Criticism

Criticism is of two kinds, the first is: the art of judging with propriety of the beauties and faults of a literary performance, or of any production in the fine arts; as the rules of criticism.Webster’s American Dictionary
  Criticism’s primary meaning has been reduced to fault-finding: the action of criticizing, or passing judgment upon the qualities or merits of anything, especially the passing of unfavorable judgment, fault-finding, censure.Oxford English Dictionary


“You receive no undeserved criticism ever. You send it out, and sooner or later, it must return.”—Edna Lister


  Criticism, a use of the spoken Word, operates under the fundamental principle of contraction, and you may apply it positively (as in pruning the shoots of self) or negatively (as in destroying another’s joy). A well-honed critical faculty is a soul virtue; criticism as passing judgment is a soul taint.






Edna Lister on Criticism

When you judge and criticize, you are condemning yourself. Do not surrender to criticism, but recognize it as a stepping stone, an opportunity to go higher.—Edna Lister, Sermon on the Mount, February 1, 1933.


The people who criticize are only naming themselves and the bit of Power they are using. They cannot name the whole Power of God, only that bit that they are living.—Edna Lister, Undated Correspondence, 1934.


If you receive praise or criticism, opportunity is knocking at your door. When criticism comes, God is saying, Watch your step and consider your next move. You receive no undeserved criticism ever. You send it out, and sooner or later, it must return.—Edna Lister, January 19, 1935.


If you are critical under Power’s release, it will triple the criticism you receive.—Edna Lister, March 23, 1941.


Each places himself according to his criticism.—Edna Lister, June 30, 1941.


Anyone can get tired and quit, bluster and grow angry, be critical and condemning—a single-celled creature can do as much, so do not be proud of it. It takes less strength of character to bite the tongue in self-control than it does to conquer all desire to lash out and burn another with hasty words unwisely spoken. However, biting the tongue is the first step toward conquering self.—Edna Lister, Life in a Nutshell, "Bite Your Tongue!," 1942.


How many hours a day do you spend criticizing the government, the weather, and things that you dislike? Criticism is a really cheap claim to fame, although you may be an expert at it, and is a shoddy way to use your will power.—Edna Lister, "Determination Is the Pipeline," Life in a Nutshell, 1942.


You will learn by deserved criticism to do the Godlike thing under all conditions.—Edna Lister, February 6, 1942.


People who speak harshly to you are envious that they lack what you have.—Edna Lister, March 17, 1942.


Condemning and criticizing will destroy any vibration.—Edna Lister, April 23, 1942.


No criticism is allowed to anyone who would become the willing servant of all Power, who releases the Light of God.—Edna Lister, May 27, 1943.


See to it that the seed of life you plant in another is not a dead seed. Do not kill it with criticism, but water and quicken it with love.—Edna Lister, July 14, 1944.


Criticism and condemnation invest soul substance in others, which become anchors, holding you to earth.—Edna Lister, October 30, 1944.


Subconscious mind cannot distinguish the difference between righteous and unrighteous, and it always works out any type of judgment through your body and affairs. Any kind of judgment is either criticism or condemnation or both, and the physical results are hardening (sclerosis) of body organs.—Edna Lister, Five Keys to the Kingdom, 1945.


When filled with joy, you have no room for criticism or hate.—Edna Lister, January 18, 1945.


Criticism of self devitalizes, and wastes universal energy.—Edna Lister, April 6, 1945.


When a test comes, do not think of the size of the infraction for which they criticize you, but of the indication of what is under your surface that caused it. When you can so forget what the test, temptation or trial indicates, law counts it as self-pity, pride, rebellion, intolerance, or whatever it is. Put your heel on the head of the serpent.

—Genesis 3:15.—Edna Lister, July 11, 1945.


Unceasing criticism is an offshoot of hatred.—Edna Lister, August 1, 1945.


The law is, Let he who is blameless cast the first stone. When you cannot take reprimands, but cover your mistakes, you blame and criticize.—Edna Lister, August 11, 1945.


Each criticism is considered a challenge to God.—Edna Lister, September 26, 1946.


