What Constitutes faithfulness?

To what, or whom, should we be faithful? Is faithfulness a synonym for obedience? The Divine Law, including all laws, center about one Being, one Supreme-reality; call it God, the Infinite, the Cosmic Cause, Jehovah the Creator of man, or what you will. Names mean little or nothing. That which we have in mind is everything.

Man may deny the existence of God, the reality of religion, the possibility of a Soul; so far as the Law is concerned it is immaterial what he believes. Life is; men possess the feeling of Love and the feeling of hate. The sun rises and sets. There is harmony instead of chaos, though man is unaware of it. Regardless of puny man's attitude of mind, there always was and ever will be a Supreme Reality, let men call it what they will.

There is an operating law governing every department of Nature. If all human creatures in the world denied the existence of such a law, the seasons would still come and go; night would follow day, all in perfect order. For want of a better term we call the operating laws of the various departments of man's nature the "Divine Law."

These laws are absolute, unchangeable, impartial, impersonal and always "just." The conditions they impose are alike in the case of every one of a million men. The manifestation of the Law may be modified by man's acceptance and the application of Law. That alone creates a difference.

We are assured by the sacred writings that man is the highest work or form of creation. This in no sense implies that he is a perfect creation, that he cannot be improved, or cannot do that which is even more desirable - IMPROVE HIMSELF BY HIS OWN DELIBERATE EFFORT.

Despite his imperfections, he is endowed with creative powers. On this plane of being and to the degree of his development, he functions and manifests under the Divine Law and its infinite variations. This fact offers us the "key" to all stages of existence and every possibility of development.

What, then, constitutes faithfulness? Is it the possession of faith that certain man-made claims are true? Is it that we recognize the existence of God and are satisfied in that belief? Is it in first accepting Divine Law as a fact, being obedient to it so that we may unfold the divine the Christos - within ourselves and express it externally by manifesting the prototype of the Creator?

Man, created in the image (after the pattern) of the Father, is not now, but may become, like the Creator. He is endowed with power over himself, and this attained, over all things beneath him.

An old philosopher has wisely said: "Govern thyself, than thou mayst govern thy mate, finally a kingdom." Our first and most necessary duty is to learn to govern the self; then as a natural sequence, man becomes allied to all creative ability and a co-creator with the Creator, not in the same degree, but in a lesser sense.

This is not selfishness, otherwise it would not have been God's first command to man. The contrary is true. If man is truly faithful to himself, if he proceeds to unfold his inner potentialities, if he endeavors to express the Divine image in which he is created, then it is certain that he has been faithful to God's edict and will be as an example, a shining light, to his fellow man. The poet expresses this well:

"To thine own self be true; and
It follows, as the night the day,
thou canst not be false to any man."

This is a stage in man's development, in his progress forward and upward, when he must emphasize the law of faithfulness to himself. He must realize that in being true to himself he is likewise true to the edicts of the Divine Law. This brings the realization that if man in any manner brings harm to another, whether in word or deed, he thereby brings injury upon himself more than on the other. It is also true that to help others when they are truly in need is to help himself.

Through faithfulness to the self man finds and gains all the good that can come to him or which can be drawn to himself. Herein we come face to face with the law; the power of vibratory forces. All that we think, desire and do is creative of vibrations of a certain denseness or frequency.

Unkind thoughts, words and actions set in motion dense vibrations which first affect the guilty person, then go forth, possibly reaching others of like nature, returning again to affect the creator of these undesirable vibrations.

It is all-important for every one to become acquainted with this law as an aid to self-mastery; to strive for fuller knowledge as a means of self-defense, and in doing so, realize that in "doing to others as he would that they do unto him" he is in reality benefiting himself.

This may be considered as a selfish aspect of the action of the law governing vibrations, but there is nothing man can do which does not affect the self, and so long as the result is beneficial, it is good, hence right, or righteous.

Evil, all evil, begins, and likewise ends, with the self. Present within every man, irrespective of his degree of moral-spiritual development, there is something, a monitor, which silently but impressibly tells him what is right and what is wrong. His "fall" results when he ignores this feeling and becomes guilty of any thought or deed which was indicated as wrong or undesirable.

