Holliwell writes of Abe Lincoln, and how this great president
started as a poor boy yet made it to the White House. Lincoln’s mother had taught him that “the
beginning of wisdom is not imposed by discipline, but the beginning of wisdom
is first the desire for discipline, the love of it, the voluntary choice of
it.” From this he learned that discipline, and the love of it, leads to
everything that makes life worth living. Every successful performing artist is
such, not because they were born with a beautiful voice, but because they used
discipline to master their art.
We are a
disciplined society except in the area of our morals and our thoughts. We
produce brilliant scientists, gifted athletes, and amazing technology. But we
do not discipline our minds—we let them roam wild and free, with no sense of
control. You cannot reach your goals and ambitions until you learn to
discipline your mind and control your thoughts. Your mind must be in order, and
your ideals in harmony with the Divine mind, according to the Law.
In order to
get anything in life, you must sacrifice something else. Whether you pay for
something you buy, or give up your time to become a fabulous singer, you are
paying for everything you get. Nothing escapes this Law, and it must be obeyed.
We would
like to have a life of freedom with no sacrifice necessary, but the Law
requires that in order to find the richness in life, we must give up something
else. There is no way around this Law. We often mistake this Law in thinking
that it means we must give up many pleasures, in order to have a good life.
This is not the case. People sometimes consider Jesus as one of the greatest
“sacrificers” of all time. But the price Judas paid was far greater than that
of Jesus. Jesus had the opportunity to do great things, and so He did. Judas
made a wrong choice, and threw away the greatest chance he ever had at becoming
something great. That was his tremendous price.
Think of the man who has a lovely home and family, yet he becomes bored and begins a
fling with another woman. He eventually has to sacrifice either the family life
or the wild life—he cannot have both. And a man cannot have both a bad temper
and good friends who would tolerate him for long. He must sacrifice one or the
other. You cannot get away with anything without paying a price—the Law will
not permit you.
However, this does not mean that you must give up your freedom in order to have an
enjoyable life. That is not real freedom. “Freedom is in being able to control
your life and in making it what you want it to be.” In order to have or be
something worthwhile, you must first have the desire for discipline of your
time and your thoughts. Without discipline, your life will be chaotic and
insane.
Taking the high road, the love of discipline, will lead you to everything that makes life worth living. On it the Law of Sacrifice will bring you all the joys and
pleasures that life has to offer. And this was the road that led young Abe
Lincoln to the White House.
Do not succumb to temptation; it may cost you your dreams.
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