A Peaceful mind generates power

AT BREAKFAST IN A HOTEL dining room three of us tell

to discussing how well we had slept the night before, a truly

momentous topic. One man complained of a sleepless night.

He had tossed and turned and was about as exhausted as

when he retired. "Guess I'd better stop listening to the news

before going to bed," he observed. "I tuned in last night and

sure got an ear full of trouble."

That is quite a phrase, "an ear full of trouble." Little wonder

he had a disturbed night. "Maybe the coffee I drank before

retiring had something to do with it," he mused.

The other man spoke up, "As for me, I had a grand night. I

got my news from the evening paper and from an early

broadcast and had a chance to digest it before I went to sleep.

Of course," he continued, "I used my go-to-sleep plan which

never fails to work."

I prodded him for his plan, which he explained as follows:

"When I was a boy, my father, a farmer, had the habit of

gathering the family in the parlor at bedtime and he read to

us out of the Bible. I can hear him yet. In fact, every time I

hear those Bible verses I always seem to hear them in the

tone of my father's voice. After prayers I would go up to my

room and sleep like a top. But when I left home I got away

from the Bible reading and prayer habit.

"I must admit that for years practically the only time I ever

prayed was when I got into a jam. But some months ago my

wife and I, having a number of difficult problems, decided

we would try it again. We found it a very helpful practice, so

now every night before going to bed she and I together read

the Bible and have a little session of prayer. I don't know what there is about it, but I have been sleeping better and

things have improved all down the line. In fact, I find it so

helpful that even out on the road, as I am now, I still read the

Bible and pray. Last night I got into bed and read the 23rd

Psalm. I read it out loud and it did me a lot of good."

He turned to the other man and said, "I didn't go to bed with

an ear full of trouble. I went to sleep with a mind full of

peace."

Well, there are two cryptic phrases for you—"an ear full of

trouble" and "a mind full of peace." Which do you choose?

The essence of the secret lies in a change of mental attitude.

One must learn to live on a different thought basis, and even

though thought change requires effort, it is much easier than

to continue living as you are. The life of strain is difficult.

The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress,

is the easiest type of existence. The chief struggle then in

gaining mental peace is the effort of revamping your

thinking to the relaxed attitude of acceptance of God's gift of

peace.

As an illustration of taking a relaxed attitude and therefore

receiving peace, I always think of an experience in a certain

city where I lectured one evening. Prior to going on the

platform I was sitting backstage going over my speech when

a man approached and wanted to discuss a personal problem.

I informed him that at the moment it was impossible to talk

as I was just about to be introduced, and asked him to wait.

While speaking I noticed him in the wings nervously pacing

up and down, but afterward he was nowhere about. However,

he had given me his card, which indicated that he was a man

of considerable influence in that city.

Back at my hotel, although it was late, I was still troubled by

this man so I telephoned him. He was surprised at my call and explained that he did not wait because obviously I was

busy. "I just wanted you to pray with me," he said. "I thought

if you would pray with me, perhaps I could get some peace."

"There is nothing to prevent us from praying together on the

telephone right now," I said.

Somewhat in surprise, he replied, "I have never heard of

praying on the telephone."

"Why not?" I asked. "A telephone is simply a gadget of

communication. You are some blocks from me, but by

means of the telephone we are together. Besides," I

continued, "the Lord is with each of us. He is at both ends of

this line and in between. He is with you and He is with me."

"All right," he conceded. "I'd like to have you pray for me."

So I closed my eyes and prayed for the man over the

telephone, and I prayed just as though we were in the same

room. He could hear and the Lord could hear. When I

finished I suggested, "Won't you pray?" There was no

response. Then at the other end of the line I heard sobbing

and finally, "I can't talk," he said.

"Go on and cry for a minute or two and then pray," I

suggested. "Simply tell the Lord everything that is bothering

you. I assume this is a private line, but if not, and if anybody

is listening, it won't matter. As far as anyone is concerned,

we are just a couple of voices. Nobody would know it is you

and I."

Thus encouraged, he started to pray, hesitantly at first, and

then with great impetuosity he poured out his heart, and it

was filled with hate, frustration, failure—a mass of it. Finally

he prayed plaintively, "Dear Jesus, I have a lot of nerve to

ask you to do anything for me, because I never did anything

for you. I guess you know what a no-account I am, even

though I put on a big front. I am sick of all this, dear Jesus.Please help me."