This feeling of wrong becomes a feeling of guilt; an uncomfortableness. This creates vibrations of condemnation which will gradually but surely manifest themselves through the personality. The ill committed against him-self through disobedience to the law of his own being will enslave him to like conditions in his everyday life.

For this reason it is important that man should subordinate all tendencies toward retrogression and replace them with inclinations toward moral and spiritual self-improvement. This requires conscious and deliberate effort, but it is essential in his progress toward self-mastery. In the struggle of his dual nature, either the lower or the higher nature will predominate and his choice determines which it is to be. Man has the privilege of choice, and must pay the price for his choice, which may be either a reward or a penalty.

So far as man is concerned, he is given the privilege to gain dominion over all things, both here below and above. He may in truth become the "master over fate," or permit fate to become the master over him. He has the right, the privilege and the opportunity to change conditions in which he is placed; to govern his environments, both physical and spiritual; if IF HE IS WILLING TO MAKE THE EFFORT AND PAY THE PRICE.

If he is not willing, HE IS COMPELLED TO PAY THE PRICE ANYHOW, BUT WILL NOT RECEIVE THE REWARD OR BLESSINGS SELF-MASTERY WOULD BRING. Man has, almost in toto, for countless centuries past, either wholly ignored his divinely-inherited privileges, or has grossly abused them. For this reason he is, first of all, a slave to his own passions and gross desires; his own inertia or mental-physical laziness. Moreover, he is the slave of conditions, environments and, worst of all, to other men often more evil than himself, and certainly stronger than he, even if only in knowledge of evil and how to use or direct it to enslave others.

Before he is once again entitled or qualified to make use of and direct his governing desires, he must recognize and work with Divine Law in his activity, thus ridding himself of undesirable experiences and transmuting them into activities which will ultimately lead him to success and the fulfillment of his worthy desires.

To man is given IN POTENTIA dominion over all things on earth, provided he first learns to govern himself, then his environments and the conditions under which he lives; and, lastly, to a large extent, the invisible forces of nature.

Unfortunately, man has for countless centuries abused these privileges until now he is, first of all, a slave to his own desires and passions, and secondly, in equal degree, the tool of others. Before he is entitled or qualified to employ his inherent abilities and gain dominion over external affairs and surrounding conditions, he must become wise and firmly rule over his own desires, inclinations and tendencies, directing them wisely and constructively.

He must bring forth the best and highest latent ability within his own nature and, at the same time, maintain control over the lower or destructive self. He must bring out, bring up or bring forth the fruits of the spiritual within that these may in turn serve to guide and protect him.

When, finally, he has established the supremacy of his better nature over the lesser, he has then earned the right, together with the ability, to govern circumstances instead of being mastered by them. This is possible as a direct result of obedience to the Law of faithfulness as it concerns his every activity.

Bondage to the lower self admittedly results from ignorance of the operation of the laws which govern man's fourfold nature. This is not at all strange for the reason that all men, with the exception of those many times reincarnated, are born in ignorance of all the laws which govern their being. This permits them to become slaves and to remain in slavery until finally liberated as a result of suffering, experience, and lastly, self-mastery.

Enslavement is the result of disobedience to the promptings of man's better nature, while the method to be followed for gaining wisdom and freedom consists in a rational reversal of the up-to-the-present way of thinking, feeling and living.

This is a twofold process: First of all, knowledge, as a result of thinking, reasoning and effort, must replace ignorance. Secondly, as the laws become understandable they must be faithfully observed. As a principle, this appears to be both simple and easy, but it requires much self-discipline, great patience and a Herculean effort to follow through to the final achievement. The effort is worth while. The reward is freedom from everything that is undesirable; the ultimate conquest - "mortality putting on Immortality."

There is a bright side to everything. He who feels himself enslaved by undesirable environments and self-degrading tendencies, may find in this very condition the basis for encouragement. First must come a realization that in embryo he represents the highest form of creation. The identical powers or forces which brought upon him the unsatisfactory conditions were born either within himself, or within the minds of those responsible for him, and were brought into play as the result of ignorance and disobedience to the Law. By a reversal of the application of the Law, man can create and build up forces, powers and energies which will free him from his bondage so that he may in fact become a MAN.

The conviction and assurance of this uncontradictable trust must first become established in man's consciousness and give birth to an unwavering faith. He must then "stop short" in his old habits and his way of thinking and living. He must begin anew in harmony with the knowledge he has gained; raise himself and his attracting vibrations to become attuned with the vibrations of health, strength, power and success which surround him, as they surround all men.

