A WORD
Of Comfort and of Power is here tendered to the thousands, who are facing the greatest crisis of their lives, in responding to their country’s call. Both those who are giving up their loved ones and those who are going forth are seeking in religion, messages to cheer and bring hope. And some who have asked for bread are receiving a stone.
May all who read this booklet enter deeply into the Spirit of it and, like the Ancients become filled with gladness (Neh. 8:9-12).
“Because they had understood the words that were declared unto them. Eat, drink and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto the Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
THE
PROTECTING
PRESENCE
The True Light
EVERY one that is born upon this earth carries his own life-preserver within himself, “the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.”
Also that same Light is a power to preserve the lives of others, when one knows how to use it; therefore, there is not a mother, wife nor any other, who desires to protect a loved one while going through war and bring him safely out of it, but can throw about him a protecting armor which no missile nor weapon can penetrate. And it can protect him not only on the land but also, if he sail the sea, uphold him in the waters until he be rescued.
Immortal Life Here
The message of Jesus Christ was given to the world to preserve men’s lives here, until each one could learn the way to live, so as to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven established on the earth.
Many a man will have his eyes opened early, while passing through this war, to know what true life is, and the way to enter into greatness and nobility in a few years, instead of living a long life of ordinary eating, sleeping, and pursuing foolish pleasures, to die finally of senile old age. And the way this promotion to the greater life can be accomplished is not by men’s experience upon battle-fields, but by having their thoughts and feelings turned Godward, through the prayers of their faithful ones and the demands upon their own souls, made by the exigencies of the life into which they have been pressed.
The Victory of the Good
And even as it is written, that “the wrath of man shall praise him,” so also shall this war reveal the might and glory of our God, who will save thousands through what will seem miraculous intervention, and will cause men to win victories, not by killing each other but by drawing men higher, causing those to yield who should give up, and those to win who are genuinely seeking God’s will and the Good of the whole.
Inspiration, skill, bravery, high and honorable ways and means shall prove the real instruments of winning,—a maximum of spiritual means and the saving of men’s lives, and a minimum of violence and the destruction of life.
Real Life
What is a man’s life? Is it a little spark that comes into existence for a brief time, to go out, whither no one knows? Not so. “The life is the Light of men—the Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” The Light and the Life are one, without beginning and without end, and whoever knows the oneness of these will realize that his Life is eternally safe and nothing can ever destroy it.
Moreover, the Light has power in itself to preserve the body and mind, (these are the lamp that holds the Light) through the co-operation of the mind of faith. Men and women who have been in spiritual union with God have seen that Light encircling them, a wonderful defense in times of danger.
And by prayer, a circle of this, Presence has held strongly about those prayed for, so that no fortress could be a better refuge.
True Use of Imagination
Instead of sitting in gloom, filling one’s heart and mind with useless sorrow, every one who is a true Christian should be sending forth thoughts of the enfolding Presence and Power of the Almighty God, able to carry every soldier and sailor, for whom we pray, through the valley of the shadow of death into the clear realm of a wholesome, happy life, unharmed, kept whole by the grace, and to the glory, of the God of Truth.
Instead of letting the imagination rest with pity and sorrow upon those who are marching forth to active service, every strong and trained mind should give each one the thought, “Safe in the Everlasting Arms,” or “Jesus Christ keeps you and brings you out alive,” or just the thought without words, adapted from The Armor Of St. Patrick, breathed to the rhythm of their marching feet:
“Christ is with you, Christ before you,
Christ behind you, Christ within you,
Christ beneath you, Christ above you,
Christ at your right, Christ at your left,
Christ in breadth, Christ in length, Christ in
height.”
The New Way to Win
See the One only that neither slays nor can be slain going forth to win the victory by the power of the God of the great Principles, for which he takes up arms.
It is possible for the consciousness of the God-man to enter like a mighty friend between foes who are reaching to tear each other’s throats, and hold them both in the High Mind of God until the mad fury of these brothers passes away and they have come to themselves and their own Christhood. Thus may we say continually, “The battle is the Lord’s.”
Love is the real Lord of battles, winning by weapons unknown to the madmen of violence and hatred. This is the magical weapon that daily we can put into the hands of men of war, making them win in marvellous ways that shall fill the nations with awe.
