And when he had sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and
the fowls came and devoured them up.
Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth;
and forthwith they sprang up, because they had no deepness of earth; And
when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they
withered away.
And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up, and
choked them.
But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit,
some an hundredfold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold.
— Matthew 13:3-8
In this parable Christ Jesus referred not only to the
spiritual truths which humanity in general had such need of at the time of His
three years' ministry, but He also gave a description of different types of
people and their reactions to His teachings. The attitude of the first three
classes which He describes accounts for the fact that such a large part of
humanity were at the point of retrogression when the Christ Ray came into the
earth as its indwelling planetary Spirit.
There were then, as now, many people who have made so little
effort and progress along spiritual lines that they do not understand when
someone talks to them of the spiritual laws underlying existence. Since the
time, aeons and aeons ago, that the virgin spirits were differentiated within
God and started in their dip into matter, many have exerted their divine
powers so slightly and become so enmeshed in materiality that they have lost
the realization of being spiritual beings and respond little to the voice of
the Higher Self. The subversive forces are in constant action to lead this
class, which constitutes those who "received seed by the wayside,"
away from the uplifting influences which could place them among the more
advanced.
There is another type of people who are unstable, not having
the fixity of purpose or strength of character to retain spiritual teachings
and pattern their lives by them, even though they may accept the truths when
heard. They listen freely to all teachings which may be promulgated, but they
do not discriminate and make their intellectual conceptions a part of their
basis for daily living. They do not allow the "word" to take
"root" in their beings,and they therefore constitute a "stony
ground," where " seed" withers away.
A third class of people have become so engrossed in their
material pursuits and selfish desires that they do not permit a knowledge of
spiritual truths to interfere with their sensual manner of existence. They live
in their emotions and desires: eating, drinking, and making merry. Their homes
and lands, their "getting and spending," their personal vanities,
etc.,occupy their time and thoughts. The "thorns," or lower nature,
choke out the"seed" and prevent its growth.
Happily, there is still another type of human being, as
referred to in the parable: those who "hear the word."These are the
ones who listen to the voice of the Higher Self, the Christ within, and
endeavor to live according to the spiritual truths given out to humanity as a
pattern for progress by our Elder Brothers. Their daily lives are filled with
thoughts and acts of love and service to others, in emulation of Christ Jesus,
the Ideal for present humanity. Thus do they prepare themselves for the New
Age nurturing the "seed" until it grows and flowers into a glorious,
luminous fruitage:the Golden Wedding Garment, or soul body, the evidence of the
Christ within.
— Rays from the Rose Cross Magazine, February, 1975, page 68
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