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"The mind quickly
responds to teaching and discipline. You can make the mind give you back
anything you want." -
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, 1898-1993
Dr.
Norman Vincent Peale, born to a working class family in Ohio in 1898,
became one of the most influential clergymen in the United States in the
20th Century. His weekly radio program was aired on NBC Radio for
54 years. "The Power of Positive Thinking" which he
authored, sold millions of copies worldwide.
Here are some of Dr. Norman Vincent
Peale's most famous quotes:
"Believe
in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but
reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or
happy."
"Change your thoughts and you change your world."
"Do
not be awe struck by other people and try to copy them. Nobody can be
you as efficiently as you can."
"Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of
yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it
to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture...Do not build up
obstacles in your imagination."
"People
become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do
things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of
success."
“Empty
pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do
that."
Dr. Peale was a Christian, but his philosophy
was not limited to Christianity. But, still, he remained
Christian, although many fundamentalists and traditional Christian
ministers shunned him and his great work. His was a positive
Christianity that few of his peers had evolved to. Dr. Peale was
heavily influenced by Dr. Ernest Holmes, founder of the Church of
Religious Science (Science of Mind). The Unity School of Christianity
founded by Charles Fillmore and his wife, Myrtle Fillmore, also
influenced Dr. Peale. He took from Fillmore the term positive thinking
and introduced it to his Christian audience. Dr. Peale, was Dr.
Robert Schuller's, (founder of the Crystal Cathedral) mentor. He
founded "Guideposts Magazine" in 1945, with his wife Ruth
Stafford Peale. The magazine continues to this day with its
inspirational messages of hope and faith in prayer.
In an article in Modern Maturity magazine,
December - January 1975-76, Dr. Peale was asked if people are inherently
good or bad. He said "They are inherently good. The bad reactions
aren't basic. Every human being is a child of God and has more good in
him than evil--but circumstances and associates can step up the bad and
reduce the good. I've got great faith in the essential fairness and
decency, you may say goodness, of the human being." In the same
article Dr. Peale said concerning Christ, "I like to describe him
as, the nearest thing to God."
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale touched the
lives of millions of people ... but no one in our current era has truly
carried forth his teachings. At one time I thought Joel Osteen
would be the one to do it ... but he is too mired in limited religiosity
to do it. And even though it is clear to almost everyone that
Osteen reads metaphysical books, he will not publicly talk about the
books he reads. Dr. Norman Vincent Peal wrote an endorsement for
Dr. Ernest Holmes' writings ... which angered many Christian
fundamentalists. He was not
a people pleaser ... he was in tune
with the Infinite.
It does not take a great leap in
understanding to evolve Dr. Peale's work ... simply realize that it is
not Christian by the usual definitions. It is a philosophy that
will work for anyone ... of any religion ... or no religion at all.
It is for people of faith ... faith in a Power greater than us that
works for us by working through us ... through our mind. It is as
close to the Science of Mind as any Christian philosophy has come.
I believe, that the Science of Mind, is in fact the next step for anyone
who studies the work of Dr. Peale ... and Radical Religious Science is
the obvious step after that.
From Dr. Norman Vincent Peale: "Anybody
can do just about anything with himself that he really wants to and
makes up his mind to do. We are all capable of greater things than we
realize."
AND SO IT IS!
Keep
the faith!
Rev. Hank
Bates
Visit: www.IraqMemorial.org
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