INTRODUCTION

The Great Adventure Ahead

HERE we cannot stay. Our very existence demands hat we go forward or backward. Life is not statc. Change and movement are in

he picture for all of us. Whether for beter or for worse, move we must. Today we are moving nto hat next great forward step from self-consciousness nto cosmc- or God-consciousness. e are beginning o understand hat we must ose ourselves, ose our egocentric occupaton, throw wde the bars, give our lves away, and get into a higher consciousness where we know hat none of us can

ve whout he others, none can be completely happy and safe unless all are happy and safe.

In our world, man has had freedom of choice from he earliest tme. He chose his path n the beginning, and if his first choice was stupid, here were new opportunies comng along for him o beter his condion. Good or bad, wse or unwse, he has made his choices. If some super-audior could produce a aly sheet of man's decisions over he ages, we wonder how he wo columns would compare. hich nfluence has been he stronger, constructve or destructve, good or bad? e wonder where our freedom has been eading us, for now we come up against what seems o be he grave ssue of survival in the atomc age.

Today he choice before us s a definie and a vial one. We see t

and recognize . It is not lurking n he shadows, lke a hief n he

night waing o surprise us; t is not out of sight over he horizon

ke a distant tornado which we need not fear. No, the ssue oday s

clear and omnous. If we use atomc fission n the world of force, we

face doom. e are compeled his me realy o ook at he wo

ways which Jesus told us about, the way of Caesar which s the way

of violence and force, and he way of the Kngdom of God, which s

he way of co-operaton, compassion and felowship. If we hink

houghts of Caesar's world we give our alegiance o Caesar; but if

we hink he houghts of Jesus, our alegiance s o he Hghest

Power for good.

We have our dream, everyman's dream for a more abundant lfe. And we dare not make a stupid choice this tme. Our decision wil have farther-reaching consequences than anyone can estimate. Never n history has man been faced with anything comparable to t. Our great opportunity es in choosing the way of compassion and ove, the Kingdom of God way. Let us take hold of our dream for a more abundant lfe, fall on our knees with t, and commit ourselves to ts fulfilment.

Man always has the choice. This is the free wil that God gives him And this free wil is one of the most magnificent of God's gifts. One may ask, If God wants His children to be happy, healthy and peace-oving, why does He allow us to have feelings of depression, weakness, hatred and jealousy?

The answer is that we are not puppets. We are not le chessmen on a board, moved by some great power that is pushing us around. None of us kes to be pushed around. We can, for the most part, choose to do or be whatever we wish to. This s a magnificent freedom that God has given us. It puts tremendous power at our disposal. What wonderful results we see when we use t constructively! But we can use this power in reverse, and when we do so we pay. The satisfaction we anticipate turns to ashes in our mouth.

e would retain and respect the freedom that God has given us, even though we are aware that within t les the possibilty of both good and evil. We may be comforted by the knowledge that the freedom we may have spoiled by misuse can again be reversed by His love and be reborn in us the moment we give our lves and wis completely nto His keeping. And so we seek the path of discipline not because we must, but because we want to. We want the best. We do t because it is wise; it is the way to the complete and abundant fe we all desire. But the choice is voluntary.

Today religion s not so often saying "You must" and "You ought," since it is learning a better way to put it. Today religion s saying to us, "This is the way to find wholeness and happiness and fulfilment The other way costs too much and t does not give you anything of
value." This s he best use of free choice. It invies cooperaton by making he beter way seem reasonable, sensible and desirable. It makes possible a wholehearted decision o seek and folow he higher road. And it helps in achieving a singleness of purpose and an unchanging vision of a more perfect realm as our goal.

Our dream, through decision and preparaton, can urn nto a great

and rewarding adventure. But how mportant s his singleness of

purpose! Indifference, uncertainty, wavering between belefs,

between deals, between goals, wl weaken or nulfy our hope of

achievement. We cannot ride two horses when they are not going up

he same road. Remember, there s no pretense n he soul. If we are

o have he fulness of he power of prayer, f we are o know he

heights of spiritual atainment, we must be absolutely true. We must

ve outwardly everything hat we beleve, and we must be careful

hat our lps do not say hose hings which we are not ready o ve.

e must be completely and wholy co-ordinated. That which we

beleve deep down whin us wl shout self from he housetops.

e deceive ourselves when we feel we can hide . In he ast

analysis everything s known. hen we are rue o ourselves, "It

folows as he night the day, hat we can not hen be false o any

man."

