Keep a True Lent

Keep a True Lent

by Charles Fillmore

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Contents

Forward

THE CHRISTIAN world is once again observing the Lenten season; the season of prayer and fasting that precedes the joyous festivity of Easter. It is commonly believed that the Lenten period has to do with the events of the forty days preceding the Resurrection. This is an erroneous idea. Lent is a church institution, and there is no authorization for it anywhere in the New Testament. The idea, however, has a sound spiritual basis; Moses, Elijah, and Jesus Himself set a precedent for it. Each observed a forty-day period of prayer and fasting as a preparation for spiritual work. Moses received the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai at the conclusion of his fast. Elijah talked with God on Mount Horeb at the conclusion of his period of prayer and fasting. Jesus began His great spiritual ministry at the close of His fast in the wilderness.

The ancient Hebrew writers made a practice of using numbers to symbolize ideas. Forty, in their minds, was a foursquare number suggesting the idea of a foundation for something to follow; an idea of completeness. So the number forty is frequently used in the Scriptures to indicate a completed preparation for something to follow. When we consider Lent as a well-rounded or completed season of retreat from the things of the world for the cleansing of the mind and the recollection of the things of Spirit, it becomes a true season of preparation

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for the glorious Eastertide; a preparation for the resurrection of the mind from the darkness of its sins, doubts, and false beliefs into the light of understanding.

Lent, then, is a church institution embodying an exalted idea, the idea of cleansing and disciplining both mind and body toward the end of making them more receptive to the Christ ideas. Like many other religious practices it is too often observed in letter but not in spirit.

Too many people make a fad out of Lent. It is fashionable to give up some luxuries, and when those luxuries have to do with food and drink it is profitable physically. There is also psychological value in the mental discipline involved. But such observance has nothing to do with being a Christian; atheists could get the same benefit!

Every follower of Jesus who would keep Lent in the true Christian spirit follows the way of prayer and fasting that He taught His disciples. He revealed that prayer and fasting are the sure way to spiritual power, the way to keep the soul cleansed and purified that it may feel the presence of God. When the disciples were unable to heal the epileptic boy He told them that they lacked faith, that such healings could only be brought about by prayer and fasting.

Jesus revealed that fasting, like prayer, is a matter between man and his Maker. He told His disciples that they were to make no show of their fasting.

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He said, Appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. He gave the same instruction concerning prayer. Prayer and fasting, then, are matters of communion with God, not matters of public display. They are transactions in mind. It is of no use to go through the outer form if the feeling of communion with God is not established. In abstinence from worldly things the mind must be filled with thoughts of God, else there is no spiritual value in fasting.

If we would lose the bands of wickedness we must learn to fast from all unworthy thought and feast on the good and the true. To observe Lent according to the spirit rather than the letter we must fast from criticism and condemnation and feast in brotherly love; fast from false beliefs in sickness and weakness and feast on the truth of God's omnipresent, perfect life; fast from false beliefs in lack and limitation and feast on the truth of God's bountiful good will. Ideas such as these form an excellent basis for Lenten meditations that help establish permanent spiritual values in heart and mind.

One of the most valuable ways of observing the Lenten season is to fast from (loose and let go) the belief that men or nations can stand in the way of God's good will for man. Now is the time to affirm the power of the Christ Spirit indwelling in all men everywhere and influencing their thoughts, words, and actions to work for the good of the whole. We

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all want to be of some influence in establishing world peace. To do so we must learn to obey Paul's exhortation Let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace. Each one of us must be concerned with improving his own life. We must learn to deny our selfish impulses and be obedient to impulses of brotherly love. When we withdraw our attention, interest, and support from the false and the unworthy, this is true fasting. When we give that same attention, interest, and support to the enduring good, we are feasting on the things of the Spirit, and this is true prayer. When we have truly fasted in the Christ way we have increased our ability to respond to God's good will.

--Georgiana Tree West

PUBLISHER'S NOTE--Some Unity students will note that they have previously read some of the material in Keep A True Lent. Some of the material in this book originally appeared in Unity magazine and portions of it may be found in other books by Charles Fillmore. The material was assembled in this manner in order that this book would offer the reader a well-rounded course of study during Lent.

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 The Way to Perfection

 Chapter 1

I AM GOD ALMIGHTY; walk before me, and be thou perfect."

In prayer we need to be deeply conscious that God is the almighty One, the supreme Creator the ruler of the universe, that He is infinite and eternal; we need to know that God is the underlying, unchangeable Truth, with whom can be no variation, neither shadow that is cast by turning.

God as principle is the absolute good expressed in all creation. When we know God and worship him in spirit and truth we recognize Him as this great goodness, which is omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, ready and willing to guide, to bless, and to uplift.

To walk with almighty God is to walk with Truth and to affirm the power of Spirit within mind and body as the dominating mind force; it is to walk in the light and thus to apply in our daily living the wisdom that is from above, acknowledging the Father as the source of all our knowing, as the mainspring of all our actions.

This leads us to the truth that our knowing God brings peace, the serene abiding that never wearies, never questions, never strains for results. He created and controls the whole universe. In God we live, and move, and have our being.

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Mind is the common meeting ground between God and man, and it is only through the most highly accelerated mind action, as in prayer, that we can consciously make union with God, the one and only Creator.

Prayer is the language of spirituality and improves the quality of man's being. Prayer makes man master in the realm of creative ideas. The inner silence of prayer is a great source of spiritual power. There is no exception to this rule in all the evidence of life. Be still, and know that I am God.

The living Word of God, the creative idea in Divine Mind, may be expressed by man when he has fulfilled the law of expression. To keep the Word is to revolve it in mind, to go over it in all its aspects, to believe in it as Truth, to treasure it as a saving balm in time of need, and above all, to obey the law it sets forth.

