Physical Science has resolved matter into molecules, molecules into atoms, atoms into energy, and it has remained for Mr. J. A. Fleming, in an address before the Royal Institution, to resolve this energy into mind. He says: “In its ultimate essence, energy may be incomprehensible by us except as an exhibition of the direct operation of that which we call Mind or Will.”
We find, therefore, that science and religion are not in conflict, but are in perfect agreement. Mr. Leland makes this quite plain, in an article on “world Making.” He says: “First, there is wisdom that has planned, and so adjusted all the parts of the universe in such a perfect balance that there is no friction. And as the universe in infinite, the wisdom that has planned it must be infinite, too.
“Secondly, there is a will that has fixed and ordained the activities and forces of the universe, and bound them by laws inflexible and eternal. And everywhere this Omnipotent Will has established the limitations and directions of the energies and processes, and has fixed their everlasting stability and uniformity.”
“And as the universe is Infinite this Will must be Infinite.”
“And thirdly, there is a power that sustains and moves, a power that never wearies, a power which controls all forces; and, as the universe if Infinite, the Power must be Infinite, too. What shall we name this Infinity trinity, Wisdom, Will and Power? Science knows no simpler name for it than God. This name is all embracing.”
We can conceive something of its meaning, though we cannot comprehend its significance. and this Being is the indwelling ultimate. He is imminent in matter as in spirit; and to Him all Law, Life, Force, must be referred. He is the sustaining, energizing, all-pervading Spirit of the universe.
Every living thing must be sustained by the Omnipotent Intelligence, and we find the difference in individual lives to be largely measured by the degree of this intelligence which they manifest. It is a greater intelligence that places the animal in a higher scale of being than the plant, the man higher than the animal; and we find this increased intelligence is again indicated by the power of the individual to control modes of action and thus to consciously adjust himself to his environment. It is this adjustment that occupies the attention of the greatest minds and this adjustment consists in nothing else than the recognition of an existing order in the Universal Mind, for it is well known that this mind will obey us precisely in proportion as we first obey it.
As we increase in experience and development, there is a corresponding increase in the exercise of the intellect, in the range and power of feeling, in the ability to choose, in the power to will, in all executive action, in all self consciousness. That would mean that self-consciousness is increasing, expanding, growing, developing, and enlarging; it increases and develops because it is a spiritual activity; we multiply our possession of spiritual things in proportion to our use of them. All material things are consumed in the using. There is a diametrically opposite law governing the use of the spiritual and the material.
Life is that quality or principle of the Universal energy which manifests in so-called organic objects as growth and voluntary activity, and which is usually coexistent in some degree, with some manifestation of that same Universal Energy as the quality or principle termed intelligence. There is only one Supreme Principle, evading all comprehension of its essential nature. it is the Absolute. man can think only in terms of the relative. Therefore, he sometimes defines it as the Universal Intelligence, the Universal substance, as Ether, Life, Mind, spirit, Energy, Truth, Love, etc. His particular definition at any moment is governed by the particular relationship of the phenomena of Being in which he thinks of this Principle at that moment.
Mind is present in the lowest forms of life, in the protoplasm, or cell. The protoplasm, or cell, perceives it environment, initiates motion and chooses its food. All these are evidences of mind. As an organism develops and becomes more complex, the cells begin to specialize, some doing one thing and some another, but all of them showing intelligence. By association their mind powers increase.
Whereas in the beginning each function of life and each action is the result of conscious thought, the habitual actions become automatic or subconscious, in order that the self-conscious mind may attend to other things. The new actions will, however, in their turn, become habitual, then automatic, then subconscious in order that the mind again may be freed from this detail and advance to still other activities.
Until very recently, it was said that matter, in its ultimate nature was eternal, though all the forms thereof change. We were told that a building destroyed by fire with nothing but a few ashes left had gone up in smoke and gas, and that only the form of the manifestation had changed; that the essential substances were still in existence in different chemical formations.
We were told that all forms of matter exist in the form of molecules, that these molecules are resolvable into certain smaller elements called atoms. Until recently the atom was supposed to be the ultimate particle of matter, so until recently scientists supposed that matter could be resolved into atoms and that was final.
But with the discovery of radium, it was found that the atom is made up of a large number of smaller particles called electrons or ions, and these electrons vary according to the kind of atom, that is under consideration. A hydrogen atom contains a different number of electrons than an oxygen atom, and so on.
The atoms within the molecule are separated from each other by very great distances as compared with their diameter, the electrons in turn are separated from each other by distances as compared to the diameter, as are the planets in the solar system. When we remember that the molecule which is the larger of the group is so small that it cannot be discovered by the most powerful microscope, so small that you could place many millions of them into an ordinary thimble, you can conceive how infinitesimal is the ultimate particle of matter called the electron or ion.
