6 THE LAW OF DEMAND

We are often told of some mystical thing, known as faith, which must be possessed before prayer or demand can be answered. This is not entirely true, or if true a very small degree of faith will work most wonderful results. In fact, if a calm, peaceful condition of mind is obtained through autosuggestion without the exercise of any faith, the vibrations of thought will bring results.

The spark of divine life is implanted in all, and in those who have the least degree of sensuality, fear, rancor, greed and the host of evils which work havoc in the lives of men, it shines forth in their face, form and motion, spreading gladness wherever its possessor goes. This life is forever connected with the great body of life, and receives a constant inflow, which, as before stated, is sent to the subconscious mind, guiding and directing it in paths of peace, happiness and prosperity. This influence ceases to be a guide whenever the conscious mind assumes the ascendancy, and directs the efforts along its own lines.

The effect of shaping our own life is shown by our decision to do certain things. Then we rush about hither and thither in the fulfillment, and usually fail; or, if successful, the results are unsatisfactory. We try to guide our guiding spirit, our subconsciousness, which should be allowed to guide us. We produce thereby unrest, suspicion, trouble, which throw us off our balance, destroy our poise, just as a sleeping man standing on the ledge of a high window would immediately fall if awakened. His conscious mind would induct fear, with its accompanying loss of self-control, into the subconsciousness, just as we, through our mental suggestions or decisions to do, destroy the even continuity of progress which otherwise would be ours.

Make changes in life by natural gravitation, not by mental wisdom. Wisdom is the guiding hand of God. Be led, for, if you are not, the spark of Divine Life in you becomes a force to produce unrest, hurry, haste and strife through its constant tendency to bring the individual into those paths in which he is best fitted to succeed. The mind, unable to accomplish its results, tries the harder and exhausts itself in fruitless efforts, and becomes sullen, angry and rancorous as a result. If in that condition a prayer is sent out for some material object, there will be no result, because the world of mind does not recognize money and property.

If, on the other hand, the prayer be for peace, strength, confidence (or faith), all qualities of self, an immediate and lasting result will follow, from which we learn that confidence in ourselves to produce every needful thing is faith in the Supreme, which works through us, directing our efforts into channels for which we are fitted. We are then led by the God in self, the inner consciousness, into that work we can best do. If you have an ambition, an earnest longing for some vocation in life, that is your guide trying to bring you into it.

Do not quit your present employment now, posthaste, and rush into something you are sure you should do. Just hold the thought of that desired position or vocation; listen for your guiding impulse and gradually grow into the new life. Do not try to shape your own life at all. No great success ever came through forced effort. It creeps in easily, gently, happily. Let your life go on smoothly, feeling and knowing that you will reach your aim, careless as to the how. This attitude of mind leads you to do things instead of wasting energy in fruitless expectations of some great enterprise you intend carrying out later on in life.

Thomas Edison and other similar men illustrate so well this principle: quiet, concentrative, patient, wholly absorbed in the subject at hand. If your mind is in a hasty, scattered condition, it leads you to shun your present task as perhaps not of sufficient importance to enlist your entire attention. It will attract from the elements around you the thought force of similar minds all bent on failure, and draw failure to you in whatever line of occupation you follow. No one who is constantly boring his friends with the great things he expects to do ever accomplished anything; while the successful man keeps his ideas to himself, feeling that this strengthens him.

It comes about through that great law which does not allow us to know what the future has in store for us, teaching thereby that the true life is one of contentment with present surroundings, aspirations for the future, and faith in our ability to attract to us at all times all needful things through the connection of the God in man, with the Source of all Wisdom and Power and the attractive power of mind to draw from that source all needful things as needed. This is a receptive state in which one receives a constant inflow of vigor and life, thereby increasing the attractive power, and, as the demands on the exchequer grow from enlarged ideas of the proper position one should sustain, the personality has kept pace, and it will be as easy for you to maintain your higher mode of living as it was to maintain your lower.

We know that all advice, logical or illogical, is a useless waste of energy, and that the knowledge of these things will not assist you in the least; that if you are in a hurrying state now, even if you can recognize the truth in what is said here, it would be impossible for you to suddenly change. The effect of perhaps centuries of heredity cannot be at once overcome. But if you desire to change your life, your mode of thought, and give your earnest attention to it; if you require peace, say to yourself, "I must have peace of mind"; think of yourself as peaceful; demand courage (fear is at the bottom of it) and it will grow upon you. After a time you will find yourself becoming absorbed in some work, some study; your mind will be at rest; then your face will gradually fill out with manly strength, your body will grow more symmetrical, money will come easily, and the dull, weary grind will cease.

If you are overworked, have long hours and tasks, either mental or physical, beyond your strength, in the support of a large family; worrying as to where you are to get the money on next rent day; it is because of your condition of mind, your lack of courage to calmly, fearlessly face the world and demand your rightful share. Do not infer that it is meant that you are to force the world to give you a living without labor of any kind. What is meant is that you should expect and get congenial employment, not from others, but on your own responsibility; that this employment should not be beyond your strength and should bring you sufficient revenue to keep you in comfort.

Just reverse your mental attitude, seek courage, and feel and know your irresistible power to overcome all material conditions. Seek peace and wisdom, learn to expect better things, and soon some little change will occur, naturally, that will ease your burden. Others will come from time to time, until at last you will find yourself where you desired to be and can hardly tell how it came about.

Require of the Supreme Life, as your right, more wisdom. Do not weakly pray for it as a boon. Determine to have it. Be careful that you do not insist upon something that will harm you, for you will get any quality demanded, either good or bad. Require wisdom to see your deficiencies Determine to know your inner self.

Do not force yourself, but expect results if the present condition of your mind will permit. Practice also the forgetting of self at all times by entirely giving yourself up to the thing you are doing.

Wisdom and Knowledge are not synonymous - not quite.