Mental Culture. Fear, Worry, Nervousness, Christian Science, Mind Cure

'"Tis the mind that makes the body rich."

THE nervous and mental hygiene, or health, of each individual begins at birth, and ends only with the extinction of life. The hereditarian contends that "the gods visit the sins of the fathers upon the children"; "that we are omnibuses in which all our ancestors ride," and "that the life of each individual is, in some real sense, a continuation of the lives of his ancestors." Much of which is true, but a morbid inheritance is not the crushing and baneful thing that it was once thought. Every individual is free to work out his own salvation, and become what ever circumstances will make of him, or he will make of circumstances. Health is the great heritage for success. The laws of the Spartans, which are worthy of imitation in many respects in this age, sought to give health to each individual. They idolized what was beautiful and useful, and endeavored by the most rigorous means to attain these ends. The sick were not allowed to marry, though the healthy were compelled to do so. Bachelors were publicly denounced after a certain age, and banished from society. Marriage in either sex was not permitted until the age of maturity. The result of this Spartan system of marriage was to produce for five hundred years the strongest and bravest men, and the most beautiful and lovely women the world has ever known. Such a system was the "survival of the fittest." Nervous wrecks would be unknown amongst them. The little that individuals in the present age know about the care and wants of the body, as a result of lack of teaching, is as nothing in comparison with the yet still less that is known about the mind wants, or necessities of the individual. The mental training of children is one that is sadly neglected; as a consequence it is reflected in many unpleasant ways in their after life. Children both inherit and acquire certain mental traits. A dire inheritance is fear.

Fear

Fear is the strongest emotion built into the child during the pre-natal period, through the fear or over-anxiety of the mother. The child enters the world surrounded and influenced by the fear of this, that, and the other thing; the bugaboo man and similar fear-devising ideas - a very atmosphere of fear - which terrorize the child. Very many times even its religious training is permeated with a fear of God, the great Life Giver, instead of with the love of God, who careth for all his creatures. Fear is part and parcel of our make-up, for which our religious teachers have been largely responsible. Nothing else could be expected, when the fear of the fearful hereafter and death has been knit into our very fibre and being, as a result of these teachings. Most of us would only be too pleased if we could divest ourselves of the fears which were inculcated in us during childhood years.

During the school period the child lives more or less in dread or fear of the conditions at school, fear of failing in examinations, the lack of success, resulting in disgrace.

Fear is the most destructive emotion of the mind; it paralyses, kills, and destroys. Many people live in perpetual dread of hereditary or contagious disease. No doubt a great many diseases are due to anxiety or fear. Unquestionably contagious diseases are increased through the mental circulation of fear. Patent medicine advertisements are responsible for the imaginary diseases of thousands and tens of thousands of individuals possessed of a nervous temperament and active imagination. The people are literally scared or feared into taking the medicines. Fear is the imagination let loose - unbridled.

Fear and worry are synonymous terms. If we do not worry we do not fear, and if we do not fear we do not become angry. Worry, fear, and anger are the grossest forms of egotism - self-imagmativeness.

Fear is a form of mental slavery, or bondage in which we have been living for ages. It surrounds man before birth, meets him at the beginning of life, and follows him through life unless he becomes free through Mental Emancipation. If we would be well both in mind and body, we must be free of fear. We must become emancipated, and fearless.

Fear manifests itself in so many unthought of ways. There are those who are afeared to leave the doors unlocked for the night, when possibly there isn't a stranger within miles; others who are afeared of thunder of lightning; others afeared that a storm will soon blow; others afeared of the thousand imaginations of an imaginative mind.

Fear is due to superstition and ignorance. Fear magnifies and creates a thousand imaginary calamities or obstacles, none of which ever come to pass. Fearlessness must be cultivated by every individual.

Fear is born and bred in us as a result of centuries of cultivation. There must have been an object in this, for we know that an individual, imbued with fear, is a slave - a slave to some authority whether it be Church. State, or individual, who exercises this power - Fear. If one would be free and happy he must cultivate Fearlessness. We have much to learn from the Japanese in this respect, who have a love of life, but no fear of death. Who believe what "will be - will be." No wonder, as a race, they are possessed of a wonderful degree of culture and self-control.

Such a thing as fear or worry is practically unknown amongst the Japanese.

Fear engenders distrust and despondency, is the one demoralizing mental state. Opposed to this is Faith, which gives assurance, confidence and trusting expectancy; is the one restoring and sustaining mental state. These two opposing states, Fear and Faith, are the ones which involve the mental influence on health and disease.

Fear is the one demoralizing agent. It lets down the bars and opens the system to the inroads of disease, inviting the very evil that we dread. It creates imaginary evil, and gives to it its fictitious power. It shuts off any healing action in proportion as we are held under by its paralyzing and depressing influences.

Faith is the antidote to fear. Faith restores and exalts as much as fear demoralizes and depresses.

In the cultivation of Fearlessness through Mind-Cure or Mind Power, lies the secret of the cure of worry and nervousness.