Chapter XI
Zeal- Enthusiasm
THE EGO, the free I, the imperishable and unchangeable essence of Spirit, which man is, chooses every state of consciousness and every condition in which it functions. It does not create the basic substances that enter into these mental structures, for these substances have been provided from the beginning, but it gives form and character to them in consciousness, as men build houses of lumber, stone, or whatever material they may choose in the manifest.
These mental states are all constructed under the dynamic power of the great universal impulse that lies back of all action--enthusiasm or zeal. Zeal is the mighty force that incites the winds, the tides, the storms; it urges the planet on its course, and spurs the ant to great exertion. To be without zeal is to be without the zest of living. Zeal and enthusiasm incite to glorious achievement in every aim and ideal that the mind conceives. Zeal is the impulse to go forward, the urge behind all things. Without zeal stagnation, inertia, death would prevail throughout the universe. The man without zeal is like an engine without steam or an electric motor without a current. Energy is zeal in motion, and energy is the forerunner of every effect.
If you desire a thing, you set in motion the machinery of the universe to gain possession of it, but you must be zealous in the pursuit in order to attain the object of your desire. Desire goes before every act of your life, hence it is good. It is the very essence of good; it is God Himself in a phase of life. When they called Jesus good, He said: "Why callest thou me good? none is good save one, even God." So the universal desire for achievement, giving its mighty impulse to all things, is divinely good. Divine enthusiasm is no respecter of persons or things. It makes no distinctions. It moves to new forms of expression even that which appears corrupt. It tints the cheek of the innocent babe, gleams from the eye of the treacherous savage, and lights in purity the face of the saint.
Some have named this universal life impulse God, and have left the impression that it is all of God and that all the attributes of God-Mind are therefore involved as a conscious entity in every situation where life is manifest. In this they lack discrimination. God's Spirit goes forth in mighty streams of life, love, substance, and intelligence. Each of these attributes is conscious only of the principle involved in it and in the work that it has to do. Though it is man's mission to combine these inexhaustible potentialities under divine law, man is free to do as he wills. But the divine law cannot be broken, and it holds man responsible for the result of his labors. Man cannot corrupt the inherent purity of any of God's attributes, but he can unwisely combine them in states of consciousness that bring dissatisfaction and incompleteness to him. It is his privilege to learn the harmonious relations of all the chords of life and to arrange them on the staff of existence with such masterly art that no discord can be detected. Then life becomes to him a song of joy, and he absolutely knows that in its ultimate all is good.
Never repress the impulse, the force, the zeal welling up within you. Commune with it in spirit and praise it for its great energy and efficiency in action. At the same time analyze and direct its course. As zeal alone, it is without intelligence or discretion as to results. As Jesus taught His disciples and combined their various talents, so every man must grow in wisdom and zeal. You are not to repress but to guide the spirit of enthusiasm, which in co-operation with wisdom will bring you happiness and satisfaction.
Zeal is the affirmative impulse of existence; its command is "Go forward!" Through this impulse man forms many states of consciousness that he ultimately tires of. They may have served a good purpose in their day in the grand scheme of creation, but as man catches sight of higher things zeal urges him forward to their attainment.
Let your zeal be tempered with wisdom. "The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up" means that the zeal faculty has become so active intellectually that it has consumed the vitality and left nothing for spiritual growth. One may even become so zealous for the spread of Truth as to bring on nervous prostration. "Take time to be holy." Turn a portion of your zeal to do God's will to the establishing of His kingdom within you. Do not put all your enthusiasm into teaching, preaching, healing, and helping others; help yourself. Many enthusiastic spiritual workers have let their zeal to demonstrate Truth to others rob them of the power to demonstrate Truth for themselves. Do not let your zeal run away with your judgment. Some persons get so fired with zeal when they first tackle a job that they quickly grow tired, and eventually get "fired" from every job that they tackle.
Watch the first pull of a giant locomotive; note how it slowly but steadily moves forward, almost by inches at first but gradually increasing, until its mile-long train swiftly disappears in the distance.
Man is a dynamo of pent-up power, but he needs judgment in its use. Even love (John), the "greatest thing in the world," is linked in the twelve-power integration of Jesus with James (judgment). Jesus called these two brothers "Sons of thunder," comparing the effect of their combined power to the tremendous vibrations set up by unrestrained electrical energy. Judgment says to Love, "Look before you leap." Do not let unselfish zeal and enthusiasm for the loved one run away with your judgment. Remember that these two are brothers and that you should sit on the throne of your I AM dominion, with love on the right hand and judgment on the left, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. In these symbols we see portrayed the poise and mastery of regenerated man, directing and disciplining all his thought-people in wisdom and in love.
Even doctors are beginning to take notice of the emotional contests that take place between love and wisdom in our nervous system. Some of them say that indigestion may be caused by the disturbance that our emotions cause in the delicate nerve aggregations at the solar plexus, and that permanent stomach troubles may result. Metaphysicians have always taught that the contending vibrations or "thunder" between love and wisdom cause not only acute but chronic diseases of stomach and heart.
Heart says, "I love," and Wisdom says, "But you can't have what you love"; contention follows, and night and day the nerves are pounded by the warring emotions.
Love disappointed may lower the vitality to the vanishing point, while some physical disease is blamed.
Innumerable combinations of thoughts and their attendant emotions are constantly sending their vibrations or "thundering" to various parts of the body through the nerve cables that lead out from the many ganglionic centers.
Jesus had two apostles named Simon, but they represent different talents or faculties of man's mind. Simon Peter represents receptivity from above, and Simon the Cananaean represents receptivity from below. Simon means "hearing" and Canaan means "zeal." The Canaanites dwelt in the lowlands, so we know that the faculty designated by Simon the Cananaean has its origin in the body consciousness.
But the receptivity to, and the zeal for, the truth that were manifested by Simon the Cananaean were lifting him to spiritual consciousness. This is symbolized in Acts 1:13, where it is written,"And whenthey were come in, they went up into the upper chamber, where they were abiding." Among them is mentioned "Simon the Zealot."
To grow spiritually we should always be careful to exercise our zeal in spiritual ways, since Christians are apt to fall into commercial ways in carrying forward the Lord's work. We should remember that Jesus said, "God is spirit: and they that worship him must worship in spirit and truth." When Jesus cast the money-changers out of the Temple His disciples remembered that it was written, "Zeal for thy house shall eat me up." In this act Jesus was casting the commercial bargaining thoughts out of His body temple. This is explained in the context, John 2:18. The Jews said, "What sign showest thou unto us, seeing that thou doest these things? Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up . . . But he spake of the temple of his body."
Whatever takes place in the world