Jesus did not promulgate a creed, establish an organization, or institute a specific reform; yet within a comparatively brief period, the expansive quality of the type of life which he manifested in a supreme degree, yielded the fruits of reform in more abundant measure than any specific reform which has ever been inaugurated. His life contained the potency, not only of social reform, but of far more than that of a complete metamorphosis of humanity. Fixed forms of every description impede, even where they do not absolutely prohibit free growth.…

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A worldly-wise materialism makes strenuous exertions to administer formal justice to a few legally-constituted criminals, while at the same time almost utterly ignoring the subtle forces that are at work, on every hand, sowing seeds of crime, disease and misery in thousands of minds. While men are at work repairing one leak in the outer shell of society, the whole structure is being undermined by insidious forces, which are scarcely recognized by the busy throng who live in externalities in the semblance of things. Attempting to check the ravages of…

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But such was not to be the final issue. That tragic event, which removed the last vestige of hope and courage from the minds of the disciples, marked the beginning of the most comprehensive, fareaching reconstruction of human interests in the world’s history. ” Except a kernel of wheat fall into the ground and die, it cannot bring forth fruit.” A few years later, the most significant step ever inaugurated toward an improved social order, was taken by the disciples at Jerusalem. It was, indeed, a spontaneous expression of the…

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Jesus declared: “Among them that are born of women [i.e. on the human plane] there hath not arisen a greater than John the Baptist; yet he that is but little in the kingdom of heaven [i.e. in the divine order of free growth] is greater than he.” “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which, indeed, is less than all seeds; but when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becometh a tree,…

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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…

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To the limited, finite vision, natural selection may appear to be the sole factor in the achievement of this end; but above and beyond this incidental fact of individual choice, which the intellect is able to detect, the omnipresent Spirit is all the while making for ends quite unperceived by the near-sighted, analytical mind. Nor does this universal order of manifestation cease when the human plane is reached. Evolution (evolution, the unfolding process) does not terminate in the conglomerate of disorderly elements at present recognized as “society.” There is a…

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In this simple act of renouncing personal self-interest for a more inclusive life lies the essence of growth and the key to the eternal life. The law of growth, then, is revealed in the tendency to open out, to expand, to abandon the old for the new, to cut loose from all that binds, restricts, hampers, contracts, enslaves, or limits, and to realize the free life of the Spirit. “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it…

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8.THE GROWTH OF SOCIETY. Undoubtedly the most important contribution of the nineteenth century to the store of human knowledge is the doctrine of evolution. We know now that from time immemorial the hidden things of the spiritual world have been coming forth into manifestation in the visible universe through an orderly process of unfolding. From a finite standpoint, everything appears to grow, to evolve, in accordance with absolutely exact, universal laws. The life of the individual is a growth.The life of the race is a growth.Our world seems to be…

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The most unchristian motives and sentiments freely masquerade under the guise of Christianity and the sanction of professed Christians. Murder, theft, revenge, lust, assume forms quite generally countenanced by civilized people. Their spirit in disguise permeates respectable society, although operating so insidiously that men are often led, almost unawares, into attitudes which they would abhor, were the exact nature of the principle involved more clearly evident. Society is far more seriously threatened by the spirit of anti-christ arrayed, like a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” in the garb of conventional piety,…

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Is not the simple, undisguised principle of Christianity just as applicable today as when first presented? Why should not scholars, teachers, mechanics, business men and laborers, now manifest the spirit of Jesus and fulfil his command to make known the new life “and heal the sick”? Direct contact with men is necessary to successfully demonstrate the spiritual Principle. No individual can rightfully delegate his personal responsibility to ministers or charitable associations. The early Christians enjoyed practical immunity from disease; for the disciples then possessed the gift of healing. That power…

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Jesus declared: “The hour cometh, and now is, when neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, shall ye worship the Father;” but “the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for such doth the Father seek to be his worshippers.” “But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret.” “The Almighty dwelleth not in temples made with hands.” Yet we now have edifices, often stately and magnificent, consecrated exclusively to religious purposes; and…

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The whole attitude of Jesus was so remarkable that men have always been disposed to regard his life as apart from the world of actual human influences, an admirable ideal, indeed, but quite beyond the range of human attainments at any time. Yet he instructed his followers to conform in all particulars to his standard, and to realize in the concrete the very things he did. He taught them to love their enemies, and to exhibit that attitude in all their dealings with men; to “resist not him that is…

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