The Pathway of the Soul

By Mrs. James Allen

"Man was made to grow not stop;

That help he needed once and needs no more,
Having grown but an inch by,is withdrawn.
For he hath new needs,and new helps to these,
This imports solely, man should mount on each
New height in view; the help whereby he mounts
The ladder rung his foot has left,may fall,
Since all things suffer change, save God and Truth,
Man apprehends Him newly at each stage Whereat earth's ladder drops,its service
done;
And nothing shall prove twice what once was proved.

Robert Browning

It is very difficult indeed for the majority of people to realize the vast importance
that inheres in small things, or to grasp the tremendous importance of the faithful
performance of little tasks and duties. We are so prone to think that our special
work holds nothing essential in it, and that if we were to drop out of the scheme of
things not one soul would be any the better or any the worse, and the world would
go on just as well without us. It is one of the illusions of the human heart that what
are called great and important positions are to be greatly longed for; that therein lie
the greatest Powers and the most wonderful opportunities, and that those people
who are called to act their parts in these great dramas of life are to be envied. I
think perhaps this is more so in regard to the life of Spiritual Attainment and Power.
We are apt to forget that,

"The heights by great men gained and kept

Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night."

We come in contact with a man or woman who possesses great spiritual power and
influence, and we straightway begin to envy the attainments of that individual, and
long, with an intense longing, to possess what they possess, and to wield the same
powerful influence for good over men and women that they wield. Sometimes, it is
thought that such power and influence were gained by one strong act of faith, or
one great deed of sacrifice, noble, and after the nature of the gods. Perhaps the
most common illusion is to suppose that this mighty spiritual power was gained in a
moment, by some sudden belief in the doctrines of some church or people,what is
commonly called "conversion" or "salvation." The mistake arises through starting
from a wrong premise. We forget that Life has to be lived, and that Character is not
formed in one moment, neither can it be altered in one moment. We live LIFE, not
only in one short portion of Time, even though that portion should reach the
proverbial "three-score years and ten"; but through successive incarnations we build
up the life we live, and from that life is formed the character we possess, and from
that character proceeds all of influence or power we may have over our fellows for
good and evil. There are, it is true, sudden changes in life. Have we not all
experienced them? Do not many of us look back on life and remember with
overwhelming gratitude how we were influenced under the spiritual power of some
good man or woman, or through the influence of the Holy Spirit in some
congregation, to make an entirely fresh start in life? Truly I, if I may speak from
personal experience, have been "converted" many times, and through many means.
And I doubt not that in many former lives I have experienced the same thing. And in
looking back we see how each "conversion was indeed a spiritual powerit was
the Voice of the Christ within speaking to us as we were able to bear it, at first
feeding us with the sincere milk of the word, because we were not strong enough to
take the strong meat. Then afterwards came the higher visions and the power to
assimilate the deeper and stronger truths.

It is an impossibility to gain the highest spiritual vision and spiritual power through
one act of faith, as it is impossible to develop a character through one act; or in one
day. And here it is that so many have made shipwreck of life, and also where so
many leaders and teachers en in their ministry. Too long has it been taught that a
man has but to "believe and be saved," and nothing more need trouble him. "Right
belief" is certainly essentialall the Masters of the Race have taught sobut the
mistake has been in allowing the people to imagine that belief was the end as well
as the beginning. So conversion found men and women turning their faces towards
the light, and making vows to live a spiritual life henceforth, and to renounce the
world, the flesh, and the devil, and there they were left. But had they been taught
that conversion was but the first step, that, indeed, it did not even imply the power
to walk in The Way; that they must acquire virtue by constant watching and earnest
endeavor; that they must purify their hearts by right thinking, and make a life and
build a character by continual striving, then would they have gone from strength to
strength, and as the years went by they would have become greater and stronger in
power and influence; they would have escaped the shame of failure, and the
disheartening experiences of falling again and again into the Slough of Despond.

The great Cathedral was not built in one generation, nor in one century. One
generation was content to dig out the earth that the foundations might be laid and
scores of men toiled all through life and never saw the graceful pinnacle, and they
knew that other men after them would add the grace and beauty of the Gothic arch,
the frescoed walls, and the stained glass windows. But the builders knew also that
their work, hidden as lf would be under the later work of the artist and the sculptor
was nevertheless just as important, and needed also their entire and complete
consecration. Without the one, hidden, rough and unknown as it might be, the other
could have no existence. When you visit York Minister you will admire the delicate
tracery on roof and screen; you will gaze enraptured on each arch and pillar, and
those beautiful windows in the Chapter House will render you speechless in the
presence of such loveliness. Then the Guide will take you down into the Crypt, and
he will show you the Norman foundations upon which the Early English Cathedral
stands; and after that he will take you lower still, and will point out to you the old
Saxon Foundations, (the base of the pillars you admire so much), down far in the
depths of the soil where men toiled centuries before the Minster could be seen as it
is today, in all its perfection and beauty.

Life is just such a series of endeavor. We have to begin down low with the small
things. Never the corrected habit, then never the formed character; never the small
duty faithfully carried out in the darkness of obscurity, then never the greater and
higher calling; never the self-sacrifice, then never the self-conquest. The small fault
given way to again and again mars the life and robs the character of all power and
beauty. The little vice indulged in again and again with every excuse about its being
such a small thing, and so seldom indulged in, acts as a moral cancer eating at the
very vitals of the spiritual life. The careless habit allowed to take root becomes at
last so strong that it seems almost impossible to break it. No amount of profession,
no amount of church going, no amount of sacraments will do for a soul what that
soul must do for itself. Religion never was meant to take the place of living, and no
religion under the sun, or above it, for the matter of that, will ever save a man or
woman unless they save themselves. And to save ourselves we must BE and DO.

We must make a beginning, call it conversion if you will, but remember your idea of
what that word means may not be my idea, nor my neighbors idea. But let us not
forget that we must begin at the very depths, and first lay our foundations. The
Comer Stone is the last thing added, not the first. So we must begin on the small
vices, the little habits, the hidden indulgences, the secret failures and weaknesses.
Down in the dark we must set to work, and first slay the habit, cleanse the thought,
purify the intention, and be faithful to the smallest task and the lowliest duty. There
is no other way. It may take yearsit may take a life, to eradicate a few
weaknesses, to get rid of a few habits; but the important thing is to begin, for you
have all eternity before you, and this life is the foundation of the next life, and that
of the next. Where the great and the strong stand today you will stand in your
tomorrow. They began where you are beginning, they but beckon you on from the
heights they have attained, and the desire that springs in your heart to be what
they are, and where they are, is the assurancethe earnestthat the same goal
awaits you in the future.

Each new conversion is a Resurrection Morning in the soul. Each new endeavor
another Easter Day. "Beloved now are we the sons of God, but it doth not yet appear
what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for
we shall see him as he is." So each life, and all LIFE, must be a growth ("it doth not
yet appear") and each Easter Morning of the soul will find us nearer and nearer
("what we shall be") for the full Glory is not for some of us yet, though we cannot
doubt that some have attained.

As we mount on each separate ladder, and gain the height we used it to gain, then
that ladder drops away from us. And we must let it go. It has served its purpose,
wherefore cling to it? The next ladder is there ready for your eager feet. Despise not
the ladder you have climbed by, now that you need it no longer, for it will be the
way up which other souls will climb. It served you well, it will serve others equally as
well. Remember it ever with reverence and love. But let it go. Many a soul has been
fettered and hindered through clinging to the old beliefs and the old traditions.
Doing so they have lost the power to search for Truth. At last they have become
atrophied in the ceremonial worship of the particular religion to which they have
clung, and their worship has become automatic and therefore lifeless. What served
you as a help and inspiration at one period may not afford you any help at a further
stage of your spiritual evolution. Keep an open mind. Be ready to recognize Truth
wherever you may find it. Despise not the day of small things, and never look upon
any service as small or beneath you, for in that very small service may lie the power
and spiritual life you are seeking. It is a very significant thing that among all who
cast into the treasury out of their abundance, large sums of money, in the presence
of the Christ, not one was recorded but the poor widow who cast in one mite, for it
was all that she had. The small at times shall be the great, and the great but the
small. The first shall be the last, and the last first. Therefore do the thing that lies
next to your hand, asking not if it be great or small; take the path that Truth points
out before your advancing footsteps, and heed not what men may call it, hetrodox
or orthodox. "Man was made to grow and not stop." See to it that you are growing
day by day, adding to your spiritual strength; gaining more and more knowledge of
Truth, and the day will comemust comewhen the desire of your heart will be
granted to you beyond all your strongest faith, greatest hope, and highest
aspiration.

Sometimes the Pathway of the Soul will take you through trackless deserts, but you
will not lose your way. At times you will be alone and lonely, for there are seasons
when we must stand alone, when no one can understand, no one can know the
souls deep longing. But out of that loneliness will be born to you a great peace and
an abiding joy, and the trackless desert will one day rejoice and blossom as the rose
before you. And if you find one kindred spirit to take your hand, then give God
thanks, and know no service too great, no joy too sacred to share with such an one.
ln the past men thought that to gain the highest spirituality they must leave the
world, and shut themselves up in cells, and the greater their isolation the greater
would be their spiritual illumination. Today we know that it is in the ordinary walks of
life, among its homely scenes and relationships, and in the daily tasks and duties
that we shall find the pathway of the soul. There is nothing on earth than is unclean
or unholy. All nature is beautiful to that one who looks out of a pure and simple
heart upon it, and all the relationships of life are dear, and sweet, and sacred. We
may walk lifes common ways with peace in our hearts, and meet all lifes claims
with purity, and honor, and nobility. Each home may be as guarded by angel hosts,
and as fit a dwelling place for The Master as ever was the Home at Bethany. The
Joys of life are very beautiful, its friendships are very sacred, its love is divine we
should make every greeting a benediction, and every smile a blessing. We should
take the common things of life and glorify them with love and beauty. I would
increase the joy of the earth. I would ask no higher service than to make the
common things of life so beautiful that men and women would find heaven all
around them where they thought they had only found the dust of the earth. It is the
pathway of the soul. It is the path that His feet walked two thousand years ago in
Galilee, and Jerusalem, and round about Bethany. And because He walked in the
common ways, and among the daily commerce of the mart, and the rough work of
the carpenters shop,because of this we call it "The Holy Land," and forget that He
would have us make our land a Holy Land too. I am so glad it is so. I am so glad that
life is so beautiful, that its real joys are so simple, its relationships so divine, its
friendships so precious, and I am glad with a great gladness that through such
simple things, and ways, and ties, lies the Pathway of the Soul.

Lily Allen

Mors Janua Vit

By S. Peters

The doctrine of reincarnation or rebirth, which teaches that the spiritual part of man
is an integral part of Godthat it enfolds all the divine possibilities as the acorn
enfolds the oakthat by many existences in an earthly body of gradually improving
texture the spirit is reaching nearer to perfection and reunion with God, is a
teaching which is claiming our attention today. It has always been taught by
Oriental occultists, and if we examine the Eastern religions (from which our own
religions have been evolved) we shall find that reincarnation is the foundation upon
which a man builds his whole life, for he does not think that the mere physical
change called "death" will transform him at once into an angel or a devilfit to
stand in the presence of God, or condemned to everlasting punishment. He knows
that death is only a pause, and that after a period of rest succeeded by activity on a
spiritual plane, he will be born again to continue that subjugation of the body and
uplifting of the soul which only can set the spirit free.

Rebirth has not only found place in the esoteric teaching of nearly every known
religion, but was also implied by the Christ and taught by the early Christian Church.
It is, however, a truth which is not realized until a certain stage of spiritual
development has been reached; and it has been entirely rejected by the age of
materialism which, we trust, is now passing.

The reason why we live on this earth at all is so that we may continually work
upwards and fit ourselves for the very highest life, the life of the spirit, and though it
may take icons of time to prepare for this high plane of existence, this world is the
best school in which to learn virtue and acquire soul-experience. Save in exceptional
cases, all who have lived on this earth are reincarnated after certain periods, the
length of time between two lives being dependent on the state of development
which has already been attained by the spirit, for the developed spirit will naturally
not require so much schooling as the undeveloped spirit. We are not as a rule
allowed to know when we were last living on this earth, nor do we know when we
shall live here againwe may have belonged to any nation and we may have lived
in any country. Only certain very advanced egos who have realized reincarnation
and are conscious of it are able to know their past lives, and they are able, to some
extent, to choose the outlines of future lives.

A very real obstacle to belief in reincarnation, and a difficulty to many, is the

question "If I have loved someone very dearly in this life, how can I love again in a
future life unless I recognize my loved one?" Love is the strongest force in the
universe, so it must remain constant, and reincarnation teaches that those who
have loved in one life almost always meet in future lives. All things are so perfectly
ordered that souls which have been drawn together are usually ready to be
reincarnated at about the same time, and we may be quite sure that the people
who really affect our lives are the ones we have known from the beginning. There
are some, who have travelled far along the Path, who are able to recognize their
friends when they meet them in the flesh, but whether or not we are able to do this
depends upon our own psychic powers.

We may also be certain that those who are bound to us by ties of affection in this
life still feel that affection for us in the spirit life, for reincarnation does not interfere
with the reunion after each physical life, on higher planes of consciousness, of those
who love one another here. There is ample time for this between successive earth
lives; for intervals, sometimes of two thousand years, may separate two
incarnations, giving scope for the development in higher spheres of existence of all
the spiritual energies evolved by each entity during its earthly pilgrimage. When the
time for reincarnation comes, that will in ordinary cases be the time for the
approximately simultaneous reincarnation of those who are nearest and dearest to
one another.

Thus no view of human life so profoundly embodies a recognition of the manner in

which the love-tie serves to unite human souls in true sympathy throughout the
ages, whether they are in one plane of existence or another, as the sublime natural
law which we call Reincarnation.
Then also, this teaching gives us the only possible explanation of the apparent
injustice of the universe to individuals.

A person is born, perhaps, to a life of poverty and misery and pain, and involuntarily
we ask "Is it fair?" On the face of it, it is not fair, but if we believe that that person is
suffering on account of the sins of a former life, then we may be quite sure that the
punishment is just, for "as a man sows, so shall he reap." Man was in the beginning
created in order that Spirit might manifest through matter, but if man so far forgets
his divine origin and his spiritual destiny as to live the life of an animal, and worse,
he cannot blame his Creator, neither can he expect to gather flowers where only
rank weeds have been allowed to grow. So we see that the acceptance of
reincarnation must modify our ideas of heaven and hell, as generally taught. Christ
told his disciples that "The kingdom of heaven is within you"; and hell is not a state
of eternal misery to which the erring soul is condemned by Divine Justice, for it is
impossible to believe that a finite offence can merit an infinite punishment. Hell is
just what a man prepares for himself by setting up evil causes which are bound to
have evil effects, either in this or in some future incarnation.

As soon as we realize the truth of reincarnation we also realize that life is really
worth living, for just as evil thoughts and actions will have their effect so also good
thoughts and actions will have their effect, and those high ideals and aspirations
which we strive for now will be nearer attainment in our next earth life. We are
working, not for a few short years, but for all time, and whatever seed we sow will
certainly have to be reaped sooner or later.

The Editor's Letter Box

Dear Mrs. Allen,

Thanks so much for really helpful letter. I am trying to see things as you see them. I
am trying to live in your world, but it is hard. I am tempted at times to ask, "Does
Mrs. Allen wear colored spectacles? Is her world a real one, or is she living in a world
of illusion? I thank and bless you for all I have come into, and I look for more, for you
will help me still, of that I am sure....The March Epoch is fine. How you keep the
standard up! There is never a weak number. Each month I say, "Now The Epoch has
reached high water mark." The next month it is still stronger, still more helpful and
beautiful. I mean to do all I can to get you new subscribers. It should be in every
home in England. Be strong and of good courage, your message is THE MESSAGE
for the times...Your new book Lifes Inspirations is fine. I wonder if you really realize
all you are doing for us! May God ever bless you.

