Meditations on Various Aspects of the Spiritual Life

1. “ Evit is unnatural and a contradiction of the law of our being ”’ (Whichcote).

“ All evil is done with the object of gaining some good, and no one does evil as evil.” No sensible man with his eyes open, however bad or wicked he may be, seeks to injure himself. Evil is not an inherent attribute of anything that God has created. It destroys man, and its poisonous effect, which encompasses the destruction of others, will itself destroy it eternally. Eternal permanence is essentially connected with goodness, which is one of the attributes of the Eternal God. Only if Evil were the attribute of an eternal being could it have been eternal. If we say that Evil is an attribute of Satan then this is also false, because he was also created in a state of innocence, and his present state of evil arose in him through the exercise of his own free will. Now as Evil is not eternal—it has had a beginning, and it must also have an end—we must conclude that Evil will come to an end, and especially can we say this because it is selfdestructive.

2. A Chinese philosopher, Chu Fu Tsu, writes that ‘‘ at birth man is like a spring of clear water, which, on its course through mountains and plains picks up earth and mud, and becomes dirty, but if it is dammed at any place the mud settles, and it becomes clear again”. Mencius has said the spirit is like a grain of wheat, which is by nature not evil, but when sown it is dependent on soil, water, and manure, and on the conditions of its environment. In other words, man is good by nature and birth, but environment makes him bad.

From one point of view this is entirely correct, but we cannot deny the hereditary taint of sin, and the inclination of our natures towards evil. Let us take, for example, the case of children whom we call innocent. Herbert Spencer has said: “ The popular idea that children are innocent, while it is true with respect to evil knowledge, is totally false with respect to evil impulses, as half an hour’s observation in the nursery will prove to any one”’.

3. When a man feels hunger and thirst of soul, and in his ignorance tries to satisfy himself by unlawful participation in sin, the end he reaches is that, in disobeying God, he destroys both his appetite and himself, and fails to get the satisfaction he seeks. Once it happened in the Himalayas that a famished traveller found a beautiful and tempting fruit. He ravenously ate it up, but it was poisonous, and both the hungry one, who thus sought to satisfy himself, and the hunger which tormented him were ended for ever by death.

4. In any wound or disease in the body a struggle goes on between the two kinds of minute germs which are the responsible cause of bodily health or disease; and those win in the contest that increase most in number and strength. If the germs of disease are defeated, then there is a victory for those of health. So is it in the conflict between good and evil thoughts in men, and between good and evil men in the world. If in the hour of temptation good thoughts are victorious over the evil ones the result is spiritual health and true happiness.

The time will surely come when, through the grace of God, men will gain an absolute | and eternal victory over sin, and evil will be wiped out for ever.

1. “ Tue evil suggestion or thought of a bad companion is like the insect’s sting in a young oak leaf, which ripens into the gallnut when the leaf is mature.” A snake is not harmed by its own poison, but other harmless creatures are affected by it, so an evil-minded man, who already has the poison of sin in him, is not so much harmed by the poisonous influence exerted by an evil man _as is a good-minded man.

2. The upas tree of Java and the poisonous ivy of America produce a kind of noxious juice or oil which is carried round on the wind, and brings dangerous and wasting disease to all who come within its radius.

So, in some unrecognised way, the poisonous evil effect of the lives of evil men spreads out on all sides, bearing to many spiritual disease and death.

3. It has been noted that borers that eat the stoutest timbers, and marine worms that bore the rocks, are extremely soft and delicate. Yet in time they absolutely destroy the hard wood and stones. So, if we do not watch, and, with the help of God, destroy those evil thoughts and habits which appear so negligible, then they, like the borer, will leave nothing but the shell of our spiritual life.

4. Poisonous reptiles and insects, like snakes and scorpions, strike and wound, and then from their poison glands inject the wounds, and cause death or suffering; but flies and vermin, not counted as dangerous, are really no less deadly, for by acting as carriers of the germs of disease they spread it everywhere and bring about the death of multitudes. So we would not class many men as dangerous criminals who are really just as bad, for, unperceived by others, they use their unbridled tongues to spread around the taint of deadly doctrines and influences.

5. There is a certain insect which bores | into unripe fruit and lays its eggs there, and as the fruit develops, the hole on the outside becomes closed. Later on the eggs hatch out, and the tiny grubs begin to feed on the fruit. Outwardly there is no sign. The fruit looks ripe and tempting, but inside it is hollow and useless. In a like way, evil ideas and habits which we contract in childhood and youth steadily increase, and, working in our innermost souls, corrupt our moral nature. So must we, from our earliest days, be on the watch against the sin that depraves our natures.

In Mexico there is a kind of bean known as ‘‘the jumping bean’”’, which, when the heat of the sun falls on it, begins to twist and turn about until it reaches the shade of a stone or bush. The explanation of this _ strange fact is that a certain insect has bored into the bean and, by feeding on it, has grown till the pod is hollow. When the heat of the sun falls on it, it struggles to escape, and turns the bean-pod over and over till it happens to reach the shade, where its struggles are calmed by the cool of the shadow. In the same way, evil thoughts and desires enter into human hearts, and when the Sun of Righteousness sheds His light on the sinful life the sinner is disquieted and seeks to escape into the darkness, where His rays do not shine, and so does he live in the outer darkness and lose God’s light and heat.

