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The Secret Door to Success, by Florence Scovel Shinn, [1941], at sacred-texts.com
"The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want." Psalms 23:1
The 23rd Psalm is the best known of all the Psalms—we might say that it is the keynote to the message of the Bible.
It tells man he shall never want, when he has the realization (or conviction) that the Lord is his Shepherd: the realization that Infinite Intelligence supplies every need.
If you get this conviction today, every need will be met now and forever-more; you will draw, instantly, from the abundance of the spheres, whatever you desire or require; for what you need is already on your pathway.
A woman suddenly had the realization: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall never want." She seemed to be touching her invisible supply, she felt outside of Time and Space, she no longer relied on the external.
Her first demonstration was a small, but necessary one. She needed at once, some large paperclips, but had no time to go to a stationer's to buy them.
In looking for something else, she opened a little-used chest, and in it, she found, about a dozen large paper-clips. She felt that the law was working, and gave thanks; then some needed money appeared, things large and small came her way.
Since then she has relied upon the statement: "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall never want."
We used to hear people say, "I do not think it is right to ask God for money or things."
They did not realize that this Creative Principle is within each man.—(The Father within). True Spirituality is proving God as your supply, daily—not just once in a while.
Jesus Christ knew this law, for whatever He desired or required, appeared immediately on His pathway, the loaves and fishes and money from the fish's mouth.
With this realization, all hoarding and saving would disappear.
This does not mean that you should not have a big bank account, and investments, but it does mean that you should not depend upon them, for if you had a loss in one direction, you would have a gain in another.
Always "your barns would be full and your cup flow over."
Now, how does one make this contact with his invisible supply? By taking a statement of Truth which clicks and gives him realization.
This is not open to a chosen few, "Whosoever calleth on the name of the Lord shall be delivered." The Lord is your shepherd and my shepherd and everybody's shepherd.
God is the Supreme Intelligence devoted to supplying man's need; the explanation is, that man is God in action. Jesus Christ said, "I and the Father are one.
We might paraphrase the statement and say, I and the great Creative Principle of the Universe, are one and the same.
Man only lacks when he loses his contact with this Creative Principle, which must be fully trusted, for it is Pure Intelligence and knows the way of Fulfillment.
The reasoning mind and personal will, cause a short circuit.
"Trust in me and I will bring it to pass."
Most people are filled with apprehension and dread, when there is nothing to cling to on the external.
A woman came to a practitioner and said, "I'm only a poor little woman with no one but God back of me." The practitioner said,—"You need not worry if you have God back of you," for "all that the Kingdom affords is yours."
A woman called me on the phone and said, almost in tears, "I'm so worried about the business situation." I replied, "The situation with God remains the same: The Lord is your Shepherd: you shall not want." "If one door shuts, another door opens."
A very successful business-man who conducts all affairs on Truth methods, said, "The trouble with most people is, that they get to relying on certain conditions. They haven't enough imagination to go forward—to open new channels."
Nearly every big success is built upon a failure.
I was told that Edgar Bergen lost his part in a Broadway production because they did not want any more dummies. Noel Coward got him on the Rudy Vallee radio hour, and he and Charlie McCarthy became famous over night.
I told the story, at one of my meetings, of a man who was so poor and discouraged, that he ended it all. A few days later, came a letter notifying him that he had inherited a large fortune.
A man in the meeting said: "That means, when you want to be dead, your demonstration is three days off." Yes, do not be fooled by the darkness before the dawn.
It is a good thing to see the dawn once in a while, to convince you how unfailing it is. It reminds me of an experience of several years ago.
I had a friend who lived in Brooklyn near Prospect Park. She liked to do unusual things and said to me: "Come to visit me and we'll get up early and see the sun-rise in Prospect Park."
At first I refused, and then came the hunch that it would be an interesting experience.
It was in the summer. We got up about four o'clock,—my friend, her little daughter and myself. It was pitch dark, but we sallied forth down the street, to the entrance of the Park.
Some policemen eyed us curiously, but my friend said to them with dignity, "We are going to see the sun-rise;" and it seemed to satisfy them. We walked through the Park to the beautiful rose-garden.
A faint pink streak appeared in the East, then suddenly, we heard a most tremendous uproar. We were near the Zoo and all the animals were greeting the dawn.
The lions and tigers roared, the hyenas laughed, there were shrieks and howls: every animal had something to say, for a new day was at hand.
It was indeed, most inspiring. The light slanted through the trees; everything had an unearthly aspect.
Then, as it grew lighter, our shadows were in front instead of behind us. The dawn of a new day!
This is the wonderful dawn which comes to each one of us, after some darkness.
Your dawn of Success, Happiness and Abundance is sure to come.
Every day is important, for we read in the wonderful Sanskrit poem, "Look well, therefore, to this day, such is the salutation of the dawn."
This day the Lord is your Shepherd! This day, you shall not want; as you and this great Creative Principle are one and the same.
The 34th Psalm is also a Psalm of security. It starts with a blessing for the Lord, "I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth."
"They that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing." Seeking the Lord means that man must make the first move. "Draw near to me and I will draw near to thee, saith the Lord."
You seek the Lord by making your affirmation, expecting and preparing for your good.
If you ask for success and prepare for failure, you will receive the thing you have prepared for.
I tell in my book, "The Game of Life and How to Play It," of a man who asked me to speak the word that all his debts be wiped out.
After the treatment, he said, "Now I'm thinking what I'll say to the people when I haven't the money to pay them." A treatment won't help you if you haven't faith in it, for faith and expectancy impress the subconscious mind with the picture of fulfillment.
In the 23rd Psalm we read, "He restoreth my soul." Your soul is your subconscious mind and must be re-stored with the right ideas.
Whatever you feel deeply is impressed upon the subconscious, and manifests in your affairs.
If you are convinced that you are a failure, you will be a failure, until you impress the subconscious with the conviction you are a success.
This is done by making an affirmation which "clicks."
A friend in a meeting said that I had given her the statement as she was leaving the room—"The ground you are on is harvest ground." Things with her, had been very dull; but this statement clicked.
"Harvest Ground, Harvest Ground," rang in her ears. Good things immediately commenced to come to her, and happy surprises.
The reason it is necessary to make an affirmation is because repetition impresses the subconscious. You cannot control your thoughts at first, but you can control your words, and Jesus Christ said: "By your words you are justified and by your words you are condemned."
Every day, choose the right words; the right thoughts!
The Imaging faculty is the creative faculty: "Out of the imaginations of the heart come the issues of life."
We have all a bank we can draw upon, the Bank of the Imagination.
Let us imagine ourselves rich, well and happy: imagine all our affairs in divine order; but leave the way of fulfillment to Infinite Intelligence.
"He has weapons ye know not of," He has channels which will surprise you.
One of the most important passages in the 23rd Psalm is—"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies."
This means that even in the presence of the enemy situation, brought on by your doubts, fears or resentments, a way out is prepared for you.
The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall never want.