Article January 17, 1931 Issue

On Being Lifted Up

WILLIAM MARLBOROUGH ADDISON

A Belief which tends to retard the progress of seekers after Truth is that accomplishment and progress are entirely dependent upon personal effort. Perhaps the familiar saying, "God helps those who help themselves," has become so fixed in human belief that the fact that the real man has no selfhood apart from God has been lost sight of.

Not a few of us arrive at the stage, at one time or another, where we feel we have done all we can do. We have reached the limit of our endurance, and yet our problem remains unsolved; then we feel that God must do all. Instead of being discouraged by this condition, we may find in it much cause for rejoicing; for the sooner we turn completely to God, the sooner will our false beliefs be destroyed. Does not our revered Leader quote the saying that "man's extremity is God's opportunity"?

How encouraging, then, are the words of the meek Nazarene, "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." "Lifted up"! What a contrast to the sense of laborious personal struggling! What a calm and restful thought for those who have felt they could ascend only by their own efforts! Again, we read that Jesus said unto the Jews, "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do." With such testimony on the part of the great Way-shower, there can be no doubt that the attainment of the harmonious state of consciousness called heaven will require far more than mere human effort. This does not mean that we have nothing to do. It means, however, that what we must do is in some respects, perhaps, the reverse of the material effort we have been making; it means that we must cast our net on the right side.

Send a comment to the editors

NEXT IN THIS ISSUE

Article

Touching the Hem of the Garment