CHAPTER IX.MISSION TO ANOTHER CIRCLE.
Thomas finds two minds wrangling—Enters into conversation with them—Refuses to give his name—Opposes teaching what the teacher does not know—Opposes controversy—Rejects innate depravity—Discards wrong views—Recommends facts for opinions—Explanation of sun and moon, which stood still by the command of Joshua—Nature instructs mind—Wrangling unwise—Wisdom will overcome wrong—Freedom induces righteousness—Masters responsible for the doings of servants—Another mind is converted—The work of the temple harmonious—Duty to avoid discord—The assent is gained—The convert sees a light—William gives him advice, and conducts him to the temple, when he receives a new name, and a white stone.
Thomas finds two minds wrangling—Enters into conversation with them—Refuses to give his name—Opposes teaching what the teacher does not know—Opposes controversy—Rejects innate depravity—Discards wrong views—Recommends facts for opinions—Explanation of sun and moon, which stood still by the command of Joshua—Nature instructs mind—Wrangling unwise—Wisdom will overcome wrong—Freedom induces righteousness—Masters responsible for the doings of servants—Another mind is converted—The work of the temple harmonious—Duty to avoid discord—The assent is gained—The convert sees a light—William gives him advice, and conducts him to the temple, when he receives a new name, and a white stone.
Thomas finds two minds wrangling—Enters into conversation with them—Refuses to give his name—Opposes teaching what the teacher does not know—Opposes controversy—Rejects innate depravity—Discards wrong views—Recommends facts for opinions—Explanation of sun and moon, which stood still by the command of Joshua—Nature instructs mind—Wrangling unwise—Wisdom will overcome wrong—Freedom induces righteousness—Masters responsible for the doings of servants—Another mind is converted—The work of the temple harmonious—Duty to avoid discord—The assent is gained—The convert sees a light—William gives him advice, and conducts him to the temple, when he receives a new name, and a white stone.
Themaster then requested me to take with me no mind, but go to another circle, who were sympathizers with those in the castle. I went where there was a company, who sought for wisdom in works of wrong. They were aided with no light but such as they had found in the rudimental condition. I saw them disputing about something which they did not understand. Though I could see them, yet they could not see me. I heard one mind say to another, who came to instruct him in the wisdom of his circle, that it was better to control by force than by reason.
The circle whom he was instructing, deputed a champion to debate with him; and he replied, “that fear was the only weapon to control and govern minds.”
“It is not the only weapon; but it is one of the most powerful agents which need be used. I have seen some minds so constituted,” said he, “that they could be governed without fear, but it is not often their condition.”
“The condition of no mind,” replied the other, “can be so well governed, as to let them know that what they say and do will be punished with severity, or rewarded with generosity.”
The dispute was not wise. The wrangling was wrong. I came near them, and they said, “Who art thou?”
T. I am your friend.
C. So say all who wish to deceive.
T. Did I ever deceive you?
C. Why, then, will you not give your name?
T. My name will not aid you to know me.
C. Why?
T. Because, my name you never knew.
C. Have we never known or heard of you?
T. You may have heard that which I would not acknowledge, because it might be unjust.
C. Then what is your mission? Are you a teacher?
T. I teach what I know.
C. Do you not teach, sometimes, what you do not know.
T. I have done so; but now I do so no more.
C. Then your teaching must be very limited.
T. It is limited; and whose is not?
C. They who teach what they do not know?
C. How can a mind teach what he does not know.
C. As he would that which he does know.
T. How is that?
C. He can tell his views; he can teach his opinions.
T. True; but how can he teach what he does not know?
C. I have said, as he does that which he knows.
T. Then he makes them know what he does not.
C. No; but he makes them believe as he does.
T. Then, when he makes them believe they are taught.
C. Yes, they are taught his belief.
T. They are not wiser, or better, for his teaching, I conclude.
C. They are both wiser and better.
T. How so?
C. Because they are.
T. Is that your only reason?
C. No; they are wiser in regard to opinions and views.
T. In what does their wisdom consist?
C. It consists in being able to overthrow false opinions and views.
T. Is that all?
C. What more can there be?
T. Much more, when they are wise.
C. What?
T. They can be good and just; they can speak the truth, and lie not. They can avoid deception and wrong. They can know something, and be serviceable to other minds by teaching them what they know.