So I prayed again, and asked the Lord to answer his prayer,

then said, "Lord, at the other end of the telephone wire, place

your hand on my friend and give him peace. Help him now

to yield himself and accept your gift of peace." Then I

stopped, and there was a rather long pause, and I shall never

forget the tone in his voice as I heard him say, "I shall

always remember this experience, and I want you to know

that for the first time in months I feel clean inside and happy

and peaceful." This man employed a simple technique for

having a peaceful mind. He emptied his mind and he

received peace as a gift from God.

As a physician said, "Many of my patients have nothing

wrong with them except their thoughts. So I have a favorite

prescription that I write for some, but it is not a prescription

that you can fill at a drugstore. The prescription I write is a

verse from the Bible, 'Romans 12:2.' I do not write out that

verse for my patients. I make them look it up and it reads:

'...be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind...' To be

happier and healthier they need a renewing of their minds,

that is, a change in the pattern of their thoughts. When they

'take' this prescription, they actually achieve a mind full of

peace. That helps to produce health and well-being."

A primary method for gaining a mind full of peace is to

practice emptying the mind. This will be emphasized in

another chapter, but I mention it here to underscore the

importance of a frequent mental catharsis. I recommend a

mind-emptying at least twice a day, more often if necessary.

Definitely practice emptying your mind of fears, hates,

insecurities, regrets, and guilt feelings. The mere fact that

you consciously make this effort to empty your mind tends to

give relief. Haven't you experienced a sense of release when

you have been able to pour out to somebody whom you can

trust worrisome matters that lay heavy upon the heart? As a pastor I have often observed how much it means to people to

have someone to whom they can truly and in confidence tell

everything troubling their minds.

I conducted a religious service on board the S.S. Lurline on a

recent voyage to Honolulu. In the course of my talk I

suggested that people who were carrying worries in their

minds might go to the stern of the vessel and imaginatively

take such anxious thought out of the mind, drop it overboard,

and watch it disappear in the wake of the ship. It seems an

almost childlike suggestion, but a man came to me later that

day and said, "I did as you suggested and am amazed at the

relief it has given me. During this voyage," he said, "every

evening at sunset I am going to drop all my worries

overboard until I develop the psychology of casting them

entirely out of my consciousness. Every day I shall watch

them disappear in the great ocean of time. Doesn't the Bible

say something about 'forgetting those things that are

behind'?"

The man to whom this suggestion appealed is not an

impractical sentimentalist. On the contrary, he is a person of

extraordinary mental stature, an outstanding leader in his

field.

Of course, emptying the mind is not enough. When the mind

is emptied, something is bound to enter. The mind cannot

long remain a vacuum. You cannot go around permanently

with an empty mind. I admit that some people seem to

accomplish that feat, but by and large it is necessary to refill

the emptied mind or the old, unhappy thoughts which you

have cast out will come sneaking in again.

To prevent that happening, immediately start filling your

mind with creative and healthy thoughts. Then when the old

fears, hates, and worries that have haunted you for so long

try to edge back in, they will in effect find a sign on the door

of your mind reading "occupied." They may struggle for admission, for having lived in your mind for a long time,

they feel at home there. But the new and healthy thoughts

which you have taken in will now be stronger and better

fortified, and therefore able to repulse them. Presently the

old thoughts will give up altogether and leave you alone.

You will permanently enjoy a mind full of peace.

At intervals during the day practice thinking a carefully

selected series of peaceful thoughts. Let mental pictures of

the most peaceful scenes you have ever witnessed pass

across your mind, as, for example, some beautiful valley

filled with the hush of evening time, as the shadows lengthen

and the sun sinks to rest. Or recall the silvery light of the

moon falling upon rippling waters, or remember the sea

washing gently upon soft shores of sand. Such peaceful

thought images will work upon your mind as a healing

medicine. So now and then during every day allow motion

pictures of peace slowly to cross your mind.

Practice the technique of suggestive articulation, that is,

repeat audibly some peaceful words. Words have profound

suggestive power, and there is healing in the very saying of

them. Utter a series of panicky words and your mind will

immediately go into a mild state of nervousness. You will

perhaps feel a sinking in the pit of your stomach that will

affect your entire physical mechanism. If, on the contrary,

you speak peaceful, quieting words, your mind will react in a

peaceful manner. Use such a word as "tranquillity." Repeat

that word slowly several times. Tranquillity is one of the

most beautiful and melodic of all English words, and the

mere saying of it tends to induce a tranquil state.

