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How Can we Best Express
Love and
THE heart as the symbol of all life, is rightfully typical of
love, friendship, good will, peace, and happiness. When perverted, it may take
on the opposites, which are hate, ill-will, strife, discord, unhappiness, and
misery. It is well to keep these facts in mind, for they explain a great many
things that are more or less an enigma to the man and woman not acquainted with
Rosicrucian ideals and principles.Service to Others? By Brother Joseph [From The Mystic Triangle August 1929] Early in your studies you were told that AMORC was an order of "love and service." Perhaps you tried to express this love--perhaps you tried to render service through suggestions and advice to others, with results opposite to what you expected. Let's analyze this condition and find out where the fault was. If you have read Rosicrucian literature, you have no doubt noticed that the outstanding character always typifies love and service, while at the same time seemingly cold and adverse to impressing his high ideals upon the minds of his friends and acquaintances. The entire explanation is in the fact that love is both positive and negative. The positive is love in every sense of the word. In its negative attitude, it brings about discord, hate, and strife, disrupting family life, bringing on divorce, antagonism, and ill-will. What is the reason? A love that is pure--a love that is built on AMORC ideals, is a love of helpfulness--a love that recognizes each individual as a distinct personality, different in mind and thought from any other individual, a universe unto itself, even though at one with all. With this fact as a basis, it follows that what may be poverty to one man will be riches to another. A truth that may point out the way to life, liberty, and eternal happiness to one person, may plunge another into misery and despair. It is therefore well to ask how you can express love and service to others in such a manner that it will bring about peace and harmony instead of ill-will and hate. The answer is a simple one--so simple that quite often it requires considerable thinking to fully realize the far-reaching truth of it. First of all, you have no right to forcefully try to make others conform to what in your estimation is best. You are obligated to give love and service only to those willing to accept it. You cannot force it. You cannot compel others to do what you think is best for them. Therefore, love must be sought. You are to express your love only to those willing to accept it. You are to render service only to those willing to receive it. When anyone asks your advice, it is your duty and obligation to give advice and suggestions to the best of your ability. If a person indicates by word or action that your advice is objectionable, you have no right to force your ideas onto others. Just consider the "in-law" problem. Its source ninety-nine times out of a hundred is love. One in-law desires to help another--desires it so strongly that when the suggestions and ideas are not accepted, it causes ill-will and family quarrels. One member of the family is so interested in the success of the other, that he or she tries to remake the personality to conform with the ideas of himself. The other has ideas of his own--and you have a family quarrel lasting perhaps throughout life--and all because of love and good-will. These few paragraphs mean much. They tell you the reason for family quarrels. They should impress upon your mind the fact that you have no right to force others to accept your love or service. In such instances your actions, your ideas, your suggestions and good will are sown on barren ground and will bear no fruit, except perhaps such growths as thorns and thistles. Suppose, however, that one of the family, or even a stranger, asks you for advice or help, then you are in duty bound to give all you possibly can. Your suggestions and ideas will be sown on fertile soil. Your good works will bear fruit. You will be doing a good deed--your action will be appreciated and remembered. If after reading these truths, your mind reverts to the varied Rosicrucian literature you have read, you can readily recall that in each instance the principal character lived strictly according to this Rosicrucian code of ethics. The characters are always ready to give friendly counsel and advice. They are ever willing to extend a helping hand to the needy. But also, they refrain from forcing their love, thoughts, services, and help on others. They seek out persons whom they can help, people who appreciate their actions, religiously leaving alone those who do not appreciate help and advice. Whether you are in the home, office, or factory--whether you have a business of your own or serve another, the truth is always the same. In every instance you will advance most rapidly, make most friends, gain most material and spiritual knowledge, by strictly observing this Rosicrucian code of ethics. Each of us has lessons to learn. If you see misery and failure ahead for one of your friends, you have a right to offer your help and suggestions, but you do not have a right to force another to do your bidding against his will. But AMORC is an order of love and service. Be ever ready to extend a helping hand to others. Be ever ready for the call of duty. Express your love through thought, word, and action. You must love if you expect to be loved. You must be a friend if you want to have friends. You must refrain from expressing your love and friendship when it is plainly not wanted. The world is filled with people who are lonely and friendless, looking for sympathy and encouragement. You will have no trouble finding them. In big cities like New York and Chicago there are thousands of people who are more lonely than hermits in the mountains. If you want to make an experiment in appreciation, give a ragged newspaper boy a quarter for a two-cent newspaper and watch his eyes glow in thankfulness. If among your nephews or nieces there is one who does not seem to be getting the best out of life, invite the youngster to your home once in a while. Extend a helping hand, prove your