MAN THE CO-WORKER WITH DIVINE LAW

FROM present knowledge of man's latent

possibilities, it is increasingly evident that Jesus the Christ claimed for himself no unique attribute, quality, or power. All these were attainable by even the least of his brethren. The Jehovah of the Jews was deemed a being absolutely apart from his children, but, from a deeper knowledge of the immanent God, Jesus declared his oneness with the Father. Because of their inheritance from Judaism, the Church Fathers misunderstood his meaning, and so inserted in the Nicean creed the words, "Very God of Very God." This, notwithstanding the words of the Master: "Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is God."

The Hindu Scriptures declare that through concentration, the immanent God fixes Himself in the heart of every creature; and the NeoPlatonists held that, by the same process, the Supreme Spirit focuses its consciousness in every point of the universe, while the Rosicrucians taught that after his final initiation, begun in the Garden and finished on the Cross, Jesus the Christ acquired the ability to form his image in the heart of every disciple anywhere in the world. The Supreme Spirit, the Trinity of Being, Consciousness, and Bliss, in other words, of Will, Wisdom,

and Love, has been known to different peoples as Sat, Atma, Om, Ishvara, Christos, the Higher Self, the Alta Ego, the Divine Center, and so on. To contact, and then to become unified with, this highest, this inmost of oneself, has been the loftiest desire of many aspiring and dedicated souls in all ages of the world.

What are known to the psychologist as the subconscious, and the conscious mind, and to the Occultist as the reincarnating ego, and the material mind, stand to the supreme in man-by whatever name recognized as negative to positive. The one office of the indwelling Spirit is to raise man's imperishable part to its own level of Will, Wisdom and Love. This can be done, and Jesus gave the formula, and illustrated its working by his own life and ministry.

Would we become co-workers with Divine Law? Then must we comply with the utmost requirements of that Law. No easy task as will be explained. First, concerning the possibility of attaining, we have the admonition of the Master: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in Heaven is perfect." Second, concerning the attitude of the seeker for Divine power: "Whosoever would be chief among you, let him be your servant." "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you." "Resist not evil; but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." This admonition

often leads to absurd conclusions. Refraining from action when others are imperiled is a sin of omission. Common sense usually determines the right course, but not always. When Jesus was taken at the command of the chief priests and elders, his warning, "Put up thy sword again into its place; for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword," indicated a clearer knowledge of the Law than was possessed by the temperamental apostle. This and kindred exceptions will be explained as our subject develops.

For those who would become administrators of the so-called laws of Nature, Jesus dropped this hint: "He maketh the sun to rise upon the evil and the good, and sendeth his rain upon the just and the unjust." "Judge not, that ye be not judged." "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."

Proof that the Master had become a co-worker with the laws of Nature is given in the account of his walking on the sea-done by neutralizing the gravitative pull of the earth-and also in the story of his stilling the tempest when the ship would sink. This latter occurrence caused the disciples to say: "What manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obey him?" Thus is shown the Master's control of earth, air, and water. It is immaterial that no account of his authority over the fourth element, fire, has come down to us.

These "miracles" are supplemented by the cursing of the barren fig tree, the turning of water into wine, and the multiplication of the loaves and fishes.

The great saints of the Christian Church modeled their lives on that of its founder; but the most dedicated among them achieved no command of Nature's forces comparable with that of their supreme Head. This, because they failed to comply with the chief requisite of success. Living irreproachable and humble lives, they looked to that reward of the faithful, heavenly rest, and a place not far from the throne. Would one become a co-worker with laws already operative for aeons; laws which will continue for aeons yet to be? Then let him realize that co-operation during the little span of his earthly day is wholly inadequate. Jesus said: "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." Again: "Lo I am with you even unto the end of the world."

Leaving this life, the pious Christian would meet his Saviour on high, but he will find him only in that sphere of activity where the ruler of this planet is lifting mankind to his own level. Whoever would become a co-worker with Divine Law, must register upon the imperishable tablets of his alta ego a vow to co-operate with that Law while the earth endures. Let such a one consider well the requirements of this vow, and its effect upon himself. Never again can he be free from those

requirements, and in himself, as a part of that Law, effect will follow cause more surely and speedily than in other men. This was exemplified in the life of the Master during his ministry. Another point should be pondered by the aspirant. As a unit working with the Law, he cannot invoke its aid for himself. Hence the attitude of Christ when taken in the Garden, and hence his caution to Peter who had become a co-worker with the Law after his instruction in private. Hence also the Master's silence before Pilate, and hence that submission to the Cross which caused the on-lookers to say: "He saved others; Himself he cannot save." Ignorant of matters in which he was wholly versed, they did not understand that, as a factor of the Law, one cannot invoke for his own benefit that which is the very essence of impartiality.

Having weighed the consequences of a certain vow, should the aspirant still be resolved, let him pledge to his higher self the substance of the following: "Never will I seek mere personal salvation. Never will I enter into final peace alone: but everywhere and always will I labor to uplift even the least of my brethren while the world endures."

Thus pledged, one no longer desires a lengthened heavenly rest, but only a short recuperative period preparatory to renewed effort in this lower world. When far advanced, he will have acquired a vesture enabling him to live and labor on a plane but little