Charles Reynolds Brown - The Healing Power of Suggestion (1910)

7/30/2019 Charles Reynolds Brown - The Healing Power of Suggestion (1910)

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tHE HEALINGPOWEROFSUGGESTION

CHARLES R.BROWN


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I UO^ARYJUNIVcK.iiir OFCALIFORNIA

! SAN DIEGO


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C^e Dealing ^otoet: of


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BOOKS BY CHARLES R. BROWNTHE YOUNG MAN'S AFFAIRS"An excellent book for any young man, for

it is written in a sympathetic spirit and withcommon sense." The Living Church."The author discourses of the young man'spurpose, intimates, books, money, recreation,wife, and church, all in such a manner as mustbe most helpful to his readers." Chicago Record'Herald.

$1.00 net; by mail, $1.10FAITH AND HEALTH" Written with fairness, vivacity, and ' horsesense.' Dr. Brown's shafts are pointed, and hissense of the humor of fraud and humbug is keenand irresistible." Book News Monthly."We wish that every member of our Church

and congregation could read this most saneand helpful volume on the relation of faith tohealth." The Temple Reminder.$1.00 net; by mail, $1.10

Thomas Y. Crowell Company


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THE HEALING POWEROF SUGGESTIONBy

CHARLES R. BROWNAUTHOR OP "FAITH AND HEALTH," "THE YOUNG MAN'SAFFAIRS," ETC.

NEW YORKTHOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY


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COPYRIGHT, 1910BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL & COMPANY


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Ije ^ealfng j&otoet of

HERE is a vast amount ofsound psychology in the scrip-tures where they offer us in-struction along moral andspiritual lines. If you would

form the right sort of character go about it ina rational way, the Bible says. " Whatsoeverthings are just, whatsoever things are true,whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever thingsare honorable, whatsoever things are lovable,whatsoever things are of good report, thinkon these things." Pasture your mind andheart on them just as you send your Jerseycow into the clover when you want her to givegood milk. Let these modes of thought fur-nish the delicate nutriment which is takenup into the very structure of your innerlife. "Be ye transformed by the renewing ofyour mind," by the introduction of higher


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andand finer forms of material to be wrought uponby the energies of your soul. "Let the wordsof your mouth and the meditations of yourheart be acceptable in the sight of the Lord,"let your speech and your thought, which areboth under your control, be right and you willbe made right throughout.

It is in this same vein that the author of thenow familiar proverb offers his word of wis-dom. As a man thinketh in his heart so is he !The writer does not mean that a single thoughtwill transform a man either physically or mor-ally. He means that states of mind, prevailinghabits of thought, tend constantly to registerthemselves in bodily as well as in moral condi-tions. Morbid conditions of mind mean by andby morbid conditions of body. Weakness ofwill and irresolution, fear and worry, preparea soil favorable for the seeds of disease and aidin its development. Healthy states of mind,minds free from all grudge, bitterness andenvy, minds free from anxiety, fret and distrust,minds filled with faith and hope and love,make for health as surely as do sunshine,[6]


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Dealing potter offresh air and pure water. As a man thinkethin his heart steadily and insistently, be it upor down, so he tends to become. "The bodyis the general expression of past thinking," asthat thinking has wrought itself out in termsof physical life.Thoughts then are things, powerful things!

If any one should tell a man suddenly thatsome one he loves dearly had met with a fatalaccident, he would instantly turn pale, theblood leaves his face. A thought does thatnot a drug nor a blow nor any physical agentwhatsoever. Tell a man of honor that he is aliar and his face is aflame with indignation asthe blood flows into it. It is a thought regis-tering itself in certain physical changes. Athought will cause the blood to flow this wayor that way; a thought will work a radicalchange in the various currents of life. Now ifyou will utilize this force, which we all know,by intelligent, persistent, systematic habits ofthinking, you can see at once how powerful itmay become for good."A great deal of alleged physical suffering[7]


