EXPERIENCE was once defined as "chiefly mistake," and in so far as earthly experience goes, this definition is apt to be exact; for through the correction of mistakes, humanity elects to learn its lessons. The starting-point of all true experience must necessarily be spiritual. Principle's divine prerogative is to point the way, and in so far as we follow this leading, experience is purified, mistakes are minimized. The sincerest desire to adhere to Principle in our life-course may for a time be frustrated by the intrusion of human opinion or mental suggestion, which parades its shallowness close to the sacred precincts of accepted truth, and thus it may deceive the superficial thinker.
To see clearly on any subject it is necessary that the mists of mesmerism be dispelled by persistent, methodical work; side issues should be waived, and the main point be held to. So may we hope to distinguish the voice of Truth from the suggestions of error. At first this appears to be difficult, but a sure reward is ours through faithful application to the task.
Like all that is divine, the chief characteristic of inspiration is continuity, and whenever this seems to be lacking in our lives, it is because our imperfect effort reaches but intermittently that altitude whence flows the stream of living truth. There is no cessation in the quantity or the quality of the inspiration, but wrong mental conditions will prevent our profiting from Truth's outpouring. Mental suggestion does not, like Truth, need to be diligently sought; it intrudes itself unceremoniously upon thought and tries to dominate it. Its tactics are irregular and spasmodic, and in order to justify itself, mental suggestion inculcates its erroneous propositions along the lines of thought most familiar to its victims and strives to still suspicion by calling that original which is only a counterfeit.
