Insights and Heresies Pertaining to the Evolution of the Soul

by Ammyeetis

It has been believed that dead folks stayed boxed up under ground waiting—ages perhaps—for the last trumpet to sound to call up the sleeping billions to the surface of the earth to the final "day of judgment," when they should all swarm up out of their graves to be let to know by the great Judge of all to which class they belong, the "sheep" or the "goats"—there was to be only those two kinds—sheep to go straight to heaven, all the others to be cast into hell fire to burn forever. The air would be full of toes and fingers and legs and heads coming from all directions to join themselves to the bodies from which they had been detached in their physical life; it was understood that in every case there would be no mistakes made, no white person, minus a member of his body in life, would find himself persistently chased up by arms or legs—especially by heads—of a different color, and form, from what he would know were his own; but, by some unaccountable magic, some divine law of attraction each dissevered member would instantly recognize its true belonging and fly to its former familiar location. Where this great final "round up" is to be held has not yet been made known to the "true believers." "Chautauqua" has been suggested, and also the lot back of the "White House" in Washington, D. C. There are objections, however, to these and some other places because of the limited area, but as "with God all things are possible" either spot might be made to answer. The great open-air university at Chautauqua is known everywhere on earth—and possibly beyond—and certainly would be a good point for the saints to hail from, in their upward journey, and the "White Lot" in Washington would shorten the journey for those who are booked for the trip in the other direction.

Out of this belief has grown quite a little sect which takes it upon itself to decide upon the fate of all the world outside of its very limited number. It is hard upon the Methodists and Presbyterians and all the other cults and sects scattered about over the whole earth that they should all be doomed to everlasting hell fires because of a little difference of opinion with these self-elected judges! The more insane of them have ignored all the claims of citizenship, have burned their fences and their barns, and given away all their earthly belongings, and refusing to be taught by the repeated failures of the many times set for the final ending of the planet, have donned their unbleached cotton "ascension robes," and have sat around on the hill-tops and waited long for the end of all things earthly, and the fun of seeing all the people who did not agree with them switched off into hell.

The real beginning of this came from two sayings purported to have been the words of Christ. While hanging upon the cross a man nailed to another cross, begged Jesus to save him. Jesus was an adept, highly clairvoyant. He saw that the man was good—probably better than the people who had hung him there to die—and that if he was a thief, as they said, he had stolen things for the benefit of his people for food and for sandals and things for the family. So he said: "This day you shall be with me in the spirit world." Some clever person caught on to this and said to himself: "That settles it, if one man can go straight through without being laid up in the ground after death, all can." This view furnished an altogether different outlook and gave people a new idea of the law. Jesus assured his disciples that the kingdom of heaven would come on earth very soon, in fact, while they were yet alive. Well, he knew a lot about the soul, and immortality and all that, but nothing at all about evolution, or electricity, or what wonderful unfoldment of brain and magnificent works man should achieve. The Nazarene, like all seers and prophets, was simply mistaken in point of time. He did not give the Creator time enough to bring all things to pass, and if the people who think this world is actually coming to an end pretty soon would just think once that the Creator does not set things agoing solely for the purpose of destroying his work, and let him have his own way and time, they would save themselves much trouble.

THE CREATOR.

God—the all-creative Spirit—is the most positive element, or force in nature, and nothing is or can have existence in the external world that is not conceived and formed first in the matrix of the spirit. So it is in the realm of the invisible that the law of progress, of unending evolution takes its rise and becomes operative. Still, however clearly defined may be a truth, a law in the mentality of the higher powers, it can only be externalized to the degree comprehended by the mind through which it is given to the world. All that saves this world from being in a state of utter darkness is the fact that from its very beginning there have been souls capable of being illuminated by the light from the higher life, spirits so grounded in a faith in its certainties that they have shone out upon the stern and awful path trod by the human race like beacon lights above a stormy sea, or beaming stars shedding a calm radiance upon a trackless waste.

RETRIBUTIVE JUSTICE.