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andis primarily mental. A great many peoplehave 'fixed ideas' of disease, pain, debility,fatigue, dread, inefficiency and inexpressiblewoes. Much oftener than we realize thesecan be transplanted without surgery or medi-cation. I do not mean that they are not realsuffering; they are as real as the grave. Butthey are not grounded in physical infirmitiesand they are not to be cured by physic. Themind becomes possessed of a conviction that acertain part of the body is infirm and imputespain to that part in spite of all the medicine inthe world. Hundreds of people refuse to getwell after the physician has cured them. It isnot his fault and it is not their fault; theyhave simply had disease suggested to themuntil they cannot think at all except upon thatassumption. And for such conditions the stim-ulus of new faith and the re-education of thewhole mental outlook are needed." l

Suggestion, then, as I use the term in thischapter, means the influence exercised uponthe body by the subtle power of ideas. The

1 Max Eastman, Atlantic Monthly, May, 1900.[8]


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Dealing $otoet ofvalue of it in dealing with certain functionaltroubles, especially those of a nervous or men-tal origin, is coming to be recognized by allintelligent physicians and by people generally.You can see the philosophy of it. The mostvital functions we know, digestion, assimila-tion, circulation, elimination, are all of themconstantly and profoundly influenced by thestate of mind. "A merry heart doeth goodlike medicine," the Bible says ; a cheerful dis-position affects all these vital processes. Theold proverb, " Laugh and grow fat," has physi-ology on its side, for the food we take whenwe are cheerful and happy does us ten timesmore good than the food eaten when we areangry or worried or depressed. The processeswhich have to do with the elimination ofwaste, of fatigue and other poisons from thesystem, are constantly affected by the state ofmind."Mind cure is simply the acquiring of con-

trol over impulses, emotiohs and the habitsthat demoralize. It substitutes other habitsif necessary. The person gains mental poise[9]


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antiand leans toward optimism. The mind liber-ates the nervous mechanism and the vital fluidsof the body, so that all the functions, bothphysical and mental, are performed normally."

Professor Anderson of Yale University un-dertook a few years ago to demonstrate thepower of thought in a most scientific way. Hehad a young man suspended in his laboratoryon a perfectly balanced disk. He told theman, who was a mathematician, to think ofsome difficult problem in mathematics and totry to solve it mentally. As the man began tothink hard the nicely balanced disk tipped onthe side where the man's head was, the bloodflowed to the brain in increased amount andthat tipped the scale. He told the man to thinkof running, for the young fellow had been afootball player and interested in track events.And as the man began to think of making ahundred-yard dash or of running down thefield with the pigskin under his arm, the disktipped to the side where his feet and legs were.The blood was now flowing more freely intothese organs. By asking the man to repeat

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Dealing potter ofthe multiplication table of nines the displace-ment was greater than when he was repeatingthe table of fives, which is an easier table.The professor found that the center of gravityin the man's body was shifted as much as fourinches by merely changing his thought, with-out the moving of a muscle. Thoughts arethings, and their power for good or ill can beaccurately weighed and measured.Here then is a force to be used ! If theblood can be made to flow more freely here orthere by a change of thought, if all the pro-cesses of digestion, assimilation, circulation andelimination can be influenced for good or illby mental conditions, if all those functionswhich are in constant communication with thenervous system can be aided or can be hin-dered in their operation by the thoughts wethink, then you can see how much is suggestedin those words, As a man thinketh in hisheart so he becomes !You will find this agency discussed under

the somewhat elaborate title of "The Thera-peutic Value of Suggestion," by such scien-

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fafty anDtific men as Bernheim and Moll, Tuke andLiebeault, Schofield and Dubois. You willfind it taken up by psychologists and by edu-cators. We deal with children almost entirelyby suggestion. The child about to cry oversome trifle has his attention directed to some-thing else by a new suggestion and the occa-sion for his wail is thus forgotten. The childwho has had a tumble is told that he is n'thurt much; "Mamma will kiss it and thatwill make it well! Now it is all well"; thesuggestion is accepted and becomes effective.Suggestion may be utilized in curing bad habitsand in changing unpleasant dispositions inchildren.We may carry the same principle on up to

the years of maturity and utilize it in dealingwith more serious matters. We may educatethe mind by suggestion to move in betterchannels and teach the heart to cherish morewholesome states of feeling, and in that wayaccomplish splendid results in securing healthand in developing character.

