SERVING GOD

                                                                THE GOD

            WHEN PEOPLE START OUT TO MAKE SOMETHING OF THEMSELVES AND TO PRACTICE THE SCIENCE OF BEING GREAT, THEY FIND THEMSELVES NECESSARILY COMPELLED TO REARRAGE MANY OF THEIR RELATIONSHIPS. THERE ARE FRIENDS WHO PERHAPS MUST BE ALIENATED, THERE ARE RELATIVES WHO MISUNDERSTAND AND WHO FEEL THAT THEY ARE IN SOME WAY BEING SLIGHED. THE QUESTION AT THE OUTSET IS. IS IT MY DUTY TO MAKE THE MOST OF MYSELF REGARDLESS OF EVERYTHING ELSE? OR SHALL I WAIT UNTIL I CAN DO SO WITHOUT ANY FRICTION OR WITHOUT CAUSING LOSS TO ANYONE? THIS IS THE QUESTION OF DUTY TO SELF VS. DUTY TO OTHERS.

          AN IMMENSE NUMBER OF PEOPLE HAVE A GREAT DEAL OF UNCERTAINTY, NOT TO SAY, ANXIETY, AS TO WHAT THEY OUGHT TO DO FOR GOD. THE AMOUNT OF WORK AND SERVICE THAT IS DONE FOR GOD BY PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD THROUGH THEIR PLACES OF WORSHIP AND OTHER FAITHBASED ORGANIZATION IS ENORMOUS. AN IMMENSE AMOUNT OF HUMAN ENERGY IS EXPENDED IN WHAT IS CALLED SERVING GOD. HOW CAN WE SERVE GOD? IS THE CONVENTIONAL IDEA AS TO WHAT CONSTITUTES SERVICE TO GOD ALL WRONG?

           THE VIEW OF EVOLUTION THAT WE TAKEN SHOWS GOD SEEKING EXPRESSION THROUGH HUMANKIND. THROUGH ALL THE SUCCESSIVE AGES IN WHICH HIS SPIRIT HAS URGED HUMAN UP THE HEIGHT, GOD HAS GONE ON SEEKING EXPRESSION. EVERY GENERATION IS MORE GODLIKE THAN THE PRECEDING GENERATION. EVERY GENERATION DEMANDS MORE IN THE WAY OF FINE HOMES, PLEASANT SURROUNDINGS WORK, REST, TRAVEL, AND OPPORTUNITY FOR STUDY THAN THE PROCEEDING GENERATION.

           I HAVE HEARD SOME SHORTSIGHTED ECONOMISTS ARGUE THAT THE WORKING PEOPLE OF TODAY OUGHT SURELY TO BE FULLY CONTENDED BECAUSE THEIR CONDITION IS SO MUCH BETTER THAN THAT OF THE WORKERS HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO WHO SLEPT IN WINDOWLESS HUTS ON A FLOOR COVERED WITH RUSHES IN COMPANY WITH THE PIGS. IT THOSE PEOPLE HAD ALL THAT THEY WERE ABLE TO USE FOR THE LIVING OF AL, THE LIFE THEY KNEW HOW TO LIVE THEY WERE PERFECTLY CONTENT, TODAY'S PEOPLE HAVE COMFORTABLE HOMES AND VERY MANY THINGS, INDEED THAT WERE UNKNOWN JUST A SHORT TIME AGO. IF THEY HAVE ALL THAT THEY CAN USE FOR THE LIVING OF ALL THE LIFE THEY CAN IMAGINE, THEY WILL BE CONTENT. BUT PEOPLE ARE NOT CONTENT. GOD HAS LIFTED THE RACE SO FAR THAT ANY PERSON CAN PICTURE A BETTER AND MORE DESIRABLE LIFE THAN HE OR SHE IS ABLE TO LIVE UNDER EXISTING CONDITIONS. AS LONG AS THIS IS TRUE, AS LONG AS WE CAN THINK AND CLEARLY PICTURE TO OURSELVES A MORE DESIRABLE LIFE, WE WILL BE DISCONTENTED WITH THE LIFE WE HAVE TO LIVE, AN RIGHTY SO. THAT DISCONTENT IS THE SPIRIT OF GOD URGING US ON TO MORE DESIRABLE CONDITIONS.