Hopeful

Dear "Hopeful,"
There are worlds within worlds. The world that one man sees is not the world that
his neighbor sees. We each make our own world and we make it by our thoughts.
There is a world composed entirely of things that appeal to the physical senses only,
and in that world the great majority live. It is a world of false excitement and
ephemeral pleasures. Where excitement is there can be no lasting peace, for that
world is like the great ocean, its tides are ever ebbing and flowing, and the soul that
lives for, and on, the excitements of that world is now on the crest of the wave, and
now in the trough of the sea, and there is no certainty, no rest, no assurance. The
men and women who live in the world of the senses, are feeding on the husks that
will one day leave them starving. There are as many worlds as there are men and
Women to people them, for we each make our own world. That is true of the world
in which we move, the world of Physical matter. But there are other Worlds. There is
a Thought World, and there is a Soul World, and there is a Spirit World. There are
worlds so far within, and so far above the world of matter that even those who know
something of those other worlds cannot always find the doors that ever swing
inwards. I know one world where it is all silence and peace; into which no disturbing
thought can enter. I go there sometimes, but it is not always easy to find the Mystic
Doors that open one way only. Sometimes we forget that others do not know about
those other worlds, and we speak to them in the language of the world we are living
in, but it is a strange tongue to them, and they cannot understand it. Sometimes,
because we act after the manner of some beautiful world we have found, our
actions are misunderstood, they are too simple, too spontaneous, too childlike for
the complex and conventional world of the senses. Have you ever read Olive
Schreiners Dreams? If not, try to do so. There is one perhaps more beautiful than
the rest, but all are so beautiful one can scarcely compare them. Across My Bed will
open up to you the thought I am trying to give to you, and you will find when
reading it that here and now are hell and all the under worlds in which men and
women live and suffer; that here and now are all the worlds of heaven with all the
love and joy and peace that belong to them. Men do not need to die to find hell, nor
shall any need to pass through death to find heaven. Find your world now, in your
today, for here at your side is the world you wish for, the world in which you are, by
virtue of your thoughts and desires, most at home in. I live in a world my thoughts
have made, and it is as real as God. If it be a world of beauty, then the reason lies in
the fact that I have made it beautiful. If it were an ugly world of hate and suspicion,
distrust and isolation, then it would be because I have not loved and served enough.
If it be a world of limitation then I alone have set the hedge about it, and shut out
the abundant life. Ah, no, my world is not an illusion. You want to know how I know
that? Because it belongs to the things that must stay, the things that can never
alter or pass away; the things and thoughts; the love and aspiration; the values and
the worth that death cannot take from me, and that will serve me there as well as
here. How did I find my world? I came to it by the Pathway of the Soul of which I
have written in another part of this Epoch. I found it through many doorways, and
some of them you are shrinking from, not understanding them. There is the
doorway of Loneliness; the doorway of Sorrow; the doorway of the Desert of Pain;
the doorway of Self-renunciation, and many others. Some turn back when they
reach these doorways. And they turn back because they do not understand, they do
not know. Fear takes hold of them, and they turn back to the world they know, little
thinking that in doing so they are turning back from the real and the eternal. Did I
say that all the doors of the soul swing inwards? Enter, for within you will find the
love that never tires or forgets; you will find the joys that never pall or satiate; you
will experience the quiet that is all calm, and peace, and deep abiding satisfaction.
Without, in the world of the senses, men fear one another. Within, in the world of
the soul there is no fear, for there men know that no one can harm or injure another.
The soul knows that it can injure itself alone, but no man can injure it, neither could
it injure another. Oh, it is a world of sweet peace and eternal calm. Come and find it.
Not in the world without you, will you find it, but in the world within. I, too, am
grateful to all my helpers for the strength of The Epoch every month. How could I
keep it up to such a high standard without the articles and poems coming in every
month from loving hearts and willing hands? Yes, do get me some more subscribers.
I booked six new names from one reader this week, and several from another. They
did what you can do also. They showed The Epoch to their friends, and told them all
about it and the work it is doing. They asked them to subscribe, and they did. Will
you do the same? If my message is the message for the times, then see to it that
you do your best to make it known. I have received some very kind letters about
Life's Inspirations. They bless and encourage me and I thank the writers.

May you and every reader of the Letter Box, enter into a world of love, peace, joy,
freedom and blessedness, and may the real thingsthe things that stay be yours.

***

Dear Editor,

I have often wished you would write us some articles on Karma. I remember once
asking if you believed that there could be liberation from Karma: if it were possible
to work our way out of Karmic conditions. I try to recall all you said on that occasion,
but so much has slipped from my memory I want you to either write it for me in an
article, or as an answer to this letter in the Letter Box.

"A Seeker"

Dear "Seeker,"

I am glad you have asked about Karma, for it is a subject I have been thinking a
great deal about the last few weeks, and also talking about to a friend who is deeply
interested in that and kindred subjects. I have also been reading as much as
possible about it in Eastern literature and Eastern religious books, for though we
have the truth of the Law of Karma plainly set forth our own Scriptures, one finds it
very helpful to read of it also in the scriptures and writings of the East, that cradle of
religion and mysticism. I remember our conversation very well, and I remember
telling you of an experience I had passed through while searching for the very same
light that you are now searching for. I had long been seeking knowledge of the
power and duration of Karma, and one morning as I was returning from the sleep
condition those words were repeated to my soul consciousness," For the law of
the spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."
Here was the answer to my long search for truth and light on the question of Karma.
Then I knew that the soul could reach a circle in the spiral of evolution where it
would pass out of the world of what the Hindu calls Karma Yoga, and experience a
New Birth into what we call Union with God, and what the Eastern Disciple calls Raja
Yoga, both terms meaning exactly the same thing. Then the "law of the spirit of life
in Christ Jesus makes us free from the law of sin and death," or in other words we
have outgrown the law of Karma. Then are we Masters, and no longer slaves
following a blind urge and working out the effects of causes to which we ourselves
have bound ourselves; and we are no longer bound to environment and
circumstances. There is an end to the path of Karma Yoga, but only those find it who
are willing to pay the price. It is found after long, and often painful, searchings over
rough paths, and up the steep places where the way is hidden, and the soul climbs
alone, utterly alone. We may, when content in the "pleasant gardens of Eden," know
the companionship of happy spirits like ourselves; we may go to worship our God
after the manner of our fathers, in fellowship, with others; we may wander through
the pleasure grounds of the lowest heaven, and pick the glowing flowers, and hear
the enchanting music, and let the days glide by in light and joyous pastimes. But
the Path that leads to liberation from Karma Yoga must lead you out of, and away
from all those things. You must go out alone. Can you pay the price? Consider it
well. No one forces you, not even God would ask it of you. You are freeabsolutely
free to seek it, or to leave it. We hear very, very little about Renunciation now, for it
is quite a lost thought, and as such it has no place in the Western religions, except it
be kept alive in the Roman Church. But if you are really in earnest in your question,
and really desirous to seek and find the way of Liberation from the bondage of
Karma, then you will take the Path that leads UP; you will count the cost and
deliberately pay the price. Said a great Sage when speaking on this subject,"Work
as those who are ambitious, but be not thou enslaved by the delusion of personal
ambitionthis is the password to liberation from Karma Yoga." When you have
reached that condition that you can say with the Apostle Paul, "for the law of life in
Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death," then will you be free
from Karmic conditions, and will have entered upon the path of Raja Yoga or
complete union with God, and you will henceforth live from the Higher Self and you
will know your relation to the Supreme IntelligenceGod, or The Absolute. Then will
you no longer live in bondage to the body, for the body will be to you simply the
instrument of the Real Self, and you will use it as a means by which you will function
on the plane of the physical to gather experience, and by that experience you will
raise the consciousness from the lower to the higher vibrations. Everything will
become to you a means whereby you can lift yourselfthe Egointo those regions
where Spirit alone holds sway, and all those senses and experiences which hitherto
held you in bondage to the body, will drop completely away from you until they find
no place at all in your souls consciousness. Nothing then can be useless or waste to
you. You will find that everything, work, play, sleep, dreams, friends, books,
happenings of all kindall these you will use as means, and not as ends in
themselves. They will be but the ladders up which you climb to higher heights. But
ever guard the one purpose of all your efforts, the realization of your real spiritual
nature, so that you at last come into absolute knowledge of your union with God,
and know that you are immortal.

I am always glad to help you. Write me again if you will, and I shall be delighted to
do my best for you. I can only tell you what I myself have found by seeking, and
what I myself have come to by long searching, and devotion to the highest my
spiritual vision is capable of discerning. If the way at times seems hard, and the
light is hidden from your eyes, say with Paracelsus,

"If I stoop
Into a dark tremendous sea of cloud,
It is but for a time; I press Gods lamp
Close to my breast; its splendor soon or late,
Will pierce the gloom: I shall emerge one day."

Yours affectionately,

Gratitude

By Caroline Eccles

Thinking of Gratitude and its purpose and place in life, I took up the book of essays
by M. B. Theobald, The Triple Ply of Life, and opening it at the essay entitled Wed
Fate, which title, by the way, seems in itself an inspiration,my eyes met the
sentence,

While at first glance one may be inclined to qualify so bold an assertion, translating
the sentence into, "Gratitude is the passport to the joyous life." Looking deeper, the
necessity for such qualification may disappear, for it becomes certain that life which
is not joyous is not full or complete. Miss Theobalds next sentence implies this, for
it is evidently to complete life that she wishes to teach that gratitude is the
passport.

"We have no right to live unless we can be grateful for life and the Fate which life
carries with it, God gives unto man his life, and mans gratitude is the return
current; until we get this return current the life is not complete, there is no fullness
in it. Whatever else the grateful man may lack he does possess a certain fullness
which is fundamental power."

Gratitude, then, may be defined as an attitude. of the mind of joyous and gracious
acceptance, and if we apply it to life in the spirit suggested by this sentence of Miss
Theobalds, we cannot fail to see that it must prove the "passport" or key to life.
That it is one of the attributes of mind and character without which life is
incomplete. It is an attribute of health or wholeness, typified by that of the healthy
child who laughs and crows with delight, alike at dancing sunbeams or falling rain.
In its fully conscious perfection, it is the attitude of mind of St. Francis dAssissi, who
accepted poverty and pain, joy and sorrow, life and death, not only in meek
resignation, but in a spirit of joyous acceptance, recognizing their equal
"brotherhood" and equal service to the growth of the soul.

Is it not easy to see that unless we have in ourselves something of this spirit life
cannot be full or complete. Without gratitude, we shall meet our fate with the sulky
whining disposition of ailing children, blind to life's beauty, missing its opportunities.
Surely this is the meaning of the pregnant sentence I have quoted,

Whatever else the grateful man may lack he does possess a certain fullness which
is fundamental power."

The very disposition of the mind to gratitude, to glad acceptance, itself is power,
carrying with it the gift to see and seize the best that every moment offers.
It was in such disposition that Walt Whitman cried,

"I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four and each moment then."

Such vision could never have been granted to one who sat with face turned to the
wall bewailing his fate! It is gratitude for the common things of life which speaks in
that cry, gratitude for daylight, for sun and rain, for the sweet air. Gratitude of which
keen interest and delighted observation is the outcome.

Is it not something of this happy and child-like disposition that has inspired the
minds of the scientists in their researches, which have established that most
wonderful and illuminating fact of modern times, the etheric origin of the material
universewhich put in simplest language means, that the common air we breathe,
the air that surrounds, and interpenetrates, and permeates and pervades all the
universe, invisible and intangible as it is, is yet atomic and the origin of everything.
Is it not this same optimistic spirit of grateful acceptance, which leads Sir W. F.
Barrett to his conviction that the indwelling "Power behind the visible universe," the
power that moves through and within this marvelous "mechanism" the ether, is
"The Power of Thought."

Here in the language of Sciencethat true Poetry of the Real!we may hear again
a glad cry like that of Whitman,

"I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four and each moment then!

Perhaps the author of the essay Wed Fate, which is itself an appeal for gratitude for
whatever fate we may have created for ourselves, knew the full significance of her
advice, when she writes in her quaint, humorous fashion,
"Some people find it difficult to be grateful, but one can awaken this responsive
attitude by meditation upon such thoughts as gratitude for having been born in a
free country; gratitude for not being an idiot (since men consider it better to have
minds than not, though even this may at a later date in evolution prove to have
been only a local and temporary taste or fashion) gratitude for any health we may
have, rather than grumblings at any illnesses; gratitude for sun and moon, water
and air."

There can be no one who can meditate at all, however lowly his estate or however
sad his fate may seem, who may not yet say, I have air to breathe and I can think!
Here in two wordsin the light of the knowledge of the latest science, are subjects
for meditation so wide, so high and so profound that it can have no boundaries. For
to meditate on air is to think upon that which is the inscrutable, ineffable
"mechanism" of the Universe. And meditating on Thought, how shall we escape the
blessed conviction that within ourselves, allied to us by the very nature of our being,
dwells the "Creative directive Power," which ever moves that "mechanism" of the
Universe, which is the common air we breathe, the very breath which is our life.

For those who have perhaps been accustomed to look upon gratitude as one of the
very lowly virtues, here may be found food for thought which shall help to lift it to
its rightful place among the highest and most essential.

If you have thought it a sign of a poor spirit and a too humble mind to be thankful
for "small mercies" be assured there can be no deeper, more serious mistake!
Rather is such thankfulness, such gratitude, a sign of the poet's vision and the
disposition of the saint. To rustic ignorance, the humble flower in the crannied wall
may be but worthless weed. The poet's soul grows rapt in wonder and reverence as
he recognizes that within its tiny form is enclosed the symbol of all mysteries.

"Flower in the crannied wall,

I pluck you out of your crannies,
I hold you here, root and all m my hand,
Little flowerbut if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all.
I should know what God and man is."

Thinking of it in wonder and reverencethe spirit of truest gratitudethe humblest

of us as we draw our breath in the sweet, pure air may think as we breathe inward
of the joy and sustenance of life the air brings us. If we will fill each outward breath
with thoughts of help and blessing for others, we may know that we are using the
very instrument of the Power of the Infinite, from which all things have substance in
the world of Form and Sense. Then we may know that our own thoughts are indeed
in their essence one with that very

"Indwelling and transcendent Power behind the visible Universe, the creative and
directive Power of Thought."Sir W. E. Barrell
Dear "Eager Heart,"

Are you a reader of the James Allen books? I think not, for if you were you would
know that everything in the Universe is made up of little things, that, as James
Allen says in one of his books"the perfection of the great is beset upon the
perfection of the small," and it certainly must be very plain to us that unless the
atom were perfect the Whole would be imperfect. He says again,"If any particle
were omitted the aggregate would cease to be." So we know that the universe is
perfect because the smallest star is perfect; the equilibrium of the earth is perfect
because the grain of dust is perfect. Were the small things out of balance the whole
would fall to piecesit would cease to be. Life is made up of small tasks and duties,
and what you call the common-place is just as essential and important as that which
perhaps you regard as great and important. Character is shown more in the way an
individual performs small duties than in the way he, or she, carries out "great"
undertakings. We are not willing to do the small things, so "if the prophet bid thee
do some great thing, wouldst thou not have done it?" is repeated over and over
again, but our ears are deaf to the Mystic Voice, and our eyes are blind to the truly
great waiting for our recognition in the apparently small. Long years ago I came into
the knowledge that I must first learn to be faithful in the small tasks and duties of
life before I could hope to hear the "Come up higher." I must perfect the lower
before I could expect to gain the higher; that, according to the earnestness and
perfection of my work in what you call the commonplace, would depend my
promotionif I may use that word in the Spiritual sense. The enlightened man or
woman knows the value of the small, because the path to greatness always has its
beginning in the small things, even among what at times might be called the trivial
things of life. And by greatness I do not mean worldly honors, titles, or position, for,
as you know, sometimes these things are very small. Surely we must know the true
value of the moment before we can live in the true realization of the worth of the
day? We must first know the worth of the small before we can anything like
approach the knowledge of the great. "If I have told you of earthly things and ye
believe not, how shall ye believe if I tell ye of heavenly things?" asked the Christ.
We must first make our passing greeting inspiring to the stranger or he will never
wish for our friendly intercourse. You know how we all form our estimate of others.
Not by their social position, or their wealth, or their reputation, but by the little
things belonging to their everyday life as we see it,How they greet us in the
street, how they smile, how they look, how they handle the happenings of
unexpected events, how they act under sudden and unusual occurrences. These are
the "small things" of life so-called, but in reality they are the very foundation stones
upon which life and character are built, and to fail to be great in them is to miss
greatness forever. Oh, Eager Heart, look for the sublime in the ordinaryit is there!
Seek for the Beautiful in the commonplaceyou shall find it! Remember the
abundant life and beauty of the forest oak was once hidden in the heart of the little
brown acorn. There is only one Royal Road to greatness and that is by acting
strongly and wisely in the present moment. There is only one High Way to
perfection, and that is through the faithful performance of even the smallest and
lowliest duty. How often we find the sublime very near to the ridiculous. Just as I
write the above there comes singing in my ears a line or two from Gilbert and
Sullivans Opera H .M .S. Pinafore"And he polished up that handle so carefully,
that now he is the ruler of the Kings Navy." How often we find the greatest truths
wrapped in the most ordinary work-a-day garments, and, to him who seeks the
highest, the highest will be found by him where other men pass it by, and it will
sound in his ears where other men only find amusement. Truly, "Earths crammed
with heaven." Open your eyes, Eager Heart, and look. Yours affectionately,

Lily L. Allen

The Duty of Cheerfulness

By Mrs. James Allen

Perhaps never in our lifetime did the world need our cheerfulness so much as it
needs it today. Are we in danger of forgetting that we have a duty to be faithful to,
the duty of cheerfulness? I think maybe we are just now the great excuse that
hundreds, perhaps thousands are making for not being cheerful, is the war. Today,
men and women, are going about our streets with long faces that seem to have
forgotten the way to smile, and with dull apathy manifesting in every movement of
their bodies. And if you ask how goes the day with them, you have to hear how sad
they are, how heavy hearted, how poorly,and always it ends up,"Its this terrible
war, it is getting on my nerves, it is impossible to be bright or well while this terrible
war lasts, &c. &c.,"always the war, the war, the war! Do you know I have a very
strong impression that with a great number of folk the war has provided a very
convenient pig upon which they can hang their habitual cloak of melancholy. Out
upon it! Are we helping matters by our long faces and doleful airs. Will the war end
any the sooner because we refuse to be bright and cheerful? Are we helping our
brave fighting men by our dismal dirges and eternal whinings? Who are the
brightest and most optimistic folk one meets today in our streets or in our homes?
The wounded men-officers and men of all ranks. One of the brightest, most hopeful
and cheery men it has been my privilege to entertain in my home had lost both his
legs, and had to be carried about the house in the arms of a brave unselfish
comrade. His cheerfulness and his resignation would put thousands of long-faced,
grumbling civilians to shame. The happiest, cheeriest tea parties I have had since
August 1914 have been composed of men maimed for life. Yet, in spite of all the
cheerfulness, the patience, the optimism, the brave endurance of those dear
suffering men, there are men and women who have never endured a single loss or
agony personally, making the war an excuse for their dullness, their apathy, their
stagnation. If ever there was a time when we needed to be wide awake it is now. If
ever we needed to keep abreast of the times, it is now. If ever there was a time
when we needed to be bright and cheerful, it is now. Never did the world stand in
such a need of alive men and women. Oh, do wake up! The sad and the miserable,
the dull and the apathetic, the pessimistic and the stagnant are of no use in the
world today. Sometimes people are deluded into the false sense of supposing that at
such a time as this to be mournful and doleful is the sign of the prophet and the
thinker. Dont make any mistake. It is far more a sign of stagnation in the mind. The
prophet turns his face ever towards the Light. He would not be a prophet otherwise.
And always the Light is reflected by him, and that is the reason we know that he is a
prophet. The thinker sees deeper than the surface, he is not influenced by what he
sees with his eyes or hears with his ears. He knows that the Eternal Purpose cannot
fail; he sees ever the Divine Ideal evolving out of the chaos and confusion of
existing conditions. He does not think and act as if God were dead and the world
had become the sporting ground of the devil. Depend upon it the prophet and the
thinker are not known by their sad long faces and long drawn out sighs. And here is
another thing that I have remarked, that the bravest, brightest, and strongest
hearted men and women in the world today are the fathers and mothers who have
given their sons to the country, and who will never see them again. How they put
some of the croaking complaining, sad-faced miserable men and women to shame
who have never given one they love to save their country. It seems to me it is a
shame to be sad and miserable today. Nay, it is more than a shame, a sin. Poor
indeed has been our hold on the Eternal Verities if our confidence can be shaken by
todays turmoil and strife. Blurred and indistinct indeed has been our vision of The
Good if we think that the apparent forces of evil can conquer and overthrow it.

