LIVING THE RADIANT LIFE
LATEST BOOKS BY GEORGE WHARTON JAMES
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CALIFORNIA LITERATURE. A Text Book for High Schools and Colleges,
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* * * * *
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him, 1098 W. Raymond Avenue, Pasadena, California.
LIVING THE RADIANT LIFE
A PERSONAL NARRATIVE
BY GEORGE WHARTON JAMES
Author of "Quit from Worrying," "What the White Race May Learn From the
Indian," "The Story of Scroggles," "The Heroes of California," "The
Grand Canyon of Arizona," "Lake Tahoe," "The Wonders of the Colorado
Desert," etc., etc.
PASADENA, CALIF.
THE RADIANT LIFE PRESS
1916
Copyright, 1916
BY EDITH E. FARNSWORTH
J. F. TAPLEY CO.
NEW YORK
TO ONE
who, in all the years I have known her, never once has failed to radiate
that which is sweet, pure, helpful, unselfish, humane, sincere,
beautiful and true, with thankfulness for the blessedness of my
association with her
CONTENTS
PAGE
FOREWORD ix
CHAPTER
I RADIANCIES OF NATURE 1
II THE RADIANT AURA 6
III A FEW WORDS IN PASSING 14
IV VARIED RADIANCIES 22
V RADIANCIES OF INDIVIDUALITY 38
VI CONFLICTING RADIANCIES 50
VII RADIANCIES OF FEAR 56
VIII THE RADIANCY OF REBUKE 78
IX WHAT I WOULD RADIATE TO THE WRONG DOER 81
X THE RADIANCIES OF TOLERATION 89
XI OUT OF DOOR RADIANCIES 96
XII RADIANCIES OF JOY, INSPIRATION, AND SERENITY 115
XIII RADIANCIES OF THE WILL 126
XIV RADIANCIES OF CHEERFULNESS 147
XV RADIANCIES OF MORAL COURAGE 166
XVI RADIANCIES OF CONTENT AND DISCONTENT 186
XVII RADIANCIES OF SINCERITY 217
XVIII RADIANCIES OF SERVICE 221
XIX RADIANCIES OF HUMOR 232
XX RADIANCIES OF THE "ETERNAL NOW" 241
XXI RADIANCIES OF EXTREMES 247
XXII ABSORPTION IN RELATION TO RADIATION 255
XXIII RADIANCIES OF DEATH 286
FOREWORD
From the standpoint of religion the lives of "good" men and women may be
divided into two great classes, viz., those who do no active wrong,
whose conduct is based upon the "thou shalt nots" of the Bible, the law,
and society, and those whose every thought is to do some active good.
I am far more interested in the latter than the former class. I am not
content simply to forego doing wrong. I want to _do_, to _be_. Hence
when the idea of _Living a Radiant Life_ took hold of me, it sank deep,
and is now part of my inner self. It was natural, therefore, that I
should seek to formulate my thoughts as to what I desired to radiate.
This seeking soon taught me that I already was a radiant being; every
thought, every act, every word written or spoken was a radiant act,
having its influence for good or evil upon my fellows, and that,
therefore, I must decide speedily what I wanted to avoid radiating, and
that which I would radiate.
The following pages are some of the results of my earnest cogitations,
deliberations, reflections, and decisions. Consequently they partake
strongly of personal preachments applied to myself. They may be regarded
as a record of personal aspirations and longings, of spiritual hopes, of
living prayers, and desires. And they are purposely written in the
personal form in the sincere hope that they will help others to put into
similar form their own half-formed thoughts, desires, and aspirations.
This book is not offered as a complete manual of life. It is merely a
suggestion to others of the larger, wider, better, nobler thing they may
do for themselves. It is my desire to arouse thought, to stimulate
ardent longings for something beyond the gratification of the senses, to
lead my readers to strive more earnestly for unselfish living, and to
encourage them in their endeavors to find, realize, and live those
spiritual truths which redeem human beings from their mortal inheritance
of imperfection.
The main test of any system of religion or code of life is: Does it
work? If it is not practical; applicable to all the events of daily
life; enabling one to cope with problems as they arise; making one more
helpful to mankind, less selfish, less censorious, less vain, less
proud, less obstinate, less cruel, less thoughtless, less despondent;
and, on the other hand, exciting and stimulating one to be more humane,
more tender and compassionate with sinning humanity, more humble and
ready to learn, more amenable to the suggestions of the wise and good,
more kind, more considerate, more generous, more noble, more aspiring,
then, indeed, has it proven itself to be a broken reed, instead of a
tried staff upon which one may lean.
No longer to me is religion a question of "Thou shalt not." The "don'ts"
of life are of far less importance than the "dos." He whose life is
occupied with doing good has little time or thought for doing harm.
