The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-02-28

! that wherever he may wander that
guarding love is round him still.
The key to this change in the man, that
| brings about forgiveness il given In
partly quoted: Even IL the most sinful
worship me, with undivided heart, he
too must be accounted righteous, for he
hath rightly resolved" On that right
| resolution follows the inevitable result:
Speedily he becometh dutiful and goeth
| to peace" The essence Of sin lies in set
ting the will Of the part against the will
of the whole, the human against the Di-
vine. When this Is changed, when the
Ego puts his separate will into union
with the will that works for evolution.
| then. in the world where to will Is to do.
In the world where effects are seen as
present in causes. the man Is .accountec
righteous" the effects on thelo wer planes
must inevitably follow; speedily he be-
cometh dutiful'' in action. having already
become dutiful in Will. Here We judge
by actions. the dead leaves Of the past:
there they judge by wills, the terminating
seeds of the future. Hence the Christ ever
says to men in the lower world: Judge
not"
Even after the new direction has been
definitely followed, and has become the
normal habit of the life. there come
times of failure. When Jesus is asked
WHctncT Il ffidH may pt AGAIN duuIiltSu "
the Mysteries, after he has fallen away.
il he again repents. the answer Of Jeus Is
in the affirmative, but he states that
time comes when readmission Is beyond
the power of any save of the highest
Mystery, who pardons ever. Amen.
amen. l say unto you, whatsoever shall
receive the mysteries of the first mys-
terry, and then shall turn back and trans
gress tweleve times. and then should
n IN apf fwalva fiuaaa Offerinp ays,
i'm the mystery of the first mystery. he
shall be forgiven. But il he should trans
gress after twelve times, should he turn
back and transgress. II shall not be re-
mitted unto him forever, so that he may
turn again unto his mystery, whatever
it be. For him there is no means of re-
pentance unless he have received the
mysteries of that ineffable, which hath
compassion at all times and renittcth
sins forever and ever" These restora-
tons after failure. I'm which sin Is re-
mitted." meet us in human life. especially
in the higher phases of evolution. A man
is offered an opportunity. which, taken,
would open up to him new possibilities
Of growth. He fails to grasp it, and falls
away from the position he had gained
that made the further opportunity pos
Sible For him. for the time, further pro.
gress is blocked; he must turn all his
efforts YEARLY to retread the ground he
had already trodden, and to regain and
make sure his footing on the place from
which he had slipped. Only when this is
accomplished will he hear the gentle
Voice that tells him that the past is out
worn. the weakness turned to strength.
and that the gateway is again open for
his passage. Here again the forgive
ness is but the declaration by proper
authority Of the true state of affairs. the
opening of the gate to the competent, its
closure to the incompetent. Where there
had been failure. with its accompanying
suffering. this declaration would be felt as
Baptism for the remission of SINS"
readmitting the aspirant to privilege
lost by his own act; this would certainly
give rise to feelings of joy and peace. to
a relief from the burden of sorrow, to
feeling that the clog of the past had at
last fallen from the feet.
There remains one truth that should
never be forgotten; that We are living in
an ocean of light. of love, of bliss. that
surrounds us at all times, the Life of God
AS the sun floods the earth with his
radiance so does that Life enlighten all,
only that Sun of the world never sets to
any part of it. We shut this light our
of our consciousness by our selfishness.
our heartlessness. our impurity, our in
tolerance, but II shines OH US ever the
same. bathing us on every side, pressing
against our self-built walls with gentle
strong persistence. When the soul throws
down these excluding walls, the light
flows in, and the soul finds itself flooded
with sunshine, breathing the blissful aid
of heaven. For the Son of man is in
heaven though he knows it not, and
its breeZes fan his brow IL he bares 1t
to their breaths. God ever respects mans
individuality, and will not enter his con-
seriousness until that consciousness opens
to give welcome: Behold I stand at the
door and knock is the attitude Of every
spiritual Intelligence towards the evolv-
ing human soul; not in lack of sympathy
Is rooted that waiting for the open door,
but in deepest wisdom
Man ia not to DO compelled; he is to be
free. He Is not a slave, but a God in the
making. and the growth cannot be forced.
but must DO willed from within. Only
when the will consents, will God influence
man, though He be everywhere present.
and ready to come to the aid of whose
ever turns to Him through the act of the
intelligence, and who unreservedly pre-
SCENTS himself with the affection of the
will.
The sense of forgiveness" then. is the
feeling which fills the heart with joy
when the will is tuned to harmony with
the Divine, when, the soul having opened
its windows. the sunshine of love and
light and bliss pours in, when the part
feels its oneness with the whole. and the
One Life thrills each vein. This is the
noble truth that gives vitality to even
the crudest presentation Of the forgive
ness of SINS and that makes it often,
despite its intellectual incOmpleteness. an
inspirer to pure and spiritual living. And
this Is the truth, as seen in the Lesser
Mysteries.
Next Sunday, dogma and Mystic
iam.r