We are all creatures of moods and these are liable to fluctuate alarmingly. The most exalted mood is one of generous self-giving. In this state of mind, one of feeling, we are able to transcend the barriers of self and enter the glorious state of the universe seen in terms, at least primarily, of our neighbour. Hence we are commended to love our neighbour as ourselves, our neighbour being, in the final analysis, all creatures no matter how noxious they may seem to us. They all spring from the common source and move to the common end. This is death and the unknown, the future that lies ahead of us all. When our state of mind, as a definition of a mood, is positive and outgoing, we feel that circumstances are all on our side, and our joie de vivre is ebullient. When, on the other hand, our mood is withdrawn, we are afflicted by a negative state of mind, a very unpleasant hollowness assails us, and we feel that we are useless for any of the world's demands, and suitable only for retirement and even, if necessary, death. It is not surprising that this negative state of depression may precipitate a suicide attempt if it is not confronted immediately and vigorously.
When we are taken over by a negative mood, doubt of a most destructive kind soon possesses our thinking processes. Why do I feel so rotten, what nastiness in my life lies at the root of this terrible depression? Is there an evil precipitating factor in myself, my environment, or in the source of all life? Whatever the answers to all these questions may be, I have no doubt that the final common path is the brain, which is controlled by chemical substances that influence its own workings and those of the other parts of the body also. I would unhesitatingly make the same statement about psychical experiences and mystical illumination also. Whatever their place of origin, the termination is the human brain where they can be rationally assessed with discrimination and acted on accordingly. In this way, we can communicate with one another in all the qualities of mind (the thinking processes), soul (the vale of moral and spiritual judgement in terms of beauty, truth and goodness or love), and spirit, where the ultimate creative process is known in mystical experience.
Paul speaks of this as "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1.27). This is the experience of God that is recognized by theistic religion. The converse mood of ebullient joyfulness opens up on to the whole universe, seen as the ground of reality by those who have experienced it, and there is a great rejoicing from the relief of past tensions. Their minds are opened to fresh opportunities while their hearts beat in pleasant anticipation as new adventures open up to their entranced gaze. In such a positive frame of mind the whole person is infused with a power which is akin to the Holy Spirit of theistic religion. It is also called "The Lord" and "The Giver of Life". In such a positive state of being, doubt fades away like the mist before a fresh summer day. This is as it should be, not because we are assured of such a condition of inevitable success in all our future endeavours, but because we are no longer attached by worldly concern to the exclusion of anything else. Inasmuch as now the worldly and the spiritual realms fuse and are transfigured into something of a new creation, therefore we can say that doubt is very much a part of our earthly consciousness, depending on our circumstances moment by moment.
When we once have moved from the temporal to the eternal, doubt evaporates. It does not simply disappear, for its potency actually increases like something resembling a homoeopathic remedy, and now it reinforces our own personality, strengthening it, and making it much more durable and positive. This example shows us that doubt which starts with a very considerable diffidence in the face of the "authorities" who control world opinion can progress to the establishment of a completely new way of life. I am impressed with the words of Revelation 21.1-5:
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had vanished, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready like a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice proclaiming from the throne: "Now God has his dwelling with mankind! He will dwell among them and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be an end to death, and to mourning and crying and pain, for the old order has passed away!" The One who sat on the throne said, "I am making all things new!"
In fact, doubt is as important for running our lives as it is for the workings of the universe. We in our childish attitudes long for a security, which, if granted, would imprison us in a world of mediocrity, governed by a hierarchy of unimaginative people who would automatically opt for stability and a dismal conformity at the cost of a spurious safety, whose end would be death rather than life. In this life one cannot have both safety and growth, because experience, on which development depends, is bound to traverse an uneven terrain, rather like a vehicle driven fast over rocky ground. Whether one survives the journey depends on the skill of the driver and the beneficence of the guiding power, who could be identified as the God of theistic religion.
When we travel at some speed over the uneven stretch of life, we need all the courage we can muster, no less than the faith that we can gather for the uneven ground ahead of us. The true antithesis of doubt is rather more than mere faith, which, to be frank, can have quite easily a certain static, dependent quality about it, if we relax into it too easily. The antithesis of doubt is even more than this easy faith; it is courage. This takes our own participation into the matter without fudging the issue, but gritting our teeth and carrying on, despite all evil omens. I am always reminded of a fine, but somewhat controversial hymn, which is strongly criticized by some Christians, but nevertheless has important things to say:
Father hear the prayer we offer:
Not for ease that prayer shall be,
But for strength that we may ever
Live our lives courageously.
Not for ever in green pastures
Do we ask our way to be;
But the steep and rugged pathway
May we tread, rejoicingly.
Not for ever by still waters
Would we idly rest and stay;
But would smite the living fountains
From the rocks along the way.
Be our strength in hours of weakness,
In our wanderings be our guide;
Through endeavour, failure, danger,
Father be Thou at our side.
