46/115 SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS By FRANK H. SPRAGUE
In the spiritual consciousness lies the potency of the fulfilment of one’s desire, not only subjectively, but also objectively; for the subjective and objective factors in the case are blended together. “If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place, and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”
“All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye have received them, and ye shall have them.” To be actuated by this Spirit, is to be conscious of the presence in our lives of the essence of all that is real, the source from which all realization proceeds, the power by which all objective things are created or brought forth into manifestation.
In every instance where we reach the heart of life, the spiritual germ, the center from which all expressive power issues, the outward transformation will be marked. The more direct the method, the more speedy and decisive will be the result. This was the position of Jesus, and the secret of his power over men and nature.
He recognized in Spirit the basic Principle of all things. He perceived it directly, intuitively, by the inner, soul-sight, not through distorted and inverted intellectual images. His consciousness penetrated to the heart of expression. Spirit, causing morbid, spectral thoughts of suffering and disease in the sick and infirm to be undermined and displaced by the revitalizing, spiritual consciousness he was able to awaken.
Genuine Faith, then, is creative, being itself the substance out of which all things are made, constructed, brought forth into objective realization; “so that what is seen hath not been made out of things which do appear.” This polarizing consciousness is very different from “such stuff as dreams are made of.”
Jesus referred to it as “the pearl of great price,” “the kingdom of heaven,” and “the hidden treasure.” No man who invites and cultivates it steadfastly, with singleness of purpose, can fail to create for himself a congenial environment. It will manifest itself mentally in inspiring thoughts, pictures of health, feelings of peace, joy and satisfaction.
It differs from the dreams of the visionary idealist or theorist, in that it appropriates the ideal Principle and brings it down into the realm of actual, practical affairs. The visions of idealists and optimists are too often divorced from the world of actuality; the chasm between the two is too wide. But it must be bridged before one can experience the real in life.
Every man who takes firm hold of the spiritual Principle finds things, forces, events, circumstances, friends, and the necessaries of life, ranging themselves around him as planets follow the sun, and satellites the planets. He can no more push them from him than the man with the negative, material consciousness can ward off the things he fears and hates. The magnet will attract the loose particles that are susceptible to its influence.