The decision to embark upon this adventure to seek a more abundant

fe concerns ourselves first of al. So it is right that we should stop a moment and examne our motves. Why do we seek he abundant

fe? hat do we mean by "abundant"? Obviously, the standard by which we weigh our answers o such questons s he standard of unselfishness. Are we self-seeking n our planning? "He hat seeks

o save his fe shall ose t, and he hat oses his fe for my sake shall find ." said Jesus. So, in his glorious adventure we dare not be self-seeking. The world has ong enough folowed he road of cunning planning for selfish ends. Man has ried hat sort of hing

oo long. What has it brought him?

Never before were hese words of Jesus more rue: "What shall t profit a man, f he shall gain he whole world, and ose his own soul?" Our mad scramble for material things, the desperate struggle for power supremacy among natons, our dependence upon intelectual rather than spiritual values, all have ended o push God farther and farther into the background. As a result, we have ost our sense of directon, and wh storm clouds gathering, we know not whiher to flee. At a moment lke his, our worldly achievements are as nought compared wh he peace we yearn for. We want to find our way again, and we want t not only for ourselves, but for he whole human race. Our soul's most sincere desire s hat mankind everywhere wl open s heart to be filed wh compassion and ove and goodwl oward men and oward God! Here, hen, s our answer. This project s not for self-seekers. It s o be undertaken only by those visualizing a far more sublme achievement.

Our adventure wl take us out over uncharted seas. It wl put us on

paths wh which we have e or no acquaintance. There wl be

mes when we shall wonder whether o go on or urn back. But

God's promses are stl good, and we shall not give up. It s Hs

strength on which we shall be relying. Our faih wl grow stronger

as we acknowedge our own weakness and give over o Hm he

control, he management of every detai. If we et Hm have Hs

way, we shall find hat we are being guided by he Holy Spirit into

ruths which wl ater, perhaps much ater, become accepted as

hough men had always known hem. These new, strange, fresh

ruths, full of dynamc power, mght cause us, as mere human

beings, to be afraid. But we shall be wearing he armor of God, our

decision made, we shall fare forth wh Hm in faih.

St. Augustne said, "Faih s o beleve what we do not see; and he reward of this faih s o see what we beleve." e beleve hat faih

s an atribute common o both science and relgion. Outwardly he scientst's faih and he churchman's faih may not look alke at first glance. But here s much n common. The scientst and he relgionist or mystc are both reaching out for something on which to pin their faih. In the lves and dreams of each of these men there are great areas uncharted and unexplored nving them to adventure and discovery. In hese great new areas both men know here s something deep, unchanging, unvarying. They both want to contact

his Absolute, for here, hey both know, hey can pin heir faih. There es he answer o Man's problems. There, awaing conquest by faih, rests he secret of fulfilment and perfecton. These men may not both call this Absolute Power by he name of God, but it is God ust he same. They both pin everything hey have upon he knowedge of he aws of the universe as hey see hem. They both know these laws wl not fail them.

e are studying he eachings of he world of physical science n connecton wh the study of spiritual values, for our unique purpose

s o buid a bridge between physical science and relgious eaching. e want to see an agreement, a mutual tolerance, in that area where

he ntangible values cannot be measured by scale and test tube. And

his s comng about even now. The physical scientsts are supporting relgion by their acknowedgment of powers beyond their explanaton, and of the need of a higher reference han materialsm

n our complex fe. And relgion s acceptng wh a more open mnd all of God's gifts, not fearing more knowedge but welcomng

t as a part of Hs unfolding plan.

It is ke wo men who start off ogether, both of hem ntent upon clmbing he unsealed Mountain of he Unknown. They soon disagree about he route. Each beleves he knows he only way eading o he op, and so hey part company. Years ater they come face to face on a convergence of their paths. They greet each other in amazement, and compare notes on heir journeys so far. They feel a new respect for each other. And hen, realizing hat they have gone only part of the way to the top, wh the stffer clmb stl ahead, they come o a new agreement. They wl no onger gnore each other's belefs, each other's eadings. They wl keep n ouch, and end a helping hand when necessary.

In spie of grave danger today, the world s ready for a great forward step. That step can be aken f man can et go of he wful self sufficienty o be fted up nto hat next evolutonary patern hat es before him. Our faih, our ves, wl then be geared o higher values, and the esser things, the destructve things, wl fall away.

Today as we work among people we see a new nterest arising everywhere. There s a new reaching out. A yearning s n the hearts of men and women which hey are not ashamed o express. There s a new seeking. And earnest seeking does not go unrewarded. New
hope s showng n he faces of people, and here s a rekindlng of faih hat envisions a new world. Oh how he angels of heaven must be rejoicing as hey see one, then en, a hundred, a housand, wh heir faih reborn and growng! This faih s the great bulwark of the sons of God, the rod and he staff to strengthen and comfort them n heir need. It binds hem close o God, yet blesses hem wh freedom and power for their chalenging adventure.