"Then would you have us hilarious and light-hearted at such a time?" someone may
ask. And I for answer would ask you to remember that to be hilarious is one thing, to
be bright and cheerful is quite another,to be light-hearted is one thing, to be
strong-hearted is another. Also remember that seriousness is not incompatible with
cheerfulness, and to be brave, and strong and optimistic in spirit is to be both
helpful, inspiring, and encouraging; it is to lift up and hearten all with whom we
come in contact. We need not disgust by foolish frivolity, neither need we depress
by an unwholesome and deadening misery.

Some of us can do very little to win the war. But have we ever thought that we
might help by being cheerful. Have we ever considered how our lack of brightness,
our long faces, our miserable suggestions may be prolonging the suffering and the
pain? It is our duty to God and to our brother to be cheerful. Power dwells with
cheerfulness, the power to bless dwells with brightness, the uplifting and healing
grace is with him, and with her, of a cheerful and radiating countenance.

Let us then by our cheerfulness and courage, our happiness and hope, our optimism
and faith in the triumph of principle, help God in the evolution of the world. For
Gods sake if you must be sad and miserable, dull and full of fears, hide it, hide it as
deeply as you can from the people, and smile, yes, smile even if your heart is
aching and your soul is heavy. It seems to me that our greatest duty today is the
duty we owe to God and to our fellows to be cheerful.
Lily L. Allen

The Law of Progression

By Mrs. James Allen

"A fire mist, and a planet,

A crystal, and a cell,
A jellyfish, and a saurian.
And caves where cavemen dwell;
Then a sense of law and beauty.
And a face turned from the clod
Some call it Evolution,
And others call it God."

Progression is the Law of Nature. Beauty is the essential Ideal of Nature. Wherever
we look we see that everything in Nature is making for betterment, and striving to
manifest more and more beauty. There is an eternal, untiring reaching up and out; a
ceaseless effort towards perfection. The Law of Evolution is active in all nature, in
the so-called barren rock, as well as in the flower and tree. The heart that has
entered into the invisible life of nature senses the working of an immeasurable
Force which is ever moving all things forward, both the inanimate and the animate.
We observe it in all the workings of physical nature; in the seasons as they come
and go; in the growth and decay of vegetation, for the leaf fades, falls to the ground
and rots only that it may manifest again another spring in greater and more
developed beauty. The rock disintegrates that it may become soil and bring forth
leaf, and flower and fruit to glorify the earth. And the bleak winds and frosts of
winter prepare the earth for the abundant harvest of the summer. Nature Will not
have stagnation anywhere, nor will she tolerate bareness and ugliness. See how she
stretches forth her hand wherever there is a bare patch, or an unsightly object, and
begins at once to make it a thing of beauty. The log cast from the woodmans axe in
the fall of the year, by the spring days is covered with the pale green lichen, and
where the tree fell in the autumn, leaving a scar upon the fair bosom of the earth,
she has been at work all through the winter and lo, by the time the warm spring
days call us out to pick the frail Wind Flowers she has trailed the delicate ivy and
the pale green of the speedwell and the pennywort across its bareness, and made
of it a patch of the most entrancing loveliness. The old rotting, hollow trunk
becomes a buttress upon which the wild rose hangs in all her loveliness, and the
grey gable end of the old ruin is draped with trailing ivy. Progression, never-ending
effort, untiring energy, increasing beauty, more abounding lifethese are nature's
laws.
How have we entered into this life of progression? In what measure have we felt the
ceaseless urge of Evolution? Have we kept pace with Nature in her untiring effort
and eternal reaching out to the essential beauty? Has life for us meant a forward
movement? Oh, can we not see, do we not understand that if progression is the law
of nature in all her physical manifestations, how much more should it be so in the
life of man? If all Gods works continually evolve towards a higher and greater and a
fuller life, how much more should man do so, man, the highest work of the Great
Unseen Force?

Did we but realize that we are one with the forces of Nature, and that the law of our
life is also the law of progression; that for us too the great essential beauty waits,
that for us too is the Ideal that never calls back, but ever forwarddid we but
realize it, how much more radiant and wonderful life would be.

Change is the law of life, we see it all around us. We are continually changing. Every
day as it passes marks a change in our thoughts, our bodies, our feelings our
aspirations, our ideas. But of what nature is the change? Is it always according to
the law of progression? Do we move towards perfection? Is our Today brighter and
better than our Yesterday? Are we nearer to the Ideal this year than we were last?
"But we are so differently constituted to those other children of Nature," I hear
someone complain, "we grow old, and dull; our hearts grow heavy and our senses
stagnate, we are not like the trees and flowers." Do we grow old and dull? Do the
days as they pass find us with heavy hearts and stagnated senses? Why should it be
so? Dear complainer, have you ever asked why should these things be so, and is it a
law in the universe that they should be so? Why not change your words thus,"But
we develop as we see more years; we grow in experience; we gain more and more
knowledge, more magnetism, more power, and life becomes more and more
interesting as the years go by." Would it not be a much better way of expressing
life? Grow old if you must, but certainly you need never grow dull. Pass into the seer
and yellow leaf, but in doing so there is no reason why you should stagnate and lose
the zest and fervor of life. Why do you cease to store up energy and magnetism,
and why do you become stagnant? I think it is caused more by our limited ideas of
life than anything else. We remember that someone ages ago talked about the
"three score years and ten" and of anything beyond that being all vexation of spirit
and vanity, and the race has talked about it until it has made it a law for itself, and
quite unconsciously it has allowed this idea to become the ruling power of the life of
man. The mistaken ideas of death too have had much to do with it. Death being
regarded as the end of life, instead of being a mere incident in life. Again, the idea
that this one life on earth was the only life, that beyond this there might be a life
consisting of golden harps, and alms, and rivers of life for those who were favored
by the Deity, but for otherswell, you know! So the life of man has become stunted
and dwarfed, and the soul of man has been shut up in a prison of his own making.

Let us turn to Nature again. The rose, how so ever beautiful at last fades, and its
petals fall to the ground. But is the rose dead? Wait a little, just let the sweet spring
airs come, let the warm sunshine of June play upon the responding earth, and back
it comes again to the tree in greater and more resplendent beauty and sweeter
perfume. "But" you say, "it is not the same rose!" How do you know that it is not the
same rose? The leaf that fell to the ground and rotted there last fall will come again
to the tree this spring. So all life is continuousnever ending. So all life moves
towards maturity, not stagnation. So all life grows and expands as it moves towards
its purpose. The rose knows this, as also does the tree and the leaf, for Natures
little children obey her without question, but man questions, and quibbles, disobeys
anddies!

So it rests with us whether life shall be a continual progression or stagnation; an

ever increasing beauty, or a stunted and poisoned deformity.

Let us banish all that has hitherto made life a dirge, and let us turn it into a song!
Let us cast out all the old fears and look forward with joyful expectation of
something brighter and better coming to us. Forget your cares and your worries,
your old thoughts and preconceived ideas. They are not an essential part of you,
they are parasites that have no rightful place in your lifethieves and robbers are
they, taking from you the right to the Tree of Life! Come out into the open! Look up
into the face of the Sun and drink in its healing light rays. Breathe deep, long, full
breaths of the Life of God. I am not speaking in parables when I speak thus, I mean
actual deep breathing. Shallow breathing lies at the root of a great deal of the
physical ills, and certainly it is the cause of much mental and spiritual deficiencies.
Remember this, that when you draw in the breath you are drawing upon the very
life of God, therefore breathe consciously; breathe with purpose, breathe, not only
to live, but to live more abundantly. Do you ever really look at Nature? Look at her
now. Look out over the landscape and drink in all the beauty; make yourself one
with Nature, and grow with her. There are beauties everywhere waiting to feed our
souls and bodies if we would but receive them. "Man shall not live by bread alone,"
said the Master, but how often man chooses to live by bread alone, and refuses the
mystic bread of life. So his body becomes heavy and stagnant and his mind chained
to the mundane and the gross things of the senses. Eat and drink of the spiritual
food offered to you in abundance everywhere. There is peace in the blue of the sky,
strength in the hills, calmness in the meadows, rhythm in the roll of the sea, music
in the trees, and deep, deep rest in the pale light of stars. In all Nature is Life,
moving, evolving, progressing life. There is no stagnation anywhere. Many of the
children of men are dying as they go about their daily duties. Once let stagnation
set in and death is inevitable. Once let the idea of having finished with progression,
advancement, growth, interest, set in, and that moment the man, the woman,
begins to die. How can all this be prevented? By being interested in something; by
constantly refreshing that interest, adding to your interest in life. By constantly
finding new channels of wonder and imagination. By cultivation of the mind by
reading, and study. By dreamingyes, dreaming dreams of beauty and desire. By
building castles in the air. Oh, the castles of beauty and joy one may build, and how
often we awake to find they have all come true! How much has been lost by
forfeiting the beautiful belief in fairies. Let us go forth peopling our world again with
the wee folk, good folk; let us search for the sleeping beauty, for mayhap, we may
find her, and give her the kiss that will awaken her from her long sleep, and find all
the time that she was sleeping in our own hearts, awaiting our kiss.

The Editor's Letter Box

Dear Mrs. Allen,

I am so glad you have given us your opinion on communion with the departed. I had
so often wondered what might be your attitude of mind on the subject, and
intended to write about it so many times, but, like many others I am sure, I feared to
intrude on your very busy life. Again;it has happened so many timesl find an
answer to my thoughts in the Letter Box without having asked for it. But would you
mind writing still further on the subject? You say you never seek for those
communications. But is there not some preparation necessary! Are we not to make
some provision? Is just the longing for some sign, some word, some revelation all
sufficient? I have loved ones on the other side, and oh, if I might have some sense
of their nearness to me; some conviction that they still love and help me. I feel you
have yet another word for me. Give it to me.

"Mary"

Dear Friend,

Yes, there is great necessity for preparation. You are right. But do I not say in my
answer to "A Lonely One" that it is for me to seek to live in their atmosphere? I quite
believe that anything like a disturbed condition of mind will act as a barrier keeping
them away from us. That is why we should not give way to uncontrolled grief. l am
sure that our grief creates great dark clouds about us, and no matter how they may
wish to come to us, they cannot because of our disturbed and confused conditions. I
think too (you may take this for what it is worth), that the horrible custom of
wearing black makes it very hard for those who are in the LIGHT to come near us.
Black is so negative. Black shuts out all light and color, and must be so absolutely
foreign to all that belongs to that Summer Land. I am quite sure that one of the
results of coming into personal contact with the departed will be the discarding of
all that horrible morning. If only people were governed by reason and thought,
instead of the worn out conventions and foolish customs of the race, they would
very soon see what a foolish, ugly unspiritual, unbelieving thing it is to wear black
when a loved one passes into the Summer Land. But above everything else it is
necessary to be calm, poised, gentle, loving, and kind. I need not mention how
absolutely necessary purity of thought and action is, or how impossible it must be
for any who are doing wrong consciously to know the blessed communion of souls.
It is not needful to write on those lines to Epoch readers, surely. But apart from any
impurity, evil speaking, unholy actions, or unworthy living, which must shut us out
completely from that World, apart from these things there is a preparation we all
need to study and give heed to. We might do well to meditate a little every day on
the conditions that must surround our dear ones. What do you imagine the life must
be there? How free from pain, from anxiety, from worry, from care, from regret, from
sorrow, from petty and small thinking, from unforgiveness, from condemnation,
from harsh judgment. Try to think of what you need to be so that in coming to you
they will not come into a lower atmosphere. Cultivate all that you want to carry with
you when you too join these who are calling you from the heights. This, to me, is the
one thing necessary. The great essential preparation.

How well the poet Tennyson understood this when he wrote those lines,

How pure at heart and sound in head,

With what divine affections bold
Should be the man whose thought would hold
An hours communion with the dead.

In vain shalt thou, or any, call

The spirits from their golden day,
Except, like them, thou too can'st say
My spirit is at peace with all.

They haunt the silence of the breast,

Imaginations calm and fair,
The memory like a cloudless air,
The conscience like a sea at rest.

But when the heart is full of din,

And doubt beside the portal waits,
They can but listen at the gates,
And hear the household jar within.

How can I better answer your letter after all than by quoting those sublime verses
from In Memoriam!

If I can help you in any way please do not hesitate to write to me on any subject. I
have had so many letters about this part of The Epoch that it has, since receiving
them, become really the most important part of my work. So many have written
begging me not to discontinue The Letter Box, and so many say, "I always turn to
that first." So you see you need never fear to write to me.

*******
Dear Mrs. Allen,

I do hope there will be no further rear of the Epoch not being supported during this
difficult time. I pray it may continue its good work. I was indeed very dangerously
near to discontinuing it this year, until I found time to read the December number,
for in that I found courage and renewed inspiration, especially in the contributions
from the pen of Gunner L. Stuckey and Ingram Turner, both of them B. E. F. men! I
am sure their great faith, and coming to us from the "Fire and the Sword," and so
many terrible experiences, as they must often be in the midst of, makes one feel
ashamed of ones petty doubts and fears, and one must, with them, have faith in
the "ultimate good." But, somehow at times one gets depressed, one begins to
wonder why one has to learn life's lessons at such a terrible cost.

Your reply to "Rhoda" also gave me the message I needed myself,...it seems like a
reply to my own questioning. So I, as one of your readers trust the Letter Box will
continue. The answers to one reader so often help others at the same time. I trust
that all will still be well with the Epoch, that it may carry on its good work; and that
it may still bless and help the fighting men and find good soil there, seeds that may
bring forth much fruit when the lads come home.

B.

Dear Reader,

I am sure ` that your letter will be a great cheer and uplift to Gunner Stuckey and
Ingram Turner when they read it. For their sakes especially I have printed it in the
Letter Box. Dear, brave lads! In the midst of all the hardness and loneliness they
find time to write down
their beautiful thoughts for The Epoch and I am sure that your words will greatly
inspire and help them. How many beautiful hearts we have found through the war. I
am sure those boys, hundreds of them, would never have expressed all the depth
and beauty of their thoughts if they had not known the life into which this war has
thrown them. I am astonished at times at the beautiful simplicity of their thoughts,
how deep within them there has ever been the desire for all that is pure, and gentle,
and good; but in the old days they did not feel the need to express it, and neither
was there the channels through which it could flow out to the world. The need for
sympathy towards one another, the need for cheerfulness, the way in which they
have served one another, all these things have brought out characteristics until the
war so hidden because there was not the immediate need for it. I really bow my
head in reverence before some letters I receive from the boys, letters so simple in
their earnest beauty, so full of trust and confidence, optimism and cheer, so
saturated with faith in the Good. I cannot express to you the joy I feel that those
articles from the pens of my two soldier friends helped and blessed you so much.

*******

Extract from the Letter of a War Worker.

"What a good thing it is that we cannot be robbed of the real things. Theres
Memory, that takes us back to beauties and joys of the past; and Hope, that takes
us forward to a wondrous future; and Love, that makes the present Heaven! Memory
so often takes us back to a sunny day in the Sterrage Valley, and other scenes.
Hope bids us work for a world where men and women will be really free, and Love
makes home around a strange fireside when the days work is done."

Dear Friend,

What a precious gift Memory is. I really believe if I had to give a list of what I
thought to be Heavens greatest gifts to man I should put Memory among the very
first. It is indeed beautiful in the sorrow and stress of the present to look back to
those happy days that were so filled with innocent joys, and simple happiness. How
good it is to remember old love and old companionships; old friendships and the
dear old ties that bind us with such unending love to those who have passed to the
Beyondand they are so many now. But what a poor, desolate world it would be
without those blessed memories! A friend who became a widow on the same day
that I did, almost the same hour, was talking to me the other day of, her dear one,
speaking of all the goodness and nobility of his life and character, and then she
spoke of her loss, but I answered her quickly,"But you had him!" And the sunshine
of joy and happiness flooded her face as she cried out, "Oh, thank you for that, I had
him, I had him!" Let us recall many times the scenes of the past, they will ever bless
and cheer us in the hour of weariness and discouragement.

Hope; Thank God for that too. Do we ever hope enough? It is one of the beautiful
things I always want people to cultivate. I am always building castles and hoping
they will come true. So many have come true, that I think surely all must some day.
And, dear friend, wont we hope for this old world! Wont we just hope, and hope,
and hope for all the sad hearts in it; for all the suffering ones, for all the weary ones,
and one day all our hopes will be realized. It would be impossible to tell you all the
hopes in my heart, for you, for all my readers, for The Epoch for The James Allen
Library, for the Peace that is coming! Emerson said, "Hope puts us in a working
mood." How true it is. The more I hope the harder I want to work; and the greater
and bigger my hope the greater and bigger is my energy, my ambition, and my
output of labor in every direction. So, thank God for hope. "Charity hopeth all things.