friendship by doing something to please the child, even though it be but an occasional invitation to go to the "movies" with you, a little help in school work, instruction in the making of one thing or another. If you have a garden laden with abundant flowers, go to the nearest hospital and get the names of two or three most neglected patients, send each a few flowers, simply saying "from a friend." You'll find real satisfaction in the doing of this kindly deed. In your daily life let your thoughts and actions be based on unselfish love and service. Instead of your first thought being: "What will I get out of it?" think of how well you can serve others. For after all, we on earth are but a single unit, all of us deriving life from the same source. To hate another is to hate yourself. To help another is to help yourself. "As you do unto others, so shall it be done unto you." Cultivate the habit of a friendly smile. Express kindliness, even though the mountain tops seem to be tumbling down upon your head. Live your life so that you need fear nothing--not even transition to the glorious beyond, which Elbert Hubbard expressed as the greatest of all life's adventures. If the Infinite has blessed you with more than your share of earthly goods, share some of your good fortune with others. If the making of a living seems something like a problem, remember that this may be just the lesson you most need. Take life as it comes, looking upon fortune and misfortune indifferently, for they are both from the same source. Realize that within you there is supreme power to make life what you want it to be. You have only to reach out into the Infinite and bring into your life any material or spiritual quality you desire. You are supreme master in your own universe. The condition of today is but the reflection of your thinking and belief of past years. As you give, so shall you receive. As you think, so shall you be. The power within is stronger, mightier, more far reaching than any power you can receive from friends and acquaintances. Yet in all your giving, in the doing of good deeds, be ever respectful of the rights of others. Never force your gifts on anyone who resents them. Help those who welcome and appreciate your help. Leave alone those who desire to be let alone. In this way your life will be a glorious experience. You will make friends by the score. If others seem to be envious of your accomplishments and knowledge of life, just ignore the fact. Treat an enemy as a friend--and he cannot long remain an enemy. Transmute your selfish traits into unselfish acts of kindliness; transmute hate into love; transmute misery into happiness. Look upon life as a series of lessons, enjoying each experience to the utmost. Cultivate joy and laughter. The man with a disgruntled face is not in step with the times, he is often shunned and avoided. The Master Jesus attended numerous feasts and weddings. Make your universe radiate happiness and good will. Spread cheer and laughter, for in so doing you will help to make this world a better and more pleasant home for the multitudes. Avoid disagreements. Avoid the unpleasant vibrations so noticeable in various neighborhoods. Make yours a life of radiant happiness, vibrating the spirit of love, friendliness, joy, and life, combined with the power and self assurance possible through your knowledge of oneness with the Infinite. Cultivate an easy manner of self-control, placing yourself on an equal basis with every man and woman on earth. Talk to rich and poor alike--as man to man. Be afraid of no one. Cast fear out of your life. Be submissive, but never servile. Remember that you are serving only one master--the master within. Each day try to spend half an hour alone--listening to the still small voice that will guide you through life and lead you to achievement you perhaps never even dreamed possible. But when listening to the voice within, be sure that it is THE voice and not some random thought wave. Know that the voice within will never suggest anything to the detriment of others. It is always helpful, always expressing love and good will. Be a Rosicrucian in every sense of the word. Read some of the mystical literature recommended through your lessons or the Triangle from time to time. Study the actions of the leading character, so that little by little, you can build yourself into a similar character. Have nothing to do with pride and vanity. Be yourself in thought, word, and deed. Look upon all work as a God-given opportunity for study and advancement. Try to accomplish successfully everything you undertake, keeping in mind that a big accomplishment is after all nothing more than a number of small tasks well done. Do not expect credit or praise for favors, for when looking for such recognition, this in itself constitutes your reward, while if you avoid the thanks of others, even doing things without letting them know about it, the Heavenly Father will reward you--and this reward is a thousand times more real than the thanks you receive from your friends. Never praise yourself. Never tell others how good your work is. Let them find it out through some other source--and the chances are you will receive more respect, more consideration, your efforts will be more appreciated and you will be happier. "The good you do in darkness I will bring out into the light." So you may be certain that every good deed will be properly rewarded--and by doing good deeds simply for the joy of doing them, you attract rewards that would otherwise be far beyond your reach. If each and every one of us put into our daily life a Rosicrucian code of ethics, such as outlined here, we will all be richer in the joy of living, while at the same time attracting to ourselves material and spiritual rewards far beyond the conception of the average person. But we must be patient. We must be willing to grow into the new life. We must not demand immediate rewards. We should take life as it comes, doing each task before us to the best of our God-given ability. Let's forget about rewards, forget about everything except the good we can do--and all else will take care of itself. | ||
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