Another healing word is "serenity." Picturize serenity as you

say it. Repeat it slowly and in the mood of which the word is

a symbol. Words such as these have a healing potency when

used in this manner.

It is also helpful to use lines from poetry or passages from the Scriptures. A man of my acquaintance who achieved a

remarkable peace of mind has the habit of writing on cards

unusual quotations expressing peacefulness. He carries one

of the cards in his wallet at all times, referring to it

frequently until each quotation is committed to memory. He

says that each such idea dropped into the subconscious

"lubricates" his mind with peace. A peaceful concept is

indeed oil on troubled thoughts. One of the quotations which

he used is from a sixteenth-century mystic, "Let nothing

disturb you. Let nothing frighten you. Everything passes

away except God. God alone is sufficient."

The words of the Bible have a particularly strong therapeutic

value. Drop them into your mind, allowing them to

"dissolve" in consciousness, and they will spread a healing

balm over your entire mental structure. This is one of the

simplest processes to perform and also one of the most

effective in attaining peace of mind.

A salesman told me of an incident that took place in a

Midwestern hotel room. He was one of a group of

businessmen having a conference. One man was very much

on edge. He was snappy, argumentative, high-strung.

Everyone present knew him quite well and realized he was

under great nervous pressure. But finally his irritating

attitudes began to get on everybody's nerves. Presently this

nervous individual opened his traveling bag, took out a big

bottle of brackish-looking medicine, and poured himself a

large dose. Asked what this medicine was, he growled, "Oh,

it's something for nerves. I feel like I'm going to break in

pieces. The pressure I'm under makes me wonder if I am

going to crack up. I try not to show it, but I suppose even you

fellows have observed swallowed several bottles of it, but I

don't seem to get any better."

The other men laughed, then one said in a kindly manner,

"Bill, I don't know anything about that medicine you are taking. Maybe it's all right. It probably is, but I can give you

some medicine for those nerves that will do you more good

than that. I know, because it cured me, and I was worse off

than you are."

"What is this medicine?" snapped the other.

"This book will do the job, and I really mean it. I suppose

you think it strange that I carry a Bible around in my bag, but

I don't care who knows it. I am not a bit ashamed of it. I have

been carrying this Bible in my bag for the past two years,

and I have marked places in it that help keep my mind at

peace. It works for me, and I think it can do something for

you too. Why not give it a trial?"

The others were listening with interest to this unusual

speech. The nervous man had sunk low in his chair. Seeing

that he was making an impression, the speaker continued, "I

had a peculiar experience in a hotel one night which got me

into the habit of reading the Bible. I was getting into a pretty

tense state. I was out on a business trip and late one

afternoon came up to my room terribly nervous. I tried to

write some letters, but couldn't get my mind on them. I paced

up and down the room, tried to read the paper, but that

annoyed me, so I decided to go down and get a drink—

anything to get away from myself.

"While standing by the dresser, my eye happened to fall

upon a Bible lying there. I had seen many such Bibles in

hotel rooms, but had never read any of them. However,

something impelled me, and I opened the book to one of the

Psalms and started to read it. I remember that I read that one

standing up, then sat down and read another. I was interested

but certainly surprised at myself—me reading the Bible! It

was a laugh, but I kept on reading.

"Soon I came to the 23rd Psalm. I had learned that one as a

boy in Sunday school and was surprised that I still knew most of it by heart. I tried saying it over, especially that line

where it says, 'He leadeth me beside the still waters; he

restoreth my soul.' I liked that line. It sort of got me. I sat

there repeating it over and over—and the next thing I knew I

woke up.

"Apparently I had dropped off to sleep and slept soundly. I

slept only about fifteen minutes, but upon awakening was as

refreshed and rested as if I'd had a good night's sleep. I can

remember yet the wonderful feeling of complete

refreshment. Then I realized that I felt peaceful, and said to

myself, 'Isn't it strange? What is wrong with me that I have

missed something as wonderful as this?'

"So after that experience," he said, "I bought a Bible, a little

one I could put in my bag, and I've been carrying it ever

since. I honestly like to read it, and I am not nearly so

nervous as I used to be. So," he added, "try that, Bill, and see

if it doesn't work."

