The Washington herald., 1912-02-18
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
OF GODS PO WER
And We Must Build Our, Own
Destinies.
BY ELLA WHEELER WILCOX.

Optimistic people often express salts
faction that we are living in an age Of
intelligence and federation.
"Heretics" are not tortured, nor
witches" burned, to-day. because they
hold different religious views from the
masses.
Yet now and then we find fossil i'm.
bedded in a human mind; and this speci-
men exhibits all the pecullafities OF the
original type, although it may not pos
sess its power.
a judge OF the Supreme Court and a
writer on the editorial page of a morn
Ing paper both display the fossil brain
In the following extract:
Supreme Court Justice Cohalan has
refused TO annul a transfer OF property
which was attacked before him on the
ground that the maker OF the transfer,
one Fullerton, was at the time a believer
in theosophy, and therefore insane. In
thus deciding the Justice said:
The circumstance thar a man is OBJ
sessed with an extraordinary and eccen-
tric belief does not in itself constitute
insanity; otherwise society would have
an insuperabIe problem with which to
contend, for there are manifold beliefs
held by men equally II not more strange
than those held by Fullerton
To call a belief extraordinary and &C.
centric is not quite the same thing as
declaring IL untrue, but It comes so near
it that the TheosOphists will doubtless
glover darkly at Justice CohalRn and
every mahatma will view him with stern
Indignation. He might have gone fur
ther, however in his description Of
Theosophy without exceeding the limits
Of accuracy, and he would have to think
for some time before he could mention
many Of the beliefs which he said were
equally or more strange"
In all probability both OF these men
are Christians. II not professed Chris
tisns. they would unquestionably speak
with reverence OF the Great Master
Christ. The judge and the editorial
writer would not refer to Chrfsts creed
as eccentric or strange"
Believed In ReIncarnatIOn.
Yet Jesus Christ believed in reincar-
lation. according TO His own words.
In ST. Matthew. M:I2 to Is. He says:
For all the prophets and the law
,rophesied until John. and If ye will
Neceive it, this is Blias. which has to
come. He that hath ears to hear, let
him hear"
What can be palmer than that?
Again. in the ninth chapter Of st.
Mark. Jesus says:
Il say unto you that Elias is indeed
come: and they have done unto him
whatsoever they listed. as it is written
of him.
Just why the orthodox Christian
church chooses to be so silent regarding
these unmistakable assertions Of Jesus
is one Of the many unexplained problems
of modern Christianity.
No man or woman Of real intelligence
can make an honest and patient study
%
and not feel profound respect for the
philosophy it offers as a working basis
on which to build character.
This philosophy teaches the following
eccentric and strange" ideas:
The great supreme power We call God
made all souls in the beginning. Each
one of us has passed through millions of
lives. first in the mineral. next in the
vegetable kingdom, then in the animal,
and now We are passing through the
highest plsne-the human
In each Of these kingdoms We have
appeared again and again. We never go
backward; always forward and onward
and upward.
For instance, Nero. who was great
ruler. possessing enormous wealth, and
who lived an evil and selfish life, would
return Cafter passing through many
spiritual planes of purifying punishmenD
as a poor man. obliged to learn sym
pathy through his labor, and to appre-
ciate the value OF the things he mis-
used by being deprived Of them. While
his social status would be lower than
Of old he would still be striving toward
a higher moral plane.
Mansion Not Made with Hands.
Every thought and act We have while
here is a brick which we build into the
mansion We will occupy in the next in
carnation and into the house not made
with hands which We will find waiting
for US beyond the grave. Just as our
thoughts words, and acts are beautiful,
generous. and kind and patient and
helpful here, so will we possess beauty,
wealth, friends, love, and power when
We come again.
We are the expression Of Gods power;
and we. ourselves. must build our own
destinies instead of calling on God to
do II.
Many things We must pass through to
work out old Karma (the law Of cause
and effecD, but as a diligent child at
school can make up for past negligence
by extra hours Of study. so we can over
come Karma by great devotion and good
works. When we have completed our
cycle We become one with Sod. We
know the rapture of perfect peace. Un-
Ill again the new cycle begins.
"As il was in the beginning, is now,
and shall be eyermore."
These are a few OF the beliefs of this
most glorious, stimulating, uplifting, and
just philosophy.
God speed the day when earth will
be one immense asylum, and all men
and women inmates through their un-
derstanding and acceptance of these
strange" and eccentric ideas.