C. But minds know but little, and can soon teach that.
T. Do you know the reason why they know but little?
C. Because but little can be known.
T. No; because but little knowledge has been sought. When mind contents itself with opinions and views, it will make but little effort to gather facts.
C. Then, we will hear your facts.
T. You will hear what may not now be said, when you are prepared for it.
C. Are we are not prepared for facts?
T. I will not relate what you will not receive.
C. Why?
T. Because it will do you no good.
C. How do you know we will not receive it?
T. Because I see your opinions will prevent it.
C. Then what is your mission?
T. To remove your opinions when wrong.
C. Have we wrong opinions?
T. Some are right, and others wrong.
C. Which are wrong?
T. Those which cause you to wrangle.
C. But may we not compare our opinions?
T. What good will the comparison do?
C. It will show which are correct.
T. How will it show that?
C. The strongest will gain the victory.
T. The victory over whom?
C. Over the weak.
T. Well, does a victory over the weak establish what you want?
C. It establishes the fact, that one opinion is stronger than another.
T. How so?
C. Because it overpowers the weakest opinion.
T. Then, when one mind overcomes another, you say he is correct.
C. I know of no better rule.
T. When the rule is secure because it is just, the wisdom of the rule will be established, but the rule is wrong, and,therefore, the result must be wrong. Because one mind triumphs over another, it does not prove the right on the side of the victor.
C. How, then, can opinions be tested?
T. By experience.
C. Experience is on both sides.
T. True; but when the experience is such as to be well, it is not ill. The mind in the wrong will have an unhappy experience, but the mind in the right will be happy. Therefore, my rule is to wrangle not, but let experience test the claims of all opinions. In this way, all errors would soon disappear without disputes.
C. It would be a long time to overcome errors in that way.
T. Will you show how they can be overcome sooner?
C. I think that two minds, holding different opinions, should discuss the difference between them.
T. Will a discussion of differences make them less, or remove a single error?
C. I will say, I see no other way to remove them.
T. The wisest among you see no other way; but have you ever known an error corrected by disputation?
C. I have seen some minds confounded.
T. The answer is true; but have you seen any one correct his errors by controversy?
C. I may say, some minds have been changed by controversy.
T. Have they been changed so as to abandon their errors?
C. The change has been well, because they have received the truth.
T. What truth have they received?
C. They have received the truth of the Bible.
T. What truth of the Bible have they received?
C. They have received the truth of wisdom, which teaches them that a mind in a state of nature can not receive the things of God, because it is prone to evil continually.
T. Is that a truth revealed in the Bible?
C. It is a truth which no reader of the Bible can deny. It is a truth which God has revealed to mind.
T. Will you read the truth to me from that Book?
C. I will show you a passage. It reads, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.”
T. Does that passage say, that mind in a state of nature can not receive the things of God, or that it is prone to evil continually?
C. It says, that the children were affected by the conduct of the father.
T. What else?
C. Why, if they were so affected, they must partake of the guilt of the father.
T. How so?
C. Because, it makes the children responsible for the conduct of the parent.
T. How does it make the children responsible?
C. By virtue of the law to which they are subject.
T. What virtue is there in any law, which makes one mind responsible for the deeds of another?
C. I see you are an infidel.
T. How can you see what is not a fact?
C. It is a fact that you cavil with God’s law.
T. Wherein have I caviled?
C. By denying what is written in the Bible.
T. What have I denied in the Bible?
C. The doctrine of innate depravity.
T. I have not seen that doctrine in the Bible, neither have you.
C. The doctrine is contained in the passage I have quoted.
T. I do not see it.
C. There is no one so blind as he who will not see.
T. Then, I will need sight. Can you impart it?
C. I can not make you see, unless you will try.
T. I will not try to see what is not.
C. Then, you may see what is.
T. Then, you will produce what is, and let what is not alone. I saw you and your companion wrangling about what is not.
C. Then, you must be blind. I see what is well, and, when a mind will not acknowledge the truth, it should be rewarded for its obstinacy.
