THE MYSTERY OF HUMAN CHARACTERISTICS

The race has been acquiring undesirable characteristics through the centuries instead of turning to the divine inherencies: wisdom, love, knowledge, understanding, power, life, and joy. All of these are inherent in God-Life, and Divine Love is sharing these with you and me. In considering every subject we should turn our attention toward our foundation; we cannot then go very far astray. For example, the question is often asked: "Why do these undesirable human characteristics persist after we have learned that, in the light of truth, we are divinely endowed?" This is a practical question; and a satisfactory answer to it will be most helpful to those who are seeking to serve more efficiently by living truer lives.

We are children of God, heirs of God, and we truly inherit a nature that is divine. Let us see then, why we have this fault and that fault, this virtue and that virtue. We are wondering the same things about our neighbors as we do about [83] ourselves. Are we not? The assertion that human traits are transmitted from father to son which is so generally accepted shows that we really believe in a human source. This concept is deeply rooted in the thought of the race, and like all racial concepts is not easily dissolved. It seems that if we view these human characteristics from the point of view of the Universal Presence and Power of Good,