How to Live Quietly from Annie Payson Call
Annie Payson Call wrote a msterpiece called “How to Live Quitly. In her book written she explains some pwoerful testimony to living well. This volume first published in 1914, discusses the path to find inner peace.
She explains:
“SO universal is the habit of blaming circumstances or other people for the troubles of our own lives that I know a strong assertion of the fact that the source of all trouble lies entirely within ourselves will meet with contradiction and resentment from many readers.”
“If each individual soul would do his own work, — would in himself work with an alert desire to know the laws of the spirit and to obey them; — if each individual would get the habit of looking entirely to himself for the cause of suffering in himself, and would refuse to compromise in any slightest way, the gain in spiritual health that would come to the world would be wonderful, — most wonderful.
The best of it is that through this habit of each individual looking first entirely to himself and not blaming circumstances or the other man in the very least for his own discomfort, the whole family or community would become healthy.
Of course the health of each individual will work towards the health of a community of individuals, and as peace is the health of the spirit, the peace of each individual will tend toward peace for many individuals combined.
The greatest obstacle in the way now is this low standard among us with regard to blaming circumstances or other people.
Unlike those seeking for higher standards with regard to the health of the body, we have not to study scientifically to find out the laws of spiritual health. The best text-book that could possibly be is right here with us. It is practical obedience to it in detail that we need, — not criticism as to whether the other man is obeying or not, but steady, persistent obedience in ourselves.
Then, too, we need not dig into ourselves to find the various forms of spiritual disease. If we refuse to act or to speak or to think from the forms of selfishness that we do see, other forms of selfishness to be cast off will rise of themselves to our consciousness, and thus will the healthy growth of the spirit go on within us, the main work being done by the Creative Power, — our work being only to fulfil the conditions.
“Gratitude, humility, and penitence connect our weakness with God’s strength.” ”
You can get a collectible version of this book, here:
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