Lessons In Truth by Emilie Cady: Chapter 1
Emilie Cady began her Lessons In Truth with the fundamental inquiry that we all make once we are aware of our spiritual journey. We ask ourselves whether the sense part of ourselves, the part of us that causes our sickness, our sorrow, our poverty, can remain the dominant force in our lives or not. Because Life, through our parents, our friends, our experiences, has taught us that circumstances matter, it is often difficult to change our perspective on our personal lives. We believe that we must do in order to effect change. In other words, we must change the circumstances. The hard truth is what we must change is our perspective on our lives.
We all experience times when our courage fails us. It is in these times that we get the opportunity to stand still and recognize the indwelling Christ from which all joy and good springs. It is when we learn that "nothing that anyone says or does or fails to say or do" can take away what is ours by divine right.
We are not servants of the Most High. We are children, "and if children, then heirs" (Romans 8:17) to all wisdom, love, and strength. Ralph Waldo Emerson expressed this relationship very clearly: Every man is the inlet, and may become the outlet, of all there is in God. Learning how to claim our inheritance is what the spiritual journey is about.
In Galatians 4:6-7 it speaks of when the fullness of the time was come, God "sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." This is declaring the indwelling Christ. When we accepted into our conscious minds our inheritance, it was God's fullness of the time for us. It was the time for us to seek Truth, not for the rewards or a creed, but for living a life that is free from the bondage of negative emotions.
How do we do this? We learn to think rightly by seeking to be at one with the Truth, letting results take care of themselves. In the practice of daily meditation, we seek to practice the presence of God, to open ourselves up to all the power flowing into us so that we are able to share our good, our power, with the world around us.
Through our daily conscious connection with Spirit, we strive to express more and more from the indwelling Christ. As we do, we become more aware of the Truth of our Being, making it less and less likely that outer circumstances or other people can alter our perspective of the Truth about ourselves.
In this process of change, we must learn to forgive. Forgiving requires that we give up a negative emotion or attitude toward our circumstances or other people for the realization that "God is in all, even 'the wrath of man' (Psalms 76:10)."
We cannot escape our misery by running away. The only solution is to trust that "God is my defense and deliverance." Therefore, we must look within to our indwelling Christ with a belief that the way of the Christ is the solution. As Emilie Cady reminded us: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life' (John 14:6) spoke the Christ through the lips of the Nazarene."
Note: Originally in 1895, this chapter was the twelfth lesson, but it was moved to the beginning later because it was thought to be a better beginning.
We all experience times when our courage fails us. It is in these times that we get the opportunity to stand still and recognize the indwelling Christ from which all joy and good springs. It is when we learn that "nothing that anyone says or does or fails to say or do" can take away what is ours by divine right.
We are not servants of the Most High. We are children, "and if children, then heirs" (Romans 8:17) to all wisdom, love, and strength. Ralph Waldo Emerson expressed this relationship very clearly: Every man is the inlet, and may become the outlet, of all there is in God. Learning how to claim our inheritance is what the spiritual journey is about.
In Galatians 4:6-7 it speaks of when the fullness of the time was come, God "sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ." This is declaring the indwelling Christ. When we accepted into our conscious minds our inheritance, it was God's fullness of the time for us. It was the time for us to seek Truth, not for the rewards or a creed, but for living a life that is free from the bondage of negative emotions.
How do we do this? We learn to think rightly by seeking to be at one with the Truth, letting results take care of themselves. In the practice of daily meditation, we seek to practice the presence of God, to open ourselves up to all the power flowing into us so that we are able to share our good, our power, with the world around us.
Through our daily conscious connection with Spirit, we strive to express more and more from the indwelling Christ. As we do, we become more aware of the Truth of our Being, making it less and less likely that outer circumstances or other people can alter our perspective of the Truth about ourselves.
In this process of change, we must learn to forgive. Forgiving requires that we give up a negative emotion or attitude toward our circumstances or other people for the realization that "God is in all, even 'the wrath of man' (Psalms 76:10)."
We cannot escape our misery by running away. The only solution is to trust that "God is my defense and deliverance." Therefore, we must look within to our indwelling Christ with a belief that the way of the Christ is the solution. As Emilie Cady reminded us: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life' (John 14:6) spoke the Christ through the lips of the Nazarene."
Note: Originally in 1895, this chapter was the twelfth lesson, but it was moved to the beginning later because it was thought to be a better beginning.
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