Promise Yourself.

Christian Daa Larson, Christian D. Larson, C.D. Larson (1874 – 1962) , beloved author of his now famous Optimist Creed[1], was born February 1, 1874. His parents were newly arrived Norwegian immigrants who settled in the prairie wilderness of North Winnebago County, Iowa.
In 1894, urged by his parents, Christian entered a Lutheran seminary. But on a train trip to the seminary in Minneapolis an event occurred that would change the course of Christians life. A book by a Unitarian minister was left on the seat next to him, and after reading it several times it became the catalyst for his break with orthodox theology. Larson completed the first year at the Lutheran seminary but knew he would enroll in a liberal theological school the following year. He attended Iowa State College and a Unitarian theological school in Meadville, Pennsylvania In his early twenties he became interested in the Mental Science teachings of Helen Wilmans, Henry Wood, Charles Brodie Patterson and others. These logical teachings suited his analytical mind and provided a point to him where theology and science could meet and combine to provide a practical and systematic philosophy of life.
He was an outstanding and highly influential early New Thought teacher and leader. A prolific writer of New Thought books, he believed that people have tremendous latent powers which can be put to use for success with the proper attitude. Christian first located in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1898. In January 1901 he organized the New Thought Temple[2] at his residence, 947 West 17th St. In September of the same year he began publishing Eternal Progress, which was for several years one of the leading New Thought periodicals with a circulation of over a quarter million. It was while he was acting as editor for Eternal Progress that his prolific writing career of over forty published books began. Among the best known are: Poise And Power(1907), The Great Within(1908), Mastery Of Fate(1910), The Ideal Made Real(1912), Thinking For Results(1912), The Hidden Secret(1912), Mastery Of Self, Your Forces And How To Use Them(1912), How To Stay Well(1912) and The Pathway of Roses(1912) which sold over over a million copies and was translated into eight languages.
[1] The Optimist Creed was authored in 1912 by Christian D. Larson, appearing in his book Your Forces and. How to Use Them. It was adopted as the Optimist Internationals Creed in 1922.

Promise Yourself

To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.
To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet.
To make all your friends feel that there is something in them
To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.
To think only the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.
To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.
To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.
To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.
To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.
To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.
To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but great deeds.
To live in faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

He was a one time honorary president of the International New Thought Alliance(INTA), along with such stalwarts as W.W. Atkinson, Horatio Dresser, Charles Brodie Patterson, and Annie Rix Militz, he was one who exercised considerable influence over Religious Science founder, Ernest Holmes. As early as 1928, C. D. Larson began to appear in Science of Mind Magazine and to be a part of the major teaching courses, becoming a member of the permanent staff.
It was the same Christian D. Larson whose book, The Ideal Made Real, nineteen years earlier introduced Ernest Holmes, founder of the Institute of Religious Science in Los Angeles, to the New Philosophy inspiring him to go forward in learning and practicing the art of mental treatment, i.e. expanding beyond physical healing to the Control of Conditions. Ernest Holmes and his brother, Fenwicke, took a correspondence course with Larson. According to Fenwicke, Ernest had been studying the Christian Science textbook, Science and Health, but was so impressed with Christian Larson's New Thought writings that he abandoned the Christian Science textbook in favor of Larsons work “The Ideal Made Real”. In the biography of his brother, Ernest Holmes: His Life And Times, Fenwicke Holmes elaborates on the influence of Larson and Ralph Waldo Trine on that of his brother.
Christian D. Larson passed away at the age of 87 in 1962.
[2]The New-Thought movement in Cincinnati, Ohio, owes its origin to Christian D. Larson(Christian Dee Larson), (a great influence on Ernest Holmes), who in January, 1901, organized the New Thought Temple, at his residence, 947 West Seventeenth St. In September of that year Mr. Larson began to publish Eternal Progress, for several years one of the leading New Thought periodicals. In November, 1902, Sunday morning services were inaugurated. At this service fifteen minutes' silence was a leading feature, A little church building seating three hundred people was secured in 1904. Mr. Larson resigned in 1907, and was succeeded by Paul Tyner, in November, 1908. Harry Gaze was the next leader, and then Miss Leila Simon[1], in 1912.

