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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/16307-8.txt b/16307-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b3657d4 --- /dev/null +++ b/16307-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5494 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Ascent of the Soul, by Amory H. Bradford + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Ascent of the Soul + +Author: Amory H. Bradford + +Release Date: July 16, 2005 [EBook #16307] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ASCENT OF THE SOUL *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Thomas Hutchinson and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +THE ASCENT OF THE SOUL + +BY + +AMORY H. BRADFORD, D.D. + + +AUTHOR OF + "SPIRIT AND LIFE," + "HEREDITY AND CHRISTIAN PROBLEMS" + "THE GROWING REVELATION," + "THE AGE OF FAITH" + "MESSAGES OF THE MASTERS," ETC. + + + + + NEW YORK + THE OUTLOOK COMPANY + 1902 + + Copyright, 1902 + By The Outlook Company + + + Mount Pleasant Press + J. Horace McFarland Company + Harrisburg, Pennsylvania + + + + +To The Memory of My Father + + _That each, who seems a separate whole, + Should move his rounds, and fusing all + The skirts of self again, should fall + Remerging in the general Soul, + + Is faith as vague as all unsweet: + Eternal form shall still divide + The eternal soul from all beside; + And I shall know him when we meet._ + + --_In Memoriam._ + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The purpose of the following chapters will be evident to all who may +care to peruse them. I have endeavored simply to read the soul of man +with something of the care that one reads a book containing a message +which he believes to be of importance. + +While one class of scientists are seeking to explore the physical +universe, another class, with equal care, are studying the human spirit, +and, already, startling discoveries have been made. My work is in no +sense new in kind, but it is such as one whose whole time is devoted to +dealing with the inner life would naturally give to such a subject. It +hardly needs to be added that my method is practical rather than +speculative. I am more interested in helping the ascent of the soul +than in accounting for its origin. In carrying out my plan I have +considered the following subjects: The nature and genesis of the soul, +its awakening to a consciousness of responsibility, the steps which it +first takes on its upward pathway, the experience of moral failure, its +second awakening, which is to an appreciation that the universe is on +its side, the part of Christ in promoting its awakening, the sense of +spiritual companionship by which it is ever attended, the discipline of +struggle, and the nurture and culture best fitted to promote its growth. +I have also sought to read some of the prophecies of the soul, and have +found them all pointing toward a continuance of its being beyond the +event called death, and toward the fullness of Christ as the goal of +humanity. I have found a place for prayers for the departed even among +Protestants of the strictest sects. + +A study of the soul, like a study of history, inspires optimism. It is +hard to believe that it could have been intended first for perfection +and then for extinction. It is equally difficult to believe that any +soul will, in the end, be "cast as rubbish to the void." + +In these studies I have tried ever to be mindful of my own limitations, +and not to forget that a fraction of humanity can never hope to +comprehend the fullness of truth. Of that side of the spiritual sphere +which has been turned toward me, and of that alone, have I presumed to +write. All that I claim for this book is that it is the contribution of +one, anxious to know what is true, toward a better understanding of a +subject which is daily receiving wider recognition and more thorough +consideration. + +AMORY H. BRADFORD. + +MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, +_August 30, 1902._ + + + + +CONTENTS Page + + +The Soul 1 + +The Awakening of the Soul 25 + +The First Steps 47 + +Hindrances 71 + +The Austere 97 + +Re-Awakening 125 + +The Place of Jesus Christ 151 + +The Inseparable Companion 181 + +Nurture and Culture 209 + +Is Death the End? 237 + +Prayers for the Dead 265 + +The Goal 289 + + + + +THE SOUL + + + It is no spirit who from heaven hath flown + And is descending on his embassy; + Nor traveler gone from earth the heaven t'espy! + 'Tis Hesperus--there he stands with glittering crown, + First admonition that the sun is down,-- + For yet it is broad daylight!--clouds pass by; + A few are near him still--and now the sky, + He hath it to himself--'tis all his own. + O most ambitious star! an inquest wrought + Within me when I recognized thy light; + A moment I was startled at the sight; + And, while I gazed, there came to me a thought + That even I beyond my natural race + Might step as thou dost now:--might one day trace + Some ground not mine; and, strong her strength above, + My soul, an apparition in the place, + Tread there, with steps that no one shall reprove! + + --Wordsworth. + + + + +I + +_THE SOUL_ + + +Subjects which a few years ago were regarded as the exclusive property +of cultured thinkers, are now common themes of thought and conversation. +Psychology has been popularized. Materialistic doctrines are at a +discount even in this age of physical science. + +It is difficult to explain the somewhat sudden appearance of intense +interest in questions which have to do with the life of the spirit; but, +whatever the theory of its genesis, there is no doubt of its presence. +This, therefore, is a favorable time for a somewhat extended study of +the stages through which we pass in our spiritual growth. I shall +endeavor to use the inductive method in this inquiry, and trust that I +am not presumptuous in giving to these essays the title, + + THE ASCENT OF THE SOUL. + +The phrases, "The Ascent of Man" and "The Descent of Man" are familiar +to all readers of the literature of modern science. One of the most +eminent of American writers on science and philosophy too soon taken +from his work, if any act of Providence is ever too soon, has made a +clear distinction between evolution as applied to the body and as +applied to the spirit. In lucid and luminous pages he has taught us that +evolution, as a physical process, having culminated in man can go no +further along those lines; that henceforward "the Cosmic force" will be +expended in the perfection of the spirit, and that that process will +require eternity to complete. + +More perspicuously than any other author, John Fiske has introduced to +modern English thought the conception of the ascent of the soul, +considered in its relation to the individual and to the race. + +This subject naturally divides itself into two departments, viz.--the +ascent of each individual soul and, then, the far-off perfecting of +humanity. I shall make suggestions along both lines of inquiry. I do not +know of any writer who has, in a compact form, presented the results of +such studies, although there have been illustrations, especially in +literature, which indicate that many thinkers have had in mind the +attempt to trace and describe the progress of the soul from its bondage +to animalism toward its perfection and glory in the freedom of the +spirit. + +Goethe, in "Faust," has made an effort to follow the process by which a +weak woman and a weaker man, ignorant of the forces struggling within +them and susceptible to malign influences from without, through +terrible mistakes and bitter failure, at length reach the heights of +character. + +The Trilogy of Dante is a study of the soul in its slow and painful +passage from hell, through purgatory, to heaven. Perhaps, however, the +noblest and truest effort in this direction to be found in the world's +literature is "The Pilgrim's Progress," in which a man of glorious +genius and vision, but without academic culture, reflecting too much the +crude and materialistic theology of his time and condition, follows the +progress of a soul in its movement from the City of Destruction to the +City Celestial. The City of Destruction is the state of animalism and +selfishness from which the race has slowly emerged; and the City +Celestial is not only the Christian's heaven, but also the state of +those who, having escaped from earthliness, having conquered animalism +and risen into the freedom of the spirit, breathe the air and enjoy the +companionship of the sons of God. + +It is my purpose in a different way to attempt to trace some of the +steps of what may be called the evolution of the spirit, or, in the +light of modern knowledge, the growth of the soul as it moves upward. At +the outset I must make it plain that I am speaking of evolution since +the time when man as a spirit appeared. Given the spiritual being, what +are the stages through which he will pass on his way to the goal toward +which he is surely pressing? + +Just here we should ask, What do we mean by the soul? The word is used +in its popular sense, as synonymous with spirit or personality. Man has +a dual nature; one part of his being is of the dust and to the dust it +returns; the other part is a mystery; it is known only by what it does. +Man thinks, loves, chooses, and is conscious of himself as thinking, +loving, choosing. The unity of this being who thinks, loves, chooses in +a single self-consciousness constitutes him a spirit, or personality; +and that is what the word soul signifies in its popular usage. There is +another technical definition which may be true or false but which is of +no importance in our study. + +The problem of life is the right adjustment of spirit and body, so that +the former shall never be the servant but always the master of the +latter. + +We are on this earth, in the midst of darkness, with nothing absolutely +sure except that in a little while we must die. We are two-fold beings +in which there is war almost from the cradle to the grave, and that war +is caused by the effort of the body to rule the soul and of the soul to +conquer the body. + +At the gates of this mystery we continually do cry, and little light +comes from any quarter; indeed, it may be said no light except that of +the Christian revelation, and the, as yet, not very pronounced +prophecies of evolution. + +One of the questions, which in all ages has been most persistently +asked, concerns the origin of the soul. Perhaps, in reality, that is no +more mysterious than the genesis of the body; but the body is material +and we live in a world of matter, and it is comparatively easy to see +that our bodies are from the earth which they inhabit. Our souls, +however, are invisible, immaterial, ethereal. There is no evident +kinship between a thought and a stone, between love and the soil which +produces vegetables, between a heroic choice and the stuff of the earth, +between spirit and matter. Well, then, whence does the soul come? + +It will be interesting at least to recall a few of the many answers +which have been given to this inquiry. + +One theory of the genesis of the soul is called Emanation. That means +that in the universe there is really but one source of spiritual being, +one Infinite Spirit, and that all other spiritual beings have proceeded +from Him as the rays of light are flashed from the sun; and that, in +time, all will return to Him again and be absorbed in the being from +which they have come. Thus all spirits are supposed to have proceeded +from one source--God. As all natural life in the end is but a +manifestation of solar energy, so all human beings are supposed to be +only bits of God, for a time imprisoned in bodies, and some time to +return to the Deity and be absorbed in Him, or in it. + +Another answer to the question as to the soul's origin is that of +Preëxistence. This may be called the Oriental theory, for almost the +whole Orient holds this view. The substance of the teaching is suggested +by Wordsworth, in his "Ode to Immortality," in the following lines: + + "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; + The soul that rises with us, our life's star, + Hath had elsewhere its setting, + And cometh from afar." + +Many Occidentals have believed in preëxistence. One of the most +intelligent persons whom I have ever known once affirmed that she had +had thoughts which she was sure were memories of events which had +occurred in a previous life. This answer only pushes the question one +stage further back, and leaves us still inquiring, Where do the souls of +men originally come from? + +Another answer to our question affirms that every individual soul is +created by God whenever a body is in readiness to receive it--that when +a body is born a soul is made to order for it. An old poet wrote as +follows: + + "Then God smites His hands together + And strikes out a soul as a spark, + Into the organized glory of things, + From the deeps of the dark."[1] + +[Footnote 1: W.R. Alger, "History of the Doctrine of a Future Life," +page 10.] + +The Greek myth of Prometheus is an illustration of this teaching, for +"Prometheus is said to have made a human image from the dust of the +ground, and then, by fire stolen from heaven, to have animated it with a +living soul."