Chapter 9 Divine Design

In our next chapter from "The Game of Life and How to Play It", Florence Scovel Shinn opens the door to Divine Design—a beautiful reminder that each of us is guided by a higher plan. In this chapter, she shares affirmations to help reveal the divine design God has lovingly prepared for you, along with a tender blessing to pray over our children.
Please join me as we settle in and listen to the wisdom of this sacred text.

Transcript

Hello,

And welcome to today's Read Aloud.

Today we will be reading Chapter 9 of The Game of Life and How to Play It by Florence Scoville Shinn,

Written in 1925.

The title of this chapter is Perfect Self-Expression or The Divine Design.

No wind can drive bark astray nor change the tide of destiny.

There is for each person perfect self-expression.

There is a place which each of us are to fill and no one else can fill.

Something we are to do which no one else can do.

It is our destiny.

This achievement is held a perfect idea in divine mind awaiting our recognition.

As the imagining faculty is the creative faculty,

It is necessary for one to see the idea before it can manifest.

So,

One's highest demand is for the divine design of their life.

One may not have the faintest conception of what it is,

For there is possibly some marvelous talent hidden deep within them.

Our demand should be,

Infinite Spirit,

Open the way for the divine design of my life to manifest.

Let the genius within me now be released.

Let me see clearly the perfect plan.

Infinite Spirit,

Open the way for the divine design of my life to manifest.

Let the genius within me now be released.

Let me see clearly the perfect plan.

Infinite Spirit,

Open the way for the divine design of my life to manifest.

Let the genius within me now be released.

Let me see clearly the perfect plan.

The perfect plan includes health,

Wealth,

Love,

And perfect self-expression.

This is the square of life which brings perfect happiness.

When one has made this demand,

One may find great changes taking place in their life,

For nearly everyone has wandered far from the divine design.

I know in one woman's case,

It was as though a cyclone had struck her affairs,

But readjustments came quickly,

And new and wonderful conditions took the place of old ones.

Perfect self-expression will never be labor,

But of such absorbing interest that it will seem almost like play.

The student knows,

Also,

As one comes into the world financed by God,

The supply needed for their perfect self-expression will be at hand.

Many a genius has struggled for years with the problem of supply,

When one's spoken word and faith would have released quickly the necessary funds.

For example,

After class one day,

A man came to me and handed me a cent.

He said,

I have just seven cents in the world,

And I'm going to give you one,

For I have faith in the power of your spoken word.

I want you to speak the word for my perfect self-expression and prosperity.

I spoke the word,

And did not see him again until a year later.

He came in one day,

Successful and happy,

With a roll of yellow bills in his pocket.

He said,

Immediately after you spoke the word,

I had a position offered me in a distant city,

And am now demonstrating health,

Happiness,

And supply.

A woman's perfect self-expression may be becoming a perfect wife or a perfect mother,

A perfect homemaker,

A doctor,

A lawyer,

A surgeon,

And not necessarily in having a public career.

Demand definitely leads,

And the way will be made easy and successful.

One should not visualize or force a mental picture.

When one demands the divine design to come into their conscious mind,

One will receive flashes of inspiration,

And begin to see themselves making great accomplishment.

This is the picture or idea they must hold without wavering.

The thing one seeks is seeking them.

The telephone was seeking Bell.

Parents should never force careers and professions upon their children.

With a knowledge of spiritual truth,

The divine plan could be spoken for early in childhood or prenatally.

A prenatal treatment should be,

Let the God in this child have perfect expression.

Let the divine design of their mind,

Body,

And affairs be made manifest throughout their life,

Throughout eternity.

Let the God in this child have perfect expression.

Let the divine design of their mind,

Body,

And affairs be made manifest throughout their life,

Throughout eternity.

Let the God in this child have perfect self-expression.

Let the divine design of their mind,

Body,

And affairs be made manifest throughout their life,

Throughout eternity.

God's will be done,

Not humans.

God's pattern,

Not humans' pattern,

Is the command we find running through all the scriptures.

And the Bible is a book dealing with the science of the mind.

It is a book telling us how to release our soul or subconscious mind from bondage.

The battles described are pictures of humans waging war against mortal thoughts.

Humans' foes shall be they of their own household.

Everyone is Jehoshaphat,

And everyone is David,

Who slays Goliath,

Mortally.

Everyone is Jehoshaphat,

And everyone is David,

Who slays Goliath,

Mortally.

