carefully remove from such contemplation any idea of a strenuous effort on
our part to _make_ the seed grow. Its efficacy is in helping to keep out
those negative thoughts of doubt which would plant tares among our wheat,
and therefore, instead of anything of effort, such contemplation should be
accompanied by a feeling of pleasure and restfulness in foreseeing the
certain accomplishment of our desires. This is that making our requests
known to God _with thanksgiving_ which St. Paul recommends, and it has its
reason in that perfect wholeness of the Law of Being which only needs our
recognition of it to be used by us to any extent we wish.

Some people possess the power of visualization, or making mental pictures
of things, in a greater degree than others, and by such this faculty may
advantageously be employed to facilitate their realization of the working
of the Law. But those who do not possess this faculty in any marked degree,
need not be discouraged by their want of it, for visualization is not the
only way of realizing that the law is at work on the invisible plane. Those
whose mental bias is towards physical science should realize this Law of
Growth as the creative force throughout all nature; and those who have a
mathematical turn of mind may reflect that all solids are generated from
the movement of a point, which, as our old friend Euclid tells us, is that
which has no parts nor magnitude, and is therefore as complete an
abstraction as any spiritual nucleus could be. To use the apostolic words,
we are dealing with the substance of things not seen, and we have to attain
that habit of mind by which we shall see its reality and feel that we are
mentally manipulating the only substance there ultimately is, and of which
all visible things are only different modes. We must therefore regard our
mental creations as spiritual realities and then implicitly trust the Law
of Growth to do the rest.

VII.

RECEPTIVITY.

In order to lay the foundations for practical work, the student must
endeavour to get a clear conception of what is meant by the intelligence of
undifferentiated spirit. We want to grasp the idea of intelligence apart
from individuality, an idea which is rather apt to elude us until we grow
accustomed to it. It is the failure to realize this quality of spirit that
has given rise to all the theological errors that have brought bitterness
into the world and has been prominent amongst the causes which