The hymn is a direct criticism of the relaxing images of the peace summoned up in Psalm 23 with its green pastures and still waters. The final verse is to my mind especially pertinent.
Be our strength in hours of weakness,
In our wanderings be our guide;
Through endeavour, failure, danger,
Father be Thou at our side.
Life is not meant to be a permanent rest-cure where we can indulge our whims and pleasures indefinitely in the company of friends and servants. Once we have had the pleasure of such an enjoyable break from the routine of everyday existence, we have nothing to do but return once more to our work and help in the coming of the Kingdom, in whatever shape this Kingdom expresses itself in our minds, whether as a place of bodily healing, social justice, national rapprochement, or spiritual reconciliation, where the many, often hostile, religious groups, who strangely declare their worship of the same God, may come together in peace and reassurance. When we have understood the full nature of life, we understand with joy that service to the world around us is also universal service and its practice is perfect freedom. When we work in this frame of mind, in this mood, two apparently contrasting ways of experience come to our notice, tranquillity and action.
In the state of tranquillity we know the perfect peace of creation in God, depending on the system of belief of the individual, the peace with which the officiant blesses the congregation at the end of a church service, usually described as the peace of God which passes all understanding, that keeps their hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God. This peace is the apogee of human awareness and carries us away from all personal care, bringing us to universal consciousness similar to that of the mystic. And yet the strange thing is that in this state of awareness we are closer to the sufferings of our fellow creatures than ever before. Yet we know with Julian of Norwich that "all manner of thing shall be well". In this process of spiritual transmutation we ourselves have been able to shed our customary self-concern and give ourselves body and soul to the sufferings of other people. This is the heart of tranquillity, the purest and most exalted way of growth through suffering and all that appertains to it.
Tranquillity is expressed in another famous hymn by John Greenleaf Whittier who was contemporary with Mrs Willis, the author of the hymn above:
Dear Lord and Father of Mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways.
Re-clothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives thy service find,
In deeper reverence praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard,
Beside the Syrian sea,
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word
Rise up and follow Thee.
O Sabbath rest by Galilee.
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with thee
The silence of eternity,
Interpreted by love!
And now comes the climax of the hymn, where the tranquillity invoked by the vision of Jesus worshipping with the Father whom we call God, is drawn into our own souls also.
Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still small voice of calm!
The mood expressed in this hymn is one of the utmost tranquillity, whereas Mrs Willis' hymn is pregnant with action, yet they come from a distinctly similar spiritual source: Whittier was a Quaker and Mrs Willis a Unitarian, both of the nineteenth century. Neither denomination subscribes to a formal creed and until the beginning of that century they, like the Jews, were denied various civil rights, at least in Britain. It is noteworthy that both denominations are miniscule when compared with the massive numbers of Catholics and fundamentalist Evangelicals, even in such an open society as that of Britain. Both Quakers and Unitarians fought for the religious emancipation of Catholics and Jews soon after their own acceptance on the religious scene, never having forgotten what rejection felt like. The Quakers have extended their witness to the complete rejection of all weapons of war, while the Unitarians have concentrated their activities largely in the direction of religious freedom The Quakers fought against slavery right from the beginning of their ministry, whereas the Unitarians acted against this evil rather more slowly, though there were notable individual exceptions. The sad thing has been the decline in the influence of both denominations of what is loosely called "liberal Christianity", which is in no small measure due to its rationalistic, "scientific" bias.
It is interesting that the hymns I have quoted spring from a softer approach to reality unfettered by dogma. We live at present in an atmosphere of religious fundamentalism, whether Catholic or Evangelical; it is no wonder that many intelligent, well-educated people have turned their backs categorically on all religion, whereas not a few are experimenting with the religions of the East. I have no doubt that this essentially negative approach will wane and a new enthusiasm will materialize, but will it be a fashionable cult or individual figure from some exotic area of the world, or a real revelation that could lead a jaded humanity from illusion to an illumination about the nature of the creative process that could be called "the spirit of God"? This is the real mood of assurance, because it will not depend on any promises from outside (they all turn out to be empty), but the inner transformation of the person themself. Only then can they be in control of the situation, and use the gifts (physical, mental, psychical, and spiritual) with which they have been endowed in a creative way to emulate the creative processes that typify the world itself. On the answer to this question hangs the future of humanity and the fate of the world, so closely linked are the human and the soil from which they spring in the universal creative process.
The way from constructive doubt to assurance is not from some dogmatic stance, but by the instruction of the spirit that governs the world. In this respect it is important to distinguish between dogma and dogmatism. Dogma is a principle, tenet, or doctrinal system, especially as laid down by the authority of the Church, whereas dogmatism is the arrogant declaration of an opinion, whether religious or secular. It often finds its most unpleasant expression in politics, finance or health-care. Dogma has to be expounded as a principle of teaching, and is conveyed to one person by another from their prior experience, or from what they themselves had previously been taught by their mentors.