It is needless to say to any intelligent reader[12]


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Dealing Cotter ofthat the power of mind over matter, thepower of suggestion over bodily conditions, hasits limits. All power has its limits unless itbe the omnipotent power of Almighty God,and even He declares Himself conditioned inthe accomplishment of His purposes by thegiving or the withholding of our obedient co-operation. All power has its limits; I couldpick up the pulpit in my church and carry itacross the street, but I could not pick up thechurch and carry it away. Yet the fact thatmy muscular power has its limits does notindicate that it is of little worth. I can byright thinking, right feeling and right resolvingaffect profoundly certain physical conditions,but I cannot entirely change the structure ofthe body in cases of serious organic diseaseby merely thinking pleasant thoughts. Thepower of suggestion does not accomplish every-thing; no more does surgery or medicine orany other agent you can name. Suggestion ismerely one of the therapeutic agencies which

may be employed in the interests of health.Let me put it more concretely. Here is a[13]


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faft^ andwoman who is suffering from nervous dys-pepsia. Her food does not agree with her;she is losing flesh and losing strength; she isafraid of a total collapse. It may be that thereis no organic disease present; this questionshould be determined by some one trained indiagnosis. If there is no organic disease, thenwhat she needs is not Hood's Sarsaparilla orsome long prescription written out in ponder-ous Latin, so much as a new state of mind.She talks too loud and too much. When shetalks to any one over the telephone in thatnervous, fretting way it almost seems as if shewould break the instrument. The other peoplein the room where her message is being re-ceived can hear the squeaking, rasping noisewhich is made when the person at the otherend of the line is talking unnecessarily loud.It is simply a nervous habit which some peoplethoughtlessly acquire.This woman who suffers from nervous dys-

pepsia is intense, jerky, fidgety in all her life.Her two patron saints are St. Martha, troubledand fretted about many things, and St. Vitus,


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Dealing ^crtoer ofmoving with jerks and twitches rather than inserene strength. She cannot sit down withoutdrumming on the table or fussing with someornament on her dress. She will sit in therocking chair, nervously rocking to and fro.You know the Europeans, who are not addictedto rockers, say that the Americans are so rest-less that even when they sit down they cannotbe still, they must rock to and fro as if theywere going somewhere. This woman eats infeverish haste or with such depression of mindthat her food is robbed of its value. She sleepsuncertainly and fitfully, and she is losing powerevery day in the week.Here is a case where suggestion is "indi-

cated," as the physicians say. If there is noorganic disease, suggestion will do her tentimes more good than drugs. If she will onlysay to herself slowly, thoughtfully, expectantly,every night after she gets into bed and everymorning before she gets up, three times a daybefore meals and three times a day after meals,and at intervals of an hour or two during theday, if she will only say to herself these eight

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andwords which so many people have found use-ful, it will do her a world of good. The re-sults may not appear in ten minutes or in a day,but in a surprisingly short time they will worka beneficent change in her whole nervous sys-tem. Here are the eight words : " QUIETLY,EASILY, RESTFULLY, TRUSTFULLY, PATIENTLY,SERENELY, PEACEFULLY, JOYOUSLY."

This would be good for her; it would begood for any one who has the least suspicionthat he is headed in that direction. If youfind yourself talking too loud, moving withjerks, losing your self-control, liable to petu-lant speech, breaking out in spurts of anger;or if you find yourself constantly out of breath,all unstrung, feeling as if you might fly topieces, stop right there ! Sit down and doyour exercises ! Say to yourself, either audiblyor mentally, "Quietly, easily, restfully, trust-fully, patiently, serenely, peacefully, joyously."You can thus control your own mental

states if you set about it in the right way. Weare not responsible for the random thoughtswhich come and go; we are responsible for

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Dealing J&otoer ofthose which come and settle down to summerand winter with us. As the old proverb had it,"You cannot keep the birds from flying overyour head, but you can keep them from build-ing their nests in your hair." You are respon-sible for those states of mind which youretain and cherish. And where you areconvinced that in your own case there is atendency to be morbid and unwholesome youcan, by systematic and persistent suggestion,change all that and make it right.When once you get the process started,then by giving it a little attention from timeto time it seems to almost take care of itself.This is accomplished through what ProfessorJames of Harvard and many other psycholo-gists call, "the sub-conscious mind." Thesemen believe that the sub-conscious mind isespecially susceptible to suggestion, and thatsuggestions once lodged there may continueto accomplish great good when the consciousattention has been directed to other matters.I am aware that some psychologists scout theidea of a "sub-conscious mind," but we need