[2] + +[Footnote 2: W.R. Alger, "History of the Doctrine of a Future Life," +page 10.] + +Another answer teaches that all human souls have been derived by +heredity from that of Adam. This is a speculation found in medieval +theology, and in the Koran. + +A fanciful theory suggests that all souls have been in existence since +the universe was formed; that they are floating in space like rays of +light; and that when a body comes into being a soul is drawn into it +with its first breath, or first nourishment. This is pure imagination, +but intelligent and earnest men have believed it to be the true solution +of the problem. + +One other answer to this question of origin teaches that souls are +propagated in the same way and at the same time as bodies; that when a +human being appears he is body and spirit; that both are born together, +both grow together; and then, some add, both die together, while others +believe that the spirit enters at death on a larger and freer stage of +existence. + +I have recalled these speculations concerning the soul in order to show +that in all ages this question has been eagerly put and reverently +pressed. How could it have been otherwise? And what more convincing +evidence of the spiritual nature of man could be desired than that he +asks such questions? Would a figure of clay ask whether it were the +abode of a higher order of being? Dust asks no questions concerning +personality; but intelligence can never be satisfied until it knows the +causes of things. + +What is the teaching of the New Testament concerning this subject? The +attitude of Jesus toward all the great problems was the practical one. +He attempted to shed no light on causes, but ever endeavored to show how +to make the best of things as they are. Whence came the soul? we may ask +of Him, but He will tell us that a far more important inquiry is, How +may the soul be delivered from imperfection, suffering, and sin, and +saved to its noblest uses and loftiest possibilities? + +The reality of spirit is everywhere assumed in the teaching of Jesus, +but nowhere does there appear any effort to throw light on the mystery +of its genesis. + +The distinction between spirit and body is indicated by the +Transfiguration, the Resurrection, the narratives of the continued +existence of Jesus after His Crucifixion, by many references to the +heavenly life, and by the appeals and invitations of the Gospel which +are all addressed to intelligence and will. The presence of Jesus in +history is an assertion of the spiritual nature of man. Various +philosophers have tried to satisfy the desire for light on the question +of the origin of personality; but Jesus has told us how, being here, we +may break our prison-houses and rise into the full freedom and glory of +the children of God. While inquirers have been seeking light, Jesus has +brought to them salvation; while they have fruitlessly asked whence they +came, Jesus has told them whither they are going. + +The real problem of human life is not one which has to do with our +birth, but with our destiny. We know that we think, choose, love; we +know that we are self-conscious; we feel that we have kinship with +something higher than the ground on which we walk. The stars attract us +because they are above and have motion, but the earth we tread upon has +few fascinations. + +Jesus has responded to the essential questions: For what have we been +created? What is our true home? What is the goal of personality? By +what path does man move from the bondage of his will, and the limitation +of his animalism toward the glorious liberty of the children of God, and +toward the fullness of his possible being? + +We are thus brought face to face with other questions of deep importance +What part do weakness, limitation, suffering, sorrow, and even sin, play +in the development of souls? Is it necessary that any should fall in +order that they may rise? Did John Bunyan truly picture the ascent of +the soul? Does its path, of necessity, lead through the Slough of +Despond, through Vanity Fair, by Castle Dangerous, and into the realm of +Giant Despair? + +Must one pass through hell and purgatory before he may enjoy the +"beatific vision?" Are temptation, sin, sorrow, and even death, angels +of God sent forth to minister to the perfection of man? or are they +fiends which, in some foul way, have invaded the otherwise fair regions +in which we dwell? + +These are some of the questions to which we are to seek answers in the +pages which are to follow. I am persuaded that, as the result of our +studies, we shall find that the same beneficent hand which led the +"Cosmic process" for unnumbered ages, until the appearance of man, is +leading it still, that far more wonderful disclosures are waiting for +the children of men as they shall be prepared to receive them, and that +the glory of the "Spiritual Universe," as it approaches its +consummation, when compared with the finest growths of character yet +seen, will transcend them as the ordered creation, with its countless +stars, transcends the primeval chaos. + +In the meantime it is well to remember a few very simple and +self-evident facts. One of these is that human souls must vary, at +least as much as the bodies in which they dwell. Individuality has to do +with spirits. We think, love, and choose in ways that differ quite as +much as our bodily appearance. There is no uniformity in the spiritual +sphere;--this we know from its manifestations in conduct and history. +One man is heroic and another tender, one a reformer and another a +recluse, one conservative and another radical. The same Bible has +passages as widely contrasted as the twenty-third and the fifty-eighth +Psalms, and characters as unlike as Jacob and Jesus. Indeed, may it not +be assumed that physical differences are but expressions of still more +clearly marked differences in spirits? If this is true it will follow +that, as we move toward the goal of our being, while all will be under +the same good care, we will move along different, though converging, +paths. There are many roads to the "Celestial City" and, possibly, some +of them do not lead through the Slough of Despond, or go very near to +the realms of Giant Despair. + +I cannot leave this part of my subject without dwelling for a moment +upon two thoughts which to me seem to be full of significance. + +This wonderfully complex nature of ours,--this power of thinking, +choosing, loving, these mysterious inner depths out of which come +strange suggestions, and within which, all the time, processes are +carried on which may rise into consciousness and startle with their +beauty or shame with their ugliness--does no suggestion come from it +concerning its origin and destiny? Until they pass mid-life few men +realize the terrible significance of the command of the oracle at +Delphi, "Know Thyself." Who is not surprised every day at what he finds +within himself? It sometimes seems as if two beings dwelt in every body, +one in the region of consciousness, and one down below consciousness +steadily forging the material which, sooner or later, must be forced up +for the conscious man to think about. + +In proportion as we know ourselves more accurately it becomes +increasingly evident that as spirits we are allied to the great Spirit. +Few who earnestly think can believe that their power of thought could +have grown out of the earth; few when they love can believe that there +is no fountain of love, unlimited and free; and few, when they choose +one course and refuse another, would be willing to affirm that they are +without the power of choice, and have no destiny but the grave. In other +words, is not the fact that we are spirits all the proof that we need to +have of the Father of Spirits? Is not a single ray of light all the +evidence which any one needs of the reality of the sun? Is not the +presence of one spiritual being a demonstration of a greater Spirit +somewhere? Every soul indicates that, whatever the process by which it +has reached its present development, it came originally from God. "In +the beginning God" is a phrase which applies to the spiritual as well as +to the material universe. + +The soul is not only a witness concerning its own origin, but it is also +a prophecy concerning its destiny. The more thoroughly it is studied the +more convincing becomes the evidence that it must some time reach its +perfected state. The perfection of intelligence, love, and will require +endless growth. The great words of Pascal can hardly be recalled too +frequently: + +"Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed. It +is not necessary that the entire universe arm itself to crush him. A +breath of air, a drop of water suffices to kill him. But were the +universe to crush him, man would still be more noble than that which +kills him, because he knows that he dies; and the universe knows nothing +of the advantage it has over him." + +We can as yet hardly begin to comprehend that for which we were +created;--now we see through a glass darkly. A caterpillar on the earth +cannot appreciate a butterfly in the air. Jesus was the typical man, as +well as the revelation of God. St. Paul has set our thoughts moving +toward the "fullness of Christ" as the final goal of humanity. We may +not, for many milleniums, know all that is contained in that phrase "the +fullness of Christ;" but no one ever attentively listened to the voices +which speak in his own soul, no one has even asked himself the meaning +of the fact that nothing earthly ever completely satisfies, no one ever +saw another in the ripeness of splendid powers growing more intelligent, +loving, and spiritually beautiful, without feeling that if death were +really the end no being is so much to be pitied as man, and no fate so +much to be coveted as a short life in which the mockery may go on. + +Our souls themselves assure us that they have come from a fountain of +spiritual being--that is, from God; and they are also prophecies of a +perfection which has never yet been realized on the earth and which will +require eternity to complete. But all are not conscious of themselves as +spiritual beings and children of eternity, and many come slowly to that +consciousness. Our next inquiry, therefore, will concern the Soul's +Awakening. + + + + +THE AWAKENING OF THE SOUL + + + There's a palace in Florence, the world knows well, + And a statue watches it from the square, + And this story of both do our townsmen tell. + + Ages ago, a lady there, + At the farthest window facing the East + Asked, Who rides by with the royal air? + + * * * * * + + That selfsame instant, underneath, + The Duke rode past in his idle way + Empty and fine like a swordless sheath. + + * * * * * + + He looked at her, as a lover can; + She looked at him as one who awakes: + The past was a sleep, and her life began. + + --_The Statue and the Bust._ Browning + + + + +II + +_THE AWAKENING OF THE SOUL_ + + +The process of physical awakening is not always sudden or swift. The +passage from sleep to consciousness is sometimes slow and difficult. The +soul's realization of itself is often equally long delayed. The effect +of eloquence on an audience has often been observed when one by one the +dormant souls wake up and begin to look out of their windows, the eyes, +at the speaker who is addressing them. In something the same way the +souls of men come to a consciousness of their powers and, with +clearness, begin to look out on their possibilities and their destiny. + +The prodigal son in the parable of Jesus lived his earlier years without +an appreciation either of his powers or possibilities. When he came to +himself this appreciation flashed upon his will and he turned toward his +father. + +Two chapters of this book will have to do with thoughts suggested by +this "pearl of parables," viz., the Soul's Awakening and its +Re-awakening. Before this young man decided to return to his father he +knew himself as an intelligent and as a responsible being; the power of +choice was not given him then for the first time. Long ere this he had +decided how he would use his wealth. He knew the difference between +right and wrong. He was intellectually and morally awake before he saw +things in their true relations. "The wine of the senses" intoxicated +him; the delights of the flesh seemed the only pleasures to be desired. +At first he did not discover the essential excellence of virtue or the +sure results of vice. Later, when he saw things in a clearer light, +their proper proportions and relations appeared, and he came to himself +and made the wise choice. + +In this chapter we are to study the process of the soul's awakening to a +consciousness of its powers, and in a subsequent chapter that +re-awakening which is so radical as to merit the name it has usually +received, viz., the new birth. + +There is a time when the soul first realizes itself as a personality +with definite responsibilities and relations. This experience comes to +some earlier, and to some with greater vividness, than to others. So +long as we are blind to our powers, responsibilities, relations, we can +hardly be said to be spiritually awake. He only is awake who knows +himself as a personality; who has heard the voice of duty; who, to some +extent, appreciates the fact that he is dependent on a higher +personality or power; and who recognizes that he is surrounded by other +personalities who also have their rights, responsibilities, and +relations. I think, I choose, I love, I know that I am dependent upon a +Being higher than myself. I see that I am related to other personalities +with rights as sacred as my own, and, therefore, that I must choose, +think, love so as to be acceptable to the One to whom I am responsible, +and harmonious with those by whom I am surrounded. + +The soul's awakening is primarily a recognition and an appreciation of +its responsibility. It may think, choose, love, without realizing +responsibility, and, therefore, live as if it were the only being in the +universe; but the moment it recognizes responsibility it also discerns a +higher Person, and other persons, since responsibility to no one, and +for nothing, is inconceivable. + +The soul's awakening, therefore, carries with it the idea of obligation, +and that includes the recognition of God, of duty, of right and wrong, +in short, of a moral ideal. I do not mean to insist that every one +appreciates all that is implied in consciousness of responsibility. +There are degrees of alertness, and some men are wide awake and others +half asleep. + +However it may have come to its self-realization, that is a solemn and +sublime moment when a human soul understands, ever so dimly, that it is +facing in the unseen Being one on whom it knows itself to be dependent; +and when it discerns the hitherto invisible lines which bind it to other +personalities, in all space and time. At that moment life really begins. +Henceforward, by various ways, over undreamed-of obstacles, assisted by +invisible hands, hindered by unseen forces, in spite of foes within and +enemies without, the course of that soul must ever be toward its true +home and goal, in the bosom of God. + +The difficulties in the way of such a faith for the thoughtful and +sensitive are many and serious. Not