first made it ready through sowing the seed. We cannot enter into a new consciousness without first "squaring up" the old. This was the lesson Jesus was giving us, when he was teaching the rich young ruler. We cannot run to some leader or healer, kneel down before them (humble our pride) and demand the highest gift of Spirit for our personal enjoyment. We must pay the price. We must sell what we have, become empty, thus preparing ourselves for the harvest that will be the result of the new and highly productive seed which is being sown in our consciousness through the introduction of new ideas. Life and Truth are not to be gained from the without, but are established in consciousness in the within. There is no increase except through giving (selling). The giving, selling, losing, emptiness and all other negative qualities are but the forerunners of the receiving, buying, gaining and fullness that is moving in our direction in exact proportion to each other. It is self expression we are seeking, the expression of our God-self, which is the real self of every man.

The poor represents the emptiness waiting to be filled, and so Jesus continued his instructions with, "Give to the poor." Students of Truth ask why have prosperity lessons if one is to give away all his wealth. To arrive at a practical application of giving to the poor, let us consider Jesus' own words. He does not say to give all that you have to the poor, but we are to sell that which we have and give to the poor. The emphasis is on selling and giving. We cannot receive until we give, and there must be an emptiness to receive the fullness. When we sell, we set into activity that which we have, whether it be money, talent for music, gift of the Spirit to heal or teach, thus giving to the needy ones-the poor. The needy may not be destitute for food, shelter or clothing, but for the understanding of the way of life. Prosperity lessons are to establish a rich consciousness and are not studied as the means to the accumulation of things. We do not center our attention in the without, but in the within. With all his possessions, the rich young man was poor in consciousness, poor in the kingdom of heaven;

but Jesus, recognizing his inherent hidden wealth, sought to bring it to his attention through changing his base of thought. Had the rich young man been willing to part with his possessions, to give up himself, for possessions are centered about the personal ego of man, he would have had the key to the door of the kingdom, for it is through the will that man exercises choice. All the manifest world is the outpicturing of ideas in mind, perfect or discordant, according to the harmony or inharmony of man's thoughts with Divine Ideas. When man lets go of the idea that anything in his life is his possession, and recognizes the God-power back of it, he will have abundance to use to the glory of God and humanity. All that is worth while becomes doubly valuable when charged with the Substance of Spirit. But our needs will never be supplied unless we fulfill the law of receiving, which is set into operation through giving.

Jesus did not imply that because it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven that only the poor and poverty stricken are eligible. He affirmed, "All that the Father hath is mine." How rich we are when we become conscious of our natural inheritance and enter into the limitless ideas of Spirit? Righteousness and riches are twin brothers, but the important point is the understanding of what constitutes riches. If one is so rich in the consciousness of God as his Supply that he has no thought of lack, worry or anxiety, who can say that he is poor because he has not accumulated possessions? Man looketh upon the appearance, but it is the attitude of the heart that counts in righteousness. However, we have been so in the habit of thinking of possessions as riches that we need to exercise care in our ideas of poverty. The poor people are those who are not conscious of the ideas of Divine Mind and their relation to them; who do not know peace of mind or satisfaction in living. Those who think they are sufficient of themselves are indeed poor.

It has been the experience of Truth students that external wealth comes naturally and without strenuous effort when they seek first the kingdom. Trust takes the place of

planning; self-expression takes the place of work. Just as surely as one pours himself out in some manner of giving, which is synonomous with loving, just as surely will he receive heaped up measure in return. The law of "Freely ye would receive, freely give," is infallible. Trust comes through building up a consciousness of prosperity. This consciousness is built up in the same manner as one builds up a consciousness of health; through meditation upon God as the giver of all good, and our oneness with this Source of Supply. It is no more honorable to be poor than to be sick. In either case we have not realized the riches of the kingdom of harmony.

