Dominion Within E-Book

Glenn Andrew Kratzer

• Herausgeber: Andura Publishing
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Experience the life-changing power of Glenn Andrew Kratzer with this unforgettable book.

Leseprobe

Dominion Within

Glenn Andrew Kratzer

PREFACE

In 1907, the author wrote an article for a distant patient, and entitled it “Dominion Within.” This article was published in the Christian Science Sentinel of February 29th, 1908. Two days thereafter, the author received from Rev. Mary Baker Eddy an autograph letter, now in his possession, the first sentence of which is: “Your article, ‘Dominion Within,’ is superb”; and this article met with wide commendation from the field of Christian Science students and workers. It is reproduced as the first article of this book, it having been long out of print.

Since the article appeared, the author has had five years of additional experience in the practice of Christian Science and in developing his understanding of God, as manifest in the human consciousness, along lines similar to those touched upon in “Dominion Within”; and all of the articles in this book deal with the application of Christian Science to human needs. They are offered to the public in the hope that they may be found useful by those who are struggling to gain that practical knowledge of God which will enable them to gain the victory over sin, disease, and other forms of human ill.

In this book, a very few lines of thought and practice are treated and illustrated in a large variety of ways. If there be a noticeable sameness in the points dwelt upon in various articles, let it be remembered that the purpose of the book is not to furnish entertainment to the casual reader, but to help the earnest student of Christian Science work out the most serious life problems which confront him. Every article is true to the leading thought indicated by the title of the book, that Dominion is within.

DOMINION WITHIN

He that ruleth his own spirit is better than he that taketh a city.—Adapted from Prov. 16:32.

Christian Science teaches that God is infinite Person, infinite individuality; that He is the unbounded consciousness. (See Science and Health, p. 330.) It is well for us to spend a portion of our time in trying to rise into some sense of that unbounded consciousness, that sense of freedom from limitation whereby we may endeavor to know God in His wholeness; but the endeavor to become conscious of God in His infinity is usually not the best means of realizing those present and particular manifestations of Him which we need to realize in order to meet certain problems that confront us.

God is ever-present good; and He is manifested in the specific good as well as in general good. Often what we need to realize are those specific manifestations of good which in our limited state of belief we are more readily to comprehend. For example, if we seem to be threatened with a lack of money to meet our needs, or with lack of supply of any kind, or with disaster in business, and the thought of this is troubling us, we should stand still where we are, or retire to our closet, and “have it out” with the one evil then and there, or just as soon as possible, by knowing and declaring that the ever-present law of God, good, the ever-present fact for the children of God, is plentiful supply.

The truth is, that as plenty is man’s birthright, plenty is the present fact for those who accept the truth; and error, false sense, cannot make us believe to the contrary. If we realize this fact long enough and clearly enough, so that it becomes vital to us, we shall have entered into peace and joy, and error will no longer argue fear to us. If, even by a single moment’s realization of the truth, we have permanently healed our consciousness,—cast out fear, and brought in the abiding sense of security and joy,—our outward affairs will take care of themselves in due season. We do not need, beyond ordinary prudence and common sense, to trouble ourselves about the external arrangement or disposition of material things, or to be anxious about negotiations with our fellow-men. Our one problem is to maintain a whole consciousness, devoid of fear, resting in God as the abundant and infallible source of supply; then the outward things will be added unto us.

Christian Science also teaches us to know that health, strength, sight, and hearing, or any other special manifestation of God, good, from which we may seem to be cut off, are present and unchangeable facts of our true selfhood, and that error cannot make us believe to the contrary or make us fear the further seeming loss of any of these manifestations of good. If we heal our own consciousness, so that we have no further sense of fear, but are able to rest with a sense of security and joy in the fact that the special manifestation of good which we desire is a present and indestructible fact, that is all we need to be concerned about. The physical manifestation will duly take care of itself, and harmony will be realized where before discord was apparent. It was never more than an appearance; for God, the sole creator, never made any discord, but rather established harmony as the eternal law and the eternal fact; and so it is. At the creation “God said, Let there be light; and there was light;” and the light (the good) remains to this day, while its opposite, darkness, in reality does not exist. We should not be anxious for the morrow or about any outward things, either supplies for daily need or health of the body; but we should seek first the kingdom of God, which is “at hand” and “within you,” and His righteousness (right thinking and feeling, knowledge of the truth, and love devoid of fear), and all these outward things will be added unto us. We should be willing to be “absent from the body” in thought; we should not worry about it, nor try to cure it by taking thought about it. We should not try to control the body by our thought; we should try only to control our consciousness by meditating on God and His law. Thus we shall be “present with the Lord,” and the body will soon manifest harmony.