T. It should not be rewarded for what it rejects, because it is untrue.
C. It should be punished for its obstinacy.
T. It should not be punished for rejecting a wrong.
C. The wickedness of mind must be punished, or God will not be just.
T. How will God punish a mind for rejecting a wrong?
C. He will not punish a mind for rejecting a wrong, but for rejecting the truth.
T. The truth will not justify you. The truth should make you free.
C. I am free; I never was a slave. Why will not the truth justify me?
T. Because it is rejected by you, and error is often encouraged.
C. What have I rejected?
T. You have not rejected some errors, but many facts.
C. What fact have I rejected?
T. The fact that God is just to all.
C. If he had been just to all, we should not have been spared the vengeance of his wrath.
T. How do you know?
C. Because his wrath is withheld on account of his Son.
T. How do you know that his wrath is withheld?
C. Because we do not receive our just deserts.
T. What are our just deserts?
C. The vengeance and wrath of God, forever.
T. How can you tell what you do not know?
C. I can tell what I believe.
T. On what evidence is that belief predicated?
C. On the word of God.
T. Will you read that word?
C. Thou shalt not see me without repentance.
T. Thy memory will not read truly.
C. But that is the meaning of the passage.
T. I will aid you right.
C. Go on.
T. “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance.”
C. That is not the passage.
T. Then, I can not find it.
C. But you know the word of God is true.
T. It is true; but not your saying.
C. I see you will not consent to any thing.
T. I will not dissent from a fact.
C. How will you get a fact?
T. By experiment, by demonstration, and by knowing.
C. Would you reject what you do not know?
T. I would receive what I know, and look for the evidence of what I do not know.
C. On what page of revelation would you look?
T. On the first page.
C. That aids but little.
T. Then, I would turn to the second page, and so on, until I found wisdom.
C. Then, the Bible is your wisdom.
T. The Bible contains much wisdom, but nature more.
C. Is nature more wise than revelation?
T. I have said, it is.
C. How can that be, when revelation came from God?
T. Nature is the work of God, and revelation is the work of nature. Nature is the first page of revelation, and the whole which can be revealed. Nature, or the wisdom of God, displayed in his work, is only revealed in part, and, therefore, is less than nature.
C. But when revelation contradicts nature, what will you do?
T. I will say, it can not contradict nature, for nature is true to itself.
C. But the Bible contradicts nature.
T. How, and wherein?
C. The sun and moon stood still for Joshua to slay his enemies.
T. The sun and moon stood where God placed them. They never stood otherwise. But you will find other suns, and other moons, and other stars, than thou seest in heaven.I hold a banner, and on it you may see a sun and a moon. It stands still at my command, or it moves as I control. So, with the enemies of Joshua. They stood still; and when they stood still, the banner did not move, neither did the sun, or the moon, on their banners. The sun and the moon which were on their banners moved not, till the enemy was no longer able to contend with the victors. I see no contradiction of nature in that passage.
C. I see no contradiction in your interpretation.
T. It is not my interpretation.
C. Whose is it?
T. It is the interpretation of Joshua.
C. From whom did you receive it?
T. I received it from a circle belonging to a sphere, who received it from him.
C. How may I know the truth of what you affirm?
T. By advancement in wisdom.
C. How may I advance in wisdom?
T. By receiving wisdom from superior minds.
C. How may I know who is my superior?
T. By their works. When the work of a mind harmonizes with the law of God in nature, you may know that the doer of that work is your superior.
C. But nature is an incomprehensible volume.
T. It is incomprehensible to those only who do not understand it. It is mysterious to those who have not examined or explored its golden page. It is wise, and what is wise you may learn.
C. Who will aid me?
T. Nature will not leave you without an instructor.
C. That is your opinion, I suppose.
T. It is a fact which I know. I have not come hereto teach you opinions, but facts. I see your mind is overstocked already with opinions, and this is the cause of your wrangling in this circle. Minds do not wrangle with each other about facts, which they know; but all wrangling is about things not understood. I have seen your condition, and know the fact which I affirm.
