FOLLOW ME. "Follow me and let the dead bury their dead." I JESUS made this reply to the man who wished to bury his father before he followed Him. A natural desire you may say, but Jesus saw in it an excuse. find even in the present day people make excuses of material things. For instance, they believe that a certain amount of money will satisfy them, that they will enjoy themselves after having made it, or after the children are educated and grown up, that they can then do certain things which now are impossible. They say, "in old age I shall need religion." "I have no time for these things now." "I am not sick. I am not poor; therefore I do not need spiritual help.' "What I already believe is satisfactory to me, so why should I change?" To follow me is to follow the Christ within, not to follow Jesus the man. Jesus is dead as a personal man. The Christ always lives. It can never die. Jesus followed his own Christ, the divinity within. We must follow our own Christ, the divinity within. We can never do this while making excuses for ourselves. Are we willing to bury our dead past? For all life that is not real living, living by principles, is dead. Are we willing to bury the old ideas of life? What are some dead conditions in my life? Cannot every one of us find material for many funerals? Shall we bury righteous indignation? Shall we bury love of approval and fear of disapproval? Shall we bury the thought of our happiness depending upon others, upon surroundings, upon money? Shall we bury impatience? Shall we bury fear? Can you not go on enumerating any quantity of "dead" to be buried? Do we wish to have these buried? Are we really in earnest? We cannot follow the Christ within until these conditions of mind are buried. How do we begin to follow the Christ? First believing in it; believing that we are divine; believing that we can become conscious of our divinity; by believing in our spiritual strength and not in the weakness of the personal man; by acknowledging that our life is a privilege and not a hardship; that it is worth living; by rejoicing in our life instead of enduring it or being halfhearted in it. You say "I cannot rejoice - things are all wrong." Then have a funeral and bury the things that are wrong. You say "I cannot bury them, for they are a person," or persons, or it is a condition. Yes, you can bury it, or them, for you can change your attitude of mind towards it or them. Follow the Christ within and leave the dead. Leave Leave your old dead self-the self with all its discouragements; the self that has been a dead weight. Follow the Christ within earnestly, and you will very soon be conscious of the dead self disappearing. It will be helpful in daily living to see in which direction your mind is turned, whether towards the dead things or towards the Christ within. Christian people do not believe in their own divinity, in their own spiritual powers. They only believe in God's power, but they never realize their true relation to God. They, the Christian people, are weak, but God is All-Powerful. How is that possible if we are expressions of God? We have always been taught our weak |