Again, for a few minutes, you and I are going
to have a little heart -to -heart talk. You know,
I could never begin to tell you how great was
the response to our previous talks on nerves.
People from all walks of life have written in
and expressed their appreciation of these broadcasts.
You'll remember that we discovered that there
was nothing wrong with your nerves. The trouble
was elsewhere. We find that each nerve is a thread
of living tissue and that these little fibers
connect the brain cells with virtually everything
every cell in the body. The best way that I can
describe them to you is that they resemble the
electric wires in your telephone or in your radio,
except that they are composed of soft tissue
instead of metal. And each one consists of a
central core. that's surrounded by a membrane,
thus resembling the wire in its insulating covering.
That's the very best way that I can describe
them to you. Now, some of these nerves carry
impulses from the brain to the various organs
and tissues, while others carry messages from
these to the great central office bear in mind
one thing and that is the fact that the nerves
are only a means of communication they do not
govern anything if we follow a nerve from its
beginning perhaps at a cell in the skin we find
that it ends in a brain cell. And these brain
cells are definite organs that play a part in
the body function. But they are not the real
beginning of the trouble. Keep that in mind as
we continue to discuss this thing of nerves and
the relationship between our nerves and the brain.
The brain has been well likened to the central
office of a telephone or a telegraph system.
We might go a little further and say this, that
each brain cell appears to be a minute telephone
apparatus through which messages are sent to
different parts of the body or through which
calls are received from portions of the body,
different parts of the body. The stomach. or
the liver, or from your fingers, or from your
toes. So far, we're dealing nearly with a mechanism
that we're using all the time, constantly. But
it is purely a mechanism. And we should so recognize
it as thus. Now, in all these so -called nervous
conditions, the machinery is found to be perfect.
So the trouble must be back of that. And here
we come to that unseen worker within, the mind,
which presides over the central office and uses
this wonderful mechanism to control the body.
We must realize that any of these so -called
nervous conditions, from the simplest case of
phygis to the most pronounced hysteria, is caused
by some state of mind that is interfering with
the orderly control of the affairs of the body.
If we understand this point, we shall at once
see how to deal with these conditions, and you
cannot deal with the condition until you understand
the working of the mind. its effect over the
body. Now, let's take, for instance, the hand.
How often I have found that my hand is trembling.
And how often you have looked and you have said,
oh my goodness, life, my hand trembles. It must
be my nerves. I must be very nervous. Something
is upsetting me terribly. See how my hand shakes,
how my hand trembles. Your hand trembles and
you say that you're nervous. For some reason,
you are not exercising a normal control over
the muscles. There is a state of indecision behind
all of this. And this state is in the mind. In
other words, so -called nervousness is a partial
loss of control in the central office. And when
this becomes complete, we have the condition
that we call hysteria. We all know people, some
are in our own families, who become hysterical
in the slightest provocation. Do you know what
it is? They simply let their feelings take charge
of them and give up all self -control. Nervous
diseases are not nervous at all, but are varied
degrees of emotional outbreaks. No condition
or set of circumstances is... In itself, a calamity
to be feared. Always remember that. It is our
mental reaction to it that makes it a Waterloo
or a Field of Triumph. It's just like that. Oh,
years ago, I can tell you just about when. As
I begin telling you the incident, you can figure
up and you can almost tell it every year. I was
in a little Baptist church in the state of New
Jersey holding a two -weeks revival meeting there.
It's been several years ago. I was young then.
Inexperienced. Well... I was staying in the home
of one of the members, a nice little old maid
who was in her seven days. And I slept in her
guest bedroom while I was in the Baptist church
holding a meeting. And it was during the time
when the late Mr. Roosevelt was running for third
term. Oh, how well I remember the incident. Miss
Anna, as I told you, was in her 70s, and she
had a friend, a very close friend, who was probably
seven or eight years older than herself. So you
see, she was elderly. And that friend of hers
was absolutely dead set on the fact that Mr.
