LETTER III
THE PROMISE OF SPRING
February 17, 1917.
WHEN you learn to think of life as a whole, of which you are a part containing in yourself the potentialities of the whole, then you will look upon these great changes with joy. The One must sometimes sacrifice itself to Itself, and by elimination secure a new lease of life. The whole—call it the race, or the earth-spirit, or what you will—may grow too fat and lazy, as a man may grow too large to move about with ease, and then by war among the organs, by fever, fasting or remedies, the equilibrium is restored, and he starts again a new man, ready to face the future.
Grim, does it seem? But who told you that the purposes of life were always smiling? In the deeps of the earth and in the deeps of man are dark substances.
The cold of winter is a hardship for those who expose themselves to the elements; but winter is the ebb-tide of that changing sea of life whose flood-tide is the summer. Rhythm, always rhythm.
I would not have you discouraged by the winter of the race, for the spring will come and the roses will bloom again. March winds! They are followed by April showers and Mayflowers. We are now in February.
When the skies are dark and the snows fall, we gather round the fire and think of the future, when the flowers shall bloom again and green grass shall cover the earth and birds shall sing in the trees. The sun “crosses the line” in March when the winds blow, and enters the sign of the Ram, and the Zodiac is traversed again by the great light-giver the Sun. Do you shiver and grow afraid when the Equinox approaches?
The soul, too, has its winter of materialism and its ideal spring.
I have looked at the world from the outside, and I see no cause for despair. I have looked at the soul from the inside, and I see great cause for rejoicing.
You look forward to the end of the war, but the soul must battle to the end of its journey. So long as the soul is cased in matter there will be wars enough, for the greatest struggles are the soul’s struggles with itself. I have told you this before. Sometimes it goes out to fight, sometimes it goes in; the sword will not rust in the scabbard.
Think less of yourself and think more of the race. You lose the vision of the whole by regarding too closely the parts, by regarding too closely yourself that is only one of the parts. Think of yourself as the race, and think of the race as yourself; then yourself becomes the race, and the race becomes yourself; “the Universe grows I.”
There was once a God so great that the cells of his body were minor gods. You may become so great that the cells of your body will be glad to sacrifice themselves to your welfare. By renouncing the will to live, you may make yourself immortal. By renouncing the will to joy, you may become joyous.
Once I desired to be a great man. Now when I only desire that Man shall be great, I have increased in stature myself.
Once I desired to be loved; but now when I love for love’s sake and not for my own sake, I am loved by a multitude. Surely I found my life by losing it, and the words of the Master were justified.
I look down at the world as I once looked down at my garden. I see that the grass is sprouting and I know that seeds are in the ground. I have planted seeds in the hearts of men that shall germinate and reach up towards the sunshine, for I had faith in the spring.
For a while I have left Europe to itself, and have come back to the land I love best. I have journeyed from State to State, and have watched the wills of our legislators. They too are aware that a Force is at work through them. They feel the responsibility of their place, they feel themselves as moving parts of the great whole whose name is America. The Flag is the symbol of their consecration.
I have walked in the woods, where the spirits of the land fore-gather for counsels which the newspapers do not report. They too are aware of their consecration. They strengthen you with their faith. When I lived as a man in America I did not know America. To know the meaning of home we must wander.
I am all for unity now. Do not let yourselves be weakened by fear of the parts. America is a whole, and as a whole she must work. To fuse these many races together is the mission of the present hour. Do not lend your hearts to division.
I see a great leader of men who shall arise in this land. His mission will be the union of races. He will be a teacher and a prophet.