Whatever of health or wealth we gain apart from conscious reliance upon God while we are gaining them is worthless.

GETTING RICH

At the beginning of our earthly experience, as soon as we are old enough to enter into conscious life, we begin to seek after material things. A child discovers that he gets satisfaction from food, pets, clothing and toys. As he grows older, he still seeks after material things, but the nature of his wants and demands gradually changes. However, in time he discovers that he does not get as much satisfaction out of these material goods as he formerly did, even if he is able to gain most of the things which he desires, which is seldom the case. Nevertheless, there are unnumbered thousands of people upon whom it never seems to dawn that there is any other order of riches to be sought for; and so, notwithstanding the failure of material possessions and pursuits to give desired satisfaction and happiness, great numbers of people continue, from the cradle to the grave, a mad race to gain them, and never consciously enter into higher realms of life which are always at hand for them, if they only knew how to enter in.

A careful analysis will be instructive. All that the houses, public buildings, banks, and stores filled with merchandise in any city can even seem to confer upon the people of that city are comfort and satisfaction. But comfort and satisfaction are states of consciousness, and not phenomena of matter. Were it not for the presence of consciousness, all the material things in a city would have no more significance than a dust heap; for consciousness alone can appreciate or set a value upon them. A peck of diamonds is worth nothing to a horse, and a peck of corn is worth nothing to a stone. Accordingly, it is easy to see that material riches have no value, except in so far as they can be made the means of increasing the riches of consciousness. Hence, it is apparrent that fundamental riches are desirable states of consciousness, and that material goods are riches only in a secondary sense. To realize this, and govern our activities accordingly, is great gain. “Set your affections on the things which are above; not on things on the earth.”

If the average man had a thousand dollars in his possession, and knew that there was a decided liability that burglars would try to break into his house at night, he would take great precautions to guard that treasure. He would either place the money in the bank, or else he would equip his doors and windows with burglar alarms, and possibly arm himself, prepared to fight, if necessary, to guard his treasure. This he would do, because he consciously set a distinct value upon the money. But how many people are there who will guard their mental treasure-house, their consciousness, with equal care? How many people consciously place such a value upon peace and joy and love that they will guard against being despoiled of them even more carefully than they would guard against being despoiled of material treasures? If they had become awake to the fact that these desirable states of consciousness constitute fundamental riches, then they would value them even more than they value material goods, and would guard them with corresponding care. But most people hold peace, joy, and love at so small a valuation that they will allow even a trifling circumstance to invade their consciousness and steal away these treasures, leaving in place of them anger, envy, jealousy, anxiety, grief, and other afflictive mental states.

Some gossip comes along with a tale that a friend has said some unkind or unjust thing. Promptly, without even waiting to learn whether the tale is true, the listener allows peace, love and joy to be taken out of his consciousness. The loss of property, the-sickness of a friend or relative, an insulting word, a pain in the body, and a dozen other outward occurrences are allowed to effect the same result. These things are often permitted to enter our mental treasure-house and steal away our jewels without protest or objection. This is never the case, however, if we have learned that desirable states of consciousness are the true riches, and that they are more worth keeping a secure hold upon than any amount of material goods. Then we will be at great pains not to allow outward occurrences to interfere with our true, inner wealth, for we know that it constitutes “the kingdom of heaven,” and makes us truly “rich toward God.”