C. This is narrowing to a small compass the circumference of minds. It gives little scope for thought and energy.
T. The energy of this circle will not be circumscribed by right direction. It will not be without sufficient scope for the wisdom it possesses. But wrangling about things, never increases the wisdom, nor the happiness of those engaged in it. Confine yourselves to what you know, and peace will be multiplied among you. Contention will gather secret remorse. No good thing can come from the evil of strife. The wisdom of brutes scorns what some minds practice. They never quarrel about things of which they know nothing; and surely minds of a higher order need not to dispute about facts which they know. All who wrangle are not wise. All who dispute are not wise. It is a weakness which fools may pursue, but minds of understanding disdain to become weak in the wrongs of wrangling.
C. Then you are for submitting to every indignity, which the weakness and malice of wicked minds may heap upon your reputation.
T. It will be well to submit to that which you can not avoid; but when no unwise conduct on your part exists, the sneer will not be intolerable. You will find that submission to casual insult, is more tolerable and easy to endure, than a contention about it. The severest wrong ofthe two is wrangling. It is worse than all the insults mind ever endures. Insult injures no one more than he who indulges in it. Indeed, wisdom will not heed an insult. It will not stoop to quarrel with it. It passes on, unmindful of the wrong intended, and leaves the doer to gather what he has sown. But the contention of parties exhibits a weakness on both sides. It has been the folly of nations and individuals to resent insult, and the resentment has always made them more unhappy, than the insult could have done. I was not well satisfied in my rudimental state with the antagonistical elements of conditions around me. I saw war and bloodshed. I saw wrong and weakness. I saw power and tyranny. I saw evils and superstitions, ignorance and wretchedness. Then, I put forth my hand to overcome them, but the torrent swept along, and my hope was destroyed. I was not satisfied with war when in war, with contention when contention came, with strife when mind was striving with mind; and when I came into this sphere, I found a wisdom which gave what contention never brings—a peace that passeth all understanding—a love which filled me with sympathy, and gave energy to my soul for the good of those whose weakness was deserving of a commiseration and care, which the ignorant may scorn, and the foolish envy, but who can not share the joy it gives to my mind. Thus, was a mind advanced from a condition of wrangling to a condition of peace. When minds wrangle, it is not with words of wisdom, but words of folly.
C. The theory you advocate is well; but it will not do to practice. Minds need something to make them do right.
T. When minds do what something makes them, it is thatsomething, and not them, which does it. They arenot free, and are, therefore, irresponsible for what is done; as they are only the instruments in the hand of something. Will you tell me how a theory can be well, which it will not do to practice?
C. Your theory looks well; but it would be injurious to any one who will practice it, because he would be compelled to suffer on account of the wickedness of others. Minds need restraint.
T. Minds need wisdom, and, when they get wisdom, they require no restraint to make them do right. They will suffer less from the wickedness of others, when others are free, than they do while they control by fear. It is wicked in mind to do by others as it would not have others do to it.
C. Then, you would unbridle the mind, and give it liberty to do as it pleased.
T. I would unbridle the mind from its ignorance, release it from its chains, and inspire it with righteousness. Then, I would say, “Do as you please.”
C. Would it not please to do wrong?
T. It would please to do only right, and, when mind pleases to do right, it will injure no one.
C. How do you know it would please to do right?
T. By experience.
C. Have you no fear of your superiors?
T. My superiors are more just and good than I.
C. Then why do you not fear them?
T. Because they are better than myself.
C. I would not obey without reward.
T. Would you not do as you pleased?
C. I would; but I would not please to obey.
T. Why?
C. Because I would do as I pleased.
T. If you pleased to obey, and did as you pleased, you would obey.
C. But I would not so please to do.
T. Would you do as you would not please to do?
C. I would not.
T. Then, you would obey; because when pleased to do a thing, if you did not do it, you would be displeased and dissatisfied. When wisdom cultivates the mind, it makes it productive of good fruits. They come up, and grow spontaneously. The soil, being wisely prepared, yields the peaceable fruits of righteousness. So, when your mind drinks of the fountain of a higher wisdom, it satisfies the thirst, and gives it strength to bear fruit. It is free from the fears of ignorance and superstition, and needs no lash to extort the required good. It does what it pleases without fear, because it pleases to do right, and not wrong. But the mind driven, is like a slave—a servant that serves only because the eye of his master is upon him, and the lash of his wrath is uplifted to extort an unwilling service. The slave works, but he works as he is worked by the master. So, with those who serve in your condition. It is not you, but your master who works you, that is entitled to the reward. He employs you as a mechanic would his tools; and yet, who would say, the tool should receive a reward for its use?
