The Law and the Word by Thomas Troward

T >> Thomas Troward >> The Law and the Word

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

But on the other hand, if our intention be to co-operate with the Great
Law, we shall find that in it also exists a mysterious "Soul of the
Subject," which will respond to us, however imperfectly we may
understand its _modus operandi_. It is the intention that counts, not
the theoretical knowledge. The knowledge will grow by experience and
meditation, and its value is measured entirely by the intention that is
at the back of it.

CHAPTER VI

THE PROMISES

We have now, I hope, laid a sufficiently broad foundation of the
relation between the Law and the Word. The Law cannot be changed, and
the Word can. We have two factors, one variable, and the other
invariable; so that from this combination any variety of resultants may
be expected. The Law cannot be altered, but it can be specialized, just
as iron can be made to float by the same law by which it sinks. Now let
us try to figure out in our imagination an ideal of the sort of results
we should want to bring out from these two factors.

In the first place I think we should like to be free from all worry and
anxiety; for a life of continual worry is not worth living. And in the
second we should like always to have something to look forward to and
feel an interest in; for a life entirely devoid of all interest is also
not worth living. But, granted that these two conditions be fulfilled,
I think we should all be well pleased to go on living _ad infinitum_.
Now can we conceive any combination of the Law and the Word which would
produce such results? that is the question before us. The first step is
to generalize our principle as widely as possible, for the wider the
generalization, the larger becomes the scope for specialization. The
invariable factor we already know. It is the Law, always creating in
accordance with the Word that sets it in motion, whether constructive or
destructive; so what we really have to consider is the sort of Word
(i.e. Thought or Desire) which will set the Law working in the right
direction. It must be a Word of confidence in its own power; otherwise
by the hypothesis of the case it would be giving contradictory
directions to the Law, or to borrow a simile from what we have learnt
about waves in ether, it would be sending out vibrations that would
cancel one another and so produce no effect. Then it must be a Word that
does not compromise itself by antagonizing the Law of unity, and so
producing disruptive forces instead of constructive ones. And finally,
we must be quite sure that it really is the right Word, and that we have
been making no mistake about it. If these conditions be fulfilled the
logical result will be entire freedom from anxiety. Similarly with
regard to maintaining a continued interest in life. We must have a
continued succession of ideals, whether great or small, that will carry
us on with something always just ahead of us; and we must work the
ideals out, and not let them evaporate in dreams. If these conditions be
fulfilled we have before us a life of never-ending interest and
activity, and therefore a life worth living. Where then are we to find
the Word which will produce these conditions: perfect freedom from
anxiety and continual, happy interest? I do not think it is to be found
in any way but by identifying our own Word with the Word which brings
all creation into existence, and keeps it always moving onward in that
continuous forward movement which we call Evolution. We must come back
to the old teaching, that the Macrocosm is reproduced in the Microcosm,
with the further perception that this identity of principle can only be
produced by identity of cause. Law cannot be other than eternal and
self-demonstrating, just as 2 x 2 must eternally = 4; but it remains
only an abstract conception until the Creative Word affords it a field
of operation, just as twice two is four remains only a mathematical
abstraction until there is something for you to count; and accordingly,
as we have already seen, all our reasoning concerning the origin of
Creation, whether based on metaphysical or scientific grounds, brings us
to the conception of a Universal and Eternal Living Spirit localizing
itself in particular areas of cosmic activity by the power of the Word.
Then, if a similar Creative Power is to be reproduced in ourselves, it
must be by the same method: the localizing of the same Spirit in
ourselves by the power of the same "Word." Then our Word, or Thought,
will no longer be that of separate personality, but that of the Eternal
Spirit finding a fresh centre from which to specialize the working of
the Law, and so produce still further results than that of the First or
simply Cosmic and Generic Creation, according to the two maxims that
"Nature unaided fails," and that "Principle is not limited by
Precedent."

