The divine center. The secret of life, of abundant life, with its
strength, its felicity, and its unbroken peace, is to find the divine
center within oneself, and to live in and from that, Instead of in
that outer circumference of disturbances, the clamors, cravings, and argumentations which make
up the animal an intellectual man, These selfish elements constitute the mere husks of
life, and must be thrown away by him who would penetrate to the central
heart of things, to life itself. Not to know that within you that
is changeless and defiant of time and death, is not to know anything,
but is to play vainly with the unsubstantial reflections in the mirror of time.
Not to find within you those passionless principles which are not moved by the strifes
and shows and vanities of the world, is to by nothing but illusions,
which vanish as they are grasped. He who resolves that he will not rest
satisfied with appearances, shadows, allusions, shall, by the piercing light of
that resolve, disperse every fleeting fantasy, and shall enter into the substance and
reality of life. He shall learn how to live, and he shall live.
He shall be the slave of no passion, the servant of no opinion,
the votary of no fond error. Finding the divine center within his heart,
he will be pure and calm, and strong and wise. And he
will ceaselessly radiate the heavenly life in which he lives, which is himself,
having betaken himself to the divine refuge within and remaining there, a man is
free from sin. All his yesterdays are the tidewashed and untrodden sands. No
sin shall rise up against him, to torment and accuse him, and destroy
his sacred peace. The fires of remorse cannot scorch him, nor can the
storms of regret devastate his dwelling place. His tomorrows are its seeds, which
shall germinate, bursting into beauty and potency of life. And no doubt shall
shake his trust, no uncertainty rob him of repose. The present is his
only. In the immortal present does he live. And it is as the
eternal vault of blue above, which looks down silently and calmly, yet radiant
with purity and light, upon the upturned and tear stained faces of the centuries.
Men love their destinies. For gratification seems sweet to them, but its
end is pain and vacuity. They love the argumentations of the intellect, for
egotism seems most desirable to them, but the fruits thereof are humiliation and sorrow.
When the soul has reached the end of gratification and reap the bitter fruits
of egotism, it is ready to receive the divine wisdom and to enter into
the divine life. Only the crucified can be transfigured. Only by the death
of self. Can the Lord of the heart rise again into the immortal life
and stand radiant upon the all of it of wisdom, Thou hast thy trials.
Every outward trial is the result of an inward imperfection. Thou shalt grow
wise by knowing this, and shalt thereby transmute trial into active joy, finding
the kingdom where trial cannot come. When wilt thou learn thy lessons, O,
child of Earth, all thy sorrows cry out against thee. Every pain
is thy just accuser, and thy griefs are but the shadows of thy unworthy
and perishable self. The kingdom of Heaven is thine. How long wilt thou
reject it, preferring the lurid atmosphere of hell, the hell of thy self,
seeking soul. Where self is not, there is the garden of the
heavenly life. And there spring the healing streams, quenching all thirst. There
bloom the immortal flowers, carpeting all the way with joy, their throng,
swiftest and sweetest hours. The redeemed sons of God, the glorified in body
and spirit, are bought with a price, And that price is the crucifixion
of the personality, the death of self. And having put away that within
which is the source of all discord, they have found the universal music,
the abiding joy. Life is more than motion. It is music more than
rest. It is peace more than work. It is duty more than labor.
It is love more than enjoyment. It is blessedness more than acquiring money
and position and reputation. It is knowledge, purpose, strong, and high
resolve. Let the impure turn to purity, and they shall be pure.
Let the weak resort to strength, and they shall be strong. Let the
ignorant fly to knowledge, and they shall be wise. All things are man's,
and he chooses that which he will have today, He chooses in ignorance.
Tomorrow he shall choose in wisdom. He shall work out his own salvation,
whether he believe it or not. For he cannot escape himself nor transfer
to another the eternal responsibility of his own soul. By no theological subterfuge shall
he trick the law of his being, which shall shatter all his selfish makeshifts
and excuses for right thinking and right doing. Nor shall God do for him
that which it is destined his soul shall accomplish for itself. What would you
say of a man who, wanting to possess a mansion in which to dwell,
peacefully purchase the sight, and then knelt down and ask God to build
a house for him? Would you not say that such a man was foolish?
And of another man, who, having purchased the land, set the
architects and builders and carpenters at work to erect the edifice, would you not
say that he was wise? And as it is in the building of a
material house, even so it is in the building of a spiritual mansion,
brick by brick, pure thought upon pure thought, good deed upon good deed.
Must the habitation of a blameless life rise from its sure foundation until it
at last stands out and all the majesty of its faultless proportions. Not by
caprice, nor gift nor favor does a man obtain the spiritual realities. But
by diligence, watchfulness, energy and effort. Strong is the soul, and
wise and beautiful. The seeds of godlike power are in us still God's We
are bards, saints, heroes, if we will. The spiritual heart of
man is the heart of the universe, and finding that heart man finds strength
to accomplish all things. He finds there also the wisdom to see things as
they are. He finds there the peace that is divine. At the center
of man's being is the music which orders the stars, the eternal harmony.
He who would find blessedness, let him find himself. Let him abandon every
discordant desire, every and harmonious thought, every unlovely habit. Indeed, and
he will find that grace and beauty and harmony which form the indestructible essence of
his own being. Men fly from creed to creed and find unrest. They
travel in many lands and discover disappointment. They build themselves beautiful mansions and plant
pleasant gardens and reap on wei and discomfort. Not until a man falls back
upon the truth within himself does he find rest and satisfaction. Not until he
builds the inward mansion of faultless conduct does he find the endless and incorruptible joy.
And having obtained that, he will infuse into it all his outward doings
and possessions. If a man would have peace, let him exercise the spirit
of peace. If he would find love, let him dwell in the spirit
of love. If he would escape suffering, let him cease to inflict it.
If he would do noble things for humanity, let him cease to do
ignoble things for himself. If he will but quarry the mind of his own
soul, he shall find there all the materials for building whatsoever he will.
And he shall find there also the central rock on which to build in safety.
Howsoever a man works to right the world, it will never be righted
until he has put himself right. This may be written upon the heart as
a mathematical axiom. It is not enough to preach purity. Men must cease
from lust to exhort love. They must abandon hatred to extol self sacrifice,
they must yield up self to adorn with mere words the perfect life. They
must be perfect. When a man can no longer carry the weight of his
many sins, let him fly to the Christ, whose throne is the center
of his own heart, and he shall become light hearted, entering the glad
company of the immortals. When he can longer bear the burden of his accumulated
learning, let a man leave his books, his science, his philosophy,
and come back to himself, and he shall find within that which he outwardly
sought and found, not his own divinity. He ceases to argue about God,
who has found God within. Relying upon that calm strength which is not
the strength of self, he lives God manifesting in his daily life the highest
goodness, which is eternal life.