CHAPTER XII.
LIMITLESS FIELDS OF INTEREST
A "UNIVERSE" TO EXPLORE
There is not the slightest question in the thoughts of any intelligent man or woman, but that "all people" want to see and enjoy as many of the gloriously beautiful and awe-inspiring places of interest on this earth, as their capacity for appreciation can hold. We should start enjoying the world, and its limitless variety of blessings "now," and before our interest in life starts running down, and the world says we have grown old. Old age is more a condition of one's mentality—"a loss of interest in life;"—a condition of boredom resulting from the endlessly monotonous repetition of common-place duties and common-place interests,—much more the outgrowth of such experiences than the direct result of the wearing out of our bodies. Bodily decrepitude and lack of vitality and life would not occur in the experience of the average individual for many years later than they now seem to, were men and women each day making discoveries of new interests, instead of being forced to spend literally "all" of their waking hours in a daily round of monotonous "soul-destroying routine duties." The International Institute of Universal Research and Administration seeks the privilege of "uniting" mankind for the purpose of providing such interests.
AFTER ALL, WHAT A "CRUEL FARCE" IT IS THAT ANY ONE SHOULD EVER GROW BORED WITH LIFE IN A WORLD WHICH CONTAINS SUCH A VARIETY OF INEXHAUSTIBLE INTERESTS AS OUR EARTH. No individual could ever travel to each point of beauty and grandeur which it provides, even if every day of his life were devoted to doing nothing but traveling in search of beauty;—nor could he really learn to know and understand and appreciate all of our earth's varieties of beauty, even if he were able to spend hundreds of years doing nothing else. This same statement might apply to the study of the world's beautiful paintings, its poetry and literature—the study of nature—of animals, and the incalculable variety of expressions of life, from the "infinitesimal" to "The Infinite." Growing acquainted with the habits, actions and interests of the numerous forms of life which occupy this world with us, and with which we can readily become friends, companions and protectors—could never grow monotonous even if we were to spend thousands of years doing that alone.
Those who are inclined towards exploration in the fields of science, are aware of the fact that they have not penetrated even the "outer shell" of Mind's limitless potentialities in that direction. Those who prefer to raise their thoughts above the shaping and forming of objectified expressions, such as machinery and the use of the world's various elements and materials, and seek instead to look out into limitless space, in the study of the and the numerous fascinating discoveries of astronomy, have before them a field of adventure which they could not exhaust during many thousands of years of ceaseless investigation. Those who prefer to take the microscope instead of the telescope in their explorations into the "limitless expressions" of Mind,—(which our Creator has formed in such variety and profusion, beyond the discernment of not only the naked eye, but of even the most highly developed microscopes of today),—have not even started on their journey of discovery in the field of the "infinitesimal expressions" of our Creator's omniscience, and surely they need never fear of wearing out their field of interest.
No, there is not the slightest possibility of a man growing bored with life because of its monotonous sameness, except to the extent that he, himself, closes his eyes and like a little Potato Bug, *—becoming satisfied with his own little patch of potatoes,—gradually grows to think that since there is nothing in life but potatoes, and he knows all about them, there is nothing worth living for. Nor should men's mentalities become like another type of Potato Bug which makes no effort towards further exploration of the world and its interests, because of the fact that he quite accidentally crawled out from behind his great big potato one day, and seeing just above his head the bushy leaves of the upper part of his potato plant,—(which no other potato bug had ever before discovered),—grew quite certain—because of the vast area of the potato plant—that there was nothing left to discover, and also quite sure in his own mind that he should be forever honored by all other Potato Bugs for having finally reached the most distant outpost of the universe. Carrying our illustration a bit further, we find that because of the fact that this little Potato Bug's discovery was greater than that of any other Potato Bug before his time, all of the other little bugs in the "Potato-bug" world, settled back to live a life of common-place monotony, because they were quite sure there could be nothing left to discover, and no honors for them; quite sure that there was nothing new under the sun. "Ah yes! Life is just one potato after another;"—and so during that generation of potato bugs, there was no further effort expended in the fields of research or exploration.
However, when the excitement over the "startling" and "colossal" nature of the "vast discovery" represented by the finding of the potato plant had gradually worn away, a little Potato Bug, less satisfied with life than his brothers, decided—after viewing the leaves of the potato plant immediately in front of his gaze—that he would undertake further explorations; so, instead of returning by the pathway leading down among the potatoes, he crawled out three or four inches beyond the shadow of the vast and terrifying potato plant, and looking up, he chanced to see a cornstalk towering into the sky far beyond the limits of his naked eye. So huge and tall was this cornstalk which he gazed upon, that for a minute he actually felt a sense of humility, for he began to realize that only a wisdom "much greater" than his own could possibly have brought to pass such an awe-inspiring spectacle, or any creation of such "colossal dimensions," as that of the cornstalk.
