albert_cliffe_let_go_let_god_1951

Let Go and Let God

Steps in Victorious Living

by

Albert E. Cliffe

Copyright: 1951

Publisher: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

DO YOUR BEST AND LET GOD TAKE CARE OF THE REST

The anxiety and stress of modern living affects the health and happiness of millions of Americans. Let Go and Let God, presented in practical, step-by-step, layman's terms, points out the way to a joyous affirmation of your spiritual faith -- a soothing refuge in times of trouble and doubt.

Let go of stress and let go of fear once and for all, and let God lead the way to a more fulfilling, more satisfying, more successful life.

Learn how to:

* Establish relationships that will nurture and nourish you
* Practice kindness -- and receive it in return
* Build a self-image that you and your peers will respect
* Use the force of your ideas to overcome obstacles
* And much more

If you seek peace of mind and purpose of spirit, you are sure to find a source of strength, courage, and confidence in Let Go and Let God.

Albert E. Cliffe - “Show me a worrying person
and I will show you a person who does not know how to relax.”

We get new ideas from God every hour of our day when we put our trust in Him -- but we have to follow that inspiration up with perspiration -- we have to work to prove our faith. Remember that the bee that hangs around the hive never gets any honey.

WHEN you have been through a period of worry and tension, it is usually the practice of your doctor to have you take a vacation...

Wierwille drew his laws of believing, of tithing, prosperity, mental imaging (imagining good things to bring them to pass), and the more abundant life from Albert Cliffe. Although Guideposts helped popularize Cliffe's writings and he claimed to be Anglican, Cliffe held New Thought beliefs, seeing God as impersonal principle. He also was a spiritist and claimed, Many of the subjects I have given in my Bible class have been dictated to me by the loved ones long since passed on. 6 Albert Cliffe, Let Go and Let God (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1951), 157. Cliffe's book Lessons in Successful Living addresses similar topics. Although Wierwille has written against spiritism, he welcomed this spiritist with open arms.

Chapter 1

Let Go and Let God

When you have been through a period of worry and tension, it is usually the practice of your doctor to have you take a vacation in some quiet restful spot where you can relax completely, forget your past worries and gain strength.

Very few people today know how to relax, they live in a world of rushing hither and yon. Each day is filled with work, engagements and no time for relaxation. Even when people take time off to go to a movie they usually want an exciting one, thus gaining more excitement for their already overworked nervous systems.

The average man at business is a good example of high tension living. If successful, he tries daily to better his past successes. The excitement of greater successes keeps him in constant tension, and fatigue remains unnoticed until he is in a complete state of mental exhaustion. The busy doctor, teacher, stenographer are good examples of high tension living. These people find that after they retire to bed their active minds will not let them rest, but they go on planning further ideas for the following days.

The rearing of children and providing meals for the family each night takes its toll from the nerves of the dependable mother. She becomes irritable, she cannot get rest even when she retires to bed, and sooner or later she has to seek medical advice to quiet her nerves.

We have nowadays all kinds of machinery in the home to save work, to save drudgery, but they have not in any way relieved the sense of nervous strain of the householder; in other words, we are all trying to bum the candle at both ends. We do not know how to let go our anxieties.

In this present century man has forgotten how to live, how to enjoy the simple things of life: the sunshine, the garden, quiet walks along country lanes. All of us every day look over our budgets, our costs in living, our economies, but few count the costs of life in terms of nervous expenditures.

Take the average man and woman of our present civilization, as soon as trouble comes, as soon as some little thing goes wrong -- what do they do? They reach for a cigarette, a sure sign of nervous trouble, for they have become used to the solace of this potent drug. Many times we find people who suffer terrific pains in certain organs of their bodies, and when the doctor examines them he finds not a single thing organically wrong with them. Nerves, nervous tensions can bring tremendous amounts of real pain to every one of us. After years of struggling with life, we have never learned how to let go our tensions and fears.

Many children become nervous types because their parents give them too much attention, too much personal worry about nonessentials, too much being cared for and being watched over. The causes of overactive nervous systems are many, so the doctors tell us, but among these causes we must claim that the worst causes of all are our constant rush and the complexity of the way we think and live.

In spite of the worries of everyday life, we must always keep before our minds the utter need for us to relax, to get rest and healthy sleep. Complete relaxation is the sure remedy for this thing called nervousness. Worry about the little and big things of life, worry about things which you fear may happen to you in the future, all tend to bring about tension. Worry becomes a real habit and if constantly practiced can bring about physical death after much suffering. What can you do about it? Learn to relax, learn to face the tribulations of life without fear, stop crossing bridges ahead of time, for worry is the interest you pay on trouble before it comes.

Show me a worrying person and I will show you a person who does not know how to relax.

