08/17/2013
Food for thought by Charles Haanel - For many years there has been an endless discussion as to the origin of evil. Theologians have told us that God is Love, and that God is Omnipresent. If this be true, there is no place where God is not. Where, then, is Evil, Satan and Hell?
So let us see:
God is Spirit.
Spirit is the Creative Principle of the Universe.
Man is made in the image and likeness of God.
Man is therefore a spiritual being.
The only activity which spirit possesses is the power to think.
Thinking is therefore a creative process.
All form is therefore the result of the thinking process.
The destruction of form must also be a result of the thinking process.
Fictitious representations of form are the result of the creative power of thought, as in Hypnotism.
Apparent representations of form are the result of the creative power of thought, as in Spiritualism.
Invention, organization and constructive work of all kinds are the result of the creative power of thought, as in concentration.
When the creative power of thought is manifested for the benefit of humanity, we call the result good.
When the creative power of thought is manifested in a destructive or evil manner, we call the result evil.
This indicates the origin of booth good and evil; they are simply words which have been coined in order to indicate the nature of the result of the thinking or creative process.
Thought necessarily precedes and predetermines action; action precedes and predetermines condition.
Part Twenty will throw more light upon this important subject.
PART TWENTY
1. The spirit of a thing is that thing; it is necessarily fixed, changeless and eternal. The spirit of you is -- you; without the spirit you would be nothing. It becomes active through your recognition of it and its possibilities.
2. You may have all the wealth in Christendom, but unless you recognize it and make use of it, it will have no value; so with your spiritual wealth: unless you recognize it and use it, it will have no value. The one and only condition of spiritual power is use or recognition.
3. All great things come through recognition; the scepter of power is consciousness, and thought is its messenger, and this messenger is constantly molding the realities of the invisible world into the conditions and environments of your objective world.
4. Thinking is the true business of life, power is the result. You are at all times dealing with the magical power of thought and consciousness. What results can you expect so long as you remain oblivious to the power which has been placed within your control?
5. So long as you do this you limit yourself to superficial conditions, and make of yourself a beast of burden for those who think; those who recognize their power; those who know that unless we are willing to think we shall have to work, and the less we think the more we shall have to work, and the less we shall get for our work.
6. The secret of power is a perfect understanding of the principles, forces, methods and combinations of Mind, and a perfect understanding of our relationship to the Universal Mind of God. It is well to remember that this principle is unchangeable; if this were not so, it would not be reliable; all principles are changeless.
7. This stability is your opportunity; you are its active attribute, the channel for its activity; the Universal (God) can act only through the individual.
Interested in learning more... Read The Master Key System by Charles Haanel written in 1912 and first published in 1916.
