Balance
void all strained and abstruse
lan-
guage, when conversing with peo-
ple who may not have entered this
realm of thought.
Do not allow anyone to think of
you as a lunatic, or a crank, un-
necessarily. Of course there are people in the
world who consider everyone a lunatic who holds
an opinion differing from their own.
But it can do you, or your philosophy, no good
to thrust its most difficult phases before the
minds of the unawakened, by vague and high
flown expressions.
I once chanced to call upon a lady who had,
quite unknown to me, entered upon the study of
Christian Science.
She remarked to me, almost as soon as the
greetings were exchanged, "I had a claim to meet
for three days this week, but I have come through
it and am victorious."
I supposed the lady referred to some business
matter, perhaps a legal affair, and waited an
explanation.
After considerable rambling conversation, I
managed to grasp the fact that the woman had
been sick in the house three days, but now was
well. She considered her illness a mere "claim"
her "mortal mind" had made which she had to
meet and combat.
All this sort of talk is very ridiculous.
We
need not talk about every ailment which attacks
us as we move along toward the condition of per-
fect health which belongs to us! But if we do
speak of indisposition, let us use common sense
language.
What we want to realize is, that we are in
the body, but that the spirit can control bodily
conditions, if we give it the ascendency, to the
extent of keeping us well, moral, useful, and
comfortable even in the midst of sickness, vice,
indolence and poverty.
We can rise above these false elements, and
subjugate them.
Meanwhile we cannot live without food,
clothes and money.
Despise and ignore these vulgar things as we
may assume to do, we yet must have them.
It brings only ridicule upon ourselves and our
ideas to make this pretense of despising the
necessities of life.
To make them secondary in our thoughts to
spiritual knowledge is right and wise, but this is
better illustrated by our lives and conduct than
by our words.
The Heart of the New Thought by Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
Chicago : The Psychic Research Company, c1902.
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