_ CHAPTER XVI
"God is commanding us off, every hour of our lives, toward things eternal, there to find our good, and build our rest. Sometimes He does it by taking us out of the world, and sometimes by taking the world out of us."--H. Bushnell.
"The second letter has come," said Grace the moment Kate entered the room, after her day's lessons were over.
"Has it? Let us hurry and get the tea over so we can study it."
"Don't you want to hear it first? I haven't looked at it because I wanted to wait for you, but I can't wait that long," cried Grace, pulling it out of her painting-apron pocket.
"All right, then read away while I start the fire."
"No; come and sit down like a good child, you can't half listen when your mind is filled with stoves and tea-pots."
Kate smiled, and drawing her chair up beside Grace, she listened to the reading, while her face alternately brightened or darkened.
"Well, it sounds very beautiful and very plausible, but I can't see how any one can say there is no evil when the world is full of it, and to say there is no sin, sickness or death! why, that is blasphemous! I know the Bible won't corroborate that," she said, in a horrified voice, at the conclusion of the letter.
"Hold on, we must not be so fast; there are good reasons for every statement, and she says it is necessary to say these denials over and over. It is harder for me to believe there is no matter, but if there is a way to prove there is none, then I will submit. But first let us see what the Bible says," said the more moderate Grace.
She got the Bible and concordance, but could find no reference to matter as pertaining to physical creation, but she found under the word "flesh" an allusion to John i: 12-13, and iii: 6. "The first reads," began Grace, "'But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.' That evidently refers to a creation possible to all, but where is the authority for saying 'there is no matter'?"
She pondered a moment, then referred to the letter--"Oh, I see! She says, 'no
reality in matter,' and then goes on to explain about the real. Yes, now I see. Do you understand it, Kate?"
"I can understand that the body is not the real," replied Kate, thoughtfully, "for Jesus said 'the spirit is all, the flesh profiteth nothing,' but--"
"That's so. Why didn't we think of that before? Besides, it was taught by the ancient philosophers as much as 4,000 years ago, that matter has no reality. Yes, its plain to see how it can be, theoretically, but where they can demonstrate it practically, puzzles me. Here is a reference; let us see if that will tell us something."
She read Heb. xi: 3: "'Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.'"
"That seems quite conclusive," said Kate.
"Yes, it does. Now we will consider your problem," replied Grace, running her finger down the references, "and see if we can find anything in that. Let us bear in mind," she continued, "she does not say there is no appearance, but no reality in evil. Among the first references, I find one to the twenty-third Psalm: 'I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.' How plain that is! Of course there can be no evil where God is, and God is everywhere. God is Love. In Love there is no evil."
"But just think of the awful crimes that are committed every day, and the wicked people who commit them," demurred Kate, with an incredulous look.
"We haven't got far enough to solve everything; listen to this: 'Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked,'" read Grace.
"That must mean that with the carnal mind we see all things opposite God, and with the mind of the spirit we discern spiritual things; that is in Romans somewhere," exclaimed Kate, with a gleam of understanding in her face.
"What word shall I look for?" asked Grace, intently pursuing her search.
"Mind, I think; shan't I look for it?"
"No; here it is in the eighth chapter and tenth verse: 'The carnal mind is at enmity against God, for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.' That is plain enough. It means that all thoughts opposite God and God's creations are of the animal man, hence at enmity with God, and since there is nothing real but God and His creations, of course there is no reality in them. Now you are satisfied, aren't you, Kate?"
"I suppose I ought to be, for I don't see any other way to understand those passages," she admitted, with a sigh of relief.
"Just one more, and we'll go on to the next denial, which will hit me, I'm afraid," continued Grace.
She turned to Isa. xxxiii: 15-16: "I declare, Kate, here is the essence of the whole lesson," and she read: "'He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly' (according to the true creation), 'he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hand from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil; He shall dwell on high; his place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks; bread shall be given him; his waters shall be sure.'"
"I really did not know there was such a passage in the Bible, and I don't see why other people haven't found it before," said Kate, quite won over. "But how strange it seems to deny this way."
"Yes, that is the most unreasonable part of it, and yet I think Mrs. Hayden has explained it very clearly. Now what is next?" asked Grace.
"There is no life, substance or intelligence in matter," answered Kate, glancing at the letter.
"I must confess that puzzles me," mused Grace, thoughtfully.
"Oh, that is easy enough to understand, when you remember the spirit is all, besides, when a person dies the organs of the body may be perfect, but there is no life or feeling, and according to this new understanding, no substance," explained Kate, in her turn.
"I can see it well enough as a theory, but what all this has to do with practical every-day living, is a mystery to me."
"'We haven't got far enough to solve everything,' somebody said to me once, and here it is for you," remarked Kate, with a spice of mischief in her tone.
"All right, what next?"
"No sensation or causation in matter; but I think that is answered the same way as the other. But this last one; I do wonder if the Bible corroborates it?" Kate looked troubled again, as she read: "'There is no sin, sickness nor death.'"
"The same reasoning applies to that as to all the rest. There is no reality to anything but God's creation, and that is changeless and perfect. But we will see what the Bible has to say; I. John iii: 2-10. In the second verse it reads: 'Beloved, now are we the sons of God, but it doth not yet appear what we shall be;' that of course is an assertion of our spiritual self. Then verse nine says: 'Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin, for his seed remaineth in him and he can not sin, because he is born of God.' Then it seems plain there can be no sin to the spirit, neither can there be sickness nor death."
"It is wonderful," murmured Kate.
"What is next?" pursued Grace, with the concordance open before her.
"That is all, except she explains the use and necessity of denial, and suggests to Mr. Hayden the benefit of denying for hours at a time."
"Well, we can do that, too. If it is good for him, it must be for us. I mean to do it," said Grace, shutting her book with a snap and pacing back and forth excitedly.
"Oh, well, take it calmly; we can do that while we are getting supper, and I am hungry now. Do you know it is seven o'clock?" Kate exclaimed, looking at her watch.
"Two hours we have been studying," said Grace. "Really, this is as interesting as painting. I don't see one thing but what is reasonable, do you, Kate?"
"Not the way it seems now."
After everything was put away they began making earnest application of the rules. Each sat silently thinking, according to directions: "There is no reality in matter, there is no reality in matter," etc. For two hours neither spoke. Then Kate said: "I feel so light; as though there were no weight to my body. What does it mean?"
"I don't know, unless it shows you are realizing what you say."
"That is it. I can feel that there is no obstruction to spirit or thought; that spirit is limitless and God is everywhere."
She seemed lost in her new thoughts, and went to bed as though she were dreaming. Grace had experienced nothing but a sense of dullness and extreme sleepiness. _