Bill did try it, and he kept on trying it. He reported that it was

a bit strange and difficult for him at first, and he read the

Bible on the sly when nobody was around. He didn't want to

be thought holy or pious. But now he says he brings it out on

trains and planes or "any old place" and reads it, and it "does

him a world of good."

"I no longer need to take nerve medicine," he declared.

This scheme must have worked in Bill's case, for he is easy

to get along with now. His emotions are under control. These

two men found that getting peace of mind isn't complicated.

You merely feed your mind with thoughts that cause it to be

peaceful. To have a mind full of peace merely fill it full of

peace. It's as simple as that.

There are other practical ways by which you can develop

serenity and quiet attitudes. One way is through your conversation. Depending upon the words we use and the tone

in which we use them, we can talk ourselves into being

nervous, high-strung, and upset. We can talk ourselves into

either negative or positive results. By our speech we can also

achieve quiet reactions. Talk peaceful to be peaceful.

In a group when the conversation takes a trend that is

upsetting, try injecting peaceful ideas into the talk. Note how

it counteracts the nervous tensions. Conversation filled with

expressions of unhappy expectation, at breakfast, for

example, often sets the tone of the day. Little wonder things

turn out according to the unhappy specifications. Negative

conversation adversely affects circumstances. Certainly talk

of a tense and nervous nature enhances inner agitation.

On the contrary, start each day by affirming peaceful,

contented, and happy attitudes and your days will tend to be

pleasant and successful. Such attitudes are active and definite

factors in creating satisfactory conditions. Watch your

manner of speech then if you wish to develop a peaceful

state of mind.

It is important to eliminate from conversations all negative

ideas, for they tend to produce tension and annoyance

inwardly. For example, when you are with a group of people

at luncheon, do not comment that the "Communists will soon

take over the country." In the first place, Communists are not

going to take over the country, and by so asserting you create

a depressing reaction in the minds of others. It undoubtedly

affects digestion adversely. The depressing remark colors the

attitude of all present, and everyone goes away with a

perhaps slight but definite feeling of annoyance. They also

carry away with them a mild but definite feeling that

something is wrong with everything. There are times when

we must face these harsh questions and deal with them

objectively and vigorously, and no one has more contempt

for Communism than I have, but as a general thing to have peace of mind, fill your personal and group conversations

with positive, happy, optimistic, satisfying expressions.

The words we speak have a direct and definite effect upon

our thoughts. Thoughts create words, for words are the

vehicles of ideas. But words also affect thoughts and help to

condition if not to create attitudes. In fact, what often passes

for thinking starts with talk. Therefore if the average

conversation is scrutinized and disciplined to be sure that it

contains peaceful expressions, the result will be peaceful

ideas and ultimately, therefore, a peaceful mind.

Another effective technique in developing a peaceful mind is

the daily practice of silence. Everyone should insist upon not

less than a quarter of an hour of absolute quiet every twenty-

four hours. Go alone into the quietest place available to you

and sit or lie down for fifteen minutes and practice the art of

silence. Do not talk to anyone. Do not write. Do not read.

Think as little as possible. Throw your mind into neutral.

Conceive of your mind as quiescent, inactive. This will not

be easy at first because thoughts are stirring up your mind,

but practice will increase your efficiency. Conceive of your

mind as the surface of a body of water and see how nearly

quiet you can make it, so that there is not a ripple. When you

have attained a quiescent state, then begin to listen for the

deeper sounds of harmony and beauty and of God that are to

be found in the essence of silence.

Americans unfortunately are not skilled in this practice,

which is a pity, for as Thomas Carlyle said, "Silence is the

element in which great things fashion themselves." This

generation of Americans has missed something that our

forefathers knew and which helped to condition their

character—and that is the silence of the great forest or of the

far-reaching plains.

Perhaps our lack of inner peace is due to some extent to the

effect of noise upon the nervous system of modern people. Scientific experiments show that noise in the place where we

work, live, or sleep reduces efficiency to a noticeable degree.

Contrary to popular belief, it is doubtful if we ever

completely adjust our physical, mental, or nervous

mechanisms to noise. No matter how familiar a repeated

sound becomes, it never passes unheard by the subconscious.

Automobile horns, the roar of airplanes, and other strident

noises actually result in physical activity during sleep.

