"Mean It and Act That Way" — Edgar Cayce Reading 850-5

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In Reading 850-5, Edgar Cayce reminds us that affirmations are far more than positive statements designed to improve our circumstances. When asked for "an affirmation that will help me physically, mentally and spiritually," Cayce first offered an important caution before giving the prayer itself. He explained, "Affirmations are well, but remember there is ever a promise to life or the divine within self as well as the Infinite outside of self." Every affirmation is therefore a sacred promise. It is made not only to God, "the Infinite outside of self," but also to the divine presence that dwells within every individual. Speaking an affirmation is entering into a covenant with God, and its power depends upon the sincerity with which it is lived.

Cayce then explains why affirmations sometimes fail to produce the changes people expect. "Unless these are kept as inviolate as the self would have its closest associations, then they become stumblingblocks rather than helpfulness in the experience." The word inviolate means something kept sacred, faithful, and unbroken. Cayce compares our promises to God with our closest human relationships. Just as trust must be preserved between husband and wife or between lifelong friends, so our relationship with God must be built upon integrity. If we repeatedly declare spiritual ideals but make little effort to live them, those very words eventually become "stumblingblocks." Instead of lifting us higher, they continually remind us of the distance between what we profess and what we practice. The problem is never with the affirmation itself, but with our willingness to live according to it.

Cayce therefore summarizes the secret of effective prayer in one remarkably simple instruction: "Mean it and Act that Way!" These five words may be the heart of the entire reading. Spiritual transformation does not come from repeating beautiful words a hundred times a day. It comes when those words shape our attitudes, decisions, and conduct. Every affirmation should gradually become visible in our daily lives. The prayer must become the pattern by which we think, speak, and serve.

The affirmation Cayce gives begins not with asking God for health, success, or protection, but with gratitude: "In the Infinite, I give my praise and my glory to the Father of Love and Life and Light." The focus immediately turns away from self and toward God. Cayce frequently taught that thanksgiving opens the soul more effectively than petition. By describing God as the "Father of Love and Life and Light," he presents the Divine as the very source of all goodness, vitality, wisdom, and spiritual illumination. Rather than dwelling upon what is lacking, the individual begins by acknowledging the abundance already received.

The prayer continues by thanking God "for the opportunities He has given me for service and for the manifestation of His goodness to the children of humanity." This reveals one of the central themes found throughout the Cayce readings: life is not primarily about personal achievement but about service. Even our talents, experiences, and challenges become opportunities through which God's goodness can be expressed to others. Cayce consistently taught that spiritual growth occurs naturally when we stop asking, "What can I receive?" and begin asking, "How may I serve?" Every circumstance becomes an opportunity to reveal God's love in practical ways.

The second half of the affirmation moves from gratitude to complete surrender: "Use me, then, O God, in such ways and in such manners that I, Thy servant and Thy child, may show forth the love that was exemplified in the life of our Friend—my Friend—Jesus the Christ." Rather than asking God to fulfill personal desires, the individual offers themselves as an instrument through which God's love may work. The beautiful expression "our Friend—my Friend—Jesus the Christ" makes Christ both universal and deeply personal. Jesus is not portrayed as a distant historical figure but as a living companion whose example can be followed in everyday life. The goal is not merely to admire Christ but to "show forth the love" that characterized His life.

Notice that the affirmation never asks for physical healing, mental clarity, or spiritual enlightenment directly, even though that was the original question. Cayce understood that these blessings are often the natural result of living in harmony with divine law. When a person sincerely praises God, seeks opportunities for service, and strives each day to express Christ-like love, physical, mental, and spiritual well-being begin to develop as natural fruits of that transformed life. Health becomes more than the absence of disease; it becomes the harmonious expression of the soul's relationship with God.

Reading 850-5 therefore teaches that an affirmation is not magic, nor is it simply positive thinking. It is a sacred commitment that must be lived. The words only possess power when they become actions. Cayce's instruction, "Mean it and Act that Way!" summarizes his entire philosophy of spiritual development. Gratitude must become daily thanksgiving. Prayer must become service. Faith must become action. Love must become visible in our relationships. When our lives begin to reflect the prayer we speak, the affirmation ceases to be merely spoken words and becomes a living expression of God's presence within us. Only then does it truly help us "physically, mentally and spiritually."

