Nequa; or, The Problem of the Ages

by Alcanoan O. Grigsby; Mary P. Lowe

"Certainly," said Norrena. "Your thought is strictly philosophical and applied to our immediate future it gives an infallible rule for presaging events where we are familiar with the forces impelling in a certain direction. If we can ascertain where we are to-day on any given line of progress, we can safely predict what the next step will be on the same line, for all things are possible to the human mind in its ultimate state of development. There is no such thing as actually turning back in the path of progress, much as man may seem to retrograde at times. The lessons taught by these seeming failures are essential elements in his still greater development further on. Nothing that is useful can be permanently lost to the race. What we are inclined to call evil, is fleeting and fades away, while the good, the true and the really valuable is immortal. Hence, human progress towards higher and better conditions, as applied to the race, and long periods of time, must ever be onward and upward toward the Infinite Good."

"I have always," I said, "been deeply interested in everything pertaining to the progress of the race, but I have been inclined to regard it as somewhat a matter of chance. You seem to have reduced it to an exact science. I can understand how certain influences are necessarily toward improvement, but how is it that our elevation is assured when so many are unconscious of such a tendency, and in the outer world at least, multitudes seem to be bent upon getting lower instead of higher in the scale? I feel quite sure that the masses of our ancestors in the past, were no better than the masses now, and did not consciously co-operate with nature for their own improvement. It seems, however, that by some kind of a blind chance they may have contributed something, but it certainly was not intentional. I see a different influence working here and the people are evidently co-operating with nature for the good of all, but I fear that it will be a long time before the people of my own country will reach that stage of development."

"Do not be discouraged," said Norrena. "The constitution of the human mind is a guarantee of human elevation. The history of human development presents two distinct stages, the unconscious and the conscious. All progress from the simple cell to the human being, is of course unconscious and is governed by fixed and immutable laws. These same laws control human development up to the point where knowledge enables the race to consciously participate in the work of its own elevation. As soon as the people are sufficiently developed to understand the operation of the laws which control their own unfoldment, they will enter upon an epoch of conscious progress by careful and well concerted measures. When at the close of the Transition Period our people reached that stage, the change for the better in every direction came suddenly upon the world, because the masses of mankind felt the need of something better. Unconscious development had prepared them for the wonderful change. The blind forces which had been slowly urging man upward toward a higher plane of existence, now had the aid of careful and well devised methods, and the long ages of darkness disappeared in the blaze of light which was let in upon the world."

"And from this," I said, "am I to infer that you think America is about ready for such an uplifting of the masses? Your description this forenoon of the Transition Period of this country, would pass as an accurate delineation of the present condition in my own. The belief is widespread among thoughtful people in the United States that our country is on the eve of some great change. Persons of an optimistic turn of mind believe that we are near the beginning of a higher, nobler and purer civilization than the people have ever enjoyed before, while the pessimistic are equally sure that we are destined to go back toward barbarism. I want so very much to be able to disseminate the light that will dispel this darkness from our future."

"I think," said Norrena, "that you have no cause for alarm. From what I can learn the optimists of your country are largely in the majority, and a general expectation of something better for humanity, is a powerful psychic force, to produce something better. If your people earnestly desire better things for the masses and at the same time believe that better things are in store for them, your future is most hopeful, as the people cannot fail to find out how to attain the object they are seeking."

"Thank you," I said. "But where is the light, and what can I do to shed it broadcast among them?"

"The light," said Norrena, "is latent in every human soul and is manifested in the readiness with which all classes of people render assistance to those who are placed in peril or are suffering from some great affliction. This is the light that is manifested in your charitable institutions and public hospitals for the relief of the poor and the physically infirm. When those who provide these institutions for the relief of suffering humanity learn how the sufferings which now appeal to their sympathies can be avoided, this latent light will be developed into a flame that will enlighten the whole earth and the darkness will disappear as if by magic."

"But this," I said, "does not tell me how that latent light can be developed into such a flame. Human sympathy has always existed, but as yet in the outer world it has not succeeded in removing the suffering which appeals to our sympathies. By what means can this be accomplished?"

"By the discovery and application of the principles of equity in all of our relations toward each other," said Norrena. "To assist you in this, I suggested that we take a look through this Museum. In the relics of past ages which you find here, you can trace the operation of the fundamental laws of human progress. On this floor you have the works of man in his lowest condition. On the floor above, you find relics of a higher civilization. These have been classified as nearly as possible in their natural order, from the lowest to the highest, with a view to teaching the progressive development of the race in the most effective manner."