Charmed Lives
Not a man but shall be brave with courage of angels who fear no death, even with recklessness of fatalists who feel their destiny is determined from the beginning. For deep within, our men can realize the predestination of the One to be saved, come what may. Their lives are “hid with Christ in God” and the immortality of their fortress, Christ, is their security from death.
There is a story told of George Washington when he was a commander in the French and Indian war. It is a matter of history that he rode, always a most fearlessly prominent figure, and though bullets and arrows flew about him, he came through without a wound. Once an Indian, famous among the Redmen for unfailing accuracy with every shot, was appointed by his chief to kill the White Brave, and to aim his arrows alone at the conspicuous figure until he brought it low. But every arrow flew aside of the mark until the Indian laid down his bow and arrows, declaring he dared not shoot another, for “The great Brave is protected by the Spirit and no man can take his life.”
Character, a Talisman
What was the charm that this great man carried with him? Was it accident or chance that he passed through two great wars utterly unharmed? No, it was the greatness of the man, the bribeless spirit to whom personal indemnity was nothing though he spent a large part of his private fortune on the War of Independence; who refused to take a salary either as commander-in-chief of the army or as president; who saved the country to democracy, when he could easily have become its king. It was this Man of Principle that was the safety of his mind and his body through all the vicissitudes of a mighty government in its birth-throes.
And is not this MAN in every man that goes forth at his country’s call? Most certainly. That is the True Light which comes into the world with every human being, the One “that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High”; and it can cover the mortal with its Presence until it too can be adopted into the heritage of the real Heir, the immortality of our great Self, the beloved Son of God.
The Foreboding Sense
There are some covered with the darkness of foreboding thought concerning their dear ones, who have been registered and may be, if they are not already, in the conscription. And some of the men, who have a certain prophetic sense, feel themselves already victims of the war.
Wake up! you, with the foreboding sense! Take advantage of your gift of foresight and prevent the thing coming to pass. You can do it. Death is not inevitable. It is not sent of God—it is that lie that has made people yield before death, when they would not think of giving up to any other threatened danger.
“Forewarned is forearmed!” Open your eyes and see His angels encamped about you. Like the disciple of Elisha, you need The Vision, “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them” (2 Kings 6:16).
And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
The Heavenly Promises
The same God is with us today ready to take charge of our life, if we will only follow His teaching, as given through His manifestation in the flesh, Jesus Christ, our elder Brother.
The Lord is with you, while ye be with him; and if ye seek him he will be found of you. —2 Chron. 15:2.
Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us, and to fight our battles. —2 Chron. 32:7, 8.
They that war against thee shall be as nothing, and as a thing of nought. For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee. —is. 41:12,13.
Declarative Prayer
The prayer of realization is the effectual prayer; therefore our prayers should include our declaration of the Truth of God’s saving presence and power; and we must learn to address our prayers to God within man, not off in the skies or even by our side or the side of our loved one. Find the Lord, his good God, within the one whom you would protect, and with thanksgiving and praise, acknowledge His protecting presence and power, and also your own trust in the goodness, mercy, love-enfolding and life-giving Spirit of the true God. Do this until a warm, sweet assurance comes over you that all is well.
Whole Regiments Saved
The word of Truth is the fortress that can shelter one or a thousand according to our faith. And distance is no barrier to the true thought and its Word. In spirit there is no space; our souls communicate with each other continually, and our minds radiate and interchange thought every moment. One can speak to a group, silently, addressing the Soul of the whole, as the Protecting Presence, with results of spiritual power, as easily as one can deliver a lecture to thousands, the same that has been given to one.
A London doctor, who understands this law of prayer, is speaking the word, daily, to individuals by means of his hundred assistants, and collectively to whole regiments. Letters are coming, flooded with testimony of the saving efficacy of those powerful words. So impressed has the public been with the reports, that the newspapers are treating the matter with soberness and dignity, withal it is most startling to those who have not kept abreast of the times in knowledge of the power and influence of true thought.
The following are excerpts from a lengthy account in the telegraph news of a daily newspaper:
BULLET-PROOF SOLDIERS,
LATEST WAR WONDER.