EDGAR CAYCE READING 850-5

(Q) Please give me an affirmation that will help me physically, mentally and spiritually.

(A) Affirmations are well, but remember there is ever a promise to life or the divine within self as well as the Infinite outside of self. And unless these are kept as inviolate as the self would have its closest associations, then they become stumblingblocks rather than helpfulness in the experience.

But this - mean it and Act that Way!

In the Infinite, I give my praise and my glory to the Father of Love and Life and Light, for the opportunities He has given me for service and for the manifestation of His goodness to the children of humanity.

Use me, then, O God, in such ways and in such manners that I, Thy servant and Thy child, may show forth the love that was exemplified in the life of our Friend—my Friend—Jesus the Christ. Amen.

The Living Presence Beyond Death

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In this reading, Edgar Cayce explains that experiences of deceased loved ones should not always be understood as literal conversations, but as spiritual experiences that reveal the continuing life of the soul. When the individual described seeing his deceased mother, who appeared displeased that he had returned to the theatre instead of mourning for a full year, Cayce immediately shifted the focus away from the literal words, saying, "This is not a literal giving." Instead, he explained that the dream represented "the nearness of the mother to the entity," demonstrating that death had not ended their relationship. The true significance was not that the mother was condemning her son, but that her loving influence continued from the spiritual realm.

To explain this principle, Cayce drew upon Christ's promise to His disciples: "I go away, and all I have said unto you will be brought to your remembrance through the spirit." Just as Christ continues to guide His followers inwardly through the Spirit rather than through His physical presence, so too may those who have passed continue to influence us through dreams, memories, intuition, and spiritual impressions. Cayce explained that "this transition, or in this sleep or in this vision," provides opportunities for individuals to become aware of spiritual realities that are ordinarily hidden by the distractions of earthly life.

One of the most beautiful insights in the reading is Cayce's description of "the greater understanding of the LIVING of the mother." He deliberately speaks of her as living rather than dead, emphasizing that death is merely a transition from the material plane to another realm of existence. The dream served to awaken the individual to this greater truth, reminding him that love, personality, and relationship continue beyond physical death. Cayce even acknowledged experiences such as "the feeling of the presence in the room," suggesting that such impressions may sometimes be genuine reminders of the continuing closeness of those who have crossed into the spiritual world.

Cayce also explains that these spiritual experiences are not given simply to satisfy curiosity about the afterlife. Rather, "continually do we see the warnings—for good, for bad," as opportunities to deepen our understanding of the relationship between life on earth and life in the spiritual realms. Such impressions are intended to encourage spiritual growth, greater discernment, and a more conscious awareness of God's presence. As the material mind becomes spiritually receptive, "through the attunement of the material plane to the spiritual plane," higher influences are able to reach us more fully, drawing us toward "a more perfect at-oneness of the universal forces."

Ultimately, the reading teaches that the purpose of every authentic spiritual experience is not merely to prove that life continues after death, but to deepen our relationship with God. As we seek Him sincerely, the "all-powerful force of the creative energy" becomes more active within our lives, leading us toward a fuller understanding of both the visible and invisible worlds. The continued nearness of departed loved ones is therefore not an end in itself, but one expression of the greater reality that all life is sustained by God, and that those who "seek His Face" are gradually awakened to the eternal unity between the material and the spiritual.

EDGAR CAYCE READING 136-50

(Q) Sometime ago, I beheld my mother. She was displeased with me because I was going out to theatres, etc. She said: "The least you could have done for me was to keep mourning for one year."