I want to make this sequence clear to the student before proceeding
further:

1. Localization of the Spirit in specific areas of Creative Activity.

2. Cosmic or Generic Creation, including ourselves as a race resulting
from this, and providing both the material and the instruments for
carrying the work further by _specializing the Original Creative Power_
through individual Thought, just as in all cases of scientific
discovery.

3. Then, since what is to be specialized through our individual Thought
is the Word of the Originating Power itself, in order to do this we must
think in terms of the Originating Word, on the general principle, that
any power must always exhibit itself in terms of the instrument through
which it works.

This, it appears to me, is a clear logical sequence, just as a tree
cannot make itself into a box, unless there be first the idea of a box
which does not exist in the tree itself, and also the tools with which
to fashion the wood into a box; while on the other hand there could
never be any box unless there be first a tree. Now it is just such a
sequence as this that is set before us in the Bible, and I do not find
it adequately set forth in any other teaching, either philosophical or
religious, with which I am acquainted. Some of these systems contain a
great deal of truth, and are therefore helpful as far as they go; but
they do not go the whole way, and for the most part stop short at the
first or simply Cosmic Creation; or, if they attempt to pass beyond
this, it is on the line of making unaided power of the individual the
sole means by which to do so, and thus in fact always keeping us at the
merely generic level. Such a mode of Thought as this, fails to meet the
requirements of our conception of a happy life as one entirely exempt
from fear and anxiety. In like manner also it fails to meet the first
requirements of the whole series, viz.: the Word should be certain of
itself; and if it be not certain of itself we have no assurance that it
may not eventually disappoint our hopes. In short, this mode of thought
leaves us to bear the whole burden from which we want to escape. So it
is not good enough; we must look for something better.

Now this something better I find in the _Promises_ contained in the
Bible, and it is this that to my mind distinguishes our own Scriptures
from the sacred books of all other nations, and from all systems of
philosophy. I do not at all ignore the current objections to the
possibility of Divine Promises, but I think that on examination they
will be found to be superficial and resulting from want of careful
enquiry into the true nature of the Promises themselves. How is it
possible for the Laws of the Universe to make exceptions? How can God
act by individual favouritism unless it be either through sheer caprice,
or by the individual managing to get round Him in some way, either by
supplying some need which He cannot supply for Himself, in which case
God is of limited power, or else by flattering Him, in which case He is
the apotheosis of absurd vanity. The two are really the same question
put in different ways--the question of individual exceptions to the
general Law.

The answer is that there are no individual exceptions to the general
Law; but there are very various degrees of realization of the Principle
of the Law, and the more a man works with the Principle the more the Law
will work for him; so that the finer his perception of the Principle
becomes, the more he will appear to be an exception to the Law as
commonly recognized.

Edison and Marconi are not capriciously favoured by the laws of Nature,
but they know more about them than most of us.

Now it is just the same with the Bible Promises. They are Promises
according to Law. They are based upon the widest generalization and
hence lead to the highest specialization through the combined action of
the Law and the Word--Jachin and Boaz, the Two Pillars of the Universe.

These Promises comprise all sorts of desirable things: health of body,
peace of mind, earthly prosperity, prolongation of life, and, finally,
even the conquest of death itself; but always on one condition: perfect
"Confidence in the power of the All-Originating Spirit in response to
our reliance on the Word." This is what the Bible calls Faith; and it is
perfectly logical when we understand the principle of it, for every
Thought of doubt is, in effect, the utterance of a Word which produces
negative results by the very same law by which the Word of Faith
produces positive ones. This is the only condition which the Bible
imposes for the fulfilment of its Promises, and this is because it is
inherent in the nature of the Law by which their fulfilment is to be
brought about.

A few texts will suffice as examples of the Bible Promises, and no doubt
most of my readers are familiar with many others; but it would be worth
while to read the Bible through, marking all such texts, and classifying
them according to the sort of promises they contain.

