[Sidenote: Anger and Worry are Germs]
All of the evil passions are traceable to one of two roots.
ANGER is the root of all the aggressive passions.
WORRY is the root of all the cowardly passions.
Envy, spite, revenge, impatience, annoyance, selfishness, prejudice,
unrest, and the like are all phases of anger.
Jealousy, fear, the belittling of self, the blues, and all the
introspective forms of depression are the children of worry.
Anger and worry are the most unprofitable conditions known to man.
While they are in possession of the mind, both mental and physical
growth are suspended.
[Sidenote: Anger and Worry are Thieves]
Anger and worry are thieves that steal precious time and energy from
life.
Anger is a highway robber and worry is a sneak thief.
Anger and worry are the most potent forms of self-abuse, for the reason
that in many cases anger is the result of misunderstanding, and in most
cases worry's prophecies never come true; or, if they do, the
fulfilment is generally caused by the worry itself.
Anger and worry do not stimulate to any good end.
Anger and worry not only dwarf and depress, but sometimes kill.
Anger and worry are bad habits of the mind and not necessary
ingredients.
Anger and worry are no more necessary than other passions civilized man
has learned to control, and it is only needful to realize that they are
unnecessary in order to make it impossible to feel, much less to show
them.
Anger and worry cannot be eliminated through process of repression any
more than a weed can be killed by cutting down the stalk, or a cancer
can be cured from the surface, or the drinking habit can be gotten rid
of by "tapering off." Germ eradication is not only the _easiest_, but
the _only sure cure_ for all physical diseases and mental handicaps.
The dispossession of anger and worry does not cause indifference or
encourage indolence.
The natural tendency of the emancipated mind is towards growth, both
intellectual and spiritual, just as the tendency of plant life is
towards vigorous growth and perfect blossoming, if it is kept free from
the gnawings of cankerous worms.
[Sidenote: Anger and Worry are Parasites]
Anger and worry are as much parasites as are the cankerous worms that
attack plants. The intelligent horticulturist knows that the worms are
parasites, picks them off his plant, and throws them away too far to
return. The intelligent menticulturist of the future will treat anger
and worry in the same intelligent manner.
It is not necessary to engage in battle the small army of lesser
passions if you concentrate your efforts against anger and worry, for
they are all children of these parents. Oppose them with a bold front;
make one heroic stand against them and they and all of their children
will fly. Disown them once and the ability to re-adopt them will have
disappeared with them.
[Sidenote: Worry Causes Dissipation]
Anger and worry, especially worry, are the cause of most of the
drunkenness and other dissipations which are the curses of the age.
Excuse for them or temptation to them is found in the desire to smother
the depression which they themselves cause.
Anger and worry are creations of the mind, and can be dispelled by the
same power that gave them birth.
[Sidenote: Anger and Worry are Phantoms]
Anger and worry are caused by phantoms that we create within ourselves
and whose only strength is that with which we endow them.
Anger and worry are like echoes; they do not exist until we call for
them, and the louder we call, the louder is their response. We can
never drown them; yet, if let alone, they drown themselves.
Fear is possibly the truer name for the cowardly root-passion than
worry; but as they are synonymous, and as anger and worry are more
frequently used together, and worry has a less formidable sound, I have
chosen to present it for attack under that title.
While the evil passions align themselves into two classes, as the
offshoots of Anger and Worry; they are, in fact, all growths from one
root. Worry (or fear) is the male principle, as it were, without which,
all the others wither and die. For instance; if we do not worry, we do
not fear; and if we do not fear aggression, or insult, or slight, we do
not become angry. We quarrel most frequently with what _we fear_ is
thought or intended by our adversary, and least frequently with what he
actually does or thinks. On the other hand our adversary endows us with
intentions which he himself creates, and each puts his own fuel on the
fire, to increase the heat of the controversy.
In Emancipation there is no fear, (or worry) and consequently no fuel
for discord.
