New Thought Pastels

In Short

A collection of didactic and inspirational American poetry, the book explores how human consciousness, intention, and love shape both earthly experience and the afterlife. Through lyrical dialogues, reflections, and narrative verses, it champions the power of positive thought, personal accountability, and emotional perseverance over despair. It has endured through its accessible reassurance and its earnest focus on self-mastery, inner peace, and the continuity of love beyond physical death.

The Story

The collection opens with a dialogue between a troubled mortal and a guiding spirit, establishing the core philosophical trajectory of the work. Surveying a world full of greed, harsh speech, and grief, the mortal yearns to reform external society and rescue fellow men. The spirit firmly redirects this impulse inward, teaching that true influence begins by cleansing the self, speaking words of praise, and embodying hope and cheer rather than engaging directly with outward misery.

Building upon this foundation, the poems progress through various dimensions of moral and mental strength, asserting that true virtue is found not in isolation from temptation, but in walking calmly through the city's noisiest scenes and looking Folly in the eye without yielding. The human creature is presented as a divine trinity of body, mind, and spirit, where thought acts as the primary creative force of the universe. Readers are cautioned against fear, doubt, and sloth, which breed failure, while being urged to design tomorrow upon the wreckage of yesterday using strong cornerstones of purpose and regret transformed into wisdom.

As the poems move deeper into spiritual awakening, they explore the necessity of patience, silence, and stillness to catch the spark from God's creative center. Life's trials, griefs, and bitter tears are reframed as essential tonics that prevent the soul from remaining dwarfed and unexpressed. The progression tackles the illusion of death, arguing that souls journey across worlds of space shaped entirely by the thoughts, loves, and fears they cultivated while alive.

The concluding narrative verse centers on an unassuming, lonely woman whose humble daily life is filled with quiet love for nature, menial tasks, and distant successes. Upon her passing, she awakens to find herself standing before a magnificent palace. She learns that this structure and its radiant halls were built entirely from the pure gold of her own earthly thoughts, prayers, and unselfish affection. Joined by long-mourned loved ones and the very animals she cared for on earth, she discovers the eternal triumph of love.

How It Unfolds

• The inward turn — The collection begins by turning the observer's gaze away from external societal wretchedness and toward internal spiritual purification. The spirit instructs the restless mortal to speak words of praise and embody cheer rather than trying to forcefully reform the world.
• The trinity of self — Body, mind, and spirit are united as a divine whole that must be fully affirmed rather than denied. Thought is identified as the foundational, all-creative force used to command fate and design tomorrow.
• The trials of endurance — The progression demands patience through valleys of despair and warns against the paralyzing traps of fear, doubt, and slothful inaction. True serenity and strength are forged by walking among temptation and difficulty without losing one's honor or calm.
• The conquest of death — Moving toward its conclusion, the book asserts the absolute continuity of life and the absence of death. Souls journey to realms they fashioned themselves, where heavens and hells are constructed directly from human emotion.
• The final realization — The work culminates in a vision of an unassuming woman whose quiet earthly love materializes into a magnificent heavenly palace. Her transition reveals that love transcends physical form and directly builds the eternal architecture of the soul's afterlife.

The People

• The Mortal — Represents the seeking human soul who looks outward at a world full of sin and sorrow, initially desiring to fix everyone else's ways. Through guidance, the mortal learns to look inward, take personal responsibility, and cultivate inner peace.
• The Spirit — Acts as the wise, grounding voice of divine reason. It guides the mortal away from external frustration and toward self-mastery, patience, and the power of constructive thought.
• The Slothful Soul — Exemplifies those paralyzed by imagined obstacles and mental laziness. Challenged to wake up and recognize that no lions block the path, this figure represents the internal resistance that humans must overcome to find their goals.
• The Humble Woman — A quiet, unpretentious figure who lives an obscure life filled with menial tasks, deep appreciation for nature, and genuine sympathy for others. She ends up waking in a breathtaking heavenly palace built entirely from the accumulated love of her earthly life.
• The Returning Loved One — A spirit from the woman's past who toiled through lower planes and reached higher spheres through the sustained power of her earthly prayers and remembrance. This figure demonstrates that earth and heaven share a mutual spiritual need.

In Its Own Voice

Go cleanse thyself within.

The spirit advises the troubled mortal on where true reform must begin.

A weed is but an unloved flower!

The speaker reframes neglected plants and unevolved human sin as things waiting for patience and care.

Who walks with Fear adown life’s road will meet His boon companions, Failure and Defeat.

The text outlines the inevitable consequences of allowing fear to enter the human heart.

What It's Really About

The collection explores the metaphysical power of thought as the central creative architect of human reality. It argues that external circumstances, whether sorrow, sin, or physical environment, are direct reflections of internal mental states. The underlying questions address how an individual can find agency in a seemingly harsh world, how to transcend the fear of mortality, and how love functions as the ultimate bridge between the finite and the infinite. Rather than focusing on external dogmas or fearful creeds, the argument rests on radical personal accountability, patience through suffering, and the belief that human consciousness directly constructs its own spiritual destiny.

Why Read It Today

Readers who appreciate earnest verse, moral philosophy, and early New Thought literature will find much to cherish here. Reading these poems feels like listening to a steady, compassionate mentor who refuses to let you wallow in self-pity or external blame. It offers a soothing yet demanding tonic of radical self-reliance and emotional discipline.

The book is not without its historical difficulties; modern readers may find the didactic tone occasionally heavy-handed, and the explicit framing reflects late-nineteenth-century spiritual optimism that can feel uncritical of real-world systemic suffering. Furthermore, its heavy reliance on traditional poetic meter and moralizing couplets requires patience. Yet, what stays with you is its profound insistence on kindness, the beauty found in ordinary tasks, and the comforting assertion that love and thought leave an enduring mark on the universe.

What aspects of nineteenth-century philosophical poetry interest you the most?