THE LAW

Eugene Del Mar

I am hard as a damant, cold as steel, bitter as gall, deadly as poison;
I am soft as down, warm as sunlight, gentle as a zephyr, tender as a mother.
I am your adversary, your opponent, your enemy;

I am your counsellor, your assistant, your friend.
I am stronger than the strongest, I bend you to my iron will; I am yielding to the uttermost, gladly I go your way.
I am a curse; I am a blessing.
I am what you make of me; I thwart or
serve, I degrade or exalt;
I am your Master or your servant.
 Obey me, and you are my Master;
Disobey, and you are my slave. I am the Law!

The Law is God’s mode of motion; it portrays God’s wis dom. It pervades all time and space. It is everywhere at every instant. It has as many phases or aspects as has God. It unites and separates, and explains unity in diversity. Its expressions may be formulate^ as the law of Balance, Equilibrium or Se quence, of Cause and Effect, of Giving and Receiving, of Karma.

The Law is the expression of Infinite Justice, of Infinite Wisdom and Love, than which there can be nothing more perfect. It never fails or ceases to operate, it never compromises or lowers its exalted standard, it never permits escape from its loving inclusiveness. It weighs with exceeding fineness and tenderness every factor, circumstance and condition; and it balances and proportions these with absolute precision. It deals primarily with Soul, and no acknowledged Son of God desires more or expects less than the dictates of Infinite Wisdom and Love.

The Law does not punish those who disobey it, for diso bedience is impossible. The Law is always obeyed. It is in fallible and inexorable. It is a finality. But one may oppose and fight it, and suffer; or he may harmonize with and love it, and enjoy. Eternally, the Law offers any and every possible opportunity. Nothing comes or goes or keeps away, except through operation of the Law. The Law is not compelling but enabling; it is the Universal Provider.
While The Law is changeless, one’s relation to it changes as he develops, and one discerns The Law only in relation to himself. In this sense, each man is his own Law. One’s knowl edge of the Absolute is always relative. With each new phase of his unfoldment, one discerns The Law from a different angle. He may not alter The Law, but he always determines how it shall affect him; for its “reaction” on him is ever the counterpart of his “action” on it. Truth is eternal; but it “makes free” those only who make free with it.

Seek knowledge, but with knowledge get understanding! Knowledge comes first, and wisdom and understanding are ex tracted from experience. What one lives feels, thinks and acts represents his understanding or foundation or realization of Life. This is what he really knows, or knows of Reality. One is called upon forever to transmute what he thinks he knows into realization and understanding, to make actual his dream, and give reality to his vision.

To believe what is true, or to know the truth, it is necessary not merely to think, but to think straight. No one may think straight with a crooked mind. False ideas and faulty logic are poor avenues to the truth. One may be loyal to himself and his conceptions of truth only to the extent that he discerns The Law, and thereby realizes clearly the relation between cause and result.

It is because of false ideas, cloudy thought and faulty logic, that the solutions of life’s problems are difficult. With realiza tion of The Law problems are dissipated; for with this discernment, the light of truth shines through the darkness and illumines it. When one can think straight, when the mirror of his soul shines effulgent, it becomes evident to him that each problem carries within it its own solution, and as Dr. Quimby says “in its explanation lies the cure.”
When one takes a stand in truth he will be called upon to justify, to be true to his belief, to embody his ideal. Unless he does this, his professions of spiritual truth will surely become related to The Law in a manner to induce some Karmic boom erang. Unless one desires to incorporate in his life the truth he hears, it were far better for his comfort not to listen to its pre sentation; for The Law will work whether or not he does.

The Law is to each exactly that which he is to it It repre sents to each the exact degree of his unfoldment. It holds each to his belief in it, to what he thinks he knows of it. It has spirit ual, intellectual and physical aspects; and in every department of one’s activity, each one operates The Law on one of these planes.

To operate The Law successfully on any plane, one must put his vital energy into his interpretation. He must back it up. For example, The Law will operate on the spiritual plane to the exact measure of one’s faith in and devotion to it. No mere intellectual activity will pjoduce spiritual results, nor may one who has faith in the spiritual aspect of The Law vyork it successfully on lower planes. No one may deceive either the Self or The Law.

“Nature is conquered by obedience.” If one would think clearly, live harmoniously and be at peace, he must be true to his understanding of The Law, irrespective of what others may say or do. When one takes an gffvanced attitude, he calls to him self all the tests necessary to establish him in this new position. The Law comes to his assistance, and sustains him to the extent that he fraternizes with it. Irrecognizes and reciprocates every advance.

Harmony with The Law, or the obedience that conquers nature, is the accompaniment and result of integrity to one’s ideals, and faithfulness to one’s ideas. It involves being true to one’s Self; being free from prejudices, superstitions, hatreds, and the other destructive thoughts and emotions that blind and lead one to destruction. It calls for Self-control, and a fine balancing of life’s activities. Great results follow great causes only, and onfe may receive bountifully only after giving greatly. But as no one may lose anything that is of permanent value, his spiritual attainments always show a profit on his investment.

Inevitably, payment is made for whatever one receives, and nothing may come to anyone unless it is invited. One invites health and harmony and happiness, and pays their price; also he invites disease, discord and misery, and for these he pays the price. These terms have no meaning to The Law; it knows neither pain nor pleasure, happiness nor misery. It knows only that what one calls “before” and “after” are exact equivalents in the Eternal Now.

The Law is simplicity itself; so simple as to be a profound mystery. It is clear and plain, both in conception and formula tion. If one would but grasp fundamentals and hold fast to them! Could one be as a little child and love everyone and everything, if these two conceptions were but understood and lived, little if any more would be necessary to the most exalted life. While these ideas have been promulgated throughout the ages, the result is not over evident. To love everyone and every thing, to include all that is and exists within the scope of one’s love, is an attribute of the Infinite. It is an ultimate ideal, a crowning glory of a Son of God!

The touchstone of spirituality is integrity being true to the self, to one’s spiritual ideals. This is the interior test; the exterior is its counterpart of honesty, being true to the obliga tions that justice imposes, paying one’s debts and receiving his credits with exactly equal cheerfulness. Giving and receiving with identical freedom! That is the great lesson of life. That is the way The Law works; how many are there who work with it?

The Law gives and it takes away, but it operates only at one’s bidding; so that no one gives but the self and no one takes away but the self. One’s thoughts and acts speak a language that The Law understands fully, whether he does or not. Results are always embedded in causes; in producing causes one deter mines results. In this realization lies the consciousness of indi vidual freedom, for whatever one has done he may undo, what ever he has sent out he may recall. If he was Master yesterday, he is Master today! “Each Soul is its own Redeemer; there is no law but love.”

(AZOTH 1920)