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thought that shall bring good to some one. Every second can we hold the desire for some good; and, at all times, can we try to help those less fortunate than ourselves. This is the sowing.

The reaping, the time of harvest, is also now. Through our thoughts, our desires, and our acts, we plant the seeds that will harvest. And, in that which comes to us-in the pains and miseries, in the sickness and the suffering, or in the joys and in the peace of mind and soul-is the reaping. Now is the time to sow, and now is the harvest; and the harvest continues as long as the soul lasts.

36. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

According to the work that we do, so will be the wages, or the rewards, that we shall receive.

If our work is good, then will the wages be good; and not only will these wages be good for us, but the sowing will be good to those whom we have helped. If our sowing was of poor seeds, then do we reap death instead of life; and those whom our sowing affected, will also suffer for the time being. But they will be freed from their suffering, for it was not of their own sowing.

LESSON SIXTEEN

Only when we find the Christ within our own being, can we know the Christ in another.

St. John 4:37-54.

37. And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.

38. I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

If we live according to the Divine Law, we will use the creative forces of the awakened mind to build the temple wherein the living God may dwell. In the building of this temple, it is necessary for us to remake, or to transmute, the body, cleansing it in every way, so as to make it a fit habitation for the Illumined Soul. We must harbor only such thoughts as are in harmony with the Christ Ideal. We must entertain only such desires as are pure, holy, and noble. We must do those things which are not only for the good of ourselves, but for the good of others.

It follows that, if all the thoughts and all the desires and all the acts are for the building of the perfect temple, they are, consequently, also, for the good of humanity.

In this connection, it is well to recall the principle of Jesus wherein he said: "He that looketh upon a woman with lust in his heart, hath committed lust already." This indicates that the thought is considered in the same light as the deed itself. A principle of nature considers not one side only, but every side. Consequently, it has a positive and a happy application; and a thought of kindness and good-will directed toward another is also like the act.

Remembering this fact, we can see that, when we hold in our heart thoughts of good, of health, or of success toward another, we are helping that one just so much; and, in this way, he will reap that which he has really not sown. This does not free him from the responsibility of all that he receives; but, in this case, he makes returns for what he has received after reaping the benefits. In one sense, he reaps before he sows.

In like manner, there may be many who, traveling the Path and knowing the Divine Law, are sowing good for us, which we shall reap without having sown.

The converse is true: an evil thought or desire held in the heart concerning another may cause him to reap tares, or unhappy conditions, which he has really not sown. But, in this case, the evil will return to the one who sows, or sends, the unhappy thought with twofold strength; and he who

has been made to suffer innocently will reap a twofold benefit in some other way.

39. And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

The Samaritans knew what manner of a woman she had been; and, knowing this, and seeing the great change in her, the manifestations of the Christ, they had to believe in the one that could bring about such a change.

40. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.

41. And many more believed because of his own word; 42. And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

Like children, men believe in the power of man only when they see a manifestation of that power. In the case of the Samaritans, they first saw the great change in the woman of Samaria. They listened to her confession of the power possessed by Jesus; and, through seeing the manifestation of this power in her faith, they came to believe in it.

When they came to know Jesus and to listen to him, when they came to obey the Divine Law as he taught it, they came to know the Christ; for the Christ can be known only through the manifestation of the Christ within the Soul.

That which is told us we believe, we have faith in it, but that which we experience we know to be true. Through faith, we come to obey; through obedience, we come to know.

43. Now after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee.

44. For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country.

Men, no matter how great their knowledge, seldom have

the confidence of those among whom they were born. No matter what their virtues may be, they are sure to have some weakness (or what may be considered a weakness, though it may not be such); and this weakness, or supposed weakness, is remembered while his virtues and his powers are overlooked. It is for this reason that a man is not without honor save in his own country and in his own household.

45. Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all things that he did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast.

46. So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum.

47. When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he

would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death.

48. Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.

Men must be shown some signs of power before they will believe. This has given rise to all the trickery and mockery which has been the lot of mankind for ages past.

Instead of examining a doctrine carefully and learning whether it is one of weakness or of strength, men are inclined to accept any doctrine provided some exhibition of power is given. "If thou healest me, then I will believe in thee," might have been the saying of the nobleman; for that was the thought in his heart.

49. The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die.

50. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken to him, and he went his way.

The spoken word of Jesus had the effect, in this case, of

causing the nobleman to believe that his son would be healed; and the faith of the father, like the thought in the heart, had the effect of curing the child.

The same law that determines that he who "thinketh lust in his heart, hath already committed lust," also governs the power to cure when faith in a cure is held in the heart.

This may be for the cure of some illness with which we ourselves may be suffering, or for the cure of one whom we love. Absolute faith, held in the heart, has power to do all things; because it sets into motion laws and vibrations which encircle the object upon which the thoughts are centered. The thought of man, when held in the heart, is like the electrical wave from a powerful battery; it circles everything, and is caught by that which is attuned to it. Love in the heart of the father for the son had sent the vibrations, or rays, of faith direct to the heart of the son.

51. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth.

52. Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to

amend. And they said unto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.

53. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thy son liveth: and himself believed, and his whole house.

It was the same hour in which Jesus had said to him, Thy son liveth and he himself believed it, and his whole house. Now he alone was there; his household, or his family, was far away, and knew not what was taking place. This must then be interpreted to mean that all the attributes and the faculties of his being, his mind and his soul, believed that the son was cured; and it was so. The thought and the desire, which formed the powerful vibrations of health through the love of the father for the son, went directly the son, and raised the low, or diseased, vibrations of organism, which resulted in the cure.

54. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.

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