I know what you mean when you say "Love make home round a strange fireside."
Love, makes all burdens light, Love, makes the longest and the roughest road short
and easy; Love, softens the hard places and makes hearts rejoice even in pain. To
love is to become a very Christ. It is greater and more blessed to love than to be
loved. And have you ever thought how in this very thing alone we are made co-
workers with God, for we can do more by loving than by any gold or silver gifts. I
wish we understood this better. Sometimes I catch just glimpses of the vast power
of Love. How we could save the world by loving it. Just think how this war could be
brought to an end at once and all strife and hatred and bitterness and cruelty cease
if only men loved. It is the meaning of life. It is the one solution to the riddle of the
Universe. So, dear friend, let us ever remember, ever hope, and always love. In
these three we shall find Heaven.
*****

I am sorry so many were kept waiting for Life's Inspirations. But when you quite
understand you will pardon what was really inevitable. Now it has come to hand will
you pardon me when I say I am very proud of it? It is my sixth "Mental Child" and I
do believe it is going to be a blessing and inspiration to many and many a heart. For
this it was written. I thank all those who have written to me so kindly about
Personality, and I hope with a great hope that Life's Inspirations will help and bless
even more than Personality. If my readers will send direct to the Publishers for it
instead of to me it will be the best for me, as my time is so occupied with the
Editorial work, and all that belongs to the Magazine, I must give up the book trade. I
really have not the time to attend to it. So please send your orders to my publisher,
or insist on your book seller stocking the books.

I must thank all those who have written so kindly when renewing their subscriptions.
Once a year so many kind and encouraging letters come, and all are so precious to
me, and so helpful. I do appreciate kind words and loving expressions. I am very
much made that way! And though I may not personally answer all those beautiful
letters, every one of them is treasured and my heart goes out to every writer in
blessing and love.

So I remain,
Always yours affectionately,
Lily L. Allen

Some Hard Tasks

By Rev. D. Delta Evans

There are many familiar sayings to the effect that everyone has the defects of his
qualities, the faults of his virtues. If one exerts oneself vigorously in a certain
direction, one is sure to show the defects which are peculiar to that kind of action.
By excess or defection, by doing too much or too little, by omitting the proper
checks and balances, good people are always liable to the error which lies in the
line of their goodness. To be brave, and not reckless; to be cautious, and not
cowardly; to be cool, and not indifferent; to be zealous, and not financial; to be firm,
and not harshsuch are a few of the many hard and difficult tasks which true men
and women, of all creeds and of none, set themselves to master.

Every virtue is said to be double-faced. Two antagonistic forces have to be balanced

to maintain equilibrium. Because this is frequently forgotten, we everywhere find in
the world people whose virtues are half-made. For it is easier to do certain things at
the impulse of a moment, without thinking out all the possible consequences. He,
however, who would be completely equipped for good work must realize the
necessity of taking pains, and of looking upon all sides. It is not enough merely to
do the good that one aims atthat is comparatively easy. The really hard task is to
do the good one intends to do and not at the same time do the evil one does not
intendto hit the mark you are aiming at, without at the same time hitting
something else you are not aiming at! For if the policeman fires at a criminal
running down the street and kills the judge who is walking on the pavement, his
good intention will hardly render his act useful to society. The faults of good people
come from their attention to one side of a virtue, and their neglect of the other.

To correct these faults, to even up our virtues, to make our lives symmetrical and
effective, is the very essence of the teaching of Jesus. To achieve this ideal means
that we must ascend many difficult steps. For example, one of the hardest tasks in
life is to tell the truth, and at the same time be civil; to be frank and
straightforward, and yet polite; to be quite candid, and yet willing to please. Either,
alone, is not enough. One may say pretty and pleasant things with great ease, if one
pays no attention to veracity. One may speak the truth without difficulty, if one pays
no regard to the feelings of others, and cares not to study the art of getting on
agreeably with ones fellows. Yet to be truthful and frank and straightforward, and at
the same time generous and warm-hearted, is one of the sublimest Christian ideals,
to achieve which is to practice the richest but rarest of human virtues. In his right
mind, no one but a child thinks of telling all the truth that he knows. The problem is,
how to be telling nothing but the truth when we speak; to tell it bravely when
necessary, with kindness when it is unpleasant; and never, merely for the sake of
pleasing, to say that which is false. He who can cherish the natural instinct of
seeking to pleasewho can exert himself to make life pleasant for everybody, and
yet keep his truth-telling faculty in active exercise, has indeed come very near to
the border of what we conceive as the perfect life. "Speaking the truth in love" is
one of our great ideals as religious men and women.

Another difficult task is to be sincere and honest and yet charitable in our
judgments of those whom we believe to be not sincere and honest. Toleration of
falsehood is easy for people who have no respect for truth; but that kind of
toleration is moral poison. To treat willful falsehood as a joke, to regard truth-
speaking merely as a virtue of prudes and puritans, is to bring into social life,
mould, mildew, blight, and disease. On the other hand, it must not be forgotten that
harm is also done by the truth speaker who has not learnt charity. Loyalty to truth
and common sense naturally evokes the condemnation of liars. Said Cato the
Censor: "Why should I forgive in others the faults that I can never forgive in myself;
We may admire the grim virtue of Cato; but we cannot shut our eyes to the beauty
of that charity which shines the brightest in truthful souls. He who understands and
can make allowances, can forgive in others that which in himself he would regard
with loathing.
We are not infrequently obliged to condemn and apply penalty in cases of wrong
doing. Here again we are confronted with a hard task. It is by no means difficult to
judge other people; but it is extremely difficult to judge other people fairly, and not
be unjust in the application of our judgment. Good people are often the most cruel
and inconsiderate in their treatment of those whom they think they have reason to
condemn. Perhaps the Puritans were right in their condemnation of Robert Burns;
but Carlyle has shown us how wrong they were in the application of their judgment.
Carlyle has likewise reminded us what a difficult thing it is to find out the good in
those whom we believe to be bad; to find out the strength in those whom we
believe to be weak; to recognize nobility even in those who are conspicuous for folly.
The truth is that goodness and badness are everywhere mixed; and he is a wise
man who can sees across a disagreeable fault to a virtue which lies on the other
side of a character, and give full credit for that.

From The Christian Life

Existing Conditions and the Divine Ideal

By Mrs. James Allen

Perhaps never before in the history of the world have existing conditions been
further removed from the Divine Ideal. The Nations of the world who have professed
to be the most Christian have laid aside Christianity as a practice, (though not as a
profession), and are engaged in the most brutal and devilish war that has ever
blackened the annals of civilization. Man, awakening to a sense of his inherent
powers has turned all his natural potentialities to the invention of the most
diabolical instruments of torture and destruction wherewith to destroy the earth and
murder his fellow man, until the whole world literally lives in fear of " the terror by
night and the arrow that flieth by day; of the pestilence that walketh in darkness
and the destruction that wasteth at noontide." When Tennyson with the inspired pen
of the poet wrote those verses in Locksley Hall, quoted below, we thought it was a
mad dream of the poet, that with the march of progress and civilization, and the
spread of so-called Christianity such things could not possibly be in the future, but
how mistaken we were!

Men, my brothers, men the workers, ever reaping something new:

That which they have done but earnest of the things that they shall do;

For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be;

Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rained a ghastly dew
From the Nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue.

Tennyson saw the future trend of science in the hands of unmoral men, and knew
that as they became aware of their vast power they would, without the wisdom and
moral force which alone could guide them, turn their inventive genius into the
terrible condition of things existing today. But alas, as it ever has been in the past
the world turned a deaf ear to the prophet, and listened to the priest.

Christianity as a moral force has utterly failed to save the world from rapine, greed,
envy, malice, murder, bloodshed, war, and the utter darkness of misery and
degradation. While professing to worship the God of Love, The Father of all men,
and His Divine Representative The Christ, Christianity has in reality worshipped the
ancient God of Battles, the God of War, of jealousy and revenge. That great
Christian institution "The Church," allied to the State, has become in verity the
servant of existing civil governments and the agent of temporal powers. Its voice for
centuries has not been the voice of God but the voice of the State. Organized
Christianity has had no choice but to Christianize whatever the strongest political
party in the State, for the time being, set up as a standard for the national life,
regardless of its relationship to the teaching of the Christ, and with no thought of
the Divine Ideal. After two thousand years of Christian teaching and preaching the
Sermon on the Mount has not been found practical by the Christian church, and is
absolutely a dead letter. Had the Christian church been the true representative of
God on earth, and had she been what she has ever professed to be, viz., the keeper
of the Divine Precepts of Christ, instead of what she really has been the servant and
slave of temporal powers; had she been allied to God and not to Emperors, Kaisers,
and Kings, she would have protested with an uncensored voice, and with no
uncertain powers against the growing hatred between the nations, and would have
condemned and prevented, at its very beginning, the long preparation by the
statesmen and military powers of the most professedly Christian nation in the world
to cover the earth with violence and to shed blood like rivers of water, not only in
Belgium and France, but all over Europe. No, the Church, bound by the will of the
State, and divorced from the Law of God, actually had to the Nation arming itself to
fight and kill and to defy all the laws of righteousness and morality, so proving that
while she may be a powerful servant of the State she is very far removed from
being a spiritual power in the world. But not alone is this condition of things found in
the State Church, but Christianity as a whole, whether allied to the State or "free"
has, in this respect, being weighed in the balance and found wanting.

Brotherhood has failed. And why? Because men did not realize that brotherhood is a
practice and not a theory; a life and not the mere act of signing a paper and joining
an organization. Brotherhoods were springing up like mushrooms, but for the
greater part they were founded on theories, schemes, and propaganda, so, when
the testing time arrived they tumbled down like a house of cards. The would-be
brotherhood did not know that brotherhood means the complete cessation of all
egotism, attack, ill-will, and the utter abandonment of self by the individual. Men
could not, or would not realize that only in the practice of Good-will and Peace could
Brotherhood be possible. Self-surrender and Good-will are inseparable from
Brotherhoodthey are its guardian angels, and within its habitation strife and
division are unknown. So Brotherhood is still a something unknown and unpracticed
in the world.

Commercialism, politics, societywhere are they? What is the underlying force in all
these conditions today? Self-aggrandizement, self-seeking, avarice, greed, and
deepest deception. We are hearing and reading a great deal about the "profiteer."
Who is he? What does "profiteering" mean? It means that after all our boasted
superiority over the nations of the world, all our professions of Christianity, our
church-going, our Brotherhoods, our Trades, and our Friendly Societies, there are
those among us who are degraded enough to grow rich through the suffering and
necessity of others; it means that men are ready, aye, eager to wade through the
blood of our sons to line their pockets with gold; It means that no matter how others
may suffer and degrade themselves "vested interests" must be considered, and
dividends must be kept up. The many may perishthe few must prosper!

How much as a Church or State are we concerning ourselves about the morality of
the Nation? Vice is rampant in our midst and thousands, maybe tens of thousands,
of men and women are diseased and dying through moral filth. The tempter is
allowed, without let or hindrance, to walk openly through our cities, over our
highways, and in the byways of the land, and nothing, or next to nothing is being
done to save the ignorant and tempted. "Now is she without, now in the streets, and
lieth in wait at every corner." It can be said of vice today as never perhaps before,
"it hunts for the precious life," and its victims, knowing not all it means, and the hell
of consequences that must follow, "as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not
that it is for his life." "Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of
death." Can nothing be done to stop this terrible condition of things? Well may the
Mothers heart break as she kisses her boy goodbye, not because she fears the
death of a brave soldier, but because she fears that which is far worse than a
thousand deathsvice and its attendant disease and the consequences. What is
being done, again I ask, to shield our boys from this "way to hell and to the
chambers of death"?

Ah, well may it be said, "where there is no vision the people perish," for our hearts
would break within us, and our eyes might well close in death if we could see no
further than existing conditions. Blessed are the eyes that can look beyond the state
of things existing today, and can see from the Watch Tower of Faith the vision of the
Divine Ideal.

Out of the wars of creed and dogma; out of the confusion of sects and tongues there
shall arise at last a true Religionthe religion of the human heart in its relation to
God and the universe. The Church shall no longer be allied to political parties, nor
bound by the laws of man, neither shall she be tom by schism within and without,
for the Church of the future will be the true church of the Christ Within and will be
found in the heart of man. The Prophet Isaiah saw this when he said, "And behold
the time shall come when no man shall say, know ye the Lord for all shall know
him from the least unto the greatest." It is the Divine Ideal. John saw it when an
exile in the Isle of Patmos, and he said, "I saw no temple therein for the Lord God
and the Lamb are the Temple of it." Creeds must give place to Unity, and Dogma will
die in the greater light of Action; separation and condemnation will no longer be
known among men calling themselves by the name of Christian, for "they shall see
eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion." So, with our eyes fixed upon the
Divine Ideal we can bear with existing conditions in the world of Christiandom,
knowing that they are the gropings of the blind seeking to lead the blind until the
True Light shall shine within the heart of man. And in that day no man will dare to
say he loves God if he loves not his brother. Then Religion, pure and simple, will be
the root of all endeavor, the incentive to all action, and the inspiration of all life.

Brotherhood will come. It is the Divine Ideal for man. It has been the vision of the
saints and sages throughout all the Ages. Poets have sung of it and painters have
portrayed it; the prophets have foretold it, and the teachers of the Race have ever
pointed to it, telling man of its beauty and blessedness. It has been the vision of it,
albeit but dimly perceived and imperfectly understood, that has caused men to
make effort after effort to establish it in their midst by such means as Trade Unions,
Clubs, Societies, and Brotherhoods. They have all failed, and did we look no further
than existing conditions we might be tempted to imagine that Brotherhood is a mad
and impossible dream. But again we see, far off it may be, but sure and certain, the
Divine Ideal, and we say with Burns'

"Yet man to man the whole world oer

Shall brothers be for a that."

And do we not give expression to it every day when we bow our heads and say Our
Father! So we take courage to our hearts, and we look away beyond the strife and
bloodshed, the horror and agony of existing conditions to where the Divine Ideal of
the Brotherhood of man awaits us.

For long now the hearts of men everywhere, even in the most military of all nations,
and the most aggressive, have longed for peace. We say after every war, his war
must be the last," but alas, again and again we have been plunged into the
apparently inevitable. I say apparently for I am not sure that all this sickening
bloodshed might not have been prevented. But one thing we do know, that in all
time the prophet has seen a day when wars shall cease. And did man not know that
the vision of the prophet is a real one he would never make the efforts and
sacrifices that have been made, and that are being made, to make this terrible war
the last war. Ever the vision of the prophet is our vision, and ever in a future time
we see the men of war beating their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into
pruning hooks, and we know that the time will come when the nations will learn war
no more. It is the Divine Ideal. They shall neither hurt nor destroy in all my holy
mountain, saith the Lord of Hosts!

The poet saw the day of the Divine Ideal beyond the terrible day of the "ghastly dew
from the Nations airy navies" for he points out to us a time when those very same
instruments of death and destruction will be used for the blessing and benefits of
mankind,

"Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails,

Pilots of the purple twilight dropping down with costly bales,"

and again his vision gives to us the picture of the future day when, war shall be no
more,

"Till the war-drum throbbed no longer, and the battle flags were furled
In the Parliament of men, the Federation of the world."

Greed and grasping, covetousness and profiteering shall be no more when men see
that what they grasp with unclean and unholy hands today will be wrenched from
them tomorrow. There is a Law in the Universe which cannot be outdone nor
hoodwinked. "Whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap." "With what
measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again." Had the "profiteer" been
taught the ways of God he would not do as he is doing, but he has forgotten, if he
ever knew, that though

"The mills of God grind slowly,

They grind exceeding small."

Out of the hell of vice and the horror of its attendant consequences; through the
terror and suffering of death and the grave, men and women will at last come to
purity and peace. Were this life the only life well might we despair, but we know
that that is not so; yet we know that the full price must be paid, and we think with
sadness of all it means, of the remorse and the agony, the suffering and the despair
of those who have lost their purity, and forsaken the pathway of virtue. It is an awful
thought, but somewhere, sometime it must end, the purgatory of the soul will at last
cease, and they shall come through much suffering to life again.

It is the Divine Ideal. When our hearts are heaviest and our eyes are filled with the
bitterest tears over the fallen, then we lift up our eyes and we see the blessed vision
afar off, and we are comforted.

When we think of the weeping mothers and wives, when we hear the wail of
anguish ascending to heaven from the hearts of the bereft who have seen their best
beloved go from them never to return, were it not for the Divine Ideal, surely the
heart would cease to hope, and like Jobs wife we would say, "let us curse God and
die." But consciously, or subconsciously, we see the Divine Ideal, and we know that
death is but a passing phase of life, and we know that our beloved sons "dead, are
safest of all." There is no death, there is but transition, and the Word declares "the
last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

In conclusion let me urge all who may read these words to meditate often and
deeply upon the Divine Ideal. When the thought of existing conditions comes over
us, ready to overwhelm us, let us put it far from us, and let us concentrate upon the
Divine Ideal. Thus shall we hasten the day of its coming. Thought is the greatest
power in the universe. The more we think of existing conditions as realities, the
stronger do we make them; but if we turn our thoughts upon the Divine Ideal, and
keeping them fixed there, we steadfastly and bravely do our part, we shall day by
day cause the powers underneath existing conditions to weaken and fail, and we
shall hasten the Dawn of Enlightenment and Peace. So let our life, our every
thought and action, be the constant prayer,

Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on Earth.

How I Found the King

By Mrs. James Allen

(Reprinted, at the request of a reader, from Vol. I. of "The Light of Reason")

Slowly I toiled upward, for the way was steep, and the hot sun poured upon my
head by day, and the damp, chilly dews, of the night clung to my garments, making
them cold and heavy about me, and ever and anon my feet stumbled upon the
mountain pathway.