all blossoms come to fruitage; not +all human beings are fit to live; processes of degeneration seem to be +at work in nature, in society, and in the individual life. + +Apparently true and time-honored interpretations of Scripture are quoted +against the faith that in some way, and by some kind of discipline, the +souls of men will forever approach God; while the belief of the church, +so far as it has found expression in the creeds is urged in opposition. +But when I see how timidly the creeds of the church have been held by +many in all ages, how large a number of the most spiritual and morally +earnest have questioned them at this point, and how often they have been +rejected in whole, or in part, by those who have dared to trust their +hearts; when I remember that the Scripture quoted as opposing is +susceptible of another interpretation, when I remember that blossoms are +not men, and, most of all when I see the God-like possibilities in +every human being, I cannot resist the conviction that every soul of man +is from God, and that, sometime and somehow, it may be by the hard path +of retribution, possibly through great agonies and by means of austere +chastisements and severe discipline as well as by loving entreaty, after +suffering shall have accomplished all its ministries it will reach a +blissful goal and the "beatific vision." + +The awakening of the soul is its entrance upon an appreciation of its +powers, relations, possibilities, and responsibilities. + +What awakens the soul? The answer to that question is hidden. The wind +bloweth where it listeth. Elemental processes and forces are all silent +and viewless. The stillness of the sunrise is like that of the deeps of +the sea. No eye ever traced the birth of life, and no sound ever +attended the awakening of the soul; and yet this subject is not +altogether mysterious. A few rays of light have fallen upon it. I +venture suggestions which may help a little toward a rational answer to +this question. + +The soul awakens because it grows, and its growth is sure. Everything +that is alive must grow; only death is stationary. It is as natural for +us sometime to know ourselves as having relations both to the seen and +the unseen as for our bodies to increase in stature. The Confession of +Augustine[3] is true of all, "Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart +is restless until it repose in Thee." + +[Footnote 3: Confessions. Book I, 1.] + +The soul turns toward God as naturally as children turn toward their +parents. I know no other way of explaining the fact that in all ages the +majority of the people have had faith in some kind of a deity; and that, +widely as they differ as to what is right, all feel that they should +follow their convictions of duty. The various ethnic religions, however +repulsive, cruel, and vile some of their teachings may be, all indicate +a realization of dependence, and all, in some way, bear witness to man's +longing for God. Augustine was right--"The heart is restless until it +repose in Thee." + +The healthful soul will always move along the pathway of growth. The +next stage in its evolution after its birth is its awakening. Its +progress may be hindered, but it cannot be prevented, and it may be +hastened. + +The means by which a soul comes to its self-realization has been a +favorite study with poets, dramatists, and novelists. Marguerite, in +"Faust," was a simple, sweet, sensuous, traditionally religious girl +until she was rudely startled by the knowledge that she was a great +sinner; that moment the scales began to fall from her eyes. In her, +Goethe has shown how one class of persons, and that a large class, come +to self-realization. + +Victor Hugo, in a passage of almost unparalleled pathos, has pictured in +Jean Valjean a kind of big human beast who, when half awake, steals a +loaf of bread to save others from starving, but who is startled into +fullness of manhood by the sympathy and consideration of the good Bishop +whose silver he had also stolen. + +Hawthorne, in Donatello, has pictured a beautiful creature fully +equipped with affections, emotions, passions, but with little +consciousness of responsibility, until the fatal moment in which a crime +illuminates his soul like a flash of lightning. + +Such experiences are not to be compared with those of the prodigal son +or of Saul. Before the one was reduced to husks, or the light blazed +upon the other, they felt the obligation to do right. The prodigal chose +pleasure with his eyes wide open and Saul was, mistakenly but truly, +trying to do God's will even when he assisted in the stoning of Stephen. + +Hugo, Goethe, and Hawthorne have accurately delineated single steps in +the growth of the soul. They have shown how the process of the soul's +awakening may be, and often has been, hastened. It may be hindered by +false ideals and a vicious environment, and it may be hastened by lofty +ideals and a holy environment. + +Dr. Bushnell, in his lectures on Christian Nurture, has said that the +formative years of every man's life are the first three. Is he correct? +I am not sure, but there can be no doubt but what with a good +environment the consciousness of moral obligation will be very early +developed. + +The soul cannot long be imprisoned. The consciousness of "ought" and +"ought not" will break all barriers as a growing seed will split a +rock; and, when that stage of growth appears, the soul knows itself. + +When the soul is finally awakened, when it realizes that it is +indissolubly bound to a larger personality in the unseen sphere; when it +finds that it is tied to other souls, and that it cannot escape from its +responsibility for itself and them,--what then? Then the struggle of +life begins. The awakening is to a realization of conflict with the seen +and unseen environment, with forces within and fascinations without. +When Paul speaks of the law as the minister of death, he simply means +that law introduces an ideal, and ideals always start struggles. Law is +something to be obeyed. It is sure to antagonize the animal in man. When +our possibilities dawn upon us, in that moment there comes the feeling +that they should be our masters. Then the lower nature resists and +becomes clamorous. Duty calls in one direction and inclination impels +in another. The period of ignorance has passed. Weakness and +imperfection remain, but not ignorance. There is a conflict in the soul. +The law in the members wars against the law in the mind. We feel that we +ought to move upward, but unseen weights press heavily upon us, and to +rise seems impossible. + +Between God calling from above and animalism from below the poor soul +has a hard time of it. The morally great in all ages have become strong +by overcoming their fleshly natures. They have risen on their dead +selves to higher things. The vision of God has reached them even in +their prison-houses; and it has broken their chains and they have begun +to move toward Him. To the end of the chapter they have had a long +fight, and not seldom have been sadly worsted. Goethe and Augustine, +Pascal and Coleridge, DeQuincey and Webster--how the list of those who +have had to fight bitter battles for spiritual liberty might be extended +I and many have not been victorious before the shadows have lengthened +and the day closed. Should they be blamed or pitied? Pitied, surely, and +for the rest let us leave them to Him who knoweth all things. "Vengeance +is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Men have nothing to do with +judgment; the final word concerning any soul will be spoken only by Him +whose vision is perfect. "Steep and craggy is the pathway of the gods," +and steep and craggy is the path by which men rise to spiritual heights. + +He who is sensitive to life can hardly survey this universal human +struggle with undimmed eye or with unquestioning faith. The young are +driven here and there by heartless and, sometimes, almost furious +passions; some are weak and fall because they are blind, and others +because they love and trust; and many who desire to do good mistake and +choose evil. The strong often try to run away from themselves but can +find no solitude in which to hide; and all the time right and truth +shine in the darkness like stars. What shall we say of these confusing +conditions? To ignore them is foolish; to insist that the struggle is +but a delusion is nonsense. The only sane course is to face facts and +adjust our theories to them. + +The battle between duty and inclination, between the ideal and the +actual, will continue as long as life in the body endures. It is not an +unmixed evil. In the end right is never worsted. The way that leads to +holiness is long and sometimes bloody; but it always develops strength +and courage. The fight, for each individual, will be ended only by the +full and perfect choice of truth and virtue, which are always the will +of God. The victory will be secure long before it is fully won. Enough +for us to know that conformity to the will of God at last will be the +end of strife. + +It is not well to be overmuch troubled when we see those whom we love +fighting a hard battle against inherited tendencies and an evil +environment, for the fight, however fierce, is a good sign. Those alone +are to be pitied who are drifting, and not resisting. Progress is ever +by a steep and spiral pathway. Sometimes the face of the ascending soul +is toward the sun and sometimes it is toward the darkness. No man can +deliver his friend from the forces which oppose him. Each must conquer +for himself and none can evade the conflict. From the hour when the soul +awakens to a consciousness of its powers and possibilities, its +movement, in spite of all hindrances and difficulties, must be to the +heights. Those only need cause anxiety who are not yet awake; or who, +having been awake, have turned backward instead of pressing onward. + +We are now face to face with a momentous inquiry. When the soul is +awake, when it realizes something of its descent from God and of its +relation to Him and to other souls, what should be its environment? +Intelligent and otherwise sane people at this point have been strangely +insane and blind. We are always affected by influence more than by +teaching. Education by atmosphere is quite as effective as education by +study. Involuntarily all become like their ideals. Personalities absorb +characteristics from surroundings as flowers absorb colors from the +light. The awakened soul, therefore, from the first should have a +spiritual environment. Parents and friends should be helps, not +hindrances, to its progress. I once read a letter from one who had +changed an old for a new home. The letter was full of aspiration for the +best things, of thoughts about God and the spiritual verities. It was +not difficult to see that the new home in its reverence for truth, its +loyalty to right, its reaching for reality, was providing the same good +influence as the old one. If, in the environment, truth and duty are +honored, virtue reverenced, God worshipped sincerely and devoutly, +manhood held to be as sacred as deity, the unseen and spiritual never +spoken of unadvisedly or lightly, courage always found hand in hand with +character, the soul will never long fight a losing battle. + +The home should be organized to promote, as swiftly as possible, the +awakening of the souls of the children; and, from the moment of this +awakening, everything should be planned to help their growth. The books +on the tables should tell the life-stories of those who have bravely +fought and never faltered. Biographies of men like Wilberforce and +Howard who have lived to help their fellow-men; and of women like +Florence Nightingale and Lady Stanley, who have regarded their social +gifts and ample wealth as calls to service; histories of charities, +intellectual development and noble achievement, pictures like Sir +Galahad and The Light of the World are potent forces in the formation of +character. The ideal side of life should ever be presented in its most +attractive form to the awakened soul in its near environment. Because +the ideal culminates in the religious, and the feeling of moral +obligation rests at last upon the conviction that God is, and that He is +not far from any one, Jesus, in all the beauty and pathos of His earthly +career, in all the tragic grandeur of His death and glory of His +Resurrection, in all the nearness and helpfulness of His continuing +ministry, should be the subject of frequent, earnest, honest, sane, and +sympathetic conversation. + +The awakened soul needs first of all an environment which will be +favorable to its growth. Its development then will usually be steadily +and swiftly toward God and conformity to His will. There ought to be no +need of any re-awakening. If the soul opens its eyes among those who +reverence truth and righteousness, who guard virtue and revere love, to +whom God is the nearest and most blessed of realities, and Jesus is +Master, Saviour, and daily Friend, its growth toward the spiritual goal +will be as natural and beautiful as it will also be swift and sure. + + + + +THE FIRST STEPS + + + No mortal object did these eyes behold + When first they met the placid light of thine, + And my soul felt her destiny divine, + And hope of endless peace in me grew bold: + Heaven-born, the soul a heav'nward course must hold; + Beyond the visible world she soars to seek + (For what delights the sense is false and weak) + Ideal form, the universal mould. + The wise man, I affirm, can find no rest + In that which perishes: nor will he lend + His heart to aught which doth on time depend. + 'Tis sense, unbridled will, and not true love, + Which kills the soul: Love betters what is best, + Even here below, but more in heaven above. + + --_Sonnet from Michael Angelo._ Wordsworth + + + + +III + +_THE FIRST STEPS_ + + +The first movements of the awakened soul are difficult to trace. +Observation, painstaking and long-continued, alone can furnish the +desired information. In the attempt to recall our own experiences there +is always a possibility of inaccuracy. Bias counts for more in +self-examination than in an examination of others. There is also danger +of confusing religious preconceptions with what