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Contents |
THE SEVEN PURPOSES
Chapter VII
April 5th.
"THIS is the seventh lesson.
"Before the light of freedom dawned on the
world, a puissant chaos of purposes and forces
fought for control of the liberties of men. A
short space of time brought liberty of body,
after the perception of the people had been
clarified by the gradual development of the
ideal of liberty. They moved rapidly toward
it, when they began to understand it, with
halts and hesitations and blunders, but force-
fully and inevitably still. They overthrew
kings and barons, and took into their own hands
the physical and material government of their
kind. But their minds and forces are still en-
slaved and shackled by outworn tradition.
Onward Christian soldiers, is a plea for
progress; but it has become a recessional., not
a marching song. Men have made their jus-
tice vassal to tradition, and their brotherhood
fief to gain.
"Men have learned the value of free bodies,
but free force, mental or spiritual, terrifies and [120]
puzzles them still. They have learned to dis-
cipline their bodies, to keep them strong and
clean. But they fear to trust the purposes
and forces, without chains and prison bars to
hold them, lest they make chaos of civilization.
Church, state, profession, trade, guild, or so-
ciety commands: Thou shalt not think. Fol-
low, yield, accept, and endure, but let not
thought be found among ye, lest the bars be
broken and destruction loosed.
"Many men follow; a few men think.
These are the overlords, the kings and barons
of forces that might be free. But freedom
demands free purpose, and free purpose de-
mands justice
"No man is free who commands not himself.
No man is free who forgets his brother. No man
is free who fears to follow his own purpose with
all his force. No man is free who fails to carry
his share of the common load. He may have
wealth and luxury; yet is he slave. He may
be tempted by beauty; yet is he slave. He
may be frightened by calamity; yet is he slave.
He may be beaten by strangers; yet is he
slave. No man is free who commands not
himself in any emergency. He may lose
wealth and luxury, and still be free. He may
dwell with squalor, who loves beauty, and
still be free. He may be defrauded by his [121]
brother, and still be free. He may be shackled
by strangers, beaten and imprisoned, and still
be free.
"Freedom lieth not in a man's estate, but
in the man himself.
"This is the seventh lesson."
Chapter VIII
April 8th.
"THIS is the eighth lesson.
"Many men try to perceive the purpose of
God in truth and beauty and justice, and fail
to recognize that the Eternal Purpose is un-
limited by the detached conceptions of men.
Truth is one of the fundamental purposes.
Beauty is a subdivision of Building. Justice is
fundamental. All are part of the Eternal
Purpose. But the Great Purpose is unity.
"The fundamental purposes are common to
all men, of whatever race, color, belief, or prej-
udice. They are the foundation from which
the forces of Eternal Purpose start, and by
their divisions only are men ultimately grouped.
As a commander divides his army into infantry,
artillery, cavalry, air forces, quartermaster,
engineer, and medical corps, so are the eternal
forces divided into the seven purposes for the
eternal conflict.
"The purposes of disintegration are more
than seven. They divide into myriad motives
as they fight the aspirations of immortal man. [123]
Free men choose freely how they will array
themselves, but slaves are driven by their
masters, visible or invisible, to fight for pur-
poses not their own. Only when they have
learned to discipline and develop their minds,
as they now discipline and develop their
bodies, may they choose freely the force with
which they will be arrayed.
"Rich man against poor man. Capital
against labor. State against offender. Poor
man against wealth. Labor against develop-
ment. Criminal against law. All are false
distinctions.
"Seek ye the man of your own purpose, and
cleave to him. If ye would build, seek a
builder. If ye would heal, seek a healer. If
justice absorb ye, seek a man furthering jus-
tice. But be not misled by the slave-driver,
without or within. Beware of the bell-wether,
and of personal or material motives. Govern
yourselves first, and then choose ye whether
to fight for progress or for disintegration, for
unity or for destruction. Then choose ye the
purpose ye will serve forcefully through eter-
nity.