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fatt^ andnot quarrel about terms. There is surelysomething in each one of us which is indi-cated by that phrase.When you are walking down street, everytime you lift your foot and put it down, everytime you turn aside to avoid running into someone going in the opposite direction, it involvesan act of perception and of will, but you arescarcely conscious of it ; you may be thinkingof something else or talking steadily to somefriend who walks with you. The sub-con-scious mind attends to the minor details ofyour walk and to many of the details in every-day life. The skilled performer on a pipeorgan learns to do many things, as we say,automatically. His mind is intent upon thesheet of music before him while his fingers andhis feet are unconsciously placing themselves

aright upon the keys. He opens and closesstops, manipulating the various appliances ofthe organ to secure the desired result, scarcelyconscious of the details, for his entire consciousattention is given to the general effect of hisplaying. [18]


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Dealing ^otoer ofI learned something about this sub-con-

scious mind in my own case in this way: Iam a stenographer; I earned my way throughTheological Seminary with my shorthand. Iwas a court reporter for a time, and I alsoworked a year and a half in the home office ofa large fire insurance company. I took dicta-tion from the secretary of the company andI became very familiar with all the insurancelingo and with his own phrases and methodsof correspondence. I reached the point whereI could take his dictation with perfect accu-racy without thinking about it, without evenhearing consciously what he was saying. Iwas thinking about the play I had seen thenight before at the theater or the book I hadbeen reading or the young lady I was goingto call on that evening. The sub-consciousmind was meanwhile attending to its duties asthe secretary dictated his letters.

I discovered this in a peculiar way. He wasa great joker and used to joke with his agents

"jollyingthem up," as he called it in hisbusiness letters. I would take his dictation,

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anarecording the jokes, some of them verygood ones, for he was an exceedingly brightman, without ever hearing them. Thenwhen I came to write out my shorthand noteson the typewriter I would come to the jokesand they would be entirely new to me and Iwould laugh over them for the first time.Whatever name we may apply to it, I am con-fident that there is a mental realm which liesbelow the level of ordinary consciousness, and inthat realm the power of suggestion may be madeto work mightily in the interests of health.You will find all this worked out in elabo-rate fashion by many writers. Henry Wood,in his "Ideal Suggestion through MentalPhotography," has prepared a series of mentalpictures which he undertakes to photographupon the mind by having each one printed inlarge capitals on a single page. This is to beheld before the eyes until it registers itselfindelibly upon the mind. He believes it willproduce deep down that state of feeling and ofexpectation which will persist after the con-scious attention has been turned of necessity

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^otaer ofto something else. His suggestions are allwholesome and his little book has been usefulto many nervous and troubled people.

I have a system which I arranged myselfand which I have used for my own health andhave given to many other people, with excel-lent results. It is made up entirely of phrasesfrom the scriptures. It is as harmless as purewater or fresh air. If it does not help you, itcannot hurt you. It is unlike the intellectualshuffling and the fierce denials of reality withwhich certain Christian Science healers oftenply their patients as different as is springwater from brandy.Let me give you an illustration of thismethod, if you wish to be treated by sugges-tion or if you wish to learn how to treat your-self or to treat others for those ills which canbe relieved in this way. Make yourself as easyand as comfortable as you can. Let your handslie easily in your lap or at your side. You arenot using them now you are only using youreyes, your ears and your mind; let yourhands rest. Let your lower limbs relax you[21]


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andare not using them either ; you are not walkingand that easy chair will hold you up withoutany effort of your own. Now in that relaxedstate of restfulness follow me through thesesuggestions. There are eight sets of them,one for each day in the week and two for Sun-day if you choose to use them as a daily ex-ercise in right thinking. They are arranged intwo series of four each, one of the series cul-minating in healing and the other culminatingin sleep. While you are at your ease, repeat toyourself these:

AIDS TO SUGGESTION/. To banish fear

Fear not only believe.Fear not it is your Father's good pleasure

to give you the mastery.Perfect love casteth out fear.I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.

