Bible Review V15: October 1916 - March 1918 - Iapsop.com

486 BIBLE REVIEW Dec.-Jan.
of our former incarnations.
But here we touch an endless
chain which is quite difficult to put into words that
may be understood, therefore we will turn our attention
to our own individuality as we find it.
We repeat our
question in another form. Why does your consciousness
differ from that of every other individual, tho they may
be in the same place, beholding the same scenery at the
same time? Now, to answer this question, we ask you to
make special effort to think soberly and carefully; for
when it is answered correctly to your own mind, you will
find yourself in possession of almost infinite possibilities.
First, then, your consciousness is made up wholly, for the
occasion, with the thoughts that you think, the feelings
and impulses active in your bodies. The thoughts that
you think may arise from a great variety of circumstances
outside of yourself, but the feelings and impulses
come wholly from the settled beliefs, based upon former
thoughts which have become, so to speak, solidified
within you. As one has correctly said, "Flesh is thought
crystallized." The body that you inherited from parentage
was acrystallization of the parent's thought. This
gave quality to the body and color to every idea received
by the mind afterward. Experiences, however, modified
or intensified the colorings of every idea that you held
in youth, until in many instances they were entirely
changed. For illustration, certain ideas suggested to the
mind might produce horror or pain or disgust because of
honest beliefs concerning them, but experience often
radically changes all this, so that the same thoughts in
place of bringing unpleasantness to the consciousness,
may bring delight. The way we see things is the effect
of experience and the result of certain conditions. The
way that certain conditions affect us gives the evidence of
changing consciousness; for it must be remembered that
consciousness makes up our individuality, our real self.