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.There are friends who perhaps must be alienated, there are relativeswho misunderstand and who feel that they are in some way being slighted; the reallygreat man is often considered selfish by a large circle of people who are connectedwith him and who feel that he might bestow upon them more benefits than he does.The question at the outset is: Is it my duty to make the most of myself regardless ofeverything else? Or shall I wait until I can do so without any friction or withoutcausing loss to any one? This is the question of duty to self vs.duty to others.One s duty to the world has been thoroughly discussed in the preceding pages and Igive some consideration now to the idea of duty to God.An immense number ofpeople have a great deal of uncertainty, not to say anxiety, as to what they ought todo for God.The amount of work and service that is done for him in these United States in the wayof church work and so on is enormous.An immense amount of human energy isexpended in what is called serving God.I propose to consider briefly what serving Godis and how a man may serve God best, and I think I shall be able to make plain thatthe conventional idea as to what constitutes service to God is all wrong.When Moses went down into Egypt to bring out the Hebrews from bondage, hisdemand upon Pharaoh, in the name of the Deity, was,  Let the people go that theymay serve me. He led them out into the wilderness and there instituted a new formof worship which has led many people to suppose that worship constitutes the serviceof God, although later God himself distinctly declared that he cared nothing forceremonies, burned offerings, or oblation, and the teaching of Jesus if rightlyunderstood, would do away with organized temple worship altogether.God does notlack anything that men may do for him with their hands or bodies or voices.Saint Paulpoints out that man can do no thing for God, for God does not need anything.The view of evolution that we have taken shows God seeking expression through man.Through all the successive ages in which his spirit has urged man up the height, Godhas gone on seeking expression.Every generation of men is more Godlike than thepreceding generation.Every generation of men demands more in the way of fine43http://www.aboutthelawofattraction.com/homes, pleasant surroundings, congenial work, rest, travel, and opportunity for studythan the preceding generation.I have heard some shortsighted economists argue that the working people of todayought surely to be fully contented because their condition is so much better than thatof the workingman two hundred years ago who slept in a windowless hut on a floorcovered with rushes in company with his pigs.If that man had all that he was able touse for the living of all the life he knew how to live, he was perfectly content, and if heha d lack he was not contented.The man of today has a comfortable home and verymany things, indeed, that were unknown a short period back in the past, and if he hasall that he can use for the living of all the life he can imagine, he will be content.Buthe is not content.God has lifted the race so far that any common ma n can picture abetter and more desirable life than he is able to live under existing conditions.And solong as this is true, so long as a man can think and clearly picture to himself a moredesirable life, he will be discontented with the life he has to live, and rightly so.Thatdiscontent is the Spirit of God urging men on to more desirable conditions.It is Godwho seeks expression in the race. He works in us to will and to do.The only service you can render God is to give expression to what he is trying to givethe world, through you.The only service you can render God is to make the very mostof yourself in order that God may live in you to the utmost of your possibilities.In aformer work of this series (The Science of Getting Rich) I refer to the little boy at thepiano, the music in whose soul could not find expression through his untrained hands.This is a good illustration of the way the Spirit of God is over, about, around, and in allof us, seeking to do great things with us, so soon as we will train our hands and feet,our minds, brains, and bodies to do his service.Your first duty to God, to yourself, and to the world is to make yourself as great apersonality, in every way, as you possibly can.And that, it seems to me, disposes ofthe question of duty.There are one or two other things that might be disposed of inclosing this chapter.I have written of opportunity in a preceding chapter.I have said,in a general way, that it is within the power of every man to become great, just as in The Science of Getting Rich I declared that it is within the power of every man tobecome rich.But these sweeping generalizations need qualifying.There are men whohave such materialistic minds that they are absolutely incapable of comprehending thephilosophy set forth in these books.There is a great mass of men and women whohave lived and worked until they are practically incapable of thought along these lines;and they cannot receive the message.Something may be done for them bydemonstration, that is, by living the life before them.But that is the only way theycan be aroused.The world needs demonstration more than it needs teaching.For thismass of people our duty is to become as great in personality as possible in order thatthey may see and desire to do likewise.It is our duty to make ourselves great fortheir sakes; so that we may help prepare the world that the next generation shallhave better conditions for thought.One other point; I am frequently written to by people who wish to make something ofthemselves an d to move out into the world, but who are hampered by home ties,having others more or less dependent upon them, whom they fear would suffer if leftalone.In general I advise such people to move out fearlessly, and to make the mostof themselves.If there is a loss at home it will be only temporary and apparent, for in44http://www.aboutthelawofattraction.com/a little while, if you follow the leading of Spirit, you will be able to take better care ofyour dependents than you have ever done before.Chapter 21A Mental ExerciseTHE purpose of mental exercises must not be misunderstood.There is no virtue incharms or formulated strings of words; there is no short cut to development byrepeating prayers or incantations.A mental exercise is an exercise, not in repeatingwords, but in the thinking of certain thoughts [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]