So one must be careful that one is not the wicked and slothful servant who buried their talent.

There is a terrible penalty to be paid for not using one's ability.

Often,

Fear stands between one and their perfect self-expression.

Stage fright has hampered many a genius.

This may be overcome by the spoken word or treatment.

The individual then loses all self-consciousness and feels simply that they are a channel for infinite intelligence to express itself through.

One is under direct inspiration,

Fearless and confident,

For one feels that it is the mother within them who does the work.

A young boy came often to my class with his mother.

He asked me to speak the word for his coming examinations at school.

I told him to make the statement,

I am one with infinite intelligence.

I know everything I should know on this subject.

I am one with infinite intelligence.

I know everything I should know on this subject.

I am one with infinite intelligence.

I know everything I should know on this subject.

He had excellent knowledge of history,

But was not sure of his arithmetic.

I saw him afterwards and he said,

I spoke the word for my arithmetic and passed with the highest honors,

But thought I could depend on myself for history,

But got a very poor mark.

One often receives a setback when one is too sure of themselves,

Which means one is trusting to their personality and not the mother within.

Another one of my students gave me an example of this.

She took an extended trip abroad one summer visiting many countries where she was ignorant of the languages.

She was calling for guidance and protection every minute and her affairs went smoothly and miraculously.

Her luggage was never delayed nor lost.

Accommodations were always ready for her at the best hotels,

And she had a perfect service wherever she went.

She returned to New York knowing the language.

She felt God was no longer necessary,

So looked after her affairs in an ordinary manner.

Everything went wrong.

Her trunks delayed amid inharmony and confusion.

The student must form the habit of practicing the presence of God every minute.

In all the ways acknowledge her,

Nothing is too small or too great.

Sometimes an insignificant incident may be the turning point in someone's life.

Robert Fulton,

Watching some boiling water simmering in a tea kettle,

Saw a steamboat.

I have seen a student often keep back their demonstration through resistance or pointing the way.

One pins their faith to one channel only and dictates just the way their desires manifest to come,

Which brings things to a standstill.

My way,

Not your way,

Is the command of infinite intelligence.

Like all power,

Be it steam or electricity,

It must have a non-resistant engine or instrument to work through.

And we are that engine or instrument.

Over and over again we are told to stand still.

Oh Judah,

Fear not,

But tomorrow go out against them,

For the Lord shall be with you.

You shall not need to fight this battle.

Set yourselves,

Stand ye still,

And see the salvation of the Lord with you.

We see this in the incidents of $2,

000 coming to the woman through the landlord when she became non-resistant and undisturbed,

And the woman who won the man's love after all suffering had ceased.

The student's goal is poise.

Poise is power,

For it gives God power,

A chance to rush through us,

To will and do its good pleasure.

Poised,

One thinks clearly and makes right decisions quickly.

One never misses a trick.

Anger blurs the vision,

Poisons the blood,

Is the root of many diseases,

And causes wrong decision leading to failure.

It has been named one of the worst sins,

As its reaction is so harmful.

The student learns that in metaphysics,

Sin has a much broader meaning than in the old teaching.

Whatsoever is not of faith is sin.

One finds that fear and worry are deadly sins.

They are inverted faith,

And through distorted mental pictures bring to pass the thing one fears.

One's work is to drive out these enemies from the subconscious mind.

When one's fearless,

One is finished.

Matterlink says people are God afraid.

So,

As we read in the previous chapters,

Man can only vanquish fear by walking up to the thing they are afraid of.

When Jehoshaphat and his army prepared to meet the enemy,

Singing praise the Lord for his mercy endureth forever,

They found their enemies had destroyed each other and there was nothing to fight.

For example,

A woman asked a friend to deliver a message to another friend.

The woman feared to give the message as the reasoning mind said,

Don't get mixed up in the affair,

Don't give that message.

She was troubled in spirit,

For she had given her promise.

At last,

She determined to walk up to the lion and call on the law of divine protection.

She met the friend to whom she was to deliver the message.

She opened her mouth to speak it when her friend said,

So and so has left town.

This made it unnecessary to give the message as the situation depended upon the person being in town.

As she was willing to do it,

She was not obliged to.

As she did not fear,

The situation vanished.

The student often delays their demonstration through a belief in incompletion.

One should make this statement.

In divine mind,

There is only completion.

Therefore,

My demonstration is completed.

My perfect work,

My perfect home,

My perfect health.