Those things you criticize and condemn in others, you must work out in yourself.—Edna Lister, Jesus’ Prayer of the Ages, April 27, 1947.


God filled your Oversoul star with all the substance you will ever need, according to your faith. Acid criticism will dissolve that substance. Do not criticize, or you tune in on all the criticism of the world until you are a mass of it.—Edna Lister, An Encompassing Faith, May 4, 1947.


You face great criticism out in the world. Just get to the point where you welcome criticism, for you need it. Make it work for you; clean house on it, knowing that it is for your good. Never let anyone or anything drag you down in consciousness.—Edna Lister, November 8, 1947.


When you can walk amid jeers, criticism and scorn, and lift and look as though you were walking among the angels, you shall lift the crust of your pride.—Edna Lister, December 1, 1947.


Criticism of darkness is legal, but not of personality.—Edna Lister, December 5, 1947.


To blame or criticize, to be prideful or intolerant is to give away soul substance.—Edna Lister, January 8, 1948.


To criticize another is self-exaltation. When you criticize another, he receives promotion under law—double what you would have received had you lifted him. This is why the enemy prospers. Every kick is a boost, since the law of equilibrium compensates for our undue criticism. Continued criticism closes the Gates of Heaven to the one so indulging. Once the Gates are closed, you can open them only under law, and this process is a long and tedious way.—Edna Lister, May 20, 1948.


One who sympathizes with another’s bitterness will eventually sicken of his criticism.—Edna Lister, June 3, 1948.


It’s a tragedy when your reaction to law makes you too critical or intolerant of those who cannot yet become law.—Edna Lister, February 26, 1949.


While acceptance is crucial to ascension, it is important to not accept resentment, blame or criticism as yours before you lift it.—Edna Lister, Five Steps in Ascension, April 16, 1950.


The worst temper or criticism is always seeking to climb back into the nest. Don’t be surprised to find a foot in your face if you try to push it out. You draw all this from yourself and others when you fear it.—Edna Lister, The Glory of Agreeing, June 10, 1951.


Every time you sacrifice an opinion, an old, deep-seated reaction, disappointment or criticism, you loosen the physical moorings of the desire body, which enables you to see and hear spiritually. To ascend on your sacrifices creates a vacuum, a diffusion that loosens you in your body. When you get a plop in the face, and ask, Why did this happen to me? you just prove that you need to sacrifice your opinions, prejudices, resentment and criticism. The law is, What is that to thee? Follow thou me.—John 21:22. You cannot criticize or be hurt by criticism unless you settle and become tight in your body. All that comes to you through experience is yours to lift. Pray your way all the way through.—Edna Lister, To Seek the Light, June 10, 1951.


Every time you raise your voice in criticism, anger or ridicule, you invest soul substance in that person or condition. You may not criticize or condemn yourself either. Condemnation and hatred can invest so much soul substance that you have very little left; the doers of darkness use what you send out in hate. You can lose your body because you invest world governments and politicians with soul substance as you criticize; they live on your soul substance. You can give them a chunk of yourself, opinion by opinion, until you have nothing left.—Edna Lister, The First Days, June 17, 1951.


Nothing comes to you unless you have an affinity for it. Criticism, intolerance of anything on earth will draw that thing to you. Like attracts like.—Edna Lister, Be-Attitudes, July 24, 1951.


The ordinary subconscious mind reasons from a basis of plausible association and has no power to think anything on its own. Even when you lift self, it still wants to dominate and waits until you pass from the intellectual viewpoint to illumination, then erupts in bitterness, criticism, etc.—Edna Lister, November 19, 1951.


Self must move up in consciousness. We have tortured ourselves by hanging onto worn-out ideas, opinions, prejudices, criticism of others, blame for anyone but ourselves, none of them mattering to God or to the world.—Edna Lister, April 22, 1952.


Light is Light. The Light does not make you critical. It only makes your hidden ruthlessness visible, to show the world. If you are guilty of speaking criticism, you see what you are expressing from the self in everyone else.—Edna Lister, May 19, 1952.