It is not sufficient to have suffered and become acquainted with the Laws under consideration. These Laws must be applied; lived in every-day activities. Faithfulness begins in the thought and desire kingdom within.

These laws function from within outwardly; from the center toward the circumference. Whatever man habitually admits into his own thought realms is certain to manifest itself as part of his personality. In due time he is accepted by others for what he inwardly thinks and feels.

When man more or less continually, though possibly unconsciously, lives in a thought atmosphere of failure, poverty, weakness and illness, and then gives way to bitterness, resentment, envy and other evil, negative, disintegrating thoughts and feelings, he creates vibrations of like nature and these vibrations ARE CERTAIN TO REPEL PEOPLE AND CONDITIONS THAT MIGHT OTHERWISE HELP, AND AT THE SAME TIME DRAW TO THE THINKER THOSE WHO WILL FURTHER IMPOVERISH AND DEGRADE HIM. This is an ABSOLUTE LAW based on the indisputable fact of the Biblical edict:

"As ye sow, so shall ye reap."

Here is the same Law in other words:

"Action gives birth to REaction;
The REaction is according to the Action.
Effort is Action, and whatever effort is made by
us will bring a REaction, or REturn of our effort
AND THE SPIRIT IN WHICH IT WAS MADE."

Again Biblically speaking: "Bread cast upon the waters will return after [more or less] many days," but whatever the time, it will return.

It is to be emphasized that mere thought, powerfully as it reacts upon the thinker, is, in and of itself, by no means sufficient to bring about desirable conditions and environments. The thought must give birth to vital, intense, all-firing desire.

This desire, in turn, must be the incentive to constant, never-ending effort to bring about the desired changes. In almost all instances of failure it will be found upon analysis that such failure was the result of ignorance, disobedience, or lack of obedience - an unwillingness to accept the truth as it manifests itself - in some aspect of the Divine Law, which in turn affects the individual and his immediate way of life.

Only by obedience to the dictates of the Divine Law in its various aspects can man unfold and express the divine Image in which he was created. It is possible to violate the law of faithfulness in respect to health by the belief that man may do as he pleases, indulge in such habits as he desires, yet maintain a state of health, provided he continually holds the thought that he will remain healthy.

This doctrine is not merely untrue; it is destructive and leads many astray. Mental influences, ideal though they may be, can never displace proper food, fresh air, physical exercise and natural habits of life. Emphasis should be placed on natural living and rational habits that grow out of correct thought and an understanding of Nature's Laws.

There is a certain danger and grievous error concerning the law of faithfulness in respect to receiving help through others. It is very easy to misplace the emphasis concerning the power of concentration in attracting benefits. An individual may, in many instances, through intensely directed concentration, attract success to himself, to his own ultimate harm.

Great consideration should be given to the importance of rendering service for favors received; just and honest returns for all benefits. The only honorable way of attracting money or friends, or favors, or success, is to cultivate the ability to render services which deserve money, friends, favors and success in return.

The pernicious and dishonorable belief that it is possible to receive something for nothing, become possessed of something for which we have not worked or paid for, is a universal one and is a badge of dishonor for every Soul so governed. It is an idea that creeps upon us unawares and in many subtle forms. It must be guarded against at all times and under all circumstances.

A constant question in the mind should be: WHY should I receive something for nothing; something which I have not earned and for which I have made no exchange:" "Morally, am I not in fact a thief?" "Who, if not I, will pay for it?" "If I, the receiver, do not compensate in some manner for it, why should anyone else, willingly or unwillingly, do so.

Strangely enough, nowhere is this desire to "receive something for nothing" more pronounced than in the consciousness of many who profess the Truth; enlightenment; the WAY OF LIFE.

Truth, admittedly, may appear to be free. So is electricity, but to become a master electrician requires time, effort and money, even thought nothing material is returned to the student for his money. It is also necessary to consider proper housing, power plants, generators and what not, all to be installed before electricity can be generated.

There is no actual difference between the electrical power which does man's work and the knowledge and wisdom that will save man's spiritual nature. Truth is free, but where and how is it to be found or obtained?

