Thoughts are forces
A positive thought builds up, a negative thought destroys
Bruno Gröning frequently called on his listeners to check their own thoughts and only accept the good ones. God and Satan are not only sources of energy, but also of thought. They constantly send out thoughts, God the good, Satan the bad. According to Bruno Gröning, man is unable to produce thoughts; he has merely the capacity to receive them.
“It is so important which thoughts a person accepts, for thoughts are energy. If a person seeks what is good, then God will help him. If he wants what is bad, then Satan will help him.”
Man is not submissively subjected to whatever comes into his mind. He himself can decide which thoughts he will tolerate and which not. But he must make this choice carefully, not superficially. There is an energy behind every thought; a positive thought is constructive, a negative one, destructive. A joyful message inspires, a sad one discourages! Thoughts are spiritual energies. They embody a power; a power which humanity today is barely aware of. A thought born of love can inspire a person to lay down his life for another. A thought spawned from hatred can drive him to kill another. “Beware of every evil thought!”
“Everything you take in, you must pass on.”
“By now, you must have realized that if you accept one single nasty thought, more nasty thoughts crowd in, and after that, you speak nasty words. Whatever you take in, you must to pass on.”
“By having accepted one bad thought, you will become the servant of evil. You really become the servant of Satan! Let it be a warning to you!”
A person acts according to his will
But what can a person do to counteract depressing, doubting, fearful or compulsive negative thoughts? How can he defend himself? They suddenly materialize out of nothing and assail him, trying to dominate him emotionally. What should he do?
Satan wants to mislead a person with negative thoughts, no matter how small, how unimportant. He wants to pull the person off the divine path. He wants him to be anxious, angry, in doubt about what is good, and he wants him to violate God's laws. To accomplish this, he fools him into believing that man is a plaything at the mercy of bad thoughts and feelings. But this is a lie.
God has created man in such a way that he can decide what he thinks, says and does. When a bad thought passes in front of his inner eye, he can quietly but firmly reject it. If he remains resolute, the evil thought has to yield and cannot ensnare him. Man determines his own destiny with his own free will. “Man acts according to his will. As the will, so the thought. The thought moves the person to action.”
Firstly, the will for health must be present
Using a simple example, Bruno Gröning made it very clear what great significance thoughts have. When building a house, the first impetus is the wish to build it. The thought becomes more concrete, until an exact plan is drawn up. Up until this point, the building exists only in the future owner’s imagination. The actual construction is the final step on a path of countless decisions and preparations.
It is exactly the same with healing. First the wish for health has to be there. Then come the mental detachment from the illness and the belief in recovery. The final stage is the physical healing of the body. But this is not a human act. It is an act of grace from God. Man cannot earn it, but he may attain it.