Criticism is a contraction of consciousness. Moving up in love, understanding and compassion is an expansion of consciousness. When you descend in consciousness and criticize, you pay the other fellow’s spiritual debts.—Edna Lister, June 2, 1952.


Criticism adulterates the Love of God.—Edna Lister, August 31, 1952.


When criticized, you can stop the power of the negative thought sent forth, if you do not accept it into your aura before you lift it. But if you allow it to hurt you emotionally, you accept the negativity, put a head, eyes, tail and stinger on it and give it power. Then it returns like a boomerang to the sender, not to the criticizer, but to you.—Edna Lister, The Golden Silence, September 28, 1952.


When you are hurt, critical and condemning, you are living by a world plan in darkness rather than by a consciously directed design for living.—Edna Lister, A Design for Living, November 16, 1952.


If you…know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him. Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.—Matthew 7:11-12. When you have given enough love to those who knock you, they stop. Even their criticism is a gift when you know that you cannot receive anything but good gifts. Criticism is a gift, for it gives you a chance to give more love.—Edna Lister, Gifts and Giving, June 14, 1953.


The difference between criticism and an instant vision-call to lift darkness is the speed with which you recognize a soul-empty place and look up to become the instrument through which love fills the void.—Edna Lister, October 3, 1953.


Blame, criticism and condemnation are curses that go forth to create after their own degree and kind.—Edna Lister, June 18, 1954.


Self-exaltation sees everyone who points a finger at you. If you waste a month moping over another’s criticism of you, you accomplish nothing, for an offender hasn’t a lick of sense. Declare it good, hold them, and give love.—Edna Lister, Jesus, the Teacher, October 3, 1954.


Loose the other fellow, let him go and wallow. Stop stumbling on criticism.—Edna Lister, November 21, 1954.


If you can criticize another, you are in the basement. This applies to all negative thoughts, too. If you can hear negative criticism instead of lifting, your subconscious is running you. Turn your imagination up and lift your consciousness from the basement. What is that to thee? Follow me.—John 21:22.—Edna Lister, The Well of Living Waters, July 31, 1955.


Jesus led captivity captive. The world is always captive to opinions, prejudices, criticism and condemnation. Too many people are the sums of those four things. How often in a year have you said, I don’t like this. I hate that. That’s awful. This is law. I know this. This is how it must be!? You are the sum of what you express.—Edna Lister, Go Preach the Gospel, July 22, 1956.


Criticism is so rampant today that even the lowest life forms are developing a conscience. Fault finders are just awakening to the idea of Christed stature.—Edna Lister, May 29, 1957.


The law is that when someone pays your debt, you repay when you can by paying others’ debts through no criticism, judgments, condemnations, etc. You are obligated to relieve those who are burdened with debt and to find things to lift. You cover his transgressions with Light to free him. It is devil worship to put another on a pedestal of jealousy or criticism.—Edna Lister, September 30, 1957.


Any idea of separation from God is a combination of criticism, condemnation and selfish demands.—Edna Lister, November 17, 1957.


You weigh another down with subconscious condemnation when you listen to his emotional cares or complaints, then dramatize it in the retelling, even for lifting. Wearing blinders, passing judgment and blaming is the source of some forms of blindness.—Edna Lister, November 21, 1957.


You drag everyone you have unjustly criticized into bed with you at night.—Edna Lister, December 5, 1957.


Criticism, prejudice and opinions cut pure logic to plausible rationalization.—Edna Lister, January 9, 1958.


Your business is to lift the dark into the Light, not to criticize. See it for lifting, but do not dwell on it.—Edna Lister, January 21, 1958.


Criticism and condemnation flow from you as a stream; like a dart plunging into another’s solar plexus, it turns day to night.—Edna Lister, February 6, 1958.


You must lift all whom you have criticized, leaving no one out, including people, politics, places and situations.—Edna Lister, April 24, 1958.