Our religious faith, Christianity, shows us the complete answer to nervous troubles and tensions. A single constant affirmation that the everlasting arms of God are holding you up, repeated hour by hour until you become convinced that God is now your guide and stay, will often bring you out of worries and fears, but how many Christians will really let go their fears and let God handle them?

Suppose that you have a broken watch and you take it to a watchmaker, asking him if he can repair it. He takes out his glass and looks at the works and says that he most assuredly can repair it. Suppose then that you say to him, Thank you, place it back in your purse or pocket and leave the store. Will you get that watch repaired? Most certainly not, for you have to leave the watch with the watchmaker.

It is just the same with your religious life. You have to get into the habit of leaving your troubles with God. The only complete and sure cure for your bad nerves, as you call them, is to relax in the hands of God and know that He is now looking after your troubles, that He is now guiding you into the quiet waters of inner peace.

If you have a poor tire on your car, what do you do? You can drive more carefully than ever, avoid the bad roads, the side and gravel roads, keeping to the main highways. So it is with your body. If your organs have withstood very badly indeed the wear and tear of life, then you must learn to take care of them until you gain that complete healing which can only come from a real, earnest practice of your religion. To him that believeth, all things are possible, says the Bible; but how many Christians really try to believe this statement?

The most wonderful thing that ever happened to me was this: many years ago I let go my past and let God take over my life. When I completely surrendered my life to Him, I lost my temper, my fears, my years of deadly illness and sicknesses. It meant facing life every hour with the truth that was in me to replace the negative thinking of a lifetime.

It meant an hourly contact with God, in the street car, the bus, my own car, my laboratory -- no matter where I went I had an appointment with Him. What came of it? Peace of mind, health and spiritual prosperity.

Are you willing, friend, after reading this chapter to-day, to find God? Are you willing to put Him first in your life? Are you willing to let go, and let God be your mentor from this day on?

Then if you are, you, too, can have no fears, no tensions, no nervousness, no worries. When you take His yoke upon you, your life is a converted one. No longer do the sins of the devil haunt you, no longer can the so-called powers of evil assail you, but you learn to live happily, healthfully, confidently, because having let go, you let God and abundant living come into your life.

Copyright © 1951 by Albert E. Cliffe

You don't need to be a holy-roller to appreciate the concept of the author's points in Let go, Let God. Because we weren't born with instructions, sometimes it's hard to make the right choices and go the right direction--regardless of our choice of (or) faith. But, this book boldly speaks to all races, religions, and faiths. If we all took the time everyday to truly invest in self-improvement, instead of investing time in finding fault in others we would all grow greater spiritually, physically, financially, and of course most importantly, Godly. Let Go, Let God has something for everyone and I am sure it should be in all home libraries. It helped me see where I've grown and where I need to change.

We are given the desire to pray and restore our faith in God, which we may have forgotten how to do. The results have important implications in both the physical and spiritual world. The author tells us that each day is new and we have the ability to change and be renewed. We are able to be absolutely forgiven by Christ - a very reassuring and comforting thought.

Kudos. This book establishes and emphasizes the important things in life on Earth (and here-after).

The type of book that needs to be read and re-read. Let Go and Let God provides guidance, explanation and direction. Take the time to read some of chapters out loud to your children.

You don't need to be a holy-roller to appreciate the concept of the author's points in Let go, Let God. Because we weren't born with instructions, sometimes it's hard to make the right choices and go the right direction--regardless of our choice of (or) faith. But, this book boldy speaks to all races, religions, and faiths. If we all took the time everyday to truly invest in self-improvement, instead of investing time in finding fault in others we would all grow greater spiritually, physically, financially, and of course most importantly, Godly. Let Go, Let God has something for everyone and I am sure it should be in all home libraries. It helped me see where I've grown and where I need to change

The Law of Believing and Prosperity

A learned man brought to this century a fresh teaching-that Jesus came that believers would have a more abundant life. The teacher taught steps to victorious living, which yield happiness, sufficiency, success and health-all of which are God's will for mankind. Positive faith, he said, brings about happiness and victory, while negative faith results in nervousness, failure and sickness. These effects must result, for this is a law of life. A person can achieve any good thing if he believes strong enough in it. If he prays believing he is now receiving, results are assured. A human being must overcome his tendency to limit God by keeping God's power latent within. The teacher summed up his steps to victory-let go and let God!

