The conscientious are the nobility of the earth

Earlier I referred to those who have historically taken advantage of the wretched by encouraging them en masse in opium addiction and then profiting enormously from their suffering and destruction as 'hell bound'. I did not say that they ended up in Hell but that they were "bound" (aimed) there. This is an important difference, and one which cannot be emphasized enough: to take advantage of the wretched in such a despicable way leads to Hell, just as unrepentant adultery and murderousness and even a generalized hatefulness leads there! But we have not been told if the likes of David Sassoon are currently imprisoned in Hell forever with people who lived similarly noxious and predatory lives. 

Where are you now, David Sassoon? Where did you go?

After your urgent appointment with the Chinese Empire and its most vulnerable, where did you go?

While I suspect that where he went knocked the turban off, the point we need to remember here is that we do not decide whether someone goes to Hell. We do not know.

But let us change tracks, let us remember one of the fundamental characteristics of the Gospel: It is not one sided.

Those who consistently apply themselves to the practice and study of the Gospel will necessarily grow in awareness of multiple sides being in play in any given matter; with other people having interests of their own, and our no longer simply seeing things in terms of parochially personal interests singly or collectively.

Translation: those who hear and do the Word of God come to understand situations more objectively and with an awareness of fault on their part alongside that of awareness of faults on other people's parts.

In close connection to this balancing act, one specifically draws your attention  to the salient feature here: the poor and low status may take advantage of the wretched just as evilly and damnably as the rich and high status.

In other words, we should not in noting evil in high places forget evil in low places; and we should be in truth the Church militant against evil at all levels of society, and in all sectors of each level.

It has been impressed on me that this balance must govern every extremity; in such a way as to be a healthy part of my own regeneration and that of others.

And that is stamped into every extremity of the discourse and teaching here: the mountains are followed by valleys, the storms by calms; and Heaven and Hell have been deliberately projected for the emotionally and thoughtfully alert.

While I am very sorry if this has caused anyone distress, this projection of Heaven and Hell being on the line has been true to the reality of spiritual warfare, which cruelty and mercy face off in your faces, your interiors, in a wrenching way that wrenches loose that which is unloving and that which is in shadow. 

But let us return to the fundamental recognition that the Gospel addresses one-sidedness in our estimation of ourselves and others and life situations: Proverbs 18:17

Proverbs 18:17 - King James Version (KJV)

<17> He that is first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbour cometh and searcheth him.

Aha! How close we come to neighborliness when we broaden our sense of the cause and alike increase in overarching justice!

Whenever you accuse others, accuse yourself. When you see faults in others, see faults in yourself. When you think of your interests, think of others' interests. This is the adventure, the profit, the charity. You are the investment which is to yield increase for all humankind, you are the investment to be made on behalf of the neighbor in every sense.

One carefully notes that looking after the neighbor's investment for him/her/them does not mean becoming some kind of servile wretch for everyone and sundry. You best serve all not by servility but by responsibly husbanding the independence you apparently possess, taking responsibility for the increase the neighbor is to enjoy; which is ideally directly provided and overseen by the "Friend who sticks closer than a brother".

Proverbs 16:32 - King James Version (KJV)

<32> He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.

Frequently of late one has emphasized that the conscientiousness and conscientiousness-supportive ideation of people at every level of society, not just some capstone thereof, are the chief characteristics of the true nobility of the Earth; because these are they in whom the love and wisdom of God expresses inexhaustibly. 

What part can most anyone have in a world where only the capstone of society matters? But in a world where conscientiousness is nobility and the body of Christ expressed at all levels of society, everyone can do something that matters; for everyone has been designed to be charitable, to do good for its sake and to tell the truth for its sake and to align with order for its sake. Everyone has been designed to be nobly fruitful if they follow the indicated pattern; if they deviate from it, woe to them and how unfortunate for the neighbor to be loved, for whom the investment should so carefully have been husbanded and deployed! 

John 15:8 - King James Version (KJV)

<8> Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

What does it matter what 'level' the one bearing fruit is! God is that level anyhow, and besides: the fact of bearing fruit in one's place and at one's level is itself what matters in the sight of your Father.

Therefore, let everyone remember that there is more to the meaning of life than conscientiousness; but you will never embody that meaning of life without partaking of that characteristic. And it is essential to a noble civilization and a healthy society for you personally to be conscientious and actively seek to better understand the same; to ever grow in it and yield more fruit through it. 

From the most powerful David Sassoon to the least powerful of local jerks, the Church calls all to reject selfishness and the ideation which props it up; that service and the ideation married to it may produce a bountiful harvest for the neighbor to be loved.

Not one of us can fail to notice opportunity to be conscientious in our environments; and acting on each of these opportunities is the oil of love that makes the world go round.

If God regards the sparrows singly, how much more does He regard the ultimate yield of your love and your faith!

Dignity and nobility are not the prerogative of any elite but one, that indwelt by Jesus Christ who expresses in the small and great without partiality.

"For he which is Lord over all shall fear no man's person, neither shall he stand in awe of any man's greatness: for he hath made the small and great, and careth for all alike" (Wisdom 6:7).

Be then the nobility, the conscientious, of the earth, whoever and wherever you are. The earth groans beneath its burden of evil and darkness, cries out for harmless holy war, needs you to take a stand and gird your loins like a human being and not a wild animal. Fight then that war against the slavery of the slaves within your soul and all around you with every useful act and information-sharing and broader engagement. And your Father will fight within you and without, and we will all be better for it.

Be it so! Amen.

"Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again" (Luke 6:38).

Appendix: "I have spoken with those who had been powerful, who had been kings and queens, with whom it had fared well after the life of the body, and who are to be counted among the more happy; but I have also met very many who had been lowly and poor who are in a miserable state, especially beggars and the like. Thus worldly power and worldly riches in no wise hinder a man from attaining eternal life, neither does a miserable state or poverty promote it. But it is the interior man and the fruits of faith and charity, consequently his ends and making use of his goods, power, and riches which effect it; consequently, there is no other distinction between men of different classes than that which is of faith" (Spiritual Experiences 766).