say that it is impossible to find aman of real power without poise.

I never yet have seen a man who flutters aroundfrom idea to idea, from task to task, from one friendto another friend, who was a man of real power.The man of power gives the impression of soliditybecause he is solid. Nothing surprises him, nothingdisturbs him, nothing throws him off his balance.He is a man of power because first he is a man ofpoise.Now it seems to me that all analogies must point

to the fact that poise and health are also linkedtogether. And as a matter of fact and observation,I believe it to be very difficult for a man to keep hishealth who loses his mental and moral poise. He isopen to all the disturbing influences due to surprise,and a thousand things that ought not to even annoyor disturb such a man will throw him into a flutter

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of excitement and a fever of distress. Such a manwill be open to all the nervous disturbances thatsap the energy and destroy strength. His nerveswill be worn to a frazzle because it is impossible forhim ever to let go and be calm, because he haslost his poise. No man can keep well who cannotstart and stop with ease, and no woman cankeep in health who goes into hysterics because thegown which she expected would be ready at acertain time is not, or because the day is rainy whenshe confidently expected sunshine. She cannotbear that her plans should be changed, and so shemakes herself and all others uncomfortable becauseher dress-maker could not perform the impossible,or because the Almighty saw fit to water the earthon her particular day. The lack of poise is a seedwhich bears nothing but weeds of one sort or another.If you are convinced that your illness is due to lackof poise, take time enough for the practice of lettinggo, to thoroughly get hold of yourself and controlyour moods and prepare yourself for the surprises oflife.

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A STATE OF MINDSomebody once said humorously in describingBoston, Boston is not a place, it is a state of mind.Without any attempt at humor one may say thatmany things that happen to one in this world aresimply states of mind. For example: when a childgoes out in the afternoon, is run over and killed, onlyto come in safely a few minutes later, that is a stateof mind and not a real fact. Many of our tiredfeelings are states of mind, some of our poverty, and if poverty, then why not some of our riches,are also states of mind. Let us frankly admit whenwe worry and when we fear, there is no genuine factbehind the phenomena, they are simply states ofmind. The physician of a sick man was askedwhat ails your patient? Oh, said he, it isnothing but a state of mind. The patient over-hearing the remark said, All right, then, I'll becured by another state of mind, and he was.

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THE SLAVE OF A CLOCKI used to know a lady who claimed that she had

all her life been the slave of a clock, and whethershe was ready or not, the clock had been bossing heraround telling her to do this and to do that. It wassaying to her in the morning, 'Time to get upAt noon, 'Time for lunch If she were going toNew York, the exhortation was, 'Time to start,trains don't wait. At night, at an hour which thisgood lady thought to be about seven o'clock, butwhich was actually twrelve or half past, she wouldhear from some member of the family, Twelveo'clock, time for bed This good woman, whenshe was preparing for an automobile trip, wanted tostart when there was only time enough left to gohalf the distance by daylight.As a matter of fact, she wasn't greatly troubled

by the clock, but other people were troubled andthey were always reminding her of the message ofthe clock, telling her what the hour of the day ornight might be, while really that was the last thingin the world that she wanted to know. So oftenwas she reminded of the message of the clock thatshe came at last to fairly hate the word, and calledherself The slave of the clock. She no doubt

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spoke very truly and was almost infinitely irritatedby the reminders that were being made to her, butshe wasn't the only irritated one. All those asso-ciated with her were also irritated, because, havingresented the commands of her master, the clock,she irritated everybody else by being perpetuallylate and making other people who were associatedwith her anxious.

If one really wants to keep well, this clock slaveryis really a sad situation, but it is far more sad forthose associated with the slave. Since this littlebook has developed into general good advice, I wishto give a little advice to the woman who is theslave of a clock. Let her try the recommendationof St. Paul when he advised people to live above thelaw and not under the law. Only those are slaveswho allow themselves to be forced to live under thelaw; they immediately find freedom when they beginto live above the law. In other words, people arethe slaves of the clock only when they resent beingcompelled to keep their engagements or to start ontime. The moment they cease to be selfish and bringthemselves to the simple habit of being on time, theyno longer resent the so-called slavery to the com-mands of a clock. When they reach the conclusion

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to break with the selfish habit of consulting theirown convenience and try to establish the habit ofconsulting the convenience of other people andkeeping their engagements, they get rid of a worldof wear and tear, a world of annoyance and a worldof friction, and help to restore the tattered nerves ofpeople who are suffering from their association withthe unmitigated nuisance of the bad habit of alwaysbeing late.MORAL: Don't break the clock give up yourown bad habit.

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FORGET ITORTHE NEVER MIND PHILOSOPHY

One of the interesting things that I noticed duringmy four years in Japan was what many foreignerscall the shikataga-nai philosophy. Shikataga-naimeans there is no help for it, or, to give it ratherfree rendering, Let it pass, or, still freer render-ing, Never mind. There is no doubt that thisapparently easy-going philosophy helps reduce thefriction of common life immensely, and with regardto a thousand trivial things; I am persuaded it is avery useful philosophy. We cannot considerablychange the circumstances and the accidents of life,but we can soften and reduce the friction causedby these accidents not a little. Whoever reducesfriction is a benefactor, and at least the nevermind philosophy will help to do this. Some onehas slighted you or neglected you, or you think theyhave Forget it. Somebody has misunderstoodyou or misrepresented you Never mind. It isnot worth while to be bothered. Or you haveanother bad bill Shikataga-nai. Just forget it.

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Somebody has summed up the whole matter inthese familiar lines:

Let's start forgettingThere are so many things to lay awayIn graves dead hates and fears, and doubts that

flay,And all these little faults scarce worth a groan, There are so many black days we have knownThere is no use regretting

Let's try forgetting.

Let's start forgettingA thought of envy is no pleasant guest.And hatred nourished leaves no peace or rest;A tear's no thing to treasure; and no strifeBecomes a corner stone to fuller life.Away with grief and fretting

Let's start forgetting.

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HEALING SCRIPTURES


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HEALING SCRIPTURESI

Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare ofthe fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.Psalm 91: 3.There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any

plague come nigh thy dwelling. Psalm 91 : 10.Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth

all thy diseases. Psalm 103: 3.He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up

their wounds. Psalm 147: 3.I had fainted unless I had believed to see the

goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.Psalm 27: 13.The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall

I be afraid? Psalm 27: 1.Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord

Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God ofall comfort, who

healing affirmations-getting well and keeping well

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