VII
One day I said to Amroth, "Are there no rules of life here? It seemsalmost too good to be true, not to be found fault with and censured andadvised and blamed."
"Oh," said Amroth, laughing, "there are plenty of _rules_, as you callthem; but one feels them, one is not told them; it is like breathing andseeing."
"Yes," I replied, "yet it was like that, too, in the old days; themisery was when one suddenly discovered that when one was acting in whatseemed the most natural way possible, it gave pain and concern to someone whom one respected and even loved. One knew that one's action wasnot wrong, and yet one desired to please and satisfy one's friends; andso one fell back into conventional ways, not because one liked them butbecause other people did, and it was not worth while making a fuss--itwas a sort of cowardice, I suppose?"
"Not quite," said Amroth; "you were more on the right lines than thepeople who interfered with you, no doubt; but of course the truth isthat our principles ought to be used, like a stick, to supportourselves, not like a rod to beat other people with. The most difficultpeople to teach, as you will see hereafter, are the self-righteouspeople, whose lives are really pure and good, but who allow theirpreferences about amusements, occupations, ways of life, to becomematters of principle. The worst temptation in the world is the habit ofinfluence and authority, the desire to direct other lives and to conformthem to one's own standard. The only way in which we can help otherpeople is by loving them; by frightening another out of something whichhe is apt to do and of which one does not approve, one effectsabsolutely nothing: sin cannot be scared away; the spirit must learn todesire to cast it away, because it sees that goodness is beautiful andfine; and this can only be done by example, never by precept."
"But it is the entire absence of both that puzzles me here," I said."Nothing to do and a friend to talk to; it's a lazy business, I think."
Amroth looked at me with amusement. "It's a sign," he said, "if you feelthat, that you are getting rested, and ready to move on; but you will bevery much surprised when you know a little more about the life here. Youare like a baby in a cradle at present; when you come to enter one ofour communities here, you will find it as complicated a business as youcould wish. Part of the difficulty is that there are no rules, to useyour own phrase. It is real democracy, but it is not complicated by anyquestions of property, which is the thing that clogs all politicalprogress in the world below. There is nothing to scheme for, noambitions to gratify, nothing to gain at the expense of others; the onlything that matters is one's personal relation to others; and this iswhat makes it at once so simple and so complex. But I do not think it isof any use to tell you all this; you will see it in a flash, when thetime comes. But it may be as well for you to remember that there will beno one to command you or compel you or advise you. Your own heart andspirit will be your only guides. There is no such thing as compulsion orforce in heaven. Nothing can be done to you that you do not choose orallow to be done."
"Yes," I said, "it is the blessed and beautiful sense of freedom fromall ties and influences and fears that is so utterly blissful."
"But this is not all," said Amroth, shaking his head with a smile."This is a time of rest for you, but things are very different elsewhere.When you come to enter heaven itself, you will be constantly surprised.There are labour and fear and sorrow to be faced; and you must notthink it is a place for drifting pleasantly along. The moral struggleis the same--indeed it is fiercer and stronger than ever, because thereis no bodily languor or fatigue to distract. There are choices to bemade, duties to perform, evil to be faced. The bodily temptationsare absent, but there is still that which lay behind the bodilyfrailties--curiosity, love of sensation, excitement, desire; the strongduality of nature--the knowledge of duty on the one hand and theindolent shrinking from performance--that is all there; there is thesame sense of isolation, and the same need for patient endeavour as uponearth. All that one gets is a certain freedom of movement; one is notbound to places and employments by the material ties of earth; but youmust not think that it is all to be easy and straightforward. We caneach of us by using our wills shorten our probation, by not resistinginfluences, by putting our hearts and minds in unison with the will ofGod for us; and that is easier in heaven than upon earth, because thereis less to distract us. But on the other hand, there is more temptationto drift, because there are no material consequences to stimulate us.There are many people on earth who exercise a sort of practical virtuesimply to avoid material inconveniences, while there is no such motivein heaven; I say all this not to disturb your present tranquillity,which it is your duty now to enjoy, but just to prepare you. You must beprepared for effort and for endeavour, and even for strife. You must useright judgment, and, above all, common sense; one does not get out ofthe reach of that in heaven!"