Esoteric Christianity, or The Lesser MysteriesBesant, Annie
Religion
Esoteric Christianity, or The Lesser Mysteries
Besant, Annie
Christianity -- Miscellanea; Mysticism; Theosophy
In the case of most people, however, ignorant of the forces of the
invisible worlds and unaccustomed to exercise their wills, the
concentration of mind and the earnest desire which are necessary for
successful action are far more easily reached by prayer than by a
deliberate mental effort to put forth their own strength. They would
doubt their own power, even if they understood the theory, and doubt is
fatal to the exercise of the will. That the person who prays does not
understand the machinery he sets going in no wise affects the result. A
child who stretches out his hand and grasps an object need not
understand anything of the working of the muscles, nor of the electrical
and chemical changes set up by the movement in muscles and nerves, nor
need he elaborately calculate the distance of the object by measuring
the angle made by the optic axes; he wills to take hold of the thing he
wants, and the apparatus of his body obeys his will though he does not
even know of its existence. So is it with the man who prays, unknowing
of the creative force of his thought, of the living creature he has
sent out to do his bidding. He acts as unconsciously as the child, and
like the child grasps what he wants. In both cases God is equally the
primal Agent, all power being from Him; in both cases the actual work is
done by the apparatus provided by His laws.
But this is not the only way in which prayers of this class are
answered. Some one temporarily out of the physical body and at work in
the invisible worlds, or a passing Angel, may hear the cry for help, and
may then put the thought of sending the required aid into the brain of
some charitable person. "The thought of so-and-so came into my head this
morning," such a person will say. "I daresay a cheque would be useful to
him." Very many prayers are answered in this way, the link between the
need and the supply being some invisible Intelligence. Herein is part of
the ministry of the lower Angels, and they will thus supply personal
necessities, as well as bring aid to charitable undertakings.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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