actually transpires. +What we have been led to imagine should be experienced we are very +likely to insist has taken place. The truth concerning the Ascent of the +Soul will be found in the conclusions of many observers in widely +different conditions. + +The soul awakens to a consciousness of its responsibilities and to a +knowledge that it is in a moral order from which escape is forever +impossible. This is our point of departure in this chapter. + +The new-born child has to become adjusted to its physical environment, +to learn to use its powers, to breathe, to eat, to allow the various +senses to do their work. In like manner the newly awakened soul has to +become adjusted to the moral order. The moral order is the rule of right +in the sphere of thought, emotion, and choice. It is the government of +the soul as the physical order is the government of the body. It may be +best explained by analogy. There is a physical order ruled by physical +laws. If those laws are obeyed, strength, health, sanity result; but if +they are disobeyed, the consequences, which are inevitable and +self-perpetuating, are weakness, disease, insanity. If one violates +gravitation he is dashed in pieces; if he trifles with microbes their +infinitesimal grasp will be like a shackle of steel. No one can get +outside the physical universe and the sweep of its laws. + +There is also a right and a wrong way to use thought, emotion, will. The +mind which has hospitality only for holy thoughts will become clearer, +and its vision more distinct; but the mind which harbors impure +thoughts, gradually, but surely, confuses evil with good, obscures its +vision, and becomes a fountain of moral miasm. If we choose to recall +and to retain feelings that are animal, and are the relics of animalism, +the natural tendency toward bestiality will gather momentum; but if +emotion is turned toward higher objects, and we are thrilled from above +rather than lulled from below, the sensibilities become sources of +enduring joy. The moral order is like the physical order in its +universality and in the remorselessness of the consequences which follow +choices. + +How does the soul become adjusted to the moral order? This question is +difficult to answer. At the first there is sight enough to see that one +course is right and another wrong, but the vision is indistinct. +Gradually the ability to make accurate discriminations increases, and, +with time and other growth, the faculty of vision is enlarged and +clarified. + +The first step in the Ascent of the Soul is the development of ability +to discriminate between right and wrong. The powers of the soul are +enlarged and vivified with the bodily growth, but whether there is any +necessary connection between the growth of the one and that of the +other, we know not. This alone is sure--clearer vision, with +ever-increasing distinctness, reveals the certainty that moral laws are +universal and unchangeable. The process of adjustment to the moral +order is partly voluntary and partly involuntary. It is hastened by the +hidden forces of vitality, and it may be hindered by its own choices. As +a human being who refuses to eat will starve, so a soul which turns away +from truth will starve. The law in one case is as inexorable as in the +other. This consciousness of the moral order is sometimes dim even in +mature years because neglect always deadens appreciation. Paul said that +the law is a schoolmaster leading to Christ. By that he intended to +teach that we must realize that we are under moral law before we can +know that its violation will result in a state of ruin needing +salvation. First that which is natural, then that which is spiritual. +The phrase "natural law in the spiritual world" means that the +consequences following right and wrong are as inevitable and essential +in the realm of spirit as in that of matter. + +The progress of the soul is dependent on the realization that there is +a moral quality in thoughts, emotions, choices; that the consequences +following them grow out of them as flowers from seed, and that they +determine not only the character but the happiness and welfare of the +one exercising them. + +The next step in the upward movement of the soul is the realization of +its freedom. It is possible for one to know that he is under law, +without at the same time appreciating that he is free to choose whether +he will obey. I may see a storm sweeping toward me and know that behind +it is resistless force, and know, also, that to step outside the track +of that storm is impossible; and it is conceivable that a soul may know +itself as able to think, feel, act, and, at the same time, be under the +dominion of forces before which it is powerless. The practical question, +therefore, for all in this human world is not, are there spiritual +laws? but, may we choose for ourselves whether we will obey or disobey +them? Until the soul knows itself to be free to choose, there will be no +deep feeling of obligation, without which there can be no motive +impelling toward the heights. Here also we walk in the dark. The genesis +of the consciousness of freedom has never been observed. DuBois-Reymond +has called it one of "the seven riddles of science." We are no nearer +the solution of the problem than were our fathers a thousand years ago. +But one thing at least we do know: He who believes himself to be a +puppet in the hands of unseen forces will never fight them. If freedom +is a fiction the universe is not only unmoral, but immoral. The final +argument for freedom is consciousness. I know I could have chosen +differently from what I did. But how do I know? The process cannot be +pushed farther back. Consciousness is ultimate and authoritative. But +what then shall be said of heredity? A child when first born is little +but a bundle of sensibilities. Its growth seems to be but the unfolding +of inherited tendencies. Every man is what his ancestors have made him +plus what he has absorbed from his environment. How can we say then that +any are free? That man who is surly, uncomfortable, ugly, as hard to +endure as a March wind, is but the extension of his father. When one +knows the elder it is difficult to do otherwise than pity the younger. +He is but living the tendencies which were born in him and which are an +inseparable part of his nature. He cannot be genial and urbane. Are not +some born moral cripples as others are born with physical deformities? +Are not some spiritually deaf, dumb, and blind from birth? It cannot be +doubted. We are all more or less what our fathers were, but our +surroundings do much to modify us. Many men seem to be driven on wings +of passion, as leaves by tornadoes; and yet we know that we are free, +and that all life and conduct, individual and social, must be ordered on +that hypothesis. Teach men that they are not free, and anarchy and chaos +will quickly follow. No freedom? Then there is no obligation. No one +feels that he ought to do what he cannot do, and no one will try to do +what he does not feel that he ought to do. If men are but machines, +moving only as the power is turned on, there is no moral quality in any +action. If we live in a moral world, whether we can understand it or +not, we must be free to choose for ourselves. The possibility of the +soul's expansion depends on its freedom. There is no right and no wrong, +no truth and no error, if it is a slave to the inheritance with which it +was born. What gives to the invitations of Jesus a quality so serious +and so solemn is the fact that they may be rejected. The power of +choice is the most sublime endowment which man possesses. When we have +learned to know ourselves as free a long step forward has been taken. +The soul grows by a right use of the power of choice. + +How may it be adjusted to this knowledge? It will undoubtedly grow to +it, but the process will be slow. It may, however, be hastened by a use +of the experience of others. No man should be allowed to begin the +battle of life as ignorant as his father was. Each new soul should have +the benefit of the experience of all who have lived before. Children +should be taught by example and conversation, in the home and the +school, that the beginning of wisdom is a right use of the experience of +others. However this lesson may be learned, and however swift may be the +process of growth, the next step in the soul's progress, after its +realization that it is in a moral order, must be its adjustment to the +fact that it is a free agent and sovereign over its own choices. + +No man is ever forced into any course of conduct. Character is the +resultant of many choices rather than of necessity. The moral law may be +obeyed or it may be violated. Its seat is, indeed, in the bosom of God. +It is the only guarantee of individual progress and social harmony. Its +sway is without bound and without end. To know how to live in a moral +world, and how best to use the gifts of liberty, is a subject for an +eternity of study. That this consciousness of freedom comes slowly is an +immense blessing; otherwise the soul would be dazed as, for the first +time, it looked around on the solemnities and splendors of the spiritual +universe; and be overwhelmed as it realized, at the very beginning of +its career, that it was endowed with a sovereignty as mysterious and +potent as that of God. + +The next step in the upward movement of the soul is appreciation of a +moral ideal. That is a solemn and sublime moment when the newly awakened +soul realizes that it dwells in a moral order and is free to make its +own choices. But another moment is equally thrilling--that in which, in +faint and scarcely audible accents, it catches the far call of the goal +toward which, henceforward and forever, it must move. It now knows not +only that there is a difference between right and wrong, but that there +are mysterious affinities between itself and truth and right. Later the +sound of that far-away voice will become more distinct. But in its +infancy the soul is more or less confused. It hears many sounds and does +not always know how to distinguish between siren voices and those which +prophesy its destiny. It also has to learn to distinguish truth and +right. The task of making moral discriminations is not easy at any time. +Amid a babel of noises to detect the one clear call which alone can +satisfy is almost impossible. The mistakes, therefore, are many, but +even by mistakes the soul learns to distinguish the true from the false. +But how is it to be taught to appreciate that one voice only in all that +confusion of strange sounds should be heeded, and all the rest +disregarded? The same answer as before must be given. This knowledge, +also, will come in large part with the years. It seems to be the cosmic +purpose to provide fresh light with every new step of progress. No one +is ever left in total darkness. As the soul advances it learns to +distinguish between the voices which speak to it. The necessity of +growth is the angel of the Lord whose ministries and prophecies are the +hope and glory of the race. Growth may be hindered, but it can never be +banished from the universe. It moved in chaos, and never faltered in its +march, until under its beneficent leading all things were seen to be +good. It led the cosmic movement until man appeared; and now it has +taken man in hand, with all the vestiges of animalism clinging to him, +and it will never leave him as he rises toward the perfection and glory +of God. The law of growth answers most if not all of our questions. The +soul of man must grow. With its growth will come vision, strength, and +progress toward its goal. + +But growth is not all. The voices to which we choose to give heed will +sound most distinctly in our ears. Here we face a fact which is often in +evidence. The earth and animalism will never cease to make appeal to our +senses, while at the same time voices from above will call from their +heights to our spirits. To distinguish between desire and duty, between +truth and tradition, between the spiritual and the animal, is a step +which has to be taken, and which is taken whether we appreciate how or +not. By the pain which follows wrong choices, or by the intuitions of +the spirit, the soul comes to realize that its obligation is always in +one direction; that its choice ought to be in favor of the morally +excellent. But how shall it discern the morally excellent? The process +of learning will be a long one, and never fully completed on the earth. +This is a realm that poets and dramatists, who are usually the +profoundest and most accurate students of life, have not often tried to +enter. Such questions can be answered only after careful and +long-continued inductive study. Moralists are usually content to stop +short of this inquiry. How the soul comes to learn that it is obligated +to truth and right we may not fully know; but that it does learn, and +that no step in all its development is more important, there is no +doubt. In His dealing with this question Jesus preserves the same +attitude as toward all subjects of speculation. I came not to explain +how life adjusts itself to its environment, He seems to say, but to give +life a richness and a beauty which it never had before; I came not to +answer questions, but to save to the best uses that which already +exists. Nevertheless, the question as to how the soul is taught to +distinguish the morally excellent is of serious importance. If we do not +recognize the sanctity of truth and right we may not give them +hospitality; and we may not appreciate their sanctity if we are ignorant +of what gives them their authority. How, then, does it learn what truth +and right are? Are there any clearly defined paths by which this +knowledge may be reached? Is not truth a matter of education? And is +there any absolute right? A Hindoo Swami, of the school of the Vedanta, +lecturing in this country, solemnly assured an intelligent audience +that there is no sin; that what is called sin is only the result of +education; that what is vice in one place may be virtue in another; and +that in the sphere of morals all is relative and nothing absolute. Then +there is no wrong, for wrong and sin are closely related; and no right +because if right is not a dream it