You must learn how to differentiate between Godlike analysis and mere rationalization to control imagination. Analysis means to untangle, to resolve something complex into its simple elements. Rationalization is applying the faculty of reason to physical laws to understand information about people or situations. Criticism and condemnation are the greatest corrupting factors in rationalization, which focuses on pride, self-pity and imagines enemies to blame, criticize and condemn.

Most people call their rationalization analysis, but analysis imagines no darkness of emotions or suspicion. Criticism and condemnation are the offspring of human rationalization. Listen to how others analyze people or events; you will see many people rationalize from a very human viewpoint.—Edna Lister, As I See God, June 1, 1958.


You will pay the debt for those you have criticized. Corrupt politicians and public officials remain in office because criticism pays their debts and hides them in a protective cloud to carry on their evil machinations.—Edna Lister, June 2, 1958.


One of the best ways to redeem your life sparks of soul is to stop criticizing people. You pay their debts when you criticize them.—Edna Lister, September 8, 1958.


Do not criticize. We all instruct too much verbally in a critical way.—Edna Lister, October 9, 1958.


God cares for us. He credits us according to our words, not others’ words about us. If you criticize others, God gives them a chunk of your credit in compensation. Have you ever said, I prayed so long, but God never answered me? Your answer, your substance went to those you criticized between your prayers.—Edna Lister, Brainwashing, Inc., October 19, 1958.


You can do anything you wish without criticism when you pray without ceasing. Human nature is too critical, bossy and inquisitive. People are so interested in what others are doing, and would rather die of indignation than give up their opinions and resentments.—Edna Lister, Constancy in Obedience, October 26, 1958.


Doing something is better than doing nothing. Do-nothing ails the world: War, the poor economy, etc., all stems from the do-nothing class. They criticize the one who is doing something, but do nothing themselves. Sitting on life’s sidelines, offering no help to anyone isn’t enough. Unless you go out and do, you may not self-righteously sit and say what you would do.—Edna Lister, December 17, 1958.


When criticism takes over, it becomes a curse.—Edna Lister, May 4, 1959.


The payment for voicing what laws you believe others should keep is that you must never again criticize or blame anyone.—Edna Lister, May 4, 1959.


A mystic ascends under criticism without paying attention to what others think or say. Criticism provides a stage for your initiations to ascend in consciousness and lift. God cares nothing for another’s opinion or judgment of you; He judges you on what you are and the lights and colors of your aura.—Edna Lister, The Pioneering Mystic, May 5, 1959.


Criticism is your disposition showing.—Edna Lister, May 7, 1959.


When you teach law to another, you knock him out of balance and you are responsible for holding him until he returns to normal. Do not criticize him, just pray.—Edna Lister, May 28, 1959.


As the mystic eye opens, the individual sees only the other fellow’s faults, and the laws he breaks. Pray for the one who picks and criticizes. This is the first step in opening the mystic eye and his first recognition of law, not for himself but for others.—Edna Lister, The 33 Degrees of Soul Conquering, October 20, 1959.


Where you have directly criticized another’s use of law, your challenge precipitates any floating debt of a like nature on you.—Edna Lister, December 17, 1959.


Pay no attention to criticism or praise, whether others blame or butter you up with flattery.—Edna Lister, How Can I Apply Law to My Life? June 7, 1960.


Rationalization has its place, but if you let the subconscious fasten on your doubts, fears and detriments under the surface, your state of consciousness degenerates. The world is a perfect example of this. Doing and getting your teeth kicked in is better than to rationalize. God gave us the faculty of reason to use as just appraisal. When you use rationalization, it quickly becomes criticism and negative judgment.—Edna Lister, What Is Virtue? July 12, 1960.


Your criticizers may tire of being hoisted up, but keep hoisting them.—Edna Lister, October 10, 1960.


If you can resent, hate or grieve about criticism, you have not become law.—Edna Lister, December 19, 1960.


Your enemies’ criticism promotes you, but do not take it on yourself.—Edna Lister, December 19, 1960.


Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.—Matthew 16:6. This is the leaven of criticism, doubt and hatred which spoils everything it touches.—Edna Lister, The Gift of Discernment, December 11, 1960.


