October 5, 2025 • 10 mins
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The man of integrity. There are times in the life
of every man who takes his stand on high moral
principles when his faith in and knowledge of those principles
is tested to the uttermost, And the way in which
he comes out of the fiery trial decides as to
whether he has sufficient strength to live as a man
(00:21):
of truth and join the company of the free, or
shall still remain a slave and a hireling to the
cruel taskmaster self. Such times of trial generally assume the
form of a temptation to do a wrong thing and
continue in comfort and prosperity, or to stand by what
is right and accept poverty and failure. And so powerful
(00:46):
is the trial that to the tempted one it plainly
appears on the face of things, as though if he
chooses the wrong, his material success will be assured for
the remainder of his life, but if he does what
is right, he will be ruined forever. Frequently the man
at once quails and gives way before this appalling prospect,
(01:08):
which the path of righteousness seems to hold out for him.
But should he prove sufficiently strong to withstand this onslaught
of temptation, than the inward seducer, the spirit of self
assumes the grab of an angel of light and whispers.
Think of your wife and children, Think of those who
are dependent upon you. Will you bring them down to
(01:31):
disgrace and starvation? Strong, indeed, and pure must be the
man who can come triumphant out of such a trial.
But he who does so enters at once a higher
realm of life, where his spiritual eyes are open to
see beautiful things. And then poverty and ruin which seemed inevitable,
(01:53):
do not come. But a more abiding success comes, and
a peaceful heart and a quiet conscience. But he who
fails does not obtain the promised prosperity, and his heart
is restless and his conscience troubled. The right doer cannot
ultimately fail, the wrong doer cannot ultimately succeed. For such
(02:16):
is the law which moves to righteousness, which none at
last can turn aside or stray. And it is because
justice is at the heart of things, because the great
Law is good, that the man of integrity is superior
to fear and failure and poverty and shame and disgrace.
(02:37):
As the poet further says, of this law, the heart
of its love, the end of it is peace and
consummation sweet obey. The man who, fearing the loss of
present pleasures or material comforts, denies the truth within him,
can be injured and robbed, and degraded and trampled upon,
(02:59):
because he first injured, robbed, and degraded and trampled upon
his own nobler self. But the man of steadfast virtue,
of unblemished integrity cannot be subject to such conditions, because
he has denied the craven self within him, and has
taken refuge in truth. It is not the scourge in
(03:20):
the chains which make a man a slave, but the
fact that he is a slave. Slander, accusation, and malice
cannot affect the righteous man, nor call from him any
bitter response. Nor does he need to go about to
defend himself and prove his innocence. His innocence and integrity
(03:41):
alone are a sufficient answer to all that hatred may
attempt against him. Nor can he ever be subdued by
the forces of darkness, having subdued all those forces within himself.
But he turns all evil things to good account out
of darkness. He brings light out of hatred, love out
(04:02):
of dishonor, honor, and slanders. Envies and misrepresentations only serve
to make more bright the jewel of truth within him,
and to glorify his high and holy destiny. Let the
man of integrity rejoice and be glad when he is
severely tried. Let him be thankful that he has been
(04:24):
given an opportunity of proving his loyalty to the noble
principles which he has expoused. And let him think, now
is the hour of holy opportunity. Now is the day
of triumph for truth. Though I lose the whole world,
I will not desert the right, so thinking he will
(04:45):
return good for evil, and will think compassionately of the
wrong doer, the slanderer, the backbiter, and the wrong doer.
May seem to succeed for a time, but the law
of justice prevails. The man of int pegrity may seem
to fail for a time, but he is invincible, and
in none of the world's visible or invisible can there
(05:08):
be forged a weapon that shall prevail against him. Chapter six. Discrimination.
There is one quality which is pre eminently necessary to
spiritual development, the quality of discrimination. A man's spiritual progress
will be painfully slow and uncertain until their opens with
(05:30):
him the eye of discrimination. For without this testing proving
searching quality, he will but grope in the dark, will
be unable to distinguish the real from the unreal, the
shadow from the substance, and will so confuse the false
with the true as to mistake the inward promptings of
his animal nature for those of the spirit of truth.
(05:53):
A blind man left in a strange place may go
grope his way in the darkness, but not without much
confusion and many painful falls and bruisings. Without discrimination, a
man is mentally blind, and his life is a painful
groping in darkness. A confusion in which vice and virtue
(06:14):
are indistinguishable one from the other, where facts are confounded
with truths, opinions with principles, and where ideas, events, men,
and things appear to be out of all relation to
each other. A man's mind and life should be free
from confusion. He should be prepared to meet every mental, material,
(06:37):
and spiritual difficulty, and should not be inextricably caught, as
many are, in the meshes of doubt, indecision, and uncertainty.
When troubles, in so called misfortunes, come along, he should
be fortified against every emergency that can come against him.
But such mental preparedness and strength cannot be attained in
(06:59):
any degree without discrimination, and discrimination can only be developed
by bringing into play and constantly exercising the analytical faculty.
