LEAVES OF THE TREE

By

Walter C. Lanyon

 

Copyright, 1923

By Walter C. Lanyon

 

 

Table of Contents

 

1. Failure to Demonstrate

2.  Letting Go
3. Cast Your Bread Upon the Water

4.  God

5.  As a Man Thinketh

6.  Invisible Power

7. Think on these Things
8.  The Lord is Mindful of His Own

9.  Your Problem

10. One Ness

11. Reversing          

 

 

Failure to Demonstrate

Chapter One

 

      Along the Road from Sense to Soul the Truth seeker meets, from time to time, earnest, sincere pilgrims almost overcome with their burden of failure to demonstrate the principle which they have tried so hard to follow. They come at you somewhat after this manner.

      "I have read daily; I have declared the allness of God, and that His perfect child can­not be sick, cannot want; I have lived morally and mentally as near the teachings of our Revered Leader as I know how; I have had treatment from a dozen or more practitioners and have followed their instructions care­fully, and yet the demonstration 'is only partially made or not made at all. What am I to do more?"

      These remarks are usually accompanied by signs of the greatest and most absolute faith in the power of God to perform these wonders, and yet if the case is looked into it might well merit the rebuke of the Master ----"Oh ye of little faith."

      In every instance failure to make manifest the Truth which Jesus taught and demon­strated and left for us as an example, with the promise "even greater works than these shall ye do," is directly traceable to lack of faith.

      A statement like this is usually received by a vigorous denial on the part of the pilgrim. He is sure he is full of faith, yet look a little further and you will see that no sooner does he utter a prayer or apply the principle of Truth than does he begin look­ing to see if anything is happening. Not satisfied with the efficacy of one prayer he keeps going over it all day in an almost automatic fashion which if analyzed would border on self hypnosis. It is not the prayer and the truth of it that is holding the pre­ponderance of his thought, but the fear that "nothing is happening," and unconsci­ously this stimulates him to greater anxiety and causes him to go over and. over his petition, entertaining, perhaps unconsciously, the thought that by repetition he will make clearer just what must happen. "Words are vain repetition."

      Bringing this to the attention of the pil­grim, he will answer almost invariably, "We are told to ‘pray without ceasing’” ---not understanding that the praying without ceasing does not mean a constant repeating of words, but a fixed Faith and a contempla­tion of the reality of man's existence. The unceasing prayer then is the thought which, when tempted to repeat and go over work already done, quickly answers the anxiety for a sign, with the powerful words---"It is done. I have followed out the Master's instructions---I have knocked and it shall be opened unto me, I have asked and I shall receive, I have sought and I shall find." "God's promises are kept for "He that prom­ised is faithful."

      We are told that “The Kingdom of heaven cometh not with observation.” Demonstra­tion is like the planting of seeds. They do not grow by constant observation. If you doubt this try this experiment. Plant two seeds. After planting them allow one of them to remain untouched and unobserved; the other dig up twice a day and examine it carefully, and endeavor to find out the exact moment the hard shell cracks, which is keeping from you the promise of a flower. Handle it with utmost precaution and ex­amine it under the microscope to detect any possible change. After a week of this treatment, go back to the untouched seed and more than likely you will find it has pushed thru the hard shell and also thru the earth which covered it, while the seed of constant examination has probably shriveled up and died._. You do not know the precise moment the change came to the first seed but the law you made for it when you dropped it^­ into the ground and left it was "It is done." Unconsciously when we plant seeds in our gardens we water them with absolute faith. We leave them, with the thought, I have planted and eventually I shall reap the harvest of flowers, vegetables or grain. In the case of the second seed, you planted it with doubt, this was so strong that you constantly dug it up to see if anything was happening and in your anxiety you wanted to assist it in its working of the problem---you wanted to help it along by observation, and so the promise was not fulfilled.

      The treatment which is given with ab­solute faith will be allowed to accomplish its mission with the same abandon as a planted seed. There will be no constant searching for a sign. Such work will be productive of good results. Perhaps it will be instantaneous and appear at once, as the mushroom appears over night-perhaps it will be longer in its' unfolding, as 'the oak tree coming from the acorn is. But one thing sure it cannot, and will not fail to produce after its kind when it is watered with the faith which knows "It is done."

      The thought which goes over and over a treatment,' though it may call itself Faith, is the fear that Prayer does not always work ---that it is sometimes efficacious and other times not. God will do his work aright with­out' the assistance of mortal mind, and in a way which always mystifies the mortal thought, for His ways are higher than our ways. They are not in any sense our ways.

