Theosophical Siftings

Christmas Peace

Vol 5, No 14

Christmas Peace
by Reverend George W. Allan
Published in "Lucifer" 1 !

"eprinted from "Theosophical Siftings" Volume 5 The Theosophical Publishing Societ#, $ngland

as+s me to tr# to ,rite a short article for the Christmas number of "Lucifer"& "Something prett# for Christmas", she said& - do not +no, ,hether - am capable of producing an#thing ,orth# of this description. but - ,ill do the best - can&
%%$& 'L(V(TS)*

(nd surel# if it is to be in harmon# ,ith the Spirit of the Season, it must be a ,ord of peace and not of contro/ers#& (n old prophet declared "0oe" to such as sa# "Peace, peace, ,here there is no peace", but is it not almost more ,oeful to sa# "0ar, ,ar", ,here there is no ,ar 1 "eligious contro/ersialists ha/e e/er been in greater danger of erring on this side than on the former, not discerning ,hat manner of spirit the# professed to be of& -f a man ,ill loo+ earnestl# into himself, he ,ill see that his real danger is to cr# "Peace" for himself, and "0ar" for others& -t ,as entirel# against this spirit that the Prophet2s ",oe" ,as directed& -t is& recorded, belie/e, of 3ather 'enson, of Co,le#, that, tra/elling in a rail,a# carriage once, a Sal/ation (rm# captain entered into con/ersation [Page 16] ,ith him regarding the state of his soul& "4a/e #ou found , peace, brother 1" said the Sal/ationist& 0hereon %r& 'enson laconicall# replied& "No5 0ar5" The strong and fier# contro/ersialist, ,ho threatens and denounces, is not he lea+ing for peace ,here he should loo+ for ,ar, for ,ar ,here he should loo+ for peace& 4e is in himself, as he thin+s, at peace& 4is ,hole effort is not to set himself right, to 6udge, to ,eigh, to criticise himself but to set others right and criticise them7 he has belie/ed. he is sa/ed& (las, he sees not the self8righteous pride, the ignorance of his o,n ignorance, the too eas# satisfaction ,ith his o,n /er# poor standard of attainment of the practical /irtues such as self8 sacrifice and humilit#& 4e see himself onl# as he belie/es himself to be& 'ut of those ,ho do not agree ,ith him in all he sees, or thin+s he sees, their ,ilful obstinac#. their per/erse shutting of their e#es to the truth& -t is not to be denied that he is strangel# de/oted in a mista+en ,a#& 4e ,ill labour ,ith these erring ones, as he thin+s them. he ,ill argue ,ith them, pra# for them7 but 9 if the# do not submit he ,ill then treat them as un,orth# of an# consideration. ,ill assume all means ,hich ma# bring them into disrepute as la,ful to him, and thin+ that in so doing he is doing ser/ice to the Prince of Peace 5 Than+ :od ,e are man# of us gro,ing ,iser no,& 0e are beginning to understand that the conflict ,e are called to is a conflict not ,ith the sins of others but ,ith our o,n& ( ,ise man once said to me7 "+no, more e/il about m#self than about an#one else", and it is true7 for the e/il ,e mar+ in oursel/es is surel# there, ,hereas the e/il ,e thin+ ,e see in others ma# not be there at all7 and e/en if it ,ere, until ,e are ;uite sure that ,e are ;uite perfect it is no part of ours to be angr# ,ith others&

