Urges, Desires, and Lures
Audio File
[THOUGHTS FOR CONSIDERATION: by a certain Greek philosopher from Alexandria named Rodan.]
Human life consists in three great drives – urges, desires, and lures. Strong character, commanding personality, is only acquired by converting the natural urge of life into the social art of living, by transforming present desires into those higher longings which are capable of lasting attainment, while the commonplace lure of existence must be transferred from one’s conventional and established ideas to the higher realms of unexplored ideas and undiscovered ideals.
The more complex civilization becomes, the more difficult will become the art of living. The more rapid the changes in social usage, the more complicated will become the task of character development. Every ten generations humankind must learn anew the art of living if progress is to continue. And if humans become so ingenious that they more rapidly add to the complexities of society, the art of living will need to be remastered in less time, perhaps every single generation. If the evolution of the art of living fails to keep pace with the technique of existence, humanity will quickly revert to the simple urge of living – the attainment of the satisfaction of present desires. Thus, will humanity remain immature; society will fail in growing up to full maturity.
Social maturity is equivalent to the degree to which humanity is willing to surrender the gratification of mere transient and present desires for the entertainment of those superior longings the striving for whose attainment affords the more abundant satisfactions of progressive advancement toward permanent goals.
But the true badge of social maturity is the willingness of a people to surrender the right to live peaceably and contently under the ease-promoting standards of the lure of established beliefs and conventional ideas for the disquieting and energy-requiring lure of the pursuit of the unexplored possibilities of the attainment of undiscovered goals of idealistic spiritual realities.
Animals respond nobly to the urge of life, but only human beings can attain the art of living, albeit the majority of humanity only experiences the animal urge to live. Animals know only this blind and instinctive urge; the human being is capable of transcending this urge to natural function. A human being may elect to live upon the high plane of intelligent art, event that of celestial joy and spiritual ecstasy.
Animals make no inquiry into the purposes of life; therefore, they never worry, neither do they commit suicide. Suicide among humans testifies that such beings have emerged from the purely animal stage of existence, and to the further fact that the exploratory efforts of such human beings have failed to attain the artistic levels of mortal experience.
Animals know not the meaning of life; humans not only possess capacity for the recognition of values and the comprehension of meanings, but they also are conscious of the meaning of meanings—they are self-conscious of insight.
When humans dare to forsake a life of natural craving for one of adventurous art and uncertain logic, they must expect to suffer the consequent hazards of emotional casualties—conflicts, unhappiness, and uncertainties—at least until the time of their attainment of some degree of intellectual and emotional maturity.
Discouragement, worry, and indolence are positive evidence of moral immaturity. Human society is confronted with two problems; attainment of the maturity of the individual and attainment of the maturity of the race.
The mature human being soon begins to look upon all other mortals with feelings of tenderness and with emotions of tolerance. Mature humans view immature folks with the love and consideration that parents bear their children.
Successful living is nothing more or less than the art of the mastery of dependable techniques for solving common problems. The first step in the solution of any problem is to locate the difficulty, to isolate the problem, and frankly to recognize its nature and gravity. The great mistake is that, when life problems excite out profound fears, we refuse to recognize them. Likewise, when the acknowledgement of our difficulties entails the reduction of our long-cherished conceit, the admission of envy, or the abandonment of deep- seated prejudices, the average person prefers to cling to the old illusions of safety and to the long-cherished false feelings of security. Only a brace person is willing honestly to admit, and fearlessly to face, what a sincere and logical mind discovers.
The wise and effective solution of any problem demands that the mind shall be free from bias, passion, and all other purely personal prejudices which might interfere with the disinterested survey of the actual factors that go to make up the problem presenting itself for solution. The solution of life problems requires courage and sincerity. Only honest and brave individuals are able to follow valiantly through the perplexing and confusing maze of living to where the logic of a fearless mind may lead. And this emancipation of the mind and soul can never be effected without the driving power of an intelligent enthusiasm which borders on religious zeal.
It required the lure of a great ideal to drive humans on in the pursuit of a goal which is beset with difficult material problems and manifold intellectual hazards.