When we have emptied ourselves of our limited ideas of possessions we are ready to receive the fullness which the Christ offers in his "Come, follow me." Again, the activity of the Spirit must be expressed. We cannot hoard our spiritual riches any more than the temporal. They must be increased through use. The Christ principle must have free expression through us and we must make our new understanding a practical demonstration. We cannot hear the invitation to follow the Christ unless we are ready to obey. The convenient season is always now. It is one thing to let go the old, and another to establish the new; it is one thing to realize a Truth and another thing to demonstrate it, but both are necessary and complete each other. We cannot have the understanding without the capacity to demonstrate it. Man can achieve what he can conceive, but only through following a Universal principle of Truth. It means something to follow the Christ. Every man is responsible for his own living. He makes or mars it with his thought. If we would enter into life we must relinquish the things of self.

fold his hands and wait for Spirit expresses in activity.

Man cannot sit down and a demonstration of prosperity. Do the first thing that comes to your hand to be done, and do it well. Comply with the moral law, but in the Christ way. When taxes were demanded of Jesus and Peter, Peter resisted the law, but Jesus showed him how easy it

was to comply with the demand. He instructed Peter to go to the sea, cast out a hook, take the first fish that came up, open its mouth, find the piece of money, and pay the taxes. Peter was not to "dilly dally" and let that first fish escape him, but to act. The first fish is the first impression, the intuitive voice of the soul. It is the urge of the Spirit and will lead into the higher good, if pursued in that spirit. Opportunity is now, but our use of opportunity determines our rate of progress and our demonstrations of prosperity.

Ideas are the pure gold of spirit. They are the "treasure in heaven," the gift of Divine Mind to its offspring. Through ideas we recognize our real nature as creators, and bring forth abundance for ourselves and enrich the consciousness of the race. Plenty and abundance are the outworking of these rich God-ideas, and is one of the good gifts of the Father to all who are willing to sell what they have, and follow the Christ Principle. To such as forsake all the ideas of the personality, looking to the law of righteousness rather than to appearance, are promised an increase of an hundredfold and eternal life, here in this time, proving that riches are the natural result of righteousness. Some one has written it "right-use-ness;" and so it is. The right use of ideas in mind, of talents and inherent capacities bring their own increase and establishes man in the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed is the man that feareth Jehovah, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. Wealth and riches are in his house; and his righteousness endureth forever." "The blessing of Jehovah it maketh rich; and he addeth no sorrow therewith."

Those who merely study and treat the effects of discase are like persons who imagine that they can drive winter away by brushing the snow from the door. It is not snow that causes the winter; the winter is the cause of the snow. He who knows only the external form of man, and not the power by which it is produced, knows nothing but illusion; his science is illusive, only fit to impose on the ignorant.--Paracelsus (1500).

DESIRE A QUEST FOR THE CHRIST CONSCIOUSNESS

CHAS. P. TILEY

IN ALL our study of Truth let us ever bear in mind that our objective is to identify ourselves in consciousness with, or realize our oneness with God, the All-Good. This is the objective of all people, whether they have discerned the truth of their being or not, and whether they are conscious of what they are doing or not. Man, in his struggle to eliminate from his life misery, sickness, disease, poverty, and so-called evil of all kinds, whether conscious of it or not, is in reality striving to make his atonement, striving to reach a place where he feels he will be happy and satisfied. Those who have discerned that this place is reached only in consciousness have taken a great stride towards reaching it; and this place is really heaven, a place in consciousness to be attained only by right living, and right living can only be accomplished by right thinking, for thinking precedes all expression and manifestation. Wrong living, which inevitably follows wrong thinking, is the cause of all inharmony; in fact, it is not living at all. As expressed by one Truth teacher, "Right living is living in heaven; wrong living is dying in the other place."

The key to Spiritual consciousness lies in the persistency with which man holds to the Truth that he is in reality God expressed. Then let us get perfectly still for a few moments and silently say, "I am the perfect Idea of my Father, God, the All-Good, and I now express his wholeness." (Silence.)

Logically, the statement we have just held in the Silence is true, and we are not going to let our senses deceive us into believing anything less than this. Ever remember that we grow like that which we hold in mind, "that as a man