Thou shalt not dash thy foot upon stones of idle words or criticism; this is the law of perfection.—Edna Lister, January 6, 1961.


You have no right to criticize anyone unless you can then stand and take it yourself.—Edna Lister, January 12, 1961.


In criticism, you create a black cloud of blame over the one you criticize and your passing of judgment holds you both in bondage until the criticizer pays the debt. Unjust criticism is the last thing forgiven.—Edna Lister, May 27, 1961.


You pierce your own armor by recognizing another’s criticism and faultfinding.—Edna Lister, September 7, 1961.


If criticism hurts you, cleanse your aura of self-pity.—Edna Lister, September 7, 1961.


One hole in your personal dike is criticism, which is your name stenciled on another’s aura. Going up in consciousness is putting a finger in the dike.—Edna Lister, September 14, 1961.


Self-criticism affects the lungs and burns holes in your aura.—Edna Lister, September 14, 1961.


When you criticize someone, you pay for the original debt, their debt and the debt you just caused. A caterpillar is a prisoner of natural law and must transform itself into a beautiful butterfly. You are a prisoner of divine law: You must shed our chrysalis of criticism, opinion, prejudice and blame. God always says, Child, come up, come higher. I will send Light through to wipe you clean.—Edna Lister, This I Know, December 3, 1961.


If you can criticize another’s darkness, you worship the darkness you see reflected in that person’s mirror.—Edna Lister, April 1, 1962.


Criticism of any kind invests a bit of your soul substance negatively, so you cannot attain heaven with that taint.—Edna Lister, Heaven Is a State of Consciousness, April 3, 1962.


Criticism makes you grow. Your goal is to be free of earth, to be surrounded with Light, to be tough but not coarse, to view all slings and arrows objectively, even slander and stinging remarks. Hurts, real or imagined, tie us to earth. As you ascend, true freedom so surrounds you in Light that you often do not recognize a hurt—this nonpluses an enemy to God. When you are free, you do not take darkness into your aura, you do not even hear negativity or an unfair word spoken.—Edna Lister, Fourteen Stations of the Cross, April 17, 1962.


Many regular churchgoers’ bodies vibrate at the horse and buggy stage due to their opinions and prejudices, likes and dislikes and what their condemnation and criticism does to the individual’s vibration.—Edna Lister, May 6, 1962.


Indulging in criticism, blame and condemnation is sitting in judgment. One who has become law would not be capable of sitting in judgement of anyone under any conditions; they would not dare.—Edna Lister, Metaphysical Correspondences, May 29, 1962.


Criticism of the other fellow because you believe he is wrong, smears your life sparks all over him.—Edna Lister, June 7, 1962.


The law of anger releases evil, though the angry one uses force and must pay a debt. When another is angry about that anger, whether they express through criticism, condemnation, recrimination, voicing it or writing about it, God uses their expression to consolidate all the first anger into a cloud entity of dark force to lift and cleanse pure Light. He who starts the thing sits on the blister.—Edna Lister, November 26, 1962.


Verbal blasphemy creates great darkness. When another criticizes the blasphemer and the blasphemy, law uses that one to draw the evil darkness into one place, above one who has high vision, to be lifted. Pray and lift both blasphemer and the blasphemy day and night.—Edna Lister, December 3, 1962.


If you hate, condemn, criticize, etc., you are disloyal to the principle of love.—Edna Lister, Power to Transform, December 4, 1962.


Watch that just appraisal does not degenerate into criticism. Each is imperfect in his or her way, sees others’ wrongs, and does not look at his or her own. You are dirty is easy when you stand outside. Each must clean his or her own house.—Edna Lister, December 10, 1962.


Don’t dramatize or criticize how another is handling a situation.—Edna Lister, December 10, 1962.


You cannot get by with condemnation masked as constructive criticism of a personality, because such criticism is wrong and of the self.—Edna Lister, January 10, 1963.


Always lift and forgive all curses and substance scattered by the curser to make it wholly of the Light. If anything in you blames or criticizes, then he will remember that blame, and the cesspool will reopen.—Edna Lister, September 16, 1963.