6. Since God has made man in His own likeness, there is nothing that can hurt him, if he fulfils this one condition, that in the exercise of his free will he does not entangle himself in sin. We do no sort of harm to God if we sin, but we do injure ourselves, and those related to us. ‘The God of Love desires that we may be saved from sin in all its forms, so that we may enjoy His fellowship, but sin excludes us from this holy association with God. ‘Then between individuals there is such a close relation that our injury becomes the injury of others, and another’s injury becomes ours. It never has been possible, and it never will be, that we can commit evil without injuring others. To some degree or other our fellow-men are affected by the good or bad that we do. Hence the meaning of repentance is that for the future we will refrain from those deeds which are injurious both to ourselves and to others, and, with God’s help-and grace, as Zaccheus did, make restitution for what we have already done (Luke xix. 8-10).

1. Lire is in the blood, and by shedding His blood Christ gives life tous. As serum is often injected for the cure of disease, so, by the application of His blood, Christ saves us from sin’s deadly disease, and from death. The whole universe is a body. Every limb is connected with the whole body, so if there is pain in one part the whole body feels it. If serum is used in any particular part the whole body feels the effect of it. In this way, though Christ was crucified in this world, which is a single part of this seen and unseen universe, yet the whole universe was affected by His death. And though for the salvation of the world He was crucified in a single place (Jerusalem), still the whole world shares in His sacrifice. And as the spirit is in the whole body, so God is present in His whole universe. Saint Bonaventura has written: ‘‘ His centre is everywhere, but His circumference is nowhere’.

2. Christ was made a sinner for our sakes and died the sinner’s death. The story is told of a good man who went to live among a band of evil men, in order to save them from their evil lives. Many thought that this man of God must be one of the band, and when a great crime had been committed, suspicion that he was connected with it fell on him. He was arrested, and when he was sentenced to death he received the verdict with joy. The band knew that he was altogether innocent, and after his death the thought that the man of God had died for their sakes so affected them that many of them gave up their evil ways and deeds. Thus did Jesus. His power is always active; and when sinners are influenced by His wonderful love, and repent, turning their hearts to Him, then He uproots the evil _from their souls, and gives them new life, and they become new creatures like Himself.

3. In 1921 there was a jungle fire in the Himalayas. While most of the people round were busy putting it out, I noticed several men standing looking into a tree. I asked, “What are you looking at?” They pointed to a nest full of young birds on a tree whose branches were already alight. Above it a bird was flying wildly about in great distress, They said, ‘‘ We wish we could save that nest, but we can’t get near it for the fire.” I watched, and a few minutes later saw the nest catch fire. I thought, ‘‘ Now the motherbird will fly away,” but no! I saw her fly down, spread her wings over the young, and in a few minutes.she \ was; burnt_to ashes 1 with them. I I had never seen anything like it before. Then I said to those standing by, “We are amazed at this wonderful love; but, please think that when such astonishing love is seen in this little creature, how much more wonderful must His love be who has created such an unselfish nature. The same infinite love brought Him down from heaven to become man, so that by giving His own life He might save us who were dying in our sins.”

4. The proof of the truth of Christ’s claims is based on the experience of countless believers. Every experienced Christian is a witness to how necessary, how fitted to his every need and how life-giving is His presence with us.

In 1922, when I was travelling in Palestine with a friend, I went to see Jacob’s well, and was refreshed by drinking its sweet, fresh water. But an hour or two later I was again thirsty. Then those words of our Lord came forcibly home to my mind, that “ whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life ” (John iv. 13-14).

I had just drunk of Jacob’s well and was again thirsty, but I can say with all humility and thankfulness, that in the twenty years since I gave my heart to Him, and drank of that water which He gave me, I have never been thirsty, because He really is the Fountain of Life.

5. Referring to the fact that in the personality and words of Christ there is also to be found Spirit and Life (John vi. 63),:

Dr. Parker has well said: ‘‘ Measure the religious doctrine of Jesus by that of the time and place He lived in, or that of any time and place. Consider what a work His words and deeds have wrought in the world. Remember that the greatest minds, the richest hearts, have set no loftier aim, no truer method than His of perfect love to God and man. Shall we be told such a man never lived—the whole story is a lie! Suppose that Plato and Newton never lived. But who did their wonders and thought their thoughts? What man could have fabricated a Jesus? None but a Jesus.”

Mere moral philosophy—metaphysics, in- tellectualism, or civilisation—can give no help in overcoming sin and unbridled passion. If God’s grace and power is not given us, then worldly education and culture, instead of helping, merely invent new means and methods for committing sin, and for helping us to destroy one another. It is therefore urgently necessary that, for being saved from sin and its evil consequences, we should put ourselves into the hands of Him who can give us full and free salvation.