s prostration, with
terrible insomnia, being on the verge of insanity; besides having many
other troubles, especially of the digestive organs. I had been sent
away from home in charge of doctors, had taken all the narcotics,
stopped all work, been fed up, and in fact knew all the doctors within
reach. But I never recovered permanently till this New Thought took
possession of me.

"I think that the one thing which impressed me most was learning the
fact that we must be in absolutely constant relation or mental touch
(this word is to me very expressive) with that essence of life which
permeates all and which we call God. This is almost unrecognizable
unless we live it into ourselves ACTUALLY, that is, by a constant
turning to the very innermost, deepest consciousness of our real selves
or of God in us, for illumination from within, just as we turn to the
sun for light, warmth, and invigoration without. When you do this
consciously, realizing that to turn inward to the light within you is
to live in the presence of God or your divine self, you soon discover
the unreality of the objects to which you have hitherto been turning
and which have engrossed you without.

"I have come to disregard the meaning of this attitude for bodily
health AS SUCH, because that comes of itself, as an incidental result,
and cannot be found by any special mental act or desire to have it,
beyond that general attitude of mind I have referred to above. That
which we usually make the object of life, those outer things we are all
so wildly seeking, which we so often live and die for, but which then
do not give us peace and happiness, they should all come of themselves
as accessory, and as the mere outcome or natural result of a far higher
life sunk deep in the bosom of the spirit. This life is the real
seeking of the kingdom of God, the desire for his supremacy in our
hearts, so that all else comes as that which shall be 'added unto
you'--as quite incidental and as a surprise to us, perhaps; and yet it
is the proof of the reality of the perfect poise in the very centre of
our being.

"When I say that we commonly make the object of our life that which we
should not work for primarily, I mean many things which the world
considers praiseworthy and excellent, such as success in business, fame
as author or artist, physician or lawyer, or renown in philanthropic
undertakings. Such things should be results, not objects. I would
also include pleasu