Daily meditation, Jan 17th: James Allen

All things are orderly and sequential being governed by the law of causation.

JANUARY SEVENTEENTH

DO not trouble about results, or be anxious as to the future; but be troubled about personal shortcomings, and be anxious to remove them; for know this simple truth—wrong does not result from right, and a good present cannot give birth to a bad future. You are the custodian of your deeds, but not of the results which flow from them. The deeds of to-day bring the happiness or sorrow of to-morrow. Be therefore concerned about what you think and do, rather than about what may or may not come to you; for he whose deeds are good does not concern himself about results, and is freed from fear of future ill.

Verily the Law reigneth, and reigneth for ever, and Justice and Love are its eternal ministers.

Daily meditation, Jan 16th: James Allen

Live sweetly and happily, as becomes the dignity of a true manhood and womanhood.

JANUARY SIXTEENTH

THERE is no greater happiness than to be occupied with good, whether it be good thoughts, good actions, or good employment; for every good thing is fraught with bliss, and evil cannot enter the heart or house that is tenanted by all that is good. The mind whose doors are guarded by good shuts out unhappiness as the well-sentried garrison shuts out the foe. Unhappiness can only enter through unguarded doors, and even then its power over the tenant is not complete unless it find him occupied with evil. Not to entertain evil thoughts; not to do bad actions; not to engage in worthless or questionable employment, but to resort to good in all things—this is the source of supreme happiness.

Pure happiness is the rightful and happy condition of the soul.

Daily meditation, Jan 15th: James Allen

The Never-Ending Gladness awaits your Home-coming.

JANUARY FIFTEENTH

AS the falling rain prepares the earth for the future crops of grain and fruit, so the rains of many sorrows showering upon the heart prepare and mellow it for the coming of that wisdom that perfects the mind and gladdens the Heart. As the clouds darken the earth but to cool and fructify it, so the clouds of grief cast a shadow over the heart to prepare it for nobler things. The hour of sorrow is the hour of reverence. It puts an end to the shallow sneer, the ribald jest, the cruel calumny; it softens the heart with sympathy, and enriches the mind with thoughtfulness. Wisdom is mainly recollection of all that was learned by sorrow.

Do not think that your sorrow will remain; it will pass away like a cloud.

Where self ends, grief passes away.

A Prayer

We shall pass through this world but once.
Therefore, any good thing I can do,
For any living being,
Let me do it now.
Let me not defer it or neglect it,
For I shall not pass this way again.

by Anonymous

Daily meditation, Jan 14th: James Allen

Exert yourself ceaselessly in decreasing evil and accumulating good.

JANUARY FOURTEENTH

VICTORY of all kinds is preceded by a season of preparation. It can no more appear spontaneously and erratically than can a flower or a mountain. Like them, it is the culminating point in a process of growth, in a series of causes and effects. No mere wishing, no magic word, will produce worldly success; it must be achieved by an orderly succession of well-directed efforts. No spiritual victory will be achieved by him who imagines that it does not begin until the hour of temptation arrives. All spiritual triumphs are gained in the silent hour of meditation, and through a series of successes in lesser trials.

The time of great temptation is the climax of a conquest that long preparation has made certain and complete.

Fix your minds on the practice of virtue, and the comprehension and application of fixed and noble principles.

Daily meditation, Jan 13th: James Allen

The wise purify their thoughts.

JANUARY THIRTEENTH

EVERYday is a new birth in time, holding out new beginnings, new possibilities, new achievements. The ages have witnessed the stars in their orbits, but this day hath no age witnessed. It is a new appearance, a new reality. It heralds a new life—yea, a new order, a new society, a new age. It holds out new hopes, new opportunities, to all men. In it you can become a new man, a new woman. For you it can be the day of regeneration, renewal, rebirth. From the old past with its mistakes, failures, and sorrows, you can Rise a new being, endued with power and purpose, and radiant with the inspiration of a new ideal.

Be chaste in mind and body. Abandon sensual pleasures. Purge the mind of selfishness, and live a life of exalted purity.

Be upright, gentle, and pure-hearted.

Daily meditation, Jan 12th: James Allen

Renew your resolution daily, and in the hour of temptation do not depart from the right path.

JANUARY TWELFTH

THE days are lengthening. Each day now the sun rises a little higher, and the light lingers a little longer. So each day we can strengthen our character; each day we can open our heart a little more to the light of Truth, and allow the Sun of Righteousness to shine more highly in our mind. The sun does not increase in volume or intensity, but the earth turns towards it, and receives more as it turns. All that there is of Truth and Good is now. It does not increase or diminish, but as we turn towards it we receive of its radiance and beneficence in ever-increasing abundance and power.

As the artisan acquires skill in fashioning the articles of his craft by daily and diligent practice with his tools, so do you acquire skill in fashioning good deeds by daily and diligent practice of the Truth.

You can acquire Truth only by practice.

Daily meditation, Jan 11th: James Allen

It matters little what is without, for it is all a reflection of your own consciousness.

JANUARY ELEVENTH

THE deplorable failure of many outward and isolated reforms is traceable to the fact that their devotees pursue them as an end in themselves, failing to see that they are merely steps towards ultimate, individual perfection.

All true reform must come from within, in a changed heart and mind. The giving up of certain foods and drinks, and the breaking away from certain outward habits, are good and necessary beginnings; but they are only beginnings, and to end there is to fall far short of a true spiritual life. It is good, therefore, to cleanse the heart, to correct the mind, and to develop the understanding, for we know that the one thing needed is a regenerate heart.

It matters everything what you are within, for everything without will be mirrored and coloured accordingly.