AS WATERS THAT PASS AWAY. "Thou shalt be steadfast and thou shalt not fear, because thou shalt forget thy misery and remember it as waters that pass away.” THE strong character is the one that stands by its convictions. They may be convictions that are placed upon trivial or unimportant things at first; limited ideas of life, for instance. But the first thing must be steadfastness, even if not wholly right. We must do away with fickleness, with uncertainty. Later on in development the steadfastness will be placed upon principles. An obstinate nature is not steadfast, because it holds on to opinions after conviction. A steadfast nature yields as soon as it is convinced of a truth. After accepting principles which we feel will help us to better living, why should we not be steadfast in living them? Living them in all things, if we are to live this broader and higher life. After living by the principles we are to forget our misery. That is a shutting out of the past. One source of slow recovery of some chronic cases is that they cannot forget. They have regrets and remorse, and remember all unpleasant and suffering conditions. It is not wrong to forget disobedience in childhood. It is not wrong to forget our ignorance in the past. We have forgotten our teething, although we may have suffered. Yet we criticise ourselves, are severe with ourselves, all to no purpose. Forget, forget if you would be strong to live. The mountain stream follows the law of least resistance. It turns and turns, but is steadfast to its destination; cuts soil and rocks if necessary, but it does not stop to remember all it has done. Our development is similar, but we are too introspective. Live to your best and then forget. The blessing of forgetting past lives or incarnations is a wise provision in our present state of unfoldment. It would bewilder us to be conscious of all the past stages of growth. Live, forget, and thy misery shall pass away. |