Is it not most likely to be found among those who may have renounced a successful career or business in order to find this truth, first for themselves, through long hours of study and tedious and non-compensating years of training, in order to be prepared to teach others the Truth, the Way and the Life?

Those properly trained and capable of guiding others are often unable to follow the usual means for a livelihood. Yet these must live, and it is passing strange that those seeking knowledge, wisdom and guidance expect on their part to receive it; at the same time feeling firmly convinced that those engaged in teaching and guiding them, without compensation, should live in splendor; possessed of all the desirable things of life.

When at last one has become convinced that a violation of the Law in this respect must inevitably result in harmful reactionary influences upon himself, he will, for sheer self-protection, willingly, aye, gladly, accept the Law of Compensation as a fact and govern himself accordingly.

The principle involved is only now beginning to be understood in the business world as the only safe policy for continued success. To handle inferior goods and demand for them the price of superior grades, may for a time be profitable, but in due time the operation of the equalizing Law will bring about an adjustment and it is not difficult to guess who will be made to pay the penalty.

All men desire to achieve success, even the most spiritually inclined, hence they should observe the Laws governing success. Business methods in this New Age should be based on the principle of a just and fair profit, for otherwise there can be no improvement, no new business to offer additional employment.

It is right for the rich as well as the poor to receive a fair excess. Both the rich and the poor are under an identical Law and each must render an impartial account sooner or later. The man possessed of little is guilty of a most serious mistake in envying the millionaire. In doing so he further beggers himself through the low vibrations of his envy and these vibrations in turn repel success.

He should not even give a thought to the possibility of obtaining any part of the rich man's possessions, but instead, the obtaining of like possessions should be an incentive towards an effort to fulfill the Law and earn these desired thing for himself. Very few possess the slightest idea of the success-attracting power of such a desire-filled mental attitude, free from envy.

Man may consider himself as capable and worthy of high compensation for his efforts, but conditions may be such in his special field that he will be forced to accept but a portion of what he feels he should receive. If, hampered by a sense of mistreatment, or under-payment, he shirks his duty or is unwilling to do his best, he thereby defeats his own interest because by his attitude he also repels the forces that would draw him to the field of success.

Honor, another word for duty and manhood and the Law of Faithfulness, demands that man always and under ALL circumstances do his best, and, most important of all, in the right, a WILLING spirit. If he is underpaid, or unjustly treated, then, BECAUSE OF HIS WILLINGNESS TO OBEY THE LAW, the Equalizing Law will see to it that he will not only be repaid, but that there will ultimately be an opening which will assure him success. There is an old saying which explains this Law: "You must earn more than you get in order to get more than you earn."

Faithfulness to duty performed in the right (envyless) spirit never actually goes unrewarded, even if for a time it may so appear. To evade responsibility, irrespective of the reason, to render careless, shiftless, indifferent service under any circumstances, is a direct means of binding ourselves irrevocably to the very condition we seek to avoid or from which we seek to free ourselves.

He who feels himself enslaved or retarded by another only wastes his own time and energy by concerning himself about the one who, in his opinion, is taking advantage of him.

The worker, irrespective of his field of labor, need concern himself only with the requisites of faithfulness on his own part. "What is that to thee?" says the Divine Law: "Follow thou me." That is to say: "If you will fulfill your part IN THE RIGHT SPIRIT, by faithfulness to detail, than I, the Law, will see to it that in due time you will be fully paid and be placed into the position your faithfulness deserves. The Law of Absolute Justice, in its impersonal, impartial functioning, will work out the problem for you."

Freedom from undesirable conditions in any department of life begins in thought, but must end in action. Man must change his mental attitude, his desires and his ideals, and must convince himself that he is made in the image of the Creator. He has within his own being the resources and the powers to make of himself what he wishes to be, and he has the possibility, despite all obstacles, to become, to achieve and to accomplish. To be convinced of these facts is not sufficient. It is merely the beginning - the functioning principle. It is necessary to work in harmony with the conviction; to prepare himself for service; to be true to his own manhood in every task and claim of life, and to obey the Divine Law in its various demands.

When a man has assured himself of his Divine heritage he will probably comprehend the fact that to accomplish his ideals requires not only effort but money as well. For its better positions the world demands prepared men; men qualified by careful, systematic training, fortified with practical knowledge and mature experience.