Mind like muscle, is developed by use, and the assiduous
exercise of the mind in any given direction will develop
(07:20):
in that direction mental capacity and power. The merely critical
faculty is developed and strengthened by continuously comparing and analyzing
the ideas and opinions of others. But discrimination is something
more and greater than criticism. It is a spiritual quality
from which the cruelty and egotism which so frequently accompany
(07:44):
criticism are eliminated, and by virtue of which a man
sees things as they are and not as he would
like them to be. Discrimination, being a spiritual quality, can
only be developed by spiritual methods, namely, by questioning, examining,
(08:04):
and analyzing one's own ideas, opinions, and conduct. The critical
fault finding faculty must be withdrawn from its merciless application
to the opinions and conduct of others, and must be
applied with undiminished severity to one's self. A man must
be prepared to question his every opinion, his every thought,
(08:28):
in his every line of conduct, and rigorously and logically
tests them. Only in this way can the discrimination which
destroys confusion be developed. Before a man can enter upon
such mental exercise, he must make himself of a teachable spirit.
This does not mean that he must allow himself to
(08:50):
be led by others. It means that he must be
prepared to yield up any cherished thoughts to which he
clings if it will not bear the penetrating light of reason,
if it shrivels up before the pure flames of searching aspirations.
The man who says I am right, and who refuses
(09:10):
to question his position in order to discover whether he
is right, will continue to follow the line of his
passions and prejudices, and will not acquire discrimination. The man
who humbly asks, am I right, and then proceeds to
test and prove his position by earnest thought and the
(09:31):
love of truth, will always be able to discover the
true and to distinguish it from the false, and he
will acquire the priceless possession of discrimination. The man who
is afraid to think searchingly upon his opinions and to
reason critically upon his position, will have to develop moral
courage before he can acquire discrimination. A man must be
(09:56):
true to himself, fearless with himself, before he can perceive
the pure principles of truth, before he can receive the
all revealing light of truth. The more truth is inquired of,
the brighter it shines. It cannot suffer under examination and analysis.
The more error is questioned, the darker it grows. It
(10:20):
cannot survive the entrance of pure and searching thought. To
prove all things is to find the good and throw
the evil. He who reasons and meditates learns to discriminate.
He who discriminates discovers the eternally true. Confusion, suffering, and
spiritual darkness follow the thoughtless harmony. Blessedness, and the light
(10:45):
of truth attend upon the thoughtful. Passion and prejudice are
blind and cannot discriminate. They are still crucifying the Christ
and releasing Barabbas
The man of integrity. There are times in the life
of every man who takes his stand on high moral
principles when his faith in and knowledge of those principles
is tested to the uttermost, And the way in which
he comes out of the fiery trial decides as to
whether he has sufficient strength to live as a man
(00:21):
of truth and join the company of the free, or
shall still remain a slave and a hireling to the
cruel taskmaster self. Such times of trial generally assume the
form of a temptation to do a wrong thing and
continue in comfort and prosperity, or to stand by what
is right and accept poverty and failure. And so powerful
(00:46):
is the trial that to the tempted one it plainly
appears on the face of things, as though if he
chooses the wrong, his material success will be assured for
the remainder of his life, but if he does what
is right, he will be ruined forever. Frequently the man
at once quails and gives way before this appalling prospect,
(01:08):
which the path of righteousness seems to hold out for him.
But should he prove sufficiently strong to withstand this onslaught
of temptation, than the inward seducer, the spirit of self
assumes the grab of an angel of light and whispers.
Think of your wife and children, Think of those who
are dependent upon you. Will you bring them down to
(01:31):
disgrace and starvation? Strong, indeed, and pure must be the
man who can come triumphant out of such a trial.
But he who does so enters at once a higher
realm of life, where his spiritual eyes are open to
see beautiful things. And then poverty and ruin which seemed inevitable,
(01:53):
do not come. But a more abiding success comes, and
a peaceful heart and a quiet conscience. But he who
fails does not obtain the promised prosperity, and his heart
is restless and his conscience troubled. The right doer cannot
ultimately fail, the wrong doer cannot ultimately succeed. For such
(02:16):
is the law which moves to righteousness, which none at
last can turn aside or stray. And it is because
justice is at the heart of things, because the great
Law is good, that the man of integrity is superior
to fear and failure and poverty and shame and disgrace.
(02:37):
As the poet further says, of this law, the heart
of its love, the end of it is peace and
consummation sweet obey. The man who, fearing the loss of
present pleasures or material comforts, denies the truth within him,
can be injured and robbed, and degraded and trampled upon,
(02:59):
because he first injured, robbed, and degraded and trampled upon
his own nobler self. But the man of steadfast virtue,
of unblemished integrity cannot be subject to such conditions, because
he has denied the craven self within him, and has
taken refuge in truth. It is not the scourge in
(03:20):
the chains which make a man a slave, but the
fact that he is a slave. Slander, accusation, and malice
cannot affect the righteous man, nor call from him any
bitter response. Nor does he need to go about to
defend himself and prove his innocence. His innocence and integrity
(03:41):
alone are a sufficient answer to all that hatred may
attempt against him. Nor can he ever be subdued by
the forces of darkness, having subdued all those forces within himself.
