Florence Scovel-Shinn - The Power of the Spoken Word

Start Publishing LLC

Copyright 2012 by Start Publishing LLC

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

First Start Publishing eBook edition October 2012

Start Publishing is a registered trademark of Start Publishing LLC

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

ISBN 978-1-62558-671-1

Florence Scovel Shinn taught metaphysics in New York for many years. Her meetings were well attended and in that way she was the means of bringing the message to a considerable number of people.

Her books have had a wide circulation not only in America but abroad. They seem to have a knack of finding their way to remote and unexpected places in Europe and other parts of the world. Now and again we meet someone who came into Truth through finding a Florence Shinn book in the most improbable location.

One secret of her success was that she was always herself... colloquial, informal, friendly, and humorous. She never sought to be literary, conventional, or impressive. For this reason she appealed to thousands who would not have taken the spiritual message through the more conservative and dignified forms, or have been willing to read... at least in the beginning... the standard metaphysical books.

She herself was very spiritual, although this was usually hidden behind a matter of fact and carefree treatment of her subject. The technical or academic approach was not for her. She taught by familiar, practical, and everyday examples.

She had been by profession an artist and book illustrator before becoming a Truth teacher, and belonged to an old Philadelphia family.

She left a collection of notes and memoranda which have been made into the present book. May it have a wide circulation. Emmet Fox

Be strong! Fear not; Fear is mans only adversary. You face defeat whenever you are fearful! Fear of lack! Fear of failure! Fear of loss! Fear of personality! Fear of criticism! Fear robs you of all power, for you have lost your contact with the Universal Power House. Why are ye fearful, Oh ye of little faith? Fear is inverted faith. It is faith turned upside down. When you are fearful you begin to attract the thing you fear: you are magnetizing it. You are hypnotized by the race thought when you are afraid.

Daniel was undisturbed because he knew his God was stronger than the lions, his God made the lions as harmless as kittens, so walk up to your lion as quickly as possible and see for yourself. Perhaps, all your life youve been running away from some particular lion. It has made your life miserable and your hair grey. A hairdresser once told me that she knew a woman, whose grey hair returned to its natural color when she stopped worry. A woman said to me during an interview, Im not a bit fearful, but I worry a lot. Fear and worry are twins and are the same thing. If you were fearless your worry cells would be dried up. Why are ye worried, Oh ye of little faith? I think the most prevalent fear is the fear of loss. Perhaps you have everything that life can give, but in creeps the old lion of apprehension. You hear him growling, Its too good to be true! It cant last. If he gets your attention you may well worry.

Many people have lost what they prized most dearly in life. That is because invariably they fear loss. The only weapon you can use against your lions is your word. Your word is your wand, filled with magic and power. You wave your wand over your lion and transmute him into a kitten. BUT the lion will remain a lion unless you walk up to him. You may well ask, HOW do we walk up to lions?

Moses said unto his people, Fear ye not, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will show to you this day for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again, no more forever! The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace. What a marvelous arrangement!

Infinite Intelligence knows the way out. Infinite Intelligence knows where the supply is, for every demand. But we must trust It, keep our poise, and give It right of way. So many people are afraid of other people. They run away from disagreeable situations, so of course, the situation runs after them.

The Lord is my light and my salvation: whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life: of whom shall I be afraid? The twenty-seventh Psalm is one of the most triumphant Psalms! It is also rhythmic and musical. The writer realized that no enemy could harm him, for the Lord was his light and his salvation. Now remember, your only enemies are within yourself. The Bible is speaking of the enemy thoughts, your doubts, fears, hates, resentments, and forebodings. Every negative situation in your life is a crystallized thought, it has been built up out of your own vain imaginings! But these situations cannot stand the light of truth. So, you face the situation fearlessly, saying, The Lord is my light and salvation; whom shall I fear?

Jesus Christ was the greatest of metaphysicians and gave us definite rules for controlling conditions through word and thought. Thou hast made me wiser than mine enemies. First of all, you must be wiser than your enemy thoughts, the army of the aliens. You must answer every negative thought with a word of authority. The army of the aliens will chant: Business is dull and money is scarce. Immediately you reply, My supply comes from God and now appears like mushrooms overnight. There are no hard times in the kingdom. You may have to keep this up for quite a while, like the song of the katydidsKaty didKaty didnt. and so on. Finally you win out, for the truth must prevail and you have put to flight the army of the aliens. Then, when you are off your guard, the army of the aliens begins again; Youre not appreciated, youll never be a success. You answer immediately: God appreciates me, therefore man appreciates me. Nothing can interfere with my divinely designed success. Finally the army of the aliens is dissolved and dissipated, because you do not give it your attention. You have starved the aliens out. Starve out the fear thoughts by not giving them your attention and acting your faith. The lion draws his fierceness from your fear, his roar is in the tremors of your heart. Stand still like Daniel, and you too shall hear the rush of angels sent to take your part.

The mission of Jesus Christ was to wake people up. Awake thou that sleepeth. People were asleep in the Adamic dream of opposites. Lack, loss, failure, sin, sickness and death seemed realities to them. The story of Adam is, that he ate of the tree of Illusion and fell into a deep sleep. In this deep sleep he vainly imagined good and evil.

Bernard Shaw, in his book Back to Methuselah, says: Adam invented murder, birth and death and all negative conditions. It was the development of the reasoning mind. Of course, Adam stands for Generic Mind. In the Garden of Eden stage, man functioned only in the superconscious. Whatever he desired or required was always at hand. With the development of the reasoning mind came the fall of man. He reasoned himself into lack, limitations and failure. He earned his bread by the sweat of the brow, instead of being Divinely provided for.

Jesus Christs message was to bring people back into the fourth dimension, the Garden of Eden consciousness. In the 14th Chapter of John we find the summing-up of all His teachings. He called it, The Gospel, which means Good Tidings.

With amazing simplicity and directness, He told the people that if they asked, believing, they would receive; attributing the power always to the Father within. God is the Giver, man the receiver! This Supreme Intelligence supplies man with all that he desires or requires! This was certainly a doctrine to wake people up! He proved His statements with miracles and wonders. One of the most dramatic miracles was the healing of the man who had been blind from birth. The opponents of Jesus questioned the man, hoping to find something against Him. But the man would only say: One thing I know; whereas I was blind, now I can see. This is a marvelous statement to make to yourself. Whereas I was blind, now I can see. Perhaps you were blind to your good, blind to your opportunities, blind to your intuitive leads, blind to appearances, mistaking friends for enemies. When you are awake to your good, you know there are no enemies, for God utilizes every person and situation for your good. Hindrances are friendly and obstacles stepping-stones. One with God, you become invincible.