PERFECT SELF-EXPRESSION or THE DIVINE DESIGN
Project Gutenberg EPUB3 edition
Shinn, Florence Scovel
“No wind can drive my bark astray
nor change the tide of destiny.”
There is for each man, perfect self-expression. There is a place which he is to fill and no one else can fill, something which he is to do, which no one else can do; it is his destiny!
This achievement is held, a perfect idea in Divine Mind, awaiting man’s recognition. As the imaging faculty is the creative faculty, it is necessary for man to see the idea, before it can manifest.
So man’s highest demand is for the Divine Design of his life.
He may not have the faintest conception of what it is, for there is, possibly, some marvelous talent, hidden deep within him.
His demand should be: “Infinite Spirit, open the way for the Divine Design of my life to manifest; let the genius within me now be released; let me see clearly the perfect plan.”
The perfect plan includes health, wealth, love and perfect self-expression. This is the square of life, which brings perfect happiness. When one has made this demand, he may find great changes taking place in his life, for nearly every man has wandered far from the Divine Design.
I know, in one woman’s case, it was as though a cyclone had struck her affairs, but readjustments came quickly, and new and wonderful conditions took the place of old ones.
Perfect self-expression will never be labor; but of such absorbing interest that it will seem almost like play. The student knows, also, as man comes into the world financed by God, the supply needed for his perfect self-expression will be at hand.
Many a genius has struggled for years with the problem of supply, when his spoken word, and faith, would have released quickly, the necessary funds.
For example: After the class, one day, a man came to me and handed me a cent.
He said: “I have just seven cents in the world, and I’m going to give you one; for I have faith in the power of your spoken word. I want you to speak the word for my perfect self-expression and prosperity.”
I “spoke the word,” and did not see him again until a year later. He came in one day, successful and happy, with a roll of yellow bills in his pocket. He said, “Immediately after you spoke the word, I had a position offered me in a distant city, and am now demonstrating health, happiness and supply.”
A woman’s perfect self-expression may be in becoming a perfect wife, a perfect mother, a perfect home-maker and not necessarily in having a public career.
Demand definite leads, and the way will be made easy and successful.
One should not visualize or force a mental picture. When he demands the Divine Design to come into his conscious mind, he will receive flashes of inspiration, and begin to see himself making some great accomplishment. This is the picture, or idea, he must hold without wavering.
The thing man seeks is seeking him—the telephone was seeking Bell!
Parents should never force careers and professions upon their children. With a knowledge of spiritual Truth, the Divine Plan could be spoken for, early in childhood, or prenatally.
A prenatal treatment should be: “Let the God in this child have perfect expression; let the Divine Design of his mind, body and affairs be made manifest throughout his life, throughout eternity.”
God’s will be done, not man’s; God’s pattern, not man’s pattern, is the command we find running through all the scriptures, and the Bible is a book dealing with the science of the mind. It is a book telling man how to release his soul (or subconscious mind) from bondage.
The battles described are pictures of man waging war against mortal thoughts. “A man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” Every man is Jehoshaphat, and every man is David, who slays Goliath (mortal thinking) with the little white stone (faith).
So man must be careful that he is not the “wicked and slothful servant” who buried his talent. There is a terrible penalty to be paid for not using one’s ability.
Often fear stands between man and his perfect self-expression. Stage-fright has hampered many a genius. This may be overcome by the spoken word, or treatment. The individual then loses all self-consciousness, and feels simply that he is a channel for Infinite Intelligence to express Itself through.
He is under direct inspiration, fearless, and confident; for he feels that it is the “Father within” him who does the work.
A young boy came often to my class with his mother. He asked me to “speak the word” for his coming examinations at school.
I told him to make the statement: “I am one with Infinite Intelligence. I know everything I should know on this subject.” He had an excellent knowledge of history, but was not sure of his arithmetic. I saw him afterwards, and he said: “I spoke the word for my arithmetic, and passed with the highest honors; but thought I could depend on myself for history, and got a very poor mark.” Man often receives a set-back when he is “too sure of himself,” which means he is trusting to his personality and not the “Father within.”
Another one of my students gave me an example of this. She took an extended trip abroad one summer, visiting many countries, where she was ignorant of the languages. She was calling for guidance and protection every minute, and her affairs went smoothly and miraculously. Her luggage was never delayed nor lost! Accommodations were always ready for her at the best hotels; and she had perfect service wherever she went. She returned to New York. Knowing the language, she felt God was no longer necessary, so looked after her affairs in an ordinary manner.
Everything went wrong, her trunks delayed, amid inharmony and confusion. The student must form the habit of “practicing the Presence of God” every minute. “In all thy ways acknowledge him;” nothing is too small or too great.
Sometimes an insignificant incident may be the turning point in a man’s life.
Robert Fulton, watching some boiling water, simmering in a tea kettle, saw a steamboat!
I have seen a student, often, keep back his demonstration, through resistance, or pointing the way.
He pins his faith to one channel only, and dictates just the way he desires the manifestation to come, which brings things to a standstill.
“My way, not your way!” is the command of Infinite Intelligence. Like all Power, be it steam or electricity, it must have a nonresistant engine or instrument to work through, and man is that engine or instrument.
Over and over again, man is told to “stand still”. “Oh Judah, fear not; but tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord will be with you. You shall not need to fight this battle; set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you.”
We see this in the incidents of the two thousand dollars coming to the woman through the landlord when she became nonresistant and undisturbed, and the woman who won the man’s love “after all suffering had ceased.”
The student’s goal is Poise! Poise is Power, for it gives God-Power a chance to rush through man, to “will and to do Its good pleasure.”
Poised, he thinks clearly, and makes “right decisions quickly.” “He never misses a trick.”
Anger blurs the visions, poisons the blood, is the root of many diseases, and causes wrong decision leading to failure.
It has been named one of the worst “sins,” as its reaction is so harmful. The student learns that in metaphysics sin has a much broader meaning than in the old teaching. “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”