Living the Radiant Life: A Personal NarrativeJames, George Wharton
Religion
Living the Radiant Life: A Personal Narrative
James, George Wharton
Conduct of life
ordinary sense perception that a change has taken place in his driver,
he calms and quiets down, and goes ahead without further fear,
hesitancy, or nervousness.
With dogs, every one knows that to be afraid of a barking, yelping,
aggressive cur is to invite him to bite you. But if you advance upon him
boldly and without any fear he will retreat in snarling dismay, and if
you make a bold dash at him he turns tail like the veriest coward and
runs. In my many visits to Indian villages and camps I have tested this
again and again. I have had a dozen dogs run out as if they would tear
me to pieces. Had I turned and run there is no doubt that, unless their
owners had interfered, I should have been bitten. But, knowing the
nature of the ill-bred curs of the Indians, I advanced boldly upon
them, kicking to left and right, if the animals were more than usually
persistent, and invariably following into his own place of refuge the
animal that seemed to be the leader, and there giving him one or two
sharp blows or decisive kicks. The result was always the same. So long
as I stayed in that camp I was never bothered again. They readily and
quickly understood the radiancy of boldness and that of kindness when
they ceased their fierce aggressiveness, and never pestered me again.
This same radiant power of others is often recognized by lawless men and
by criminals. A fearless woman can go into places of great danger with
absolute safety, and a fearless and honest officer can arrest the most
desperate and dangerous men far more easily than can a dozen fearful and
dishonest ones.
Thus it will be apparent that:
Every person, animal, and thing, consciously or unconsciously, willingly
or unwillingly, radiates good or evil.
As human beings we radiate that which we possess, or that which
possesses us, and we influence those with whom we come in contact by our
radiancies.
The questions, then, that every true-hearted man and woman must, and
will, ask are: "Am I radiating good or evil? If evil, why? If good, am
I radiating as much as I might and should?"
For myself I want every man and woman I meet or shake hands with, to
feel that I am physically strong, healthy, and vigorous; that I have
vigor and health of mind; that I think for myself, rather than accept
the opinions of others, and that in character, in spirit, in soul, I am
healthy, vigorous, sincere, pure, true; that my emotions, my
aspirations, my ambitions are noble and upward. I want to radiate
spiritual health. Do you?
CHAPTER IV
VARIED RADIANCIES
Man is a part of Nature, but he is more than that which we mean by the
words, "mere Nature." He is Nature plus. There is given to him more than
is possessed by sun or flower. He has within him that spirit which
renders him nearer the divine than sun or flower. Mind and _soul_ make
him a superior being. Hence it is the divine plan that he should radiate
in his enlarged sphere as the sun and flower do in theirs.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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