In divine mind,

There is only completion.

Therefore,

My demonstration is completed.

My perfect work,

My perfect home,

My perfect health.

In divine mind,

There is only completion.

Therefore,

My demonstration is completed.

My perfect work,

My perfect home,

My perfect health.

Whatever one demands are perfect ideas registered in divine mind and must manifest under grace in a perfect way.

Under grace in a perfect way.

Under grace in a perfect way.

One gives thanks one has already received on the invisible and makes active preparation for receiving on the visible.

One of my students was in need of a financial demonstration.

She came to me and asked why it was not completed.

I replied,

Perhaps you are in the habit of leaving your home.

Leaving things unfinished and the subconscious has gotten into the habit of not completing.

As the without,

So the within.

She said,

You are right.

I often begin things and never finish them.

I will go home and finish something I commenced weeks ago and I know it will be symbolic of my demonstration.

So,

She sewed assiduously and the article was soon completed.

Shortly after,

The money came in a most curious manner.

Her husband was paid his salary twice that month.

He told the people of their mistake and they sent word to keep it.

When someone asks,

Believing,

One must receive,

For God creates his own channels.

I have been sometimes asked,

Suppose one has several talents,

How is one to know which one to choose?

Demand to be shown definitely.

Say,

Infinite Spirit,

Give me a definite lead.

Reveal to me my perfect self expression.

Show me which talent I am to make use of now.

Infinite Spirit,

Give me a definite lead.

Reveal to me my perfect self expression.

Show me which talent I am to make use of now.

Infinite Spirit,

Give me a definite lead.

Reveal to me my perfect self expression.

Show me which talent I am to make use of now.

I have known people to suddenly enter a new line of work and be fully equipped with little or no training.

So make this statement,

I am fully equipped for the divine plan of my life.

I am fully equipped for the divine plan of my life.

I am fully equipped for the divine plan of my life.

And be fearless in grasping opportunities.

Some people are cheerful givers,

But bad receivers.

They refuse gifts through pride or some negative reason,

Thereby blocking their channels,

And invariably find themselves eventually with little or nothing.

For example,

A woman who had given away a great deal of money had a gift offered her of several thousand dollars.

She refused to take it,

Saying she did not need it.

Shortly after that,

Her finances were tied up,

And she found herself in debt for that amount.

One should receive gracefully the bread returning to them upon the water.

Freely ye have given,

Freely ye shall receive.

There is always the perfect balance of giving and receiving,

And though one should give without thinking of returns,

One violates law if one does not accept the returns which come to them,

For all gifts are from God.

People being merely the channel.

A thought of lack should never be held over the giver.

For example,

When the man gave me the one cent,

I did not say,

Poor man,

He cannot afford to give me that.

I saw him rich and prosperous,

With his supply pouring in.

It was this thought which brought it.

If one has been a bad receiver,

One must become a good one,

And take even a postage stamp if it is given to them,

And open up the channels for receiving.

The Lord loveth a cheerful receiver as well as a cheerful giver.

I have often been asked why one is born rich and healthy,

And another is born poor and sick.

Where there isn't a fact,

There is always a cause.

There is no such thing as chance.

The question is answered through the law of reincarnation.

One goes through many births and deaths,

Until one knows the truth which sets them free.

One is drawn back to the earth plane through unsatisfied desire,

To pay their karmic debt,

Or to fulfill their destiny.

The one born rich and healthy has had pictures in their subconscious mind in their past life of health and riches,

And the poor and sick person of disease and property.

One manifests on any plane the sum total of their subconscious beliefs.

However,

Birth and death are human made laws,

For the wages of sin is death.

The Adamic fall in consciousness through the belief in two powers.

The real person,

Spiritual person,

Is birthless and deathless.

One never was born and has never died.

As one was in the beginning,

One is now,

And ever shall be.

So through the truth,

One is set free from the law of karma,

Sin,

And death,

And manifests made in her image and likeness.

One's freedom comes through fulfilling their destiny,

Bringing into manifestation the divine design of their life.

Our Lord will say unto us,

Well done,

Thou good and faithful servant.

Thou hast not been faithful over a few things.

I will make thee ruler over many things,

Death itself.

Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord,

Eternal life.

Thank you for listening.

Namaste.

Reviews

I find myself hoping there are hundreds of chapters in this book!! Keep them coming! Thank you for sharing them! 🙏✨🫶🏼