“Practical utilization of the power of God by right thinking” is the agency thru which Frederick L. Rawson, a London scientist, declares he can so treat a man that he will not be harmed when hundreds are being shot dead beside him.
This amazing “treatment” includes a new type of prayer. It is being administered to hundreds of men audibly and to hundreds more by letter. Nothing since the war began has aroused so much talk of modern miracles as have many of the statements of Dr. Rawson.
In one case a whole regiment was given the prayer treatment for an hour before being rushed to a struggle on “No Man’s Land.” In the fiercest possible encounter not one man was knocked out.
“Captain will be here tomorrow,”
said the Doctor, “At the taking of a wood there were 500 yards of ‘No Man’s Land’ to be crossed. Then Captain who practices this method of prayer, treated them for an hour before they started, and not a man was knocked out.
“He was the only officer left, out of 80 in his brigade. He simply held on to the fact that man was spiritual and perfect, and could not be touched. A bullet fired from a revolver only five yards away hit him over the chest, tore his shirt, and went out at the shoulder. But it never penetrated his chest. He was frequently in a hail of shells and bullets which didn’t touch him.”
Mr. Rawson referred to a letter from Colonel McGregor at the front. It spoke of protection from the mining of the Germans and from bomb-exploding accidents.
He had his regiment eight weeks under fire without a man being touched, when all the other regiments were losing men daily. He since has been promoted direct from captain to lieutenant-colonel for his work on this occasion, a most exceptional thing.
Mr. Rawson then said: “Read this letter,” and showed the interviewer a letter from the mother of a man at the front, giving a copy of a letter from him as follows:
“Have just come out of the ‘Big Push’ without a scratch, quite safe and cheery! All th« other officers in my company were killed or wounded—I am the only one left. The took all before them and pushed the Huns back for miles. We suffered heavy casualties, but my life seemed to be charmed; shrapnel and bullets whizzed all around me but did not seem to find a home in my body.”
“Now read this,” and he handed across a second letter, lately received in which the same officer writes as follows:
“We were absolutely surrounded by Boches, and in order not to get taken prisoners, we had to make a dash for it under cover of darkness, amidst a veritable hail of lead. Hell on earth isn’t the word for it. Anyhow, we have finished for a bit now, as the brigade no longer exists to all practical purposes. . . . Only two officers came out unhurt, a captain and I. . . You and I know the reason why I got thru when everybody else went under.”
“The non-bursting of the shells around me,” said the colonel, “was so remarkable that a report was made about it.”
While the reporter was in the office two military officers visited Mr. Rawson to relate their experiences.
The first was Lieutenant-Colonel B , of a famous Midland regiment, the same who was promoted direct from captain to lieutenantcolonel. He “treated” for himself while at tha front—he returned to London after short leave —and testifies to extraordinary results.
His battalion was under fire in the front and support trenches for eight weeks continuously, and during that period not a man was touched.
He himself was wounded in the left shoulder. The bullet entered by the collarbone, but when the doctors examined him, tho there was no trace of the bullet having passed thru and out, no bullet was to be found. Lieutenant-Colonel B—— is of the opinion that it was dematerialized by “treatment.”
The other officer was Captain N acting as second in command of his battalion, who had a similar tale of hairbreadth escapes. Once he was in a railway smash, and tho his car was telescoped, he got off without a scratch.
The New Warfare
It is a day for us to realize that all things are subject to thought; even the bombs can fall into a sea of thought, that can act upon them like water, rendering them powerless. The very bullets, sent by our men can receive a new character, not killing but simply making our brothers in opposition to us—we will not call them “our enemies”—out of commission for the time being.
For, that the Word may be ever effectual, there must be no hatred, no revenge, no desire to kill, but only the supreme God-wish for all enmity to cease, for war to pass away forever and that all instruments of killing be destroyed. It is written “He that takes the sword shall perish by the sword,” but if sword be taken to destroy sword, and bullets but destroy guns, and cannon overthrow cannon, then is a good work done and the end of the war hastened.
Death Destroyed in Victory
The Mind of God can ever direct the minds of those who seek His will and His way, so that all that they do shall result in destroying destruction and in saving men’s lives.
