Or
Man's Lack of Balance
THROUGHOUT ALL TIME, one of man's greatest weaknesses has been his one-sided-ness, his lamentable lack of balance. Either he has been inclined to be grossly materialistic in his outlook, lacking any concept of Spiritual realities and the existence of God; or, conversely, he has held to the belief that the Spiritual self was all-important and that the material self should be given little or no consideration.
Those who were so gifted, or became awakened to this concept, soon recognized that, while material considerations and material values have their place in human affairs and must receive full consideration, they should never take precedence over the Spiritual. They gave to each - the material and the Spiritual - the proper place in their lives, fulfilling the Biblical injunction:
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you." . . . and another, equally vital, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and unto God the things that are God's."
In the order of their importance, BOTH THE MATERIAL AND SPIRITUAL WELFARE OF THE INDIVIDUAL WERE GIVEN THEIR PROPER PLACE, IN RECOGNITION OF THE FACT THAT ONLY THROUGH SPIRITUAL AWAKENING AND ATTAINMENT COULD ONE GAIN THEIR HIGHEST ESTATE BOTH IN THE WORLD OF FACT AND OF SPIRIT. These few - the truly enlightened - developed both on the material and Spiritual planes - with proper regard for each.
This concept is at last receiving recognition, but as yet humanity is doing little about it; living, as they do, under the paralyzing influence of the idea: "It cannot happen here." In almost every newspaper and magazine, the headlines glaringly call attention to the fact that the present unfavorable conditions in all walks of life are due to people having Lost Their Spiritual Concepts. Some writers go further, stressing the fact that if an individual is to save themself and retrieve their lost estate of peace and the right of the "pursuit of happiness" in accordance with the Eternal Law, they must return to these Spiritual Concepts.
One reason for the present abnormal and unfavorable conditions among individuals in our own Nation is the phenomenal and almost incredible advance by material science. This has precipitated antagonism and conflict between the peopole who have taken time to keenly reason and analyze activities on the maerial plane in relation to the claims and promises made by what might well be termed "churchism." Religion has stood still while science advanced - hence the conflict.
People, though possibly not wholly honest and moral themselves, are nevertheless able, with normally reasoning and analytical minds, to clearly define the difference between justice and hypocrisy. They distinguish the difference between a just God who set into operation absolute Laws and adheres to them, and a whimsical God who, because of a selfish request or prayer, would wantonly set aside the operation of His established Laws.
One of these Scientists who, though not a churchman, does truly believe in God, gave utterance to a conclusion that is rapidly gaining ground and is shared by an increasingly large number of thinking individuals:
"While admittedly not a too honest or moral man, I can no longer accept the concept, doctrine or creed, that I may cheat, lie, steal, defame, be a libertine, degenerate, betray woman or commit any and every other crime during most or all of my life and then, at one fell stroke, by the utterance of a few words 'I believe,' be absolved from all my sins, and what is still more unjust and dishonest, have some one else pay for all of my evil doings.
"If God is a just God, and 1 believe He is, if He gave us Laws to live by, and I know He did, then He cannot annul those Laws in my favor and at the expense of others, because I request it.
"1 believe and accept the Law: `As ye sow so shall ye reap' without qualification and I cannot subscribe to any doctrine or church that will not uphold this Law.
"To me, possibly the greatest of all evil doers is the hypocrite. The really evil, dishonest or degraded person becomes known by his acts and is shunned by honest, wholesome men and women. The hypocrite professes one thing and is shrewd enough to be accepted and believed by what he professes to be, not what he really is, and misleads countless trusting ones."
THE GREATEST OF ALL the Ancient Lawgivers, antedating John by many centuries, was known as Hermes. His state-ment of the Law in respect to material and Spiritual things, and the balance between them, has never been improved upon, nor successfully contradicted:
As in the above, so in the below.
As in the below, so in the above.
As in the outer, so in the inner.
As in the inner, so in the outer.
In other words:
As in the Spiritual, so in the material.
As in the material, so in the Spiritual.
The Laws are interchangeable and interrelated. That which affects the material, equally influences the Spiritual. That which is Spiritualized, likewise governs the material. Therefore the Nazarene's statement: "As ye sow, so shall ye reap," and "Seek ye first the kingdom of God [the Spiritual] and all other things [material] shall be added unto you." This is the Law that governs and will continue to govern, whether it is accepted or not.
The Law of Hermes, together with the command: "Render unto Caesar, etc.," brings to mind a principle too often overlooked ... that no good thing of whatever nature, is forbidden those on the Path. Only those things which serve no good purpose and are detrimental to body, mind, the Soul or even in an economic sense, are prohibited.