You may not criticize others’ methods or condemn people for not doing something your way.—Edna Lister, Your Sacred Light, November 10, 1963.


He who has advanced and knows law knows that the critic has been the thing he is criticizing. Somewhere he has learned the lesson, then criticizes those who have not yet learned it.—Edna Lister, Love, Your Radar, November 17, 1963.


You can get only what a person has to give. If a person has only criticism, hatred or resentment, he will give it to you; it is all he has.—Edna Lister, Love and Wisdom, October 4, 1964.


Self-criticism affects the lungs.—Edna Lister, March 18, 1965.


Conquer the little self that blames, is critical and plucks not the beam from its own eye.—Edna Lister, March 21, 1965.


Never blame, criticize, judge or condemn yourself or another.—Edna Lister, August 2, 1965.


Criticism, blame and resentment cause you to take on the debts that others make. In the face of the worst criticism, ask questions. No matter how outrageous their response, you can always say, Really? Well, I can see how you think that. Have you ever thought of thus and so?—Edna Lister, You Are Immortal Now, September 19, 1965.


When you hear criticism, say with wide eyes, Where did you hear that? Is it your own conclusion? This is how you accept, yet you are not responsible for their beliefs.—Edna Lister, January 24, 1966.


Agree with thine adversary—Matthew 5:25 when criticized. Say, How could I have done such a thing? Bless him. If you send forth Light, it accumulates. If you are impatient, it goes out around the earth and collects every floating bit of impatience, and returns huge. You not only pay for the little thing you sent out, but its accumulation as it returns to you.—Edna Lister, January 24, 1966.


They crucify anyone who opens a new idea mentally and emotionally with mud, criticism and force.—Edna Lister, February 3, 1966.


All criticism is resistance. You go through life resisting, criticizing people, government and events while God has designed you to live by the law of nonresistance. Resistance, as criticism, takes a heavy toll on your physical body, and is the cause of all illness.—Edna Lister, Decree and Establish, June 26, 1966.


Do not engage in gossip, or criticize those who do. If you criticize, you pay a debt.—Edna Lister, August 25, 1966.


Complaining, criticizing and worrying cause division and strife.—Edna Lister, Choice, Your Glorious Foundation, October 16, 1966.


Send Light to those you may have criticized. Angels rush to your side and add their strength to yours as you stumble. If your thought knocked another down, an angel picks him up—instantly when you realize what you have done and immediately send Light to cover your transgression.—Edna Lister, October 20, 1966.


Pick up every sagging line in your area and instead of criticizing, lift your brother’s defect.—Edna Lister, March 19, 1967.


Accept that which comes to you. If someone criticizes or tries to change you, thank him for taking so much time to help you to become perfect.—Edna Lister, Beauty, a Spiritual Way of Life, May 9, 1967.


Criticism is a form of possession.—Edna Lister, The Future of the Ascending Supreme, October 31, 1967.


When you receive criticism, neutrally observe the criticizer to learn how to please that type.—Edna Lister, June 17, 1968.


Criticism pays the other fellow’s debts plus one’s own, and the other fellow gets credit for advance in the initiations you should do.—Edna Lister, Three States of Consciousness, November 17, 1968.


Your first real conquering is when you begin to bite your tongue. It is a long step to reach the point of no criticism.—Edna Lister, November 10, 1970.


When you criticize, you invest your life in situations and people rather than in God’s new creations.—Edna Lister, From Surrender of Self to Soul Ascension, May 16, 1971.

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Treatments for Criticism

Every critical word you have ever uttered becomes tangled in the lines of Light to your so-called enemies and to your loved ones. Reach out your arms of Light to magnetize all that soul substance and to melt it from all its crystallization. Declare, Father, please gather up all Name’s soul substance unto Thy Temple altars, and restore it to Name, cleansed.—Edna Lister, June 9, 1953.


Wipe the day’s page clean each night, lifting every negative spoken or thought for burning or absorption, so you neither harm nor delay yourself or the person you may have criticized.—Edna Lister, November 21, 1955.


