Book
Description
This very hard to find book was
originally
published in 1960. As the demand for her teaching increased, Dr.
Bloodworth
prepared a
series of lessons for instruction by correspondence to ease her crowded
schedule. This useful idea now becomes a welcome answer to those who
are asking to see more of her writing. These lessons, which were
intended to fill a definite need for those who wished to be included in
her classes, are now available to meet a present demand.
LESSON
ONE
"The Kingdom of Heaven is
within you,
and whosoever shall know HIMSELF shall find it."
Dear Friend:
In the coming weeks as we visit together through
these
letters many
things will be brought to your attention. All of them you know deep
within your Real Self. Some of them you may already be aware of, some
you are not. All are given for one purpose only, to make you fully
aware of who and what you are.
In all this amazing and marvelous Universe which
God has
created there
is only one thing which He created in His own Image and Likeness and
endowed with His own Power and that is you. You are the most wonderful
of all God's creations. We are very apt to forget that in the hurley,
burley world of affairs and allow ourselves to
sink into a state of apathy
forgetting for a time our greatness, and also the ever presence of our
Creator.
Today we live in a world that is sick with a
sickness wrought
by men
with greed and lust, hate and fear within their hearts. When we look
without we see a result of fear driven humanity seeking a place of
refuge and peace.
In a recent newspaper editorial the writer spoke
of the
Atomic bomb as
"the last word in power." Although many are in agreement with this
writer, this statement is utterly false and without foundation in fact.
True, it may be the most powerful and destructive military weapon yet
devised by man. It is probably true that one of the newer bombs now
being made can destroy New York City, and that, as one military expert
recently declared, seventy-two rightly placed bombs could wipe this
nation out of existence.
Yes, these things, together with much more that
is being said
may be
quite true. Yet the statement and the belief that "the atomic bomb (or
any other material invention) is the last word in power," remains a
dangerous untruth.
When will a nation that is supposed to be a
Christian nation,
a nation
that places the words, "In God we trust" on its silver currency,
remember and acknowledge that THE FIRST AND LAST WORD IN POWER IS GOD.
And that Power, in Its very nature is love, peace, order, harmony,
truth, good will, friendliness and happiness. Moreover, the only things
It can or will destroy are those things which are unlike Itself. Those
things which man has built up in defiance of Its Perfect Law.
Yes, the world is sick with fear because we
forget that Our
Father is
GOD THE ALMIGHTY and we His children are made in His Image. What about
that? Can you believe it, can you say and believe that "I AM GOD"?
Now we can accomplish nothing for ourselves or
for the world
by
optimism that rests upon no foundation other than a dislike to hear
unpleasant things, and a belief that man can stop the working of God's
Law of cause and effect simply by denying the existence of the effects.
We are all in the conditions and afflictions because we have misused
the power that is ours. If therefore, we have the power to bring about
conditions and afflictions we do not want, perhaps through ignorance,
it stands to reason that through the right use of the same power we can
bring into our lives the good we desire so much.
"If thou wilt enter into life, keep the
commandments."
(Matthew 19:17)
The "Life" of which Jesus spoke was not just a future life as some have
thought. It is that ETERNAL LIFE which, since it is eternal, must
include the here and now as well as the hereafter. It is life in its
fullness, a life free from destruction, disasters, and death. A life of
order, peace, love, and plenty. A life of Divine Supply for every human
need.
The secret of obtaining this life according to
the words of
Jesus,
given to instruct all mankind, is to "keep the commandments." These are
not only the Ten Commandments given to Moses, but also those written
within our hearts and souls by the very finger of God Himself. "Thou
shall keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee."
These commandments written in your Real Self by
God will be
the subject
of many future visits with you and how you may apply a Universal,
Impersonal, Principle to solve all your difficulties whether large or
small, and bring into your life the peace, love, and abundance which is
the birthright of every individual will be given
quite simply in a way the
child could
understand and use.
Until next week dear friend remember, "In him we
live, and
move, and
have our being." (Acts 17:28)
Love and
blessings,
Venice Bloodworth
INSTRUCTIONS
Come give me your hand. I want to take you to a
place I
know.
It is a
beautiful castle but within it are two places that need lots of work
done for it to be whole and truly beautiful again. Let's go upstairs.
Have you ever seen an attic so jam-packed with a lot of useless
plunder? Know what it is? IT'S YOUR MIND. Many of us go through life
hauling a lot of useless freight simply because we don't know how to
free ourselves.
Well, first I want you to take your main beliefs
and
examine
them
thoroughly. Then ask yourself, "Why do I believe this? Is it something
I have proved or something handed to me by race, superstition,
suggestion or man-made theories?" Examine each thing carefully because
what you decide to keep, YOU HAVE TO LIVE WITH.
