Books: The Pastor\'s Son
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William W. Walter >> The Pastor\'s Son
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"I see the force of your illustration, Mrs. White, but I am sure I am
not dreaming." "But you are suffering from a delusion, and a delusion
is a dream, and is no more real. If it had been possible for some one
to tell me while I was on my dream trip, that it was a dream, I would
have denied it, because it seemed real to me. So with you, this delusion
seems so real you believe it to be a reality. Nevertheless the facts
were that I was suffering from a delusion, and so are you. So let us
deny that evil is real, and we will wake up to the truth, or
understanding, that it is not real. Now I will give you your treatment."
CHAPTER XV
TRUTH BEING MANIFESTED
The treatment over, Mrs. White said a few more cheerful words to her
patient and then called the pastor into the room, saying to him, it
would be well if he would read from "Science and Health" to his wife
whenever he found time, which he promised to do.
A few minutes later, Mrs. White was on her way home, and the pastor
and his family were more hopeful than they had been for some time.
Walter and his father discussed with Mrs. Williams the happenings of
the evening, and it was quite late before they all retired for the
night.
Mrs. White came regularly every evening for about a week, and as her
patient began slowly to mend she came only every other evening. The
Rev. Williams and also Walter read to the sick woman every day, and
by the end of the month Mrs. Williams began to stay up several hours
each day. She also was an eager reader and student of "Science and
Health." Many were the pleasant evenings spent by them in explanation
and discussion of what they were reading.
True to his word, the pastor decided to trust in God for his supply,
and had asked for a vacation, which was granted him. Near the end of
the second week a letter came; in it was a check from a man whom he
had loaned some money to, a long time before. It also contained a note
explaining that he had always intended to pay the debt, but not until
recently had his financial circumstances permitted it. When the pastor
saw it, he said, "Surely this is in return for my trust in God, for
I long ago reckoned this money as lost."
At the end of three months, Mrs. Williams was so far recovered that
she was able to take care of her household duties and the pastor's
understanding of "Science and Health" had increased to such an extent
that he felt sure it contained the Christ Truth, but he was not yet
ready to say he would give up his position as pastor. Walter grasped
the truth more rapidly than his father, and whenever he found him
perplexed or doubtful he was ever ready to point the way. His mother
was constantly gaining both in health and understanding, and when
Spring came and the end of the pastor's six months' vacation drew nigh,
she was entirely healed.
It was at this time the pastor told his wife and son that he had
determined to hand in his resignation and leave the ministry. They
agreed with him that he could not consistently preach the old belief
after understanding the truth; and as his congregation was very well
satisfied with the minister who was filling his place, they would not
miss him much.
A few days later he handed in his resignation. It was somewhat of a
surprise to the directors, and they asked him to reconsider; but when
he assured them it was final, they in due time accepted it and requested
that he preach a farewell sermon. At first the pastor thought of
declining, but did not; instead, he told them he would consider for
a few days.
That evening, as they were all sitting in the library, he told his
wife and son of their request, and said he had not fully made up his
mind what was best to do. At this point Walter spoke up and said, with
a smile on his face: "Father, do you remember one evening when we were
having our Bible lessons you promised to preach a sermon on creation?"
"Yes, son, I remember."
"Why not preach that sermon as a farewell, for I know you can do so
now with understanding."
The father looked at his son, smiled, and said: "Not a bad idea; what
do you think of it, wife?"
"I think it would be grand and might be the means of showing some poor
sufferer the truth. How thankful I am for this truth, and how I wish
the whole world would know the Christ Truth."
"Then it is settled, I will tell the directors of my decision in the
morning;" which he did, also telling them on what subject he would
preach.
CHAPTER XVI
THE FAREWELL SERMON
The appointed Sunday dawned clear and balmy, and by the time the
services commenced, the church was filled to its full capacity, the
new minister officiating; and when it came time for the sermon, he
announced that the Rev. Williams would preach his farewell sermon, and
that the subject would be "Creation." The pastor slowly arose from the
seat he had been occupying and leisurely walked up to and into the
pulpit. He slowly allowed his gaze to roam over the crowded church,
then began his sermon in a clear, full voice:
"My dearly beloved brethren, once again, after more than six months'
vacation, I stand before you for the last time as pastor. I have been
in your midst for more than fifteen years, trying to point out to you,
to the best of my ability, the way to salvation. In that time I have
made many staunch friends--friends to be proud of, friends that were
true, friends that were friends in time of storm as well as sunshine,
friends that have stood the test of time, and I hope will stand the
test to the end of time, for a severe test of their love and friendship
for me and mine is coming."
By this time every eye was fastened on him, and each individual ear
was strained to catch his every word.