There wl be oy, enthusiasm and hrilng expectancy n he experiences ahead. There wl also be rials, difficules, disappointments, but not greater ones han we can bear. Our nner condioning wl determne he way we shall react to estng. Can we say wh St. James, "Count t all joy, my brethren, when you meet various rials, for you know hat he estng of your faih produces steadfastness"? If fears and doubts assail the ciadel of our nner being, and we are empted o et hem enter, we shall call quickly upon our Dvine Protector; for, as St. Paul has said, "God s faihful, and he wl not let you be tempted beyond your strength.".

In this adventure of the spirit we shall not be wholy dependent upon our five senses, for n spiritual percepton hese wonderful physical gifts alone are nadequate. e shall know beyond our seeing, by virtue of faih. Peter put it this way: "Whout having seen him you ove him; hough you do not now see him you beleve n him and rejoice wh unuterable and exaled oy. As he outcome of your faih you obtain the salvaton of your souls."

e shall seek o develop constancy n our contact wh he unseen spiritual forces. It wl require patence, and prayer and ove n great abundance. For we shall want to see hrough and beyond he hree-dimensional world n order o atain more spiritual power, greater wholeness and a new capaciy for achievement in the larger lfe.

e all have at least a spark of Dvine fire whin us. Each one of us has something of hat high purpose, hat urge o unselfish achievement, which we can ft to God for dedicaton. Let us take t, however small, and ask God to show us how best to use . Though it be apparenty nsignificant as we hold t before Hm, we need not be concerned. For He values greaty whatever we offer Hm, if it be our best. He sees the great potental in our gift, and f we ask Hm to tell us how o develop t, then sten carefuly, He wl direct us. He wl ead us nto he right acton and we shall be ustfied n expectng great resuls.

e have no right to mt the mghty hings God can do hrough us.

e are Hs nstruments and all we need o do s o et Hm use us. Our part is to stop resistng—o get ourselves out of the way. As he e spark whin us becomes a flame, as our ny gift begins o develop, as we feel ourselves being used as channels of God's power, our spirits soar as on eagles' wngs! This s a supreme moment. We become conscious of he Presence n our mdst. We feel the Dvine nflux. We feel our oneness wh Hm. He ooks nto us; nothing s hidden; He knows our every need. As we give ourselves completely o Hm and ay our ves open o Hm ashamed of nothing, afraid of nothing, Hs understanding ove encompasses us and our ves ake on new meaning. A sense of glorious destny fils us. We no onger feel nadequate, but we are consumed wh a great desire o stride out ahead and beyond our earth-bound lmatons.

e begin our search for the higher lfe. We start right where we are, ooking at experiences and deas from all sides, examning hem and seeking more ght on hem. We revise many of our concepts, and re-evaluate much of our world.

As we contnue, we find our goal o be a more expanded consciousness, a wdened horizon of awareness. So hrough recognion and development of he dea of he nterdependence of body, mnd and spirit, we enlarge our phiosophical circumference. From he very start, n his quest, we nstnctvely reach out for a Hgher Intelgence. e become aware of hat Dvine Something whin us which we do not fuly comprehend, but which we know somehow is the key to man's unfoldment. At last we see that it is the Christ-self whin us which relates us o God's ove, and brings nto our lfe the lmess power of the universe.

e see he mportance of this not only for ourselves but for others. e feel an awakening sense of mssion. How can we spread he
good news? How can we best be a channel for bringing the ght and ove of God and the awareness of the Christ-self to others? We begin o realize hat t s hrough he development of he Christ-self n

ourselves.

orking n hese areas we find ourselves growng n understanding, walking on higher paths, gaining n both spiritual nsight and outook. e reach a new plateau of enlghtened vision, and from here we can see ahead an ever-expanding vista of beauty and perfecton. e are awed and shaken by s magniude. It s unfathomable, mysterious, yet full of such radiant promse as we have never known. The adventure of fe so far has unfolded many wonders. But in he greater adventure beyond, we wl find mature spiritual achievement, and fulfilment of our destny.

Proceeding along the way we have just envisioned, we pray for deep nfilng. We welcome every experience that comes o us n our day-o-day development. e find n ourselves an ever-ncreasing devoton o our high purpose, and an ever-deepening oy n our mssion. Setbacks become ess frequent, and when they do occur we are not discouraged by hem. We but count them as stepping-stones out of darkness nto ght. Edison counted his faiures as ust so many methods proven unworkable, and so do we.