C. This is a new doctrine. I see you sap the foundation of all fear.
T. I would sap the foundation of all ignorance, because ignorance is the cause of all fear. Remove ignorance, and all fear ceases. It never was a virtue. Minds have operated to make minds fear. They have soughtto make them fear what they did not fear themselves. They have represented God, and even spirits, as objects of fear. And they have lashed their superstitious victims into a servitude as degrading as it was destructive, as humiliating as it was ruinous to the welfare of mind. When ignorance is superseded by wisdom, freedom will permit minds to share in the work of their hands; but, so long as mind is in bondage through fear, and works only as it is worked, the reward, whatever it may be, should be given to him who controls. The master, and not the servant, does the work, and does it as he chooses, and by the tools at his command.
C. I would ask, if mind ought not to fear God?
T. How can a mind fear what it loves?
C. It may fear to offend.
T. It will not offend, when right.
C. But, when it is liable to err, it may fear.
T. But it is not liable to err in what it knows, and what is unknown ought not to create fear.
C. Why?
T. Because it is unknown. Most fears are of this description. Minds seldom fear real things.
C. Do not slaves fear their masters?
T. Not their masters, but what their masters may do.
C. Is not the will of the master a reality?
T. The will is well; but the abuse of the will is ill. Slaves fear the abuse of power over them. The abuse will not be feared, when the reality of wisdom corrects it. It will be corrected, when slaves no longer fear their masters; but so long as they fear, they will be servants.
C. Then, servants are to blame for their fears?
T. I blame no mind, it is not my prerogative to condemn.But I may say, when slaves cease to fear, slavery is at an end. The master can not coerce without fear, nor can he make others do his bidding, when they are disinclined. Fear, then, hath its bonds, and those who generate fears contribute to enslave mind.
C. Does not God make mind fear?
T. Never.
C. But minds fear God.
T. Minds fear what their conditions make them. When ignorance overshadows the soul, so that it can only see a twilight view of nature, the mind is subject to the rule of ignorance. That rule will correspond to the light which shines. The whole reflected upon the vision at once, would induce sight to be dazzled by the flood. Hence, in the organization of mind, as an individual, the wisdom of God is manifest, because what is natural, is adapted to its condition, and what is adapted to its condition, is productive of enjoyment. Hence, what is natural is free, not being prohibited by law, and what is free, is not a monopoly. In nature, there is no law which justifies a monopoly of her gifts. All things in her storehouse, belong to a common family; and each member may enjoy what is needful to enjoyment. I have seen a monopoly of what nature has provided for the good of mind. I have seen churches established upon the assumed right of holding the treasures of this and other spheres in their hands, to dispense or withhold as the policy of worldly wisdom wished for its aggrandizement. I have seen minds, in this sphere, overshadowed with the darkness of such idolatry and injustice; and I have seen them bow down in terror, and work in fear before a God, whom heathens would reject for its supposed cruelty. Now, have you not had fears of this description?
C. I must acknowledge that I have.
T. Would you know the cause?
C. You have laid the cause bare in your remarks.
T. How long will you tarry here in this midnight of wrong?
C. Till I can be released.
T. Will you be free?
C. If I can.
T. There is no wrong whence I go. Will you follow me?
C. I will try; but I know not where you will lead me.
T. I will lead you where the weary find rest, and the light hath no darkness. But when you reach the door of the temple, I will bid you wait till I gain permission to introduce you.
C. Suppose permission should be denied.
T. Suppositions never enter there.
C. What! no one allowed to suppose a question? That must be a tyranny unknown to me.
T. They will not suppose, because the subject of a supposition is known without it. There is no need of a supposition, when wisdom discloses the fact. All suppositions admit of two sides. They admit of doubt and fear. But where knowledge reigns, where light shines, and wisdom controls, all are of one mind. Hence, my mind is as all the rest, who work with me in the temple. If we were divided, the work would fall, because of its disagreement. And I wish you to understand, that all the work is prepared by one rule, and, therefore, they who work by that rule, must make their works agree. In the circle to which you belong, I find discord and wrangling. It is because the workmen have different rules. One works by one rule,and another by a different rule. When they bring their works together, they disagree. Do you know the reason?
