as they had, then we must consider from whence he came. The thought, from whence did Jesus come, leads us in another direction. We read in the first of Genesis these words, "Let us make man;" "us," implying a plurality of intelligences, as if many, or at least a number of intelligences met together and agreed upon a certain course of action; which was, first, to make a world, then, to people it with men like themselves. Not making them like themselves, but causing them to be, and, through countless ages, and numberless incarnations, grow and develop into a likeness of themselves. In view of this thought we can assume that one of those whom we call Elohim, God, came to earth for a specific purpose, not because he needed experience in the earth life whereby to grow, but, to bring to earth a fuller knowledge of life and its possibilities, even as he himself said concerning the object of his coming, "I came that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly." Again it was said concerning Jesus that he "abolished death." A more correct rendering of the idea, however, would be that he showed us how death could be overcome. Herein we see that his coming in this incarnation was not that he might grow as other men are growing, or that he might come up from beneath to rise higher, but a coming down from above for the purpose of giving to mankind the knowledge of another step which they might take in their development upwards toward that condition which John said that Jesus manifested; namely, a "man after our likeness." This would not make Jesus our elder brother in the sense of one who had grown among us and was simply beyond us in development, but it would make him a messenger from a higher realm, even as he himself said, "I came down from above;" however, this does not precisely designate who or what he is, whether he is of the Elohim or not, but it shows us the reason why he came to earth; and, expressed in the simplest language, it was to bring a knowledge of the fact that death might be overcome, that immortality is possible of attainment. His bringing to us knowledge from the spirit realm of the things which are there in store for man makes him, not a teacher only, but, our High Priest. There is yet another thought: we believe in the existence of an all-pervading mind, an infinite mind, of whom and from whom. are all minds. In considering what it means to say an infinite mind, we can grasp a measure of it by considering the immensity of the known universe, the vastness of systems, of galaxies, too great for the mind of man to grasp but faintly. The Infinite Mind must be Creator and Master of all these. Compared with what we know of the universe (and we know nothing of its limits), this world is as a grain of sand on the shore of the sea, or as a drop of water in the ocean. even We are safe in assuming that in the untold cycles of the past, intelligences have been formed, grown and developed so far beyond what we are, what man is or can conceive of, that they have become and now are even greater than our present conception of God. And it is not unreasonable to assume that of these great minds there are those who have the care, the oversight, of certain parts of this vast machinery of the material universe. We may assume that there is one great mind, a god-like, a god mind, who has this world in charge, and the words of Jesus to Philip, "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father," John xiv. 9, lead us to think it possible that he was the embodiment of that ONE. We speak of God as the Father, and Jesus said in substance, I am the Father. Isaiah prophesying of his coming said, "For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and his name shall be called The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father." That is, this one who should be born would be called The Everlasting Father. We do not understand the term "The Mighty God" to imply that he was or is the Infinite Spirit, but rather that he is the head of this world, in the sense of his being the one in charge. Speaking of himself in parable he said, "This is the heir (of the vineyard, namely, this world): come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours." These words of Jesus imply that the world belonged to him by right of inheritance. sense. Again we refer to the thought which he gave to his disciples, "Ye shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel;" implying that they should rule under him. So that the "government would be upon his shoulder," in an emphatic If we accept this thought then we might reason that Jesus is the master of this world. He said to his disciples, "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am." He did not say Master and Lord of this world, but his words imply that, therefore, concerning Jesus we feel safe in accepting him as the Father of the spiritual consciousness of men, the Master and Lord of this world. Nevertheless, we see that to know of him is not to know him. Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise Where truth abides in fulness; and around, Wall upon wall,. the gross flesh hems it in, Blinds it, and makes all error; and, to KNOW, And you trace back the effluence to its spring And source within us; where broods radiance vast, Robert Browning. THE OPERATION OF LOVE. By Aquarius. Mind exists independently of a physical body. Qualities of mind manifest through a body by virtue of sympathy. Love is life in activity. By means of love, mind, embodying thoughts, enters another mind, and amalgamates with those qualities in the other mind which are similar to itself, thereby adding other powers and life, charged with sympathetic similar qualities to those already there. Each organism is the expression of a particular mind quality. This reaches out in love for that similar to itself and thereby gathers more. If the mind acting through my organism is attracted to your mind, it is by the operation of love, hence your thoughts enter my mind, and manifest in my body, thereby my mind becomes stronger by having added to it the influx from yours, and the mind which is the stronger rules the other mind, because, being stronger it is as much and more, hence the balance is a majority, a predominance of activity; something not affiliated. As a chemical combination is in ratio of a certain number of molecules of one chemical to a certain number of another, an excess on either side above a given proportion leaving a residue of uncombined substance, so it is with the uniting of minds. Thus one person may become subservient to the mind of another by the operation of love, even to the extent of being completely governed by the impulses, et cetera, of the mind which is the more powerful. By loving God, we open ourselves and come in touch with the impulses of his mind; and as God is all powerful we are then dominated by his mind, and will to the exclusion of our own personal desires and impulses, all of which constitute our character and conscious personality, which then ceases to exist and dies; therefore we die in Christ daily: we die by virtue of the characteristics constituting our former personality being superseded and thereby obliterated. Characteristics constitute differences of personalities; change these in any case and the personality ceases to be. Therefore, we are distinguished as "so and so" because we exhibit certain traits of character, the combination of which forms our individuality, differentiating us from others: but when God rules us we cease to have our own characteristics, and become the expression of his nature, and in so far as we are able to love God wholly and unreservedly, in that ratio we cease to manifest our desires and ways born of the love of the earth mind and the things of earth, and are born of God, begotten from above. "Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might." Thus will the body of humanity, by adherence to this principle, this first and great command, become one in consciousness; and one in God. Man might live at first The animal life; but is there nothing more? Of his own life's adaptabilities, The more joy-giving will his life become. Robert Prowning. |