Impulses transmitted to and through the nerves by these

sounds cause muscular movements which detract from real

rest. If the reaction is sufficiently severe, it partakes of the

nature of shock.

On the contrary, silence is a healing, soothing, healthy

practice. Starr Daily says, "No man or woman of my

acquaintance who knows how to practice silence and does it

has ever been sick to my knowledge. I have noticed that my

own afflictions come upon me when I do not balance

expression with relaxation." Starr Daily closely associates

silence with spiritual healing. The sense of rest that results

from a practice of complete silence is a therapy of utmost

value.

In the circumstances of modern life, with its acceleration of

pace, the practice of silence is admittedly not so simple as it

was in the days of our forefathers. A vast number of noise-

producing gadgets exist that they did not know, and our daily

program is more hectic. Space has been annihilated in the

modern world, and apparently we are also attempting to

annihilate the factor of time. It is only rarely possible for an

individual to walk in deep woods or sit by the sea or meditate

on a mountaintop or on the deck of a vessel in the midst of

the ocean. But when we do have such experiences, we can

print on the mind the picture of the silent place and the feel

of the moment and return to it in memory to live it over

again just as truly as when we were actually in that scene. In

fact, when you return to it in memory the mind tends to remove any unpleasant factors present in the actual situation.

The memory visit is often an improvement over the actual

for the mind tends to reproduce only the beauty in the

remembered scene.

For example, as I write these words, I am on a balcony of

one of the most beautiful hotels in the world, the Royal

Hawaiian on the famed and romantic Waikiki Beach in

Honolulu, Hawaii. I am looking into a garden filled with

graceful palm trees, swaying in the balmy breeze. The air is

laden with the aroma of exotic flowers. Hibiscus, of which

on these islands there are two thousand varieties, fill the

garden. Outside my windows are papaya trees laden with

ripening fruit. The brilliant color of the royal poinciana, the

flame of the forest trees, adds to the glamor of the scene; and

the acacia trees are hung heavily with their exquisite white

flowers.

The incredible blue ocean surrounding these islands stretches

away to the horizon. The white waves are surging in, and the

Hawaiians and my fellow visitors are riding gracefully on

surfboards and outrigger canoes. Altogether it is a scene of

entrancing beauty. It has an indescribably healing effect

upon me as I sit here writing about the power generated in a

peaceful mind. The insistent responsibilities under which I

ordinarily live seem so far away. Though I am in Hawaii to

give a series of lectures and to write this book, nevertheless

the peace with which this place is filled envelops me. Yet I

realize that when I have returned to my home in New York,

five thousand miles away, I shall only then truly savor the

exquisite joy of the beauty which I now behold. It will

become enshrined in memory as a private retreat to which

my mind can go in the busy days that lie ahead. Often, when

far from this idyllic place, I shall return in memory to find

peace along the palm-lined, foam-washed beach at Waikiki.

Fill your mind with all peaceful experiences possible, then make planned and deliberate excursions to them in memory.

You must learn that the easiest way to an easy mind is to

create an easy mind. This is done by practice, by the

application of some such simple principles as outlined here.

The mind quickly responds to teaching and discipline. You

can make the mind give you back anything you want, but

remember the mind can give back only what it was first

given. Saturate your thoughts with peaceful experiences,

peaceful words and ideas, and ultimately you will have a

storehouse of peace-producing experiences to which you

may turn for refreshment and renewal of your spirit. It will

be a vast source of power.

I spent a night with a friend who has a very lovely home. We

had breakfast in a unique and interesting dining room. The

four walls are painted in a beautiful mural picturing the

countryside in which my host was reared as a boy. It is a

panorama of rolling hills, gentle valleys, and singing

streams, the latter clean and sun speckled, and babbling over

rocks. Winding roads meander through pleasant meadows.

Little houses dot the landscape. In a central position is a

white church surmounted by a tall steeple.

As we breakfasted my host talked of this region of his youth,

pointing out various points of interest in the painting around

the wall. Then he said, "Often as I sit in this dining room I go

from point to point in my memory and relive other days. I

recall, for example, walking up that lane as a boy with bare

feet, and I can remember yet how the clean dust felt between

my toes. I remember fishing in that trout stream on many a

summer afternoon and coasting down those hills in the

wintertime.