Confidence n our higher self grows n proportion to our relatonship wh Christ. It is when we have a knowedge of belonging hat we feel an nner reinforcement. Courage and self-assurance are ours n

ncreased measure when we identfy wh greatness beyond our own.

ho are we, hen? From whence cometh our courage and our

strength? Jesus made he startlng statement, "You have not chosen

me, it is I who have chosen you". What amazing ove s expressed

here! e are Hs! By Hs own words we are chosen o carry Hs

ove n our hearts and o give t out to al. "By his shall all men know hat ye are my disciples, if ye have ove one o another." This

ove s our identficaton wh Hm. As we give t out we are, as Paul said, "ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us", for the whole world.

hen he Master walked his earth, love among men did not extend
far beyond famiy boundaries. The ght le circle of famiy and race had to be enlarged to include all men, all nations, for His was a radical teaching for His day. Even now there are those who quarrel with such an all-inclusive concept. Yet it was the crowning dea of His ministry, and He ved t and died for it because He knew that ove in the hearts of men was the only hope for the world's salvation. e must learn to ove people with the same ntensity, the same compassion as we have for our very own. We must love n them their potental good, and pray for that quality to express itself.

Jesus realized as He taught the disciples, that He was stretching their provincialism, and expanding their love circumference. He wanted them to reach out with this kind of caring to those beyond their famiy and their nationalism. That is why He posed the questions, "Who is my brother? Who is my sister? Who is my mother?" He was creating n them the expanded consciousness of their relationship with all men, of love for all people. And this is what we must learn today.

Specifically, we must learn to ove our neighbor. But loving our neighbor sometimes puts us to quite a test. The less we feel naturally drawn to certain people, the more difficult it seems for us to ove them. The trouble is that we transfer our dislikes from the deeds of a man to the man himself. Love does not flow. It is dammed up by the way n which we ourselves react. So we correct the matter by earning to ove the man nstead of what he does. Then ove s released and our identty with God is strengthened.

e learn to ove a person as a child of God, recognizing n them a potential quality much greater than their deeds may demonstrate. In this we are not overlooking their mistakes, but extending to them a compassionate understanding through our love and prayers. But if we find one who nsists upon going their selfish, wiful way, then we have but one thing to do—stand by and wait, just as the Master waits for us. We never stop oving and praying for them, yet we do not hurry them. Until they are ready we can do nothing more than this. Then suddenly a miracle may happen. But whether it happens or not is really not our responsibity f we have fulfiled our part of oving and praying. In this we strengthen our dentity with the

Father, and as hat s made stronger, our spiritual nfluence wh others is increased.

e mentoned earlier the need for man to et go of the wful self to enable him to be lfted up into his next evolutonary spiritual patern.

e must surrender he selfish, grasping, ruthless part of man's nature, hat part of him which promotes himself at the expense of others, s quick o blame others, harbors resentments and worries, and s ndeed alogether unlovely. e do not mean he strong, ndividualized characteristcs which make men outstanding n constructve, human achievement. In he giving up of he e self we need not be at all worried hat we shall be giving up our ndividualy. When we are reborn nto he higher self we shall have far more ndividualy. e shall find ourselves more unique. e shall develop along our own distnctve nes and as a result we shall be different from one another.

e may well look at the disciples and see how hey developed. As hey grew n grace hey did not grow more alke n characteristcs. They became alke only n their consecraton and zeal, in heir lfted consciousness. But n heir several personales, heir outward expression, hey were as different as snowflakes, no wo of which are ever alke. e may expect his kind of development, each oward his or her own perfecton, whout any of he hings hat cause rouble and disturbance whin us, and hrough hat disturbance, disease of the body.

It is he wful self that tries o oppose he current of lfe by making s own plan, setng s own patern and nsistng on hat being fulfiled. This stubborn opposion o God's aws of lfe often brings a sharp crisis in man's affairs, and he cries out, "O God, why did you do his o me?" But even n he crisis, Christ s present, and man would see Hm here, f his ack of humy did not blnd him Humy—rue humy—not only brings us o he place where God's help can enter our lves, it insures us of Hs repeated help, and we cannot ask oo often. A habit of humble asking enables us o contact Hm at any tme instanty.