Roosevelt was not going to get in. As a third...
term president, and she set out as one woman
to campaign against Mr. Roosevelt taking office
for the third term. Her husband was very wealthy,
and she spent literally thousands of dollars
campaigning against Mr. Roosevelt. It was just
an idea that she had. Well, The night came, the
election, and she was absolutely exhausted from
the mental strain and the little physical effort
that she had put forth, you know. And so about,
oh, it must have been about 7 o 'clock in the
evening, her husband said, now, you go to bed.
You must get a little rest. And when the last
returns come in, Why, I'll call you. And we'll
get you up. You won't miss anything. And so she
did. She retired to get a couple of hours of
rest before what she thought was going to be
a great celebration. A personal victory. Those
of you who were living then know what the returns
were like. Mr. Roosevelt got in for his third
term. And I shall never forget the telephone
rang in Miss Anna's house. I was there. It was
the husband of the woman who was at that time
asleep. He said, Miss Anna, come. Come quickly.
Mr. Roosevelt has gotten into office and he said,
it'll kill my wife. It'll kill her. When she
awakens and we have to give her the message,
it'll kill her. It'll be the death of her. It
will go to her heart and she'll suffer a heart
attack. Come quickly. And Miss Anna got her shawl
and said, Catherine, I'll be back a little later.
I don't know what time it'll be. It was Miss
Anna who almost had the heart attack before she
left the house. This is what happened. Miss Anna
tiptoed into the room. with the smelling salts,
and with every precaution taken that would keep
the precious woman from suffering a complete
collapse or having an attack of the heart when
she awakened. And it was about two o 'clock in
the morning. She awakened and Miss Anna was there
by her side. She said, Anna, what happened? Did
we win? And Miss Anna, with the smelling salts
in her hand, came very near to her friend and
said, I'm sorry. But Mr. Roosevelt is in for
the third term. And in that moment, the portly
woman, with the strength of her body, raised
herself up in that bed to a sitting position
with her chins up in the air and her nose a little
higher than ever before and said, Anna? Anna?
Just act like it never happened. And you want
to know something? To her dying day, she never
discussed it with anyone. She never acknowledged
the fact that Mr. Roosevelt ever got in office
for the third term. She just literally acted
as... Though it never happened and her heart
kept right on beating, it never missed a beat.
Not a nerve in her body was affected. She went
on living just the same. As though it had never
happened. That was one of the greatest lessons
that I've ever learned. I have had to learn.
And there is never a week of my life, believe
me, but when something happens that could upset
me terribly, oh, I could go into a thousand pieces.
When you deal with men and women, when you deal
with the public, believe me, it's the hardest
work in the world. But I have over and over again
and have done exactly the same thing that the
precious little woman did, have said to myself,
Catherine, just act as though it never happened.
Oh, sure, it doesn't change the condition, or
it doesn't change circumstances, but I become
master over that thing rather than to have it
master me. And it's just like that. You want
to know something? A healthy, wholesome mind
is better than silver. It's better than gold.
It's better than all the material blessings in
the world. That's the truth. A normal, wholesome,
undivided mind. A mind that's void of fear, anxiety,
worry, pettiness. A mind that's free of jealousy,
free of selfishness, free of... Envy is one's
greatest possession outside of one's salvation.
For as a man thinketh, so is he. Hold in mind
that nothing that can happen to you, even at
its worst, nothing that you fear is as bad as
the fear itself. For if you keep the mind intact,
if you keep the center of your life intact, then
you can come back from anything. But if the mind
is filled with worry and fear, jealousy, pettiness,
littleness, then you're knocked down. You're
defeated by happenings. whether they are real
or imaginary. And what's the answer? How can
I overcome this condition? Here's the answer.
By fastening your attention not on the thing
to be feared, not on the circumstances or the
situation around you, not on individuals or personalities.
But on Christ. Remember? I am his. And he will
defend me. His. And he will protect me. His.
And he claims me now. Against all adversaries.
I am his, and none else possesses either right
or power over me. I am his, and I will trust
him with complete confidence today, tomorrow,
and until that last day when my redemption is
perfected Stand in his glorious presence. Slipping
to your knees just now, look up and say, Wonderful
Jesus, give me a mind that is free from fear,
free from worry, free from jealousy. Give me
a... healthy mind. For this is my greatest possession
outside of my salvation. For Jesus' sake we ask
it. Amen.