Well, as we said today we’re going to deal with some thoughts on your power to succeed, the first of some discussions on the adventure of self-discovery. The major thrust of our study of truth that we’re all interested in and seriously involved in, is with the what I call, the depth within the person, the divine depths. This, as many of you know, is the major theme of my book, “Discover The Power Within You,” which in turn, is what I conceived to be the basic concept of Jesus, what he’s all about. The depth, the divine potential within the individual. And the tremendous challenge that goes along with this, is that one does not need to accept himself as he has been. That if he’s willing to break out of the shell, he can change, he can be more, he can do more.

In the frequent use of symbols and of ritual, there’s a tendency to forget that the sign is pointing to somewhere and just kind of worship the pointer, worship the sign, and most that we have in religious ritual and symbology has this kind of an origin. A man is created in the image of God. This is one of the most beautiful ideals of the scriptures. So, in a sense, man is a symbol of God. Jesus said, “He that hath seen me have seen the father.” He wasn’t talking to himself as a special representation of God but wherever you see a person, you see that which God hath wrought. You see God in manifestation.

I’m sure that many of you have read or at least can quickly recall Paul’s 13th chapter of first Corinthians. If you have not read it, then we’ll let that be a part of the homework assignment today. A dynamic treatise on love. And among other things, Paul sums up some spiritual achievements. And then he says, “If with these things, you have not love, you are nothing.” And that’s pretty emphatic. He doesn’t say that without love you’re handicapped, without love you’re gonna have difficulties in life. He says without love you are nothing. That’s pretty blunt. Yet it helps us to understand that the whole concept of love is much more than emotions, much more than senses and feelings, and sexual involvements. It’s so much deeper than all of this. Love is the completeness of life. Teilhard de Chardin refers to it as the totalization of life. He refers often to the totalizing process.

I’m going to suggest to you today that you change your perspective just a little bit from the normal. That you think not just to the year, with its beginning and its end, but the days and the months all rocked into a timeframe. But think in terms of an era, in its timeless sense. A new phase of living. A new level of consciousness. It may be a fortnight. May be a year. May be a whole life before you.

The basis of prayer should be the affirmative word speaking the word of truth. However, it is important to understand that an affirmation, the statement of truth, these words that we call affirmations, they’re not spoken to make a thing true. You don’t say a thing over and over and over, hoping it’s gonna be true for you. This is a misunderstanding. It’s a matter of re-focusing your consciousness to that which is true. You’ve been centering upon limitation. You lift your conscious to center on that which is positive. The word affirmation comes from the Latin root ad and firmare, together it means “to add firmness”.

A smile on your face, a song in your heart, and a spring in your step. This might seem to describe the feeling of a truly happy and fulfilled person. What would you say if I told you that you can go away from here this morning with just such a feeling and expression?

This morning we’re going to think a little bit about enthusiasm. I hope that I can approach the subject enthusiastically because, actually, enthusiasm is truly contagious, as I think most of us know. I would like to infect you, every one of you, with this germ of fire and life so that you may go forth from here today with a little more of the fire of your own inner spirit expressing. It’s so very important. Each of us has this fire within us. It’s an eternal flame that never goes out, but which, quite often, burns down to little more than a pilot light, but it’s ever there. It’s what the poet calls that little celestial spark of fire, which one may desecrate, but never quite lose.

I have observed, obviously tongue and cheek, we might have an annual tribulation day, one whole day tribulating. You get that from a woman who said, “when the Lord sends me tribulation, it’s my duty to tribulate.” So we could take one full day of griping, complaining, revealing the instancy of ingratitude, then go back to the glorious year of the remaining 364 days living with an attitude of gratitude. Partly kidding of course, there’s a lot in it that’s worthy of serious attention.

The affair of the heart, sounds like a romantic involvement, a classic affair de coeur. Actually we’re thinking of a love affair with God. It may sound sort of trite, naïve. I want you to think about that today because it may even ring true to you.