The Pathway of Roses/The Way to Freedom

by Christian D. Larson

CHAPTER II

THE WAY TO FREEDOM

There is only one will in the universe just as there is only one mind. The one mind is the mind of God, the one will is the will of God. The mind of individual man is an individual or differentiated expression of the Infinite mind, and the largeness of this human mind depends upon how much of the one mind man may decide to appropriate. Man has the freedom to incorporate in his own individual consciousness as much of the Infinite mind as he may desire; and as the mind of the Infinite is limitless, the mind of man may continue to become larger and larger without any end.

The will of the individual mind is a partial expression of the will of God, just as the force of growth that is in each branch is a part of the same force that is in the vine, and the power of the individual will depends upon how perfectly the individual mind works in harmony with the Infinite mind.

There is no limit to the power of the will of God, the divine will; therefore, when the human will is as large a part of the divine will as the individual mind can appropriate and apply, the human will necessarily becomes immensely strong; since the individual mind can appropriate a larger and a larger measure of the divine will, there is no limit to the power of will that can be developed in the mind of man.

To develop the true will, the first essential is to realize that there is but one will, and that we will with the one will just as we live the one life and think with the one mind, though in our thinking, living and willing, we do not, as a rule, do justice to that part of the whole which it is our privilege to use. We think, live and will too much as isolated entities instead of as divine beings eternally united with the Supreme.

The second essential is to realize that the divine will works only for better things and greater things. The path of the divine will is upward and onward forever, and its power is employed exclusively in building more lofty mansions for the soul. Therefore the will of God does not produce sickness, adversity or death; on the contrary, the will of God eternally wills to produce wholeness, harmony and life.

The ills of personal life are not produced by divine will; they are produced by man's inability to properly use that part of divine will that is being expressed in his mind, and his inability comes because man does not always apply his will in harmony with divine will.

When man uses his will as his own isolated power, he separates his mind more and more from the source of his power; in consequence, the power of his will becomes weaker, and he necessarily fails to accomplish what he has in view. He also falls apart from the one ascending current of life; he gets out of harmony with the true order of things, and sickness, trouble, adversity and want invariably follow.

The true use of the will is to apply the will in the full recognition of the oneness of the human will with the divine will. My will is as much of the divine will as I am using now, and it is my privilege to use as much of the divine will as I may desire. To constantly think of my will and the divine will as the same will, is to place my mind in such perfect harmony with limitless power of divine will that I can appropriate this power in larger and larger measure, and the more I appropriate, the stronger becomes the power of will in me.

When the individual mind is in such perfect harmony with the Supreme mind that the divine will can be given free and full expression, the will of the individual mind becomes invincible; the secret therefore of developing a powerful will is found here, and here alone.

The true will is never domineering nor antagonistic; neither does it ever apply the force of resistance. If you are antagonistic or have a tendency to resist everything that is not to your liking it is proof conclusive that you are not in harmony with divine will. You are misdirecting your power, and are forming obstacles and pitfalls for yourself.

The divine will does not attempt to overcome evils and obstacles with antagonistic or domineering forces; the divine will does not fight wrong, it transforms wrong. It works in silence and serenity, but goes so deeply into the elements of things that it undermines the very first causes of all adverse or detrimental conditions. It does not resist the surface, but goes calmly beneath the surface and transforms those undercurrents from which surface conditions proceed.

The divine will, by going into the deeper life of all things, transforms all things into harmony with itself; and can transform all things because its power is supreme. Therefore when we are in the midst of adversity, we should not rail against fate nor antagonize those conditions that seem to work against us. We have within us the power of divine will, and this will change everything for good.

But it not only can, it will. It is not the will of God to keep any person in adversity. It is the will of God to set every person free, and every person will be set free when he places his life completely in the hands of divine will.

When the individual mind can say, from the heart, Thy will be done, the individual life has been placed in the power of divine will and that life will at once begin to pass out of adversity, sickness, trouble and want, into the world of freedom.