C. I see the reason.
T. Would you avoid the disagreement?
C. I would have my work useful.
T. You see that no work can be useful, which is not practical. The works which disagree, can not be made practical, because of their difference. One opposes the other. Wrangling ensues; wretchedness is promoted; good is despised; the law of harmony is disregarded; and wisdom is set at naught. The whole wrangling is wrong, and he who encourages it by precept or example, is a patron of the wrong.
C. Was not your presence an encouragement to wrangling, when you came to see me?
T. I came to correct, not to support, wrangling.
C. But while you were a witness, did not your presence support it?
T. No: checked it. Had I not succeeded, I should have retired.
C. I will say, no mind should tarry to witness an evil, it has no wisdom to correct. Better leave the evil to consume itself, than throw yourself into the fire to be injured with the flames.
C. But some one must make the sacrifice, or there will be no deliverance.
T. Sacrifices and burnt offerings, which do no good, are inconsistent with justice. There is a time, when mind may aid minds, and there is a time, when it can not. The time to aid is when good can be done, and the time not to aid is when aid will be refused. Let no mind offer aid without good, or withhold it when needed. The needmust be realized, or it will be rejected. I have heard minds refuse, because they scorned to be a debtor to any one. They would boast of their independence, when their independence was subservience to educational wrongs. I have heard them decry against slavery, when they were slaves to the most tyrannical of all masters—the ignorance of their conceited ambition to occupy the highest seat in the kingdom of heaven, without the requisite modesty to admit their superiors to an equal condition. I have seen the land of freedom, the home of the free; but I never knew wisdom to rule where disorder and wrong overcame the harmony of goodness and peace.
C. Verily, you make wrangling the worst of all vices.
T. What is greater?
C. The wrong of injustice.
T. The wrong of wrangling is the wrong of injustice. The mind that wrangles, abuses itself, and degrades its associates. The mind is known by the circle it sustains. My mission is to destroy the wrangling; but you know, that many minds love what is disagreeable to others. They love strife. They hate peace. They love happiness, but their folly disappoints them. This is the condition of your circle. They wrangle not about what they know, but concerning what they do not know. And yet I would not wrangle with them, concerning what I know, because it is wrong, and what is wrong can not do good.
C. I will wrangle no more. I see a light advancing. Who comes with the stream of radiant glory beaming on his brow?
T. It is my friend William. He has a message for you. You may answer him when he speaks, and as he speaks.
W. Thy friend will wrangle no more. Let him come with us, and we will do him good. Art thou ready, friend?
C. I am ready.
W. Hast thou realized the wisdom thou hast heard?
C. I have heard what has done me good.
W. Thy work is not done. Cast thou square thy life by the rule I give thee?
C. What is the rule?
W. When thou findest wisdom to aid thee, wilt thou renew thy strength, and soar above the groveling disputes, which thy circle have cherished?
C. I feel no desire to wrangle with mind.
W. Hast thou a desire to obey the wisdom thou hast learned from thy servant, who has instructed thee?
C. I will not disobey what contributes to my enjoyment.
W. That is the law of harmony. No harmony can exist where law is disregarded. The circle into whose presence thou wilt soon be introduced, will aid thee in thy progress to ineffable joy. But no mind can gain admittance there, who will adhere to a wrong, because the wrong weakens the enjoyment of his brethren. Thou mayest now follow us, and wait at the door, till the banner returns; and Thomas, whom we call Contentment, announces thy welcome.
C. I will follow thee whither thou goest.
The morality of the circle was made known unto him, and the master said, “We hail thee as Welcome. Hereafter such will be thy name, except when thou wishest to converse with thy former associates, to reclaim them from their wrongs. Then, thou wilt make thyself known untothem by thy former name. And when thou desirest to go unto them, thou wilt take with thee this white stone, with thy new name written therein, which no man knoweth but thee and thy associates in this circle.”