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The Imperator's Monthly
Message[By H. Spencer
Lewis][From The Mystic Triangle January 1928] IN THE past few days we have heard it said by so many that to wish another a "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year," seemed so trite, so common-place. The thought back of such a statement was a longing for more flowery language, a more original and distinctive expression; and the speakers seemed to be in dismay because they could not avoid some form of the old words. To our mind these persons are thinking too greatly of the words and too little of the spirit of the thought. The phrase quoted above may be very common indeed, but what cheer it can give when said in earnest, or when the spirit moves one to say it at all. I know in my own case that I would give much to have those common words spoken right now by several persons who have gone out of my life through a misunderstanding of the work which holds me in its grasp. To hear that old familiar phrase from these persons would be like hearing a sweet, old, story--one that bears repeating; and it would mean a sincere wish in every sense. The fact that a common-place phrase was used would never enter my consciousness at all. I would be thrilled by the thought back of the words, the spirit that moved them to utter a kindly expression. How many of us are affected by the words spoken, the form used, when we should give more heed to the spirit back of the form? Has not the whole of the Christmas Spirit been diminished in its beauty and pristine significance by the involved forms that have been adopted? Ritual and form have greatly affected the sublime significance of the spirit of religious worship. As one eminent clergyman stated to me a few years ago, the modern clergyman must give more thought to churchanity than to Christianity. Not because he wishes to, but because the congregation finds it more convenient to have its thinking done for it and the form arranged to carry out the thought. How delightful it is to meet the person who sees behind the form of things! Such a person is essentially a mystic, yet he need not be a student of any mystical philosophy or even conscious of his mystical tendencies. The patron of music is one who can see in the musical strains being played--the mechanical form of expression--the story told by the composer; the patron of art sees in the material expression a vision that was in the artist's consciousness. Both of these see the spirit, and give the form of expression secondary consideration. They find joy in the fine arts because these arts lend themselves to revelations of the spirit. Yet, think of the multitude who judge--and purchase--art on the basis of its material form! Be of the spirit! Enter into the spirit. Attune yourself to the spirit of the universe as expressed by nature, by the artists and artisans as well as by the soul that is in each of us. Let my soul commune with yours, let your soul commune with all mankind, with the Cosmic Consciousness, with the universal spirit, with God. In that you will find a new world, formless, unlimited, unfettered, eternal and universal. | ||
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