| CONTENTS
I. Paths to the Life Beautiful 7
II. The Way to Freedom 17
III. The Supreme Point of View 31
IV. The True Order of Things 37
V. The Good That is in You 45
VI. Give Your Best to the World 53
VII. Giving Much and Receiving Much. . 63
VIII. And All Things Shall Be Added. … 77
IX. When Life is Worth Living 87
X. The Way, the Truth and the Life …. 105
XI. To Know and Think the Truth 113
XII. Finding the Lost Word 131
XIII. The Royal Path to Wisdom 145
XIV. The Golden Path to Increase 153
XV. The Life More Abundant 165
XVI. Human Nature Becoming Divine Nature 175
XVII. A Sublime State of Existence 183
XVIII. A Foretaste of Heaven 193
XIX. The Vision of the Soul 203
XX. The Infinite Revealed 213
XXI. Return Ye Unto God 223
XXII. Prayers That are Answered 233
XXIII. The Faith That Moves Mountains. .253
XXIV. The Winds and the Waves Shall Obey My Will 279
XXV. For I Have Overcome the World. . . .295
XXVI. The Supreme Purpose of Life 309
XXVII. The Psalm of Rejoicing 319
XXVIII. God’s Beautiful Gift to Me. . . .349
To live always in the Secret Places of the Most High.
To think only those thoughts that are inspired from above.
To do all things in the conviction that God is with us,
To give the best to all the world with no thought of reward,
To leave all recompense to Him who doeth all things well,
To love everybody as God loves us, and be Kind as He is Kind,
To ask God for everything and in faith expect everything,
To live in perpetual gratitude to Him who gives everything,
To love God so much that we can inwardly feel that My Father and I are one,
This is the prayer without ceasing, the true worship of the soul.
THE PATHWAY OF ROSES
CHAPTER I
PATHS TO THE LIFE BEAUTIFUL
The thinking world of today is being filled with a
phase of thought that has exceptional value. True,
some of it is in a somewhat chaotic condition, but
most of it is rich, containing within itself the very life
of that truth that is making the world free. But in
the finding of this truth, and in the application of its
principles, where are we to begin? What are we to
do first? And after we have begun, and find ourselves
in the midst of a life so large, so immense and
so marvelous that it will require eternity to live it all,
what are the great essentials that we should ever
remember and apply! What are the great centers of
life about which we may build a greater and a greater
life? These are questions that thousands are asking
today, and the answer is simple.
First, recognize the great truth that every individual
can live his own life exactly as he may desire
to live. Man, himself, is the real master of his own
existence, and he, himself, may determine how perfect
and how beautiful that existence is to be.
Your life is in your own hands. You may live us
you wish. You may secure from life whatever you
desire, because there is no limit to life, and no limit
to your capacity to live. The elements of life can be
modified, changed, developed and perfected to comply
with your own supreme demand; the increase of
life can be realized in the exact measure of your
largest need ; you are in living touch with Infinite life,
and there is neither limit nor end to the source of
your supply.
To live in the constant recognition of this great
truth, is to rise continually into higher and higher
degrees of that mastery of life that gives man the
power to live his life according to his most perfect
ideals. To reach the goal that every ascending mind
has in view, this truth, therefore, must ever be recognized
and applied. It is one of those principles that
we shall always require, no matter how high we may
rise in the scale of divine being.
Second, desire that which you desire, and desire
with all the power of mind and soul. We invariably
receive what we desire, no more, no less. We get
what we wish for if the power within that wish is as
strong as we can make it.
The fact that we can have an ideal, proves that we
have the power to secure it. The fact that we can
formulate and appreciate a desire for something
larger and better, proves that we can fulfill that
desire. The great essential is to desire with the whole
heart; that is, to give our desires all the life and
power that we can possibly arouse from the depths of
invincible being.
The true desire and the true prayer are synonymous.
The true prayer is invariably some immensely
strong desire expressed when the human mind feels
the sublime touch of the Infinite mind; and the true
desire must be in perfect touch with Infinite life in
order to be filled with the invincible power of that
life.
To cause every wish to come true, we must express
all the power of mind and soul through every wish;
but we cannot give expression to all the power within
us until we awaken our spiritual natures, and we
cannot awaken our spiritual natures until we begin to
live with the Infinite. The largeness and immensity
of the supreme spiritual life within us comes forth
only as consciousness is spiritualized, and we gain
spiritual consciousness by living and thinking constantly
in the lofty state where we actually feel that
God is closer than breathing, nearer than hands and
feet.
We cannot desire too much, and when we desire
with all the life and power that is within us, our
desires shall positively be fulfilled. The wish must
be whole-hearted, not half-hearted; it must contain
all the power we have, not simply the limited actions
of shallow thinking; and it must contain soul, not
simply emotion, but that deep, spiritual feeling that
touches the very spirit of limitless life and power.
Third, have faith in God, have faith in man, have
faith in yourself, have faith in everything; and have
faith in faith. When you have confidence in yourself
you arouse everything that is stronger, greater and
superior in yourself. In consequence, the more confidence
you have in yourself, the more you will attain
and accomplish. But the power of self-confidence is
but an atom in comparison with the marvelous power
of faith.
Faith takes mind and soul into the greater realms
of life. It goes out upon the boundless, and awakens
those interior spiritual forces that have the power to
do anything. This is why all things become possible
when we have faith.
