Week 15 / Part 15 is one of my favorites in the Master Key System. It reminded me of Rudyard Kiplings poem “The Gods of the Copybook Headings” which was written to state things that were “natural law” or universally accepted maxims in life. Copybooks were for children in the early 1900s to practice their cursive writing and calligraphy by copying the headings into their writing.
Here are a few examples of maxims in the poem “The Gods of the Copybook Headings;”
“We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn that Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:”
“They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease. But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe, And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “Stick to the Devil you know.”
“On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life (Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife). Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith, And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “The Wages of Sin is Death.”
“As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man There are only four things certain since Social Progress began. That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire, And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;
“And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins, As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn, The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!”
This ties in to chapter 15 in the surety and guarantee that we are all bound by natural law(s). There is no ambiguity in Haanel’s thoughts.
Introduction to Part 15, paragraph 4
“Part Fifteen will tell you more about the law under which we live. It will explain that these laws
operate to our advantage; that all conditions and experiences that come to us are for our benefit;
that we gain strength in proportion to the effort expended, and that our happiness is best attained
through a conscious cooperation with natural laws.”
In Part 15 it states;
15.1 “The laws under which we live are designed solely for our advantage. These laws are
immutable and we cannot escape from their operation.”
15.7 “All conditions and experiences that come to us do so for our benefit. Difficulties and obstacles
will continue to come until we absorb their wisdom and gather from them the essentials of further
growth.”
15.8 “That we reap what we sow is mathematically exact. We gain permanent strength exactly to the
extent of the effort required to overcome difficulties.”
and
15.14 This leads to the inevitable conclusion that if we wish to express abundance in our lives, we
can afford to think abundance only, and as words are only thoughts taking form, we must be
especially careful to use nothing but constructive and harmonious language, which when finally
crystallized into objective forms, will prove to our advantage.
All of part 15 is written as fact and there is nothing ambiguous about the natural law that we are bound to. As Kipling says;
“As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn…“
But do not fear natural law. Just remember what Haanel states in Part 15.1
“The laws under which we live are designed solely for our advantage.”
All bolded and italicized wording is for emphasis.
My name is Michael Puffer and I always keep my promises.
Here is the full text of poem “The Gods of the Copybook Headings” courtesy of http://www.kiplingsociety.co.uk/poems_copybook.htm .
The Gods of the Copybook Headings
AS I PASS through my incarnations in every age and race,
I make my proper prostrations to the Gods of the Market Place.
Peering through reverent fingers I watch them flourish and fall,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings, I notice, outlast them all.
We were living in trees when they met us. They showed us each in turn
That Water would certainly wet us, as Fire would certainly burn:
But we found them lacking in Uplift, Vision and Breadth of Mind,
So we left them to teach the Gorillas while we followed the March of Mankind.
We moved as the Spirit listed. They never altered their pace,
Being neither cloud nor wind-borne like the Gods of the Market Place,
But they always caught up with our progress, and presently word would come
That a tribe had been wiped off its icefield, or the lights had gone out in Rome.
With the Hopes that our World is built on they were utterly out of touch,
They denied that the Moon was Stilton; they denied she was even Dutch;
They denied that Wishes were Horses; they denied that a Pig had Wings;
So we worshipped the Gods of the Market Who promised these beautiful things.
When the Cambrian measures were forming, They promised perpetual peace.
They swore, if we gave them our weapons, that the wars of the tribes would cease.
But when we disarmed They sold us and delivered us bound to our foe,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “Stick to the Devil you know.”
On the first Feminian Sandstones we were promised the Fuller Life
(Which started by loving our neighbour and ended by loving his wife)
Till our women had no more children and the men lost reason and faith,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “The Wages of Sin is Death.”
In the Carboniferous Epoch we were promised abundance for all,
By robbing selected Peter to pay for collective Paul;
But, though we had plenty of money, there was nothing our money could buy,
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings said: “If you don’t work you die.”
Then the Gods of the Market tumbled, and their smooth-tongued wizards withdrew
And the hearts of the meanest were humbled and began to believe it was true
That All is not Gold that Glitters, and Two and Two make Four
And the Gods of the Copybook Headings limped up to explain it once more.
As it will be in the future, it was at the birth of Man
There are only four things certain since Social Progress began.
That the Dog returns to his Vomit and the Sow returns to her Mire,
And the burnt Fool’s bandaged finger goes wabbling back to the Fire;
And that after this is accomplished, and the brave new world begins
When all men are paid for existing and no man must pay for his sins,
As surely as Water will wet us, as surely as Fire will burn,
The Gods of the Copybook Headings with terror and slaughter return!