A man so equipped may ask his own compensation in return for service rendered. Poverty is in reality no handicap to the man of determined Will. Many a lad has become stronger because he has worked his way through college. Through effort man gains strength and the incentive to make still greater effort. This in turn results in the energy which assures success.

The gross, weakening and self-defeating error of those who are self-dependent is the expectation that someone else will in some way supply their needs without any great effort on their part. This attitude weakens and cheapens the mentality. It lowers the vibratory forces and attracts failure. The ideal is for man to train himself in his ability to serve so that he may honestly earn all he desires and requires; and to give to others that he may receive.

Such an ideal, such a mental attitude, will free him from enslaving circumstances, conditions and environments and set into motion laws - creative vibrations, - that will attract opportunities for service and place him in harmony with the creative laws of the Universe. It will build up in him confidence in his ability, because it is potent to arouse in him his own latent MANHOOD.

This genuine sense of manhood creates self-respect, which in turn will manifest itself in his personality, and all this in its turn will attract to him, and win for him, the confidence of those who are not only in need of his services, but are in a position to help him to advance to ultimate and lasting success.

He who seeks to apply in his own behalf the laws of true faithfulness must learn to look for the good in all things and not permit the false to mislead him; he must turn present adversity to his benefit. His efforts may for the moment appear as failure. This should induce him to analyze them and his activity to find the cause, even accepting every momentary failure as a stepping stone to success. He must see in such a failure the possibility of its having prevented him from making a real and lasting failure had the initial effort resulted in success.

Anyone seeking true success in life and depending upon himself will be wise if he will look upon his immediate condition as a privilege rather than a hindrance; as a means and an opportunity to identify himself harmoniously with the functioning Law of Faithfulness.

He must endeavor the while to unfold and express to the best of his ability the spirit of the Law as it concerns himself; cultivating thoughts and desires in harmony with his better, higher self, and then work to the best of his ability to bring his thought, his ideal, this spirit of Faithfulness into manifestation.

Gaining this spirit of freedom through the Law of Faithfulness will instill in him a lightness of being and a buoyancy heretofore unknown. This inner feeling will manifest in his demeanor. It will be recognized by all with whom he comes into contact and he will be assured of attentions otherwise denied him.

Of those who have complied with the Law of Faithfulness and have been obedient, it was said long ago and is still being said: "Thou hast been faithful over little things; I [thy God of the Law] will make thee ruler over many things." The Law has not changed.

As man gains the victory over one thing the strength is thereby given him to gain greater victories over other things. With each victory will come greater wisdom and strength. It is a succession of steps forward.

Each step takes the obedient man nearer to the goal. We are the creators or makers of our own destiny. If we accept as a truth that we are equal to the demands made upon us, we create the strength, energy and ability to meet these demands.

It is our duty to be in constant search for the truth; for an understanding of the Divine Laws in their relation to every department of life as it concerns us; to health, vigor and strength; success; moral and spiritual advancement; knowledge and efficiency in business, and happiness to be found only in well-doing and peace of mind.

Having at least partly gained such wisdom and become conscious of the requirements of the Law, we must be faithful to the Law and with good will try our best to fulfill its demands. We dare not become lax in our endeavor; nor must we weaken and exchange that which we already possess for the legendary "mess of pottage," otherwise, we cannot hope to succeed in finally and fully breaking the shackles binding us to inharmonious conditions and to varying degrees of bondage.

All of these things we must do for ourselves. If we permit someone else to do it for us, we have merely exchanged masters; we have sunk deeper into slavery than before. Others, it is true, can teach us the operation of the Law, show us the way, encourage, guide and befriend us until we have attained to self-mastery; but we ourselves must travel the path and by so doing gain the strength to meet all conditions.

We must never forget the fundamental truth that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty" in every department of life. He who is so short-sighted that he will permit another to fight for his liberty will find to his sorrow that he has lost it TO THAT OTHER.

We must continually, without intermission or intercession, endeavor to unfold and express the Divine Law in all our activities; be faithful to the ideals in whose image we desire to recreate ourselves. Let us be too much of MEN to stoop to that which will mar that image or interfere with its manifestation in life and action. Let us live as becomes men and women fashioned after the likeness of the Infinite Creator who denies us no good thing if we are obedient to the Law.
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