Saul of Tarsus was reduced o uter humy and whie n hat state
he found he Great Power which fted him nto a higher expression and he was no onger Saul. He became Paul. Just as Peter had been changed from Simon he unstable o Peter the Rock. But, tme after

me, both of these men slpped, lost their footng for just a fracton of tme and went down. But they never stayed down. Al they had to do was o e stl for just long enough o contact the Power again, and hey got up and went on. They were enabled o do his because

n heir humy hey were no onger encumbered by he pety, egocentric self. Their lves had been urned outward from he center and they could again functon in the dimension of Dvine creatviy.

e glmpse he constructve, lmess possibies of the higher lfe

and everything we do s urned oward s realizaton. We are aware

of negatve emotons hat must be ransformed nto constructve

forces. For instance, suppose we are perfectonists—suppose we are

drivers wh a remendous nner urge hat doesn't et us rest. The

"hound of heaven" pounding close behind always pursues us. If we

do not find a constructve expression for this ype of nature, we are

going o use t negatvely. We grow fussy and domneering. We are

kely o become a gorgeous nuisance! People may admre us but

hey won't ke us. Because we are not using our drive, our

perfectonism, for big hings. We must redirect the wasted energy of

rritabiy, fault-finding and critcism, and make t work for

something constructve and worthwhie.

Man has harnessed he forces of nature everywhere o releve himself of abor and give himself me for many other hings. The next step, our next duty, s o harness and control and use he emotonal drive o create a new world, a world where ealousy, hatred and fear are replaced by love.

Motvated by a vision of buiding a new world, we have no me for ndulging n negatve houghts and emotons. h our energies focused upon bringing he Kngdom of Heaven o earth, we do not feel repressions. The sophistcated world may wag s finger at us and warn us hat we wl have to deny ourselves ots of good hings. But the world is wrong. We are not lving a deprived lfe. We are not denied any good hing. We are not lving he fe of whdrawal, the one-sided narrow existence, restricted by ntolerance, fear and superston. No, instead t is a fe of fulfilment. We enjoy a riniy of blessings, spiritual, mental and physical. There s an old saying, "Make your passion write poetry." This means that everything in lfe can be fted up o a higher expression; for t all comes from God, and Hs gifts are free and whout blemsh. Only man ms, binds down, msuses, mars and destroys.

hen we make full use of God's gifts, we shall find fulfilment. We shall find he perfect things we are o express. He wl create n us hrough Hs ndwelng Spirit, and bring nto visible form, original deas, inventons, art, music, poetry, that wl delght Hs chidren.

In he chapters hat folow you are going o meet, perhaps for he first tme, he real Jesus of Nazareth. You wl earn what kind of man He realy was, and what Hs rue mssion and purpose on earth was.

alace Wates s best known for his book "The Science of Getng Rch", publshed n 1910, in which he provides a formulated system for acquiring wealh by harnessing and utsing he power of creatve hought. He went on o write several other books along simar nes ncluding "The Science of Being ell", "The New Science of Living and Healng", and The Science of Being Great."

"A New Christ" was ates' very first book and has been virtualy forgoten about having been out of print for the past hundred years, yet t remains one of he finest, f not the finest book on primve Christaniy ever writen. In it he describes wh brilant clarity what Jesus he man realy stood for, and why He was despised and put to death. He goes on o explain what Jesus meant when He said "The works hat I do, you shall do also, and much greater works", and how this can realy be so.

Part wo of he book, "Jesus: The Man and Hs orks", was

originaly privately publshed as a book based on a ecture hat

ates gave n Cncinnati, Ohio n 1905. Hs ecture made such a

favourable mpression on some of his steners hat they determned

o have t printed f Professor ates would provide a manuscript

As he ecture was based on his book "A New Christ", quie a ot of

his original book s duplcated n "Jesus: The Man and Hs orks",

however t is stl well worth reading as here are a number of very

nterestng and amusing anecdotes ncluded, and also some further

nsights that were not included in his first book.

Part three of the book centres around a famous nspiratonal lecture ented "The Greatest Thing n he orld" hat he Scotsh evangelst Henry Drummond gave at a mssion staton n Central Africa n 1883. The American evangelst Dwght L. Moody heard Drummond's alk he folowng year and said he had never heard anything so beautful. Based on he Bible's "love chapter," 1 Corinthians 13, the ecture was made nto a pamplet and has since become a classic wh over 12 mon copies out over the 120 years t has been in print.

A second ecture by Drummond ented "The Programme of Christaniy," s ncluded, and you wl find hat it blends perfecty wh he first wo sectons of his book by alace ates. It s quie kely hat Wates would have had opportuniy o read hese

ectures by Drummond before writng his own book, and t may well have been hose hat originaly nspired him. Certainly Drummond has been quoted extensively n other's writngs ever since his

ectures were publshed.

Alhough both Drummond and ates came from Christan backgrounds, and were both ordained mnisters, heir eachings ranscend organised relgion completely, so no mater what your own particular relgion may be, or if you have no relgion at all, you are sure to find great value in reading what they have to say.