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from our minds and begin concentrating on its cure.
Then we need to verbalize this cure, letting our
words add to the power of our thoughts. This
creates an excitement in the intelligences around
us, and they then go into motion, working to heal
us. I understood that this verbalization can best be
done in prayer. If it is right that we be healed, God
will then assist us in the healing process.
We are not to deny the presence of the
illness or problem, we are simply to deny its power
over our divine right to remove it We are to live by
faith, not by sight. Sight is involved with the
cognitive, the analytical mind. It rationalizes and
justifies. Faith is governed by the spirit. The spirit
is emotional, accepting, and internalizes. And, as
with every other attribute, the way to gain faith is to
practice the use of it. If we learn to use what we
have, we will receive more. This is a spiritual law.
Developing faith is like planting seeds.
Even if some of our seeds fall by the wayside, we
will still receive some harvest. Any act of faith will
bless us.
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And, the more proficient we become (and
we will become proficient if we practice), the
greater our harvest of faith will be. Everything
produces after its own kind. This too is a spiritual
law.
Now I was truly beginning to understand
the power of the spirit over the body, and I saw that
the spirit functions at a level most of us are not
aware of. Of course I knew that my mind created
my thoughts, and my body performed my actions,
but the spirit had been a mystery to me. Now I
understood that the spirit is a mystery to most
people. I saw that it functions, generally, without
the mind even being aware of it. The spirit
communicates with God, being the receptive device
that receives knowledge and insight from him. It
was important for me to understand this, and I
envisioned that this would appear much like a
fluorescent light tube in our bodies. When the light
is glowing, our core is filled with light and love; it
is this energy that gives the body life and power. I
saw also that the light could be diminished and the
spirit weakened through negative experience
through lack of love, through violence, sexual
abuse, or other damaging experiences. By
weakening the spirit, these experiences also weaken
the body. The body may not get sick, but it is more
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susceptible then, until the spirit is recharged. We
can recharge our own spirits through serving
others, having faith in God, and simply opening
ourselves to positive energy through positive
thoughts. We control it. The source of energy is
God and is always there, but we must tune him in.
We must accept the power of God if we want to
enjoy the effects of it in our lives.
To my surprise I saw that most of us had
selected the illnesses we would suffer, and for
some, the illness that would end our lives.
Sometimes healing does not come immediately, or
at all, because of our need for growth. All
experience is for our good, and sometimes- it takes
what we would consider negative experience to
help develop our spirits. We were very willing,
even anxious, as spirits to accept all of our
ailments, illnesses, and accidents here to help better
ourselves spiritually. I understood that in the spirit
world our earth time is meaningless. The pain we
experience on earth is just a moment, just a split
second of consciousness in the spirit world, and we
are very willing to endure it. Our deaths are also
often calculated to help us grow. When a person
dies of cancer, for example, he will often
experience a long, painful death that may give him
opportunities growth that he cannot get otherwise. I
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knew that my mother had died of cancer, and I
understood that she was able to interact with her
family members toward the end in ways she hadn't
before. Relationships were improved, and healed.
She had grown as a result of her death. Some
people choose to die in ways that will help
someone else.
A person may have chosen to die, for
example, by stepping into the street and being hit
by a drunk driver. This seems terrible to us, but
within the pure knowledge of God, his spirit knew
that he was actually saving this driver more grief
later. The driver may have been drunk again a week
later and hit a group of teenagers, maiming them or
causing greater pain and misery than was
necessary, but he was prevented because he was
spending time in jail for hitting the person who had
already completed his purpose on earth. In the
eternal perspective, unnecessary pain was spared
for the young people, and a growing experience
may have begun for the driver. Under the guidance
of the Savior I learned that it was important for me
to accept all experience as potentially good. I
needed to accept my purpose and station in life. I
could take the negative things that had happened to
me and try to overcome their effects. I could
forgive my enemies, even love them, and thereby
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nullify any bad influence they may have had on me.
I could seek good thoughts and kind words, and
thus bring healing ointment to my own soul, as well
as to others. I saw that I could begin to heal myself,
spiritually first, then emotionally, mentally, and
physically. I saw that I could spare myself the
corrosive effects of despair. I had a right to live
fully.
There are far fewer accidents here than we
imagine, especially in things that affect us
eternally. The hand of God, and the path we chose
before we came here, guide many of our decisions
and even many of the seemingly random
experiences we have. It's fruitless to try to identify
them all, but they do happen, and for a purpose.
Even experiences such as divorce, sudden
unemployment, or being victim of violence may
ultimately give us knowledge and contribute to our
spiritual development. Although these experiences
are painful, they can help us grow. As Jesus said
while in his earthly ministry, " . . . for it must needs
be that offences come; but woe to that man by
whom the offence cometh!" (Matt. 18:7.)
I saw the evil in surrendering to one of
Satan's greatest tools my personal cycles of guilt
and fear. I understood that I had to let go of the
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past. If I had broken laws or sinned, I needed to
change my heart, forgive myself, and then move
onward. If I had hurt someone, I needed to start
loving them - honestly - and seek their forgiveness.
If I had damaged my own spirit, I needed to
approach God and feel his love again his healing
love. Repentance can be as easy as we make it or
as difficult. When we fall down, we need to get up,
dust ourselves off, and get moving again. If we fall
down again, even a million times, we still need to
keep going; we're growing more than we think. In
the spirit world they don't see sin as we do here. All
experiences can be positive. All are learning
experiences.
We must never consider suicide. This act
will only cause us to lose opportunities for further
development while here on earth. And afterwards,
in reflecting back on these lost opportunities we [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]