Read, for instance, Job xxii, 21, etc. This is a most remarkable passage
containing among other things the promise of earthly wealth; or again
Job v, 19, etc., where we find promises of protection in time of danger,
power over material nature, and prolonged life. While in Job xxxiii, 23,
etc., there is promise of return to youth, a promise which is repeated
in Psalm ciii, 5. Again in Isaiah lxi, 20, etc., there is the promise of
immensely extended physical life, death at the age of one hundred being
counted so premature as to resemble that of an infant, and the normal
standard of age being compared to a tree which lives for centuries; and
the same passage also promises immediate answer to prayers. The Psalms
are full of such promises, and they are scattered throughout the Bible.

Now there is an unfortunate tendency among people who read their Bible
with reverence, to what they call "spiritualize" such passages as these,
which means that they do not believe them. They say such things are
impossible; and therefore they must have some other meaning, and
accordingly they interpret the words metaphorically, as referring to
something to be experienced in another life, but quite impossible in
this one.

Of course there are spiritual equivalents to these things, and the
teaching of the Bible is, that they are the outward correspondences of
inward spiritual states; but to "spiritualize" them in the way I am
speaking of, is nothing but unbelief in the power of God to work on the
plane of Nature. How such readers square their opinion with the fact
that God has created Nature, I do not know. Even in the animal world we
find wonderful instances of longevity. If an elephant be not overworked
before he is twenty, he is in full working power up to eighty, and will
then be capable of light work for another twenty years, after which he
may yet enjoy another twenty years of quiet old age as the reward of his
labours, while crocodiles and tortoises have been known to live for
centuries. If then such things be possible in the ordinary course of
Nature in the animal world, why need we doubt the specializing power of
the Word to produce far greater results in the case of man? It is
because we will not accept the maxim, that "Principle is not limited by
Precedent" in regard to ourselves, though we see it demonstrated by
every new scientific discovery. We rely more on the past experience of
the race, than on the Creative Power of God. We call Him Almighty, and
then say that in His Book He promises things which He is not able to
perform. But the fault is with ourselves. We limit "the Holy ONE of
Israel," and as a consequence get only so much as by our mental attitude
we are able to receive--again the old maxim that "Power can only work in
terms of the instrument it works through." I do not say that it is at
all easy for us to completely rid ourselves of negative race-thought
ingrained into us from childhood, and subtly playing upon that generic
impersonal self in us of which I have spoken, and which readily responds
to those thought-currents to which we are habitually attuned. It is a
matter of individual growth. But the promises themselves contain no
inherent impossibility, and are logical deductions from the principles
of the Creative Law.

If the power of the Spirit over things of the material plane be an
impossibility, then by what power did Jesus perform his miracles? Either
you must deny his miracles, or you must admit the power of the Spirit
to work on the material plane--there is no way out of the dilemma.
Perhaps you may say: "Oh, but He was God in person!" Well, all the
promises affirm that it is God who does these things; so what it is
possible for God to do at one time, it is equally possible for Him to do
at all times. Or perhaps you hold other theological views, and will say
that Jesus was an exception to the rest of the race; but, on the
contrary, the whole Bible sets Him forth as the Example--an exception
certainly to men as we now know them, but the Example of what we all
have it in us to become--otherwise what use is He to us? But apart from
all argument on the subject we have his own words, telling us that those
who believe in Him, i.e., believe what He said about Himself--shall be
able to do works as great as His own, and even greater (John xiv, 12).
For these reasons it appears to me that on the authority of the Bible
itself, and also on metaphysical and scientific grounds we are justified
in taking such promises as those I have quoted in a perfectly literal
sense.

Then there are promises of the power that will attend our utterance of
the Word. "Thou shalt also decree a thing and it shall be established
unto thee" (Job xxii, 28). "All things are possible unto you" (Mark ix,
23). "Whosoever ... shall believe that what he sayeth cometh to pass, he
shall have whatsover he sayeth" (Mark xi, 23), and so on.

Other passages again promise peace of mind. "Thou wilt keep him in
perfect peace whose mind is staid on Thee, because he trusteth in Thee"
(Isaiah xxvi, 3). "Let him take hold of my strength that he may make
peace with me" (Isaiah xxvii, 5). St. Paul speaks of "The God of Peace"
in many passages, e.g., Rom. xv, 33; 2 Cor. xiii, 11; 1 Thess. v, 23,
and Hebr. xiii, 20; and Jesus, in his final discourse recorded in the
fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of St. John's Gospel, lays
peculiar stress on the gift of Peace.

