SEVERAL days of confinement to the house because of a heavy cold put Colombe into a very thoughtful mood.

“Mother,” she said, “what made this horrid old cold come to me? I most certainly didn’t picture it in my mind! Then how could it get here—if everything in our bodies and our lives is caused by our mind pictures?”

“Colombe,” answered Mother, “you must have had such a mind picture or it couldn’t possibly be out-pictured in your body. I’m not trying to tell you that you deliberately sat down and created a picture of yourself ‘catching cold.’ No one would be so foolish! However, you must have left the radio part of your mind open to some sort of negative or un-God-like thoughts and feelings which cluttered up your mind, as in our Live Doll story, and prevented God’s Love from flowing freely through you.”

“But, Mother!” protested the little girl, “that wasn’t a ‘cold’ picture at all! How could anything like that make such a body-picture?”

“Before answering your question, Colombe, tell me what part of you a cold usually bothers.”

“My nose and head!” was the prompt reply. “They get all stuffed up so I can’t breathe good.”

“Exactly,” answered Mother. “Now remember that your soul is like a glove on God’s Hand of Light (a Live-Doll-Glove with its radio-movie-mind). Into this radio-movie-mind God is constantly sending His perfect, beautiful, Loving Thoughts and Ideas—unless You, the Soul part, foolishly tune them out by your interest in the programs or wrong thoughts of the outer world. Remember that everything that happens in the Soul world makes a picture in the outer world. So God’s abundant Love constantly flowing into the Soul’s mind makes a picture in this mind-world of perfect health because of the life-giving air flowing constantly into and through the body’s nose and lungs. Then what sort of a picture do you suppose would be made if, instead of such a mind wide open to God, the Soul allowed its mind-opening to become ‘stuffed up’ with negative thoughts so that His Love would have difficulty in flowing through.”

“Oh!” exclaimed Colombe, “I understand now! Of course it would make a body-picture of a ‘stuffed up’ nose and throat, and sometimes lungs! But Mother, just what do you mean by negative thoughts?”

“A negative thought is any thought that is different from God’s good and perfect Loving Thoughts. Whenever a thought tries to enter your mind you should first decide (as we learned in our Golden Rule Club) whether you would like to have it outpictured in your body or your affairs. If you would not like this to happen, then the thought must be negative and should be pushed right out of your mind. Also ask yourself, ‘would God have this thought in His Mind?’ If you decide that He would not have such a thought, then you can know it is negative and should not be allowed in. You must watch carefully every thought that tries to grow in your mind or you will soon find it so full of negative weeds that the good thoughts will be choked out.

“Now let us have an example of questioning a thought. Suppose you began to think about your doll ‘Blondie,’—Oh, I don’t like her anymore. I’ve had her for three years and I’m tired of her. So I’ll just toss her aside out of my way. Do you think that is a positive (which means God-like) or a negative thought?”

“Well, but Mother!” protested Colombe excitedly. “What’s wrong with that feeling? I am tired of her—and anyway she’s just a doll!”

“Colombe,” laughed Mother, “I merely asked you whether it was a positive or a negative feeling—and your answer shows that deep in your heart you feel that it is negative. Then let’s try to decide just why it is negative. So ask yourself one of the questions and see what your answer is.”

“Well,” answered Colombe, slowly, “I wouldn’t want anyone to get tired of me and stick me away. But, Mother, I’m a girl, and that is just a doll that can’t feel or know anything!”

“Yes, Colombe, but we are attempting to figure out your thoughts and feelings—not the doll’s. Just remember when you first saw Blondie three Christmases ago sitting all dressed up under the Christmas tree. You ran to her, hugged her and were so happy! And for a long time you loved her dearly. Now, Colombe, she is almost as good as new and has scarcely changed at all—except in your thoughts about her. When you are ‘tired’ of anything, that really means that you have stopped loving it. So such a feeling must be negative, because we know that God never stops Loving anyone or anything.”