The Rev. Williams now opened the Bible he had carried to the pulpit
with him, and said:
"As has been announced by your pastor, the subject of my sermon is
'The Creation.' In explanation I might say that just before, and during
the time of my vacation, I was carefully studying the Bible relative
to this subject, and I discovered the fact that during all the time
I was studying for the ministry, and these many years that I have been
an ordained minister, I had not become acquainted with the true facts
regarding the creation of man. It was the discovery of this, with many
others I have since made, that compelled me to send in my resignation,
and in my sermon to-day I shall endeavor to make plain my discovery.
I say my discovery, although it was not mine originally, but another's
whose illumined spiritual sense is as far above mine as the blue vaults
of heaven are above the earth. I will now read to you verses from the
first and second chapters of Genesis. No doubt, you are all more or
less familiar with them. Genesis, Chapter I, 26th verse, reads: _'And
God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and let
them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.'_ Chapter 1, 27th
verse, reads: _'So God created man in his own image, in the image
of God created He him; male and female created He them.'_ Chapter
1, 31st verse, reads: _'And God saw everything that He had made, and
behold, it was very good, and the evening and the morning were the 6th
day.'_ Chapter 2, 1st verse, reads: _'Thus the heavens and earth
were finished, and all the hosts of them.'_ Chapter 2, 6th verse,
reads: _'But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the
whole face of the ground.'_ Chapter 2, 7th verse, reads: _'And
the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into
his nostrils the breath of life and man became a living soul.'"_
As he finished reading this verse, he laid the Bible down and said,
"I now wish to call your attention to chapter I, 26th verse. Therein
is stated that God made man in His image and likeness. Chapter I, 27th
verse, reiterates this statement so as to more fully emphasize this
great truth. We now come to the question of what is God. We all agree
that God is Spirit. If this be true, then man must be spiritual and
not material, else he would not be the image and likeness of God,
Spirit. In chapter I, 31st verse, we read that _God saw everything
He had made, and behold, it was very good._ Now I want to ask, is
sin, disease, trouble, affliction, or death good? It has been said
that under certain conditions sickness might be good. I also thought
this at one time, but in no way can we conceive of sin as being good.
Then God never made sin, neither did He make disease and death; then
whence came they? Is there an evil power that creates these dreaded
things? If we believe this, we will have two creators, or gods, which
cannot be true. Let us see if the Bible will not throw some light on
this seeming mystery. Chapter 2, 1st verse, reads: _'Thus the heavens
and earth were finished and all the hosts of them.'_ Now this is
all of creation, God has finished His work, yet in the same chapter
a little further along we read: _'But there went up a mist from the
earth and watered the whole face of the ground.'_ In the next verse
we read: _'And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living
soul.'_ But God had finished His work some time before, at least
so it was stated in some of the preceding verses. Is there a second
creation, or is this simply one of the contradictions spoken of by
some of our Bible critics? We can not conceive of an all-knowing God
having made a mistake when He created man spiritually in His image and
likeness and then later making another man materially from dust.
"I wish to call your attention to the fact that the Bible does not
state that this _dust man_ is made in the image and likeness of God, in
fact it does not state that he was made at all, it simply says: 'And the
Lord God _formed_ man of the dust of the ground.' Then this dust man at
best was only _formed_ and never made. Neither does it state that God
had anything to do with the forming of this dust man, as it does of the
spiritual man made in His image and likeness, but states the _Lord_ God
formed him.
"Nowhere in the first chapter of Genesis, which is the true or spiritual
creation, does the Lord God create anything; it is only after that
_mist_ (spoken of in the 6th verse of chapter two) arose from the
earth that the _Lord_ God _formed_ the dust or material man,
or anything else. Then the mystery of this seeming second creator, the
Lord God, and his creation or forming of this dust or material man and
material world must lie within this _mist_, and it does; this
mist that arose was simply a misapprehension that arose amongst the
people, wherein they believed themselves to be _formed_ of dust
or materially, whereas in truth they were created spiritually. And
this _Lord_ God spoken of that formed the dust man is not the
real creator, the true God, but is man himself, who, through his own
false idea or belief, formed man of dust, in other words, by his
misapprehension of his true nature, man thinks himself material, when,
in reality, he is spiritual, and it is through this mistake that all
this evil or materiality seems to exist. But it is no more real than
the dust man, and gets its seeming reality in the same way through a
delusion or misapprehension of the truth. The proof that evil is not
real, does not exist, and was never made, is contained in the Bible.
