402 ROSICRUCIANCOSMO-CONCEPTION
Let us consider an analogous case. The waters of the
Great Lakes narrow into the Niagara River. For twenty miles
this enormous volume of water flows rapidly toward the
falls. The river bed is filled with rocks and if a person who
goes beyond a certain point does not lose his life in the
rapids above the cataract, he will surely do so by the plunge
over the brink.
Suppose a man appeared who, in pity for the victims of
the current, placed a rope above the cataract, although he
knew that the conditions were such that in doing so, he
himself could not by any possible chance escape death. Yet
gladly and of his own free will, he sacrificed his life and
placed the rope, thus modifying former conditions so that
any otherwise helpless victims who would grasp the rope
would be saved and thenceforward none need be lost.
What would we think of a man who had fallen into the
water through his own carelessness, and was struggling
madly to reach the shore, if he should say: “What! Save
myself and seek to avoid penalty of my carelessness by
shielding myself behind the strength of another, who
suffered through no fault of his own, and gave up his life
that such as I might live? No, never! That would not be
“manly.” I will take my deserts!” Would we not all agree
that the man was a fool?
Not all are in need of salvation. Christ knew t hat there is
a very large class who do not require salvation in this way,
but just as surely as there are the ninety-and-nine who are
well taken care of by the laws of Rebirth and Consequence
and will reach perfection in that way, so there are the
“sinners” who have become “bogged” in matter and cannot
es cape without a rope. Christ came to save t hem and to bring
peace and good will to all, by raising them to the necessary