And so we find that these little bugs started to honor and glorify not just the accomplishments of their "Super Potato Bugs," but also the creation of a power and intelligence which,—after much humbling of their egos,—they finally acknowledged to be superior and greater than any Potato Bug could ever hope to become. Thereafter, they no longer wasted all of their lives paying homage to other Potato Bugs, but instead they began an orderly and systematic investigation of the handiwork of a Creator whom they knew must possess power and wisdom far surpassing their own. It was not long before they had traveled beyond the cornstalk and discovered a great big stack of hay. One day while they were contemplating the findings of many generations of their most courageous "Brother Bugs" who had finally completed measuring the length of one side of this vast new spectacle, they looked around its edge and, to and behold, they brought within the range of their highly developed telescopes (?) the full stature of a man. Farmer Jones, himself, had become known to his Potato Bugs!
Beholding something almost as vast as their colossal cornstalk, and yet something able to walk and move around from one place to another, just as they themselves could do, they finally concluded,—after going back to their Potato-Bug Capitol and spending many long Potato-Bug years in discussion and debate,—that they had seen "the Creator of all the world," and that they had beheld the being whom henceforth they would worship as their God.
THAT ENDED THE POTATO BUGS' FURTHER EFFORTS AT DISCOVERY, FOR THEY FELT QUITE CERTAIN THAT THERE WAS NOTHING LEFT FOR THEM TO FIND. THEY HAD NEVER DEVELOPED TELESCOPES CAPABLE OF SEEING EVEN TO THE TOP OF A TREE, NOR TO THE LITTLE HOUSE IN WHICH FARMER JONES LIVED. HOWEVER, "THEY WERE SATISFIED," AND THAT IS THE REASON THAT THEIR MENTALITIES ARE STILL JUST THOSE OF "LITTLE POTATO BUGS."
Mankind might well guard against the mental qualities of "smug self-satisfaction;" for unless we are no farther advanced than "Potato Bugs," we must surely realize that we have not yet even started to discover the smallest part of the creations of limitless wisdom, nor to recognize even an infinitesimal part of the power and might of life, nor of that source from which the universe and all that is therein, "truly emanates." Just as the little Potato Bugs had not yet discovered Farmer Jones' home, nor even the boundary or fence line which encircled the field containing their Potato-Bug kingdom,—neither has man, up to this stage in history, explored even his own immediate surroundings, nor the smallest part of the field—(our earth)—in which he lives.
Just as beyond Farmer Jones' field there exists the rest of his farm, and beyond that his neighbor's farm, and then the boundaries of the County and the State, and finally the Nation itself—a part of Farmer Jones' continent in turn bounded by oceans—and beyond them other continents, and so on; . . . likewise there exists beyond the boundaries of our earth, fields of "infinite" exploration, limitless elements, resources and awe-inspiring soul-expanding scenes, which man will never learn to enjoy nor, in fact, even see unless he grows—not just merely "discontented"—but "wholly unsatisfied" with his present attainments, and determines to look far beyond himself and his own handiwork, to those expressions of wisdom and power, might and eternality, which make the works of men seem but foolishness in the sight of God.
Well might men cultivate qualities of humility—cease their futile and puny struggles among and against themselves—and combine what little wisdom they at this time have learned to express, and what few energies and powers they have learned to harness, and in the spirit of brotherly love,—in limitless expectation of incalculable benefits and joys awaiting their efforts,—become "Mankind United."
"One for All and All for One,"—Mankind United could enter upon an adventure truly worthy of intelligent creatures;—the building of a world free from petty and puny human differences;—free from wars, free from racial, class or religious antagonisms, and the wholly needless poverty which forces men into lives of drab, ugly monotony. "Mankind United" will bring immediate rewards of financial independence to all people, and an end to all wars; an end to those experiences which cause men to feel that there is nothing of interest in life. "Mankind United"—can put an end to that attitude of life which suggests that, after all, life is just "one potato after another," with nothing to look forward to and no hope of change.
LET THE POTATO BUG STAY IN HIS PATCH OF POTATOES IF HE SO DESIRES, BUT LET MEN TRAVEL AT LEAST TO THE BOUNDARY LINE AROUND THE FIELD WHICH THEY CALL THEIR EARTH, AND LEARN JUST A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ITS RICH FURNISHINGS AND PRICELESS TREASURES.
