Nursery Rhymes for Adult Spiritual Enrichment

The Grand Ole Duke of York

The Grand old Duke of York 

he had ten thousand men

He marched them up to the top of the hill

And he marched them down again

And when they were up, they were up

And when they were down, they were down

And when they were only halfway up

They were neither up nor down

This nursery thyme talks about 10,000 men under the dictate of a "Grand Ole Duke," but does not make reference to them as people dressed in military attire. Can you imagine 10,000 men, or women today, going through our society with the directive of maintaining order? We might wonder who they are and what right they have to determine how we behave, what we say, or where we go. According to this nursery rhyme, the 10,000 men were engaged into habitual behavior without any fruitful results. This would be equivalent to the cleanliness within a prison but the persistence of criminal attitudes of the prisoners; or the cleanliness of a hospital that is housed with the sickness of the patients; or the cleanliness of mental institutions holding the ill thoughts of the residents. In other words, the physical imposition of 10,000 men has no social benefit unless spiritual fruitfulness lives within the population of people.

Within us is the potential to live with constructive social attitudes, or to be barren of social graces. 10,000 men cannot cause social order by physical imposition, that's because society lives harmoniously together when we have a purpose associated with spiritual qualities of inner life. To habitually govern people by external methods would have no constructive results because the positive aspects of the soul would be neglected. The 10,000 people would be operating in society from a rhythm that hypnotizes them against the fruitful attitudes of goodwill, kindness, love, peace, meekness, gentleness, faith, goodness, joy, patience, self-control, and perseverance. To the 10,000 of the "Duke's" people it's more important to establish order and cleanliness, and less important to nurture positive sentiments relating to spiritual aspects. The unfruitful results would lay within the population who would house hatred, cruel intent, ill-will, violence, harshness, aggression, despair, pessimism, evilness, fatal attitudes, out of control behaviors, and impatience with militant attitudes. The 10,000 would become more ruthless in the effort to control the people, but the order they seek can only manifest through fruitfulness of the spirit.

To stay open to fruitful attitudes is a practice that enables us to accumulate sentiments that give blossom to a healthy society. This is like having a store of good seed with the potential of blossoming in good soil. Those internal attitudes are untouchable by the "Duke's" 10,000 forces. When people march against those healthy sentiments they are like those who steal the store of seed, as well as hardening the soil to make it unfit for planting, and thereby prohibit the growth of social orderliness. They incite fatal and out of control behavior as citizens become impatient with the persistent dogging of a healthy social perspective. In contrast, we accomplish much to create a healthy environment by overcoming destructive habitual attitudes through self-control, patience, and perseverance in a fruitful inner life.

A mentality that thinks they can bring social peace through a physical force of 10,000 that are not in touch with the inner regulation coming from fruitful qualities will not be able to quell negative sentiments, but instead incites instability. In fact, they adversely affect the purpose of a meek and gentle spirit of peace by causing aggression, harsh feelings, and violence to manifest within the population. The presence of meekness, gentleness, and peace are qualities in us that quell hostile feelings to establish a safe and secure environment.

The soft moistness of civil living are not found within a physical force of 10,000 who attempt to establish social order without a compassionate purpose. They are in a habitual rhythm of fragmenting fellowship rooted in love, goodwill, and kindness to render their precision efforts socially unfruitful. The results manifesting from the fruitless efforts of the 10,000 to tame society are internal hate, cruel purpose, and ill-intentions. Social harmony comes through the pools of internal moisture that trickles into us from an infinite source to allow a continuous flow of constructive interactions.

A habitual rhythm of trying to establish social order with physical might is actually in opposition with the universal deity that has infinite intelligence, infinite power, and an infinite presence. To be successful in creating a harmonious society we need to be in touch with the living deity existing in every individual. This would be to acknowledge the same potential in every citizen of humanity that presumably lives in the "Duke" and the "Duke's" force of 10,000. In this light, there would exist mutual respect, esteem, and praise for everyone who shows signs of spiritual fruitfulness, inward tranquility, a respect for all life, and positive energy. All the goodness that liv s in us is of the universal deity and to manipulate that with physical intimidation bankrupts a society of fruitful attitudes, causes turmoil, disrespects life, and incites negative energy.

As 10,000 physically motivated forces mobilize through society in the name of establishing order it would also trample on the spiritual optimism of the people to cause the manifestation of despair, sadness, and evil inclinations. They would be aggressive towards all the qualities that would bring people together in pools of harmonious gatherings. With this, anyone who tried to trickle into an area of delightful fellowship would encounter a challenge too great to match and causing one to turn away in a fragmented condition. The 10,000 will habitually pursue and discourage those who travel to discover comforting companions which leaves society unfruitful in gatherings. Even then, it is the faith, joy, and goodness in each person that makes our fellowship a joyful and optimistic one, wherever we are. When the 10,000 forces seek to destroy that spirit then they will be the ones to suffer despair, pessimism, and evil intent, which destroy the organization from inside.