The hill I climbed was called the Hill of Life, and I was not alone, for many another
travelled the same way, with the same end in view, for we had all received an
invitation to see The King in his Beauty.

I was tiredvery tired, for life for me had not been all sunshine and happiness, and I
yearned with a great yearning to reach my journeys end ; and often I had fainted by
the way did not the thought of the rest and peace awaiting me cause me to hasten
my steps and press forward.

And as I climbed up the steep pathway I passed one that was blind, and he
stumbled in his darkness, and I heard him cry, "Will someone take my hand? I
cannot see. The King has called for me, but my poor feet stumble in the darkness.
Will someone help"?
But I passed on and left him, for I was, already late, and I was very weary, and
moreover, I did but do what others did, for what was this blind man to me?

Presently I came to one who crouched down beside the pathway, and as she hid her
face in her mantle she cried, saying, "Alas, I am fallen, fallen," but all those who
climbed gave her a wide berth and hurried by. Then, as l approached she lifted her
head for one moment, and I met the sad, stricken eyes, and their anguish smote
upon my heart, so I stayed my steps for a brief m0ment,but, what was she to me,
and why should I stay? My heart was very weary, and the way was 1ong,so I
passed quickly on my way, and I heard her voice as it died away in the distance,
and she cried, "No one has pity!"

After a time I came to where the way grew very steep and rugged, and there, right
across my pathway one lay upon his face and wept, and as he wept he cried aloud
in tones of bitter agony and despair, "My feet slipped," he cried, "when I thought
not, and my besetting sin hath overtaken me; woe is me, I shall never see the
King!"

Then I put my fingers in my ears and ran, for surely this did not concern me; he had
walked faster than I and had outstripped me in the way, and had well-nigh reached
the goal, and yet, he l1ad fallen! He must bear his own sorrow. So I quickened my
footsteps and passed on.

And now the shadows were falling upon the mountains, and the deep valleys up out
of which I had come were full of the dark night mists,but, I had reached the
portals of the Home Door, and my heart was glad, for, just a moment, and I should
hear the voice I had loved and longed for,I should see the King in His Beauty!

My hands trembled with joy as I knocked upon the portal, and slowly the great door
swung back upon its hinges, and there, in the open doorway stood one with a calm
stem face, but he did not bids me enter. Then I trembled exceedingly and I said, "I
have come to see the King, may I not enter?"

"Nay, He is not here," said the porter, "did you not see Him by the way? Go back
again and look for Him."

Slowly and with bitter tears I descended the pathway up which I had come, a
strange pain and disappointment filling my heart, for after all, I had missed Him by
the way.

After many days of weary travel I came to where he lay who had fallen by the
wayside, and still he cried out in his anguish; but, somehow, this time I could not
pass him by, and leaning down I put my arms around him and lifted him up, saying,
"Come, my brother, I too have missed Him, let us seek Him together." Then he wept
with joy, and clung to my garments like a little child, and so we two passed on
together.

By and by we came to where she lay whom I had passed by and left to her shame
and sorrow. Then I looked into the eyes of my companion, and we understood each
other; so we took her hands, and we whispered, "Arise, sister, and we will seek Him
together." Then she arose and dried her tears, and drew her mantle around her. And
we three passed on, hand in hand to find Him.

After many days we came to him who groped his way in the darkness and cried
aloud for some hand to lead him, and with common consent we stayed our steps
and gathered around him. We took his hands, saying, "We will be sight for you, my
brother, come, we will seek Him together."

Then a voice close beside us spake, saying, "My children, here am I" And I turned to
see Him whom I had sought so long. My eyes beheld a Light, a Form, a Gloryand I
awoke. But I knew that in my dream I had found The King in His Beauty.

By James Allen

The year 1905 has grown old and is ready to pass away. Burdened with its sins and
sorrows, its tears and ineffectual strife, like an old man weary of the stress of life, it
is prepared to die.

Like the year, all things are changing, growing old, and making for decay. One of the
great facts of life is its mutability. Lead is added into leaf, and the tree perishes; day
is added unto day, and a thousand years are no more; deed is added unto deed,
and man is withdrawn from visible existence.

The processes which build up bodily life, at last destroy it: truly, Life and death are
one. The deeds by which a man strives to preserve himself, bring about his
destruction: verily, He that would save his life shall lose it.

All things are impermanent in substance and transitory in their nature, and he is not
wise who sets his heart on fleeting shows.

The widest empire, the greatest conqueror, the most perfect saint, must perish from
the face of the earth.

The great mountain will crumble,

The strong beam will break,
And the wise man must wither away
like a plant.

There is no escape from the inevitable, nor should there be, for the inevitable is the
good.

The wise man puts aside all opinion, desire and predilection, and faces, masters,
and comprehends the facts of life.

All things decay and pass away, but Truth does not decay and pass away: the
principles of things remain unchanged; the Law of Truth abides forever.

The Unformed becomes the Formed; and the Formed subsides again into the
Unformed. Truth is neither the Formed not the Unformed; it abides. There is no rest
except in Truth; all else is passion, stress, impermanence and sorrow. Knowing this,
the wise man neither desires to live nor to die. And not desiring life, he
comprehends it; not lusting for enjoyment, his bliss is not disturbed.

There is no place in the universe where the Law of Causation does not obtain. Every
atom, every world, is subject to it. Both the visible and the invisible are governed by
it. Man is not exempted from it. Suffering is by causation; bliss also is by causation.
He who clings to the impermanent, will not escape suffering; he who puts away all
selfish clinging, will find the place of peace.

A man's life is determined by his deeds. Sinning, he suffers; ceasing from sin, he
ceases from suffering.

The foolish man, ignorant of the impermanence of all things, acts towards others as
though they would remain with him forever. He thinks reverently and kindly only of
the dead. He disparages, condemns, and abuses, not only his enemies, but his
friends, and acts harshly and unkindly even towards those who are near and dear to
him; and when they are snatched away from him, he is overwhelmed with grief, his
wretched memory accuses him, and every sinful act he committed towards them
rises up to witness against him: he is stunned with sorrow, and smitten with
remorse.

O wedding guest! this soul hath been

Alone on a wide, wise sea,
So lonely 'twas that God Himself
Scarce seemed there to be.

The wise man, understanding the impermanence of all things, acts towards all with
unalterable kindness. Knowing the brevity and uncertainty of life, he cherishes
those who are near to him with constant and unchanging love, and prepares his
mind for the inevitable separation; and when they are taken away from him, he
remains in peace, knowing that all is well, his memory blesses him with its rich store
of gentleness, sorrow does not lay him low, and his conscience is at rest. He thinks
of the living as others think of the dead, with reverence and love.

Enter the path! There is no grief like hate,

No pain like passion, no deceit like sense;
Enter the Path! For hath he gone whose foot
Treads down one fond offense.

He only has comprehended the Eternal Truth who, when he is condemned does not
retaliate; when he is abused does not abuse in return; who, when he is mocked,
reviled and spat upon, remains unaltered and unmoved.

To open the hand and let go all the fleeting shows of life as perishable toys, to
regard the futile and petty passions of men with sublime indifference verily, this is
Truth.

To hold the praises of men as bubbles that will burst, and their curses as the dust
under your feet this alone is wisdom.

For he who praises you to-day may blame you to-morrow, and he who blames you
to-day may praise you to-morrow.

All things are mutable: the winds are mutable; the worlds are mutable; the ways of
men are mutable: in Truth alone is there steadfastness and peace.

He only is blessed who has taken refuge in Truth.

Peace

We believe bloodshed to be the enemy to serene life; we connect swords and guns
with the world which knows not peace. But neither bloodshed, swords drawn, not
guns fired are the true foes of peace.

Man who is selfish quarrels for a certainty. He is then the enemy of peace. The
person who is unkind disturbs some nook or repose. The bitterest battles are fought
within the four walls of a room, not between armies of drilled men upon the smoking
field. The disturbers of the world's peace are not soldiers, they are husbands and
wives, brothers and sisters who do not live amicably one with the other. Hard words
before sharp swords mar the peace of men and women. Peace contains far more
than we lead ourselves to suppose. We need to know the meaning of a well-ordered
life, to watch the beginnings of discord, and strive for a happiness based on love, if
we desire peace. For wars will cease only when men and women gain the victory
over self.

The Great Reconciliation

By James Allen

A child had been playing with a ball, one half of which was red, while the other half
was colored green. Two visitors sat opposite each other, and conversed across a
table on which the ball rested. One saw only the red portion of the ball, the other
saw only the green. After leaving the house, one incidentally mentioned the red ball;
thereupon the other remarked, No, it is a green ball. Then the first man
contradicted, You are wrong, it is a red ball. Then arose a protracted altercation,
and each was so sure of his ground, and so fully convinced that the other was
wrong, that the thought of admitting each in himself the possibility of error, and
going back to the ball for a more thorough explanation could not enter their minds.
Finally they separated very much disturbed, and each secretly condemning the
other for his lack of perception and bad judgment. Both men stated the truth about
the portion of the ball which they saw, but while the ball was both red and green, it
was neither a green ball nor a red one, but a red and green one. The child knew.

Now the above is a parable. The ball is Life, the child is Wisdom, and the two men
are the partisans and controversialists.

Life and the universe are made up of combinations of opposites. Each man sees the
side which is most prominently presented to his consciousness, and he regards it as
the whole of life, and maintains it to be the truth, contradicting presentments of the
other aspects of life as false. Wisdom sees the perfect sphericity of life, and beholds
all apparent contradictions and extremes bound together in one grand eternal
reconciliation.

The pessimist sees only the dark side of life. He sees the pain and misery, the
sorrow and death, and he despairs because of the blackness of life. The optimist
sees only the light side of life. He sees the pleasure and comfort, the gladness and
happy unions, and he is elated because of the brightness of life. Each sees correctly,
but he sees only one half of life. Pessimism is not life; it is despair. Optimism is not
life; it is hope. The wise man is done with both hope and despair, elation and
depression; he has found the golden mean which avoids extremes. He is neither
an optimist not a pessimist; he sees things as they are.

Men form themselves into opposing camps under the banners of Materialism and
Spiritualism, Agnosticism and Christianity, Annihilation and Immortality, and carry
on, from age to age, the warfare of words which sometimes leads to blows. Yet, in
every instance, both sides are stating the truth about a particular aspect of life. The
contradictions are apparent only; in the reality of things all aspects are
harmoniously related.

Prejudice sees only that which it wishes to see. Wisdom has no personal wishes; it
sees that which is.

Plain are the visible, material facts of life; equally plain are the invisible, spiritual
facts of life. Knowledge is possessed, but it is surrounded by the shores of the
Unknown. Life is sure; of the same surety also is death. Materialism and Spirituality
are one; the Known and the Unknown are one; life and death are one.

One says, Man is immortal. Another says, Man is mortal. The wise man is silent,
having found the middle way.

Opposites are not separate; they exist by virtue of each other; they are the
converse sides of the same thing, and are eternally reconciled. Man, introducing an
arbitrary separation between them, produces suffering and sorrow and strife.

Always half the world is in light and half in darkness; half mankind is in life and half
in death; half in tears and half in laughter; man is compounded of mind and matter.
Wisdom stands poised, silent, serene, midway between all extremes.

To see the harmonious relations of all opposites; to reconcile all extremes; to by

gentle, selfless, and free from contention that it is to have returned Home in peace;
that it is to be at rest in The Great Reconciliation.

God and Mammon

By Thomas W. Allen

It is often said of certain persons that they are trying to make the most of both
worlds, which implies that these persons although not at all vile or depraved, are
somewhat epicurean in their tastes, and whilst aspiring to a purer and nobler life
hereafter, still seek pleasure and happiness in material things. In a word they are
trying to serve both God and Mammon. The folly of this proceeding is obvious to the
most superficial observer, for not only are the real joys of life forfeited, but even the
sensual pleasures granted to the worldling are also lost. Like the dog in the fable of
the Dog and the Shadow, in their desire to secure both present and future
happiness both are missed; for, to the man of depraved nature, destitute alike of
moral and spiritual perception, there is a certain amount of gross, animal enjoyment
derived from sensual pleasure, which is altogether denied the man who possesses
that spark of divinity which the longings for a higher and better life prove. Hence
the fatuity of endeavoring to serve both God and Mammon. Foolish, because utterly
impossible. Between light and darkness, good and evil, righteousness and sin there
is no affinity, they are so entirely opposed one to the other as to be impossible of
assimilation. But, alas! how often do we not see the attempt made to commingle
these two contrary elements, followed inevitably by a speedy and disastrous failure.
Man, lacking knowledge, please that the present organization of society compels
them to serve Mammon, against their inclinations. As John Wesley said in one of his
sermons: --Many if we exhort them to keep a conscience void of offence, to abstain
from what they are convinced is evil, do not scruple to reply, How them must we
live? Must we not take care of ourselves, and of our families? And this they imagine
to be a sufficient reason for continuing in known, willful sin. They say, and perhaps
think, they would serve God now, were it not that they should, by and bye, lost their
bread. They would prepare for Eternity, but they are afraid of wanting the
necessaries of life. So they serve the devil for a morsel of bread; they rush into hell
for fear of want; they throw away their poor souls, lest they should, some time or
other, fall short of what is needful for their bodies!

It is not strange that they who thus take the matter out of God's hand should be so
often disappointed of the very things they seek; that, while they throw away heaven
to secure the things of earth, they lose the one, but do not gain the other...Taking
thought for temporal things, they have little concern for things eternal, and lose the
very portion which they have chosen. There is a visible blast on all their
undertaking; whatsoever they do, it doth not prosper; insomuch, that after they
have forsaken God for the world, they lose what they sought, as well as what they
sought not; they fall short of the kingdom of God, and His Righteousness; nor yet
are other things added unto them.

It is a law that admits of no exception that he who tries to accomplish many things
fails in all. No man can 'run with the hare and hold with the hounds' for long; neither
can he be both one of the children of light, and of the hosts of darkness.

Even in worldly matters dispersion always spells disaster, while concentration

compels success; and he who would attain to purity of life and conduct must focus
all his powers mind upon this one object, and all other things, all other aims or
desires must be subordinate and subservient to the one supreme desire for personal
righteousness. With singleness of mind and purpose in the pursuit of right, a man
may face all the forces of evil with equanimity, but if he halts between two opinions
he is surely lost lost in the byways of fear, dissatisfaction and disaster. No man
can serve two masters. He cannot serve God and Mammon.

Discipline
There is nothing so important in the raising of a child as discipline. A child must be
taught obedience, or it will bring reproach upon its parents, and sorrow to itself.

Better be a little severe in the beginning, if need be, and bring the child into a state
of respectful obedience, than to let it have its own way, and work its own ruin.

No longer ago than yesterday, I heard a father speaking positively to a boy who
needed correction. The mother at once took the boy's part and replied to the father,
defending the boy, whereupon a little daughter put in and spoke to the father in
most disrespectful language.

The father turned and left the room in sorrow, leaving his wife, son, and daughter in
triumphant mastery of the field.

Homes without heads, homes without discipline, where lawlessness prevails from
the very cradle, are the fountains from whence flow the vast amount of
licentiousness, drunkenness, and crime, which plagues the earth today.

-Extract

Truth Made Manifest

By James Allen

Truth is rendered visible through the media of deeds. It is something seen, and not
heard. Words do not contain the Truth; they only symbolize it. Good deeds are the
only vessels which contain Truth.

It has been frequently said that being must precede doing. Being always does
precede doing; but being and doing cannot be arbitrarily separated. A man's deeds
are the expression of himself. Acts are the language of Reality. If a man's inner being
is allied to Truth, his deeds will make manifest that error.

No man can hide what he is. He must necessarily act, and every time he acts he
reveals himself.

In the light of Reality no man can deceive humanity or the universe but he can
deceive himself.

Deeds of purity, love, gentleness, patience, humility, compassion and wisdom are
Truth made manifest. These qualities cannot be contained between the covers of a
book, but only the words which refer to them: they are Life.

Deeds of impurity, hatred, anger, pride, vanity and folly are error making itself
known.

A man's deeds are the publication of himself to the world.

Truth cannot be comprehended through reading, but only by correcting and

converting one's self. Precepts are aids to the acquirement of wisdom, but wisdom is
acquired only by practice.

If a man would know what measure of Truth he possesses, he should ask himself,
What am I? What are my deeds?

Men dispute about words, thinking that Truth is heard and read. Truth is neither
heard nor read; it is seen.

Good deeds are the visible embodiments of Truth; they are messengers of
Knowledge; angels of Wisdom; but the eye of error is dark, and cannot see them.

Environment

By Harry J. Stone

No one sets out to purify his heart and life without sooner or later feeling the
pressure of the external conditions under which he lives. It seems to us so easy to
accomplish reform, if only we had not this present difficulty to contend with. We
look within, catch a vision of the ideal, and long to attain it; or looking without we
see the man of strength and poise, the man who has accomplished our ideal in a
beautifully rounded life. And the soul turns sick as we realize the enormous
obstacles that apparently lie in our environment. How long we crush our ideal within
the prison bars of these external conditions as we see them at this time.

Is the heart weary at the seeming hardness of our lot? Is the soul faint in the fight
against these circumstances in which we find ourselves? Are we beaten back in the
very dust with our ideals flickering out in the shadows? That is just where our
environment can speak its message to us. It is the Law saying to us --Be still, O
heart that frets against the good that is; O intellect that struggles with the problems
that lie solved within; O body that wears itself out against false powers without.
Stop your speculation! Be still, and know! Listen now to the voice of intuition as it
shall teach you the mystery of this environment that has troubled you. Listen deep
until you catch the love throb at the heart of the universe.