      The writer had a clear and concrete ex­ample of this recently. Early in the fall' a dozen or more bulbs were planted in water. Part of the containers were placed in the basement in the dark, the others were brought up in a heated room of the house in the light. Every day in passing the bulbs they were examined, the receptacles were turned a little, and the water replenished and while the bulbs were not exactly handled, they were more or less moved and touched by anxious fingers, and they were under the constant observation of everyone. At the end of six weeks the house bulbs had, at­tained a height of three inches, while the ones in the basement were standing eighteen inches and were in full bud ready to bloom.

      In the silence, in the ""secret place" where the observation of mortal mind is dimmed, is the place to do your work. "The father within me, he doeth the work." In the "secret place" we can declare the allness of God, and that his perfect idea man is being manifested in its^- own natural way, which is always beautiful and grand. Then when it is ready for presentation to the world, it will be so evident that it will call itself from the house tops. The perfume of its blossoms will not need attention called to them. They by their glory and attainment will attract the notice which is necessary and shall be for an example of faith. "In the twinkling of an eye all shall be changed."

      "Wait on the Lord and He shall give thee the desire of thy heart" we are told, and "Those who wait upon the Lord shall walk and not be weary and shall run and not faint." Gradually man begins to see that he can of himself do nothing, and that the sooner he discontinues his efforts the sooner his demonstration shall be made. The sooner his demonstration shall be made manifest is more correct, for the demonstration is already made, always has been made and can never be unmade. It merely awaits the being called into manifestation. - Man then comes to the conclusion that his chief work is to know how to "wait patiently."

      "Waiting patiently" does not mean pro­crastination, or putting off, nor does it mean the fatalistic handling so badly misunder­stood "well if its best for me I shall have it" ---for unless this is understood properly it makes one a mere pawn in the game of chance.

      Waiting patiently does mean Faith in God. Faith that God not only can but will accomplish and has in fact already accom­plished our desires and will bring "every­thing to our remembrance." This kind of faith is the song of glory "It is done, it is done." When man has found the blessed Truth as revealed to him by the Writings of Mary Baker Eddy, he has a right to expect and declare that "Christ has rolled the stone away from the door of human hope" (S. & H. pg. 45 line 17). He has a Right, a Divine Right, to expect that his sincere, honest desires shall be made manifest to him here and now, or else his study is in vain.

      He who prays after this fashion shall know what is meant by "Let your light so shine before men, etc." He shall know that "let" does not mean "make"---he shall know that the "letting" is the easiest and most beautiful thing in the world, which will take place as unpretentiously and as glori­ously as the coming of dawn. Gradually the flood of light, understanding and com­pleted demonstration shall steal over him for the obstacle has been moved from the cave of his limitations and he steps free---­untrammeled.

       In looking over the works of our Master one finds almost the keynote of his work in the expression "I can of mine own self do nothing, but with God all things are pos­sible." If Jesus_. the Way-shower used this law so perfectly and stated it so well for us; if He acknowledged that He could of him­self do nothing, it should open our eyes to the futility of our trying to aid the Divine.

      If any man doubt this let him go into his garden and pick a rose bud and try to make it blossom by use of his mortal fingers. What will, be his results, but a blasted prom­ise, neither bud nor rose.

      Then pilgrim take heart. Send your prayer with the same sweet assurance that you plant a seed, knowing that having done this you have done all that you can- do. Let it go from you with the same freedom that you drop your letters into the post office, and presently-perhaps before you expect it, the ' answer will come back, freighted with joy and happiness.

 

 

Letting Go

Chapter Two

 

   Perhaps one of the most difficult things to the growing student is the ability to let go. He makes a reality of the very things which he wishes to over­come and in doing so hugs them to him with all his strength, when it is only necessary many times to let go and the thing which has been hurting or hindering his progress will disappear.

   In the Bible the struggle of Jacob with the unnamed thing is a good illustration of how we hold things to us and suffer from them. When Jacob loosed it and let it go it disappeared and was no more. Now what this condition was we are not told, but if it was one of sickness or poverty or hatred it was one and the same thing, the process of being able to let go is one of the^: most freeing things possible.

    In the first place when a man loosens his hold on a thing he can them move away from it, if the thing does not want to move from him. Some men are carrying around loads so large and out of proportion to their size that they, can hardly accomplish the meanest tasks because they are handicapped and because all their energy is used or sapped in holding onto the condition which they want to be rid of.

    In Africa one of the ways of capturing a monkey is by making a small hole in a coconut and filling the coconut with some most edible grain. Presently the monkey puts his hand in the opening and closes it on the handful of grain thereby increasing the size of his fist to such an extent that he cannot again withdraw his hand from the hole and at this point the hunter appears and the frightened monkey who might scamper off into the jungle to his freedom tries to drag the coconut after him and is caught. His condition is exactly like the man who has a problem which he is not able to let go of. He does not realize that by relaxing his hold the thing would slip from him and that he would be free and able to go where he would.