The Doctor explains the source of his teachings:

Many of the subjects I have given in my Bible class have been dictated to me by my loved ones long since passed on... (that is, dictated via my psychic work. (1)

Although Victor Paul Wierwille would reject mediumship as his source of doctrine, he would unquestionably agree to the teachings listed above. In fact, Wierwille infers that Albert E. Cliffe, the author of these tenets, was once his mentor. Cliffe was one of those who were guests of Dr. Wierwille's local congregation during the 16 years as pastor when Wierwille searched the Word of God for keys to victorious living.(2)

The back cover of Cliffe's 1951 book Let Go and Let God offers a brief biography:

Albert E. Cliffe, a professional biochemist, turned from his work in industry to become a lay reader of the Church of England in Canada and the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States, and an outstanding leader in the movement for spiritual healing within the organized church. News of his work spread all over the world and Dr. Cliffe carried this work, in the course of speaking tours, throughout Canada, to the United States, and to England. He received the unusual honor, for a Canadian and a layman, of being invited to open the Congress of the United States with prayer. The late Dr. Cliffe authored other books including lessons in Successful Living-

Though Let Go and Let God focuses on ten steps in victorious living, it also reveals Cliffe's beliefs on the important topics of God, man and Christ. Although he claimed Episcopalian beliefs early in life, he later the New Thought classic In Tune with the Infinite by Ralph Waldo Trine and took courses on spiritual healing from Metaphysical Schools which brought him to a new conception of God:

I found the Kingdom-of Heaven within me and, oh, how my ideas of God changed.(3) God to me is all life, all power, all love.(4) God is the name given to that unchangeable principle which is the source of all life, of all existence. As God He is impersonal, but as we come to know Him day by day as expressed in each one of us, He really becomes personal to us...(5)

Man, Cliffe newly concluded, must contain the divine energy for My mind is part of His divine-mind(6) and we are inseparable from God(7), Cliffe wrote. Man's goal, then, is to grow, developing his latent God power since ...if there is an unpardonable sin it is the damming up of God's powers within us. (8)

According to Cliffe, attainment of this goal is aided by the impersonal Christ force indwelling every human being. Since there is no death(9) a person simply goes to that plane of thought which you have preparedfor yourself which can loosely be termed heaven or hell.(10) Cliffe's pantheistic viewpoint combats Scripture, promoting man from sinful creature to a microcosm of the Creator. These a-Christian beliefs have been marketed for centuries by mystics and occultists, often under the thin disguise of Christian terminology which Cliffe favors.

If Wierwille did realize Cliffe's alarming beliefs about God, man and Christ, he was knowingly exposing his Ohio congregation to possible great spiritual harm. If Wierwille did not realize Cliffe's non-Christian beliefs, he did not probe Cliffe on doctrinal matters or was theologically naive. In either case, Wierwille did adopt at least one key Cliffe teaching- that positive faith (which Wierwille termed believing faith in 1957 and believing beginning sometime after 1962) will yield health, happiness, prosperity and success while negative faith (fear) must result in failure, sadness and sickness because this is a law under which every human on earth lives. Wierwille's teaching and terminology closely mimic Cliffe's, as a comparison of their works indicates.(11)

While Cliffe heads each chapter of Let Go and Let God with a brief Bible verse he does not attempt to prove his teachings with Scripture. Wierwille, on the other hand, attempts to illustrate from Scripture his theory of believing thereby Christianizing this spiritist's ideas.(12) One thing is sure. Wierwille's source far his teaching on believing was neither the Holy Spirit nor the Word of God, but Albert Cliffe, who spiritually stood far outside the bounds of biblical Christianity.

NOTES:

1. Albert E. Cliffe, Let Go-and Let God (Englewood Cliffs. N. J.: Prentice-Hall, 1951), P. 157. It was republished sometime after 1957 as a Guidepost selection with God Can Heal You Now by Emily Gardiner Neal for keys to powerful victorious living .

2. Cliffe is mentioned in most of the biographies of Wierwille printed in or accompanying his books (although sometimes his name is misspelled Cliff).

3. Cliffe, Let Go-and Let God, p. 162. 4. Ibid, p.163. 5. Ibid, p.163-164.

6. Ibid, p. 133. Cliffe also refers to God as Divine Mind, Mind, Good and God Power.

7. Ibid, p. 149. 8. Ibid, p. 151. 9. Ibid, p. 155. Ibid, p. 158.

11. Wierwille teaches on the law of believing in The Bible Tells Me So, Parts I and II, pages 1-46 (1971) and Power for Abundant Living, pages 1-61 (1971). Cliffe's books include Let Go and Let God (a phrase which has become a favorite Way aphorism),and Lessons in Successful Living and Signposts. Especially relevant chapters of Let Go and Let God are entitled- There is Magic In Believing and The Law of Cause and Effect. Relevant chapters in Lessons in Successful Living (Prentice-Hall, 1950, 1952, 1953; which is the revised edition of Lessons in Living) include Spiritual Healing, Positive and Negative Thinking and Tithes and the Law of Prosperity. Lessons in Successful Living was republished sometimes after 1969 as a Guideposts selection.

12. See The Integrity and Accuracy of The Way's Word for a description and critique of The Way's doctrine of believing. Christian bookstores often carry books which address this teaching in the form of the word-faith Christian sects.

Dr. John Juedes, C. 1984.

Dr Norman Vincent Peal Writes
in Enthusiasm Makes the Difference