However, we do not give up our individuality when we give our mind over to divine will; we do not become automatons in the hands of some superior power; on the contrary, we open our minds to that power that alone can produce individuality. The individuality we now possess has been formed by whatever measure of divine will that we have incorporated in our own conscious existence, and by opening our minds completely to divine will, we shall gain sufficient power to make our individuality infinitely stronger and superior to what it now is. Our purpose is not to be used by the Supreme, but to use the power of the Supreme.

To live the life of God, think the thought of God, and will with the will of God—that is the secret path to the highly developed individuality; and it is such an individuality that becomes a master mind, a Son of the Most High.

When the individual mind declares, Thy will be done, consciousness must fully recognize the presence of Supreme power, and must realize, with depth of thought and feeling, that Supreme power invariably leads to higher ground—the world of freedom and superior existence.

When the mind gives up to divine will in an indifferent, submissive, self-surrendering attitude, it is not giving up to divine will; it is simply giving up to the surrounding forces of fate. Such a mind will permit the forces of adversity to have their way, thinking that it is the will of God that much suffering still must be endured, and will consequently drift with circumstances, accepting whatever comes as a necessary chastisement.

This method, however, weakens the mind and places the individual more out of harmony with God than ever before. We always place ourselves out of harmony with God when we accept evil as coming from Him, and we weaken our own ability to use divine will when we permit adversity to exist thinking that it was sent from God.

To give the mind over to divine will is not to give up at all, in the ordinary sense of the term; we simply place ourselves in that position where we can use the power of the one true will instead of a mere imitation. We blend our own desires and aims with that power that we know can see us through, and we work in the realization that whatever is detrimental in our plans will be eliminated as we press on towards the great goal in view.

The mind that is aimless, waiting for the will of God to take him where he belongs, will drift with fate. He is not in the hands of divine will, he is in the hands of circumstances because he has not given divine will something to do. God does not tell us what to do; He has given us the wisdom to know our own desires and our own tendencies, and He has given us the power to fulfill those desires, but we must take individual action; this is why we have individuality and free individual choice.

However, when we do take individual action, God will work with us if we enter into harmony with Him, and when He is with us, failure is impossible.

To use divine will, we must first have a lofty purpose in view; we must have something high and something definite that we wish to attain; we must have something upon which to apply the limitless power of divine will, and we must desire to reach that goal with the very deepest and strongest desires of heart and soul.

Then we must will to press on, knowing that we are using divine will, the Supreme will of the Most High, because this is the only will in the universe. It is the will that eternally wills the higher, the greater and the better—the will that is invincible, and always does what it wills to do.

To the minds of the many the true meaning of the will of God has not been made perfectly clear; therefore the majority, even among those who have strong spiritual tendencies, hesitate to give up to the absolute direction of higher power. There is a slight dread in the mind of the average person whenever he thinks of entering the uncertainty and the mysteriousness of the seeming void, and as long as things are reasonably well he does not care to give up to some power he knows nothing of. And as a true understanding of higher power can not be found among the many, there are, accordingly, but few who can actually declare, with the whole heart, "Thy will be done." We frequently pray for His will to guide us, nevertheless we inwardly expect to use our own wills in mostly everything we do. But such prayers are not true to the spirit, and therefore they prevent the soul from actually discerning the real meaning of God's will; and also prevent the mind from becoming a perfect channel for the expression of His will.

The universe is orderly from centre to circumference, and everything is established upon the firm foundation of eternal right and universal good. There is a power that lives and moves throughout this vast immensity, and all those things that have a permanent place in the cosmos, or that are instrumental in any way, in promoting the purpose of life, have their source in this one power. All the laws and forces in existence spring originally from this power; it is therefore the centre and source of all that lives and moves; and this power is the will of God. Accordingly, to do the will of the Father is to enter into harmony with the universal order and promote the great eternal plan.

The laws of life are all expressions of Supreme will. God wills eternally the right and the true, and the act of His willing originates and perpetuates the sublime plan of life that harmoniously thrills the entire cosmos during endless eternities. God's will is constant and changeless; therefore all the laws and principles in existence remain ever the same, as they are all the expression of the One Will. All that we see in the life of the universe is the eternal coming forth of Divine Will, and the perpetual returning to the One Source.