The Christ is God's divine idea of man, the embodiment of all divine ideas existing in the mind of Being. The Christ is the Messiah, the anointed one. The Christ is the living principle working in man. Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? Under the direction of the Christ a new body is constructed by the thinking faculty in man. The materials entering into this superior structure are spiritual substances, and the new creation is the body of Spirit. It breathes

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an atmosphere and is thrilled with a life energy more real than that of the manifest man. When we come into the realization of our true Christ body we feel the stirring within us of the indwelling Spirit. We know what Paul meant when he said, There is a natural body, and there is also a spiritual body. The true temple in the body of Christ is a state of consciousness. In the inmost center of every man the indwelling Christ resides.

Would you meet your God in this sacred place? Then quietly enter this holy of holies in the name and through the power of Jesus Christ. Here reality reigns supreme. Neither doubt nor fear can enter. You will be conscious only of the great omnipresence of God, where the light, joy, peace, and satisfaction of His Spirit abide, where Truth reigns supreme.

In this inner realm you will find the spiritual ethers heavily charged with ideas that turn to spiritual substance. As your consciousness (awareness) expands, you touch the everlasting truths and you find that every blessing is abundantly added. What seems new is but the unveiling of that which has been forever.

It is of this high realization of oneness with Spirit that Paul wrote in II Cor. 12:4, when the man was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for man to utter.

In this realm, attention is given to concentrating

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the mind on Truth; the I AM, or inner entity is focalized on God's word until the inner meaning is realized and man is aware of a definite spiritual uplift.

Persistent meditation on the Truth contained in the Word of God opens the mind to a greater inflow of Spirit. Then all words become quickening life and nourishing substance in both mind and body. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Your thinking Truth zealously and affirming it audibly will dissolve error in consciousness and at the same time reveal greater spiritual illumination. In this consciousness appropriate words of Truth. Eat them, so to speak. Partake of that with which you form the spiritual substance and which will manifest itself in the Christ, or perfect body. Let Christ be formed in you. Know that the Holy Spirit is filling your being with its illuminating, resurrecting power and that the all-knowing One shines in you as it did in Jesus and that you manifest greater and greater spiritual understanding.

When man praises the Spirit of wisdom within he expands and deepens and enriches his consciousness. As the Christ radiance lights man's mind, he sees with the inner eye and he finds that Truth is a never-failing light that makes straight his way.

In this high state of consciousness he knows that the divine perfection that exists in the universal God-Mind is brought into direct contact with its image and likeness, the Christ Spirit that was implanted

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in him by the Creator from the beginning.

The resurrection of Jesus takes place in us each time we rise to the realization of the perpetual in-dwelling life that connects us with the Father. The graveclothes of mortal sense, which are thoughts of limitation and inevitable obedience to material laws, are left in the tomb of matter.

True resurrection within us lifts up all the faculties of mind until they conform to the absolute ideas of Divine Mind. This mental renewal makes a complete transformation of the body, so that every function works in divine order and every cell becomes incorruptible and immortal.

For the perpetuation or the renewal of youth in mind and body it is well to affirm often:

"Bless Jehovah, O my soul;

 And all that is within me, bless his holy name.

 Bless Jehovah, O my soul,

 And forget not all his benefits:

 Who forgiveth all thine iniquities;

 Who healeth all thy diseases:

 Who redeemeth thy life from destruction;

 Who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

 Who satisfieth thy desire with good things,

 So that thy youth is renewed like the eagle."

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 The Holy Trinity

 the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

 Chapter 2

THE HOLY TRINITY is known as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Metaphysically, we understand the Trinity to refer to mind, idea, and expression, or thinker, thought, and action.

God is first in the Trinity. God is mind and is everywhere present. God is principle, law, Being, Spirit, All-Good, omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent, unchangeable, Creator, Father, cause, and source of all that is. God as Spirit is forever accessible.

God as principle is the unchangeable life, love, substance, and intelligence of Being. A parallel may be found in the principle of mathematics or music. Principle does not occupy space, nor has it any limitations of time or matter, but eternally exists as the one underlying cause from which come forth all true ideas.

In universal God-Mind is a substance that includes the seed of all visible substance. It is the only real substance, because it is unchangeable, while visible substance is in constant transition. God as substance does not mean matter, because matter is formed; God is formless. The substance that God is lies back of all matter and all form. It is that which

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is the basis of all form, yet enters not into any form as finality. It cannot be seen, tasted, or touched, yet it is the one and only substantial substance.

Second in the Trinity is God's idea of man. It is called Jehovah in the Old Testament and Christ in the New Testament. The second in the Trinity is also called the Word, the Son, the Logos, the anointed One, and the I AM.

The Word of God is the revelation to man of the powers and possibilities of his own being. The searchlight of His Word discloses the presence of secret springs and living streams of energy and life. Man's consciousness is lifted up by the wisdom of the Word, and he finds himself master of the powers and privileges of infinity. He says with Jesus, All authority hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth.

To produce works, there must be a working power. This is exactly what the Word is--the working power of God.

Every known process has a regular sequence from inception to conclusion, and each step in the sequence is taken according to recognized principles. The Word of God conveys to the world the concepts of the Most High.

Persistent meditation on the Truth contained in the Word of God opens the mind to Spirit. Then all words become quickening life and nourishing substance in both mind and body. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

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In the silence go before the altar and lay your problems before the Lord. The altar is that place in consciousness where you are willing to let go of the lesser for the greater, to let go of personality and enter into individuality of the Christ.

While in this closet of prayer, fix your mind powerfully on the consummation of a certain idea until the idea nucleates a certain amount of thought substance. This is followed by a spiritual quickening, or the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, third in the Trinity.

The function of the Holy Spirit