wickedly, because he grieveth the Holy Spirit, which is given to man, being of cheerful nature. And again he does ill, because he prays with sadness unto the Lord, and maketh not at first thankful acknowledgment unto him of former mercies, and obtains not of God what he asks. 21. For the prayer of a sad man has not always efficacy to come up to the altar of God. And I said unto him, Sir, why has not the prayer of a sad man virtue to come up to the altar of God? because, said he, that sadness remaineth in his heart. 22. When therefore a man's prayer shall be accompanied with sadness, it will not suffer his requests to ascend pure to the altar of God. For as wine when it is mingled with vinegar, has not the sweetness it had before; so sadness being mixed with the Holy Spirit, suffers not a man's prayer to be the same as it would be otherwise. 23. Wherefore cleanse thyself from sadness, which is evil, and thou shalt live unto God. And all others shall live unto God, as many as shall lay aside sadness and put on cheerfulness. What's the use of worrying? Fretting does n't pay. What's the use of hurrying? It's the slowest way. Half the whims that worry you Then why let them flurry you, As you daily do? Let your life out easily, Then it will be long. Take what happens breezily, Whistle, sing a song! Don't waste strength in worrying Over phantom ills, Don't waste time in hurrying That's the pace that kills. Somerville Journal. "Plant lilies, and lilies will bloom; Plant roses, and roses will grow; The fruit of the seed you sow." ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS. JENNIE H. Croft. 80. What shall I do to overcome the predjudice held against me on account of a reckless past? I feel that I am proof against all temptations, but people who would gladly help me hesitate; then I lose confidence in myself. -W. F. S. - The first, and above all else, the most important thing for you to do is to have an unwavering confidence in yourself. Recognize the fact that you are one with Omnipotence, for you had your source in Omnipotence, and all possibilities are yours. Do not allow a thought of failure to enter your mind just know that whatever you set yourself to do you will accomplish. Affirm for yourself strength of purpose and ability to perform. This attitude of mind, if persistently held to, will have its effect upon your friends, and they will unconsciously absorb the idea until they, too, believe in your ability to succeed. Do not be discouraged if you seem to make slow progress in regaining the confidence of people. You are building a new foundation for your character, the old one having been marred by mistakes, and you know it takes time to do this work well, so that onlookers can see a change of plan. But it is sure to come, for through your indomitable will and resolute effort you will compel people to believe in you as you believe in yourself. All honor to those who redeem their lives from the mistakes of the past. 81. I am a woman, at present making my home on a ranch, while I teach in a near-by school. When I come home from school I like to be entirely alone; something within me seems to demand it, so I have made a practice of going to my room and staying there till supper time. On Saturdays and Sundays I also remain much alone. The family on the ranch -a widow and children intimate to me that it is selfish of me to spend so much time by myself, when they are lonely, and would enjoy my company. I do not like talking and laughing with them in their manner of doing, though I like them well, and have in my heart only love for them. Am I selfish from a mortal mind's standpoint? And should I mingle more with them? -C. P. C. The motive which causes you to withdraw from the society of the family with whom you are staying will answer your question as to whether or not you are selfish. If it is because you perfer your own society rather than to mingle with them, and cheer them in their loneliness, then we may conclude it is selfishness. If you feel the need of being by yourself that you may the more readily know and understand the true Self, that you may commune with the Spirit of Truth and come into a realization of what you are in Being, then it is not selfish. At the same time you must neglect no opportunity of being of real service to them, of witnessing to the Truth before them. I do not believe in separation from the world, for we are strengthened by meeting and overcoming the conditions surrounding us. But I know that we cannot be in the social swim and develop spiritually; we must have our times of retirement that we may know God, know ourselves, and thus attain life eternal. Declare that you are guided by Infinite Wisdom, that all things are established in divine order, and you will make no mistakes, you will know when to mingle with the family and when to retire from them. 83. In all the writings of the metaphysical teachers I find the idea set forth that Spirit is the real life, the Spirit of Christ, the God within. If one becomes unconscious, that is, the bodily senses in abeyance, the life or Spirit, still within, has no power or consciousness in or of itself; what then is your conception of its condition at, or after, death of the body? Has it any consciousness then as an individual Spirit, or is it merged in the Universal Spirit with no personality or consciousness? Prior to this bodily existence we had no conscious life or personality. If, then, we return to God from whence we came, how can we have personality or consciousness? - M. If we would arrive at a correct conclusion we must see that the premise is correctly stated, we must view the position taken from all sides, that we may render it impregnable in its strength. In this question the pivotal point is "consciousness." consciousness is, "The faculty or power of knowing." The Spirit, the God within, is Omniscience, that is, all-knowledge. As God is Life, and life cannot know death else it would not be life— then, this Omniscient Spirit is eternal consciousness, Universal Mind. In man there are three planes of consciousness, or mind: The conscious mind, which is the sense consciousness; the sub-conscious mind, which is the storehouse of knowledge gained in all our varied experiences; the super-conscious mind, or spiritual consciousness. If one becomes unconscious it is the personal or sense consciousness which is inactive; the Spirit never loses its power of consciousness, these faculties being existent in Spirit. Until man attains that dominion over all things, which is his birthright, he will go through that change called death, but which is merely laying aside of the personality. The individual, the knower, the Spirit, continues its life in another phase of manifestation, and never loses its identity. It is possible, and there are those on record of whom it is said that they have attained this perfect dominion, so that they can leave the body and return to it at will. Jesus said, "I have power to lay down my life and I have power to take it again," and what one man can do is within the power of all. Prior to this bodily existence we had no human or personal consciousness, but we existed in God as thoughts exist in the mind of the thinker before they are expressed in words or manifested in things. Should those things or words be blotted out, the thought or idea remains, distinct from all other ideas, but still a part of the Universal Consciousness. Man does not return to God, for he never left God. He is eternal, co-existent with God. Believe in truth; believe in virtue. They are not shams, but realities. Do not think the world is stronger than God in the conflict with falsehood and wrong. JOHN JAMES TAYLer. 116 CONDENSED TRUTH. BY VARIOUS WRITERS. The right uses of life forces causes every day to be thanksgiving day. So, a right religion makes us THANKFULNESS, pray and love everybody and everything each day equally with the seventh day. Pure thoughts and integrity can give mental tonics that tone up without any reaction as is the case with alcoholics. No good without the All-Good. If we hold in our mind that part of our race are depraved and the rest saints, we make God double-minded, and throw mud at the 30,000 promises in the old Bible. All experience, sooner of later, becomes full of valuable lessons. Well for you and me if we can wisely ward off failure and bitterness by self-knowledge and living the Christ life. Where there is love for all humanity, manifested life and external nature, we inherit all things. Clearness of mind attends genial concentration. All false gratitude is born in some form of ignorant selfishness. Harmony and evenness of all bodily, soul, and spiritual powers will make our life one long and ever a new and fresh day of rejoicing. Fears must be utterly banished by every power of affimative Good we can command. "Resist not evil," says Jesus. This means conquer evils by steadily living their opposites and not by critical condemnation. This is the great and main line of difference between New Thought, or Christ manifest, and sectarianism. I must allow every one the privilege of finding Truth in his own way. We are gods and inherit all time, earth, heaven, past, present and future. The way to be truly thankful is by sending out uplifting thoughts unto all persons about us. The extent of our powers to attain is unlimited when they are unselfishly used. Spiritual mindedness is life and constant renewing of life. The physi |