[Sidenote: Emancipation Disarms]
Emancipation is a disarmament which disarms others, but adds strength
to itself.
To the Emancipated every moment is a delight, or a moment of calm,
during which he is susceptible only to good impressions, and the best
interpretation of everything, no matter what the external conditions.
Even in cases of sickness, the tendency of the emancipated mind is so
inclined to gratitude for the limitations of the calamity, that it has
little if any room left for regret. Its thankful appreciation of a half
loaf of blessings, leaves no place for disappointment that it is not a
whole one, and it certainly has no desire to question the wisdom of the
process of evolution to which it is related.
To question or to regret the inevitable seems to the emancipated mind
the greatest folly imaginable. It certainly is as foolish as barking at
the moon.
[Sidenote: "Sweet Sorrow"]
"Sweet sorrow" must not be classed with the depressing passions. It is
the tenderest expression of love. If tears of love or of sympathy
spring to the eyes, do not repress them; do not be ashamed of them;
they are like dew from Heaven and promote the growth of the soul.
Neither must friendly rivalry, nor ambition to excel, be classed as
aggressions; as they are phases of growth.
[Sidenote: Blesses or Curses]
The disposition of the Emancipated is to switch the current of the
Divine Spark (which is the energy of man) on to wires that connect with
motors belted to good acts, and good thoughts, and worthy appreciation,
and to cut out the circuits of worry and anger and their branch lines
entirely, leaving them to rust and decay through disuse. It is a matter
of voluntary selection. The same effort of thought can be made to bless
or to curse; can stimulate to good or stimulate to bad; can propel or
retard; can aid or obstruct; can nourish or kill.
[Sidenote: Perfection is Divinity]
Nature uses the same atoms to perform many services of widely differing
purpose. Where she is inanimate the blind and dumb law of the "survival
of the fittest" rules supreme. In her lowest forms of life this law
begins to be modified by selection, and protection from without. In the
higher forms of animal life memory, and selection, and division of
labor, and provision, and gratitude, show a degree of development that
is beautiful indeed; but it is left to man to perfect this development
within himself. To him is given the power, through cultivation, to
promote, without limit, growth towards Perfection, which is the
evidence of Divinity in him.
Soft mist, down-falling, from its cloud domain,
Bathes all the thirsty land with gentle rain;
Again, to Heaven ascends, by sunbeams wooed,
Then plunges back to earth in torrent mood.
As gentle rain it swells the softening seed;
In torrent force, it wrecks with demon greed;
Now, like the radiance of a loving heart;
Now, like the scorching of a lightning dart.
The self-same atom, hidden in a tear.
May shine with love, or note a potent fear;
When bound to others form the flintiest stone;
Or, floating freely, bear the subtlest tone.
Thoughts are like atoms, fashioned by the will;
Each has a mission, charged with good or ill;
Sometimes to bless; anon to desolate;
Love's messenger; or harbinger of hate.
In Nature's hands, one atom plays two parts,
As may be needed in her several arts;
In man alone, should love forever shine;
Displacing hate; proclaiming man Divine.
Love, and Appreciation, and Gratitude,--the ever-present and
ever-faithful handmaids of Emancipation,--are the natural and only
conditions favorable to growth; they are the less assertive but
stronger attributes which are always waiting to occupy the places left
vacant by anger and worry, and to fill the "void which Nature abhors."
Born of them is that other Divine attribute called Help or Charity, and
together they stimulate to good action and good thought, and lift into
life that plant of the soul, the Divine Responsibility of each member
of the human family.
Anger and worry are the rankest forms of Egotism.
[Sidenote: Emancipation not Phariseeism]
Emancipation is the reverse of Phariseeism. Phariseeism is
self-sufficiency; while Emancipation shows its desire for growth,
through the preparation of its mental and spiritual entity for
unimpaired growth, by clearing it of the weeds of egotism.