In the Light of Truth

32. Wrong courses

With but few exceptions, man labours under a great and fatal delusion: God is not constrained to run after man and beg him to believe in His existence, nor are His servants sent forth constantly to admonish man not to turn from Him. This would be ridiculous. To think so or expect it would be disparaging and derogatory to the Almighty. This erroneous view does much harm. It is sanctioned by many really serious Churchmen, who in all love to God and to man try again and again to convert the materialist, to convince him and win him over to the Church. But doing this only contributes to strengthen man in his conviction of his own immense importance, indeed, in the end it instils the mad idea into his mind that he must be asked to be good!

This is the singular standpoint of the greater number of the faithful, whose example is more often deterrent than encouraging. Many thousands inwardly feel a certain satisfaction, a pleasant sensation of superiority in the consciousness that they believe in God, that they say their prayers with all the gravity they are capable of, and that they do not wilfully injure their neighbour.

This serene assurance of superiority, they take to be a return for their virtue, the Almighty's thanks for their docility, a union with God, which they sense with a gratifying thrill, leaving them in a state of beatitude in which to revel.

But these legions of the faithful are on the broad path which leadeth to destruction. The assurance they live in is self-created delusion, which, all unknown to them, stamps them as Pharisees, who from genuine but mistaken feelings of gratitude, offer their small sacrifice and pray: “Lord, I thank Thee, that I am not as other men are.” For although it may never be expressed or even really considered, this feeling of superiority is identical with that which moved the Pharisee to give thanks and which Christ censured as false. The feeling of superiority in such cases comes from the self-satisfaction resulting from such prayer or higher thoughts. Those who esteem themselves humble are generally far from being so in reality, and one needs to practise self-control and patience in speaking to such pharisees. So long as such be their state of mind, they can never be saved, although in their self-complacency they may consider salvation theirs already. Let them take heed in their spiritual pride (which they take for humility) lest they go astray altogether! Many who are now rank unbelievers will find it easier than these to enter into the Kingdom of Heaven. In his false humility this just man's attitude in prayer is not one of frank simplicity bath rather of one claiming his reward for his prayers and pious thoughts. Such prayers are demands and those who pray thus are hypocrites. They will be swept away like chaff from before His countenance. They will have their reward, but it will be different to what they expect. They have surfeited themselves to repletion in the consciousness of their own importance on earth. This self-complacent, comfortable feeling will leave them when they go over into the ethereal world, for there their finer emotions will come into play, whereas their passions (feelings that are the result of thinking) will vanish. If we examine the attitude of mute, so-called humble expectancy of one of the just, we find that actually he is making a claim, no matter in what fine words this may be paraphrased, and every claim is presumption. God alone has a right to demand. Christ did not come unto men soliciting, but with warnings and demands.

It is true that He explained the Truth, but He did not hold out the prospects of rewards to the listeners in order to spur them on to be better. His command to those who sought seriously, was: Go and act accordingly!

God demands of man; He does not invite and solicit, nor does He complain and lament. The wicked and the wavering He will infallibly give over to the Powers of Darkness in order to protect from their attacks all those who would soar, and to allow the others to experience personally what they consider to be right, so that they may recognise their error.