implies the possibility of an +opposite. There is little permanent danger from such shallow theories. +The peril from confusion is greater than from denial. But even confusion +at this point is not long necessary because in every soul there is a +voice which men call conscience, which never fails to impel toward the +true and the good. Conscience may be likened to a compass whose needle +always points toward the north. When it is uninfluenced by distracting +causes conscience always shows the way toward truth and right. The +Spartans believed that lying was a virtue if it was sufficiently +obscure; and a Hindoo woman who throws her child to the god of the +Ganges does so because she is deeply religious. Are not such persons +conscientious? Yet they perform acts which are in themselves wrong? Of +what value, then, is conscience? That they are both conscientious and +religious I have no doubt. It is their misfortune to be ignorant. The +light appears to be colored by the medium through which it passes, and +yet it is not colored; and conscience seems to approve what is wrong, +and yet it never does. It always impels toward the right, but men often +make serious mistakes because of their ignorance. The needle in the +moral compass is deflected by selfishness or false teaching. The Hindoo +mother might hear and, if she dared to listen to it, would hear a deeper +voice than the one calling her to sacrifice her child--even one telling +her to spare her child. She has not yet learned that it is always safe +to trust the moral sense. Superstitions are not conscience; they are +ignorance obscuring and deadening conscience. Every man is born with a +guide within to point him to paths of virtue and truth, and one of the +most important lessons which the growing soul has to learn is that when +it is true to itself it may always trust that guide. The call of his +destiny finds every man, and, when he hears it, he asks: How may I reach +that goal? It is far away and the path is confused. Then a voice within +makes answer, and, if he heeds that, he will make no mistake. That +voice, I believe, is the result of no evolutionary process, but is the +holy God immanent in every soul, making His will known. Evolution +gradually gives to conscience a larger place, but there is no evidence +that it is produced by any physical process. It may be hindered by +physical limitations, but it can be destroyed by none. Why are we so +slow in learning that conscience, being divine, is authoritative and may +be trusted? I know no answer except this: We so often confuse ignorance +with conscience that at last we conclude that the latter is not +trustworthy. But there we mistake. It is trustworthy. It never fails +those who heed its message. That realization may now and then come +early, but it seldom comes all at once. Nevertheless it is a step to be +taken before the progress of the soul can be either swift or sure. + +The moment that the soul realizes that God is not far away, but within; +that all the divine voices did not speak in the past, but that many are +speaking now; that whosoever will listen may hear within his own being a +message as clear and sacred as any that ever came to prophet or teacher +in other times, it will begin to realize the luxury of its liberty, and +something of the grandeur of its destiny. Truth and right are not +fictions of the imagination, they are realities opening before the +growing soul like continents before explorers. They always invite +entrance and possession. They have horizons full of splendor and beauty +and music. They alone can satisfy. But the soul has not yet fully +escaped from the mists and fogs and glooms of the earth. It is +surrounded by those who still wallow in animalism, and the sounds of the +lower world are yet echoing in its ears. But at last its face is toward +the light; the far call of its destiny has been heard; it knows itself +to be in a moral order; it is assured that, however closely the body may +be imprisoned, no bolts and no bars can shut in a spirit; that before it +is a fair and favored land, far off but ever open; and, best of all, +that within its own being, impervious to all influences from without, is +a guide which may be implicitly trusted and which will never betray. Why +not follow its suggestions at once and press on toward that fair land +of truth and beauty which so earnestly invites? Ah! why not? Here we are +face to face with other facts. There are hindrances, many and serious, +in the pathway of the soul, and they must be met and forced before that +land can be entered. This is the time for us to consider them. + + + + +HINDRANCES + + + And many, many are the souls + Life's movement fascinates, controls; + It draws them on, they cannot save + Their feet from its alluring wave; + They cannot leave it, they must go + With its unconquerable flow; + + * * * * * + + They faint, they stagger to and fro, + And wandering from the stream they go; + In pain, in terror, in distress, + They see all round a wilderness. + + --_Epilogue to Lessing's "Laocoon"._ Matthew Arnold + + + + +IV + +_HINDRANCES_ + + +When the soul has heard the far call of its destiny and realizes that it +may respond to that call, and that it has, in conscience, a guide which +will not fail even in the deepest darkness, it turns in the direction +from which the appeal comes and begins to move toward its goal. Almost +simultaneously it realizes that it has to meet and to overcome numerous +and serious obstacles. To the hindrances in the way of the spirit our +thought is to be turned in this chapter. + +The moral failure of many men and women of superb intellectual and +physical equipment is one of the sad and serious marvels of human +history. What a pathetic and significant roll might be made of those +who have been great intellectually and pitiful failures morally! It has +often been affirmed that Hannibal might have conquered Rome, and been +the master of the world except for the fatal winter at Capua. Antony, +possibly, would have been victor at Actium if it had not been for +something in himself that made him susceptible to the fascination of the +fair but treacherous Egyptian queen. Achilles was a symbolical as well +as an historical character. There was one place--with him in the +heel--where he was vulnerable, and through that he fell. Socrates was +like a tornado when inflamed by anger. Napoleon laid Europe waste and +desolated more distant lands, but he was an enormous egotist and morally +a blot on civilization. + +The life-history of many of the poets is inexpressibly sad. Chatterton, +Shelley, Byron, Poe--their very names call up facts which those who +admire their genius would gladly conceal. Many artists are in the same +category. It explains nothing to ascribe their moral pollution to their +finer sensibilities, for finer sensibilities ought to be attended by +untarnished characters. It is, perhaps, best not even to mention their +names lest, thereby, we dull the appreciation of noble masterpieces +which represent the better moods of the men. One of imperial genius was +a slave to wine, another to lust, another was too envious to detect any +merit in the work of others of his craft. There are statesmen of whose +achievements we speak, but never of the men themselves; and there have +been ministers of the Gospel, unhappily not a few, who have suddenly +disappeared and been heard of no more. Into a kindly oblivion they have +gone, and that is all that any one needs to know. What do such facts +signify? That many, or most, of these men have been essentially and +totally bad? Or that they are moral failures? They signify only that +they have not yet risen above the hindrances which they have found in +their pathways. The world knows of the temporary obscuration of a fair +fame; it does not see the grief, the tears, the gradual gathering of the +energies for a new assault upon the obstacles in the road; and it does +not see how tenderly, but faithfully, Providence, through nature, is +dealing with them. Some time they will be brought to themselves--The +Eternal Goodness is the pledge of that. It is not with this unseen and +beneficent ministry of restoration, however, that I am now dealing, but +with the awful wrecks and failures which are so common in human history, +and concerning which most men know something in their own experiences. +How shall they be explained?--since to evade them is impossible. In +other words when a man is awake, when he feels that he is in a moral +order, is free, and hears the call of his destiny, why is his progress +so slow and difficult? No one has ever delineated this period in the +soul's growth with greater vividness than Bunyan. The Valley of +Humiliation, the Slough of Despond, Giant Despair, Doubting Castle are +all pictures of human life taken with photographic accuracy. What are +some of these hindrances? + +The soul is free, but its abode is in a limited body. The movement of +the soul is swift and unconstrained as thought. It is not limited by +time. It may project itself a thousand years into the future or travel a +thousand years into the past; but it dwells in the body and is more or +less restrained by it. Bodily limitation narrows experience and compels +ignorance. It makes large acquaintance impossible. The flowers beneath +the ice on the Alps are small; the flowers of the tropics have the +proportions of trees. Thus environment modifies growth. The body cannot +put fetters on the will, but it may hold in captivity the powers which +acquire knowledge, withhold from the emotions persons worthy of +affection, and make the range of objects of choice poor and pitiful. The +soul has often been compared to a bird in a cage,--fitted for broad +horizons but confined within narrow spaces. This hindrance is a very +real one. The man who grows swiftly must be in the open world with +beings to love and to serve ever within his reach. Hence the life beyond +death is often called the unhindered life because of its freedom from +the body. The old story of "Rasselas" is symbolical. In the Happy Valley +a man might be as good, but he could not be as great and wise, as in the +larger world. The soul will meet fewer temptations there, but those it +does encounter will be more insistent and harder to escape. He who would +respond to a call to service must needs have about him those whom he +may serve. Large views are for those who are able to rise to the +heights. He who lives in a cave may be true to his little light, and +surely is responsible for no more, but he will see far less than the one +whose home is on the mountaintop. Thus even bodily limitations, to which +are attached no moral qualities, are hindrances to the growth of the +being, whose destiny is not only purification but expansion:--its +movement is not only toward goodness but also toward greatness; not only +toward virtue but also toward power. + +The animal entail is one of the greatest mysteries of our mortal life. +The soul in its moments of illumination feels that it is related to some +person like itself, but far higher, and aspires to it. Sir Joshua +Reynolds' figure of "Faith" in the famous window in the chapel of New +College, Oxford, suggests the attitude of the newly awakened soul. In +freshness and beauty it is turning toward the light. But in human +experience something occurs which Sir Joshua has not tried to depict. A +clammy hand reaches up from the deeps out of which rise suffocating +clouds, and that pure spirit finds itself enveloped in darkness and +fastened to the earth. The humiliation is complete. What has occurred? +Only what has happened again and again; and what will continue to happen +for no one knows how long. The animal has gotten the better of the +spirit. The soul has sinned--for sin is little, if anything, but a +spirit allowing itself to return to the fascinations of the animal +conditions out of which it has been evolved, and from which it ought to +have escaped forever. The animal entail is the chief hindrance to the +aspiring spirit. The animal lives by his senses. He is content when they +are satisfied. It can hardly be said that animals are ever happy. +Happiness is a state higher than contentment. Paul said he had learned +in whatsoever state he was to be content, but even he never said that in +all states he had learned to be happy. Animals are contented when their +senses are gratified and they are savage when their senses are +clamorous. Lions and bears are dangerous when they are hungry, and cruel +when other desires are obstructed. + +Whatever the theory of evolution, from the beginning of its upward +movement, the nearest, most potent, and most dangerous hindrance to the +soul is this entail of animalism, which it can never escape but which it +must some time conquer. The spirit and the body seem to be in endless +antagonism, and yet the body itself will become the fair servant of the +soul when once the question of its supremacy has been determined. The +tendency to revert to animalism has been vividly depicted by the poets, +and the clamorous and insistent nature of the passions portrayed by the +artists. + +The liquor in the enchanted cup of Comus may be called "the wine of the +senses." Its effect is thus described by Milton. Comus offers + + ... "To every weary traveler + His orient liquor in a crystal glass, + To quench the drought of Phoebus; which, as they taste + (For most do taste through fond, intemperate thirst) + Soon as the potion works, their human countenance, + The express resemblance of the gods, is changed + Into some brutish form of wolf or bear, + Or ounce or tiger, hog or bearded goat." + +A famous passage from Ovid's "Metamorphoses"[4] represents Actæon as +changed into a stag; but, if I read the fable aright, the glimpse of +Diana in her bath, while not an intelligent choice, was more than a mere +accident--it was the uprising of innate sensuality; for even the Greek +gods were supposed to have had senses. + +[Footnote 4: Addison's translation, Book III, pages 188-198.] + + "Actæon was the first of all his race, + Who grieved his grandsire in his borrowed face; + Condemned by stern Diana to bemoan + The branching horns and visage not his own; + To shun his once-loved dogs, to bound away + And from their huntsman to become their prey; + And