money before he can succeed. He must love, and respect, and
believe in his Creator, and trust the Divine Man within himself, and he
must illustrate this love and trust by his daily conduct, and in his
home circle, and in his business relations.

Once in a century, perhaps, is a man born with great powers already
developed to heal the sick, or to do other seeming miracles. Such
beings are old souls, who have obtained diplomas in former lives; but
the majority of us are still in school, and we cannot become "seniors"
until we pass through the lower grades.

We must change ourselves before we can change material conditions: we
must heal our own thoughts and make them sane and normal, before we can
heal bodily disease in others.

It is not an immediate process. I have heard an old lady declare that
she "got religion" in the twinkling of an eye, and she believed all
people would be damned and burn in hell fire, who did not pass through
this sudden illumination.

It is possible that the religion which can worship a God cruel enough
to burn his children in fire, can only be obtained in the twinkling of
an eye; but the reverent, wholesome, and beautiful religion of "New
Thought" must be grown into little by little, through patience, faith,
and practice.

All that it claims to do it can do, but not instantaneously, not
rapidly. We must first make ourselves over; after absolute control of
our minds has been obtained, then, and only then, may we hope to
influence circumstances and health.

The Important Trifles

You will find, in the effort to reach a higher spirituality in your
daily life, that the small things try your patience and your strength
more than the greater ones.

Home life, like business life, is composed of an accumulation of
trifles.

There are people who bear great sorrows with resignation, and seem to
gain a certain dignity and force of character through trouble, but who
are utterly vanquished by trivial annoyances.

The old-fashioned orthodox "Christian" was frequently of this order.

Death, poverty, and misfortune he bore without complaining, and became
ofttimes a more agreeable companion in times of deepest sorrow.

He regarded all such experiences as the will of God, and bowed to them.

Yet, if his dinner was late, his coffee below the standard, if his
eye-glasses were misplaced, or his toe trodden upon, he become a raging
lion, and his roar drove his affrighted household into dark c