(A) This rather is that presentation of the nearness of the mother to the entity, and of the various phases of that as has been given: "I go away, and all I have said unto you will be brought to your remembrance through the spirit of the activity of the mental being as relating to conditions," see? This is not a literal giving, but the real meaning as is given in that message of the Master to the Disciples. As is given here, and as is seen, the entity is reminded through this transition, or in this sleep or in this vision, of those conditions as related to or between the individuals during an earth period, yet the various manifestations to the entity of the various conditions as have been spoken by the mother - the appearances, the nearness, the feeling of the presence in the room, the full conditions as have been presented, are to the entity as the higher, the fuller, the greater UNDER- STANDING of the LIVING of the mother - only in material plane, see? and as is seen, the pleasures that are brought to the entity in the study of these conditions, in the feeling of the nearness of these conditions, is the gratifying element in the relations with the entities in the present condition, for continually do we see the warnings - for good, for bad - for the more perfect understanding of the relation of the living in the material plane, the living in the spiritual plane, and as to how the greater forces of the spiritual plane, through the attunement of the material plane to the spiritual plane, gain access, or ascending elements of a more perfect at-oneness of the universal forces as are magnified in the material plane, of the all-powerful force of the creative energy as is given for the understanding of the individual who would seek His Face.

A.R.E. Meeting for 7/27/26

Leader: Sylvia

Six opportunistic Cayce students began the chapter on Opportunity. We read the “Definition” section and “Opportunities Come Through Cooperation.”

Experiment 1: Try meeting each "problem" which confronts you in daily life with this question: "How would my own thoughts and ideals have played a role in helping to create this situation?" (Examples - (1) financial problem: perhaps past thoughts of fear about losing money created a self-fulfilling prophecy; (2) health problem: perhaps past attitudes toward my body led to poor eating habits and now this illness; (3) relationship problem: perhaps I have silently been overly critical of this person in the past. 
 
Experiment 2: Whenever you find yourself restless or disenchanted with a current situation, become aware of how it has been particularly created for you here and now because it perfectly meets your need for that experience. Thank the Father for it. 

Truth: A Living Reality

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Among all the great spiritual themes found throughout the Edgar Cayce readings, few are emphasized as often as truth. Yet truth is never presented as merely a set of doctrines, intellectual conclusions, or religious beliefs. Instead, the readings reveal truth as something living, dynamic, and continually unfolding within the soul. Truth is not something that can simply be possessed; it is something that must be experienced, applied, and lived. As one grows spiritually, one's understanding of truth also grows. This is why the readings repeatedly describe truth as a living process rather than a finished destination.

One of the clearest statements on this subject appears in Reading 323-2:

"To know the truth is to make you free! Truth is as Life, a GROWING consciousness in self." (323-2)

This single sentence establishes one of the central principles of the Cayce philosophy. Truth is compared to life itself. Just as life continually develops from infancy to maturity, so too does our understanding of spiritual truth. No sincere seeker ever reaches the point where there is nothing more to learn. Growth itself is evidence that the soul is alive.

This principle is repeated again and again throughout the readings. Reading 1554-6 simply declares:

"Truth is a growing thing, as infinity, as Creative Force. For it is a constant growth. Only good lives." (1554-6)

Likewise, Reading 307-3 reminds us:

"Truth is a growth, even as Life." (307-3)

These repeated affirmations show that truth is not fixed within human understanding. God is infinite, and therefore our understanding of Him must continually expand. Every experience, every act of love, every challenge faithfully met becomes another opportunity for truth to grow within consciousness.

The readings go even further by teaching that truth cannot simply be accepted because another person teaches it. Truth must become one's own experience. Reading 262-19 begins with the remarkable statement:

"TRUTH is as experience." (262-19)

It then explains:

"Truth is a growth, and hence an EARNING, a yearning, a growing and is EARNED by he or she that applies that known in the manner that IS in keeping with His will, rather than that there may be the satisfying of self's own desires." (262-19)

This understanding transforms the very meaning of spiritual knowledge. Truth is not earned through intellectual brilliance or academic study but through faithful living. Every truth that is genuinely known has first been practiced. Every lesson becomes real only after it has been experienced. The soul grows not by collecting information but by faithfully applying the light already received.