How can men and women of wealth, or even those in very moderate circumstances,—but with enough to eat and to wear and a home in which to live, shut their eyes to mankind's suffering, and yet obtain any sense of joy or happiness? How can we even "hope" to find contentment and peace within our thoughts, when in the very midst of God's indescribably glorious universe—all around us here on this earth which we call our home—we find the ugliness of greed and the selfishly-cruel handiwork of men expressed as oppression, and an endless personification of "Man's Inhumanity to Man," with its dirt and filth, its poverty, jealousy, envy, hate, murder and war? The evidences of cruelty—instead of brotherly love—ceaselessly force themselves upon our thoughts whenever love, awakening in our hearts, opens the blindness of our eyes and the deafness of our ears, so that we may see and hear the soul-searing struggles and agonizing cries of men and women beseeching us to help them untangle the hopeless poverty-stricken uselessness of their lives. Multitudes of our fellow beings beseeching some one to show them,— (mind you, right here in the very midst of God's inexhaustible provision of mankind's needs), just "one thing" worth living for.
THE REMAINDER OF THE EARTH'S INHABITANTS ARE IN A CONDITION ALMOST AS PITIABLE,—"WAITING FOR SHIPS TO COME IN" WHICH SELDOM IF EVER ARRIVE. ALWAYS DO MEN THINK THAT THEY WILL START LIVING "TOMORROW" OR THAT SOON—"WHEN CONDITIONS CHANGE FOR THE BETTER"—ALL WILL BE WELL, AND "THEN THEY CAN START LIVING." ALWAYS IT IS TOMORROW, NEXT WEEK, OR NEXT YEAR; "CENTURIES HAVE PASSED AND STILL MANKIND WAIT UNTIL SOME 'FUTURE TIME,' TO START LIVING."
Until we close our eyes and shut our ears to the suffering and cries of anguish on all sides,—and become nothing more than animals selfishly concerned only with our own welfare,—there can never be even any imaginary joy in'ôur hearts. Until we destroy, not merely the "effects" of disappointment, fear or hopelessness in the lives of men, but the age-old antiquated and outgrown "causes" of these conditions;—until every man, woman and child on the face of this earth has enough to eat, enough clothes to wear, a place called home, and the time and opportunity with which to seek and to learn the truths about this glorious adventure called "life;"—until we have the leisure time and the opportunity in which to learn to love this beautiful old world of ours, and to find a variety of interests with which to break the "mesmeric" spell of the monotonous routine of common-place detail duties, there can never be lasting peace, security or joy in the life of any man or woman.
Not even a "brief glimpse" of happiness and real peace—way down deep within our hearts—is ever even momentarily possible, until we first shut our eyes and our ears to the appeals of the hundreds of millions of confused hopeless human beings who are ceaselessly crying out for some one to help them. And yet, such people have just as much right to find peace and happiness here on this earth—and just as much right to draw upon our Creator's limitless resources—as the most "saintly" or the most "successful" man or woman who ever walked upon this or any other planet throughout the universe.
IN THIS WORLD OF YOURS AND OURS, THERE ARE OVER ONE THOUSAND MILLION (1,000,000,000) MEN AND WOMEN UNABLE TO READ OR WRITE AND CONSTANTLY FILLED WITH NAMELESS SUPERSTITIOUS FEARS; AND FIVE HUNDRED MILLION (500,000,000) HUMAN BEINGS ALWAYS HUNGRY, HOMELESS, AND UNWANTED!! ARE SUCH CONDITIONS ACTUALLY NECESSARY? MUST WE GO THROUGH LIFE EITHER AS ONE OF A COUNTLESS MULTITUDE OF SUCH HOPELESS CREATURES, OR ONE OF THOSE WHO MUST FOREVER LISTEN TO THEIR CRIES FOR HELP? IS THERE A SOLUTION TO THESE PROBLEMS? IF THERE BE ANY MEANS BY WHICH TO SILENCE THEIR CRIES, IT MUST BE IN A DIRECTION OTHER THAN THE ONES IN WHICH WE HAVE SEARCHED THROUGHOUT THE PAST CENTURIES!! IF AN ECONOMIC SYSTEM CAN BE BUILT WHICH WILL BE CAPABLE OF GUARANTEEING FINANCIAL SECURITY AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR HAPPINESS FOR "ALL" PEOPLE, IT MUST BE ONE "VASTLY DIFFERENT" THAN ANY THE HUMAN RACE HERETOFORE HAS ATTEMPTED TO EVOLVE. THE AUTOCRATIC CAPITALISTIC RULE OF "THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST;" THE COMMUNISTIC SYSTEMS OF "MASS REGIMENTATION;" THE SYSTEM WHICH MAKES MEN TEAR AT EACH OTHER'S THROATS LIKE PACKS OF WOLVES—WHICH WE CALL "OUR PRIVATE PROFIT" OR "COMPETITIVE SYSTEM"—HAVE ALL FAILED.