Now let's go to the cellar, now down another
flight.
Dark
isn't it?
This is the dungeon where the lord of the castle keeps his prisoners.
Each prisoner's name is on the cell door, criticism, hate, resentment,
anger, and in the last and darkest cell the worst of all, fear.
Recognize the jailor? YES, IT'S YOU! This dungeon is your heart
(subconscious mind) and the jailor is just as much imprisoned as the
prisoners because he has to stay with them, and feed and care for them.
The only way he can be free, is to free the prisoners. A great teacher
once said that ten minutes a day spent in forgiving ourselves and
others was the best preparation for a good life.
I know you are shocked. I was too when I
recognized
myself.
But I was
glad too, because I realized what a perfect chance I have to wipe the
slate clean, and begin a new life such as the gods themselves would
envy.
Now is the time to start!
LESSON
TWO
"God requires the past."
Beloved Friend:
Did you ever read Emerson's advice in his letter
to his
daughter?
"Finish every day and be done with it. You have done what you could
today; some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in, but forget them
as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it well and
serenely and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old
nonsense. This day is for all that is good and fair. It is too dear to
waste a moment on the forgotten yesterdays,"
Jesus gave us another way of saying this, "Cast
your
burdens
upon ME
and I will sustain you."
Now let us find out about Me. Who is this Me
Jesus
speaks of?
Is it the
man Jesus? I think
not.
He was speaking of that wonderful Me within You,
God
Himself.
But if we are to make progress in this new
beginning we
are
making, it
is absolutely necessary to STOP living in past events of your life and
live in the present, the NOW. That is really all the time we ever have.
The past exists only in our memory and no man can live the future, so
you can readily see the NOW is the important time.
Why are our mental hospitals so full, and so many
people
struggling
under such burdens it makes them ill to carry them? Are they the
burdens of this present hour or day? No, I believe if you look into the
matter thoroughly you will come to realize we are carrying ALL the
burdens we have ever had, and the load is past bearing. We let the
"dead past" color our bright new day and cast its dark shadows so we
walk a darkened way. We measure everything by past experience, which is
just as foolish as the forty year old woman who thought by wearing her
hair in pigtails, and little girl clothes she could escape the
responsibilities of adulthood.
We hug our past to us, the bitter with the sweet,
never
dreaming it no
longer exists, except in our thoughts, but never realizing that our
present is formed and shaped as it is because of our holding to the
past. In memory lives the army of beliefs which strengthens our belief
in good and evil. In admitting evil as a reality in the past, strength
is added to our admissions of it in the present. Remembering and going
over past evils, or problems, or mistakes will eventually cause them to
RETRACE themselves in our present expression. Many a person is
suffering, not from a sin, but the MEMORY of it, with its condemnation.
"Loose it and let it go." Free yourself from the
memory
of
what you
have passed through. It's the MEMORY of evil, drilled into us from
childhood, that causes us to react so suspiciously toward the world.
And yet we are told by the Great Teacher we must become as a little
child to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. The Child of whom He speaks is
the Real Self of you; that pure and glorious and wonderful Self that
has never really left heaven. And how do we become this Child? Is there
anything in heaven or earth as wonderful, as pure, as lovely as a
little child? He bears no grudges, has no prejudices, and finds
everything valuable and of interest from worms to skyscrapers. He lives
in a dream of bliss because he loves everything. He has no past to
bother him, knows nothing about the future, so he lives fully the
present day. When night falls, he sleeps secure in the knowledge that
he is loved and protected by his parents. The world is his because
he loves it.
We can be reborn into that world for already it
lives
in us
and belongs
to us by divine right because
now
beloved, you are the child of God.
If you could only realize for one moment, even to
a
small
degree, what
that means your whole life would change. The way to realization is to
think about it, thrill to it, love towards it, until it becomes yours,
as it surely will.
It is a fact that two things can not occupy the
same
place at
the same
time. So if you want something different in your life, something better
than you now have, you must let go of what you are holding to NOW, else
nothing new can enter in.
We have in these first two letters been trying to
help
you
clear your
decks for action. Next week we will start building, and I hope your
building place is clear and clean. Remember, in using these principles
it is YOU who will benefit. Are you ready?
Affectionately,
Venice Bloodworth
INSTRUCTIONS
Read slowly and thoughtfully the 91st Psalm each
night before
retiring
and THINK, THINK, THINK, about its wonderful promises. Then ask
yourself, "Is there anything in all the world to be afraid of or
fearful about?" Answer me, is there?