“You are right, chiquita. He must have known that the corporeal senses were the only source from which evil came. He must have known that unless God testified in regard to things, any other testimony was but carnal belief. This must be so, for God, being infinite mind, is also infinite intelligence. He knows all things, and knows them aright––not as the human mind thinks it knows them, twisted and deformed, but right.”
“Of course, Padre. You know now that you see it right. And can’t you stick to it, and prove it?”
“Chiquita,” he answered, shaking his head again, his words still voicing a lingering note of doubt, “it may be––the ‘I’ that I call myself may be entirely human, unreal, mortal. I make no doubt it is, for it seems filled to the brim with discordant thoughts. And it will pass away. And then––then what will be left?”
“Oh, Padre!” she cried, with a trace of exasperation. “Empty yourself of the wrong thoughts––shut the door against them––don’t let them in any more! Then fill yourself with 295 God’s thoughts. Then when the mortal part fades away, why, the good will be left. And it will be the right ‘you.’”
“But how shall I empty myself, and then fill myself again?”
“Padre!” cried the girl, springing from her chair and stamping her foot with each word to give it emphasis. “It is love, love, love, nothing but love! Forget yourself, and love everything and everybody, the real things and the real bodies! Love God, and good, and good thoughts! Turn from the bad and the unreal––forget it! Why––”
“Wait, chiquita,” he interrupted. “A great war is threatening our country at this very minute. Shall I turn from it and let come what may?”
She hesitated not. “No! But you can know that war comes only from the human mind; that it is bad thought externalized; and that God is peace, and is infinitely greater than such bad thought; and He will take care of you––if you will let Him!”
“And how do I let Him? By sitting back and folding my hands and saying, Here am I, Lord, protect me––”
“Oh, Padre dear, you make me ashamed of your foolish thought––which isn’t your thought at all, but just thought that seems to be calling itself ‘you.’ Jesus said, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do likewise. But that did not mean sitting back with folded hands. It meant understanding him; and knowing that there is no power apart from the Christ-principle; and using that principle, using it every moment, hard; and with it overcoming every thought that doesn’t come from God, every thought of the human mind, whether it is called war, or sickness, or death!”