Now, since that time I have found this: that every time I’ve given a class I’ve learned truth that I never knew before it came out of my mouth. Every class I’ve ever taught has revealed truth to me that I never knew until it came out of my mouth. When I gave the class, Metaphysical Notes, I had never in my life had a conscious thought to the effect that my conscious oneness with God constitutes my oneness with all spiritual being and idea. Never had thought of it, didn’t know such a principle, and I think it was one of the first sentences out of my mouth when that class began on the first night. And then, that was the theme that developed all through the week in that class and as I came to think it over, that’s absolutely true. If I’m consciously one with God, all things are added unto me. That must mean that I’m consciously one with all those things. And so, in teaching a class, I learned a truth I didn’t know.
Now that’s happened in every class since then: Consciousness Unfolding. Nobody in that room was as shocked as I was when I heard the words come out that God unfolds and discloses Itself as individual consciousness, your consciousness and mine. Now we all talk about one consciousness and one mind and one life but you see, that set it way off here until I heard myself say, “God unfolds Himself as my individual consciousness.” And that brought it right down to I and the Father are one.
Same thing happened in New York in March. I never think about lectures as being the high spot for high unfoldments but when I got on the platform on Saturday night our first—Friday night, our first lecture—Oh maybe it was Saturday night—our first lecture in New York, a message came out higher than anything that’s ever come out of my lips before or since. And I was so shocked with it that I prayed that night that nobody would understand it because I just knew that it would create trouble and I’m very happy to say that in all the months that have gone by, not one single soul has written me that they caught the message that night. I’m grateful for it, because I’m sure, if they had caught it, it would tear them to pieces to realize what was revealed that night. It tore me to pieces just to have it come out of my own lips.
Now, anyone who knows one statement of truth, could be I and the Father are one; could be God is all or God is life; He performeth that which is given me to do—any statement of truth—can sit down and begin to give a treatment to any problem that exists on the face of the earth. And if they’ve got enough courage, it doesn’t make any difference if it’s cancer or consumption or polio and they can go right ahead with it. Because that’s all it takes: just one statement of truth.
Now, if no other statement came out and just one truth were pondered, eventually the inner meaning of that statement; that which we call the realization of that statement or the discernment of that statement would come to life, and that would heal anything, anything. Just one statement. But, as a rule, what happens is that pondering that one statement gives birth to another statement, another truth, and pondering that brings forth a third. And if you watch, they have a sequence. If you watch you’ll see that they will lead up to some final statement, and Ah! that clears the whole situation. And then you feel free and you go about your business and pretty soon you hear or learn that a healing has taken place, or an improvement.
Now, anyone who will sit down to work out a neighbor’s problem—by neighbor I mean that in a spiritual sense—anyone’s problem, I don’t mean butt into someone’s business who doesn’t want you butting in with metaphysics, but someone who would like spiritual help; someone who has indicated to you at some time or other that they would like to be healed or helped.
Or, if there is no such person, take a world problem. I’m sure there isn’t anybody here who doesn’t know the world’s got a lot of problems today, more than it’s ever had before. There’s a greater need for what we have today than has ever existed before and certainly, in solving the world’s problem we solve our own individual problem because, if the world has no problem, neither would we have.
So, if we sat down with our one statement of truth and applied it to some national or international problem—well, this one just comes to me now: the coming election. Let’s forget for a minute that we are American citizens and that we have some kind of personal stake in how the election comes out. Just let’s say now that we’re a citizen of some country or other, any country on the face of the globe. But our interest really and truly isn’t the Democratic party or Republican party or Mr. Eisenhower or Mr. Stevenson. Our interest is merely that what is probably the greatest country left in the world today should have a head of the highest intelligence and the highest integrity. Now that’s being personal isn’t it, I mean we have no favorites at this minute, we’re not for, we’re not against, we merely agree that as either Americans or Englishmen or Frenchmen or South Africans or South Americans, we all have one interest in common: heaven help the world if the United States should fail. It is of the human world, the last hope because every other nation is bankrupt financially and pretty corrupt morally. So that we stand pretty big power alone in the world of the major nations. And so as Americans or Englishmen or Frenchmen or South Americans we all should feel an interest that the United States of America have, at this particular time at its head, not only a president but a Congress of the highest intelligence and the highest integrity. All right, if we can agree on that, we can until election day, forget our partisanship and our personal beliefs, and we can sit down and say, “All right, if prayer is a power, now I want to pray that the United States of America be given the most intelligent and the most honest government possible. How am I to pray?”
And you know, each one might have a different answer come to them but in one such situation this is the answer that came to me: my mind went back to when Judas Iscariot betrayed the Master, committed suicide, and there were eleven disciples left. But there had to be twelve for them to function properly and so they met to elect the twelfth. Out of all the other followers of the Master they were to select one. And do you remember what their prayer was? Father show us whom Thou hast chosen. And then they all agreed on the one who was to supplant Judas Iscariot.
Well now you know, that if we prayed like that: Father, show us whom Thou has chosen to be president, senator, governor, it would be very much different election than if you and I were to say “No, my grandmother was a Republican and my grandfather was a Republican and I’m a Republican too,” and somebody else, “Well, I’m from the South and they’re Democrats and I wouldn’t betray my ancestry.” No, if we could rise above our humanhood to the degree of saying, “Father, show us whom Thou has chosen,” you know that one or both of these candidates might resign before Election Day and we might have to nominate somebody else.
Anything could happen if they wanted the right one. Anything could happen. God could make anything happen at all on earth if we really felt Thy will be done, not mine. See that? There again, we might sit down in that prayer and have that come to us. Not my will be done, not my choice, Thy will. You’d be surprised how miracles could happen, could take place, and we find ourselves God governed, instead of man governed, because God would choose somebody susceptible to His influence.