July 1984
The evolution of human consciousness may be divided into
three broad stages. In terms of the race as a whole, the evolution may require
hundreds of generations, although a few rare individuals may achieve the goal
in a single lifetime. The first stage is said to be the 'jungle' or ego-centric
stage, which is the beginning stage of all life. In this stage of evolution the
attitude of each individual is one of suspicion and enmity toward every other
individual or immediate family group. It is a case of 'kill or be killed', eat
or eaten'. There is no concept of mutual welfare or cooperation. Every
man is the immediate or potential enemy of every other man, and might is the only
right. Under these circumstances, the physically weak are soon eliminated unless
they have superior intelligence to compensate for their physical weakness.
These few almost automatically band together in the realization that, only
through cooperation can they survive. Their intelligence and their cooperation
usually tips the scale and their numbers increase. Gradually, through many
generations, the level of intelligence is raised until the second stage is
reached. The dividing line between the first and second stage is said to have
been reached when the attitude of the individual becomes, 'Every man for
himself, and the Devil take the hindermost! There is still no cooperation, but
the individual, instead of seeking to destroy his competition merely strives to
ignore them and leave them behind in the race.
The second stage, when fully reached, is known as the era
of 'Live and let live', the individual will tolerate competition, within
certain limits, and a reasonable amount of cooperation may be undertaken where
the mutual benefit is clearly evident to both parties. The individual
congratulates himself on his social progress because he can tolerate the
existence and, under favorable circumstances, the presence of his
neighbor!
Industrial and commercial cooperation steadily increase.
The individual who sits down to a breakfast of ham and eggs with fruit juice
and coffee, is, whether he realizes it or not, making use of the labor of many
hundreds of persons required to produce, harvest, pack, ship and distribute
these simple products which everyone takes for granted, with little thought of
their origin.
Most of the cooperation is however, still done at arms
length and in a very competitive manner. Most of those persons involved feel
that they are not getting their fair share of the proceeds, and the process is
often interrupted by massive strikes, lockouts and public demonstrations.
The third stage is the era of, "Live and help
live". At this point the individual ego begins to merge with the cosmic
consciousness. The individual begins to realize that he is but a leaf on the
tree of life and that, while each leaf is an individual entity, a leaf has no
purpose or significance apart from the tree. He also, for the first time, truly
begins to understand that strife between men, or war between nations, is as
senseless as a battle between his left and his right hand, or between two
branches of the same tree.
Our present "Civilization" is, on the average, a
little beyond the center of the second stage. We are willing to scratch our
neighbor's back so long as he does a satisfactory job of scratching ours, but
we still quote only the first portion of the cosmic motto. We are fond
of saying that, 'The Lord helps him who helps himself!' When we reach the third
stage of evolution we will have learned the second half of the motto, 'He best
helps himself who helps his neighbor!'
(signed) Daniel W. Fry
(hand-written) Cleona’s Corner
This is a "bitter sweet" time of hurting. We've
lost another member of Understanding, Inc., You may say, "So what?"
This one was different! He only became aware of Understanding and related
fields, a few short years ago, and was SO VERY EAGER to learn! He'd phone from San
Diego two or three times a month and talk for thirty minutes to an hour, to
ask questions and to LEARN. It was a pleasure to chat with him and to help
him learn. A heart attack struck him, he never regained consciousness, there
was nothing more Dr.'s could do, in four short hours he was gone.
We shall truly miss his happy eager voice and his loving support of
Understanding, Inc. God will surely bless him. We do.
The Apostle Paul prayed to God to remove a handicap that
he thought could wreck his life, but God answered saying, "My grace is
sufficient for thee". (II Cor. 12 : 9). God was promising Paul strength
with which to overcome whatever handicap or struggle he faced. In Romans 8 ;
37, Paul states, "We are more than conquerors through Him
that loved us." Is this not the FAITH that has made AMERICA great?
Francis Scott Key, who wrote our National anthem, had gone
out to the British fleet under a flag of truce. He was KEPT on board
while the British ships shelled and rocketed Ft. McHenry. It was one terrible
night for the young patriot, as the struggling colonies faced the awesome force
of the great British empire. All night long the heavy guns
pounded Ft. McHenry, BUT - in the morning he saw "by the dawn's early
light" our beloved stars and stripes still waving in the breeze and he
was, at that moment inspired to write his famous song. The
gem of that song is in its last verse: "Then conquer we must, when our cause
it is just, and this be our motto: "IN GOD IS OUR TRUST!" When we put
our faith in God and do our best, we really win. Ours is a
blessed country!
Most of you KNOW how MUCH we love our
country. If not why would we work so hard to maintain its peace and very
existence? Of course it's far from perfect! Isn't EVERYTHING? But - it
surpasses ANY other country, as is repeatedly proven by the sacrifices of many
who've given much and lost much, just to get here. Some even gave their LIVES!
Have you ever REALLY looked at our FLAG? It's truly
the MOST beautiful of all flags, and one which we do so proudly
hail! I am glad to make this statement. "I pledge allegiance to the flag
of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, One
Nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
Re: the colors of our flag: White signifies
purity & innocense, Red, hardiness and valor, and Blue
signifies vigilance, perseverance and justice.
Our American Creed resulted from over 3,000 entries
in a Nation wide contest for writing a national creed, and was
won by William Tyler Page who received his award on April, 3 1918.
THE AMERICAN CREED
I believe in the United States of America as a government
of the people, by the people, for the people, whose just powers are derived
from the consent of the governed; a democracy in a Republic; a soverign Nation
of many States; a perfect Union, one and inseperable; established upon those
principles of freedom, equality, justice and humanity for which American patriots
sacrificed their lives and fortunes.
I therefore believe it is my duty to my Country to love
it, to support its constitution; to obey its laws; to respect its flag, and to
defend it against all enemies.
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To all our dear members in Puerto Rico, Hawaii, Denmark, Australia,
England, South Africa, New Zealand etc. we'd be happy to have you move here.
You'd be welcome.
To our countrymen, "Aren't you glad you DO
live here in America? We are!
Happy 4th of July to all.
(signed) Cleona Q. Fry
Treasurer