Page 1

Theosophical Siftings

Christmas Peace

Vol 5, No 14

-t is impossible to disco/er b# an#thing that a man can say to us ,hether he is on the true side or not& Neither are isolated deeds a true criterion& The onl# sure test is one that onl# :od can use& -t is to +no, the ,hole trend and spirit of the man2s life& *ou ma# see his sins, and not see the frightful source of temptation before ,hich he has fallen. or the agonies of self8humiliation and repentance ,ith ,hich he himself regards his fall& Not to +no, some of his acts, but to +no, all his acts, this alone is sufficient. and #ou cannot +no, all full# ,ithout +no,ing the opposing force he has had to resist, and the estimate he himself forms of his act ,hen it is done& 'ut indeed our o,n Christian Scriptures cut the ground entirel# a,a# from under the feet of the man ,ho sets himself up to 6udge and condemn his fello,s& "<udge not that #e be not 6udged"& "<udge #oursel/es", for the same reason "that #e be not 6udged of the Lord"& =Page 1>? "0ho art thou that 6udgest another man2s ser/ant1 To his o,n master he standeth or falleth"& 3ine ,ords, these last7 and all the finer ,hen ,e remember that the# are the ,ords of one ,ho said of himself, "(fter the ,a# that men call heres#, so ,orship - the :od of m# fathers"& 'ut it ,ill be replied7 "Perhaps it ma# be true that Christians ought to emphasi@e less rather than more the differences of /ie, that eAist among themsel/es, but it is ;uite another thing ,hen #ou come to consider other religions& 4o, can a Christian e/er be at peace ,ith a %ohammedan, a 'rahman, or a 'uddhist 1 Bo not our Scriptures themsel/es denounce false religions and sa# 2their :ods are Be/ils21" To this - ans,er7 No religion is e/er called false on account of its name merel#& $/er# tree must be 6udged b# its fruit& The false religions denounced b# the prophets ,ere /er# different things from the great boo+8religions of the $ast& The# ,ere generall# Phallic7 their ,orship consisted in the sanctif#ing of lust, and the practice of e/er# abomination& No,, although it is true that the fruit alone is the true test, #et it must e/er be borne in mind that "fruit22 does not mean unripe fruit7 or fruit spoilt b# the presence of some hidden ,orm, ,hich effects the one particular apple alone, and for ,hich the parent tree is in no sense responsible& 0hat Christian, for instance, ,ould li+e to offer his ,hole public and pri/ate life to most searching eAamination as an eAemplification of ,hat Christianit# is 1 So in 6udging of all religions ,e must remember this& 0e cannot, from the condition of the case, full# and accuratel# estimate the eAact /alue of the fruit borne b# the ,ide8reaching trees of these great religions. ,hat ,e ought to endea/our to estimate is the sort of fruit that these s#stems themsel/es declare the# are aimed at producing& There are a hundred points on ,hich ,e should go ,rong if ,e begin definiti/el# setting side b# side the acts and spirit Cas far as ,e can +no, itD of those ,ho belong to some other religion and those of our o,n& 3irst of all ,e shall probabl# begin b# assuming our o,n spirit to be perfect because it professes to be Christian, and con/ersel# the others to be imperfect because the# are not Christian& 'ut, in truth, our o,n spirit is /er# far belo, true Christ8li+eness& Eur social s#stem is heathen to the core& - sa# it in all serious earnestness& Eur charit# is a cold dead la# figure, tric+ed out to seem to represent the ,arm li/ing truth& 0hile Christ denounced competition and bade us not be careful about the things of the bodil# life, ,e entirel# re/erse his teaching& 0ell, if the li+e allo,ances must be made for the professed disciples of other masters Cand ,e surel# shall not submit to the humiliation of confessing that these other masters are more faithfull# obe#ed than ours isD, then it ma# surel# ;uite possibl# be that, unprogressi/e and childish as much that ,e hear of them ma# be, that is rather, as ,ith =Page 1 ? us to be credited to the feebleness of the professors than to the falseness of the truth taught b# that master&

Page F

Theosophical Siftings

Christmas Peace

Vol 5, No 14

Ef course - am not going to sa# that - personall# thin+ an# teacher a better re/ealer of truth than Christ, because - do not& 'ut - do sa# that the best ,a# to pro/e this truth is not to get angr# ,ith those ,ho thin+ other,ise& 3ar better, far stronger, ,ould be our case if ,e ,ould see+ to support it b# that demonstration ,hich can ne/er fail to hit its mar+ and con/ince, e/en the demonstration of the po,er of our %aster to raise and ennoble and sanctif# the li/es of those ,ho call him Lord& S#mpath#, lo/e, self8 sacrifice, truth, manifested in all departments of life. at home and abroad. ,hen it ma+es for our present interest and ,hen it does not7 in, Church and in the mar+et. to friend and to stranger, and e/en to foe 9 this is the most po,erful argument, and ,hen this spirit is enshrined in the hearts of all Christians, and shines out in their dail# acts and their ,hole national spirit and polic#, that ,ill be the finest missionar# effort e/er made& No need to shout and clamour and argue& No soul of man at all raised abo/e sa/ager#, be he blac+, or #ello,, or ,hite, but ,ill at once feel and respond to this best eAperiment& 0hen Christians are Christ8li+e, the ,orld ,ill belie/e in Christ& %ean,hile, for m# part, - ,ill ha/e ,ar in m#self against m# o,n limitations and shortcomings, but peace ,ith all man+ind ,ho are earnestl# follo,ing out the highest that the# +no,& 0ar - must declare against those misguided brothers ,ho are themsel/es ,arring against, or rather plundering, their poor brethren, utterl# unable to help themsel/es& 0ar is legitimate, and in :od2s name let us declare it, against self8 ,orship ,here/er it is found& That is the one idolatr# ne/er to be tolerated. but - ha/e nothing but peace and :od speed to sa# to those ,ho ,orship an# idea that points them a,a# from themsel/es to the uni/ersal truths of righteousness and lo/e&

Page G