CWL explanation of The Act of Faith |

The Act of Faith: A Rational Creed

One of the greatest needs of today is a rational creed that will commend itself to the ordinary man and woman of the twentieth century who is seeking for an explanation of the problems of life. In our Liturgy, therefore, in addition to the older creeds, we have included a very simple statement of our belief in the Act of Faith which we recite in the Shorter Form of the Holy Eucharist and at the Office of Prime and Complin. (Prime is an early morning prayer, while Complin is said before retiring at night.)

From the opening assertion that God is love and power and truth and light it necessarily follows that, in spite of appearances, all things are definitely and intelligently working together for the good; that all circumstances, however untoward they may seem, are in reality exactly what are needed; that everything around as not to hinder us but to help us, if only it is understood. The evolution which we are considering is a spiritual evolution - an evolution of the soul far more than of the body. We must look at everything from the standpoint of the soul; and in every case when an internal struggle takes place we must realize our identity with the higher and not with the lower.

Many Lives

Thus, as has been said, what we ordinarily call this life is only one day in the real and wider life - a day at school during which we learn certain lessons. But in as much as one short life of seventy or eighty years at most is not enough to give an opportunity for learning all the lessons which this wonderful and beautiful world has to teach, and in as much as God means us to learn them all, it is necessary that we should come back many times over through many of these school days in different classes and under different circumstances, until all the lessons are learnt. Life presents us with many problems which, on any other hypothesis than that of reincarnation, seem utterly insoluble; this great truth explains them, and therefore must hold the field until another and more satisfactory hypothesis can be found.

Absolute Justice

Man’s gradual growth takes place under a law of absolute justice - perhaps better stated as an unchangeable law of cause and effect, so that nothing whatever can come to a man unless he has deserved it. Everything that happens to him (whether it be sorrow or joy) is on the one hand the direct result of his own action in the past and, on the other, an opportunity by means of which he can deliberately mold his future. But this law works both ways; it does not only react upon us from our past, but it also reaches forward from our present into our future. Every thought, word or action produces its definite result; not a reward or a punishment imposed from without, but a result inherent in the action itself and definitely connected with it in the relation of cause and effect, these being really but two inseparable parts of one whole.

The Plan

As in the case of any other science, so in this science of the soul, full details are only known to those who devote their lives to its pursuit. Those who fully know have patiently developed within themselves the powers necessary for perfect observation. For in this respect there is a difference between the methods of inner investigation and those of science; the latter devotes its energy to the improvement of its instruments, while the former aims rather at the development of the absolute.

This development is entirely a question of vibration. All information which reaches a man from the world without reaches him by means of vibration, whether it be through the senses of sight, hearing or touch. Consequently, if a man is able to make himself sensitive to additional vibrations, he will acquire additional information.

A Mighty Whole

What we, who have studied these things, are really doing, is to apply modern scientific methods of investigation to these facts of the higher life that were heretofore taught as revelations from on high. We are bringing forth the secret teaching of the Mysteries for the helping of those who are able to receive and understand it. First, then, we gain a rational understanding of life; we know how we should live, and why, and we learn that life is worth living when properly understood.

A Wider View

We learn from this study to view everything from the wider philosophical standpoint rather than from the petty and purely personal. We inevitably begin to regard everything not merely as it affects our infinitesimal selves, but rather to think of its influence upon others, even upon humanity as a whole. Because of all this, the troubles of life no longer seem so large. For many of us, our sorrows are seen out of all proportion because they are so near to us; they seem to obscure the whole horizon as a plate held near the eyes will shut out the sun. But true Christian teaching brings all these things into due perspective so that we are able to rise above the clouds of sorrow, to look down and see things as they are, and not merely as they appear when looked at from below by a very limited vision. We learn to sink altogether the lower personality with its mass of delusions and prejudices and its inability to see anything truly; we learn to rise to an impersonal, unselfish standpoint where to do right for right's sake, is the only rule of life, and to help our fellow-men is the greatest of our joys.

God Both Almighty and All Loving

Many good men have been forced to admit that they are unable to reconcile the state of affairs which exists in the world around them with their belief that God is both almighty and all-loving. They have felt, when they looked upon all the heart-breaking sorrow and suffering, that either He is not almighty and cannot prevent it, or He is not all-loving and does not care. Now we hold with the utmost strength of conviction that God is both almighty and all-loving, and we are able to reconcile the existing facts of life with that certainty by means of this teaching.

We understand that our present life is not our first, but that we each have behind us a long series of lives, and by our experience in them we have evolved to our present position. Assuredly, in those past lives we must have done both good and evil, and from every one of our actions a definite proportional result must have followed under the inexorable law of justice. From good follows happiness and further opportunity; from evil proceeds sorrow and limitation. So if we find ourselves limited in any way, the limitation is of our own making or is merely due to the youth of the soul; if we have sorrow and suffering to endure, we alone are responsible. We have gained a totally different view of life after death and understand its place in evolution. We know that death is a matter of far less importance than is usually supposed, since it is by no means the end of existence but merely the passage from one stage of life to another.

It also follows that we have a splendid evolution before us, the study of which will be most fascinating and attractive if we can obtain any information with regard to its nature and details. Furthermore, there is an absolute certainty of the final attainment for every human soul, no matter how far he may seem to have wandered from the path of evolution, as is said in our Act of Faith: 'All his sons shall one day reach his feet however far they stray.’

By our comprehension of these facts we are set free from religious fears and worries, either for ourselves or our friends. We are no longer troubled by an uncertainty as to our future fate, but live in perfect serenity and fearlessness. We should look ever for the good in everything that we may strengthen it; we should watch for the working of the great law of evolution in order that we may range ourselves on its side and contribute to its energy our tiny stream of force. In this way, by striving always to help and never to hinder, we shall become in our small sphere of influence one of the beneficent powers of nature; we shall have the happiness of knowing that we are making our small corner of the world a little better; we shall know that to the best of our ability we are working upon God's side and striving to do His will on earth as it is done in heaven.