II. To bestow confidenceIn quietness and confidence shall be my

strength.[22]


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Dealing potter ofBe still and know that He is God. TheLord of Hosts is with me. The God ofJacob is my refuge.

Be strong and of a good courage. TheLord my God He it is that goeth with me.He will not fail me nor forsake me.

I know whom I have believed and I ampersuaded that He is able to keep thatwhich I have committed unto Him.

777. To increase faithHave faith in God.All things are possible to him that believeth.Great is thy faith be it unto thee even as

thou wilt.Thy faith has made thee whole.

IV. To promote healingThe leaves of the tree are for the healing of

the nations.The Sun of Righteousness is risen with heal-

ing in His wings,The prayer of faith shall heal the sick.

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anaHe forgiveth all my iniquities. He healeth

all my diseases.V. To gain peace

Great peace have they who love Thy law andnothing shall offend them.Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whosemind is stayed on Thee.

Peace I leave with you; My peace I giveunto you. Let not your heart be troubled ;neither let it be afraid.

The peace of God which passeth all under-standing shall keep your hearts and mindsthrough Jesus Christ.

VI. To develop strengthThey that wait upon the Lord shall renew

their strength.The Lord shall give strength to his people

they shall go from strength to strength.The Lord is the strength of my life, ofwhom shall I be afraid.I can do all things through Christ who

strengtheneth me.[24]


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potter ofVII. To secure happiness

A merry heart doeth good like medicine.If ye know these things happy are ye if yedo them.

Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob forhis help.

These things have I spoken unto you thatMy joy might remain in you and that yourjoy might be full.

VIII. To induce sleepCome unto Me all ye that labor and are

heavy laden and I will give you rest.There remaineth therefore a rest for the

people of God.I will lay me down in peace and sleep, forThou makest me to dwell in safety.He giveth His loved ones sleep.Fix your mind upon each one in turn ! Give

yourself to it until it fills and possesses yourentire consciousness. Seek to absorb its fullsignificance as you dwell upon the bearing it

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anbhas upon your inner life. Fear not, only be-lieve, for faith conquers all dread. " God hathnot given us a spirit of fear but of power andof love and of a sound mind." Fear not, itis your Father's good pleasure to give youthe mastery the entire control of yourmoods, your habits of thought, and the func-tions that have to do with sound health. Per-fect love casteth out fear, the heart possessedby love for God and love for its fellows hasnothing to fear for it cannot suffer permanentharm. I will fear no evil for Thou art withme in the presence of the Great Companionthe heart is freed from its

anxiety.Your thoughts sent out into every part ofyour body with a holy and helpful purposewill not return unto you void they will gofar toward the accomplishment of that wheretothey are sent. In quietness and confidenceshall be your strength. Be still and know thatHe is God some forms of knowledge comeby the active use of the intellectual facultiesand other forms come by quiet communion.Be still and know ! The Lord of Hosts is with

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Dealing potter ofyou; the God of Jacob is your refuge. Bestrong and of a good courage the Lord thyGod He it is that goeth with you, He will notfail you nor forsake you. Know whom youhave believed, even though you remain uncer-tain as to what you may believe at every pointin the creed to know whom one has believedis a long step toward vital faith ; and know toothat He is able to keep that which you havecommitted unto Him.Have faith in God ! All things are possible

to him that believeth faith opens a wide doorinto a large field of possibilities. " Great is thyfaith," the Master said to the woman whoseaffectionate and believing entreaty on behalfof her child seemed to overleap all obstacles,"be it unto thee even as thou wilt." And toone who seemed to lack so much, His wordwas, " Thy faith hath made thee whole."The leaves of the tree not the fruit but theincidental by-products of the wide-branched,far-reaching system of divine helpfulness arefor the healing of the nations. The Sun ofRighteousness is risen, filling the whole world

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antiof human need with life-giving rays, even asthe ordinary sun fills the earth with light andwarmth, quickening every living thing theSun of Righteousness is risen with healing inHis wings. The prayer of faith shall heal thesick it takes its place among the other thera-peutic agencies upon which wise and devoutmen rely. And in this whole attitude weare dealing with Him who is able to for-give all our iniquities and to heal all ourdiseases.

