WSD:21:11 Sometimes, a preaching prophet may upbraid his hearers with anger because his heart is stirred up within him, and some may be resentful. They will overlook all his good qualities and search out his faults. Perhaps they will say, "This man preaches forbearance and self-control, while railing against us with hostility and anger." Therefore, before attempting to preach, strengthen your character, so that if you must upbraid people for their ways, you do so with affection and restraint.
WSD:21:12 Do not argue hot-headedly or enter into dispute with your hearers, but talk to them in a kindly, reserved manner. Bear in mind that, whatever their belief, it will contain a large amount of good with which you have no dispute or issue. It is the bad, which taints and contaminates the good, that has to be sought out and destroyed.
WSD:21:13 Do not enter into discussion or argument with anyone well instructed in another doctrine, unless you are equally well instructed in yours and equally well informed on theirs. In disputes and discussions, the ill informed man is knocked over with a straw. In the arena of argument, the man without knowledge attacks with a reed.
WSD:21:14 Other doctrines have their books, and the best book is the one, which benefits the most. In one book, Truth may be described in one way, and, in another book, it may be described differently, but this need not mean that one is right and the other wrong. Truth never goes unveiled, but the wise man seeks her where she is veiled the least.
WSD:21: 15 The outward vestments of a religion are unimportant, for gaudy ones may hide a festering body, while unimposing garments may clothe a healthy one. Disregard the bottle and give your attention to its contents. A mis-shapen bottle may hold matured wine, while the well shaped
bottle may contain wine newly pressed.
WSD:21:16 If your calling is to preach, then declare to others all the words you believe to be true concerning The Divine and the latent divinity in
men. Pay no heed to those who would discourage you, and follow the footsteps of Truth unflinchingly. The least enlightened are those who close
their ears to the voice of wisdom.
WSD:21:17 If you have been granted the gift of speech so that your opponents are routed under a hail of words, do not proclaim a victory. A man is not converted because he is silenced. The advocate who presents the best argument may not have the best case, and he who speaks the right words may
not be on the right side. WSD:21: 18 Though you cannot reveal the Divine Design, you can point out the order in the Divine Dominion. All about, the signs are manifested in the order and procession of the stars and the succession of the seasons, in the abounding beauty and bounty of Nature and in the laws that govern growth
and decay.
WSD:21:19 When the call to the cause is sounded in the dawnlight of the day of Truth, preaching prophets will fare forth as harbingers. If it falls to your lot to be numbered among them, then consider yourself honoured among humanity. Summon others to tread the way of Truth with you, but do so in simple words and with enlightened argument and wisdom. Do not enter into time-wasting disputes, but use gentle persuasion and kindly guidance to put the feet of your followers upon the right road.
WSD:21:20 Those who answer the call to the cause cannot expect to escape the conflict unscathed. If you are among those who suffer, do not take
reprisals, but only such steps as will prevent a repetition. Display your strength of character in patient endurance and cheerfulness, but you are not
expected to be meekly submissive.
WSD:21:21 Endure whatever trials come your way with patience and fortitude, for they serve you well. Do not be unduly disturbed if you are not believed, or troubled because so many betray their own nature and destiny. You can do no more than warn them and call upon them to fulfil their duty and obligations. Do not let your heart be troubled by their subtleties of arguments, and bear in mind that deluded men always believe in the reality of
their delusions.
WSD:21:22 Concentrate on teaching the young, for this is like engraving words on metal, while teaching the aged is like writing words on the seashore sands. But instruction should be given by the aged, for he who looks for
wisdom in the young is like a man who eats unripe fruit from the vine or drinks unmellowed wine from the cask.
WSD:21:23 The Good Religion will not concern itself with moneymaking for profit; though, if it is made to serve a good end there is no harm. With moneymaking and profit, it is the objective that counts. Those who preach the Good Religion will take no money for themselves in such a way that people might come to regard it as no more than another means of livelihood. The praiseworthy teacher will earn his livelihood through his skill
or labour.
WSD:21:24 However, if a man devotes himself to furthering the cause, and sacrifices opportunities in other directions, he shall not be denied a fair return for his services. A man who dedicates himself wholly to the service of a cause can rightly expect that cause to supply him with the necessities of
life.
WSD:21:25 The preacher dedicated to service must not be too fastidious, for to give battle to the muck wallowers, the muck heap must be entered. Neither must he be intolerant with those who hold to the most outlandish beliefs, for each man's belief seems right in his own eyes.
WSD:21:26 The harbingers of the Good Religion must be men of strong character and integrity, for a fortress cannot be built on shaky foundations, or
stout walls erected over a bog. The preacher who is truly dedicated to a Divinity of Love and Goodness becomes, himself, a manifestation of those
qualities.
WSD:21:27 Man is not expected to achieve perfection here on Earth, but only to seek it. What is expected of him is a sincere and honest effort without any hypocritical or deceptive reservations. The Divine Design requires that
man make a conscious choice of right under the constant pressure of temptation to do otherwise. This also leaves man free to choose wrong.
WSD:21:28 Man chooses wrong instead of right for just two reasons;
either it is the easy path of least resistance, or it is the most alluring. Consequently, the Good Religion must first concern itself with establishing strength of character and moral backbone, for these form the only foundation, upon which the palace of spirituality can be erected.
WSD:21:29 Long ages ago, man took the wrong path and was led astray still further by guides with insufficient knowledge of the way. They knew the general direction, but their maps were faulty. Now, man is lost in the swamps of spiritual barrenness and the marshes of moral decay. His vision cannot
penetrate the thick mists of mortal and material illusion, which have closed in upon him. He has lost all confidence in his guides and feels betrayed,
abandoned and lonely. WSD:21:30 The lost wayfarer must be revived with a draught of moral courage. He must be strengthened and revitalised with a belief which gives him spiritual backbone. The religions, which pander to the weak characters, to the meek and servile, the ignorant and unthinking, must be discarded. Man must be given what he needs, not what he deserves. He must be taught the meaning and purpose of life, so that he no longer wastes it. He must know that whatever befalls him on Earth is either decreed or the result of his own actions, but that it may be utilised to his benefit elsewhere. Now, as always, man is taught to seek inspiration outside himself. In the light of the new dawn, he must be taught to seek his inspiration from the divinity within