Mystic Immanence, the Indwelling SpiritWilberforce, Basil
Religion
Mystic Immanence, the Indwelling Spirit
Wilberforce, Basil
Immanence of God; Mysticism
What is the moral of the analogy? It is this: Do not always harp upon
the worst side of yourself. We are bound to become what we see
ourselves ideally to be. The higher your ideal of yourself, the more
rapid your spiritual growth; see yourself ideally as Divine, and you
will become it. Remember, you cannot see both sides of the coin of
yourself at once. When you are discouraged by the prominence of the
animal nature; when you are prone to give way to appetite or temper, or
despondency, or self-detestation, instantly force yourself to turn over,
as it were, the coin of yourself; "reckon yourself," as Paul says,
"alive to God"; forcibly detach your attention from the reverse side;
think intensely into the other side. Say, "I am spirit, I am the
Lord’s; His image is stamped on me, His life is in me. His eternal
purpose is my perfection, my true ego is His Divine Life; I am a
personal spirit, thought-begotten by the Father-Spirit in His own image
and likeness, made subject to the vanity of human birth, that through
the bondage of corruption I may attain to the conscious liberty of the
glory of Sonship. This body is not I, not the real I." The thought,
when persisted in, becomes creative; it restores the equilibrium; it
helps the at-one-ment of the two sides of the coin, the human and the
Divine, making, as the Apostle says, "of the twain one new man."
The same rule applies as to our judgments of others. Remember, we
cannot see both sides of the human coin at once, and therefore our
judgments are literally one-sided. This they are in both directions.
The people we admire are not deserving of all the worship we give them;
the people we dislike are not as black as we paint them. Some people
live with only the reverse side visible, but always there is the other
side of the coin. I have never honestly tried mentally to turn over a
human coin of this description without finding the King’s image often
defaced and covered with accretions, but always there. If asked of the
most degraded, "Whose is this image?" I should not hesitate in my reply:
"The qualities, potentialities, of Spirit are here though hidden." The
conclusion is, Never despair of anyone, and never despise thy brother
man; always believe the best of other people; be sure that the name of
the Eternal Father is impressed on their true _ego_. That Divine name
is ineradicable. In the end it will save the worst, though, it may be,
"yet so as by fire."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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