‘Another Spring: the rebirth of thought and character’

     

Another Spring

Attune with the Changes

That Are Taking Place

By H. Spencer Lewis

The springtime of the year is close at hand, and it makes one realize that the freshness of the coming life and the vitality that is in the air signify a period when we should cooperate with nature’s processes of rebuilding and recreating, and become new men and women.

I like to think of the picture painted by one of the old mystics when he said that as springtime came he wanted to plant in the garden of his soul a seed of life, a seed of kindness and tolerance; that he would watch it carefully through the spring showers and high winds; mature it until summertime, then protect it against the heat of the sun and the great showers. In the fall, when it has become a great thing, he would bless it and enjoy its beauty and magnificence through the winter months, taking it closer to his bosom, keeping it warm, and letting it vitalize him during the close of the year.

Plant a Seed in Your Life!

Each one of us can plant such a seed at this time of the year by knowing that with the coming of spring come many opportunities to attune ourselves with the changes that are taking place. We can change our natures, our dispositions, our ways of thinking and doing things, and become new in many ways.

We really can clean house this springtime and rid ourselves of many superstitions, false beliefs, habits, and traits of character that clutter like weeds in a garden, and keep new plans, thoughts, and ideas from growing strong and beautiful.

Humans are constantly evolving, and it is for this reason that systems, doctrines, dogmas, and creeds, which served so well in the past, seem to be obsolete now.

It is not because we are less considerate of the higher things of life; it is not because we are less religious, less devoted to high ideals principles, or less moral; but it is because we have evolved to a different level of understanding. We feel sure that it is the higher understanding of those things necessary in life that builds character and makes for right living and divine attunement.

As evolving beings, we have changed from what we were a hundred years ago; we are not less spiritual, but more spiritual; we are not less devoted to principles and ideals, but more devoted to higher, broader, more understandable ones.

Continuing Cycles

In these clashes between the customs and thoughts of the past and those of today, there is more than this mere difference of opinion; there is the difference of continued evolution. Yet evolution is not only a thing of great cycles or eons of time, but of days, hours, and minutes. In the twinkling of an eye, we are told, many wonderful things can occur. In the passing of a few hours at night there may come a change in the life of any of us through a dream, a vision, or just a good night’s rest. And truly in the passing of a year, with its cycle of material changes and the effects of nature’s process of unfoldment, there can come to each of us modifications of understanding and viewpoint which will broaden and enlighten us and make us conscious of the grander aspects of life and our relation to the universe as a whole, instead of to only a small part of it.

Therefore, I plead for the rebirth of thought and character at the springtime of the year. I plead for a conscious, willful agreement with nature’s processes and a determined change in our individual natures. Let us rise above our local environments and find in ourselves a divine attunement with the entire universe so that we will not remain merely a part of the place or condition in which we happen to exist.

This is my thought these springtime days, and this is the thought that I would have you take under consideration for weeks to come, until it takes root in your consciousness and manifests in everything you think and do.

With a change of thinking and a broader aspect of consciousness will come a widening of your ability to live with understanding. You will find that there is a broadening of your whole life, that you are becoming more receptive to the blessings of the universe, more successful in your undertakings, more enlightened in your aspirations, and more truly inspired in your conceptions. Such a change in your nature, outwardly manifesting in many ways, will be noticeable and will attract to you those who are like yourself, repelling in a passive way those who cannot agree with you.

Soon you will find that the rebirth of the springtime has brought you into the summertime of joy and Peace Profound. Then, through the fall and winter, you will enjoy life as you have never enjoyed it before. With the ambitions, anticipations, exhilarating introspection known only to the true mystic, one who has passed through self-crucifixion and self-resurrection, you will look forward to the coming of another spring.

1926