does not at a single bound regain its natural condition, but there is a gradual recovery. The going forth of the raven is that reaching out of the thought from within to connect with the without. There is an individual consciousness, which is the ark, and a universal consciousness, which is the heavens and the earth. The raven is a bird of prey, representing that the first thought that suggests itself to us as to our relation to the world is resistant. The next thought is the dove, which is symbolical of peace. But this thought does not at first find a resting place, and has to be sent again, when it returns bearing the olive branch. The olive tree grows both under and above water, thus representing the restoration of unity between the material and spiritual, or God and

man.

Lesson 6. February 10.

ABRAHAM CALLED TO BE A BLESSING. - Gen. 12:1-8.

I. Now Jehovah said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee:

2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing:

3. And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse: and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

4. So Abram went, as Jehovah had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

5. And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

6. And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Shechem, unto the oak of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

7. And Jehovah appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto Jehovah, who appeared unto him.

8. And he removed from thence unto the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Ai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto Jehovah, and called upon the name of Jehovah.

GOLDEN TEXT-I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing.

Gen. 12:2.

Abraham represents a type of faith. Faith grows

in consciousness, although it is in spirit a perfected faculty. This lesson is replete with symbols that would require much elaboration to bring out. The action of thought on body through soul and vitality, is pictured forth in a lot of ingenious names and relations, every one of which has a meaning.

The Bible is the most wonderful book ever written. When the relation of Spirit, soul and body, and their action and inter-action in the evolution of human consciousness, dawns upon one, the Bible begins to reveal its hidden lore. It is as interesting to the metaphysician as. the study of the higher mathematics to the mathematician, and much more complicated. As the inner faculties develop, their parallels are noted in the histories of personalities in the Scriptures, and they are seen to be living pictures of the various ways in which man's development takes place.

Beginners in this great study are often impatient because the teacher does not at once tell them just what everything means. Should he do so, they would not understand. The beginner in mathematics takes simple numbers first, and goes on lesson by lesson until he gets to the complex. The mind develops new brain cells as understanding grows, according to the discoveries of physiology. So in the study of Spirit, soul and body, the faculties are developed as the student proceeds. The Lord is the Great Teacher and man should always seek unto him for instruction.

In this lesson Abram represents one who is being taught of the Lord and guided by faith. He is instructed to make a change in his consciousness. He has been dwelling in a limited thought country, and he is now commanded to expand and increase his powers.

Man can bring about any condition he desires, if he knows how to use aright thoughts and words. Blessing is looked upon by the intellectual man as a religious affectation, when the fact is, it is an attitude

of mind, in connection with spiritual consciousness, that increases whatever it concentrates upon. The power of the blessing to produce results, depends upon the spiritual consciousness. If faith is great, the word of blessing brings forth abundantly. Jesus blessed the bread and it was immediately increased.

Thus the blessing of a spiritually-minded person upon a child, a man or woman, or even a so-called inanimate article, is more than mere mummery of words. When a devout Catholic receives the blessing of a spiritually-minded priest, or has his little amulet blessed, he is taking advantage of a privilege that the materially-minded misses entirely. Blessed things are surrounded with an aura that connects them with higher planes of consciousness.

For

Bible interpreters have been mystified over the peculiar idioms of the Hebrew Scriptures. instance, in this lesson, "In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed," They say that in the original it is also implied that all the families of the earth shall bless themselves. This is where one should call upon metaphysics to help out the understanding. The Lord blesses man, and man blesses all the families, (states of consciousness) in the earth (body).

The knowledge that you can by blessing, increase everything, is of more value to you than all the riches of the world, because through it you can make yourself happy, healthy and prosperous. If your faith is weak, pour out blessings of strength upon it; if you are suffering discomfort in any function or organ of your body, pour out blessings in the name of the Lord; if there is any condition of limitation or lack, you can change it by pouring out your blessings, charged with spiritual consciousness.

Subjective conditions are the lens through which the world is seen, and they give it their own color, tone and quality.- HENRY WOOD.

Time is measured by holy acts.-EROS.