For this reason the readings repeatedly distinguish between knowledge and wisdom. Merely possessing information does not transform a person. Application alone produces spiritual growth. Cayce wrote in a personal letter:

"Merely having the knowledge of a thing is not so beneficial as the application of that which we may know; for, as the spirit—or the truth—is an ACTIVE element, so application of our individual conception is a growth from within." (Letter 5459-6 BACKGROUND)

Truth is therefore active rather than passive. It changes motives, attitudes, relationships, and character. It becomes a living force within the individual rather than simply an idea held by the mind.

This same principle appears in Reading 609-1:

"Study to show thyself approved unto thy Creator, rightly divining the words of truth, keeping self unspotted from the world, knowing that truth is a growth in Him; and understanding comes with the application of that which has been opened before thee from day to day." (609-1)

Notice that understanding follows application. Many seek greater wisdom while neglecting the truths they already know. The Cayce readings reverse this order. Live today's truth, and tomorrow's understanding will naturally follow.

Truth is also inseparably connected with freedom. Echoing the words of Christ, Reading 323-2 proclaims:

"To know the truth is to make you free!" (323-2)

Yet this freedom is far deeper than intellectual certainty. It is freedom from fear, selfishness, prejudice, resentment, pride, and spiritual blindness. As truth grows within consciousness, these limitations gradually lose their power. Freedom comes because truth transforms the whole person.

Most importantly, the Cayce readings identify truth not merely as an abstract principle but as the very nature of Christ Himself. Reading 272-9 states:

"KNOW the Truth, for the truth is as He gave; the truth is He, and His words. For He hath given, 'Though the heavens and the earth may pass away, MY words, my promise, shall NOT pass away.'" (272-9)

Truth therefore cannot be separated from the life and spirit of Jesus Christ. The highest expression of truth is not simply correct doctrine but Christ-like living. Every genuine spiritual teaching should lead toward greater love, forgiveness, humility, compassion, patience, and service, for these are the fruits of the Spirit of Truth.

One of the most balanced teachings found anywhere in the Cayce readings concerns the relationship between truth and religious organizations. When asked whether various spiritual movements should be studied, the reply was astonishingly broad:

"Each, to be sure, in their sphere of activity, have some truth; but no finite mind has ALL the truth! For TRUTH is a GROWING thing!" (282-4)

This statement alone removes the basis for spiritual arrogance. No church possesses all truth. No denomination possesses all truth. No philosophy possesses all truth. No spiritual teacher possesses all truth. Every individual sees only a portion of God's infinite reality.

Cayce continued:

"It would be well that some of ALL be read, that the COMPARISONS may be drawn as to what answers for EVERY need in the experience of self." (282-4)

This does not encourage spiritual confusion but spiritual maturity. We may learn from many sources while continually measuring every teaching against the highest revelation of God in Christ. Humility keeps the soul teachable, while discernment keeps it grounded.

The growth of truth is not merely intellectual but deeply practical. Reading 281-27 beautifully summarizes this principle:

"Truth is a growing experience in the hearts and the minds of individuals as they apply those tenets of the law in their individual experience." (281-27)

Notice again the emphasis upon application. Truth grows not simply in the mind but in both the heart and the mind. It becomes part of daily living. Every opportunity to forgive, to serve, to love, or to sacrifice becomes another lesson in truth.

Reading 423-2 describes this gradual unfolding with beautiful simplicity:

"Truth is a growing thing, as the knowledge of the spiritual laws is in the mental activities of a body. Day by day is there shown the way. He that faints not finds the way." (423-2)

Spiritual growth is therefore never instantaneous. God rarely reveals the whole path at once. Instead, He reveals sufficient light for today's step. As each truth is faithfully lived, more light follows. The soul grows steadily, often without realizing how much transformation has already taken place.

The great obstacle to truth, according to Reading 262-19, is self-will. Truth is earned only by those who apply what they know "in keeping with His will, rather than that there may be the satisfying of self's own desires." (262-19) Spiritual progress therefore depends not merely upon seeking truth but upon surrendering to it. Every time the soul chooses God's will above personal preference, truth becomes more deeply established within consciousness.