It has been discovered that the atoms of radium are constantly radiating their ions into space, producing what is called radio activity, that these particles are apparently lost, they simply vanish.
Finally it has been discovered that other forms of matter besides radium are throwing off their ions into space, and that these seem to be absolutely lost in the process, thus the atoms of matter are constantly wasting away, so that the modern physicist no longer claims that matter is indestructible; it is in a constant state of flux, it is forever changing in form.
What then is the director which controls the action of the ion, which indicates the form which it is to take? Mind is the director, and this direction is the process called creation.
It will therefore readily be seen that the basis upon which matter rests is mind or spirit. The spirit of a thing is therefore, the thing itself, it is the spirit of a thing which attracts to itself the necessary electrons for its development from the ether, and which are gradually assembled by the law of growth; it is evident therefore, that the saying of St. Paul is true: “The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”
Many years ago, John Bovee Dods, wrote:
“We have mounted from lead up to electricity, and though as we rose, we found each successive substance more easily moved than the one below it, still we have not as yet found a single material that possesses inherent motion as its attribute. Lead, rock, earth, and water are moved by impulse. Air is moved by rarefaction and electricity is moved by the positive and negative forces. True we have mounted up, as before remarked, to electricity, but even this cannot move, unless it is thrown out of balance in relation to quantity as to its positive and negative forces.
Electricity is a fluid most inconceivable subtle, rarefied and fine. It is computed to require four million particles of our air to make a speck as large as the smallest visible grain of sand, and yet electricity is more than seven hundred thousand times finer than air! It is almost unparticled matter, and is not only invisible, but so far as we can judge, it is imponderable.
It cannot be seen--it cannot be weighed! A thousand empty Leyden jars, capable of containing a gallon each, may be placed upon the nicest scale, and most accurately weighed. Then let these be filled with electricity, and, so far as human sagacity can determine they will weigh no more. Hence to our perception a thousand gallons weigh nothing.
As electricity, in regard to motion, stands upon the poise, being completely balanced by the positive and negative forces, that equalize each other, so it is easily perceived, that if we mount one step higher, we must come to that substance whose nature is to move, and the result of that motion is thought and power. It is MIND. Hence it will be distinctly perceived, in view of the argument now offered, that we cannot, as philosophers, stop short of motion in the highest and most sublime substance in being. This conclusion, as the result of argument, is absolutely and positively irresistible, and challenges refutation.
When we mount up in our contemplations through the various grades of matter, and see it continually brightening--as we press onward in our delightful career of rapture, until we arrive at that sublimated substance which can neither be seen or weighed; which moves with a velocity of twelve million miles per minute, and can travel around this globe in the eighth part of a second,-- we are struck with astonishment and awe! But as this is not the last link in the immeasurable chain, we are forced to proceed onward till we arrive at the finest, most sublime, and brilliant substance in being--a substance that possesses the attributes of inherent or self-motion and living power, and from which all other motion and power through out the immeasurable universe are derived. This is the Infinite Mind, and possesses embodied form. it is a living being. This Infinite Mind comes in contact with electricity, gives to it motion, arms it with power, and through this mighty unseen agent, moves the universe, and carries on all the multifarious operations of nature. Hence, there is not a motion that transpires amidst the immensity of His works, from rolling globes to the falling leaf, but what originates in the Eternal Mind, and by Him is performed, through electricity as His agent. mind is, therefore, the absolute perfection of all substances in being; and as it possesses self-motion as its grand attribute, so it is, in this respect, exactly the reverse of all other substances, which are, of themselves, motionless. Mind, or spirit, is above all, and absolutely disposes and controls all. Hence, Mind is imponderable--invisible, and eternal.”
SILENCE
In silence as the Universe conceived,
In silence doth the heart of man seek out
That other heart to rest on;
Nature’s soul Yearns ceaselessly to give its speechless calm
Unto her restless children as they roam
Far from that central place which is their home.
Wouldst know thy Mother Nature face to face?
Wouldst hear her silent heartbeats?
Close thine ears
And still they senses;
wouldst thou feel her arms Enfold they being?
Thou must give thyself
In uttermost abandon to her will
That she may teach thee the one truth--be still!
Be still--and from the Silence shall arise
A mem’ry of forgotten mysteries.
A healing peace descending on thy soul
Shall bear it up to regions beyond words
Where thou shalt learn the secrets of the earth,
Of wind and flame and how the stars have birth.
Then shalt thou know thy heritage of joy;
Borne on the pinions of the Bird of Life,
Tuned to the rhythm of revolving spheres,
Feeling with all that breathes, with all that strives
For union with its prototype above,
The silent comforter who name is--Love.
-Frances Poile.