“But, Mother, do you mean that we must never throw anything away, if we want to be like God? Wouldn’t there soon be too many toys to keep in my room?”

“Of course we mustn’t hoard our things when we have more than we can use,” answered her mother. “God never does that. If we want to be like Him we should love everything we have—and share all of our things with others. As soon as you are given more dolls than you need, instead of tossing any unlovingly aside, why not keep on loving it, fix it all up nice and fresh and pretty, and lovingly give it to some other little girl who needs a doll and who will be made very happy to receive it?”

“Why, Mother,” cried Colombe, “that’s a lovely idea! That’s just what I’ll do with all my toys! But how about this old wornout sweater? It’s too thin and torn to fix for anyone else when I get a new one. How can I keep on loving it?”

“Why not, Colombe?” questioned her mother. “It has given you service for a long time. When you get a new sweater, can’t you silently thank and bless the old one for the warmth it has provided, and lovingly lay it aside to serve further as cleaning cloths?”

“Why, of course,” smiled Colombe. “Say, Mother, I guess I have had more negative thoughts and feelings than I knew. No wonder I kept ‘catching cold’.”

“Yes,” agreed mother, “we often do not realize how many negative thoughts we are carrying around and feeding with our interest. But love for the real self of everyone and everything will melt those dark ‘thought-balloon-clouds’ in a hurry and will tune your radio-movie-mind within to God and His perfect Ideas, Thoughts, and Feelings.”

“Well, now that I know how I got this cold—watch me make it disappear!” exclaimed Colombe joyously.

“Of course you can!” approved her mother. “Because whatever you truly believe in your heart will come to pass in your life. So to help yourselves to remember how important it is to watch every single thought and feeling, let us begin repeating together every night and morning, the Law of Life. We will say it the ‘grown up’ way now, because you have learned enough and are now old enough to understand the hard words; and, said that way, it will in time mean much more to you. So now, remembering that ‘consciousness’ means all of our thoughts and feelings and everything we know or think we know, and that ‘out-manifest’ means to come here into this outer world from the inner world, we will begin to learn this very important law so thoroughly that we can never again forget it:

“WHATEVER YOU THINK AND HOLD IN CONSCIOUSNESS AS BEING SO, OUTMANIFESTS ITSELF IN YOUR BODY OR AFFAIRS.”

Suggested Questions:

1. What is a negative thought? A positive thought?

2. What do negative thoughts do to us?

3. Remembering the “Thought Balloon” story, describe how we make a thought grow.

4. How can we tune our radio-movie-mind to God, instead of to outer wrong thoughts?

5. How can we tell which thoughts to let into our minds? Which to keep out?

6. Does all sickness come from negative thoughts? Why?

7. Then if we are sick in any way how can we become well?

8. Could any bodily trouble be cured if we made a strong enough picture and had sufficient faith?

9. What causes all of our unhappiness? How can we become happy?

10. What must we do to attract the things we need?

11. Why is it that we sometimes don’t have everything we need?

12. Why is it that we sometimes forget to love everyone and everything?

13. Why do boys and girls sometimes refuse to mind their parents? Did they forget to love for awhile?

14. If they truly loved all the time would they always mind? Why?

15. What is the Law of Life?

16. Why is it important?

NEVER judge nor condemn, never arraign nor censure. Not a word! Never a doubt nor a fear. Never a disparaging remark of another. As you would others should do to the world, so do ye.

Pause! Be still! Not a word, emphatically, not even a look, that will mar the sweet serenity of the soul.

Know God. Keep silence before Him. Not a word of murmuring or complaining in supplication; not a word of nagging or persuading. Let language be simple, gentle, quiet; you utter not a word, but give Him opportunity to speak. Hearken to hear His Voice. This is the way to honor and to know Him.

Not a word—not the least word. Listen to obey. Words make trouble. Be still.

This is the voice of the Spirit. Take no thought for tomorrow. Worry not about home, church or business cares. Cast all on Him—and not a word.

We think so hard, pray so hard, and trust so little.

—Attributed to a Quaker.