Know that nothing happens by chance. Know that, in spite of all seeming there is
not one atom of chance in all your present environment. You are where you are by
the operation of laws working with the same mathematical precision as those which
move the planets in their courses year after year, age after age. Know that this is
the position pre-determined for you by the law of love, and your own development
under that law; that it is not the environment that must be adjusted to you, but you
who must come into harmony with your environment. The liberty to seek can only
be gained by the very things that seem to hurl you back. Just here in the shadows,
in the every-day struggles in which you are engaged, lies the beginning of your path
of progress to the highest happiness. These are the tools by which you shall fashion
and set the jewels of character. Just by these very circumstances against which you
fret you shall evolve patience, nobility, love. This is the only way that leads to
lasting joy. O weary soul! take fresh courage. Build up again the mental picture of
your ideal. See it afresh in your daily conduct. Live it in those little every-day
experiences you much encounter. Purify and ennoble all the small things first. The
ideal is not great that will not fit the simplest thing in life. Thus shall the very things
against which you have chafed become the steps by which you shall climb up to a
higher, broader life. Thus shall you re-create your environment. Life is so beautiful
and noble when we live in true relationship to its laws.

Discontent

By J. S. Akehurst

If we would render our lives useless, our minds confused, and our physical bodies
unhealthy, then let us harbor discontent, for there is nothing more likely to
aggravate and perpetuate the conditions against which we chafe. Not only does it
dissipate the strength required to remove the cause, but it embitters those incidents
in life which would otherwise give us freely of their sweetness. To be fretful and
peevish, is to attract such misery as will be adequate punishment.

But it is sometimes urged that, were we to be contented, there would be nothing to

incite us to improvement! In answer to this we may enquire what sort of
improvement is possible to a man who, through indulgence of this vice manifests
disease of mind and body and also who, by discontent with his conditions has ever
improved them. We know from experience that by this process matters are made
much worse; but have yet to learn that lack of self-control can bring us
enfranchisement from evil. As a matter of fact, we can only advance as we assert
the mastery over those things which prevent us from attaining, and discontent
being a lamentable admission of impotence is a direct denial of the power within
us, by the use of which power alone we may come into fuller knowledge. In order to
overcome difficultly and banish misery, it is necessary before all things else to bring
the mind into a state of serenity; and when this is accomplished, the disturbing
elements, recognizing their defeat, will disappear. Then shall we be in a position to
assert our will effectively.
And if we should maintain a mind serene and placid, we should always remember,
that, partaking of the divine substance, we are superior to all material conditions;
that the transient events in life are for our necessary instruction; and that all the
duties which fall to our lot individually are sent, that by their fulfillment of beauty,
strength, and glory of perfect manhood may be unfolded.

Character

By W. H. Evans

Character is a manifestation of inner reality it is the outcome of the real life of the
individual, the result of mans effort to express himself.

Character is an effect, and only by tracing back within ourselves can we discover
the springs of action in human life, and when we reach that we End that it is motive.
Our character is an index to our mental life and capacities; it is always changing in
the ratio that the individual progresses or retrogresses, always becoming higher or
sinking lower. It is a formation from within, a spreading out upon the material plane
of life, affecting others, and being affected in return.

From this it will readily be seen that the outward is but a manifestation of the
inward, and we perceive we have an infallible guide to our own real self in the
character we exhibit. This is according to inevitable law, for the thinker strives daily
to gain expression outwardly, for without such expression the experience which
intercourse with other minds entails could not be gained.

There is one great truth that comes to us in our experience and observations that,
apart from a persons character, there always seems to be a something that is
never adequately expressed. It is this undefined "something" that leads us to the
conclusion that, however much is expressed either verbally or materially, there is a
residue left that does not gain expression, and which pertains to a higher realm, in
which alone it can gain that necessary breadth so needful for its expansion.

Some great souls, masters in different walks of life, however, sometimes succeed in
translating into material and verbal expression these great realities, and thus
powerfully impress the world and help to mould the characters of future
generations. We perhaps do not fully realize the extent of this influence, but we can
see that what is true of one man in his more extended radius of influence is true of
all men, and that everyone makes or mars, elevates or degrades himself and the
world according to the degree of power that is adumbrated in his character.

Wrapped in every one are mighty mysteries, and it is only by contemplating the
depths of ones own mind that one can gain an inkling of these wonderful powers
that lie within, waiting to be developed into glorious expressions of wisdom and
love.

The whole progress of humanity is an eloquent sermon on the externalization of the

thoughts of those gone before. An intelligent glance over the past reveals to us
many secrets, and, contemplating the struggles which men have gone through, we
perceive the process of development that has resulted in the advance of character
from the purely physical plane to the moral and spiritual.

By conforming to the laws of being we gain the highest and best expression.
Circumstances affect us in proportion to our own belief in their power, and we have
only to honestly work toward an ideal in order to modify circumstances, if not
change them altogether.

Knowing somewhat of the power of imagination, we are lead to say that the realm
men habitually live in is largely the result of their own creative powers, and that it is
by the power of combining and arranging that so many expressions are due. If one
endeavors to weave from the Infinite Source thoughts of power there will in the
process of time be a corresponding manifestation of it exhibited in the character. So
little is really known of the vast power of mind that any ideal that is set up, beyond
the ordinary conceived limits, is generally considered to be impossible; but there
never was an ideal conceived by the human mind that could not be reached. The
power to conceive an ideal presupposes the power to live it.

In speaking of the imagination we note that what is held by the mind for a set
purpose begins to act and to expand until it reaches the plane of external
consciousness, where it becomes known. If we are in the habit of indulging in
morbid imaginings we cannot expect to exhibit bright and cheerful characters. The
outward is ever true to the inward. Nature never lies, and however unpleasant a
truth may be it will not alter; it is we who have to alter, and bring ourselves into
harmony with her laws.

Although we have to measure the effect of outward circumstances upon our lives,
we must not submit to them. We must realize that the thinker is the prime factor,
who has, in combination with other thinkers, produced through a concatenation of
motives and desires the outward circumstances; and so it is the thinkers who alone
can change them. Circumstances are, in fact, the extended characters of men.

By the higher expression of the spiritual upon the visible plane of life, we get what is
known as true nobility of character, and in the varied expressions of today are the
promises of the future; promises that are locked up in the heart of humanity, and
which will gradually blossom into fruition in the future.
Moral Courage

By F. E. Reddaway

Perhaps one of the most difficult of all virtues to act up to, and to bring into bearing
upon the everyday of life, is moral courage. And it is surprising how many estimable
and conscientious men and women lack this absolute essential to a really true life. It
is such a trivial attribute when looked at beside the great qualities of truth and
purity, love and unselfishness, and yet what a stumbling-block the lack of it can be.
It is the foundation for a really good lifebecause without it, we cannot make a
decided stand against the evils that assail us. It requires moral courage to say "No,"
and act "No," when asked to agree to anything that will do our inner life harm. It
requires moral courage to bravely defy conventionality and "what people say" when
endeavoring to live up to our ideals and be true. The world is always so ready to
sneer at goodness, to place obstacles in the way of the seeker after Truth, and the
scorn of the world is very hard to bear. How many a youth, going forth like a young
David into the battle of lifeself-reliant, brave, with the will and determination to
fight against temptation, has yet fallen ignoblynot because he wished to commit
this or that sinbut simply because he had not the moral courage to face the
contempt and laughter of his friends. How many an untruth is told, how many a lie
actedwhat hypocrites men and women make of themselves and of each other
because they are afraid to be true. One sin committed, for the lack of moral courage
to resist it, and following it, perhaps a life of deceit, a sinking deeper and deeper
into the slough of evil, and the gradual deterioration of the whole character. For sins
cannot come alone. One lie requires another to keep it going, and in the end a
perfect tissue of deceit weaves itself around the original untruth.

Many a manbrave as a lion under physical dangerstrong to do and to dare in the

field of battle, a man who would give his life without hesitation for anothermay
yet be an errant coward where the inner life is concerned. He can face death at the
cannons mouth, but he cannot face ridicule. He can endure privation and hardship
without a murmur, but he cannot bear unpopularity or contempt. He can lead a
forlorn hopehe can risk his life for his friendbut he cannot say "No" to
temptationhe cannot make a decided stand against evil.

Moral Courage is born of Strength of Character, the Strength that comes of the Inner
Life. The vacillating, good-natured man who is "hail fellow well met" with everyone,
and whose opinions are the opinions of the one he is at the time with, has no
strength of character, and consequently no moral courage. He is a moral Vicar of
Bray. It is the man serene in the Inner Strength, the Strength which enabled the
Christ to lead His Perfect Life from the cradle to the Cross, who can face the world
and the worlds scorn, and stand like a rock, firm against the assaults of temptation.
Strengthen your character, and the courage to make manifest that strength will
follow. And truth and purity, peace and love, and all the other attributes to a good
life, will of necessity blossom in your heart, because there will be no cowardice to
suppress them, and no fear of popular opinion to keep them from "letting their light
shine before men." "Be strong, my son," says St. Paul to Timothy, and to be strong
should be the aim of every man and woman in this work-a-day world; strong to
resist sin, strong to endure, strong to live the true Life, having the courage that lifts
itself over earths difficulties and faces serenely whatever befall ituntil it comes
forth from lifes storms and tempests into the unclouded Day.

Seeing and Believing

By W. H. Gill

We often hear it said that Seeing is Believing. But this is not true. When, for
instance, we witness an exhibition of legerdemain we do not believe the evidence of
our eyes; we know that what we see is an optical illusion. The reality in that case is
not what we see with our outward eyes but what we know from other sources,
namely, the fact that our eyes are being deceived. The fact is, believing is not
seeing but knowing. Belief is necessary only where knowledge is lacking or
imperfect.

With this clue, that seeing, apart from knowledge, is impartial and defective, a very
little reflection leads us to the conclusion that there are three kinds of vision,
namely, physical, intellectual, and spiritual; and also, corresponding with these,
three kinds of knowledge. In other words, man possesses an outer sight, an inner
sight, and an inmost sight. To see truly he must coordinate and balance these three
perceptions of his three-fold nature by subordinating the evidence of his senses to
that of his intellect, and the evidence of his intellect to that of his spiritual nature.
Thus only is it possible to see perfectly in the true sense of the word.

Again, Seeing, on all three planes alike, is of two kindsactive and passive. We see
perfectly only when we see actively, that is to say, when we consciously and
voluntarily look at an object with deliberately focused vision. All else we see vaguely
as in a mist.

Faith may be regarded as a graphic power acting through the eye of the soul, like
light through a lens, and forming within the heart of man spiritual images.

"Faith is the pencil of the soul

That pictures heavenly things."

And where there is an eyewhich is the organ of sightthere are objects to be seen
by it. The objects of Faith are the things of the spiritual world"things" which, as St.
Paul tells us, are "not seen," that is, not seen directly but indirectly by their
"evidence" in the shape of spiritual perception or realization, for the things of faith
are none the less real and substantial because they are not material. "What," asks
the great master-seer, Swedenborg, "is Faith without a definite Object? Is it not like
a look into the universe which falls, as it were, into an empty void and is lost?" And
then anticipatingas he so often doesthe latest conclusions of modern mental
science, he simply explains in the sufficiently clear phraseology of St. Paul, how that
every man has a natural mind and a spiritual mind, that as to his understanding
(which is mediary) man exists now and here in both worlds, and that spiritual things
are neither seen with the eyes nor grasped by the imagination but are spiritually
discerned, that is to say, felt and realized and therefore known as eternal verities;
for now (i.e. outwardly, in the natural world) we see as through a glass darkly, but
the (i.e. inwardly in the spiritual world) face to face, that is to say, not merely seeing
even as we are seen, but knowing even as we are known. Faith, therefore, may be
regarded as a kind of indirect vision, for, as St. Paul says, it is "the substance of
things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

The practical point for those of us who are seeking practical teaching is, that this
inward sight or power of making mental images is under the immediate control of
our will. We can admit these images, or shut them out, and our well-being consists
in wisely using this power of selection. Our thoughts are mental photographs, and
their production depends upon laws exactly parallel to those of photography. The
human heart is a veritable camera obscura, literally a dark chamber. The tablet of
our heart is an exceedingly sensitive surface on which our thoughts are projected,
as on the photographic plate in the darkness of the camera. Also, in each case, the
ultimate disposal of the image and its quality as a work of art depends upon the
quality of the object and the will and the artistic skill of the individual operator who
has power either to make or to mar the image, and the first essential is, he must
realize and know that the Object exists. In fact, we can manipulate these thoughts
or mental pictures of eternal verities. We can admit, exclude, focus, develop, fix,
reduce, enlarge, multiply, or utterly destroy them. These pictures determine and
make our character; nay, more, they are our character. Be they beautiful or ugly, be
they master-pieces or abortions and daubs, we are responsible for their quality.
They are our chosen ideals. If our thoughts are not pure and beautiful we must not
blame God, "devil," or man, but simply and solely ourselves. We may indeed admit
a wrong thought into our heart, but whether we allow it to develop into maturity or
whether we strangle it in its birth is entirely a matter of our own individual will and
choice. A certain thought is a seed of a certain quality. Will you crush it, or will you
let it grow? "To be or not to be? That is the question." To say of an evil thought thus
allowed to grow "I could not help it," is as unreasonable as for a photographer to say
"I am not responsible for that photograph. It made itself." But did it? Could it? As
well might the painter of a bad picture, or the writer of an immoral book, or the
perpetrator of a crime plead, "I could not help it." It is against evil thoughts that the
Sermon on the Mount is directed. Its underlying principle is: Look well to your
thoughts. Right thoughts produce right deeds; wrong thoughts produce wrong
deeds. It is by his ideals as ingrained in his secret thoughts, his habitual frames of
mind, that a man will be judged, and is judged every moment of his life. It is not
what other people see or believe, but what he himself consciously and voluntarily
and habitually elects to see and believe, and therefore realizes and embodies in his
actions, that constitutes a mans real character. And if we analyze those other
mental pictures of which our conscience approves as being good and worthy to live,
we shall find that the most valuable as well as the most beautiful element in them is
faithfaith in God, faith in Man, faith in Truth. The best way of attaining that faith is
by consciously hoping and expecting to see our Object, and this is to be acquired by
cultivating a mental temper void of doubt and fear, of disquiet, and unrest, and
worry. We must adopt that positive and affirmative principle of viewing things which
looks for their good qualities instead of that negative principle of doubt and fault-
finding which looks for, and therefore sees, chiefly their bad qualities.

Faith is not mere intellectual assent as expressible in a creed or formula. Nor is it

mere passive willingness and acquiescence, but an active and strenuous feeling of
wistfulness as implied in that oft-repeated "IF" of Christ, which was the one
"conditional mood" He invariably postulated in all His works of healing"If thou
wilt"implying a gropingsometimes painful, sometimes joyousin the dark as for
some hidden treasure; a passionate seeking resulting in the passionate finding of
life itself. Thus we picture blind Bartimaeus eagerly forcing his way through the
resisting throng and defying all obstructions until he got into the very presence of
the Christ. His faith was to him a very real thing, an irresistible power which
impelled him to struggle against all impediments, and though his outward eyes
were sealed, there was, we may be sure, within him an inner sight which was all the
keener because of the absence of outward vision. Is not the common experience of
shutting our bodily eyes when we want to think deeply an admission of the fact that
outward vision acts at times as a disturbing element to inward perception? For that
very reason it is that we are commanded, when we pray, to "shut the door."

A beautiful illustration of the power of what is commonly called "blind" faith is seen
in that almost animal instinct of subterranean vegetation which, although lying
apparently still and lifeless in the womb of Mother Earth, is really all the while
exerting a tremendous force as patiently, but strenuously it feels its way and works
its way out of darkness into light. As to the power of growing roots which trees
throw out in all directions to form an anchorage for the superstructure, as well as
channels of nutriment, an eminent botanist remarks that in tropical countries the
destruction of buildings is often caused by such growth, and that neither conquering
nations, nor earthquakes, nor fires, nor tempests, nor rain, nor all these put
together, have destroyed so many works of man as have the roots of plants, which
have all insidiously began their work as fibers. What a striking picture of that faith
which removes mountains!

But Faith is never more beautiful than when it manifests itself in man by a calm and
steadfast feeling of confidence in the integrity, justice, and beneficence of the
cosmic laws and of his own being as an integral part of the universea feeling
tersely summed up in Brownings oft-quoted line, "Gods in His Heaven; all's right
with the world." And this just temperament, or perfect attunement of the soul with
its surroundings, once it becomes habitual, produces a life of peace, calm, serenity,
poise; a quiet mind that can never be "put out," whatever happens; that ever makes
allowance for the infirmities and misdeeds of others; that, although it will not be put
out, will yet willingly and joyfully of its own accord go miles out of its way to "do a
good turn;" that is patient under contradiction, unkind treatment, or injustice. For
Faith is more than mere passive belief in something unseen by the senses. It is an
active belief in that unseen something in spite of its being flatly contradicted by the
evidence of the senses, or by purely metaphysical deductions, or by the specious
arguments of sophistry. The exhortation, "Be thou faithful unto death," has in view a
trust stretched to the breaking point, as exemplified by the patient endurance of the
patriarch job who was indeed faithful unto death when in the face of all his troubles
he boldly vindicated the Divine Justice and gave expression to that sublime
utterance, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him."

"Therefore love and believe; for works will follow spontaneous,

Even as the day does the sun; the right from the good is an offspring,
Love in a bodily shape."

Environment

By W. H. Evans

Everyone who reflects at all, knows that people are affected by the circumstances in
which they are placed. But although such influence is felt, it by no means proves
that man is not superior to the varying conditions of life that so often influence him.
It does not require a long process of reasoning, or much hard thinking, to discover
that circumstances are constantly altering, according to the progress, or otherwise,
of mankind in relation to their thought life.

