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natures of my subject: the urge of ambition opposed by animal indolence; the ideals of a superior people crossed by the instincts of an inferior race;" (1223), conflict is, nevertheless--natural. Gosh, right from the time we are young children we have inner turmoil:
"Moral choosing is usually accompanied by more or less moral conflict. And this very first conflict in the child mind is between the urges of egoism and the impulses of altruism. The Thought Adjuster does not disregard the personality values of the egoistic motive but does operate to place a slight preference upon the altruistic impulse as leading to the goal of human happiness and to the joys of the kingdom of heaven." (1131).
"The progression of religious growth leads from stagnation through conflict to co-ordination." (1098)
"New religious insights arise out of conflicts which initiate the choosing of new and better reaction habits in the place of older and inferior reaction patterns. New meanings only emerge amid conflict; and conflict persists only in the face of refusal to espouse the higher values connoted in superior meanings." (1097)
"The religion of the spirit means effort, struggle, conflict, faith, determination, love, loyalty, and progress." (1729)
"Religious perplexities are inevitable; there can be no growth without psychic conflict and spiritual agitation. The organization of a philosophic standard of living entails considerable commotion in the philosophic realms of the mind. Loyalties are not exercised in behalf of the great, the good, the true, and the noble without a struggle. Effort is attendant upon clarification of spiritual vision and enhancement of cosmic insight. And the human intellect protests against being weaned from subsisting upon the nonspiritual energies of temporal existence. The slothful animal mind rebels at the effort required to wrestle with cosmic problem solving."(1097)
So it looks as if we cannot happily chant an affirmation like, "it is my will that Thy will be done," fold our arms in ecstatic pleasure and await the scenic ride to Paradise. Sorry! That is not the way to perfection. After deciding to make the decision that we truly want our will and God's will to be so alike that they cannot be individually identified, we have heaps of work to do for a long, long time to come. And we might as well get started.
I have decided that the best approach for me is, firstly to look at every value and belief I hold. All my attitudes towards me, others, life. All my beliefs as to what the world and others are in relation to me. I will have a wander down memory lane, at the same time bringing up to consciousness every relationship I have ever had, every impactual experience. Having done all of this, I will have a good look at each and every little thing. Each belief and value - how does it fit in with what I know Jesus and God would like me to be? And if my behavior needs modifying as a result of discovery of a lovely spiritual value placed in my being by my Thought Adjuster--then there will be CONFLICT and COGNITIVE DISSONANCE! I am going to "bite the bullet", hang on for dear life to Jesus and change the behavior.
Perhaps a number of my stories of my life to date need rewriting to have me portrayed in a more realistic light --rather than martyr-victim, or saint-hero? Are there any folks I might have been blaming for me and my life? Any folks that I have not forgiven? Any I do not love? Any situations which need a bit of gratitude extended to my Thought Adjuster, seraphim, Jesus, or the next door neighbor?
I may become upset as I face (with the help and love of my Thought Adjuster and the Spirit of Truth) certain rotten mistakes I have made in life. Jesus' kind words will come in handy then:
"Do not become discouraged by the discovery that you are human. Human nature may tend toward evil, but it is not inherently sinful. Be not downcast by your failure wholly to forget some of your regrettable experiences. The mistakes which you fail to forget in time will be forgotten in eternity. Lighten your burdens of soul by speedily acquiring a long-distance view of your destiny, a universe expansion of your career." (1739 )
I am not going to rush over this. I have lifetimes to complete these tasks. I will take one value or belief at a time and examine it objectively. I will discard the outdated one. I am not going to concern myself with what to replace it. My Thought Adjuster is waiting for me to discover its replacement--the spiritual value. I cannot discover it until I remove the garbage hiding it.
And although I will be disappointed in myself if I get cognitive dissonance and opt for the easy way out - keeping the old behaviour, value, belief, lack of mercy etc.--I know that my seraphim and Thought Adjuster will share my disappointment, that they have made careful note, and if it is really important for me to now discard the lesser behaviour, there will be heaps of cognitive dissonance, forcing me to adopt the spiritual value and change my behavior to accord with it. If the behavior is undesirable, but not greatly affecting my growth, I will trip through the rest of this life, conflict free in relation to that behavior, and as soon as I reach the mansion worlds there will be the cognitive dissonance to await me, all ready to be worked on in the aeons of time ahead.
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