Christ's method of living was positive and active, rather than negative
and passive. He _went about, doing good_. He said: "_Do_ unto others as
ye would have them do unto you." He taught love in action: Love your
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and
pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
Hence I earnestly hope that every one of the following pages will
contain some helpful thought for all who are seeking the more perfect
life; and also for those who are sitting in the darkness of
discouragement, under the depressing temptation to regard life as a
"failure." There is no man living, no matter how low in body, mind, or
soul, but can be helped into happiness; no woman so utterly lost to all
good who may not live to feel the sprouting of angel wings because of
the birth within her soul of helpful, unselfish love.
Goethe's cry was for "more light," and as life comes with light in the
material world, so light and life are inseparably connected in the
mental and spiritual world. There is no real darkness in life. There may
be a temporary withdrawal of solar light, but we know that as surely as
all the days of the past have dawned, so the sun will shine again
to-morrow. And through all the seeming mists of doubt, fear, and pain
the true spiritual light forever shines to give immortal life. Let us
take Life then as God's gift, and as we progress daily to a more perfect
expression of freedom from all that would wrongfully enthrall us, let us
seek diligently to "let our light shine" upon those around who seem to
live in the shadows.
I would come, in these pages, as the glorious sun, bringing warmth,
healing, and purification. I would come as the stimulating breeze that
vivifies and refreshes--the breeze that has its birth on the vast
Pacific where all impurities are scrubbed out of it in a thousand miles
of storms, then floats gently over the orange and lemon groves, the rose
gardens and violet beds, the sweet scented blossoms of ten thousand
times ten thousand shrubs of California; then, laden with sweet odors
and charged with the bromine and ozone of the ocean, climbs over the
steep Sierran heights and becomes cool and filtered through the vast
pine and juniper forests, and adds the balsams of health and strength,
distilled from a million trees and shrubs, ere it falls to the desert
and is there rendered aseptic and antiseptic. Like such a health-laden
breeze would I come to weary men and women, tired and exhausted with the
battle of life, sick of its complexities and frivolities, longing for
spiritual as well as physical health, and seeking the happiness that
comes alone when we live for the happiness of others.
My desire is to send forth a message that will bless body, mind, and
soul, just as a triple song, whose melodies blend in perfect harmony,
carries healing, strength, and inspiration. For he indeed is thrice
blessed who knows the joy of life in its threefold manifestation, who
has a body that is vigorous and healthy, a mind alert and active, quick
to observe and reflect, to discern and classify, and a soul whose
emotions and aspirations are ever to help, encourage, comfort, and
purify humanity.
The conditions for such a life are in the "Everywhere" waiting to be
born into the "Here," and God's time is _now_.
Many of these chapters originally appeared in the pages of _Physical
Culture Magazine_, and to my good friends, its editor and founder,
Bernarr Macfadden, and the present editor, John Brennan, I tender my
cordial thanks for the privilege of reprinting which they have
generously accorded.
[Illustration: George Wharton James]
Pasadena, Calif.
PRAYER
OH, ALMIGHTY GOD, Thou radiant source of all power, life and love, Thou
free giver of sun and earth, clouds and wind, flowers and trees, fruits
and birds, bees and butterflies, work and play, tenderness and
unselfishness, sympathy and love, so fill us with Thyself that we shall
become radiant beings like Thyself. Make us innocent as little children,
simple as the young animals of the hills and fields, beautiful in soul
as are the flowers, heaven-aspiring as are the trees, soothing as are
the gentle breezes of night, warming as is the sun, fluid to meet all
needs as water, restful as night, eager for work as the dawn, joyous in
all life as the birds, and thankful for labor as the busy bees. Give us
the needy to bless, the loveless to love, the sinful to stimulate and
encourage to goodness, purity, and truth, the orphan to father, the
degraded to uplift, and at the same time the wise to be our teachers and
the serene to lead us into peace. Be Thou our Constant Vision, longing
and aspiration--nay, be Thou our never-failing companion, counselor and
friend. So shall we become radiant, true children of Thine, possessed of
Thy likeness and radiating the glory and beauty of Thyself.
--Amen.
LIVING THE RADIANT LIFE
CHAPTER I
THE RADIANCIES OF NATURE
Everything in Nature is radiant. Use the term in its broad sense and
there is nothing to which it does not apply. The sun radiates light and
heat, and without it life would be impossible. The moon radiates light,
but practically no heat. Its light is reflected and of an entirely
different character from that of the sun, so that no one ever mistakes
the one for the other. The stars have a light all their own which they,
though so many millions of miles away from us, radiate in varying
intensities. And many of these stars are so individualistic in their
radiancies that each one, though perfect, is different from each other
one, and may readily be detected by its own peculiarities. Every flower
that grows, from the night-blooming cereus on the desert to the most
perfect amaryllis developed by Burbank, radiates its own colors, odors,
and general appearance. One familiar with them may close his eyes and
detect in a moment, by the odor of each--the violet, rose, lily, cosmos,
verbena, and a thousand others, and there are those whose olfactory
nerves are highly sensitive who can discern, by smell alone, the
varieties of each flower.
