Mystic Immanence, the Indwelling SpiritWilberforce, Basil
Religion
Mystic Immanence, the Indwelling Spirit
Wilberforce, Basil
Immanence of God; Mysticism
The practical lesson scarcely needs enforcement. "Whose is this image
and superscription?" asks the Head of humanity of the human items that
make up the race. A recognition of the fact that the real _ego_ in
every man is Divine would be the golden key which would unlock the most
puzzling of the social problems of the age. The prominent evils which
degrade humanity would pass away before it, and in private life love
would reign instead of harsh criticism. If the answer were clearly and
intelligently given to the question, "Whose is this image and
superscription?" and it were recognized that humanity is God-souled, and
that the Originating Spirit is the self-evolving image in all, it would
not only mitigate our personal judgments of others, but it would break
down the prejudices which now divide us. The regenerating transforming
mission of love would knit souls together, there would be no "Eastern
question," for, in God, there are no Greeks, Turks, Bulgarians,
Russians, Austrians, there are only men.
The universality of the Divine impress, the certainty that every
individual life-centre is a manifestation of God, should convince us
that "one is our Father and all we are brethren." To know that humanity
is God’s child, though it has a side weighted with crime, brutality, and
degradation, should stimulate us, first, always to see the best side in
people we dislike, and, secondly, to associate ourselves with all
ameliorating work for humanity in a vast Empire city like London. The
human coins are sometimes for a while lost, and it is our duty to find
them. Our Lord once drew a vivid picture of a search for a lost coin.
He implied that it was the Church’s fault (for the woman in that parable
is the Church) that the coin was lost. He suggested that we should
light a candle and stir up the dust from the unswept floor of our
distorted social conditions, and actively, eagerly search for His
God-stamped human coins till we found them. To keep others and to make
others happy is the road to personal happiness, that is implied in the
conclusion of that allegory of the lost coin. The successful searcher
is represented as calling upon friends and neighbours to rejoice with
her, for she has found the coin which was lost. To manifest love and
help to make others happy is the highest credential for the future life
beyond, for "Heaven is not Heaven to one alone. Save thou one soul, and
thou mayest save thine own."
*Spirit, Soul, Body.*
"A man’s heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his
steps."—PROV. xvi. 9.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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