If a man had a large income, but was in the habit of depositing his money in a safe to which thieves had ready access, and to which they were in the habit of paying frequent visits, so that, when the man went to the safe to get his money, he could never be certain that there was any there, no matter how much he had deposited, such a man would scarcely be regarded wealthy, nor could his credit among business men be very good. In order to be counted wealthy and reliable in this world’s estimation, a man must have, not only the ability to gain riches, but to safely care for them, and maintain a firm and constant control of them. Likewise, a man is not rich in the treasures of the kingdom of heaven, unless he has demonstrated the ability to maintain a firm and constant hold upon his spiritual riches, no matter what thieves and robbers, in the line of outward temptations, may strive to take them away. Mere good impulses, and good intentions now and then, no matter how frequent or varied, do not make a man rich toward God. It is the retention and utilization of spiritual treasures, despite dangers, difficulties and temptations, that demonstrates how much treasure one has really laid up in heaven.

If a person is once thoroughly awakened to the fundamental importance of spiritual riches, so that he has had the experience, for a time, of keeping them safe and available in his consciousness, he soon learns that, for his own happiness, he cannot afford to let peace, joy and love escape him, whatever the temptation to distraction of thought. Nevertheless, at this stage of his development, he has only just begun to “enter into life.” He has only learned to appreciate peace, joy and love in a negative way; he has only discovered that he cannot get 6n very well without them. He does not take much conscious notice of them when he has them; but only begins to think about them when he perceives that there is danger that he may lose them. There is yet more for him to learn, which is of vast importance.

There comes a time in the aspiring man’s development when he begins to set a positive value upon desirable states of consciousness, when he begins to cultivate love in his consciousness, to watch its increase, and to experience joy in the accumulation, even more than the successful worldling enjoys the enlargement of his material possessions. He begins to discover new methods of increasing and using his store of love. He finds, for instance, that in doing a kindly and considerate deed for another, his own possession of peace, joy, love, and other mental riches, is increased, and, with his awakened sense, he becomes considerate for this increase far more than for a return in kind at the hands of the one to whom he had done a kindness, far more than for any material good he might receive. He has reached a point in his development where, in doing good deeds, he can realize that “his reward is with him,” because the very doing of the good deed automatically brings him an increase of the wealth which he has learned to value more than all other goods. He has come to understand and appreciate Jesus’ words when he said: “Do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be called the children of the Highest.”

If one who had no musical education were to attend a series of symphony concerts, they might not mean much to him at the start. They would bring him little satisfaction, even if they did not prove tiresome. But, as he continued to attend, he would gradually begin to appreciate the music, until after a time, he would find himself experiencing a positive and lively sense of pleasure and benefit. This change in his experience would not be because there had been any essential change in the character of the concerts, but it would come solely as the result of growth in his power of appreciation, —of being able to set a value, in terms of consciousness, upon the music. Likewise, a person may reach a stage of development where much of peace and love and righteousness are within the range of his experience, and still get little positive joy from them; but if he begins to turn his attention to them, and to the experiences which increase his store of them, then he begins more and more to appreciate them, and as this comes to pass, his store of mental riches is ever increasing. Then, instead of being merely negatively peaceful and happy, it comes to pass that he finds in the course of his experience continual occasions for positive exhilaration and joy; and, although he knows that joy is the birthright of the children of God, he no longer takes these experiences of consciousness as “matters of course,” but lives in wonderland, and constantly marvels at the goodness of God, who has conferred upon him the ability to possess, appreciate and enjoy such riches.

This thought, that we should become distinctly conscious of our mental states, and that we should watch the growth of our mental treasures, runs contrary to much that has been written. There are many who hold, that as soon as a person begins to take account of his mental conditions, as soon as he begins to reckon his growth in love and in other spiritual virtues, he becomes self-conscious in an undesirable sense. But to consciously grow in the exercise and possession of divine love is not to become self-conscious, but God-conscious, since to dwell in love and appreciate love, the reflection of God, is to consciously dwell in God and appreciate Him, which is the prime duty of man. “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven (in harmonious consciousness), where moth and rust do not corrupt and where thieves do not break through and steal; for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

It is true that a person might analyze his mental states, and take account of his growth in certain virtues, in such a way as to become self-righteous; but this is in no sense a necessary outcome of our learning to appreciate spiritual treasures, and to purposely take means of enlarging our possession of them and our joy in them. Once started along this road, there is infinite opportunity of growth and enlargement for every individual. The experiences of peace, joy, liberty and love, to which we all may and shall attain, cannot be measured, for they are infinite.