Every species of tree radiates its own qualities, so that, to the
student, they become growingly wonderful in what they give out. A
distinguished botanist whom I know is so familiar with the radiancies of
the various pines of the Pacific Slope that he can sketch and perfectly
describe the complete tree as soon as he sees the cone, or, blindfolded,
smells its odor.
Every rock has its own radiancies of color, texture, weight, and
density. One of John Ruskin's most useful and beautiful books is his
_Ethics of the Dust_, and those who have not read it should do so to
understand how many things a wise and good man has felt radiated from
the rocks.
Shakspere felt the potency of this truth or he would never have written
that he saw "tongues in trees; books in the running brooks; sermons in
stones, and good in everything."
Every landscape radiates its own personality. Some are quietly pastoral,
as the valleys in Connecticut. The prairies of Illinois, Iowa, and
Nebraska are wide and impressive; the wastes of the Colorado Desert are
vast and appalling; the varied colorings of the Painted Desert are
weird and startling. The orange, lemon, and other orchards of Southern
California delight the senses, the forests of the north and the High
Sierras stir the soul by their expansiveness, and the groves of Big
Trees overpower by their height and size. The ocean is restless and
resistless; the stars pitiless at times, soothing at others. Each scene,
whether pastoral, picturesque, wild, rugged, grand, or weird, has its
peculiar radiancies, and some scenes possess many qualities, all of
which are felt or perceived by the sensitive onlooker. For instance, as
one stands on the rim of the Grand Canyon he feels the radiancies of
overwhelming vastness, profound depth, far-reaching length, expansive
width, vivid and extraordinary coloring, bizarre and strange carvings,
and, in the lower depths of the Inner Gorge, where flows the solemn and
sullen Colorado, a strangeness and mystery found nowhere else in the
known world.
In his _Kreutzer Sonata_, Tolstoi contends that certain music radiates
damning influences, and though I do not agree with him (perhaps because
I have never felt or seen such evil), his attitude of mind serves as a
further illustration of my proposition. We all are aware of certain
radiancies of certain kinds of music, even though unaccompanied with
words. The _Dead March in Saul_; the _Threnody_ in Bach's Passion Music;
the _Death of the King_ in Grieg's _Peer Gynt_, and Chopin's _Funeral
March_, all radiate the solemnity and sadness of death, while Sousa's
various marches, Chopin's _March Militaire_, and a hundred other similar
compositions radiate the arousement either of active life or passionate
war. The _Glorias_ of Mozart and Pergolesi, and Handel's _Hallelujah
Chorus_ speak--even though the words are unheard--of the joy of the
world at the Savior's birth, and the _Requiems_ of Verdi, Bach, and
Gounod of the sadness of soul felt at His cruel death.
Every picture radiates the spirit of its artist at the period of
creation, and every piece of music the influences that overpower the
soul of the composer; and even every piece of furniture radiates to some
extent the spirit of the age in which it was created, or the animating
spirit of its creator.
It should not be overlooked that, although these radiant properties are
possessed for all persons alike, they are not discerned by all alike.
All people are not equally receptive, equally sensitive, equally
apperceptive. Human beings are like soil--some is stony ground and the
seed takes no root, other is thorny, and the seeds, springing up, are
choked, other still is good ground and bears fruit, some thirty, some
sixty, some an hundred fold. In other words the state of our own
responsiveness determines the effect upon us of the radiancy of the
objects with which we come in contact.
The quartz picked up from a ledge may be full of valuable mineral, but
to the ignorant it is "a piece of rock and nothing more."
The ordinary traveler on the desert sees a large black beetle. Knowing
nothing of beetles, it is to him "only a bug." But the scientific
entomologist, seeing the same beetle, is carried away with delight, for
he recognizes the rare _Dinapate Wrightii_, one of the least seen and
most rare of American beetles.
Most travelers seeing the cactuses of the desert note but a few
varieties, but the trained observer revels in hundreds of differences in
_mammillaria_, _opuntias_, _echinocactuses_, and _agave_.
Some see no beauty in them, some delight in their many and diverse
charms; to some their thorns are hideous and repulsive, to others both
interesting and beautiful in their arrangement and design.
According to our receptivity do these objects of Nature affect us--some
in one way, some another. The more sensitive our minds and souls are to
what they perceive, the more we receive, absorb, gain, and, therefore,
the more we in turn radiate to others, but we must remember that the
character and quality of that which we receive will be reflected,
therefore it is necessary to be constantly in that attitude of mind
which is receptive to good only.