The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1952-06-28
Highways To The Most High
Part III
by Stephen J. Constant

OF everyone spark OF the DIVINE
touches the universal Soul essence
within that this came through the
heart or the mind, or both; that
when it did, the Soul Wakens. even
if but for a moment. and that man
Ten looks about him with awe,
and a new wonder.
II we pay heed to this awaken
ing we are Immediately faced with
a problem that may plague us for
years and retard our growth. If
such a man fails to recognise the
nature of the problem he may be-
come quite confused, and in his
confusion, aggravated by the in
tensity of the yearning to seek
and find God, he may wander
from religion to religion, church to
church. cult to cult and back
asssa, no wiser than when first he
started out to find the one best
way suited to his need.
All highways that lead to the
Most High fit into one of three
broad categories The opponents
of the first category say this:
''The world is filled with evil, pain,
suffering and sorrow. To attempt
TO alleviate it by willed action is
like trying TO remove beach by
taking away one grain of sand at
a time This is impossible, there
fore if we would have any effect
upon il We must concentrate all
our energy and effort upon i'm
proving ourselves. Let us first be-
come pure in heart, selfleSs and
poor in spirit, for when we achieve
this state Of being We shall be-
come a light and a refuge, and
those who seek that light will
come to us. those who need that
refuge will be drawn to us as the
bee is to the flower "
Those who favor the second way
say this: THE world is filled with
evil pain, suffe n &
and sorrow As soon as a man re-
ceives a call from God he must
then 90 out into the world and al
levlate as much of it as he can.
He must devote his time, energy
and effort toward doing good
in the world visit the sick and the
imprisoned, try To prevent evil
wherever he encounters it, work
for the passage of good" laws,
ect,
There are serious defects in
both of these ways. The first may
lead TO extremes, to asceticism of
the worst sort The devotee be-
comes queer" withdrawn deve-
lops phychic powers and becomes
cnamored Of them. Granted that
his progress may be rapid in de-
Veloplng faculties such as ans
wered prayer, meditation, cOncen-
tratlon and contemplation, he may
become enthralled with these de
vel0plng powers and lose sight en-
tlrely OF the Goal
Those who pursue the second
way are IN danger of another but
Equally dangerous trap. They too,
may become enamored of the
means and lose sight of the Goal
Each "good" deed each grain of
sand removed from the beach
fills them with a most gratifying
satisfaction. Tina ego, the temporal
self. the personalised Satan which
Jesus said lis the father of all
lies and liar from the begin
nlng, uses all such efforts To re-
move evil and pain from the world
as a means of self Qualification.
This mortal self reyelS in good"
deeds, IT fills the doer with
sweet spiritual type of satlsfac.
ton that Is as deadly 10 true spiri-
tual growth as is asCeticism and
psychic power Al too often the
fruit Of this path is interference
with the lives of others. Stultlly
inB humanism and a most PERM
clous spiritual pride and superlo-
rlly
The third way Is a derivation OF
Plato's Golden Mean II combines