And lastly there are many passages which promise the overcoming of death
itself; as for instance Job xix, 25-27; John viii, 51, and x, 28, and
xi, 25 and 26; Hebr. ii, 14 and 15; 1 Cor. xv, 50-57; 2 Tim. i, 10; Rom.
vi, 23 ("The gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ, our Lord").

"God commanded the blessing, even Life for evermore" (Ps. cxxxiii, 3).

Now I hope the reader will take the trouble to look up the texts to
which I have referred, and not be lazy. I am sure he would do so if he
were promised a ten pound note or a fifty dollar bill for his pains, and
if these promises are not all bosh, there is something worth a good deal
more to be got by studying them. Just run through the list: health,
wealth, peace of mind, safety, creative power, and eternal life. You
would be willing to pay a good premium to an Insurance Office that could
guarantee you all these. Well, there is a Company that does this without
paying any premium, and its name is "God and Co., Unlimited"; the only
condition, is that you yourself have to take the part of "Co." and it is
not a sleeping partnership, but a wide-awake one!

So I hope you will take the trouble to look up the texts; but at the
same time you must remember that the reading of single texts is not
sufficient. If you take any isolated phrase you choose, without
reference to the rest of the Book, there is no nonsense you cannot make
out of the Bible. You would not be allowed to do that sort of thing in a
Court of Law. When a document is produced in evidence, the meaning of
the words used in it are very carefully construed, not only in
reference to the particular clause in which they occur, but also with
reference to the intention of the document as a whole, and to the
circumstances under which they were written. The same word may mean very
different things in different connections; for instance I remember two
reported cases in one of which the word "Spanish" meant a certain sort
of leather, and in the other a kind of material used in brewing; and in
like manner particular texts are to be interpreted in accordance with
the gist of the Bible as a whole.

This is just the mistake the Jews made, of building up theories on
particular texts, and which Jesus corrected when he said: "Search the
Scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and these are
they which testify of me" (John v, 39), or, as the Revised Version puts
it: "Ye search the Scriptures because ye think that in them ye have
eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me," which
appears to be the better rendering. The words "ye think" is the key to
the whole passage. He says in effect: "You fancy that eternal life is to
be found in the book. It is not to be found in the book, but in what the
book tells you about, and here I am as a living example of it." It is
just the same with everything else. No book can do more than tell you
about a thing; it cannot produce it. You may study the cookery book from
morning till night, but that will not give you your dinner.

What Jesus meant was, that we should read the Scriptures in the same way
we should read any other book of practical instruction. First think what
it is all about; then look at the nature of the general principles
involved, and then see what instruction the book gives you for their
practical application. _Then go and do it_. And remember also a further
difference between reading about a thing and doing it. A book is for
everybody, and can therefore, only give general instruction; but when
you come to do the thing you will always find it works with some
personal modifications,--not departures from the general principles you
have read about, but specializations of them--and in this way you will
learn much that is not to be got out of books, even the best.

I remember many years ago, when I was much younger, asking one of our
leading water-colour artists,[3] how he would recommend me to study
landscape painting, and he said: "Practise continually from Nature, and
you will learn more than any one can teach you; that is how I have
learnt, myself." On the subject, then in question, he said just what
Jesus did: "Here I am as a practical example of what I tell you." And
another thing is, that the more you think principles out for yourself
and try to observe them in practice, the clearer the meaning of your
book will become to you. I have a few excellent books on painting, but I
had no idea how excellent they were when I first got them; practical
experience has taught me to find much more in them than I did at first,
for now I understand better what they are talking about. Well, that is
the way to read the Bible, neither despising it as worthless tradition,
nor treating the mere letter of it with superstitious veneration; both
extremes are to be equally avoided. In fact the Bible tells us so
itself: "The letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life" (2 Cor. iii, 6);
this, of course, does not mean that the letter can be tampered with, any
more than a judge can alter the wording of a document put in evidence;
it must be interpreted in the general sense of the document as a whole;
and when the letter is thus vivified by the Spirit, it will be found
fully to express it. But we require to enter into the Spirit of it
first.