We know so little of the mysteries of occult, divine law, and yet taking thought of the entire history of the human race, such as we have, and our own personal experience and observation, we must recognize that there are certain fixed principles, certain laws, indicating the undying value of right living. To understand and apply these laws to the all around conduct of life, to the practical affairs of human effort, is in its highest, its spiritual sense the real business of earthly existence. Those religious teachers who have had a degree of spiritual enlightenment have wrapped up their perceptions of moral law, and disguised them with creeds and dogmas, and have used them to further their personal ambitions, and to hold their power over such people as they have been able to hypnotize into believing in them as the vice-gerents of the Most High. All this has been going on for long, and has been handed down through unnumbered generations until it has crystallized into forms and ceremonies, and unmoral conventionalities which stultify the race. "Dead loads" of good people believe they are doing God's service in trying to live up to these, never knowing how much they are the result of fanaticism and ignorance, and the concentrated intention of every sort of priests to keep their power over unthinking minds. Here and there, scattered along throughout the realms of intelligent being, there have always been noble and true men and women who have brought a sufficient comprehension of the out-working of the eternal principles of unswerving moral law to make their conduct of life here wise and dependable, and to give to them the assurance of a successful continuance of individual life in other spheres of being, beyond earthly limitations. Those untrammelled souls who thus unfold grow up into an at-one-ment with the divine, all-pervading principle we call God. They have been, and are light bringers, and saviors of humanity.

The perfection of individual character can only be achieved by determined effort, by unshrinking, concentrated labor. This simply means an acceptance of all the inevitable experiences incident to this life, coupled with a brave determination to wring from each and every one of them, good, or seemingly bad and unfortunate, all the lessons it can teach, and all the truth it can possibly reveal. This evolution of the soul is from the innermost sacred precincts of the personality, and it is often unrecognized by those who have the most inclusive development of the attributes and innate resources of their own souls.

Those people who are thus intent upon their souls' growth do not flaunt themselves in forms and ceremonies. Life is too short. The chief, the most important moral law is the law of justice, absolute unerring justice. This law is the very least comprehended of men, because its majesty, its even-handedness has been so misinterpreted, so travestied by various kinds of religious teachers, rulers, and self-appointed judges. Man-made laws which everywhere prevail tend always to segregate people into classes, producing results devoid of equity, favoring the materially superior. It is quite common for people who know nothing whatever of the operations of occult and spiritual law to ignore all responsibility for their unhappy earthly experiences, and "blame it all" on God. A child dies, the mother accuses God of making her the special subject of his unkindness in taking away from her the object of her love. Everywhere, among all classes of people this is not at all an unusual experience. The fact is, the prevailing ignorance of natural law—moral, spiritual law—is alone the cause of nearly all the misery of humanity. God has nothing whatever to do with it. There is this about it: there are the "eternal verities," the laws which speak ever to the consciousness of man, and whether they are broken in ignorance or willfully set aside, the results are nearly the same; the penalties exacted by beneficent justice are unalterable; only in one case, there must finally be regrets for ignorance; in the other, great remorse for wickedness and ill-doing. But these results are not eternal, though the dreadfully cruel teachings of religion have made people believe so. The faintest stirrings of desire to be better, the least aspiration toward the higher life is sure of a response from loving, compassionate beings in angelic ministrations.

The priests of different religions who have been most valiant and positive in preaching hell fire and eternal damnation have entirely lost sight of this fact. Not the most strenuous of the whole lot has ever been able to follow one miserable wretch into the spirit world to find out whether his prognostications anent his hypnotized victims, have "come true." "Au contraire," great numbers of reputed sinners have come back in their real personality to report to their friends that there is no such fate for anyone, that it is one great lie. But it must not be supposed that there are no sure enough hells. There have to be places for the hellish to stay till they come of a better mind. Nature provides for them other opportunities for their gradual redemption through re-embodiments in the flesh on this earth. There is besides a constant outpouring from the dark abodes of estrayed and benighted souls, for the all-embracing love of our Father-Mother reaches even the horribly suffering lunatics, made so by their selfish, vicious lives here on earth. There is, indeed, the greatest possible difference between an intended eternal punishment of sin, such as has been preached for ages for the purpose of scaring people out of their wits, and a recognized, just retribution for broken law. Punishments such as have been believed in suggest a punisher, and our Father in heaven has been blasphemously represented as "angry with the wicked every day" and glad to have a chance to pour out his "bottles of wrath" on their elected heads.