"There is the church I attended as a boy." He grinned and

said, "I sat through many a long sermon in that church but

gratefully recall to mind the kindliness of the people and the

sincerity of their lives. I can sit here and look at that church and think of the hymns I heard there with my mother and

father as we sat together in the pew. They are long buried in

that cemetery alongside the church, but in memory I go and

stand by their graves and hear them speak to me as in days

gone by. I get very tired and sometimes am nervous and

tense. It helps to sit here and go back to the days when I had

an untroubled mind, when life was new and fresh. It does

something for me. It gives me peace."

Perhaps we all cannot have such murals on the dining-room

walls, but you can put them around the wall of your mind:

pictures of the most beautiful experiences of your life. Spend

time among the thoughts which these pictures suggest. No

matter how busy you may be or what responsibilities you

carry, this simple, rather unique practice, having proved

successful in many instances, may have a beneficial effect

upon you. It is an easily practiced, easy way to a peaceful

mind.

There is a factor in the matter of inner peace which must be

stated because of its importance.

Frequently I find that people who are lacking in inner peace

are victims of a self-punishment mechanism. At some time in

their experience they have committed a sin and the sense of

guilt haunts them. They have sincerely sought Divine

forgiveness, and the good Lord will always forgive anyone

who asks Him and who means it. However, there is a curious

quirk within the human mind whereby sometimes an

individual will not forgive himself.

He feels that he deserves punishment and therefore is

constantly anticipating that punishment. As a result he lives

in a constant apprehension that something is going to

happen. In order to find peace under these circumstances he

must increase the intensity of his activity. He feels that hard

work will give him some release from his sense of guilt. A physician told me that in his practice a number of cases of

nervous breakdown were traceable to a sense of guilt for

which the patient had unconsciously attempted to

compensate by hectic overwork. The patient attributed his

breakdown not to the sense of guilt, but to his overworked

condition. "But," said the physician, "these men need not

have broken down from overwork if first the sense of guilt

had been fully released." Peace of mind under such

circumstances is available by yielding the guilt as well as the

tension it produces to the healing therapy of Christ.

At a resort hotel where I had gone for a few days of quiet

writing I encountered a man from New York whom I knew

slightly. He was a high-pressured, hard-driving, and

exceedingly nervous business executive. He was sitting in

the sun in a deck chair. At his invitation I sat down and

chatted with him.

"I'm glad to see you relaxing in this beautiful spot," I

commented.

He replied nervously, "I haven't any business being here. I've

so much work to do at home. I'm under terrible pressure.

Things have got me down, I'm nervous and can't sleep. I'm

jumpy. My wife insisted that I come down here for a week.

The doctors say there's nothing wrong with me if I just get to

thinking right and relax. But how in the world do you do

that?" he challenged. Then he gave me a piteous look.

"Doctor," he said, "I would give anything if I could be

peaceful and quiet. It's what I want more than anything in

this world."

We talked a bit, and it came out in the conversation that he

was always worrying that something sinister was going to

happen. For years he had anticipated some dire event, living

in constant apprehension about "something happening" to his

wife or his children or his home. It was not difficult to analyze his case. His insecurity arose

from a double source—from childhood insecurities and from

later guilty experiences. His mother had always felt that

"something was going to happen," and he had absorbed her

anxiety feelings. Later he committed some sins, and his

subconscious mind insisted upon self-punishment. He

became victim to the mechanism of self-punishment. As a

result of this unhappy combination I found him this day in a

highly inflamed state of nervous reaction.

Finishing our conversation, I stood beside his chair a

moment. There was no one near, so I rather hesitantly

suggested, "Would you by any chance like me to pray with

you?" He nodded, and I put my hand on his shoulder and

prayed, "Dear Jesus, as You healed people in the long ago

and gave them peace, heal this man now. Give him fully of

Thy forgiveness. Help him to forgive himself. Separate him

from all his sins and let him know that You do not hold them

against him. Set him free from them. Then let Thy peace

flow into his mind, and into his soul, and into his body."

He looked up at me with a strange look on his face and then

turned away, for there were tears in his eyes and he didn't

want me to see them. We were both a bit embarrassed, and I

left him. Months later I met him, and he said, "Something

happened to me down there that day when you prayed for

me. I felt a strange sense of quietness and peace, and," he

added, "healing."

He goes to church regularly now and he reads the Bible

every day of his life. He follows the laws of God and he has

lots of driving force. He is a healthy, happy man, for he has

peace in his heart and mind.