Part 2

Force is pressure of substance against substance. Try to exert force upon anything in any other way than by pressing substance against it; can you do it? Try to cause a body to move in any other way than by pressing something against it; can you do it? Try to conceive of force as being exerted upon any body without pressing anything against it; try to conceive of force as crossing a complete vacuum where is no substance of any kind. Force is pressure of substance; that it can be anything else is not thinkable. And this brings us to the consideration of what is loosely spoken of as “attraction.” It is stated that all solid bodies “attract” each other, and that every body in the universe attracts every other body; but those who make these assertions do not tell us how the attraction is accomplished. If bodies “attract” each other, then they exert force upon each other; and if they exert force upon each other they must cause pressure upon each other; for how can a body exert force upon another except by causing pressure upon it? If “attraction” is an unsubstantial thing, then it cannot affect substance, or cause motion; if it is an unsubstantial thing, then it is empty space; for where there is no substance there is only empty space. Can you think of an “attraction” crossing an empty space? What would it be like, and how would it get across? Can you think of a “vibration” as crossing an empty space? How would it be transmitted where there was nothing to vibrate? Can you think of a force as crossing an empty space? What would be the shape, size and general appearance of a force apart from substance? By considering all these points we see that what we know as force is simply pressure of substance; or, one portion of substance pressing against another portion of substance; and that force can be nothing else than this. And we see that pressure causes motion, and that motion, in turn, causes pressure; so that force and motion are mutually convertible, each into the other. Also, we see that there is only one force, the pressure of substance; and that all the so-called “forces” of nature are merely different rates and modes of motion, and have their origin in the One Force--pressure of substance. Furthermore, we see that there is no such thing as a universal attraction which bodies exert upon each other, but that there is a universal pressure, impelling all bodies toward each other in a definite and orderly way; and to the study of this universal pressure we will next turn our attention. Time, space, substance and motion exist. Substance is conscious. Motion is caused by pressure of substance against substance, and the varying forms of substance in the visible creation are caused by differences in motion.

VI.

THE BEGINNING OF MOTION.

ORIGIN OF MOTION--AN EXPOSITION OF FORCE AND MOTION FOUNDED ON THE THEORY OF SPACE BEING OCCUPIED BY A FLUID CONSCIOUS SUBSTANCE--HAS MOTION EVER A BEGINNING?--WILL AND WILL-PRESSURE ON MOTION--WILL OF GOD THE ONE COMPELLING POWER

To understand force and motion, we must go back to a supposititious creation. Conceive, first, of space as being occupied by completely conscious substance in a perfectly fluid state; conscious throughout, alike throughout, and without motion. Now, can you conceive of motion as beginning in any part of this substance without an act of will? Can you think of your conscious self as beginning to act, and as continuing to act in an orderly and consecutive series of motions without an effort of will? If, as we have seen, original substance is completely conscious, then its every motion must be a conscious motion; and we cannot think of conscious motion without will. You are aware that you can consciously originate motion yourself; but you cannot do it without will. You are conscious substance; you can be nothing else as we have seen, and you can move or cease to move by an exertion of your will, and in moving or ceasing to move you cause the body you inhabit to move or cease to move. We see motion beginning and ceasing all around us; and we conclude that every motion had a beginning; and that the beginning of the series of creative motions which have resulted in the present universe of forms could only have been in an action of the will of Original Conscious Substance.

In the beginning, then, by an act of will, parts of substance were made to press against each other; and this pressure must pack the substance together, making it more dense, more rigid, and less fluid. This pressure, also, must originate the motions we know as light, heat, electricity and magnetism; and this will-pressure, drawing substance together and holding it in coherent masses, is what we call gravity. It is this will-pressure which brings an apple to the earth, and which holds the earth itself in its orbit; which tends to bring all the heavenly bodies together, and which yet holds them apart forever, keeping each in its own place. There is no accounting for “attraction” on other grounds than that it is the Creative Will of Original Substance, pressing itself together into forms. Every phenomenon of force or motion, from the circling sweep of a planet to the vibration of an atom, has its origin in the will of the great Intelligent Substance to which, or to whom, men have given the name of God. The earth is held together solely by the pressure of the will which permeates it; were that will relaxed, the earth would return instantly to its original fluid condition. Try to think of substance as being held together by something else than will; try to think of substance, originally fluid, as being pressed into solid shapes and held in solid shapes, and going on in orderly and consecutive motions without will; and you will find it unthinkable. The earth is a part of Conscious Being, holding itself in form by the exercise of the will which is in all substance; gravity is the will exerted by substance in pressing itself into form; so also is chemical affinity, or the directivity of atoms. All motion originates in will-pressure. Trace back the motion of the wheels to the engine and thence to the coal; and you say that the latent heat-energy of the coal is causing motion. But what lodged the heat-energy in the coal? Was it the will-pressure of gravity, in the distant ages? There is only one force, and that is the will of the Great Intelligence; the eternal creative pressure, moving substance into the various forms in which it appears to us.

