"When we think true thoughts and catch true ideas, when we understand true meanings and love true knowledge, we are sustained by the living word which sustains all who speak and live it, because we are truly at one with the divine Word.
"Knowing the meaning of Christ to be Truth, blood to be life or word, and sin to be error, we catch the spiritual meaning of the phrase 'sins washed away by the blood of Christ,' which is, sins or errors washed away by the word of Truth.
"In that wonderful sermon in the sixth chapter of John, Jesus used the term blood as a symbol of his words, and emphatically told his disciples, when they persisted in taking his sayings literally, 'the flesh profiteth nothing, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life.'
"That the Bible writers used the figurative language of those times, must be taken into account when reading points that have been made foundation doctrines. Owing to the ancient custom of sacrificing animals to appease the wrath of God, whom they regarded as subject to anger, jealousy or any human passion, they used figurative language when describing Jesus as the Lamb sacrificed for the sins of the world.
"In one of the inspired moments of the prophet, when he apprehended God as a God of Love, he cried out, 'I have desired mercy and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offering.' It is the knowledge of God, the word of truth, that will save, and the only sacrifice is the sacrifice of self which makes the atonement possible.
"To fast from all selfishness is to keep the true fast, so beautifully described in the fifty-eighth chapter of Isaiah. 'Is it not to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, to break every yoke? Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily.' Here is the fruit of atonement, the result of understanding, for understanding God and being at one with God, is in reality the same. As we understand God we shall be at one with Him, and to be at one with God is to be whole, for He is Holiness, wholeness, health. 'If thine eye be single, then shall thy whole body be full of light.' To be single in recognizing the one Mind, one Power, one Creation, is to be filled with light, which is life, which is health, for as the mind, consciousness, becomes illuminated, the body responds by recording the history of thought upon the visible page or body.
"It is the revealment of God that we seek, and our individual relation to Him. What more is there for us to know after we know Him, for is not He all there really is? He has given many marvelous signs to His children, who must be taught in simple childish ways and the 'still small voice' is ever near, speaking to whomsoever will listen. It is the inner guide, the 'spirit of truth that guides us into all truth.' Then we are 'clothed upon,' we have returned to our Father's house and the feast is spread, the rejoicing has begun.
"For awhile our only conception of power, is in visible manifestations or feelings, but there comes a time when 'to be alone with silence is to be alone with God,' when joy is unutterable, and love the very potency of silence, when we wait with bated breath and let the divine Thought surge through us, when we put away all material beliefs and stand glorified in the 'secret of His Presence.' Then indeed are we baptized of the spirit, and in the silent chamber of our new consciousness may we hear the blessed words, 'Thou art my beloved son.'
"No longer 'Thou shalt and thou shalt not,' but the sweet affirmation of sonship, of daughtership, of the precious benediction of a Father's love. Then glad light rushes into every dark crevice of our mind. We see as we never saw before, we understand as we never understood before, we speak as we never spoke before, we live as we never lived before, because we have been lifted out of the depths of ignorance to the radiant heights of the Promised Land, because we hear the angel saying as of old, 'Behold the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them and be their God ... and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.' Finally, oh my husband, because we have been born again, and so find ourselves within the royal gates, the palace doors open to receive us and the insignia of royalty written upon our faces, for we shall be stamped with the signs of understanding, and know, as Jesus did, 'it is not I, but the Father that dwelleth in me, He doeth the works.'
"Then, as the beauteous sunlight bathes and blesses all the world with its effulgent glory, so will the light of Truth, known as understanding, shine through us and turn pain into peace, sadness into joy, sickness into health, error into truth.