Chapter V - Prayer and Atonement
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ter's betrayal, sat eating the manna, that before had
ter's betrayal, sat eating the manna, that before had
fed the persecuted followers of Truth in the wilderness.
Their bread came down from heaven; it was the great
Truth of spiritualized being, that often had healed the
sick, and cast out error; their Master had broken, ex-
plained it to them before, and now it was feeding, sus-
taining them; they also had borne it from house to
house, "breaking," explaining it to others; and now
it comforted them. For this Truth their Master was
about to suffer violence, and his cup of sorrow he must
leave to them; he had drank it even with thanks, after
a momentary weakness that said, "Let this cup pass
from me," and now remembering also the cross and
crown it bore, he said to his followers, "Drink ye all of
it." Professors of Christ, are you drinking this cup?
has the blood of the New Testament, the sufferings and
persecutions that attend a new understanding of God,
been shared by you? have you drank this cup? if not,
have you commemorated Jesus in his "cup?" When
the human struggled with the divine, our great ex-
emplar said, "Not my will but thine be done"; not
personal sense, but Soul be represented by me. This
new understanding of the Love that is impersonal, gives
up all for Christ, Truth, blesses them that curse it,
heals the sick, casts out error, raises those dead in be-
lief, and preaches to the poor.
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The rabbi and priest taught a material law, and it
The rabbi and priest taught a material law, and it
was "An eye for an eye," and "whoso sheddeth man's
blood, by man shall his blood be shed "; not so did
Jesus, the new testator of God, copy his will; his law
was Love, and "Greater love hath no man than this, that
he lay down his life for a friend," but he did this for his
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enemies, showing the Love, the Life and Truth, that
enemies, showing the Love, the Life and Truth, that
is the at-one-ment with God.
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First on the list of Christian duties, he taught his
First on the list of Christian duties, he taught his
followers to heal the sick; he attached no importance to
dead ceremonies; it was the living Christ, the Truth,
that is Life, that made him the resurrection and Life to
all who follow him. Thus keeping his precious pre-
cepts and following his demonstration in its under-
standing, we shall indeed drink his cup and be baptized
with his purity, until we sit down with him anew in a
fuller understanding of the Principle of that man, Jesus.
"For as often as ye eat his bread and drink his cup, ye
do show forth the Lord's death till he come."
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A belief can never show forth the works of under-
A belief can never show forth the works of under-
standing, and has never yet followed Jesus in his
demonstration; to do this we must consecrate our lives
to the Principle for which he was crucified, and be
willing to drink of the cup it brings. "But for this
cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many
sleep."
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Rites fetter the pinions of Soul, they materialize, and
Rites fetter the pinions of Soul, they materialize, and
prevent the Spirit, by holding us to the body; for matter
separates from Spirit. We speak of the atonement of
Christ reconciling God to man; but Christ is God, and
God propitiates not Himself, and there is nothing
higher to conciliate. Again, Love and Truth are not
irreconciled to the idea of God, and man is this idea.
But man being the shadow of Almighty, cannot
exceed Him in Love; or reconcile Truth to error.
His students understood the sufferings, teachings,
and demonstration of their glorious Master better than
all this. When Jesus gave up the body material to