CHAPTER 20HOW TO TRANSMUTE THE FAMILY'S RIDICULE
“I CANNOT successfully carry out your plan of going into the silence, and am forced to practice concentration while lying in bed. I find this a great drawback, but can see no other way. On several occasions, while carrying out your instructions, some of the folks have chanced to run in on me, or have hammered on the door until it made me miserable; and afterwards would bring it out before strangers or speak of it at every meal. I simply had to substitute some other way. So I practice concentration while lying in bed.” E. S.
There are always three ways to meet any condition. One can let circumstances turn him aside from his purpose; or he can exercise his own divine ingenuity to find a way to change circumstances or to make a way over them or through them; or he can compromise with circumstances. He can let circumstances make him; or he can make circumstances; or he can do the best he can under the circumstances.
The writer of the above letter chose to remain under the circumstances. Of course he gets some good from his practice under the circumstances, but not nearly the good he would gain by coming boldly out from under things and doing what he thinks is best.
And then, while living under circumstances he is stunting and distorting himself. The conditions of our lives are the raw material given us to be turned to beautiful results; only by using our ingenuity in turning them to beautiful results do we grow in grace and power and wisdom.
I know a woman who was situated as E. S. is, only a little worse. She had an old thought husband and children who never lost an opportunity to ridicule her New Thought foibles before relatives or acquaintances. And she was very sensitive to ridicule. For a time she did the best she could under the circumstances — she went into the silence on the sly, and she kept her New Thought reading out of sight.
But in spite of her best efforts at keeping under conditions her husband or children would find her out. Then came the jollying which shriveled her like a flame — a flame which showed its color in her face.
Should she give it up? she asked herself. Should she wait for circumstances to change? But in her heart she knew circumstances would not change unless she changed them. How to do it, was the question. She had tried argument, resistance, entreaties, tears and threats, all to no purpose. They would ridicule her. Her husband considered New Thought a species of insanity to which the weak- minded sex is susceptible, and he thought he had found that ridicule would break up the insanity. So he kept up the ridicule before folks, besides dealing her plenty of harshness and contempt when the visitors had gone.
This woman saw that she must either stand the ridicule or give up her New Thought practices. The latter she couldn't do — the New Thought possessed her. So she determined to follow her own desire in the matter, and stand the ridicule, like a good martyr. Oh, but it was a martyrdom when her cheeks flamed!
One day she was meditating over Jesus' injunction —
"But I say unto you, that ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain."
All at once it came to her to laugh WITH the laughers, instead of trying to maintain her dignity while they were ridiculing — to go two miles where they proposed to go one. At first it seemed to her an impossible task, but after a little she began to see how she might think of herself in an impersonal sort of way, and might join the others in jollying herself just as she might if they were jollying somebody else.
And she was surprised to see how easily she could do it, and how readily she began to see the humor of things as they saw it. After a few trials she could laugh as heartily as they, and she began to enjoy helping the joke along.
And what do you suppose happened? Why they got tired of ridiculing one who didn't mind it. Of course they did. Then how happy she was to think that she had conquered that old sensitiveness to ridicule, which had caused her a thousand needless pangs! How strong and exulting she felt to think such things no longer had power to move her. And how glad she was that she was beginning to see and feel with other folks even when they criticized her; she rejoiced in her growing sym-path-y with others.
She found her view of other people's motives and actions changed from a mere narrow vista to a wide and glorious vision from the mountain top. In other words, she got out of herself to see herself, and by so doing became better acquainted with all humanity. Out of this better understanding grew a deeper love.
And the love expressed itself in the little things of life. She grew in wisdom and love toward others; and they reflected it back to her. From delighting in tormenting her they came to want to please her. They began to sym-path-ize (same-state-ize) with her — to see her with new appreciation and consideration. In short they absorbed her point of view. Then they surprised her by taking her side when a question of New Thought came up! Eventually they openly espoused New Thought teachings.
That was what one woman did by coming squarely out from under conditions and acting according to her highest leadings. She changed herself as well as her environment.
It was no accident. By unalterable law she changed her environment — by the law of non-resistance to evil and calm, unmoved pursuit of good as she saw it. She turned things to beautiful results. (Can you guess who this woman was?)
And E. S., who by the way, is a man, can do the same thing by the same means. And so can every other reader.
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