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The God of Our HeartsBy Arthur B.
Bell, F.R.C.[From The Mystic Triangle August 1929] In our lessons we are taught that the only God we may know is the God of our Hearts, a God of love, happiness, health, and abundance, who eternally offers to His children more of His mercy, kindness, justice, and beneficence than they are able to accept. All words and names in themselves are too poor and impoverished to convey even in the smallest degree, an understanding or conception of the Graciousness and Sacredness of this, the only God we may know, the God of our Hearts. As we go to Him in prayer, we are not sure that He has heard our petition and are not altogether certain that we know where He may be found. Then, too, we feel that perhaps it should be repeated a number of times and begin to wonder if it is possible that our thoughts which have formed themselves into unspoken words may be heard. We decide that it might be better if our thoughts were spoken aloud and so this method is also tried. If no answer comes quickly in the way of a favorable change in the manifestation effecting our affairs. we become a bit confused and often lose our way entirely. The strange fact in connection with this matter is that even though we can remember but few times that our prayers have been promptly answered, we never fully or completely lose our faith in God or the conviction that He does exist, and so we try again and again, endlessly throughout our lives. Is it not true that when you are ill, unhappy, or in financial difficulties which you have been unable to solve yourself that you turn to God in prayer, tell Him about them and ask that He give you health, happiness, or abundance? And do you not forget that there may have been a cause for the manifestations? Yes, this is the uniform manner in which we seek to unravel and adjust our problems. Such a process is inefficient, ineffective, unproductive, and practically useless as a means of attaining the desired end, for it does not take into consideration the Laws and Principles governing the matter. Let us see if we cannot through careful examination and analysis find the proper method of approaching the solution of this mystery, for mystery it is and has been throughout the ages to pagan and christian alike. The first mistake universally made is in not actually knowing or being sure of the place where we may find the God of our Hearts. It does not seem possible for us to realize that He is within ourselves and so instead of attuning with Him there, we find our objective consciousness endeavoring to reach out into space somewhere, anywhere, that we may gain the desired contact. In some respects, this is not such a grievous blunder as it would first appear for the fact is that there is no place where God is not. However, it does show that we are, doubtful, not sure and that we are ignorant of the real Truth about God and this in itself is fatal to demonstration. The Master Jesus tells us plainly that "The Kingdom of God is within you." This is a very significant statement and certainly the Master knew what he was saying and understood the matter perfectly. It was not his intention to mislead or hide from our perception the wisdom he tried so earnestly to impress upon us. Please refer to Luke 17; 20, 21, for here we are told in a slightly different way the same Truth we are given in our own AMORC teachings, which is as stated heretofore in this article, that "The only God we may know is the God of our Hearts." Let us begin today to meditate upon this matter and to make the understanding our own, that the God we wish to reach is WITHIN ourselves, and cease from searching the skies and distant places. Many of us have thought we understood perfectly but if you will observe your objective mind when you pray you will find that it is endeavoring to locate Divinity outside instead of inside. This is due very largely to the wrong training given to us in our childhood. Let us just turn our thoughts within, to our Hearts, not to our physical hearts but to the Essence of God which penetrates, permeates, and enfolds this great organ, animating our existence with love, happiness, and abundance and manifesting these wondrous qualities as we permit, through compliance with the simple but profound Laws which constantly strive to declare the Harmonies of Perfection. The next step in the comprehension of the matter must be to attain a clear conception of the underlying facts and so we will consider the four great principles, Air, Earth, Water, and Fire. Let us consider them as being something very tangible and concrete and for a moment we will think of them as being God, for all four connect with or touch each other and seem to make up one great body or cell. As we mentally combine these four principles and think of them as a great single unit surrounding and enveloping us to such an extent that we are unable to conceive of our being separated at any time from one or more of them, we begin to arrive at an understanding of how it is that God surrounds and envelopes us. Now let us not make the mistake of thinking that these manifestations are God, but rather think of Him as being contained within these elements and unseen by the physical eye only because the objective senses are not designed to receive and translate the high rate of vibration which characterizes Divinity. We know from our studies that we must turn to the Master Within if we would attain to even a momentary glimpse of the Infinite and then only through right living, right thinking, and right acting. Now please turn to the dictionary section of your Manual and read the definition of God. If your interpretation of God has become clearer, we may proceed with the next step. If we will consider the action going on about us constantly, we must perforce see that all Nature is forever busily engaged in a ceaseless endeavor to maintain HARMONY in every created thing. If not interfered with by man objectively, there will be, can be, no expression of Inharmony, for Inharmony can mean but one thing, and that is, violation of Law. God is perfect and, therefore, could not be guilty of disobeying His own Laws. When Inharmony appears in our lives it can be understood in no other way than that it is a signal to us that we have ignored or broken the Law responsible for the presence of the discord projected to our senses. It is stated above that everything in nature is forever engaged in a persistent effort to preserve and maintain HARMONY. Think of the activity going on day and night throughout your entire life within the circulatory system in your body. Its only purpose is to maintain this physical self or instrument at a high and perfect standard of excellence that it may ever be a tool or vehicle for the full and proper expression of the Soul on earth as it passes through its evolution brought about by many incarnations in its quest for union; this may come only through experience, knowledge, and, finally, UNDERSTANDING. Thus as we examine closely we find that the activity going on here has but a single purpose, the creation and maintenance of HARMONY in the body. If the foregoing is true and our conclusions that HARMONY is the ultimate, are correct, do we not begin to suspect that if inharmony appears in the form of illness, unhappiness, or lack that we have brought these conditions upon ourselves through the violation of one or more of nature's beneficent Laws? The Laws are all good and