But he turns all evil things to good account out
of darkness. He brings light out of hatred, love out
(04:02):
of dishonor, honor, and slanders. Envies and misrepresentations only serve
to make more bright the jewel of truth within him,
and to glorify his high and holy destiny. Let the
man of integrity rejoice and be glad when he is
severely tried. Let him be thankful that he has been
(04:24):
given an opportunity of proving his loyalty to the noble
principles which he has expoused. And let him think, now
is the hour of holy opportunity. Now is the day
of triumph for truth. Though I lose the whole world,
I will not desert the right, so thinking he will
(04:45):
return good for evil, and will think compassionately of the
wrong doer, the slanderer, the backbiter, and the wrong doer.
May seem to succeed for a time, but the law
of justice prevails. The man of int pegrity may seem
to fail for a time, but he is invincible, and
in none of the world's visible or invisible can there
(05:08):
be forged a weapon that shall prevail against him. Chapter six. Discrimination.
There is one quality which is pre eminently necessary to
spiritual development, the quality of discrimination. A man's spiritual progress
will be painfully slow and uncertain until their opens with
(05:30):
him the eye of discrimination. For without this testing proving
searching quality, he will but grope in the dark, will
be unable to distinguish the real from the unreal, the
shadow from the substance, and will so confuse the false
with the true as to mistake the inward promptings of
his animal nature for those of the spirit of truth.
(05:53):
A blind man left in a strange place may go
grope his way in the darkness, but not without much
confusion and many painful falls and bruisings. Without discrimination, a
man is mentally blind, and his life is a painful
groping in darkness. A confusion in which vice and virtue
(06:14):
are indistinguishable one from the other, where facts are confounded
with truths, opinions with principles, and where ideas, events, men,
and things appear to be out of all relation to
each other. A man's mind and life should be free
from confusion. He should be prepared to meet every mental, material,
(06:37):
and spiritual difficulty, and should not be inextricably caught, as
many are, in the meshes of doubt, indecision, and uncertainty.
When troubles, in so called misfortunes, come along, he should
be fortified against every emergency that can come against him.
But such mental preparedness and strength cannot be attained in
(06:59):
any degree without discrimination, and discrimination can only be developed
by bringing into play and constantly exercising the analytical faculty.
Mind like muscle, is developed by use, and the assiduous
exercise of the mind in any given direction will develop
(07:20):
in that direction mental capacity and power. The merely critical
faculty is developed and strengthened by continuously comparing and analyzing
the ideas and opinions of others. But discrimination is something
more and greater than criticism. It is a spiritual quality
from which the cruelty and egotism which so frequently accompany
(07:44):
criticism are eliminated, and by virtue of which a man
sees things as they are and not as he would
like them to be. Discrimination, being a spiritual quality, can
only be developed by spiritual methods, namely, by questioning, examining,
(08:04):
and analyzing one's own ideas, opinions, and conduct. The critical
fault finding faculty must be withdrawn from its merciless application
to the opinions and conduct of others, and must be
applied with undiminished severity to one's self. A man must
be prepared to question his every opinion, his every thought,
(08:28):
in his every line of conduct, and rigorously and logically
tests them. Only in this way can the discrimination which
destroys confusion be developed. Before a man can enter upon
such mental exercise, he must make himself of a teachable spirit.
This does not mean that he must allow himself to
(08:50):
be led by others. It means that he must be
prepared to yield up any cherished thoughts to which he
clings if it will not bear the penetrating light of reason,
if it shrivels up before the pure flames of searching aspirations.
The man who says I am right, and who refuses
(09:10):
to question his position in order to discover whether he
is right, will continue to follow the line of his
passions and prejudices, and will not acquire discrimination. The man
who humbly asks, am I right, and then proceeds to
test and prove his position by earnest thought and the
(09:31):
love of truth, will always be able to discover the
true and to distinguish it from the false, and he
will acquire the priceless possession of discrimination. The man who
is afraid to think searchingly upon his opinions and to
reason critically upon his position, will have to develop moral
courage before he can acquire discrimination. A man must be
(09:56):
true to himself, fearless with himself, before he can perceive
the pure principles of truth, before he can receive the
all revealing light of truth. The more truth is inquired of,
the brighter it shines. It cannot suffer under examination and analysis.
The more error is questioned, the darker it grows. It
(10:20):
cannot survive the entrance of pure and searching thought. To
prove all things is to find the good and throw
the evil. He who reasons and meditates learns to discriminate.
He who discriminates discovers the eternally true. Confusion, suffering, and
spiritual darkness follow the thoughtless harmony. Blessedness, and the light
(10:45):
of truth attend upon the thoughtful. Passion and prejudice are
blind and cannot discriminate. They are still crucifying the Christ
and releasing Barabbas
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