We cannot communicate effectively by means of concepts, if we have not received the correct dogma, but once this has become dogmatic it is stifling and serves to quench the spirit in the most disastrous way. In the allegory of the good shepherd that occupies John 1o there is a memorable analogy: "I have come that they may have life, and may have it in all its fullness" (John l0.l0). This life is the power that moves and controls the world and infuses all its inhabitants with the joy of being alive and adding their contribution. Through this vital power, the strangling nature of dogmatism, that converts necessary dogma into a cemetery of dead concepts that had their day perhaps centuries ago, is changed into a fresh source of truth, which was always present but until then completely occluded by obsolete concepts. These were the residue of old, ignorant prejudices, whose presence prevented the way forward of progressive dogma, whether this took the form of scientific research, religion, or psychical studies.
The last never fails to evoke the derision of "scientific" people or the revulsion of the "religious enthusiast", but it is nevertheless a bona fide means of communication, both between two living people and between the living and the dead. I personally have had sufficient unsought experience to know the evidential truth of what I write here. I have little doubt, however, that if a person strains desperately for a living proof in one who has made the great transition that we call death, they will never be fully satisfied, especially if they are unwise enough to consult a "medium". This is primarily because the various entities that invade the consciousness of the medium (or sensitive) have no authority, and are very likely to be fraudulent. This is no special reflection on the medium but on the dubious material with which they are working.
If anyone wants desperately to get a message from the "dear departed", there is a good chance of their heart's desire being fulfilled. The essential question remains: who or what is fulfilling the earnest desire? It is here that the most critical doubt is mandatory. The annals of psychical research are full of fraud, illusion, and disgusting dishonesty on the part of the research worker. The other side of the picture is much more kindly, but it needs all the honesty of the detached worker to disentangle the mess and find an answer approximating the truth.
If there is any field where the sharpest doubt is absolutely essential, it is parapsychology, previously known as psychical research. Many bereaved people have been the helpless victims of charlatans who trade on their loneliness and sorrow. Most of the material that is brought through is largely guesswork based on the knowledge cleverly evoked from the client by the medium, but sometimes there may be an additional element of telepathy from client to medium.
All this can be quite impressive to the person who is ignorant about the tricks that the mind can play. The whole field of parapsychology is best left to the investigation of a specialist in this area. The biblical prohibitions against communication with the dead are best fully regarded for their sake as well as ours (Leviticus 19.31; 20.6, 27; Deuteronomy 18.11). I would add a caveat to this stern prohibition against communicating with the dead: if they communicate with us quite spontaneously and unsought, we are entitled to listen to their message.
I personally have been given information quite spontaneously by my father and various friends who turned out to be surprisingly accurate. To me there is a constant interplay of information between the living and the dead. This may be a vehicle for the transference of knowledge in our world, especially in the fields of art, science, and social concern. It may be a way of cleansing discernment also, the apogee of honest, constructive doubt. How do we know for certain that the unexpected message is true? For this degree of veracity to be attained, we need absolute confirmation of our doubts. And that has proved virtually impossible in the discipline of parapsychology so far. I personally do not believe that we are at the present time fitted for psychic communication, either with our living peers or with those who are now dead to the flesh. Such psychic communication as occurs at present, as I have already indicated, I believe to be of a debased type, subject to fraud by the "medium" and by those "on the other side", as the living dead are so frequently described by spiritualists. They earn their living by transmitting messages from the dead to those who are still alive, or to be more precise, it is their mediums who do the transmission and earn the money.
But I do believe that a time will come, and perhaps in a future nearer than we can envisage at present, when we will be able to communicate with one another, both in the here and now and after we have "shuffled off this mortal coil", as Shakespeare puts it in Hamlet, III, I, 50. This will be accurate psychic communication transmitted spiritually. Its content will be truly spiritual and no longer merely spiritualistic. The Holy Spirit will infuse it and the real God, no longer a figment of doubt, will govern it. But until this visionary future event materializes, the most critical doubt is crucially important. Like a keenly sharpened knife adequate to split a very molecule in half, so this doubt must be able to cut away all accretions that have attached themselves to human conduct and character from the very beginning of the race.
Doubt is the cleansing mechanism of the mind. It removes all attitudes of embarrassment, of feeling one ought to be charitable to a concept when one knows perfectly well it is nonsensical, of giving a person the benefit of discretion, when one knows they are unworthy of it and are liable to be a great nuisance to those around them, by trying a remedy when one knows perfectly well that it will not help one, no matter how efficacious it may be for someone else.
As we saw in Chapter 1, self-doubt can be crippling and is not to be recommended. But self-criticism is doubt of a different stamp and can always, within reason, be commended, since it holds us open to the constructive criticism of our neighbours and the world generally. Doubt as we have already seen, is the challenge of courage. And it also stimulates it into action.