The true will in every soul is an individualization of Infinite Will, and the true use of the individual will means the doing of the will of God. The Infinite Will does not seek to control things, but seeks eternally to give itself to things. And here lies the secret in correctly using the human will, and in placing the human will in perfect harmony with God's will. When you can say with the whole heart, "Thy will be done," you are not giving up your own will, but you are placing your own will and the whole of your life in oneness with God and in harmony with the universal order. Therefore, when you do the will of God your own will becomes right, and becomes infinitely stronger than it ever was before.

When we act in perfect accord with the laws of life on all the planes of being, we are doing the will of God because what we call law in life is the will of God in expression in life. He who lives in perfect harmony with nature, who fully appreciates her grandeur and her beauty, and who daily seeks to be inspired by the loveliness of her presence is doing the will of God in the natural world. He who rightly employs all the elements of mind and body, and who furthers the purpose of his own being in constant growth and unfoldment is doing the will of God in the human world. He who searches the deep things of God and enters into that high state where God becomes "closer than breathing, nearer than hands and feet;" he who lives and moves and has his being in the infinite sea of divine light, and ever ascends higher and higher into the greater glories of God's kingdom, is doing the will of God in the spiritual world.

Whoever can say with his whole heart "Thy will be done," has placed the whole of his life in perfect accord with God; and henceforth he will seek to live in perfect harmony with all that is, because all is of God. To do the will of God is not only to place one's life in the hands of God, but to be at peace with all the world, and to give one's whole life to all the world. The will of God seeks eternally to give itself to things—all things; the will of man, to be in harmony with the will of God, must do the same.

However insignificant a law may seem to be, it is God working in that part of His universe; and as He is everywhere, manifesting His power everywhere, we must live and work with Him in all things, even the most trivial, if we would be in perfect accord with His life and always do His will. A law in life is a path to greater things; in truth, an open door through which we may pass more closely into His presence. We can meet God at every expression of life, and whenever we are in the highest state of harmony with our expression of life, we have met God in that place. And also, when we use that expression of life in entering into a larger measure of life, we do the will of God in that place. Therefore, whoever meets God everywhere, and does His will in every place, will realize the fullness of life at all times and under every circumstance. And to realize the fullness of life is to realize the allness of the good.

The incompleteness of human life, in general, is caused by our failure to enter into perfect accord with all the laws in our sphere of existence. We may be wholly right in some things while the very opposite in other things. We may be scrupulous in regard to the right use of some laws, and at the same time continually negligent in regard to others. There are many who take perfect care of their bodies, and comply most rigidly with all known physical laws, yet they violate the laws of mind nearly every hour of their existence. Others are very careful so as to think only the truth, and do their best to remain continually in the most beautiful states of mind; but while aiming to live in mental ideals they are wholly indifferent to the welfare of the body. Not infrequently we find people who live in perfect accord with intellectual laws but violate daily the moral laws. Also, too many who are the reverse. In brief, the majority do the will of God in some realms while living entirely at variance with His laws in other realms. And here we find the simple answer to many perplexing questions.

When some misfortune comes to you that you do not think you deserve, do not think that God is unjust or that fate is unkind. You have simply failed to do His will in all things. Do not blame others, do not blame fate, do not even blame yourself; simply proceed to readjust your life so that you may become one with Him in all things. Then all ills shall disappear, and you shall not only regain what you have lost but you shall, in addition, receive much more. Live in accord with all the laws of life physically, mentally and spiritually; do all things in the consciousness of God; do all things to the glory of God, and follow the light of His spirit in every thought and deed; then you will always do the will of God.

Though you may dwell upon the mountain tops of the spirit, though you may glory in the splendors of the cosmic realm, though your mind may go out upon the vastness of the limitless and your soul ascend to empyrean heights, still, do not for a moment deprive the body of anything that is rich and beautiful in physical existence. The great goal is the spiritual life, and in the spiritual life all the joys of sense, all the joys of intellect and all the joys of the highest heavens are divinely blended into one. The physical life is sacred. The earth is the foot-stool of the Most High. God lives in His heaven, but every atom in the visible universe thrills with the glory of His radiant presence.