Lesson Four
The Formative Power of Thought
1. That the body is moved by thought is universally accepted, but that thought is also the builder of the body is not so widely admitted. We know that thought moves the various members of the body, because we have constantly before us manifestations of the close sympathy between thought and act. Before I run, I think that I will run, and my legs begin to move swiftly in imagination before I begin the action outwardly. It was found by a system of experiments made at Harvard University that the thought of running causes the blood to rush into the legs. A man was put flat on his back on a balanced beam, which was adjusted so that the least bit of added weight at head or foot registered on the index. When a perfect balance was attained the man was given a problem in mathematics to solve. Immediately the index showed increased weight at the head, indicating that thought had called the blood there. Then he was told to imagine that he was running, and the index showed added weight shifting to the feet.
2. Here is proof that thought not only moves the external members of the body, but that it controls the fluids flowing within the body. If thought so readily moves the blood from place to place, who shall say that it does not move the nerve fluid, or that still more volatile substance, the magnetic force that pervades all organisms? We affirm that thought controls