"This is the eighth lesson."
Chapter IX
April 8th.
"THIS is the ninth lesson.
"Men have lived in fear of forces from with-
out, and have not perceived that within them-
selves all forces are made potent. Men have
feared purposes from without, and have not
perceived that their own purpose is eternal.
Men have talked of power, and failed to per-
ceive its source. Men have dreamed of pos-
session, and failed to find freedom. Possession
is temporary and ephemeral. Freedom is
eternal. Should a man yield the freedom of
his eternal purpose for any possession what-
soever?
"Build ye with all possessions, that purpose
may be free. For brotherhood commandeth
service, and for this are possessions hallowed.
He who hath, and denieth his brother oppor-
tunity, destroys his own purpose. He who
hath possessions, and giveth his brother op-
portunity, builds for eternity. He who hath
power and plenitude, and giveth his brother
help, has given all men more than the one can [125]
take. He has built for eternity.
"The man who has this power to build with
possessions for eternal progress has a force be-
side his own, the force of material purpose to
aid his brother's force. Many there be who
build for eternity with material possessions.
They are the keepers of the keys for all who
labor, stewards of opportunity.
"He who has opportunity to strive, and
striveth not, destroys his own purpose. He
who has the key to opportunity for building
offered him, and fails to free the force, destroys
both his own purpose and that of his brother.
"One purpose are all to serve—Progress.
And whether it be with purpose and pos-
sessions, or with purpose and poverty, all
serve equally who put their whole force into
service.
"So may all men know they are brothers.
"This is the ninth lesson."
Chapter X
April 9th.
"THIS is the tenth lesson.
"The purposes of disintegration are these.
Malice, Envy, Doubt, Falsehood, Ignorance,
Lust, Cupidity, Fear. All these make for
Destruction, which is the strong purpose that
moves them all. Each of these is divided and
subdivided into myriad motives of disintegra-
tion, many of which disguise themselves before
daring to enter the consciousness of man.
"Malice and Envy present themselves most
often as Light or Justice. Doubt as Light,
Lust as Justice or Production, Cupidity as
Building, Fear and Ignorance as Truth, and
Destruction as Progress. But the disguises
vary with the individual and with the moment,
and the motives springing from these purposes
are legion.
"Each individual in your life is a battle-
ground of purposes that have fought from the
moment the purposes of disintegration gath-
ered one to another. Each man struggles to
ally himself permanently with one or another [127]
of the purposes within him. Thus is it that
a man whose desire is for light falls victim to
malice, envy, and destruction; and he whose
desire is production, to lust. Weakness of
purpose is a subdivision of fear, and folly a
minion of ignorance.
"All men aspire. Some with reluctance and
halting, but all feel the purpose of progress
working within them. They may mistake its
nature or deny its power, but no man lives who
has not felt its prompting. This is the purpose
beyond all others, the Eternal Purpose of
United Construction. No man can thwart it,
no man can evade it, no force can defeat it.
Why, then, oppose and delay it?
"Come, all ye who struggle and strive!
Perceive once and forever the purpose of life,
join now the forces of construction, and bring
to all men Brotherhood.
"This is the tenth lesson."
Chapter XI
April 12th.
"THIS is the eleventh lesson.
"There is no man who has not force. He
may be frail of body, weak of purpose, light
of mind, faltering of step. Yet to some de-
gree has he force, for without force personality
cannot exist. There is no man so frail of body,
so weak of purpose, so faltering of step, that
he has not personality. There is no per-
sonality that is not a force for construction or
for destruction. None that may not serve to
build.
"There is no man so bound up in himself,
so personal of motive, so narrow of vision, that
he may not be turned from a deterrent force
into a force for construction, save only those
already given to purposes of disintegration.
"But no man is so vigorous of body, so firm
of purpose, so profound of mind, so sure of
step, that he may perfect his brother's life.