In the beginning was God, Spirit, Conscious Substance, occupying the calm deeps of space. An act of will, and there was sufficient pressure to produce the particles of the luminiferous ether, whose vibrations produce light; and there was light. A further act of will, increasing pressing of substance together, and nebulous clouds appear; and by the Great Will these were pressed into spheres with all the accompanying phenomena of the motions of heat and electricity; and so the creation of forms went, on until the visible universe appeared as it is; formed of one substance, by the Will of God, and maintained and held together by the continued exercise of that Great Will.

The question of motive comes in just here. We cannot conceive of continuous, orderly and systematic action without a motive; and the question must come to our minds, what is the motive of the Great One in His work? With a little reflection, the answer must present itself. He is seeking happiness. We cannot conceive of a conscious being as continuously seeking pain, inharmony or misery. Conscious action can have but one motive, and that motive is ultimate harmony or happiness. The purpose of God in the creation can be nothing else than His own happiness, and since he is All and in All. His happiness can only be attained in the happiness of all. Remember that the purpose of the creation is the happiness of all, including yourself, and that to be unhappy is to oppose the will of the Great Intelligence.

Look now upon the immensity of the visible universe, and contemplate the power of the Creator; see that in all and through all, from the rolling on a planetary system to the rising of the sap in a blade of grass, the one impelling power is the Will of God. And this Great Intelligence is seeking pleasure and happiness in us, and through us. Shall we doubt, then, that He can and will heal our diseases, give us every good thing that we need, and guide us into all truth? In the next chapter, we shall consider man’s relation to this Great Intelligence.

VII.

MAN AND HIS POWERS.

WHAT MAKES YOU MAN--THE CONSCIENCE OF THE ALL-WISE--HEALTH THE HIGHEST GOOD--ABUNDANCE SECONDARY-LIVE IN CONSTANT AND CONSCIOUS CONTACT WITH THE GREAT INDEPENDENT SUBSTANCE AND BE IDEAL!

The universe is a Great Being, who is seeking happiness in and through the forms which he creates from his own substance; and of all these forms, man alone has power to enter into intelligent relations with the Creator. To state it in other words, the great intelligence is seeking happiness in you, and you have power to co-operate intelligently with him in the search. That is what makes you man; the power to work with God in the search for happiness. And if this Great One seeks your happiness, it must be your most permanent and perfect happiness; that is, your highest good; for being conscious of all that there is to be conscious of, and knowing all that there is to know, he is all-wise; and we cannot think of the all-wise as seeking anything less than the highest good, or as being satisfied with anything less than the highest good.

As far as your physical body is concerned, the highest good that can come to you is unquestionably perfect health. The notion that there are circumstances under which pain and sickness are better for man than perfect health must take its place among those superstitious beliefs which have been exploded and discredited. Pain and sickness may be good for man if he takes them rightly, but perfect health is always far better if he takes that rightly; and it is a self-evident proposition that God can find complete delight in man only as man is completely whole. The Great Intelligence, then, seeks perfect health and wholeness in you; and the substance of the Living One, filled with life and power, presses upon you on every side, seeking to impart life and power to you, but you being a portion of that great intelligence, are supreme within your own personality, and so you will have health or not as you receive and recognize this health of God, If you fail to recognize and receive the All-health, and if you recognize disease within yourself, you prevent God from reaching you; and you form within yourself that which you recognize as existing. If you continuously recognize the perfect health of the Intelligent Substance, in which you live and move and are, and of which you are a part, you cannot be otherwise than well.

It is another self-evident truth that man’s highest good demands that he should have the use of all the things he is capable of using in order to live all the life he is capable of living. Man’s highest good, and his real happiness can be attained only when he has abundance for every physical and mental need. Just as it is true that God cannot fully delight in you if you are physically sick, so it is true that he cannot find happiness through you if you are mentally or physically starved, or lacking the essentials for life, growth and enjoyment. Happiness consists in living fully; and God can live fully in you only when you have everything to live with. So, the desire of the Great One for you must be that you shall have abundance.

But here again you are supreme within yourself. What if God presses abundance upon you, and you persist in recognizing only privation and poverty? If that be the case, you will remain poor in the midst of abundance, as millions of people are doing; and to be poor, or in want is to oppose the will of God, who seeks happiness in all, and for all. We are parts of himself, and what can he do when his will is opposed and his bounty rejected by a part of himself?

The solution of man’s problems of health, wealth, and growth can be reached when man unifies himself with God, the Great Intelligent Spirit, Substance, who seeks life and happiness in man; and man can unify himself with God only by constantly recognizing God; by considering and acknowledging God, and by looking to God in prayer. The prayer of faith is really an affirmation; and an affirmation is the recognition of an existing fact. When you live in constant and conscious contact with the great intelligent substance you can have no sickness; and his desire for happiness in you will cause the exertion of that mighty will-pressure to bring to you all the things that make for your highest good. The man who can completely unify himself with the divine substance becomes a center toward which the divine will impels every desirable thing; and that man will not, and cannot, lack for anything.

The universe is a Great Being; an intelligent substance, occupying space and using time. His desire leads Him to create forms from His own substance, and in these forms He seeks happiness. Man has but to unify himself with this Great Being to secure the supply of every need, and the gratification of every desire. Man only needs to learn how to pray and how to work.

=Transcriber’s Notes=

Perceived typographical errors have been silently corrected.

New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.