    This is the doctrine of "Resist not." When a man resists a thing it is a pretty sure sign that he fears it. Resisting also produces friction which wears a man out and makes him worthless. "Resist not" does not in any way mean that a person should let go of their very being and let the wind of chance handle them as it sees fit, but it does mean letting go of the claims which are objectionable to us, and also a refusal to acknowledge them as such realities that they need to be fought or resisted. That which we resist is real and a thing that is real cannot be put from us. If you feel that your present condition is an absolute reality and that it cannot be changed rest assured that no amount of thinking will change it, for your thought is holding it in place and until you change your thought, stop resisting the thing, make of it a thing that can be overcome, you will never gain the goal of your dreams.

     If you realize that you were given domin­ion over everything then why waste your time resisting a thing; why not come out with your authority and command the situa­tion. But it would not be fair to either you or the thing which you were resisting if you did not give it the same chance to get away as you take to get away from it. Loose it therefore and let it go.

   "Judge not from appearances but judge righteous judgment"---refuse to accept the testimony of the material sense which is reporting inharmony to you---but 'pass the powerful thought along to the uttermost part of your kingdom "I am well "and I know it---because the Great God of whom I am an expression' (pressed out idea) has made me well and strong and I am in rap­port with HIM." Meditate upon this----realize that it is as impossible for you to express an inharmonious condition as it is for God to express one. If you admit for a minute that the Great All-powerful Mind of God can express inharmony of any sort then you have destroyed your premise that God is -all good and your possible escape from the ills of the' flesh is small.

    When we come to the "resist not" state and understanding that we are henceforth not going to fight a thing with all our might and main and at the same time say it is "nothing but a thought and a wrong one" ---we will come to the place that Jesus came when he began his demonstrations with a perfect acknowledgement of the completed work, "I thank thee Father that thou has heard me." He was so clear in regard to the working of the All-powerful mind that he was able to give thanks for its enactment before he saw the results. He was so sure that there was a power which could operate in the behalf of mankind healing and curing all the ills of the flesh that he never once used long and difficult argument. He knew the power was with HIM and he knew that the power is with any man who is clean enough mentally to; receive it.

     Instantaneous demonstration is only a miracle in the sense that it is something which sets aside a material law---but a miracle is in reality the natural and perfect enactment of the Divine or Infinite Law, and when we learn more how to use' this law we will be able to do the things that Jesus did with the same ease. "The things that I do ye shall do also and even greater."

We are not only to do the things he did, but even greater. What did he do:

  Raised the dead

  Opened the blind eyes

  Unstopped the deaf ears

  Healed the lame

  Made well the sick

  Turned water into wine

  Produced gold from the fish'es mouth

      Made plentiful increase in the place where lack was.

  "The things that I do ye shall do also and even greater." It is thundering down the ages with a new meaning. Awake thou that sleepeth to the glorious possibilities of your one-ness with this illimitable power, Good. This is your divine heritage----this is your birthright and it can only be reclaimed by right thinking.

   Every condition is in reality a state of consciousness. This may be difficult, for you to see at first, but as you go into the work­ings of the Law of Right Thinking you will realize that the very place you are now in, is the place your thought has put you. "But the glorious thing that comes to all people who are alive and thinking that no matter what place they are in----they can by proper thinking, change that place to one more to be desired, or else they can change the place where they now are to one which will be amply satisfactory for their every need and happiness.

    It is quite true that the Kingdom of heaven is right at hand---it is only a matter of how a man looks at it. With the eyes of the right thinking man he sees God. Life mani­fested everywhere and he becomes one with the great plan of nature and hence is in perfect harmony with the whole scheme. This brings the peace which passeth all understanding --- and brings contentment-----that most cherished gift of all.

    It is not necessary then to begin worrying about the material condition. about you------first look to the mental state---get that right and as you turn to the Father or the Christ Consciousness you will find that the Father or Christ Consciousness is turning to you and you are welcome back into the land of plenty and happiness.

     Suddenly in the very place which has been the desert existence to you the rose shall bloom. Infinite possibilities will open unto you; friends will flock to you, for remember you are now working with the One and Only Law that is worthy of consideration----and this law operates "in the twinkling of an eye." Suddenly as this change comes you will find yourself ready for it for the change has been going on within for a long time and the secret thing has at last been declared from "the housetop.

      The difficulty experienced by most people in getting results is that they start with the effect instead of the cause. This is because in most instances they recognize the effect as the cause.

If a man is in debt he constantly medi­tates upon that debt-he looks^, at it as a cause instead of an effect. He constantly contemplates it with fear and nine chances out of ten he puts into action the law "The thing I feared has come upon me." That is done by "the Law of Attraction"---re­member that "Like attracts Like" and if you want certain conditions to manifest in your life you can never attain them as long as you keep your mind full of the opposite views of life.