Genesis 1, 31st verse, is this proof; it reads: 'And God saw
_everything_ that He had made, and behold, it was very good, and
the evening and the morning were the 6th day.' I wish you to note that
this verse says _everything_; this includes _all_. Then everything that
really exists is good, it cannot be otherwise. Our God, our Creator,
could not make both good and evil, else He would not be perfect, for
evil is an imperfection and an imperfection can have no principle, hence
no reality. Evil has the same reality that a lie has. What becomes of a
lie when the truth is declared? It ceases to exist; so with evil; it
being unreal, it ceases to exist, when Good is declared.
"Now, Beloved, I will quote you the greatest command given to man by
Jesus Christ: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.' I will now give you my
interpretation of this great commandment: Thou shalt love the _Good_,
thy God, with all thy love, and with all thy intelligence, and with all
thy thoughts. Oh, if we could only do this, there surely would be no
evil. Do we obey this greatest command of our Master? No. For instead of
loving God, we fear Him, and lay every evil that befalls us at His door.
If there be a cyclone, a flood, a cloudburst, a railroad disaster, a
conflagration, an earthquake, an epidemic, we say it is the will of God.
Oftentimes we labor long and faithfully to accomplish a desired result,
and just as we think we have success in our hands, we fail, and all our
hopes and desires are destroyed; again we say, it is the will of God. If
we see any of our brethren sick, we claim it to be the will of God. If
we see the father of a family taken away, we bow our heads and say God's
will be done. If we see a family of children left motherless, again we
bow our heads and say God's will be done. If we see a beautiful infant
snatched by death from the breast of it's heart-broken mother, we meekly
bow again, and, with heart full of sorrow, say, it's the will of God. I
tell you it is not the will of God, the will of Good. There is no good
in it, hence not of God's making, but is the work of evil, or devil, in
other words, the work of a delusion, the believing of a lie. And when we
stand meekly by and see evil destroy our health, our hopes, our
happiness, our homes, without a protest, we are abetting the devil in
his work. The Bible says God gave man dominion over _all_ the earth, so
rise in the might of your intelligence, your Mind, and destroy this
evil, this illusion, this lie, with the sword of truth, in Christ's
name. God, Good, is with you in this work, and with Him for you, who can
stand against you? Too long has man been robbed by evil in the name of
good. Jesus Christ said: 'Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall
make you free.' This truth has been revealed and is in our midst; 'seek
and ye shall find.' St. John, the most beloved disciple, said: 'God is
Love.' Can you believe a father who is Love would destroy the hopes
of His children, make them suffer through accident, sickness, and
poverty, and after three score and ten years let them die, in other
words, kill them? Even the lowest of earthly fathers would not do this.
Jesus Christ said: The last enemy to overcome is death.' This surely
does not mean that we must submit to death, but the opposite, or
overcome death. Christ's bidding us to overcome death shows that death
is an evil. Then all things that are allies of death, such as sickness,
poverty, accidents and the like, must be overcome, and when we have
overcome all these things there will be no death to overcome; therefore
I bid you awake from this delusion, this dream of life in matter, to
the truth of life in Mind, in God. Simply believing in God is not
enough, you must know God. Again I say, awake and work out your own
salvation, as St. Paul said you must; salvation, is not believing, but
knowing. In the words of one of the prophets, _acquaint_ thyself
with God and be at peace. Search the Scriptures, they contain the truth
of life. Use your reasoning power, and do your own thinking-for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand. Christ is risen and is knocking at your
door, let Him in, and He will show you the way out of trouble, sin,
disease, and how to conquer death.
"Now, Beloved, in conclusion, I would like to call your attention to
my family, as you all know my son Walter was a sufferer for years from
a disease that materia medica says is incurable; you now see him in
your midst, a well and strong young man. I had long ago come to the
conclusion that it was the will of God that he was sick, but through
his own realization of the great truth that God made only the good,
he was healed--in a like manner his mother, my wife, was healed of the
same dread disease by _one_ who _knew_ that the good only was real, and
proved it by destroying this seeming evil, which to us is known as
tuberculosis. My wife is also in your midst, hale and hearty, as proof
of my statement. And as I have also acquired this understanding of God,
I cannot consistently preach the gospel in the old way, hence my
resignation from this church and the ministry, and now I must echo the
words of that great man, Martin Luther: 'Here I stand, I can do no
otherwise, so help me God.' Amen."
A PARTING WORD
Nearly, all my life I was an inveterate reader of fiction, trying in
this way to forget my troubles and pain, as many thousands of others
are doing to-day. During all this time there was a book in existence
the study of which would have banished all my misery, but I knew it
not. It is with the hope that in this way I may reach a few of these
thousands and get them interested enough so they will seek the truth
in the way pointed out herein, that this work of fiction is put upon
the market. "Seek and ye shall find," and when found, hold fast that
which is true and you will come into that peace that passeth all
understanding.
THE AUTHOR.
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