must inevitably bring to us favorable conditions if we comply with their tenets. How could we know that any Law had been violated if no signal were given? How could we know there were any Laws at all if we had no means of interpreting them through examination of results obtained in practice? If we were permitted to go our own careless, chaotic way without regard of the rights of others or even of our own well being, what think you would be the outcome? Because we do not know the Laws it does not follow that none exist. In the material world, "Ignorance of the Law excuses no man." This is equally true in the Spiritual world so that we may not escape the penalty for disobedience here any more than we can in our earthly affairs. We shall now see how we attempt to handle and adjust the purely material infractions of Law and compare our attitude and acts with the manner in which we care for our immaterial acts. In most city streets the speed limit for automobiles is twenty miles per hour and we are fully conscious of this. We are frequently notified by plainly marked signs at intervals along the way. We ignore this requirement and speed our machine up to forty miles per hour and are unexpectedly overtaken by a traffic officer who gives us a ticket which commands our presence before a judge at a given time. We know that we are guilty and that this bit of inharmony has come to us through the wilful disregard of the traffic Laws. We could have avoided the penalty inflicted but having made a choice we must abide by the result of that choice. The effect of this experience is not soon forgotten for it has touched the pocketbook and that usually makes a grave impression upon us, so we mentally decide to be more careful in the future and avoid such happenings. We begin to have more respect for the Laws for we see plainly that they extend to and include ourselves as well as all others. Let us see what happens in the case of Spiritual violation. We are conscious that Love rules the universe and is the very Essence of God, is present within us, and is a very vital and important part of our lives. However, like traffic regulations this precept is easily forgotten if not thrown into the discard altogether and so we proceed to do and think as we please. Within each of us there is also a traffic officer whose duty it is to supervise the mental traffic going on within the man; instead of automobiles, he has thoughts to deal with. He is very, very busy for his traffic is exceedingly heavy and he must make no mistakes. Like the material officer he sometimes merely stops and warns an offending thought and often this accomplishes the desired purpose but if the offender persists, a record of the case is made and the culprit is called to account. The name of this officer is well known to every man and woman in the world yet some apparently have but little respect for him for they have not become fully conversant with his unlimited power. He is generous, kind, considerate, and filled with compassion and great wisdom. Those who have made friends with him have also become powerful and much like him. His name is CONSCIENCE. Do you know him? Have you ever listened to his voice? Have you followed his advice? Have you realized that his words are sincere and that he never makes a mistake in directing you into the proper highways leading to the superb mansions wherein dwell health, happiness, and abundance? If you have not made of him your friend and advisor, do so at once and you will be surprised to find how responsive he is, how glad he is to advise and serve you in the myriad ways of his understanding. He is part of your Divine self and KNOWS. He cannot be defrauded, cheated nor beguiled and you are only fooling yourself when you attempt it. It will be interesting to you to examine the way he works. Here is a thought coming before him--it is of hatred and is being directed toward one who was a former friend. He stops this thought an instant and advises that it is violating the rules of traffic and suggests a change, thus giving a warning. Regardless of this kindly warning, the thought persists in its violation of the Law of Love and the officer in sadness observes that it has failed in its purpose and so having no other alternative, a record of the case is made and presently the penalty for this offense is inflicted. It may be sickness, distress, unhappiness, or deprivation. Conscience is sorrowful but is forced to perform his duty for those he serves must be taught the way, the lesson must be learned. What is our viewpoint when we find these inharmonies cropping out in our lives? What process do we choose to end them? Are we willing to sit down with ourselves and endeavor to ascertain what Law or Laws have been misused, neglected, or disregarded? Are we willing to make any change in our attitude or thinking toward our Brothers and Sisters? If it is true that the appearance of inharmony in our lives is due to violation of nature's laws, then it is certainly going to be necessary to do something more than merely ask that these manifestations be abolished and Harmony restored. If such a process was effective then it would be a simple matter to do the things we wished whether right or wrong. It would be unnecessary to consider whether we were injuring others or even ourselves. To relieve ourselves of responsibility, we would simply concentrate a few moments on the Cosmic and have all of the resultant inharmonies transmuted into Harmony. No, this cannot be done, for it is contrary to nature's way, for no lesson would be learned and all would soon be retrograding instead of progressing and evolving higher and higher. Would it not be a better way when we have unpleasant conditions to deal with, to first discover, if possible, what it is we have been doing or thinking which has brought the experience to us? Have we been forever criticising others and attempting to injure them? Are we entertaining bitterness, resentment, hatred, revenge, or animosity toward others? Have we been altogether honorable in our dealings? Have we given in our business dealings the best and most efficient service we are capable of rendering? Have we been selfish, inconsiderate, intolerant? Are we indulging in thoughts of fear or worry? From such negative thoughts the manifestations of inharmony will spring like so many noxious weeds, since such thoughts are not only negative but very destructive and the results will be in exact accordance with their character. Turn the searchlight full upon yourself and see what is going on inside and do not lay the blame for your misfortunes upon the shoulders of another. After making a thorough examination, go to the God of our Hearts and ask forgiveness for your mistakes, your sins, your ignorance of the Laws, or whatever it is you have determined was wrong and ask to be shown the Light and the way to understanding. There must also be included a firm determination to avoid in future those errors of thought and act which are contrary to Nature's constructive plan. We must be just as careful to observe Nature's rules and regulations as we are to respect the Laws of our land. God's Laws are not hard to obey--neither do they deprive us of happiness, pleasure, recreation, or friends. They do not make us bigoted, intolerant, or fanatical. They may not all be learned in one life time but let us strive to Harmonize ourselves with the Principles unfolded as we pass along the way. | ||
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