The History of The Cincinnati Temple
Excerpted from A History of the New Thought Movement, 1919
Horatio W. Dresser
1919
Chapter 11
OTHER ORGANIZATIONS

On January 27, 1963, the Unity Center of Practical Christianity located on Madison Road in Oakley and the New Thought Temple merged into the New Thought Unity Center.
During the late 1890’s, two groups of “pioneers in thought” who were interested in the new science of mental healing then sweeping the country, met together in thought, feeling, and effort. These groups were called “The Company” and “The Perfectionists.” They were members and friends of what is now called the New Thought Unity Center. In 1898, one of these groups found a teacher, Christian D(aa) Larson, who invited them to hold their meetings in his residence on West Seventh Street. In addition, some interested families opened their homes in the suburbs of Cincinnati and in Covington and Newport, Kentucky. The following year the group entered into a more definite organization and rented a space in the Odd Fellows Temple. It is this group that founded and built our present facility. From the documents of that time, we find the first purpose statement from the incorporation papers of the New Thought Temple:

The purpose of the New Thought Temple is

“to provide a universal church without fixed creed, dogma, or ritual, where all people may worship God, and where they may study the Principles and Fundamentals of New Thought in all of its phases, as a Philosophy, a religion, a science and the practice of sane, sensible and spiritual living.”

The first financial report of the fledgling Temple stated that it believed the “success, prosperity, and a splendid outlook for the coming year to the new financial methods put into practice….All contributions are voluntary, neither solicited nor urged. When money is needed for the many activities, an intelligent application of God’s law of supply is the means by which money has been forthcoming. Through the law of love, harmony and intelligent cooperation with God’s law of universal substance, the New Thought Temple has demonstrated adequate supply for all its needs, with good surplus."
Christian Larson was a teacher/lecturer of progressive ideas, who had come to Cincinnati in October of 1898. He traveled a circuit throughout Cincinnati and its suburbs, including Covington, Newport, and Dayton, Ohio. In a letter to the New Thought Temple in 1925 as they researched their own history for the dedication ceremonies in 1926, he explains,

“ …We aimed in all these lectures to cover the widest field possible, giving special emphasis to the high idealism, which at the time, was the inspiring note of the New Thought Movement. We gave special attention to healing; and that work at times was very extensive."

In the fall of 1907, Dr. Larson gave up the leadership to devote all his time to writing. Recalling the beginning of New Thought in Cincinnati, Dr. Larson stated,

"All pioneer work is well supplied with problems, difficulties, dark days, misunderstandings and criticism; we had our share and more. But everyone connected with the movement continued to hold to the high vision, and I am pleased to say that some marvelous results were attained, both in healing and spiritual development."

[1]

Because of the growth her leadership generated, the society moved to the Mansion on Gilbert Avenue. A storeroom in the Provident Bank Building near Peebles Corner served as an office, a library, a reading room, and a classroom. To understand the gift this woman gave those she led, read the following quote from Horatio Dresser’s book History of New Thought (published in 1919): "My first New Thought service brought out an audience of less than twenty-five people. Two years later I spoke constantly to from twelve hundred to fifteen hundred people. From the outset, I considered the work of the New Thought Temple entirely separate from personality. It was not mine, but impelled by the Spirit of God, and it is this conviction and consecration that is the moving Power of the New Thought Temple. My first thought from the beginning of my ministry and today is, “If you believe God’s power, prove it.If you teach health, harmony, and prosperity, furnish the actual proofs.
"My first move was to refuse to recognize the poverty-stricken consciousness of the New Thought Temple actually. I firmly set aside all gratuitous invitations from members who offered their homes for classes, etc., and also refused to house the activities in cheap rooms. As we had no money, this was a radical step. My first classes were held in my own apartment, situated in the best part of Cincinnati. The Sunday services in a hall seating one hundred people. In less than three months we had outgrown this hall, and my apartment classrooms. Before the end of the first year, we had audiences of five hundred and were finally crowded out of a large auditorium and were compelled to rent hundred to accommodate the people who wished to attend the Sunday services."
So for the Temple membership, as membership increased, the idea of a Temple Building began to assume more definite form. The Thursday evening class—an experience and healing meeting—included as part of its program a silence for building the temple, using the following affirmation:
I now build the Temple of the Lord God Almighty in perfect, visible form. It is a Divine Center through which higher Spiritual Forces of Love, Peace, Wisdom, Strength, Power, Faith, Fellowship, Health, Wealth, Companionship and Joy, now come forth into the world.
The idea began to manifest and on March 17, 1916 ground was broken for the new Temple.