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By Root 636 0

marriage quite as much as, if not more than, to problems of any other kind. As none of us is perfect, and the complainant is certain to have his or her own faults no less than the delinquent, he or she should endeavor, if it can possibly be done, to make the present marriage a success by persistently knowing the Spiritual Truth about both parties. If the aggrieved partner will steadfastly see the Christ Truth about the other one, then, in nearly every case a happy solution will be the outcome. I have known a number of instances where marriages which were on the point of being dissolved were saved in this way with the most satisfactory results. One woman said, after a few months of handling her problem spiritually, “The man I was going to divorce has disappeared; and the man whom I married has come back. We are perfectly happy again.”

Just as in running from one business position to another, or from one home to another, without first having brought about a change in consciousness, we find ourselves but repeating the old conditions in a slightly different form, so, as a rule, people who divorce freely, trying marriage after marriage, are apt to finish up as dissatisfied as they began. The general rule in Truth is, fight out your problem where you are, with prayer.

Nevertheless, there is a limit to what a man or woman can be expected to put up with in marriage, and in exceptional cases. no doubt. the lesser evil is a dissolution; but this should be only the last resort. Jesus, we know, consistently refrained from laying down hard-and-fast rules and regulations for the details of our conduct, knowing that if our principles were right, such things would take care of themselves without fail; and we may be sure that, with his supremely practical and common-sense handling of human problems, he would have given the wise and merciful decision in any particular case. The woman taken in adultery, for instance, who should absolutely have been stoned to death under the law of Moses, still current at that time, was forgiven and dismissed in peace by him, in the teeth of the written Scripture. At any rate those who are in any doubt concerning their own conduct in this matter have a simple remedy—they should treat for guidance in their conduct. They should claim that Divine Wisdom is illumining their understanding and directing their actions in the matter, and avoid taking any definite steps until they find a clear leading in their own consciousness.

The general rule is still good for all conditions in life: Do not try to divorce or amputate the inharmony, but let it dissolve away of itself under treatment. That is what was done by the woman who said that the man she married had come back; and she considers her demonstration a perfect one.

Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne;

Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool; neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.

Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black

But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.

(Matthew V)

Swear not at all is one of the cardinal points in the teaching of Jesus. It means, briefly, that you are not to take vows. You are not to mortgage your future conduct in advance; to undertake to do or to refrain from doing something tomorrow, or next year, or thirty years hence. You are not in any way to seek to fix your conduct or your belief for tomorrow while it is yet today—for “sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.” It is an absolutely vital part of his teaching that you are constantly to seek direct inspirational contact with God, constantly to keep yourself an open channel for the pouring out of the Holy Spirit into manifestation through you. Now, if you make up your mind in advance as to what you shall do or shall not do, shall believe