Great peace have they which love Thy lawthe divine law, the divine way, the divinemethod and nothing shall cause them tostumble. Thou wilt keep him in perfect peacewhose mind is stayed on Thee though stormand tempest, struggle and temptation, ragewithout, there is, deep within the soul, a placeuntroubled, unshaken, untouched in its abid-ing peace. Peace I leave with you ; My peaceI give unto you and it was a transcendentpeace which the Master possessed. Let notyour heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.And the peace of God which passeth all under-

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Dealing Cotter ofstanding, which goes deeper than the ordinaryreach of our intellectual perceptions, shallkeep the word used was a military term andit meant "garrison" as if deep within the lifethere was an impregnable citadel made strongbeyond the power of any assault the peaceof God shall garrison your heart and mindthrough Jesus Christ.The searching inward reconstruction which

will gradually take place under the power ofintelligent suggestion and religious faith willwork marvelous changes in the general health" They that wait upon the Lord shall renewtheir strength," through the reinforcement ofHis imparted grace. "The Lord shall givestrength to His people they shall go fromstrength to strength," from one form of strengthto another and a higher form, from one meas-ure of strength to another and a fuller measure.The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom,or of what, shall I be afraid ! " I can doall things" this sounds like boasting"through Christ" (but here is modesty andhumility, for the strength is His and it becomes

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anaours by the personal appropriation of faith)"who strengtheneth me."And all this must issue in increased happi-

ness, which in turn will react upon health, fora merry heart doeth good like medicine. If yeknow these things, do them, translate thevision into deed, the insight into practice, thepromise made to your higher, finer self into aperformance, and happy you will be. Happyis he that hath the God of Jacob for his helphis personal relation to the Eternal becomesin him a deep well of happiness springing upwith everlasting life. These things have Ispoken unto you it was almost the lastword uttered on earth by Him whom Godanointed with the oil of gladness above hisfellows, making His joy a transcendent and asurpassing joy these things have I spokenunto you that My joy might remain in youand that your joy might be filled full.And then to crown and close the day ofdeep, rich experience, seek the rest and quietof profound sleep. "Come unto Me all yethat labor and are heavy laden" all ye

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potter ofweary, burdened and depleted lives " and Iwill give you rest." "There remaineth there-fore" not away in some remote hereafterbeyond the clouds, but here and now in themidst of these exacting duties "a rest forthe people of God"; it is a rest which comesnot by unloading one's obligations or by flee-ing from one's duties, but by that re-enforce-ment of strength which finds ease and joy inthe performance of duty. " I will lay me downin peace and sleep" and to any life whichloses all care in the sweet forgetfulness andthe precious renewal of sleep there is givenan innocent, rewarding and ever recurringsource of profound comfort " for Thoumakest me to dwell in safety." He givethHis loved ones sleep !

If you are suffering from nervous headachesor nervous indigestion as a result of livingunder too great a strain; if you have a ten-dency to hysteria, of which there is a greatdeal more than many people suppose; if cer-tain functions are not performing their dutiesas they ought, I know by experience, my own

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anDand that of others, that if you will take thesesuggestions and use them quietly, trustfully,persistently, you can bring about a change inyour whole interior life which will register itsgood results all through your body. Send yourthoughts aloft into this upper, purer air when-ever they are freed for a few moments fromthe ordinary concerns which occupy them, andthey will not return unto you void.

If you are troubled with insomnia, as somany burdened men and women are in thesedays, when we are living at too sharp a pace,you can find help here. I have great sympa-thy for those who find it difficult to sleep;several years ago I knew what it meant to lieawake the long night through, hearing theclock strike the hours and the half hours, long-ing for sleep and longing in vain. But it ispossible for us to teach ourselves better habitsof sleep. I have learned how, at the close ofsome long, hard, exacting day, to so use thesescriptural formulas that oftentimes in less thanfive minutes after my head touches the pillowI am sound asleep, awaking next morning re-