Therefore let us see that God’s victory in the war is won by brother-love and not by violence; and to invoke the Divine Aid is to open the way for the final Victory that shall bless all humanity and glorify God with such paeans of joy, that the sound thereof shall ring down through the ages, a song to silence the Morning Stars for very ecstasy.
PRAYER-THOUGHTS
For the Safety and Deliverance of those going, and those gone, to War.
I.
HEAVENLY Father, whose Love knows no end and no change, keep this, Thy Child, in the hidden realms of Thy tender care. Fold him round about with Thy Presence, so that he knows that no harm can come near him. By thy power, cause him to remember night and day that underneath are The Everlasting Arms.
Give me fearlessness and trust so that I know and continue in the knowledge, that he is Spirit and therefore cannot be killed; his life is one with Life of Jesus Christ and therefore is safe in his Father’s house.
In Thee, his mind rests and therefore it is in Peace. Self-controlled and self-possessed he saves the lives of others as well as his own, and fulfills his part in the heavenly plan.
Be a living, loving consciousness with him forever, blessed Presence, and return him to us safe and sound, to thy glory and honor forever and ever.
AMEN
II.
SON, listen to your heavenly I Father’s voice within you, saying, “Look unto Me and be ye saved. I will never leave thee nor forsake thee; though you make your bed in hell, yet I am there to sustain you and deliver.”
You are the Offspring of the most high God and therefore, like your Source, you are a spiritual being, therefore nothing can destroy you. “No weapon that is formed against thee can prosper.”
Your life is hid with Christ in God. It is immortal. It contains within itself its own defense. Wherever you go you carry protection and the blessing that is upon you covers your comrades also.
All that comes to you is a help; nothing is working against you; for the only Power there is, is the living, loving God Almighty.
III.
OUR God is omnipotence, the one real Power that is working in and through all. Wherever you are placed there God is, and you abide in that thought. Your good is there; you will get good only out of it; and good alone can use you to manifest anything. Therefore you abide in peace.
You are a magnet to attract only blessing to you out of whatever you pass through.
No evil can come near you.
“In famine he shall redeem thee from death: and in war from the power of the sword” (Job 5:20).
“Thou shalt take thy rest in safety also thou shalt lie down and none shall make thee afraid” (Job 11:18, 19).
Peace be unto you, the peace that passeth all understanding.
IV.
HOLY! Holy! Holy!
The whole earth is full of His
Glory!
Legions of Angels surround you.
They fill the hearts of friend and foe alike. All that look upon you love you, and your life is precious in their sight.
Christ guides you; the divine skill opens your way ever out of danger. Inspiration gives you new light on the way to Victory. Intuition reveals to you when to speak, when to keep still; where to go; what to say; and how to be nothing before assaults of your enemies.
The Lord Christ teaches you how to pray, and the Holy Spirit fills you with realization of Truth, and the way to give its message to your fellowmen.
Wisdom, Love, Faith and Power attend you always, working through you to bring Heaven on the Earth. It is well with your Soul! It is well with your Soul!
And now the very God of peace sanctifies you wholly and your whole spirit, soul and body are preserved unblemished unto the full appearing of the chief among men, our Savior, the blessed Lord Jesus Christ.
AMEN
SCRIPTURE MEDITATIONS
For the Night before the Battle
Let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them;
For the Lord your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you. —Deut. 20:3,4.
Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you. . . . fear not, nor be dismayed: tomorrow go out against them for the Lord will be with you.-2 Chron. 20:15,17.
Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; . . . their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not. —Num. 14:9.
PSALM 130.
DE PROFUNDIS
Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.
Lord hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive unto the voice of my supplications.
If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, 0 Lord, who shall stand?
But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be revered.
I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.
My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.
Let Israel hope in the Lord: for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.
And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. ;
THE GREAT PROTECTION PSALM
PSALM 91
Declaration
HE that dwelleth in the secret place ‘of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Promise
SURELY he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Because thou hast made the Lord which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Fulfillment
BECAUSE he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him, and show him my salvation.
The Protecting Presence
Fear not: for behold I bring you
good tidings of great joy, which
shall be to all people. For unto
you is born this day in the city of
David, A Savior, Which i Christ the Lord
Glory to God the Highest
And on earth peace
Good will toward men
The End