Even though we are effectively armed to meet the difficult situations of life, you can hardly expect success unless you are equipped with that wisdom of mind and charm of personality which enables you to win the hearty support and co-operation of your fellow human beings. You cannot hope for a large measure of success in either secular or religious work unless you can learn how to persuade your fellows, to prevail with them. You simply must have tact and tolerance.
But the greatest of all methods of problem solving [Rodan had] learned from Jesus, our Master. [Rodan refers] to that which [Jesus] so consistently practices, and which he has so faithfully taught [speaking to Apostles Nathaniel and Thomas, and a group of some two dozen believers who chanced to be at the Magadan Park in the Decapolis Tour], the isolation of worshipful meditation.
In this habit of Jesus’ going off so frequently by himself to commune with the Father in heaven is to be found the technique, not only of gathering strength and wisdom for the ordinary conflicts of living, but also of appropriating the energy for the solution of the higher problems of a moral and spiritual nature.
But even correct methods of solving problems will not compensate for inherent defects of personality or atone for the absence of the hunger and thirst for true righteousness.
[Rodan was] deeply impressed with the custom of Jesus in going apart by himself to engage in these seasons of solitary survey of the problems of living; to seek for new stores of wisdom and energy for meeting th manifold demands of social service; to quicken and deepen the supreme purpose of living by actually subjecting the total personality to the consciousness of contacting with divinity; to grasp for possession of new and better methods of adjusting oneself to the ever-changing situations of living existence; to effect those vital reconstructions and readjustments of one’s personal attitudes which are so essential to enhanced insight into everything worthwhile and real; and to do all of this with an eye single to the glory of God—to breathe in sincerity the Master’s favorite prayer, “Not my will, but yours, be done.”
This worshipful practice of the Master brings that relaxation which renews the mind; that illumination which inspires the soul; that courage which enables one bravely to face one’s problems; that self-understanding which obliterates debilitation fear; and that consciousness of union with divinity which equips us human beings with the assurance that enables us to dare to be Godlike. The relaxation of worship, or spiritual communion as practiced by the Master, relieves tension, removes conflicts, and mightily augments the total resources of the personality. And all this philosophy, plus the gospel of the kingdom, constitutes the new religion as [Rodan understood] it.
Prejudice blinds the soul to the recognition of truth, and prejudice can be removed only by the sincere devotion of the soul to the adoration of a cause that is all-embracing and all- inclusive of one’s fellow human beings. Prejudice is inseparably linked to selfishness. Prejudice can be eliminated only by the abandonment of self-seeking and by substituting therefor the quest of the satisfaction of the service of a cause that is not only greater than self, but one that is even greater than all humanity – the search for God, the attainment of divinity. The evidence of maturity of personality consists in the transformation of human desire so that it constantly seeks for the realization of those values which are highest and most divinely real.
In a continually changing world, in the midst of an evolving social order, it is impossible to maintain settled and established goals of destiny. Stability of personality can be experienced only by those who have discovered and embraced the living God as the eternal goal of infinite attainment. And thus, to transfer one’s goal from time to eternity, from earth to Paradise, from the human to the divine, requires that humanity shall become regenerated, converted, be born again; that humans shall become the re-created child of the divine spirit; that he/she shall gain entrance into the brotherhood of the kingdom of heaven. All philosophies and religions which fall short of these ideals are immature. The philosophy which [Rodan taught], linked with the gospel which [the Apostles] preach, represents the new religion of maturity, the ideal of all future generations. And this is true because our ideal is final, infallible, eternal, universal, absolute, and infinite.
[Rodan’s] philosophy gave [him] the urge to search for the realities of true attainment, the goal of maturity. But [his] urge was impotent; [his] urge was impotent; [his] search lacked driving power; [his] quest suffered from the absence of certainty of directionization. And these deficiencies have been abundantly supplied by this now gospel of Jesus, with its enhancement of insights, elevation of ideals, and settledness of goals. Without doubts and misgiving [Rodan] can now wholeheartedly enter upon the eternal venture. [As so can we all (now).]
Free PDF Download: How Your Choices Evolve the ‘Pre-Destiny’ of You!
Amazon Kindle / Paperback Editions: How Your Choices Evolve the ‘Pre-Destiny’ of You!
Morals, Virtue, and Personality
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2019 Douglas Mayberry