Environment naturally falls under three headings, viz.:Natural, Artificial, and

Spiritual. Each of these are subject to law, and as such, are expressions of a
conscious mind.

By natural environment is meant the state of nature, uninterfered with by man.

Artificial environment is that created by man.

Spiritual environment is the invisible world of mans thoughts.

The whole process of evolution has been one of adaptation to the changes of the
physical world. Changes in nature have exerted an influence upon man, and have
contributed in no small degree to his upward career. Mans ideas have been drawn,
mainly, from the observation of natural phenomena, and all religions are susceptible
of a natural explanation when traced to their primitive source. The natural
environment of our ancestors wielded a vast influence upon their thought life.

The natural trend of progress in the material universe being upward, from gross to
fine, with the varying conditions of life imposed by such a process, have had their
effect in causing man to advance, and by the law of adaptation he has, according to
the changes in outward conditions, brought himself into harmony therewith, and
hence progress has resulted. As man advanced and discovered the uses inherent in
his surroundings, there naturally sprang up in the breasts of some, a feeling of
superiority to existing conditions. Such men were the pioneers of progressive
thought. Instead of acting according to the circumstances they found themselves in,
they struck out, and made circumstances of their own, and became masters,
instead of remaining servants. To such sturdy thinkers we owe a great deal, for the
path of the original thinker in the early days of mans progress was not so smooth
as now.

We are the concrete expressions of ages gone by. The atoms of the physical body
being the same as those of the material universe, accounts for the great sympathy
existing between us and nature. Man is related to the minutest atom, and to the
most stupendous orb. He is a result of a "conspiration" of tendencies on the part of
nature, is a focusing of the Cosmic Consciousness, and his extended environment is
the illimitable universe.

The worlds greatest intellects are eloquent testimony to the superiority of man over
existing circumstances, as many of them have come from the poorest surroundings.
The sturdy plant of intellectual power has often been stimulated in its growth by the
great effort made to break through uncongenial surroundings. Such men have left
their mark on the world, the mark of a masterful soul and a dauntless will, and when
we look abroad, and see the stunted forms, dwarfed faculties, and perverted
appetites of men, we cannot help but see the need of preaching a practical gospel,
a gospel that will cause men to act for themselves, and put forward efforts in the
direction of self-help.

The spiritual environment of man is unseen. We only faintly realize its vast
importance, and when we say "Our Father," scarce know what that term really
conveys. Meditation reveals that we are the children of the Infinite, and that there is
a common bond running through all hearts, and it is this that makes brotherhood an
actual truth.

Yet this sphere of environment which is the most potent, is the one most ignored. It
emphasizes the need for right living and pure thinking. It points to the necessity for
bringing our spiritual nature into at-one-ment with the highest good. By it we realize
the great chain of love connecting all, and by the opening of the heart to the
sublime influence of the spiritual realm, we shall see that true civilization means
spiritualization, a harmonious adaptation to the loftiest ideals.

Clouds

By Cecil Cavett

Let us not so live in the airy clouds of theory as to be incapable of practical work. A
man may be able to think subtly on metaphysical subjects, may be able to argue
ever so cunningly, yet may not be practical. Above all things let our ideals and
aspirations be for a useful end, and not dissolve into mist and become as nothing
when required. Let the scientist, the metaphysician, or anyone, ask themselves
whether they can speak the gentle word, keep calm and peaceful on provocation,
and they will turn the search-light of truth on themselves.

Although high and noble thoughts are alone worthy a place in mens minds, let us
beware of delusion, for sometimes what are called high thoughts are truly low. Thus:
a man may think highly of himself, but it is a low thought; it shows pride and
ignorance, for a mans self-esteem lessens as his knowledge increases. He who
forgets himself is perfect.

It is right to be above the slavery of money, but it is wrong to spend indiscreetly

what wealth one may possess. By exercising reason, a true balance can always be
maintained.

A man having freed himself from the bonds of erroneous doctrines, will not lose
himself in the vapours of mysticism, if he keep clear-headed and free from
superstition by bringing his reason to bear upon all doctrines which may claim his
attention. Reason alone saves a man from error and renders him firm and strong in
mind. Let us, however, avoid bigotry, for that which may satisfy our reason is not
necessarily the truth, and to obtain truth we should always be prepared to have our
opinions disproved by anyone possessed of a keener reason than our own. The wise
man rejoices when his faults are revealed, and he forgets not to avoid such faults in
future.

At times, pain comes upon one like a cloud which, unless the heart keeps calm,
blots out the sunshine in ones life. It by should always be our endeavor to extract a
lesson from pain. Sometimes it causes one to think that one alone suffers, and then
one may forget to relieve the sufferings of others. One of the most potent medicines
to ease ones own pain is to make others happy. Such medicine is cheap, and it
flows from a heart of love; it can be used at all times, and can never be exhausted,
for it increases in strength and power the more it is used. Love in the heart is an
elixir of life to oneself and others.

Sometimes the future casts a shadow on our path; we think with alarm of what the
morrow may bring forth; we worry as to our prosperity in material things. But let
fate be mastered by freeing the heart from selfishness, for unselfishness alone
brings true blessings. The Stoics held that naught but virtue was worth pursuit, and
that vice only was evil. Misfortune, pain, and other calamities were regarded with
indifference, because they were not vices, and therefore not evils. Thus the Stoics
became superior to circumstances, or mastered fate. Their maxim, "Live according
to the law of right reason," should be our guiding light, and we, too, can master fate
by daily thinking and acting, truly, purely, and righteously. Said Ruskin: "He only is
advancing in life, whose heart is getting softer, whose blood warmer, whose brain
quicker, and whose spirit is entering into Living Peace."

If we have shown forth Love, Peace, and Goodwill, by being ourselves loving, if we
have eased the sorrows of others, and made them happy, instead of causing sorrow
and unhappiness, then, whether we live and die in poverty or obscurity, we shall
nevertheless be joyful in heart. Can money, lands, or houses do more?

Therefore, let us start now to cease the harsh word, to put an end to deceitfulness
and unthoughtfulness, to be born again into the life of gentleness and self-control,
remembering that by purifying our own hearts we purify and help those with whom
we come in contact.

The Overcoming of Dislikes

By Rudolf O. Gercke

One of the greatest difficulties which the truth-seeker experiences on his upward
path is the overcoming of dislikes. We can easily increase our love for those who are
already dear to us, but we find it a very difficult task to lose sight of the wrongs
done to us by our so-called enemies. We are also apt to look down on those who are
undeveloped, and whose way of living repels us.

But if we do not rid ourselves of these thoughts we cannot find the right path.

One will find it a great help and very comforting to imagine everybody as a living
light differing in degree of brightness, for if we study our artificial lights and their
sources, and compare with them the evolution of the human mind, we shall detect a
close resemblance between the two.

The earliest light used by our forefathers was the burning chip of pine-wood; then
the candle, the wax-light, and different kinds of oil lamps came into use; and in the
last century the petroleum, gas, and electrical lights followed each other in quick
succession; and now we are just learning of a still greater oneradium.

The burning chip of pine-wood resembles a person who cannot radiate until he
receives some small measure of light from another. So far as he receives and profits
by instruction he serves a good purpose. The more steady oil lamps are those who
have a greater capacity for light, and are of greater service. The candle or wax-light
is a person who, receiving the light from without, gives it back, though it is
somewhat unsteady. The petroleum lamp resembles a man who has the ability to
radiate a good steady light and only needs a little help from without. So it is with
the man symbolized by the gas, whose inner source is better furnished with light-
producing material, but who also needs assistance, though little, from without.

We now come to the electrical light, which is the highest light at present known; it
represents the thinking class who get their light from within, from the great
inexhaustible Eternal Source. Now when we claim to belong to this latter class we
must not forget that there is a greater light comingradium, which is still a mystery
to most of us, but we must remember that we must become that light, the Truth,
and knowing that there are greater lights, brighter, purer, and more glorious, we
shall become meek and calm and shall no more look down on others but overcome
our dislikes. We do not dislike any of our artificial lights; we are still using them in
our daily life, from the burning crackling pine-wood in our fireplace, near which we
love to sit and gaze into its light, and from the modest taper and oil lamp, up to the
glittering, bright electrical chandelier of the drawing-roomthey all dispel the
darkness.

Where again can we draw a line and say: This or that system of light is the best? Are
there not also different strengths of light in electricity even, and does not many a
gas light or a petroleum-lamp outshine a poor little electrical one?

Knowing this, let us see the deep Truth of Henry Woods words about so-called Evil.
"Evil is the aspect presented by any definite stage of development or evolution, as
seen from a plane more advanced." Let us call no one evil, and judge no one,
remembering that if anybody should try to harm us and we retaliate, dark clouds
will surround our light, lessening its brightness, and that it will take some
considerable time to restore it to its former power, and thus we will have lost time
and wasted our energy which we could better have used for increasing the brilliancy
of our own light. On the other hand, if we dwell in thought upon the true Divine Self
of our adversary, we not only increase the brightness of our own light, but we also
as Good is always stronger than Evilstrengthen our brothers light, and thus
instead of lowering ourselves to the level of the man who wants to harm us, we are
not only climbing higher ourselves, but are also raising our brother and sister up to
greater heights. We shall then see how foolish it is to look down upon or despise
anybody or anything. The Sun of Truth is always within every one, though hidden by
many clouds perhaps, but some day the clouds of sin and ignorance will be cleared
away, and the bright glorious light will shine forth, and warm and illuminate all who
come near it.

Sight

By Emma Allum

As there is a very great difference in the sight of different persons as to the outward
vision, so there is in the inward or spiritual sight. We are all well aware that if we
look at the same scene or view each one of us sees it differently, not only because
some peoples eyes magnify more than others, but because some notice more
minutely, and some more accurately, than others; some only take a general view,
others a partial one; some notice all things tall and grand, and imposing in nature;
others take more interest in the smaller thingsleaves, moss, lichen, etc. And so it
is with spiritual sight; some see only dimly because though they would fain see the
beauty of the view, their eyes are not yet accustomed to the light; some see clearly
but only for a short distance; others have a clearer and wider view, and alas! some
are blind altogether! We are all the children of the same Heavenly Father, taking our
journey through this world with the same object in viewthat of learning to fit
ourselves for the Kingdom of Heaven, and of growing the Kingdom of Heaven within
us; but the sight of some of the travelers is as yet so dim that they are hardly aware
of the object of their journey, but those who do know of their object must bear in
mind that to make any real progress on their journey, they must learn to be patient
and uncomplaining in troubles, sympathetic and self sacrificing in friendship, helpful
and encouraging to the week and needy, and always obedient to the voice of duty.
They must learn to accept calmly what befalls them, either of good or ill, and purity
in thought, word and deed must be their constant aim; then their spiritual vision will
become so enlarged that their eyes will "see the King in his beauty," and of them
shall be said, "Blessed are your eyes for they see!" for it is only the "pure in heart"
that can "see God." Let us then so aspire, in our hearts, after this spiritual sight, that
we may, by seeking constantly only that which is true, and pure, and holy, behold
"as in a glass the glory of the Lord, and be "changed into the same image from
glory to glory, by the Spirit of the Lord."

Brotherhood

By J. S. Akehurst

Before we can realize the true spirit of brotherhood we must relinquish selfishness
in all its varied and insidious forms. Dwelling in thought upon our own petty
personalities, mistaken interests, etc., we shut off the light of Heaventhe
Impersonal Lovethat should flood our souls and radiate freely on all around, and
erect impassable barriers to the higher and the fuller life. To remain in this state, to
seek the gratification of selfish desire, even though it be intellectual and aesthetic,
is to follow shadow and embrace illusion; but to crucify self is to enter into a
knowledge of reality, to find the abiding truth. Not a spasmodic self-denial is here
spoken of (that gives indulgence but the keener appetite), but a constant putting
aside of the claims of selfishness until it shall die of sheer neglect, and a steadfast
aspiration to the life of service.

The spirit of brotherhood is impartial. It knows not one person as deserving and
another as undeserving, for all suffering is seen to be the effect of causes set in
motion by the sufferers either consciously or unconsciously, and those who have
transcended self are not affected by the wrong mental attitude of others except by
being moved to deep compassion. Only the aching heart, the gaping wound, the
brother fainting under his heavy burden are seen, and on wings of love they hasten
to comfort, to heal, to help. No man is looked upon as being so depraved as to be
unworthy of the holy name of brother. To sit in judgment and condemn would be
presumptuously to usurp the prerogative of Eternal Law. It is not ours to deal with
others faults, but rather is it ours with true humility of mind to seek Truth.

The term brotherhood implies the unity of the whole human race. Each is connected
with all by indissoluble ties, and that state to which the highest have attained shall
sometime be the lot of all. This thought should stimulate us to emulate their
glorious examples, should fire us with courage and endurance to conquer difficulties
and climb the steep ascent. Their profound knowledge, their wondrous peace, their
holiness and joy serene shall someday be ours, and we may enter now the path that
leads to heavenly bliss if we will but relinquish self and with patient effort attune our
spiritual ears to catch the music of the still small voice. Ever it calls us to the higher
state of consciousness, ever it urges onward towards complete emancipation; but
perchance the sound is lost amid the clamor of passions that strive within the
prison-house of self.

Brotherhood is realized, and a knowledge of truth attained, by deeds of selfless

love. There is no longer need for speculation when retaliation has been replaced
with undying forgiveness, indifference with divine compassion, greed and
indulgence with complete renunciation, harshness with infinite tenderness, and
patience manifested under the most severe tests, for by this conduct we shall attain
to positive knowledge. The impersonal all-pervading Spirit of Truth will witness with
our spirits that of a surety we are sons of God, and, living in harmony with the great
Law of Good, our vision will be broadened to behold the brotherhood of man as an
indisputable fact. Therefore let us look away from the personal, from all that links us
with transient illusion, and, fixing our gaze upon reality, aspire, in acts of love, to
manifest the spotless truth.

It may be objected that although this sounds very well, it is impracticable under the
present conditions of life. To this would reply that our present conditions are the
outward expression of the inward state of consciousness, and the greater the in-
harmony with the Law of Love, the more urgent the need of immediate reform. We
shall be what we will to be, but it is necessary that we be ready to pay the price of
attainment. While we shrink from the crucifixion of the lower, the higher life cannot
possibly be realized, because the conditions would be incompatible. It simply
remains for us to know by the elimination of self and the practice of virtue. And only
by this way can we enter into true knowledge, only so shall we realize the ideal of a
perfect brotherhood.

Purity

By Cecil Cavett

He was a wise man who first told the world that the Philosophers Stone existed,
and that it would change the baser metals into pure gold. Like many wise and deep
sayings this was also misunderstood. Men searched for this stone but overlooked it
because it lay in their own hearts. It goes under the name of Purity, for let a man
purify his heart and the world should also become beautiful. Each judges events by
his own experience, and therefore as a man who suffers pain sometimes thinks the
world as bad as his feelings, so does a man having the sense of beauty think the
world as beautiful. "To the pure all things are pure."

To become pure a man should set a watch over his thoughts and actions. If he acts
imperfectly he should not be sorrowful but should let the failure act as a spur to
prick him on to further victories over self. Failures are sign-posts pointing the way to
perfection, and so when others seem to fail in acting rightly with us we should
remember that their failures are quite as necessary as ours. The man of a pure and
gentle mind regards others as he does himself.

After reading an elevating book one is sometimes apt to think oneself far above
others in wisdom and goodness. But true greatness is lowliness, and reading of
virtue is not being virtuous. A man may read a thousand books on purity and yet if
he does not become pure he is foolish. Happy is he who reads truth and lives it.

However lonely a man may think himself, if he will but cultivate the sense of pure
beauty he will never lack friends. Read what Coleridge says:

"...Nature neer deserts the wise and pure;

No plot so narrow, be but Nature there,
No waste so vacant, but may well employ
Each faculty of sense, and keep the heart
Awake to Love and Beauty."
Amid the populous city the man of Purity and Love finds his friends in passers-by. To
watch children playing in parks, and to be a silent listener to their conversation
gives him a delight words cannot express. The animals around him, the birds, the
trees and flowers are all unchanging friends to him of Purity. If he dwells among
human friends he carries out his ideals in the little acts of love which redeem the
world. It is in the home-life where Love and Purity should flourish. The every-day
meeting and association with other members of the family often cause a
carelessness in conduct which makes many homes unhappy. And this should not be.
If a man is harsh and unkind at home, where there is such a wide scope for the
doing of good or ill, he is impure and ignorant. Without delay let him cast aside such
selfishness and with a purified heart become cheerful and gentle. By so doing he
will find his own life, and by his example will help others to tread the Perfect Path.

To attain to Purity there is no need to develop the mysterious gifts of clairvoyance,

mind-reading, etc. lf for the sum of one penny I can send four ounces of messages;
to anyone in the United Kingdom, why should I waste precious hours trying to send
a message by telepathy, which is not so reliable a form of transmission as letter
writing? For in the search after that which piques curiosity one is apt to depart from
the search for the Kingdom of God which consists of Purity and Humility. Some are
anxious to know the state of those dead, and so blind do they become that they
often accept without question accounts of occurrences said to take place after
death. The man of Purity foregoes this idle speculation, and in the peacefulness of
his heart is quite content to rest until death claims him, when he may be able to
know what is and what is not. There is so much to be done amongst the living that
there ought to be no leisure for communication with the dead.

Purity and Love never fail, and Love is the anchor of the soul. Whatever doubts may
arise let a man embrace this ever-enduring virtue and he shall be anchored firmly in
the ocean of peace, and having found rest himself is able to serve others in lifes
pilgrimage.

Confession

By Truthseeker

To cure the ills from which our modern world suffers, and bring in the dawn of a
better day, we need a more intense and yet widely diffused spirit of charity. Loving-
kindness alone brings the healing remedy to mans disordered soul.