yet consider why the change was wrought; + You'll find it his misfortune, not his fault; + Or, if a fault it was the fault of chance; + For how can guilt proceed from ignorance?" + +The story of Circe is the common story of those who have yielded to the +flesh. The companions of Ulysses visited the palace of Circe, were +allured by her charms, and the result is read in these words: + + "Before the spacious front, a herd we find + Of beasts, the fiercest of the savage kind. + Our trembling steps with blandishments they meet + And fawn, unlike their species, at our feet." + +The strong words of Milton are none too strong: + + "Their human countenance + The express resemblance of the gods, is changed + Into some brutish form." + +A common subject with artists has been the temptations of the saints. +They have fled from luxury, and what they supposed to be moral peril, +but have found no solitude to which they could go and leave their bodies +behind. In the silences faces have appeared to them full of alluring +entreaty, and more than one anchorite has found to his sorrow that he +carried within himself the cause of his danger. + +A singularly vivid painting represents one of the saints in the desert, +and clinging to him, with their arms around his neck, are two figures of +exquisite physical beauty. Their charms are so near and perilous that +the pale and haggard man in desperation has shut his eyes, and in this +extremity, with his one free hand, is frantically clinging to a cross. +The artist has accurately depicted the condition in which the soul finds +itself as it begins its growth;--its chief enemies are those of its own +household. + +Happy indeed is it for all that none see at the first the obstacles in +their way. Faint and far shines the splendor of the goal; the hindrances +are reached one by one, and each one, for the moment, seems to be the +last. + +But close and persistent as is the animal entail, it is not +unconquerable. Many a Sir Galahad, and many a woman fair and holy as his +pure sister, have lived on this earth of ours. They were not always so; +and their beauty and holiness are but the outshining of spiritual +victory. + +Is this environment of evil necessary to the development of the soul? We +may not know; but we do know that it can be conquered, and some time and +somehow will be conquered; and that then men, like ourselves, grown from +the same stock, evolved from the lower levels, will constitute "the +crowning race." + + "No longer half akin to brute, + For all we thought and loved and did, + And hoped, and suffered, is but seed + Of what in them is flower and fruit." + +These are a few samples of the hindrances which the soul must face in +its progress through "the thicket of this world." But these are not all. +Hardly less serious is the ignorance which clothes it like a garment. It +comes it knows not whence; it journeys it knows not whither, and +apparently is attended by no one wiser than itself. + +Hugo's awful picture of a man in the ocean with the vast and silent +heavens above, the desolate waves around, the birds like dwellers from +another world circling in the evening light, and the poor fellow trying +to swim, he knows not where, is not so wide of the mark as some +thoughtless readers might suppose. + +The soul is ignorant and timid, in the vast and void night, with its +environment of ignorance and of other souls also blindly struggling. At +the same time there is the consciousness of a duty to do something, of a +voice calling it somewhere which ought to be heeded, and of having +bitterly failed. + +The solitariness of the soul is also one of the most mysterious and +solemn of its characteristics. The prophecy which is applied to Jesus +might equally be applied to every human being: He trod the wine-press +alone. In all its deepest experiences the soul is solitary. Craving +companionship, in the very times when it seeks it most it finds it +denied. Every crucial choice must at last be individual. When sorrows +are multiplied there are in them deeps into which no friendly eye can +look. When the hour of death comes, even though friends crowd the rooms, +not one of them can accompany the soul on its journey. It seems as if +this solitariness must hinder its growth. Perhaps were our eyes clearer +we should see that what seems to retard in reality hastens progress. But +to our human sight it seems as if every soul needed companionship and +coöperation in all its deep experiences; and that the ancients were not +altogether wrong in their belief in the presence and protection of +Guardian Angels. But something more vital and assuring than that faith +is desired. It is rather the inseparable fellowship of those who are +facing the same mysteries and fighting the same battles as ourselves; +but even that not infrequently is denied. + +Is this all? There is another possibility which observation has never +detected and which science is powerless to disprove. Can we be sure that +no malign spiritual influences hinder and bewilder? We cannot be sure. +The common belief of nearly all peoples ought not to be rudely brushed +aside. No one willingly believes in lies nor clings to them when he +knows that they are lies. Superstitions always have some element of +truth in them, and the truth, not the error, wins adherents. The most +that we can say, at this point, is that we do not know. It is possible +that the common beliefs of many widely separated people have no basis +in fact, that they are born of dreams and delusions; and, on the other +hand, it is equally possible that the spaces which we inhabit, but which +we cannot fully explore, have other inhabitants than our vision +discerns, and that those beings may help and may hinder us in our +progress. It is not wise to dogmatize where we are ignorant. While the +scales balance we must wait. + +Are the hindrances in the path of the soul without any ministry? That +cannot be; for then they are exceptions to the universal law, that +nothing which exists is without a purpose of benefit. + +All the analogies of nature indicate that human limitations are intended +to serve some good end, since, so far as observation has yet extended, +it has found nothing which is caused by chance. Emerson says, "As the +Sandwich Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he +kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptations we +resist;"[5] and St. Bernard says, "Nothing can work me damage except +myself; the harm that I sustain I carry about with me, and never am a +real sufferer but by my own fault."[6] + +[Footnote 5: Essay on Compensation.] + +[Footnote 6: Quoted by Emerson in Essay on Compensation.] + +And St. John says, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the +tree of life."[7] + +[Footnote 7: Revelation 2:7.] + +The mission of the austere is the development of strength. Concerning +this suggestion we shall inquire later. The souls which have reached the +serene summits have ever been those which have most resolutely faced the +obstacles in their pathways. Even apparent hindrances always exercise a +beneficent ministry. As Jesus was made perfect by the things which He +suffered, so, in the Cosmic plan, all souls must come to strength and +perfection by the difficulties which they overcome and the enemies which +they subdue. + +What should be the attitude of the soul in view of the hindrances by +which it is environed? It should be taught to fight them at every point. +Nowhere is the kindness of nature more evident than in the patience and +persistence with which this instruction is conveyed. + +Nature withholds her favors until they are earned. New light comes only +to those who have used-the light they had. Strength is developed by +resistance. Growth is for those who place themselves where growth is +possible. Nature gives the soul nothing, but she always waits to +coöperate with it. This lesson was impressed long ago. It ought never to +require new emphasis. Let the younger study the experiences of their +elders. They will be saved many failures and much pain. The soul can +never be coerced, but it may be taught. Milton has enforced this great +lesson in Comus: + + "Against the threats + Of malice or of sorcery, of that power + Which erring men call Chance, this I hold firm-- + Virtue may be assailed, but never hurt, + Surprised by unjust force, but not enthralled; + Yet, even that which mischief meant most harm, + Shall in the happy trial prove most glory; + But evil on itself shall back recoil, + And mix no more with goodness, when at last + Gathered like a scum, and settled to itself, + It shall be in eternal restless change + Self-fed, and self-consumed; if this fail + The pillar'd firmament is rottenness + And earth's base built on stubble." + +No one should believe, after all the growth of the ages, that the soul +was made to be imprisoned in a fleshly prison. It was intended that it +should burst its barriers and press toward the light. There is an +eternal enmity between the serpent and the soul, and the serpent's head +must be bruised, but the soul resisting all the forces and fascinations +of the flesh, rising on that which has been cast down to higher things, +slowly but surely, painfully but with ever added strength moves toward +the ideal humanity which has never been better defined than as "the +fullness of Christ." + +Meanwhile it is well to reinforce our faith by remembering that it is +written in the nature of things that truth and goodness must prevail. + +This is a moral universe. Error never can be victorious. It may be +exalted for a time, but that will be only in order that it may be sunk +to deeper depths. Evil and error are doomed and always have been. Evil +is moral disease, and disease always tends toward death, while life +always and of necessity presses toward larger, more beautiful, and more +beneficent being. + +Here let us rest. Many things are dark and impossible of explanation, +but we have already been taught a few lessons of superlative importance. +We have learned that the soul is made for the light; that it can be +satisfied only with love and truth; that every hindrance may be +overcome; that the animal was made to be the servant of the spirit; that +the body makes a good servant but a poor master; that strength comes to +those who refuse to submit to the clamors of appetite: thus we have been +led to see something of the way along which the soul has moved from +animalism toward freedom and victory. + +And we have learned one thing more, viz., that the Over-soul is not a +dream, but a reality; that the individual may be in correspondence with +the Over-soul and from it be continually reinforced. Or, to put our +faith in sweeter and simpler form, we have learned by experience which +cannot be gainsaid that God is a personal spirit, interested in all that +concerns His children, and anxious for their growth; and that He can no +more allow His love for them to be defeated than He could allow the +suns and planets to break from their orbits. How much more is a man +than a sun! Therefore, since God is in His heaven, all must be right +with the world and with man, and some time all the hindrances will be +changed into helps, all obstacles be converted into strength, and "all +hells into benefit." + + + + +THE AUSTERE + + + We cannot kindle when we will + The fire which in the heart resides; + The Spirit bloweth and is still, + In mystery our soul abides. + But tasks in hours of insight will'd + Can be through hours of gloom fulfill'd. + + With aching hands and bleeding feet + We dig and heap, lay stone on stone; + We bear the burden and the heat + Of the long day, and wish 'twere done. + Not till the hours of light return, + All we have built do we discern. + + --_Morality._ Matthew Arnold. + + + + +V + +_THE AUSTERE_ + + +The soul has discovered that it is in a moral order, that it is a free +agent, and that it has mysterious affinities with truth and right. It +has taken a few steps, and with them has learned that its upward +movement will not be easy. + +It next discovers that it has no isolated existence, but that it is +surrounded by countless other similar beings all indissolubly bound +together and having mutual relations. With the dawn of intelligence +comes the realization of relations. This realization is dim at the +first, but it is very real. Soon the soul learns that the relations +between it and other souls are so intimate that the interest of one is +the interest of all. Appreciation of relations is a long advance in the +movement upward, and it necessitates other knowledge. The realization of +relations leads, necessarily and swiftly, to the consciousness of +responsibility. The process of this growth cannot be described in +detail, but the path is clearly marked and its milestones may be +numbered. Each soul is always in a society of souls. Each one, +therefore, affects others, and is affected by them. It is free and, +therefore, responsible for the influence which it exerts. Moreover, it +is bound to other souls by love, and love always carries with it the +possibility of sorrow; for sorrow is usually only love thwarted. It is +not far from the truth to say that when there is no love there is no +sorrow, and that the possibilities of sorrow are always increased in +proportion to the perfection of being. + +In time the soul finds itself not only one among myriads of souls, but +it realizes that its relations to some are more intimate than to +others. It needs not to seek the causes of this fact, since it cannot +escape from the reality. Thus it finds itself in families, in tribes, in +nations, in social groups where the bonds are strong and enduring. + +Some souls, more capacious than others, have a richer and more varied +experience, and thus inevitably become teachers. The process goes on, +and, with both teachers and scholars, the horizon expands and the +strength increases with each new day. The soul has found that it is not +a solitary being dazed and saddened by the consciousness of its powers, +but that it is in a society in which all are similarly endowed, and that +all are pressing toward the same goal. It has discovered that its growth +is hastened, or hindered, by its environment; and that the spiritual +environment is ever the nearest and most potent. + +Each new step in this pilgrim's progress reveals something more +wonderful than the opening of a continent. It is an entrance into a +larger and more complex world. A strange fact now emerges. Every +enlargement of being, either of faculty or capacity, is attended by pain +either physical or mental. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth," seems +to be a universal law rather than an isolated text. All life is +strenuous because it is always attended by growth. The soul moves not +only onward but upward, and climbing is always a difficult process. + +Before a second step is taken the soul begins to experience suffering +and sorrow; and as its growth advances it never afterward, so far as +human sight has penetrated, escapes from them. Why are they allowed? and +what purpose do they serve? + +The soul exists in a body, and the body is the seat of sensations. Those +sensations, whether pleasing or painful, belong to the physical organs, +but they affect the spirit, and escape from them is impossible. Pain has +a perceptible effect on the soul, even though the latter has no other +relation to the body than that of tenant to a house. It suffers because +of the intimate relations which it sustains to the organs through which +it works. + +The individual soul is related to other souls. Therefore it has plans +and purposes concerning them, and it has affinities which are +inseparable from existence in society. Those purposes and affinities may +be gratified or thwarted. The soul sometimes finds a response from the +one whom it seeks and sometimes it does not. Pain belongs to the body, +and sorrow is an experience of the soul. + +The body is in constant limitations, subject to diseases and accidents, +and the soul is affected by all that the body feels. Because of these +intimate relationships the soul is limited by ignorance, and defeated in +its purposes. It becomes attached to other souls, and those attachments +are either rudely shattered or roughly repulsed, and, consequently, the +life of the soul is as full of sorrow as is a summer day of clouds. + +It faces its hindrances and rises by overcoming them. It finds pain +besetting nearly every step of its advance, and the constant shadow of +its existence is sorrow. Along such a pathway it moves in its ascent +and, in spite of all opposition, it is never permanently hindered; while +sorrow and suffering continually add to its strength. The austere +experiences through which all pass hasten their spiritual growth. They +are ever ministers of blessing; they pay no visits without leaving some +fair gifts behind. + +Questions arise here which it is difficult to answer. Why are such +ministries needed? Why could not the ascent of the spirit be along an +easier pathway? Why should it be necessary to write its history in tears +and blood? Inquiries like these are insistent. Optimism assumes that the +end always justifies the means, even when we are in the dark as to why +other means were not used; and that it is better to comfort ourselves +with the beneficent fact than to refuse to be comforted because we may +not penetrate the depths of the Cosmic process. The emphasis of thought +may well rest here. The austere is never merely the severe. What seems +to human sight to be evil and only evil, always has a side of benefit. +The soul is purified and strengthened as it rises above animalism; it is +made courageous by bodily pain; tears clarify its vision. Even Jesus is +said to have been made perfect by the things which He suffered. The +universal characteristic of life is growth, and growth ever reaches out +of old and narrow toward new, larger and better environment. + +The soul needs strength, vision, sympathy, faith. These qualities are +the fruit of experience. Muscle is converted into strength by use; and +its use is possible only as it finds something to overcome. Vision is +largely the fruit of training. The man on the lookout discovers a ship +ahead long before the passenger on the deck. That fine accuracy of sight +has come to him as he has battled with the tempests, and learned to +distinguish between the whiteness of flying foam and the sunlight on a +sail. Clearness of spiritual vision is acquired in the same way. He who +can see even to "the far-off interest of tears" has been taught his +discernment by reading the meaning of nearer events. + +Sympathy is the art of suffering with another without the definite +choice to do so. One soul spontaneously enters into the condition of +another and bears his pains and griefs as though they were his own; that +is sympathy. But who ever bore the griefs of another before he himself +had felt sadness? Sympathy is a fruit that grows on the tree of sorrow. +So intensely is this felt that even kindly words in hours of deep trial +are ungrateful if they come from one who had had no hard experience of +his own. In proportion as one has borne his own griefs he is presumed to +be able to bear the griefs of others. He who has passed through the +valley of the shadow, and who knows the way, is the only one whose hand +is sought by another approaching the same valley. No human +characteristic is more beautiful, or more appreciated, than sympathy; +but its genuineness is seldom trusted unless the one offering it is +known to have suffered himself. + +Jesus is said to have been a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, +and, therefore, has led the long procession of the broken-hearted +toward hope and peace. There is no other place known among men for the +cultivation of sympathy except the school of suffering. + +If possible, faith even more than sympathy is dependent on struggle. +There is no other conceivable means by which it can be acquired. It +cannot be imparted. No multiplying of words increases faith. If one has +been in the blackest darkness and some way, he knows not how, has been +led out into light, it will be easier for him to think that the same +experience may be realized again. If every sorrow has had in it some +hidden seed of blessing; if the overcoming of hindrances has ever +increased strength; if at the very moment that calamity seemed ready to +destroy the storm has blown around, and this has occurred again and +again, it is impossible to refrain from expecting, or at least hoping, +that behind the darkness an unseen hand is making things to work for +good. Faith is essential to courage. He never cares to struggle who +knows that failure is just ahead. Courage is required as the soul +progresses, and becomes more deeply conscious of the mysteries and +enemies by which it is surrounded. Faith results from the experience of +beneficent leading. If one has been guided by love through many periods, +and if that love has always been found waiting for its object on every +corner of life, it will, ere long, be expected, watched for, and +trusted. + +Strength, vision, sympathy, courage, the fair attributes of the soul, +all appear as it overcomes difficulties, fights doubts, goes deep into +sorrow, and thus learns to realize that it is being led. It is easy to +see how sorrow, pain, and death in the older legends and poetry were so +often spoken of as beneficent angels. They are like those Sisters of +Charity who hide beneath their long black bonnets serene and angelic +faces. The austere in human life has never yet been explained, but it +has been justified millions of times, and will be justified every time a +human soul rises toward the goal for which all were created and toward +which all, slowly or swiftly, are moving. + +These conclusions have many confirmations, and with some of them it will +be worth while to spend a little time. Every thinking man's experience +assures him that he grows by overcoming. Emerson has finely said that we +have occasion to thank our faults, by which he means limitations; and he +has also reminded us that the oyster mends its broken shell with pearl. + +We do not like overmuch to read with care our own experiences; but, when +we are honest, we see that every struggle has left a residuum of added +strength, that every loss has been a gain, that every calamity has +opened doors into a larger world, and that what has been dreaded most +has really most enriched us. Experience is a wise teacher. + +History confirms the witness of experience. The strong man has always +gained strength by struggle. The story of a few of the preëminent +teachers is impressive reading. Mahomet knew the bitter pangs of +poverty; Epictetus was a slave; Socrates was regarded as a fanatic, if +not a lunatic, by most of the people of Athens; Siddhartha is said to +have been a useless and luxurious young man until, wearied with the +monotony of his father's palace, he ventured into the larger world and +saw wherever he went poverty, sickness, death. He was startled into +activity by the want, woe, and misery through which his pathway led. + +Nearly all moral and spiritual leaders have had to suffer and thus grow +strong. Mere genius has done little for human progress. It has made +physical discoveries, but seldom touched the sphere of the soul. Elijah +heard the voice of God in the midst of the terrors of the wilderness in +which he was ready to die; Isaiah shared the usual fate of reformers and +spoke his message into the ears of those who returned insult for +warning. The story of Job is a long tragedy,--the world's tragedy, the +tragedy of the soul in all ages. What deeps of anguish Dante fathomed +before he could begin to write! Who can read the story of "Faust," as +Goethe has interpreted it, without feeling that in it he has given the +world in thin disguise much of his own life-story? Shakespeare alone, of +men of genius of the first rank, seems to have learned comparatively few +of his lessons in the school of suffering. But, possibly, if more were +known of Shakespeare, it would be found that Lear, Macbeth, and Hamlet +are but the expressions of lessons learned as he fought life's battle. + +The "In Memoriam" of Tennyson, the "De Profundis" of Mrs. Browning, and +the rich and glorious music of Robert Browning could have come only from +souls which had been profoundly moved by grief and pain. All men listen +most attentively to those who have gone farthest into the dark shadows. + +The austere in human experience always accomplishes a purpose of +blessing; and the soul comes into such an environment, not for the +purpose of being humiliated, but in order that its strength may be +developed, its sight clarified, and its powers perfected. + +Thus we reach a rational basis for optimism. It has been said that +optimism must not only show that beneficent results are being +accomplished in human life, but it must also justify the means by which +such results are achieved. It is not enough to show that all will be +well in the end; it must be shown that even grief, pain, loss, and +death are ordained to be the servants of man. This is evident to all who +allow themselves to reach to the deeper meanings of their limitations +and sufferings. + +Opposite conclusions have been reached by some of those who have studied +the hard and harsh phenomena of human life. The dreamy Hindu mind at +first seemed to discern the truth that suffering is but the under side +of blessing, and the hymns of the Vedas are full of hope and +anticipation of better times; but, under the stress of prolonged +disappointment and measureless calamities, bewildered in his attempt to +explain the mystery of suffering, the Hindu at last came to deny its +reality. But no bitter trials can be escaped by denial, and in India, +to-day, disappointment and calamity are no less frequent than in elder +ages. Refusal to believe in darkness effects no change in a midnight. +The negation of precipices makes the ascent of a mountain no easier, +and the denial of sickness, sorrow, and death deliver none from their +presence. On the other hand, the very rocks that are the most difficult +to scale will lift the climber toward an ampler horizon; and he who +places his feet upon his temptations and sorrows will see in his own +life the increasing purpose that widens with the suns. + +Slowly, and over many obstacles, the soul rises from its humiliation and +presses toward the heights, and every forest passed and every mountain +scaled adds to its stature, to the swiftness of its advance, and to the +glory of its vision. + +The teaching of Jesus concerning the ministry of the austere has greatly +changed the popular estimate of the value of many of the experiences +through which men pass. Sorrow, pain, and death were formerly regarded +as enemies, and only enemies, and they are still so regarded where the +full force of His message is either not welcomed or not understood. The +common opinion in many quarters, even to this day, is that suffering is +either a hideous mistake in the universe, an awful nightmare, or a cruel +mockery. Paul, using language as men used it in his time, spoke of death +as an enemy. That he was speaking popularly, rather than technically, is +evident because he also said that the sting of death--that which made it +dreaded--is sin. Jesus, however, justified the method by which men are +perfected; and His teaching harmonizes with what may be learned by a +reverent scrutiny of the nature of things. The more carefully "the +Cosmic process" is studied, the clearer it becomes that events are so +ordered that, sooner or later, everything helps toward richer and better +conditions. A tidal wave or a pestilence may seem to be inexplicable, +but even pestilence teaches men habits of thrift and cleanliness, and +tidal waves warn them of their points of danger. + +What has made the average of human life so much longer than it was +formerly? That very mysterious pestilence has turned attention toward +its causes, and thus the race has been made cleaner, purer, more fit to +endure. Why do men live in houses with scientific plumbing, fresh air, +and have well-cooked food? Because that fierce teacher, pestilence, has +taught them that any other course means weakness and death. Whom nature +loveth she chasteneth is a truth as clearly written in human history as +"Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth" is written in the Bible. The true +attitude toward the austere, for a philosophic as for a Christian mind, +is one