'Am I my brother's keeper?' has been trans-
formed from a question uttered in defense of
iniquity to an assertion uttered in defense of [129]
arrogance. 'Am I not my brother's keeper?'
"No man is his brother's keeper. The ut-
most that he may do for his brother is to
arouse his brother's purpose, whether for con-
struction or for destruction. Call to the pur-
pose of Progress. Call to the seven purposes
of construction. Help ye each brother to find
the onward way. But if he will not answer,
if calling fail to move him, then bid him de-
stroy after his own purpose, that the fight may
be open and his allegiance known of all men.
"Freedom to choose is the inalienable right
of every human soul. Who hinders his broth-
er's purpose delays the end of battle. Win
him to progress, if he can be won by calling.
Bid him declare himself, if he answer not the
call. But he who coerces his brother, though
it be toward construction, prolongs the strug-
gle and delays the Great Purpose.
"No man is his brother's keeper.
"This is the eleventh lesson."
Chapter XII
April 12th.
"THIS is the twelfth lesson.
"Many men there be who fight for liberty
and coerce their brothers.
"In war, all men must fight. But there is
no man who may choose for another how his
allegiance may be given.
"He who is not for progress is against it. He
who has no allegiance that he will declare, is
traitor to himself and to the purpose he follows.
Cast him out and he will find his purpose known.
"So shall the opposing forces be clearly in-
dicated. So shall each man find his own
purpose clearly defined. So shall the wars
within wars cease among men, and the fight
be with you, as it is with us, between purposes
and forces known and united, one against the
other, until all purposes of destruction have
been conquered and transformed, and the
Great Purpose rendered free to progress to
greater glories without end.
"This is the twelfth lesson."
NOTES
ASKED to explain one phrase in the first
Lesson, "the original purposes were all good,"
Mary K. said: "All were balanced. There is
no evil that may not be good in proper com-
bination. Evil is the gathered force of un-
directed and not fully animated good, com-
bined in a destructive purpose by the attraction
I mentioned."
————
An apparent contradiction of a statement
in the first Lesson—"All pure purpose is fear-
less, whether for good or evil"—by one in the
second Lesson—"The forces of disintegration
are wily, but fearful. Bullies and cowards"—
seemed to imply that forces of disintegration
are not pure purpose. Mary K. explained:
"They are pure purpose, fearless in pursuance
of destruction, wily in bringing it about,
brutal in consummating it, but cowards in-
dividually. Fearless of consequences when they
pursue, but fearful when they fail. Like Ger- [132]
mans."
————
Early in June, I discovered a relation be-
tween the definition of Eternal Purpose in the
second paragraph of the third Lesson, and the
divisions of the purpose of Progress near the
end. "Eternal purpose is perfect justice (Jus-
tice), perfect fearlessness (Production), perfect
understanding (Light), perfect honesty (Truth),
perfect sympathy (Healing), perfect unity
(Building), and eternal growth (Progress), which
is progress perfectly expressed."
————
The end of the seventh Lesson seemed ob-
scure, until the relation between its clauses
was discovered. Written thus, its meaning is
clear: "(1) No man is free who commands not
himself. (2) No man is free who forgets his
brother. (3) No man is free who fears to fol-
low his purpose with all his force. (4) No man
is free who fails to carry his share of the com-
mon load. He may have wealth and luxury,
yet is he slave (1) if he commands not himself.
He may be tempted by beauty (2) to forget his
brother, yet is he slave, if he commands not
himself. He may be frightened by calamity
(3) in following his purpose, yet is he slave, if
he commands not himself. He may be beaten [133]
by strangers (4) while carrying his share of the
common load, yet is he slave if he commands
not himself."
————
9th Lesson.
A curious inconsistency in the use of verbs
will be noticed here, archaic and modern forms
appearing in the same sentence repeatedly.
This may have been due to my great fatigue
when this lesson was taken, to the presence in
the room of other persons, or to some condition
or intention as yet unexplained.
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