God does not punish the mathematician who fails to obtain the right answer to his problem. The thought of the unsolved problem does punish him until he applies the right principle and thus secures the desired result. Thus sin and punishment, righteousness and salvation, are logical reactions of the Universe to the life of the individual. When we are dealing with real Life—with thoughts, impulses, emotions, etc.—we are dealing with Causation, with original Cause, and we should be most careful how we deal with such powers and forces. In dealing with this subtle power of Mind and Spirit, we are dealing with a fluent force. It is forever taking form and forever deserting the form which it has taken. Thus a practitioner of this Science should not be confused over any given form, but should know that any form which is not of the original harmony is subject to change. The Original Spirit is Harmony. It is Beauty and Truth and everything that goes with Ultimate Reality. The Universe is not divided against Itself. We should learn to control our thought processes and bring them into line with Reality. Thought should tend more and more toward an affirmative attitude of mind that is positive, stable, and—above all else—toward a real unity with Spirit that is already complete and perfect. We should be able to look a discordant fact in the face and deny its reality, since we know its seeming reality is borrowed from illusion, from 'chaos and old night.' Our standard is one of perfection. 'Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.' (Matt. 5:48) We should be able to look at a wrong condition with the knowledge that we can change it. The realization that we have this ability must be gained by the application of our knowledge. The practice of the Science of Mind calls for a positive understanding of the Spirit of Truth; a willingness to let this inner Spirit guide us, with the conscious knowledge that 'The law of the Lord is perfect.' (Psalms 19:7) And we must believe this to be a fact. IN SO FAR AS OUR THOUGHT IS IN ACCORD WITH THIS PERFECT LAW, IT WILL ACCOMPLISH AND NOTHING CAN HINDER IT. 'Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away,' (Matt. 24:35) said the beautiful Jesus, as he strove to teach his disciples the immutability of the Law of Righteousness. A practitioner uses thought definitely and for specific purposes, and the more definitely he uses the Law, the more directly will It respond to him. A false fact is neither person, place nor thing to the one who uncovers it, and once uncovered it has no place in which to hide. The illusion, seen and understood, is made negative in the experience of the one who suffered by it. While it is true that wrong conditions exist, they could not remain unless there were someone to experience them. Consequently, the experience must be in consciousness. Change the consciousness and the false condition will disappear. Conditions are not entities, we are entities. Cannot that which is conscious cast out that which has no consciousness? If we properly understood, we would be able to remove false conditions as easily as Jesus did. He knew, but our faith is weak. We must strengthen it and we can. Let us analyze this: One finds himself impoverished. He wishes to change this condition. He knows that it is not in accord with Ultimate Reality; that the Spirit imposes no limitations. Therefore, he knows that his apparent limited condition has no real law to support it; it is simply an experience of consciousness. He wishes a definite result in the opposite direction. First, he realizes that the Law of Life is a Law of Liberty, of Freedom. He now states that this Law of Liberty is flowing through him and into all his affairs. But the image of his limitation persists. Here is a definite contradiction of his statements of freedom.