The Red Rose

DO you know what it means to dwell “in the bosom of the Father”? Do you know what it means “to live and move and have your being in God”? Since God is ever-present mind — then to live and move and have your being in God is to live and move and have your being in mind; and since thought is the chief fiber of mind, then man is in reality the thought or idea of God — sustained and protected and dependant on that mind. Think for a moment of, let us say, a very red rose. Where does the thought rest – where is the thought? In your mind, of course, entirely separate from the external. Now think of that very same red rose in the next room, then in the garden, then in some foreign country. Easy, isn’t it, to think that rose around over the entire world – to make it go large or small as you will, because it is a thought in your mind. All things are possible to it that are possible to your thinking. You could even think the rose growing out of a block of ice. The most frigid winds could not nip it or the most torrid suns could not wilt it so long as you thought of it as a perfect rose.

Now, then, if man is the idea or thought of God, then God literally thinks man into his proper place. He holds in mind always the perfect conception of spiritual man – unchanged by any exterior condition, be it heat or cold, or any other man-made condition. He continually sees man as His offspring, perfect, indestructible, and eternal, and so He holds him in His mind. The perfect pattern is not lost or destroyed, but remains whole and intact, whether it is being expressed in China or New York, whether in the fields or in the office, the individuality of the God idea man is retained in all its primal beauty.

Then when you realize that you are one with this mind – that God is expressing you as His idea – is it for you to stand in the way of this perfect manifestation by thrusting in the distorted mortal ideas that come to you? Rather, should not this prayer be on your lips, “Thy will be done,” and put aside all outlining and striving to bring certain results to pass. He will not suffer you to be lost; He will abundantly prosper those who give all and follow Him — But He will do it in His own way and in the place or land that He has given unto you. Have no fear, He will not think His ideas into a place, a problem or condition which cannot be perfectly met. “When thou passeth through deep waters I am with thee,” and “No plague shall come nigh thy dwelling.”

Then again I say unto you, “Be not afraid.” God is mindful of His own, and His Way is peace.

 

Walter C. Lanyon