          THE ONLY SERVICE YOU CAN RENDER GOD IS GIVE EXPRESSION TO WHAT HE IS TRYING TO GIVE THE WORLD, THROUGH YOU, THE ONLY SERVICE YOU CAN RENDER GOD IS TO MAKE THE VERY MOST OF YOURSELF IN ORDER THAT GOD MAY LIVE IN YOU TO THE UTMOST OF YOUR POSSIBILITIES. YOU MAY REMEMBER THE STORY IN THE FIRST PART OF THIS BOOK ABOUT THE LITTLE GIRL, AT THE PIANO, THE MUSIC IN WHOSE SOUL COULD NOT FIND EXPRESSION THROUGH HER UNTRAINED HANDS. THIS IS A GOOD ILLUSTRATION OF THE WAY THE SPIRIT OF GOD IS OVER, ABOUT, AND IN ALL OF US, SEEKING TO DO GREAT THINGS WITH US, AS SOON AS WELL WILL TRAIN OUR HANDS AND FEET, OUR MINDS, BRAINS, AND BODIES TO DO HIS SERVICE.

            YOUR FIRST DUTY OF GOD, TO YOURSELF, AND TO THE WORLD IS TO MAKE YOURSELF AS GREAT A PERSONALITY, IN EVERY WAY, AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN.

            DO UNTO OTHERS AS YE WOULD THAT THEY SHOULD DO UNTO YOU, IS NOT TOO OLD TO USE IN THE NEW CIVILISATION. LIVE FOR ALL YOU ARE WORTH YOURSELF, BUT LET THE OTHERS HAVE A CHANCE TO LIVE TOO. THIS IS TRUE SUCCESS, TEAM WORK IS HARD TO DO PERFECTLY, BUT IF WE USE OUR GENIUS, OUR POWER,  OUR MAJESTRY TO HELP OTHERS, AND RISE IN DEEPER PATIENCE AND HELPFULNESS TO THE MAJESTY OF OUR PLACE ON THE PATH, THEN POWER BECOMES A WONDERFUL POSSESION, OUR WORD NEVER COME BACK TO US VOID, AND WE CAN KNOW THAT WE ARE THE HIGHEST EXPRESSION OF OUR OWN TYPE OF CONSCIOUSNESS, THAT WE CAN COMMAND, EVERYTHING WILL LOVE TO OBEY, BECAUSE WE ARE ONE WITH ALL IN TRUTH, IN JUSTICE AND IN POWER.

IN A PRECEDING CHAPTER IT WAS POINTED OUT THAT IT IS WITHIN THE POWER OF ALL OF US TO BECOME GREAT JUST AS INDICATED IN THE FIRST PART OF THIS BOOK, IT IS WITHIN THE POWER OF ALL OF US TO BECOME RICH. BUT THESE SWEEPING GENERALIZATIONS NEED QUALIFYING. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO HAVE SUCH MATERIALISTIC MINDS THAT THEY ARE ABSOLUTELY INCAPABLE OF COMPREHENDING THE PHILOSOPHY SET FORTH IN THIS BOOK. THERE IS A GREAT MASS OF MEN AND WOMEN WHO HAVE LIVED AND WORKED UNTIL THEY ARE PRACTICALLY INCAPABLE OF THOUGHT ALONG THESE LINES, AND THEY CANNOT RECEIVE THE MESSAGE. SOMETHING MAY BE DONE FOR THEM BY DEMONSTRATION, THAT IS, BY LIVING THE LIFE BEFORE THEM. BUT THAT IS THE ONLY WAY THEY CAN BE AROUSED. THE WORLD NEEDS DEMONSTRATION MORE THAN IT NEEDS TEACHING. FOR THIS MASS OF PEOPLE OUR DUTY IS TO BECOME AS GREAT IN PERSONALITY AS POSSIBLE IN ORDER THAT THEY MAY SEE AND DESIRE TO DO LIKEWISE. IT IS OUT DUTY TO MAKE OURSELVES GREAT FOR THEIR SAKES SO THAT WE MAY HELP PREPARE THE WORLD THAT THE NEXT GENERATION SHALL HAVE BETTER CONDITIONS FOR THOUGHT.

IF YOU ARE A PERSON WHO WISHES TO MAKE SOMETHING OR YOURSELF AND TO MOVE OUT INTO THE WORLD, BUT ARE HAMPERED BY HOME TIES, HAVING OTHERS MORE OR LESS DEPEDENT UPON YOU AND WHOM YOU FEAR WOULD SUFFER IF LEFT ALONE, IT IS YOUR DUTY TO MOVE OUT FEARLESSLY, AND TO MAKE THE MOST OF YOURSELF. IF THERE IS A LOSS AT HOME IT WILL BE ONLY TEMPORARY AND APPARENT, FOR IN A LITTLE WHILE, IF YOU FOLLOW THE LEADING OF SPIRIT, YOU WILL ABLE TO TAKE BETTER CARE OF YOUR DEPENDENTS THAN YOU HAVE EVER DONE BEFORE.

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