Now it appears to me, that taken in this way, the Bible is an
exceedingly practical book, and that is why I want the reader to get at
some general principles which he will find, _mutatis mutandis_, equally
applicable all round, whether to electricity, or to life, and whatever
may be the subject-matter, it will always be found to resolve itself
into a question of the relation between Law and Personality. If now we
read the Bible Promises in the light of the general principles we have
considered in the earlier pages, we shall find that they are all
Promises according to Law. They are statements of the results to be
obtained by a truer realization of the principles of Law and Personality
than we have hitherto apprehended.

We must always bear in mind that the Law is set in motion by the Word.
The Word does not _make_ the Law, but gives it something to work upon,
so that without the Word there could be no manifestation of the Law, a
truth embodied in the maxim, that "Every Creation carries its own
mathematics along with it." If the reader remembers what I have said in
the chapter of "The Soul of the Subject," he will see that the
principle involved, is that of the susceptibility of the Impersonal to
suggestions from the Personal. This follows of course from the very
Conception of Impersonality; it is that which has no power of selection
and volition, and which is therefore without any power of taking an
initiative on its own account.

In a previous chapter I have pointed out that the only possible
conception of the inauguration of a world-system, resolves itself into
the recognition of one original and universal Substantive Life, out of
which proceeds a corresponding Verb, or active energy, reproducing in
action what the Substantive is in essence. On the other hand there must
be something for this active principle to work in; and since there can
be nothing anterior to the Universal Life or Energy, both these factors
must be potentially contained in it. If, then, we represent this Eternal
Substantive Life by a circle with a dot in the centre, we may represent
these two principles as emerging from it by placing two circles at equal
distance below it, one on either side, and placing the sign "+" (plus)
in one, and the sign "-" (minus) in the other. This is how students of
these subjects usually map out the relation of the _prima principia_,
or first abstract principles. The sign "+" (plus) indicates the Active
principle, and the sign "-" (minus) the Passive principle. If the reader
will draw a little diagram as described, it will help to make what
follows clearer.

Necessarily the initiative must be taken by the Active principle; and
the taking of initiative implies selection and volition, that is to say,
the essential qualities of personality; and Passivity implies the
converse of all this, and therefore is Impersonality. The two principles
in no way conflict with one another, but are polar opposites, like the
positive and negative plates of a battery, or the two ends of a magnet.
They are complementary to one another, and neither can work without the
other. A little consideration will show that this is not a mere fancy,
but a self-obvious generalization, the contrary to which it is
impossible to conceive. It is simply the case of the box which cannot
come into existence without the activity of the carpenter and the
passivity of the wood.

From such considerations as this the deep thinkers of old times posited
the generating of a world-system by the interaction of what they named
Animus Dei, the Active principle, and Anima Mundi, or Soul of the
Universe, the Passive principle--the one Personal, and the other
Impersonal; and by the hypothesis of the case the only mode of activity
possible to Anima Mundi is response to Animus Dei. But the same
impersonal passivity must also make Anima Mundi receptive likewise to
lesser and more individualized modes of Personality, and it becomes, so
to say, fecundated by the ideas thus impressed upon it. In every case
"the word is the seed." We may picture this planting of an idea or
"word" in the Cosmic soul as acting very much like the initial impulse
that starts a train of waves in ether, and these thought-waves are
reproduced in corresponding forms; or, to recur to the simile of seed,
the cosmic soul acts like the soil and gives it nourishment. Looking at
it in this way the old exponents of these things regarded the Active
principle as Masculine, and the Passive as Feminine, the one generating
and the other nutritive, corresponding to the words _rouah_ and
_hoshech_, the expansion and compression principles in the Hebrew text
of the opening verses of Genesis.

Pages:
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10