Tapsearch Com EditorA High Way and a Low
Link: www.therationale.com
It is the will which determines all the real choices in life. The intellect identifies the choices and then the will takes over. One who forms the habit of choosing well and according to moral law is developing a good character and vice versa. It is the will, ultimately, that determines character, and therefore the will should demand considerable attention in any pursuit related to personality and character.This is brought out beautifully in a little poem by John Oxenham entitled:
" A High Way and a Low "
To every man there openeth
A way and ways and a way
And the High soul climbs the high way
And the low soul gropes the low.
And in between on the misty flats
The rest drift to and fro
But to every man there openeth
A high way and a low
And every man decideth
The way his soul shall go.
The intellect is a human act that tells us what is what. The intellect may be considered higher in dignity in that the act of knowing is greater than the act of desiring. However, the will what chooses the way to go. It is greater in power and influence, since to a large extent the intellect is piloted in its activity by the will.
The intellect is the faculty by which we know things are. The will is the faculty by which we desire what is good and reject what is bad. However, the will can even choose the degrees one develops their intellect. The will has the power to order the intellect to investigate. It cannot make the intellect see as true what is actually false or vice versa. The intellect searching for truth, will necessarily see things as they are no matter what the will seeks. Harmony only follows when the will abides to the intellect search for true reality.
The priority rests in training the will to choose what the intellect holds as the truth.
I recently told a college student to act in the now and choose things as if in the future according to thinking what one will wish they would have done in the past that you did not do and the things one wishes they did not do in the pass. It is a training yourself in a back to future mode. Choices in little matters cultivate what you do in the bigger ones. And no matter what you think, the intellect will demand the truth and the right way.
Avoid the detours in life
Think and choose what really sets you free so you do not take a detour to places you wish you never journeyed to - search for harmony in your personality and character using the proper harmony of your intellect and will.
Reference: based on notes by Father McQuade