Before the individual has made any great degree of progress in “getting rich” along these lines, he begins to discover, more and more, that, except in a very secondary sense, neither the possession of material goods, nor the right use of them, is the source of desirable states of consciousness, but that we can gain a large experience of these mental treasures, and a firm hold upon them, only in proportion as we acquaint ourselves with God, and derive them directly from Him, knowing that He is the only source of unmixed good, and that even the good which we seem to get from and through matter is from Him, though much adulterated or distorted by the material medium. We experience good in connection with materiality, not because of it, but in spite of it. Love, joy, and peace are not properties of matter, and they are not found in material pursuits. They are everlasting, changeless manifestations of God, which are ever at hand, and which may be gained and possessed without limit by any individual who becomes awake to their presence, and who is willing to work for them faithfully, intelligently and in right ways.

The worker along these lines also soon discovers that, while consciously seeking these mental treasures, and centering his attention primarily upon gaining them, such outward or material goods as he needs for harmonious living while he is still forced to dwell in part in material sense come his way without a large amount of conscious effort on his part. He finds the words of Christ to be literally true, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” It is true, that in our present stage of experience, we cannot have large conscious possession of peace, joy and love without experiencing an increase of health and strength of body, as well as of material goods; and it is true, that if we strive most of all to make ourselves “rich toward God,” we shall soon find ourselves not lacking either in strength, health, or worldly possessions according to our needs.

A Balanced man is one who can center his thought at will, be it in the solitude of the mountain fastness or facing peril in the jungle; in the hurly-burly of affairs, as well as in the quiet of his favorite den. This is the realization of God-ever-present, and it is the secret of all true achievement. A really poised man is a miracle, humanly speaking; it is he who has found the secret source of all power, solved his problem, and entered upon the life that is boundless and eternal.—H. F. Porter.

DIVINE LOVE MEETS ALL NEEDS

“Divine Love always has met and always will meet every human need.” The literal truth of this sentence from page 494 of Science and Health, by Mrs. Eddy, has been questioned by many. They have said, “Countless thousands of men have suffered and died from lack of food, drink, raiment, shelter, health and strength. Then how can it be said that divine Love has met their need?”

In the first place, it is readily perceived, on statement, that to meet a need is not to relieve the need, unless the supply provided is appropriated by the person who is in need. As we shall see presently, God does meet us with the supply for our every need, and that supply is always at hand, and always has been at hand for mankind in all ages; but God has provided that we must consciously appropriate this supply, and by the method which He has ordained. The need of every man has always been met with that which he needed; and if his necessity was not relieved, it was because he did not understand, or neglected to practice, the prescribed method of appropriation.

In absolute and final reality, and in present reality, food, drink, raiment, shelter, health, strength and life are purely spiritual, as the Scripture clearly states. “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked; I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear.” “I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” “I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.” “This is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.”

Perceiving that the real and true supply for our needs is spiritual, we can at once understand that God all the time meets every man’s need with His Spirit, which is substance, strength, harmony, life, and an everlasting dwelling place. “In Him, we live and move and have our being.” Whoever appropriates this spiritual supply gains the kingdom of heaven.

But what about men’s need for material food, drink, and raiment? Are not these human needs? Has God always met these needs? Yes, He has always met even these needs, although He has not forced the appropriation of the supply upon those who would not seek to gain it in the proper manner. These needs are not real, but only apparent; still, they are very imperative from humanity’s present standpoint; and Christ Jesus has pointed out in clear and unmistakable language the right method of appropriating the supply. “Be not anxious, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? For your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” In other words, whoever sufficiently appropriates the real, spiritual food, drink, raiment, shelter, strength, health, and life, will infallibly have a sufficient supply of the material counterparts of these spiritual realities “added unto” him, as long as he has need of any material supply.