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By Root 604 0

friends, knowing about this and desiring to emulate them, has taken the simple step of leaving his watch at home and ignoring the clock, with the result that he is late for all of his appointments, thus upsetting his own day’s work and that of other people too, whose convenience he did not trouble to study. When the student is spiritually ready to dispense with his watch, he will find himself doing the right thing at the right time without thinking about a watch at all; whereas, when he has to make special arrangements to discard his watch, and then finds himself late for engagements, it is proof that he is not yet ready to demonstrate in that particular. The proper course for such a person is to carry a watch, work to a timetable, and devote his treatments to things that really matter, such as healing himself and others, overcoming sin, working for understanding and wisdom, and so on. So it is with the larger issues of life. This Spiritual Coming of Age cannot be hurried or forced, but must appear in its own good time, when the consciousness is ready, exactly as the flowering of a bulb can only be the result of natural growth. You have to demonstrate where you are. Let this be for frontlets between your eyes, and write it upon the doorposts of your heart—you have to demonstrate where you are. To seek to demonstrate beyond your understanding is not spiritual. Spiritual development is a matter of growth, and he that believeth shall not unwisely make haste. Fix your attention wholeheartedly upon spiritual things, and meanwhile do all that needs to be done in the ordinary way; and without consciously trying to make haste you will be amazed to discover the pace at which your soul has hastened.

To take a simple example: Suppose that in a street accident you find that a man has severed an artery, and the blood is spurting out. The normal course of things is that unless this bleeding is stopped the victim will die within a few minutes. Now, what is the spiritual attitude to take in such a case? Well, it is perfectly simple. Immediately you perceive what has happened; you must turn the other cheek by knowing the Truth of the Omnipresence of God. If you get this clear enough, as Jesus would, for instance, the severed artery will immediately be healed, and there will be nothing more to be done. It is exceedingly unlikely, however, that you will get your realization clear enough for this, and so—demonstrating where you are—you must take the usual steps to save the man’s life by immediately improvising a tourniquet, or whatever the proper procedure may be.

Or, again, suppose that a child falls into the canal when you are passing by. Once more, the appropriate action will be to “speak the Word,” and once more, if you have sufficient Spiritual Power, that child will immediately be seen in safety; but if not, then—demonstrating where you are—you must proceed to rescue him in whatever is the best way; diving in if that should be necessary, and praying as you act.

But, what of the man who is conscious of considerable moral imperfection, perhaps of the habit of grave sin, and is at the same time sincerely desirous of spiritual growth? Is he to relinquish the quest for spiritual knowledge until he has first reformed his conduct? By no means. As a matter of fact, any attempt to improve himself morally without spiritual growth is foredoomed to failure. No more can a man—to use Lincoln’s phrase—raise himself off the ground by pulling on his own bootstraps, than the sinner can reform himself by his own personal efforts. The only result of relying upon himself in such cases will be repeated failure, consequent discouragement, and probably ultimate despair of doing any good. The one thing for such a person to do is to pray regularly, especially at the actual time of temptation, and to throw the responsibility for success upon God. He must carry on in this way, no matter how many times he may fail; and, if he continues to pray, and especially if he prays in the scientific way, he will, as a matter of fact, very soon find that the power of evil