Rosicrucian Writings Online


The Imperator's Monthly Message

[By H. Spencer Lewis]
 
[From The Mystic Triangle April 1926]
 
 
THE springtime of the year is close at hand and it makes one realize that the freshness of the coming life and the vitality that is in the air signify a period when we should co-operate with nature in her process of rebuilding and recreating and become new men and women again.
 
I like to think of the pretty picture that one of the old mystics painted, when he said that when springtime came he wanted to plant, in the garden of his soul, a seed of love, a seed of kindness, tolerance, and new life; that he would watch it carefully, through the spring showers and high winds; mature it carefully until summertime, then protect it against the heat of the sun and the great showers, and then bless it in the fall, when it had become a great thing, and enjoy its beauty and magnificence throughout the winter months, when he would take it closer to his bosom and keep it warm and let it vitalize him during the close of the year.
 
Each one of us can plant such a seed at this time of the year by understanding that with the coming of spring come many opportunities to attune ourselves with the changes that are taking place, and change our natures, our dispositions, our ways of thinking and doing things and become new in many ways. We really could clean house this springtime and get rid of many superstitions and false beliefs, and many habits and traits of character that are like weeds in the garden, that clutter and hide and keep the new plan, the new thoughts, the new ideas, from growing strong and beautiful.
 
Man is constantly evolving and it is for this reason that those systems, those doctrines and dogmas and creeds which served man so well in the past seem to be so obsolete now. Sometimes we wonder why it is that the old beliefs, the old customs and habits of our forefathers, that served them so well and gave them so much contentment and peace and brought smiles of real joy upon their lips and an acceptance of life that was beautiful and sweet, are impossible to us and cannot serve us now as they served those who have gone. It is not because we are less considerate of the sweeter and higher things of life; it is not because we are less religious, less devoted to the ideals and principles, less moral or indifferent; but it is because we have evolved after a different understanding, and we feel sure at times that it is a higher understanding of the things which are necessary in life and which constitute the elements that build for character, right living and divine attunement.
 
It is because of this that Fundamentalism and so-called Modernism have these unpleasant but natural clashes at times. Fundamentalism would try to have us turn back the tide of evolution, reverse the things that it has brought about, and have us live over again the lives, the times, the conditions of our grandparents and even their parents. On the other hand, Modernism proclaims that man today is a different man than he was a hundred years ago, or more, and that man is not less religious but perhaps more religious; that he is not less devoted to principle and ideal, but more devoted to higher, broader, and more understandable ideals and principles.
 
In these clashes between the customs and thoughts of the past and those of today there is more than the mere difference of opinion; there is the difference of continued evolution, and evolution is not a thing of great cycles or aeons of time, but of days, hours, and minutes. In the twinkling of an eye, we are told, many wonderful things occur. In the passing of a few hours at night there may come a change in the life of any of us, through a dream, a vision, or just a good night's rest. And truly in the passing of a year, with its cycle of material change and effects in nature's process of unfoldment, there can come to each of us that change and modification in understanding and viewpoint which will broaden us, which will enlighten us and make us conscious of the grander aspect of life and our relation to the universe as a whole, instead of our relation to a small part of the world.
 
Therefore, I plead for the rebirth of thought and the rebirth of character at the springtime of the year. I plead for a conscious, wilful agreement with nature's process and a determined change in our individual natures at the springtime, whereby we, too, take on a newer and broader aspect and become like a growing flower that is just lifting its head above the blades of grass, basking in the sunshine, being kissed by the moonbeams, being swayed by the gentle breezes, and shedding beauty, warmth and fragrance to all who pass by, regardless of creed or dogma, color or race, rising above our local environment and finding in ourselves a divine attunement and a divine essence that is a part of the entire universe, and not merely a part of the place or condition in which we happen to exist.
 
This is our thought these springtime days, and this is the thought that we would have you take under consideration for weeks to come, until it takes root in your consciousness and manifests in everything you think and do. With the change of thinking, with broader aspect in your consciousness, and with a widening of your ability to live and understand, you will find, and your friends will find, that there is a broadening in your whole life, that you are becoming more receptive to the blessings of the universe, more successful in your undertakings, more enlightened in your aspirations, and more truly inspired in your conceptions. Such a change in your nature, outwardly manifesting in many ways, will be noticeable and will be agreeable to you and to others, and you will attract to yourself others who are like yourself and you will repulse, in a passive way, those who cannot agree with you; and soon you will find that the rebirth of the springtime has brought you into the summertime of joy and peace profound, and then through the fall and winter of the year you will enjoy life as you have never enjoyed it before and will look forward to the coming of another spring, with the ambitions, anticipations, exhilarating introspection that is known only to the true mystic and to the one who has passed through self-crucifixion and self-resurrection.
 

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