We know that "conscience doth make cowards of us all." The cry of the publican in
the parable is the cry from many a life heavily weighted with its load of evil, and
deeply conscious of the need for deliverance. The path out of darkness into light
often begins in great humiliation, sometimes approaching despair. The visible and
material, the instinctive and the sensuous, have a strong fascinating power over
many lives during long periods. The struggle to get and to have, seems to be the
real and only end of life, whilst the higher longing to be made alive to nobler ends
remains in abeyance. Many of the darkest pages in the life-history of men and
women have been written in consequence of personal wrongs done either
thoughtlessly or willfully; offences have come, and the miseries to those by whom
they have come, have followed in due course, as experience proves. But when once
the real hunger and thirst for righteousness is felt, the first movement towards the
light brings a horror of the evil past and a strong desire to unburden the soul by
pouring out the details of past misdoings into a sympathetic ear.

Under such circumstances "Confession is good for the soul;" not the mere rite of
formal "Confession," but the pure heartfelt acknowledgment of our errors one to
another. It must be clear to all who have outgrown the childhood of moral and
spiritual life that all mere mechanical methods of Confession of sin can do very little
towards providing for the deepest needs of those burdened souls who desire to be
entirely emancipated from the thralldom of evil, and to live in harmony with those
they have wronged in the past, and from whom they have therefore become
estranged. The world is full of men and women who need to be brought out of the
darkness and misery of selfishness and hatred into the light and joy of love and
forgiveness, and when such men and women are told that inspired Wisdom instructs
them to "confess their faults one to another," they are often bewildered, and find
some difficulty in understanding how to obey this injunction so as to obtain the
peace and strength their better nature longs for. This peace and strength would
surely come, if those who were thus conscience-stricken could come face to face
with those they had wronged and confess to the injured ones personally, and as far
as possible make restitution and reparation. Forgiveness and reconciliation would
almost invariably follow such a course, and both the offender and the offended
would be filled with a new influx of brotherly love; and even if in some few cases the
person to whom the wrong had been done, stood out against perfect reconciliation,
the tender conscience which led the offender to confess would also keep him from
again doing wrong to any other neighbor.

Such a simple method of confession would be very effective, and, like every other
principle of life by which right is substituted for wrong, and whereby we "cease to do
evil, and learn to do well," such manly "confession," with all possible restitution and
genuine reconciliation would, by universal adoption, mean nothing short of the
regeneration of society. How many lawsuits would such a method of confession
prevent! How many estranged members of the same family would be brought
together and enabled to is live in unity! How many tragedies would be prevented!
How many lives now saddened by separation would be made glad! How far-reaching
in its consequences would be a real "confession" by the offenders to the offended!
As we emerge from the animal and childish stages of growth, and give Truth its full
power over our common life, the formal must give place to the righteous, and
imperfect human actions must be superseded by obedience to the higher laws of
life which we find embodied in the "sermon on the mount.

One of our writers for the press has recently said, with profound truth and wisdom,
that "the most business-like thing if ever said upon this earth was, Seek ye first the
Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto
you;" and few things would definitely and practically help on the Kingdom of God,
within and without, like a general acceptance of the truth that confession of sin
must be made to those against whom we have sinned.

By such a simple method of confession men would more fully enter into the
blessedness of the meek, the peacemakers, and the pure in heart. The Divine life in
the soul has yet mighty victories to win over our selfishness and pride and vain
strivings; and these victories can only be won as men and women, one by one, seek
and find that simplicity and harmony of life whereby they "attain to the knowledge
of the right and the wrong, and learn to shun the latter and follow the former until
the love of good becomes the very soul-essence of the man. This is the one great
problem of life." For "evil is never good, and never does good," and one great step
out of evil into good will be taken by those who can humble themselves and become
as little children, and by the confession of their sins to those toward whom they
have wrongly acted.

The Progress of the Soul

By Oswald Godman

The whole state of man, spiritual, mental, moral and physical is continually
changing.

He is either growing better or he is becoming worse. The changes may be slow or

rapid, but they are none the less sure.

But whatever the nature of the changes, to righteousness or to sin, towards getting
really better or apparently getting worse, they are the gropings or the sure steps of
the soul, and as such are very necessary in its progress towards the Light.

The earnest steps towards the good are real, and must at last bring one to his goal;
the apparent turning to the bad is false; it is not bad, but is merely the groping of
the spiritually blind, who, nevertheless, at some time must perceive the Way of
Light and walk it.
The soul of man is an imperishable in seedling, and however hidden and buried
beneath his worldly self yet it cannot die, but remains as the seed on wintry soil or
as the bud in its winter covering, waiting for rnans enlightenment, the glorious
emancipation, the spring-time of the soul. Therefore, that which seems bad is not
really bad, but that which is good is true.

Every temptation overcome, every little desire subdued, is a victory, and likewise
every temptation battled with though eventually yielded to, and seemingly
unmastered, is, nevertheless, a victory, if we will only make it so; for, how often the
victory has so elated us as to bring about our undoing, and while rejoicing over the
victory we have left some portal unguarded into which the enemy has found his
way, and before we are aware of it has brought us low.

And how often are our defeats but blessings in disguise: they point unmistakably to
the weak points in our armor, which, if we are wise we shall lose no time to repair.
They put us and also keep us on our guard day and night, and they compel us to
call forth still more energy and all the force which we can muster, in one supreme
effort to win the day.

The man is wise and strong indeed who is not carried away from his duty of
watchfulness and readiness, even for a space, by the elation of glorious victory; and
that man sadly lacks heart and courage and faith who cannot gain some good from
defeat, but allows himself to be crushed by it.

It is when we think we are strong that we almost invariably; fall before the enemy,
for it is then if at any time that the enemy can find an entrance.

Blessed is the man who can sustain defeat, but more blessed is he if he can control
his forces in the hour of victory. Victory and defeat are changes in the progress of
the soul; both are absolutely necessary to progress; therefore, both are good and
should be welcomed and used aright.

Knowledge

That is knowledge which gives ones mind the light whereby all doubts and
hesitations, miseries and sorrows, fear and disgust, are dispelled, which guards it
from falling again into the whirlpool of ignorant worldliness, and which keeps it in
unalloyed bliss and eternal serenity here and hereafter. That is laudable work which
does not lead the mind to bondage; that is learning which gives it lasting freedom;
all other labor is mere worry, since it only tends to weaken and dissolve physical
and mental strength. That is mental freedom which does not succumb to the
passions of anger, lust, and avarice, when temptation comes in the way, and which
is unruffled at the sight of death or danger. That light is true which enables the mind
to distinguish between truth and falsehood...That mind has attained the light which
in prosperity and in adversity, in festivity and in gloom, maintains its equanimity. He
has achieved peace and bliss whose vision, like the nectar-flowing moon, extends
the same serene light to all mankind. He is a real hero in lifean incarnation of
sublimitywho preserves a calm and equable mind, neither annoying his fellow-
creatures nor being himself worried by anybody or anything; whose mental and
physical powers are at the service of everybody in need; who perceives the
evanescent nature of his physical frame and of the whole material world; whose
intellectual light, like the light of the sun, shines on court and cottage alike; who is
convinced that pleasure and pain are mere mental conditions, which must be
present in the active mind to give variety to existence; and whose view of heroism
lies in the suppression of his own evil propensities and passions...That reasoning is
true which enables one to avert danger; that vision is correct which presents to the
view of the mind the eternal truth that every created object is bound to perish; that
worldliness is wise which perceives that nothing is gained by laziness except one`s
own destruction; that light is clear and bright which leads the mind to feel the same
sympathy for the powerless as for the powerful, for the poor as for the rich, for the
ignorant as for the learned, for the foolish as for the wise, for the unclean as for the
clean.

The Waiting Time

By Lillie Morrow

Which of us has not experienced what we choose to call our times of waiting.
Indeed, are not most of us at this very hour waiting for somethingfor a dear
project to ripen, for a cherished hope to be realized, for a change in our business,
our domestic life, or it may be that for the dawn of returning health we wait.

But alas, how much anxiety and impatience we bring into these waiting hours! Now,
not later, we would have all our hopes and plans realized. Oh, futile impatience! for
despite the fever of our unrest do we not! find ourselves still waiting? For the kind
and beneficent law with which we have to do will not have us be all, see all, or have
all in the lightning flash, but gradually, quietly prepares us for all things. Of a truth
there is no waiting time; what we call waiting is but the growth period, the
preparation time for that which is to come. For the child to become a man there is
no waiting time; in the intervening years slowly, but surely, the little one is being
prepared for that which he is destined to bea man.

Let us learn to look truly upon our season of waiting as a preparation time, an
opportunity for our higher development. Let us make an honest effort to banish
from it all anxious and impatient thought, for then and only then shall we receive
what it is purposed to give, and in the effort be assured we shall find that peace
which comes to those who are co-workers with the unfailing mind of the Universe.

True Happiness

"Study nature as the countenance of God. Try to extract every line of beauty, every
association, every moral reflection, every inexpressible feeling from it." Charles
Kingsley

Never lose the opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for in those quiet hours of
silent communion with the soul of Nature, we are taking in a store of knowledge
which shall become a part of our very being. Knowledge? Knowledge of what? Just
the pure beautiful knowing that God is Love, and everything in this world which is
truly beautiful to those who see with the eyes of Truth, and know that all is Good
and then when we know, let us speak it and live it, each one in our own way, and
reveal to those who are seeking how much there is to be happy in, just in living, not
even always working, but quietly to live in the fullness of joy and love, because the
Eternal Love is always with us. Then shall we carry about with us in our work,
whatever it may be, a continual influence of joy. Onwards, forwards we must ever
journey, and if sometimes maybe there are clouds to pass through, we shall learn to
see that it is only when we can keep to the simplicity of the childlike heart that we
shall live in the full sunshine of life, and that in the present the possibilities of a yet
more beautiful future. Rose L. Amos

Self-Control

By Cecil Cavett

What is self-control? It is that which makes a man a man, for until a man controls
himself he is a man only in name. Self-mastery is shown when a good act is done
instead of a bad act. Thoughts are acts, and he who thinks purely and righteously
has command of himself. If anyone would become his own master he must needs
think only of right things and pure things. Instead of dwelling on sordid thoughts
that he creates within himself, his eyes must be averted: he must say with sincerity
to himself "These thoughts are wrong: I am above such base things," and then,
thinking no more about them, he must fix his eyes on that which is good, for most
certainly evil thoughts make a man evil, and good thoughts make a man good.

Among some recently discovered sayings Jesus are these words"And the Kingdom
of Heaven is within you, and he that knoweth himself shall find it." A man knows not
himself until he tries to control himself. When a man gives way to anger he forgets
what he is. He knows not what angel, for we were enabled to be unselfish.
Because his riches consist not of earthly things, a self-controlled man cannot be
robbed. The reason law courts are required is that all have not self-control. If a man
takes my money why should I sue him? Rather let me work to get more. If my coat
is taken can I not get another? If my head is bruised shall I return the blow? No; for
then two bruises would exist, which would neither remedy my bruise nor do good to
anyone. Rather let me cure my ill by going to a doctor. If a stone bruise me shall I
hate it? If a man bruise me shall I hate him? Actions are what we make them. When
lies or slanders abound the way to meet them is to give them no attention, and by
so doing a lie becomes naught.

Nothing can harm the self-mastered man. Why is such an ideal state not more
recognized? Because oneself is hard to tame. It is a narrow road, "and few there be
that find it." It is not found because the broad way of custom is so easily trod. It is a
custom to be holy on the Sabbath, but to the self-controlled man all days are
Sabbaths: every minute is holy. It is a custom to attend Church on Sunday, but the
man of self-control is always in church. He daily acts rightly. And how can one
become self-controlled? Only by trying, and having tried, by trying again. One has
but to open ones eyes to see ones faults. Everyone must be his own judge.

Every event that happens can be made to produce good, for "All is law, and all is
love." Were this more recognized we should see an abundance of happy faces. Men
are disconcerted by the loss of their money, of their wives, of their relatives, but if
they reflected that by being sorrowful they are doing harm, and "all is love," their
black clothes and sad faces would speedily disappear.

The self-mastered man has no fear of the future. The present demands his closest
attention. For the man of self-control the future and the past do not exist. When
what is called the future comes it is the present, and as the self-controlled man lives
in the present he is prepared for anything. "My children," said an old man to his
boys who were scared by a figure in a dark doorway, "my children, you will never
see anything worse than yourselves." And so when a man has mastered himself he
has nothing to fear. Why are men afraid of death? The instinct of self-preservation is
strong in all, but chiefly in those selfishly inclined. Therefore, as one grows more
unselfish or more self-controlled death is regarded with indifference. "Who am I?
Would the world cease to revolve if I were dead?" thinks the self-controlled man.

And this is the sum of that I have written:that all base, selfish passions should be
eradicated: that we should be perfect, for perfection is attainable.

Manliness
By Mariella

"A mans a man for a' that."Burns

What is manliness? Some would regard it as consisting in the possession of muscle

and nerve. A higher ideal makes the power of endurance and perseverance an
infallible test; and highest of all comes the type of manliness that results from
renunciation and self-mastery. Men who, like the good Saint Francis, renounce all
temporal possessions in favor of their spiritual welfare, gain not only the homage of
their fellows but they have almost unlimited power over them. The influence of a
truly unselfish natureone that can relinquish the seen for the sake of the unseen
is the most wonderful thing in the world.

But mere renunciation of things around one does not always give a strong basis to
ones character. It is not so much the giving up, but why the giving-up is done that
counts for strength. A yielding of what is ones just right in an easy, careless, non-
resistance must be clearly distinguished from the renunciation of possessions and
desires that would be harmful if indulged. The nature of true manly renunciation is
well expressed by Locke:

"The great principle and foundation of all virtue and worth is placed in thisthat a
man is able to deny himself his own desires, cross his own inclinations and purely
follow what Reason directs as best though the appetite lean the other way."

Power to do or not to do then is the very essence of true renunciation, and Reason is
the arbiter which decides whether an action shall prove a man to be a mere easy-
going puppet that dances hither and thither, swayed by circumstance, or a man in
the truest and is highest sense of the wordimmovable as a rock because the
foundations of his character are deep in the eternal mysteries; calm, because
reason whispers to him revelations of those mysteries in his inmost soul; gentle to
the weak, because with the sense of real power there ever grows an infinite pity for
those who have it not.

Strong, wise, and gentle! Can one say more than is contained in these three words?
Yet this ideal of manliness, high as it is, is within reach of all who follow it patiently.
But it must not be forgotten that deeds not words are required. There must be
concentration, effort, and severe self-discipline before the goal is reached. The end
must not be confused with the means. "Realization is true religion, and all the rest is
only preparationhearing lectures, or reading books, or reasoning is merely
preparing the ground... Intellectual assent and intellectual dissent are not
religion...The kingdom of heaven is within us...It is our highest self."

There are many voices in the soul that seek to drown the voice of the highest.
Ambition whispers that a man has no chance in the world unless he gains power
and wealth, while all the time the highest self is saying with gentle insistence,
though perhaps unheeded," A mans life consists not in the things that he
possesses."

The desire for knowledge as a source of power speaks as loudly as ambition, and
with a more subtle clearness. But the man who refuses to hear his higher nature
that wants him to love men, his brothers, and buries himself in books regardless of
their needs, grows old and withered and cynical before his time.

And after all it is the man who listens to his higher self and obeys its promptings
that often gets wealth and power and learning to make his life complete. But these
good things are possessed by such a man they do not dominate him. For with him
truth is in the ascendant and rules the citadel of his soul. No outside foe can harm
it: an awakened reason is an impenetrable armor. No treachery can lurk within, for
the light of reason illuminates the whole.

This then is true manliness, true womanlinesscomplete surrender to the Highest,

that we may be ruled, not according to the caprice of circumstance, but according
to the laws of Eternal Truth and Right.

True Spirit

By Ahijah

As man becomes fully persuaded that life as led by the world in general is delusive
and brings only anxiety and death, he turns to those precepts of the Spirit which
promise eternal life and wherein he hopes to find that which his soul is in reality
seeking. Yet our first approach in search of the true riches is rather prompted from
personal feelings; some anticipate to improve their worldly condition, others desire
to manifest supernatural power, and even some very mature souls expect to be
recognized as the direct mouthpiece of the Spirit, and thereby bring the world to
their feet or method of understanding. Nevertheless, all those hopes are prompted
by a spirit arising from the flesh, for as time advances all those who have allied
themselves to the Spirit of Truth, and ways and methods leading out of the
difficulties arising from the pursuit of the pleasures of the senses, will find that each
has his work before him and his reward with him (Isaiah XL. 10). In other words,
each individual who has a message of truth to the world, only establishes by doing
so his identity, and lays the foundation for his future destiny. Hence, under no
circumstances should one look for recognition and applause for his service, for such
would it simply denote vanity, and hold him yet to the flesh. Christ neither sought
recognition nor cared for what man might say or do; He came to do the work of Him
who sent Him, which was by virtue of His oneness with the Spirit of Truth.
Jesus labored for the Truth, and each of those souls who labor for the uplift of the
race from sin and death should remember that the kingdom is within, and, being a
condition of consciousness, should give each the feeling of fellowship with Christ.
Consequently it becomes evident that the most difficult problem is to present a
practical method whereby man could reconcile the two naturesthe promptings of
the animal organism in which he dwells, and the ideals of the soul seeking union
with the Infinite, for only in this wise can we become identified with God; for unless
the two natures become twain (Eph. II. 15} it is an evidence that we are still in the
throes of struggle, and therefore yet without the gate leading into the city, or
organism of the living God. Thus each messenger of truth should simply hold the
light, sink his personality, and, turning his individuality toward the next higher
sphere of Spirit consciousness, express what he receivesas the sun its light, as the
flowers their color and smell, simply a quality which is a principle of mans being.