67/115 SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS By FRANK H. SPRAGUE

During the past growth and development of society, men nearly always have been quite unaware of the true character or ideal of the body in which they have found themselves placed, often, perforce, as unwilling subjects. The rise and growth of the family and the state were not matters of chance, or even of convenience alone;

they were steps in the unfolding of a comprehensive plan, as yet only partially consummated. When men let the divine life of the Oversoul flow freely into and out of their lives, by yielding to its informing, reforming influence, they will be drawn into higher social relations as atoms of a body designed by Intelligence far superior to human understanding. “There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them as we will.”

If we cultivate receptivity to influences from the unseen realm, always keeping our interior windows open in an expectant attitude, the Infinite creative wisdom and power will perfectly adjust all our relations. When we place our finite lives at the disposal of the creative Spirit, and allow them to conform spontaneously to ideals born in the highest realm of consciousness, we can achieve nothing but success, in the truest sense;

but if, by entertaining a negative attitude of doubt, selfishness, or unreceptivity, we cut ourselves off from the Universal supply, and cease to be conductors of the Spirit, we become social parasites, encumbering the growth of society. We are then like electric fixtures disconnected from the wire that supplies the illuminating power.

To realize our true end in life, we must be, on the one hand, perpetually open to receive inspiration from the Highest, and, on the other, in touch with our fellow beings, to communicate to them the Spirit as we receive it. Thus the circuit is completed, so that the perfect social ideal can grow into manifestation spontaneously. If either end is closed, friction and disorder ensue in our lives, both in their individual and collective capacities.

Forms rise above forms in the scale of nature, from the animalcule, sporting in a drop of water, to world systems moving majestically through illimitable space. The Spirit eternally seeks expression, aiming, through manifold channels and among all orders of life, to unfold ideals. Nor are its manifestations confined to the natural world that is only its external embodiment,

the spiritual idea projected outward in symbols, so that even the dullest vision may catch occasional hints of its meaning. Everywhere we witness growth. Within the human sphere we find growth of institutions, arts, philosophies, civilizations, all tending toward some glorious end not yet realised. We have only to remove personal obstructions, and become receptive to the Spirit of Truth, to be drawn to the places we are fitted to occupy in the new order “a new heaven and a new earth.”