To Light a Thousand Lamps - The Theosophical Society

16
The Daily Initiation
EVERY PEOPLE HAS BORNE the sacred burden of the Divine
in its deepest heart. How strange, with this wondrous heritage,
that we should ever feel ‘‘widowed of the presence of
the gods,’’ as though the link with our divine source had
become frayed, no longer assured. We are not the first civilization
to feel lost and bewildered, nor will we be the last,
but this does not mean there is no remedy. Help has always
been within our grasp: to ally our whole being with the
building energies of the universe and to refuse to strengthen
by default — certainly never by design — the destructive
forces that are ever alert to attack the irresolute soul. Still,
we must persevere, for once we make the choice, all the
‘‘devils’’ in the underworld of our nature will seemingly be
let loose to test the integrity of our resolve. The more in
earnest we are, the more subtle and persistent the resistance
— not instigated by others, but by our own higher self.
There is nothing mysterious about this. Probably everyone
has had the experience that when we determine to alter
our habitual ways of thinking, everything and everybody
appear to conspire against us. This is inevitable, for intensity
of aspiration challenges the gods who are ‘‘jealous’’ of us
humans who venture unprepared into their domain. Only