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Dealing ^otoer offreshed and ready for another busy day. Itis unspeakably good to be able to lay oneselfdown in peace and sleep, resting upon theinfinite arm of Him who maketh us dwell insafety.You will understand that I do not offer thesesuggestions to you as a panacea for Bright'sdisease or cancer or bubonic plague; in thepresence of such diseases the power of sug-gestion is as helpless as is Mrs. Eddy herself.The Christian Scientists are simply plungersand speculators in this market where whole-some suggestion has value and is quoted regu-larly in all the reliable medical journals. Themen who are using it intelligently as one ofthe many therapeutic agents are, on the otherhand, trying in sober, sensible fashion to ascer-tain its exact value and to employ it where ex-perience has "indicated" it as being useful.And it is true beyond a peradventure that inmany nervous, mental and functional disor-ders you can thus invest thought and desirein the confident assurance of receiving gooddividends.

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fatty andAnd indeed in cases of organic disease and

in warding off the attack of germ diseases youwill find it of great value to cultivate that stateof mind and heart which is favorable to health.We know that pneumonia is developed froma microbe and that there is a bacillus of tuber-culosis and a bacillus of diphtheria and thatthere are other enemies of our peace. Somepeople seem to think that if a man happens tomeet one of these microbes it is all up withhim. But the doctors and nurses in the wardsof the hospitals where such patients are treatedprobably have the bacilli of those very diseasesin their mouths and noses and throats everyday in the week, and it is a rare thing for anyof them to contract the disease. If you willkeep yourself in good health, physically, men-tally, morally, you also may walk unhurt inthe midst of a multitude of microbes. Theseed of disease may come your way, but itdoes not find in you good soil, or when it fallsupon you the birds of the air devour it up,the winged energies of your inner, positive,healthful life destroy it before it has time to

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Dealing $otoer oftake root, and you pass on unhurt. If organicdisease does actually fasten upon you and youneed medical treatment, this same practiceof wholesome suggestion which quiets themind, steadies the nerves, fortifies the will,serves to line up the recuperative energies andto put them in condition to mightily aid thephysician and the nurse in making you well.In a serious surgical operation even, the chancesof recovery are greatly improved if the patientgoes to it with a free mind, in a happy moodand with a feeling of confidence in the outcomerather than in a state of fear and anxiety.Get it out of your mind, if you can, that youare a helpless victim; the chances are ten to

one, that you are not. It probably lies withinyour power to come off more than conquerorthrough Him who loves you. Make up yourmind that you will lay hold upon all the forcesseen and unseen which make for health!Then, not by some sudden dramatic change,but by sowing good seed in good soil expectas a result in due course of tune a harvest ofgood health. [35]


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fait^ andYou can, if you will, overcome your self-

distrust, your fear of failure, your sense of in-adequacy to your tasks by the persistent useof suggestion. You can overcome your dis-trust of others, your suspicion as to theirmotives, your feeling that there must be someevil lurking there in the dark, your cynicalunbelief of which you are often ashamed.You can overcome your morbid dread of thefuture; most of the things that people worrythemselves into their graves about neverhappen. You can do all this by the systematic,persistent use of the power of suggestion ininducing more wholesome lines of thoughtand more healthful states of feeling. Learnto depend less upon the without and more uponthe within.In my judgment we are just brushing the

surface of the stores of helpfulness which liehidden there. We are doing just that in manyquarters. Electricity has been here in theworld ever since the lightning flashed acrossthe sky the day that Noah entered the arkwhen he saw the storm coming, but we of this

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Dealing potper ofgeneration are the first to really make use ofit. We are just beginning to know the powerof right thinking and right feeling as they bearupon health, sanity and character. Whenyou set yourself toward the high and hardtask of being made whole, all the way up, allthe way down and all the way in, you havebehind you and within you the propellingforce of the divine mind and the divine loveintent upon the same great end. He too isseeking to banish fear, to bestow confidence,to increase faith, to promote healing. He toois desirous that you should gain peace, developstrength, secure happiness and enter into therest which remains for the people of God.While you are working out your own salvationby systematic and persistent effort, God isworking with you and for you to accomplishHis good pleasure.

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UCSOunenN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY

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Charles Reynolds Brown - The Healing Power of Suggestion (1910)

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