The Edgar Cayce readings present one of the most beautiful understandings of truth found in modern spiritual literature. Truth is never portrayed as a possession to defend or a doctrine to argue about. It is a living relationship with God that continually unfolds as the soul seeks to know, love, and serve Him. Truth grows because God is infinite. It deepens because life continually presents new opportunities to practice what has already been learned. It liberates because it transforms the inner life. It unites because no individual or organization possesses its fullness. Above all, truth is Christ Himself, living within the heart of every sincere seeker.

As the readings repeatedly remind us:

"Truth is as Life, a GROWING consciousness in self." (323-2)

"Truth is a growing thing." (1554-6)

"Truth is a growing experience in the hearts and the minds of individuals." (281-27)

May every seeker remain humble enough to continue learning, faithful enough to apply the truth already received, and loving enough to allow the Spirit of Christ to reveal ever greater measures of Truth throughout the journey of life.

EDGAR CAYCE READINGS ON TRUTH

EDGAR CAYCE READING 323-2

To know the truth is to make you free! Truth is as Life, a GROWING consciousness in self.

EDGAR CAYCE READING 262-19

TRUTH is as experience. Hence IS an earning, through the manners in which a finite mind becomes conscious of what truth is. Hence truth is a growth, and hence an EARNING, a yearning, a growing and is EARNED by he or she that applies that known in the manner that IS in keeping with His will, rather than that there may be the satisfying of self's own desires. Not that man should deny that this or that force exists, to make self believe, but rather that the truth is as that which may be earned through the EXPERIENCING of the knowledge and understanding concerning the laws of truth; for HE is TRUTH!

EDGAR CAYCE READING 272-9

KNOW the Truth, for the truth is as He gave; the truth is He, and His words. For He hath given, "Though the heavens and the earth may pass away, MY words, my promise, shall NOT pass away."

EDGAR CAYCE LETTER TO 5459-6

Merely having the knowledge of a thing is not so beneficial as the application of that which we may know; for, as the spirit - or the truth - is an ACTIVE element, so application of our individual conception is a growth from within.

EDGAR CAYCE READING 1554-6

But truth is a growing thing, as infinity, as Creative Force. For it is a constant growth. Only good lives.

EDGAR CAYCE READING 281-27

For Truth is a growing experience in the hearts and the minds of individuals as they apply those tenets of the law in their individual experience.

EDGAR CAYCE READING 282-4

(Q) Should the body-mind study the teachings of any one or more of the following organizations or groups: Unity, Rosicrucians, Spiritualists, or Indian Yogi's?

(A) These had best be studied in the light of that which is desired to be attained by the body. For each, to be sure, in their sphere of activity, have some truth; but no finite mind has ALL the truth! For TRUTH is a GROWING thing!

It would be well that some of ALL be read, that the COMPARISONS may be drawn as to what answers for EVERY need in the experience of self.

But as may be found in that given, none reaches that - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God."

EDGAR CAYCE READING 307-3

(Q) Should the entity go to Chowan College? [Murfreesboro, N.C.]

(A) No; not in the present. While, as has been given, many are the problems as confront the entity in the present, but patience, long-suffering, will bring its reward. Rather in the fields that the entity has prepared itself, than CLOSING self to dogmatic influences that hinder in many ways. Not that the aid should not be rendered that the entity is capable of giving in this direction, but each to their own way; for, as has been given, present thine self as a sacrifice, holy and acceptable, CORRECTLY - or RIGHTLY dividing the words of truth. Truth is a growth, even as Life - and keeping one's self untarnished.

EDGAR CAYCE READING 423-2

(Q) What changes must be made in my personal life?

(A) As a soul or entity seeks to become a channel of blessing to its fellow man, there are the guiding steps step by step; and doing that which is known in self to be the correct, the right relationships in any given determination fits the body from day to day for that development. For, truth is a growing thing, as the knowledge of the spiritual laws is in the mental activities of a body. Day by day is there shown the way. He that faints not finds the way. Hence the changes would be only the greater determination in self to be used by the influences of the Infinite to become a channel of blessing to his fellow man.

EDGAR CAYCE READING 609-1

Study to show thyself approved unto thy Creator, rightly divining the words of truth, keeping self unspotted from the world, knowing that truth is a growth in Him; and understanding comes with the application of that which has been opened before thee from day to day.