It seems to me that many who think that they would earnestly seek the light do not comprehend the true nature of the temptations to which they are continually subjected. They are looking for something unusual, something hard in the way of a trial, and think: “If something of the sort would only come along, how I would show my power to stand it!” At the same time, by their daily yielding to the small vexations of life they show their unfitness for meeting greater trials. Even if one who has waited long and patiently asks, “Why am I not given an opportunity, since my conduct deserves it?” he shows by the very question his unfitness. As the great poet, Walt Whitman, who is full of occultism, says: “When the materials are all prepared and ready, the architects shall appear.”
When a person loses his temper over a trifle, he is hardly likely to meet any greater temptation in the right spirit. Every time we successfully overcome even the slightest obstacle, we have made a step in our initiation into the mysteries. Let us remember that it is the unexpected that always happens in the way of trials to the novice. The devil never sends a herald to announce his coming, and when pictured as a serpent it is never as a rattlesnake.
When we have learned to encounter every vexation absolutely without complaint, either internally or externally — if it disturbs us in the slightest degree within, it is just as bad as if we expressed it in words or action — then, and not till then, can we expect to be given the opportunity to take a decided step forwards. For the secret of advancement is the development of the will through its union with the Divine Will.
By meeting the ordinary ills of life with unvexed soul we educate and strengthen our will, fitting us for further advancement. Humbleness, Patience and Content are the first 3 steps that lead to the door.
WQ Judge (Echoes of the Orient 2, 450-51 )
(image thanks to http://liveholiness.com/)
Part 3
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