Wherever you have criticized or condemned, you have invested your soul substance in others, which becomes an anchor holding us back to earth. Speak of yourself thus, Let all unwisely invested soul substance of this, Thy servant, be lifted from these Thy children. Let it be ascended to high altars, cleansed and returned to Thy servant.—Edna Lister, July 2, 1956.


Give up ugly criticism. Tell the Father, Let this Light, Power and Substance move through me to clean up all force and return it as love to everyone I have ever criticized.—Edna Lister, December 31, 1957.


When another criticizes you, lift! Go deeper within yourself to see if you have criticized to justify some resentment, grief, doubt or fear you hold. When nothing on the outside justifies criticism, look for your past idle words and sharp tones of voice.—Edna Lister, February 6, 1958.


When you hear someone criticizing and crucifying another, mentally put your hand on her mouth.—Edna Lister, June 26, 1958.


When you hear someone being criticized, turn your vision inward and upward, and put your arms of Light around him.—Edna Lister, A Charted Heaven, October 21, 1958.


Say to the one who criticizes you, How wonderful you are to love me enough to want me to be perfect. This deflates his balloon.—Edna Lister, Constancy in Obedience, October 26, 1958.


Giving an adversary the first and last words is easier than to argue or persuade. Say, Darling, you are right. You are wonderful. How did you think of it? He forgets his plan to criticize or blame.—Edna Lister, Constancy in Obedience, October 26, 1958.


Let Name’s unwisely invested soul substance be withdrawn from all those contacted or criticized. Let it be lifted, melted, purified and returned to them as Name’s soul substance is released from those criticized. In its place, may the Light fill their auras with double soul substance to wash the pages white as snow.—Edna Lister, December 22, 1958.


When others try to upset you with criticism, look to God and say, Good I am and good I shall stand. Then act on it; show the world a shining face and manifest God’s glory.—Edna Lister, Manifestation, May 24, 1959.


Compliment the one whom you criticize mentally, and your thoughts will make no impression.—Edna Lister, The Cross, June 23, 1963.


You have no reason to be cowed or hurt because someone is always criticizing you. Look your criticizer in the eye and wait, then stare at some small spot or mole. Watch him run.—Edna Lister, What Is Nonresistance? May 23, 1965.


I reach up with arms of Light and gather up all scattered soul substance of thought, word, deed, action, resentments, criticisms, idle words. I lift it up on a cloud altar; let it be consumed in a pillar of fire by the angel with the censer, and as it is consumed, let it draw in all the taints to be purified, refashioned, made into Light, and returned to me as new creative soul substance.—Edna Lister, June 26, 1969.


Say, Father, remove this mountain of bedevilment in Name into the Light of God. Don’t emotionally or mentally run away or close out this person. Declare, Father, remove the evil from my eyes and ears. Remove my unbelief. Please, remove the mountain of criticism, resentment, and unrighteous judgement from Name. Stand and say, You are good! Let there be Light! This is the key to removing mountains. Father, move in and possess me until I can’t hear Name’s voice.—Edna Lister, Remove this Mountain, May 10, 1970.

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New Testament on Criticism

Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.—Matthew 5:7

Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.—Matthew 5:11

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.

Edna Miriam Lister
1884—1971
The original Pioneering Mystic,
Christian Platonist philosopher, American Idealist, Founder, Society of the Universal Living Christ, minister, teacher, author, wife, and mother.


Edna Lister


Etymology of criticize: Latin criticus, from Greek kritikos, able to discern, from krites, judge, from krinein, to separate, judge.


Voiced criticism is a form of speaking the Word. The critical faculty is a soul faculty, rooted in the Logos Emanation.

Criticism: A well-honed critical faculty is a soul virtue.

Criticism as passing judgment is a soul taint.


References

Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, 2024.

The Holy Bible. King James Version (KJV).

The Oxford English Dictionary: Compact Ed., 2 vols. E.S.C. Weiner, ed. Oxford University Press, 1971.

Webster, Noah. Webster’s American Dictionary. New York: S. Converse, 1828.


Related Topics

Blame

Condemnation