It is the nature of faith to break bounds; to transcend
limitations, and take life, thought and action
into the universal. It is the nature of faith to unite
the lesser with the greater, to unite the mind of man
with the mind of God. Therefore, we shall always
require faith; however far we may go into the
greater, the superior and the boundless today, faith
will take us farther still to-morrow. And that is our
purpose ; to realize our largest and dearest desires in
the present, and then press on to the realization of
other and far greater desires in the future.
Fourth, depend upon the superior man within for
results, and give this greater man the credit for
everything you accomplish. When you depend upon
the personal self, you place yourself in touch only
with the lesser forces on the surface; you therefore
will accomplish but little ; but when you depend upon
the supreme spiritual self, you place yourself in touch
with the greater powers within, and results will be
greater in proportion.
When you give credit to the personal self, you
ignore the interior spiritual man; you thereby fail to
secure that greater wisdom and power that the spiritual
man alone can supply. Instead of being led by
that inner light that knows, you are led by the confusion
of outer thought; you are turned away from
the path that leads to truth, freedom and the perfect
life, and your mistakes are many. Instead of being
taken into the current of that invincible life that can
carry you through to your very highest goal, you
remain in the hands of mere physical energy, that
energy that can do nothing more than simply keep
your body alive.
Whenever you accomplish something worth while,
and give the praise to your own outer personal self,
you immediately lose your hold on those powers
through which those results were gained; in consequence,
failure will begin, and you will have to retrace
all your former steps to again gain possession
of that power that can do whatever you may wish to
have done.
To constantly depend upon the greater self, to con
stantly expect the desired results from the greater
self, and to always give credit to the greater self, is
to constantly draw upon the limitless wisdom and
power of the greater self the supreme spiritual man
within you. You thereby become larger and stronger
in all the elements of your being, rising ever in the
scale, gaining ground perpetually, and passing from
victory to victory. What you desire you will receive
because higher power is working through you, and as
you ascend in the scale, there is nothing that you will
not attain and accomplish.
The principal cause of failure among those who are
trying to live in harmony with real truth, may be
found in the general tendency to think of the outer
person as the power that does things on the visible
plane. But it is the interior man that gives the
power, though the outer person is required to apply
it. And the more thought we give to the interior
man, the more life and power we bring forth from
within.
The interior man is the man, created in the image
and likeness of God; it is therefore evident that when
you begin to live with the life and the power of the
interior man, the expression of real greatness and
real spirituality will begin. And from that moment
you will not be limited to the power of the personal
self; instead you will fill the personal self with that
divine power from on high that is limitless, inexhaustible
and invincible.
Fifth, live for a great purpose, and hold the central
idea of that purpose constantly before mind. Do not
live for the mere sake of prolonging existence; live
for something that magnifies, on the largest possible
scale, all the elements of existence. To live for a
great purpose is to live a great life, and the greater
your life, the greater the good that you will receive
from life. The ruling desire of every living soul is
to have life, and have it more abundantly ; therefore,
to fulfill that desire we must continue perpetually to
live for that which produces more life. No matter
how rich we may become in the real, spiritual life,
here is a principle that we must ever remember and
apply.
Do not work for yourself; work for the great idea
that stands at the apex of your greatest purpose.
The greater the idea for which you work, the greater
will be your work ; and it is he who does the greatest
work that does the most for everybody, himself included.
“When your work is great you become a great
power for good among thousands, and at the same
time you do more for yourself than you could possibly
do in any other manner.
When you begin to live and work for a great purpose,
you get into the current of great forces, great
minds and great souls. You gain from every source;
all the powerful lives in the world will work with
you; you become a living part of that movement in
the world that determines the greater destiny of man;
you become one of the chief elements upon which will
depend the future of countless generations yet to be ;
you become one of the chosen, of the Most High.
To live for a great purpose is to live in the world
of great ideas, and great ideas awaken great
thoughts. Man is as he thinks. Great thoughts produce
great minds; from great minds proceed great
works, and great works constitute the building material
with which the kingdom upon earth is to be constructed.
When we begin to live for a great and good purpose,
we place in action that law that causes all
things to work together for good. Henceforth, nothing
is in vain ; every person, thing or event that comes
into our world will add to the welfare, the richness
and the beauty of that world. All things become ministers
of the life that is real life, we have been giving
our best everywhere, and we are receiving the best
from every source in return.
To live for that which is high, lofty and sublime, is
to walk with God ; the love, the life, the power and the
wisdom of the Infinite will ever be with us, and to
have such companions is to be blessed indeed. Every
moment will give us the peace that passeth understanding,
every hour will be filled with the joy everlasting,
and every day will be as a thousand years in
celestial kingdoms on high.
To give the world emancipation Is the ruling
desire of all minds that are spiritually awal(-
ened; and these should remember that to overcome
evil with good is the only Way. Forget
the wrong that may appear in the outer world
of things, and give all your thought to the great
good that is inherent in all things. You thereby
place in action the greatest emancipating power
that the human race will ever know.
We are in bondage because we have lived to
please the person. Follow the soul and freedom
shall come quickly. Then We shall please
the person better than ever before. To follow
the soul is to enter the greater domains of life,
those domains from which we may secure everything
that is rich and beautiful and superior in
human existence. The soul leads, not only into
the life more abundant, but also into the actual
possession of all the spiritual riches that the
greater life may contain. And when we find
the kingdom that is within, all that we may desire
in the without shall be added.
The soul that lives most perfectly in the present,
creates most nobly for the future. Be yourself
today, regardless of what happened yesterday.
Be all that you are or can be today, and
you will live in a fairer world tomorrow.
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