HOW JOSEPH R. CLARKSON LEFT THE CHURCH FOR "CHRISTIAN

HEALING."

Formerly a lawyer and district judge on the bench in Omaha, and later successively Christian Scientist and Episcopal clergyman, and now Christian healer and teacher, Joseph R. Clarkson has had a strange career in the pursuit of religious thought. When a few days ago he severed his connection with St. Clement's Episcopal Church of South Omaha he settled back in his office in the New York Life Building with the determination to pursue his quiet way as a Christian healer. The statement below is written by Mr. Clarkson at the request of the WorldHerald.

I believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God and the son of man. The perfect God, the perfect man, I believe that he was endowed with all power, wisdom and goodness. I believe that the New Testament is a God-inspired narrative of the birth, life, teachings, actions and experiences of the men with whom it deals. I do not question the truth of any event, speech or deed therein set forth, however incredible some of them may seem. Incredible at first, the wonders, the miracles, the marvels of the performance on the part of Jesus and his followers have, for me, become the inevitable consequences of faith, godliness, knowledge and spiritual power of the men through whom, as God's instruments, the wonders were wrought. So, in my case, a strong and steadily strengthening belief has been transformed into a certainity that with God nothing is impossible.

I want my friends, and anyone interested, to know that for nine years, day and night, month in and month out, year in and year out, under all conditions and circumstances, I have stood for the healing power of God on earth today, tomorrow, and as long as the earth lasts; for the performance of miracles today, tomorrow, and as long as the earth lasts; and for the absolute subjection on earth of sin, sickness and death- the overcoming of satan, the devil, the dragon, the serpent, evil, death and hell — and that during these years, however erratic may have seemed my action, my one purpose has been to preach the wonderful gospel of Jesus Christ, and to prove the truth of his teachings and the possibility of the fulfillment of his promises.

The prayer, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in

heaven," means, and has meant for me, that God can and will bring to pass on earth for poor, suffering mortals, a condition of peace, joy and perfectness in spirit, soul and body-will cleanse from sin, heal of sickness and disease, and save from death and the grave when men turn to Him with the faith and obedience and love that are due to Him from His wandering prodigal, though dearly loved children; when men prefer Him to the world as their refuge, their safety, their comfort and strength.

During the last four years, and more, in my church work, wherever occasion seemed to properly call for it, I have maintained that the church should be healing the sick, saving from death, raising the dead, and making other unquestionable demonstrations of divine power, if she is invested with the power of the Holy Spirit, and descended from Christ and the Apostles; that is, she should be doing today, and teaching today, what the early church did and taught, and that for her to claim, as she does through many of her representatives, and, possibly, through her modern doctrine, that the day of miracles is past, is practically to say that she cannot render such help to men as she did in the first 200 years of her existence, in other words, that she has lost instead of gained in spiritual power, and this not withstanding the promise of Jesus, "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."

Jesus made many most startling assertions. Jesus made many bewildering beatific promises. Jesus did many wonders, such as no one before him had been able in all respects to equal, and he made the unqualified statement, and repeated in various forms, that followers of him, believers in him, should outrank him as wonder performers. If he had been content to teach, and preach, and live, and act as the religionists of his day would have had him, if he had been willing to take up as his mode of worshiping God the stereotyped, prevalent mode of chief priests, elders, scribes and Pharaisees, and not have insisted upon a more practical, godly way of doing the Father's will; if he had been content to take religious teachings and observeances as they were, and make no effort to improve upon them, he never would have been persecuted, reviled, ridiculed, or crucified. It is this matter of miracle which is the pivotal point in Christianity.

If Jesus Christ was not a steady, consistent, day-in-and-dayout miracle worker on earth, then there is no such religion as Christianity; if his disciples were not steady, consistent, day-inand-day-out miracles workers on earth, then there is no such religion as Christianity, because Christianity stands, if it stands at all, on the miraculous power and wisdom of God, on earth, in men, among men, working in ways out of the ordinary, past men's understanding, past men's powers, and yet, as man after man comes into possession and knowledge of this seemingly unattainable thing, investing each, in his order, with power to become