Further, indulging in thoughts of hate, resentment, ill-will, fear,
worry, care, grief, and anxiety, produces ill-health, and, by lowering
the tone of the body, lays it open to infection and disease. We
therefore see that the state of the mind and the character of the
thoughts are important factors which cannot be ignored. It is useless
to treat either ill-health or disease if they are merely the external
_effects_ of hidden causes of the mind. In order to effect a cure
we have to get back to the cause of the trouble.
Thought control [8] is a great assistance. Substituting a right or
positive thought for a wrong one, will, in course of time, work
wonders in the life. In the sub-conscious we have an illimitable power
of extraordinary intelligence. According to our thoughts this
wonderful power either builds up health, harmony and beauty in our
life and body, or just the reverse. The power is good, the
intelligence is apparently infinite, but it goes where-ever our
thoughts direct it. By our thinking, therefore, we either create or
destroy, produce either good or evil. If, therefore, all our thoughts
are good, positive and constructive, it follows that both our body
and our life must become built up in harmony and perfection. The
question is, can this be done? It can be done if we have the desire,
and are willing to discipline ourselves and persevere in the face,
often, of seeming failure. Some readers may say, at this point, that
they have no desire to be so frightfully good, that they are not
prepared to give up lust, impurity, hate, anger, malice and thoughts
and emotions of this kind. Very well, if this is so, they must go
on and learn, through suffering, the lesson which they refuse to learn
willingly. Others may say: "Yes, I want to control my thoughts, but
how can I cease to worry when I have so much about which to worry,
and how can I cease to hate when I have been so deeply wronged?" This
brings us to an even deeper cause of ill-health than that of mind,
viz., the attitude of the heart. Our scriptures tell us that "as a
man thinketh in his _heart_ so is he." By "heart" is meant the soul
or feeling, desiring part of man. It is here where the conflict
between the self-will and the Divine Will, between the desires of
the flesh and the longings of the Spirit take place. The real root
cause of all unhappiness, disharmony and ill-health is spiritual,
and not merely mental or physical. The latter are contributory causes,
but the former is the fundamental cause. Spiritual disharmony is,
in reality, the cause of all ill-health and disease. Until spiritual
harmony is restored, man is a kingdom divided against itself, which,
as our Lord said, cannot stand. Healing, then, must be of a spiritual
character. Until this harmony exists there can be no overcoming of
hate thoughts, fear thoughts or worry thoughts, and until these are
overcome there can be no true healing. Our Lord's healing was a
gracious healing of the Spirit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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