of complacency. Every severity is intended for benefit. By wars +the enormity of war is made evident. By disease the necessity for +observation of the laws of health is emphasized. Even death, in the +order of things, at last is a blessing, for one generation must give +place to another, or the evils that Malthus feared would be quickly +reached. Moreover death, in its proper time, is only nature's way of +giving the soul its freedom. Hindrances in its path do not indicate the +presence of an enemy but of a friend who discovers the only sure way of +securing its finest development. The cultivation of the philosophic and +Christian temper, which are practically the same, would make this a +happier world. We could endure trials with more courage if we would but +remember that they are as necessary to our growth as the cutting of a +diamond is necessary to the revelation of the treasury of light which it +holds. + +The heights of character are slowly reached, and, usually, only by the +ministry of the austere; but once they are reached the horizon expands, +and the soul finds in the clearer light peace if not joy. + +This course of reasoning does not make the mistake of regarding sin as +less than dreadful. Every sin has hidden in its heart a blessing; but +sin as such is never a blessing. It may be necessary for Providence to +allow a spirit to sink again into animalism in order that it may be +taught its danger, and made to realize that only through struggle can +its goal be reached--but the animalism in itself is never beneficent. + +When we say that the process by which a man rises may be justified, we +do not mean that all his choices are justifiable. The process of his +growth provides for his fall, if he will learn in no other way, but it +does not necessitate his fall; that is ever because of his own choice. A +spirit may choose to return to the slime from which it has emerged. That +choice is sin, but it can never be made without the protests of +conscience which will not be silenced, and it is by those protests that +a man is impelled upward again, and never by the sin in itself. No one +was ever helped by his sin, but millions, when they have sinned, have +found that the misery was greater than the joy, and this perpetual +connection of sin and suffering is the blessed fact. Sin is never +anything but hideous. The more unique the genius the more awful and +inexcusable his fall. Even out of their sins men do rise, but that is +because there sounds in the deeps of the soul a voice which becomes more +pathetic in its warning and entreaty, the more it is disregarded. Those +who desire to justify sin say that it is the cause of the rising. It may +be the occasion, but it is never the cause. The occasion includes the +time, place, environment,--but the cause is the impelling force; and sin +never impels toward virtue. Satan has not yet turned evangelist. + +Because in the past the soul has risen, one need not be unduly +optimistic to presume that, in spite of opposition, it will meet no +enemies which it will not conquer, and find no heights which it will not +be able to scale. Prophecy is the art of reading history forward. The +spirit having come thus far, it is not possible to believe that it can +ever permanently revert to the conditions from which it has emerged; +neither can we believe that it will fail of reaching that development of +which its every power and faculty is so distinct a prophecy. + +No light has ever yet penetrated far into the mystery of human +suffering, sorrow, and sin. Why they need to be at all, has been often +asked, but no one has furnished a reply which satisfies many people. +With the old insistent and pathetic earnestness millions are still +"knocking at nature's door" and asking wherefore they were born. Hosts +of others are looking out on desolation and grief, thinking of the tears +which have fallen and the sobs which are sure to sound in the future, +and asking with eager and pleading intensity, why such things need be. +Out of the heavens above, or out of the earth beneath, no clear answer +has come. + +As we wonder and study, still deeper grows the mystery. Three courses +are open to those who are sensitive to the hard, sad facts of the human +condition. One is to say that all things in their essence are just as +they seem; that sorrow, sin, death none can escape, that they are evils, +and that a world in which they exist is the worst of possible worlds, +and that there is neither God nor good anywhere. Then let us eat and +drink, for to-morrow we die, and the quicker the end the sweeter the +doom. + +Another way is simply to confess ignorance. Out of the darkness no +voice has come. The veil over the statue of the god of the future has +never been lifted, and inquiry concerning such subjects is folly. To +this I reply agnosticism is consistent, but it is not wise. Because it +cannot explain all things it turns from the clues which may yet lead out +of the labyrinth. + +The other course, and the wiser, is to use all the light that has yet +been given and from what is known to draw rational conclusions +concerning what has not yet been fully revealed. Deep in the heart of +things is a beneficent and universal law. In accordance with that law +hindrances are made to minister to the soul's growth, the opposition of +enemies is transmuted into strength, and moral evil resisted becomes a +means of spiritual expansion and enlightenment. + + + + +THE RE-AWAKENING + + + I, Galahad, saw the Grail, + The Holy Grail, descend upon the Shrine: + I saw the fiery face as of a child + That smote itself into the bread, and went; + And hither am I come; and never yet + Hath what my sister taught me first to see, + This Holy Thing, fail'd from my side, nor come + Cover'd, but moving with me night and day, + Fainter by day, but always in the night.... + + * * * * * + + And in the strength of this I rode, + Shattering all evil customs everywhere, + And past thro' Pagan realms, and made them mine, + And clash'd with Pagan hordes, and bore them down, + And broke thro' all, and in the strength of this + Come victor. + + --_The Holy Grail._ Tennyson. + + + + +VI + +_THE RE-AWAKENING_ + + +As despondency and a feeling of failure comes to every soul with the +realization of its mistakes and sins, so there will some time come to +all a period of Re-awakening. This statement is the expression of a hope +which is cherished in the face of much opposing evidence. Nevertheless, +that this hope is cherished by so many persons of all classes is a +credit to humanity. It is difficult to believe that in the end an +infinitely wise and good God will fail of the achievement of His purpose +in regard to a single one of His creatures. + +The saddest fact in the ascent of the soul is sin. However it may be +accounted for, it cannot be evaded, but must be honestly and resolutely +faced. Sin is the deliberate choice to return to animalism, for a +longer or shorter time, by a being who realizes that he is in a moral +order, that he is free, and who has heard the far-off call of a +spiritual destiny. It is the choice, by a spirit, of the condition from +which it ought to have forever escaped. Imperfection and ignorance are +not, in themselves, blameworthy and should never be classified as sins. +Weakness always palliates a wrong choice. An evil condition is a +misfortune; it does not justify condemnation. Sin always implies a +voluntary act. That all men have sinned is a contention not without +abundant justification. The better the man the more intensely he is +humiliated by the consciousness of moral failure. + +After long-continued discipline, after much progress has been made, the +soul again and again chooses evil; and, after it ought to have moved far +on its upward career, it is found to be a bond-slave of tendencies +which should have been forever left behind. This is the solemn fact +which faces every student of human life. It is not a doctrine of an +effete theology but a continuous human experience. The consciousness of +moral failure is terrible and universal. This consciousness requires +neither definition nor illustration. Experience is a sufficient witness. +Who has been able exhaustively to delineate the soul's humiliation? +Æschylus and Sophocles, Shakespeare and Goethe, Shelley, Tennyson, and +Browning have but skimmed the surface of the great tragedy of human +life. Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth, Faust, and Wilhelm Meister, Beatrice Cenci, +the sad, sad story of Guinevere, and the awful shadows of the Ring and +the Book--how luridly realistic are all these studies of the downfall of +souls and the desolation of character! If they had expressed all there +is of life it would be only a long, repulsive tragedy; but happily +there is another side. To that brighter phase of the growth of the soul +we turn in this chapter. + +What is the difference between the awakening of the soul and its +re-awakening? Are they two experiences? or different phases of the same +experience? The awakening is nearly simultaneous with the dawn of +consciousness. It is the adjustment of the soul to its environment--the +realization of its self-consciousness as free, as in a moral order, and +as possessing mysterious affinities with truth and right. This +realization is followed by a period of growth, during which many +hindrances are overcome, and in which the ministries of environment, +both kindly and austere, help to free it from its limitations and to +promote its advance along the spiritual pathway. But while the soul +dimly hears voices from above it has not yet, altogether, escaped from +the influence of animalism. It dwells in a body whose desires clamor to +be gratified. It is like a bird trying to rise into the air when it has +not yet acquired the use of its wings. Malign influences are still about +it, and earthly attractions are ever drawing it downward. It falls many +times. I do not mean that it is compelled to fall, but that, as a matter +of fact, its lapses are frequent and discouraging. In the midst of this +painful movement upward, there sometime comes to the soul a realization +of a presence of which it has scarcely dreamed before. It begins to +understand that it is never alone, that its struggle is never hopeless +because God and the universe, equally with itself, are concerned for its +progress. It is humiliated by its failures, but it has learned that, +however many times it may fail and however bitter its disappointment, in +the end it must be victorious because neither principalities nor powers, +neither things on the earth nor beyond the earth, can forever resist +God. Thus hope is born, and he who one moment cries, Who shall deliver +from this body of death? the next moment with exultation exclaims, I +thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. + +The light which shines into the soul from Jesus Christ is the revelation +of the coöperation of the Deity, and of the forces of the universe, with +every man who is moving upward. The realization that, however deep the +darkness, humiliating the moral failure, constant and imperious the +solicitations of animalism, "the nature of things" and the everlasting +love are on the side of the soul is its re-awakening. + +It now not only knows that it is free, in a moral order, and that voices +from a far-off goal are calling it, but also that those who are with it +are more than those who can be against it. Thus hope, confidence, power +to resist, and faith even in the midst of failure dawn, and will never +be permanently eclipsed. The re-awakening of the soul is now complete. + +This experience is traditionally called conversion. It is usually +associated with an appropriation of the teaching of Jesus Christ, and +inevitably follows an appreciation of His words and His work. But all +the revelations of the Christ have not been through the historic Jesus. +In every land, and in every age, souls have come to this new +consciousness. It was said of Isaiah that he saw the Lord; and of +Melchizedek that he was the priest of the most high God. The former was +a Hebrew, but the latter was not in what was to be the chosen line of +succession. The assurance that they are never alone has found many in +what has seemed impenetrable darkness, and they have risen and moved +upward. Instances of this kind are not limited to Christian lands, +although they are most common where the Christian revelation is known. +I cannot doubt that those who have not had this vision on the earth will +have it some time and somewhere. The Divine power and purpose to save, +and to save to the utter-most, are revealed with perfect clearness in +the teachings of Jesus Christ. Nothing could be more explicit than His +message that God loves all men, and that it is His will that all should +repent and come to the knowledge of the truth. + +This stage of advance may be called the crisis in the ascent of the +soul. Before this it has moved slowly and with faltering steps. +Henceforth it will move more confidently and swiftly. But that does not +mean that it will find that hindrances are all removed, or that no +unseen hand will draw it downward. Some of the bitterest hours are to +follow--days and, possibly, longer periods of spiritual obscuration; +darkness like that of Jesus in which He cried, "My God, my God, why hast +Thou forsaken me." Who can explain the appalling humiliation of a man +when, as if a star had fallen from heaven, he sinks into awful and +inexplicable selfishness or sensuality? It is not necessary that we +explain, but we should remember that the goodness of God has so ordered +things that even disgrace may lead to stronger faith, clearer vision, +and tenderer sympathy. + +Austere ministries are still needed; only fire will consume the dross. +The re-awakening of a soul is not its perfecting; but it is its +realization that the process of perfecting must go on, and will go on, +if need be along a pathway of shame and agony, until all that attracts +to the earth and sensuality has disappeared, and the spirit, like a bird +released, rises toward the heavens. + +The law that whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap will never be +transcended, and if an enlightened spirit ever chooses to sink once more +into the slime it may do so; but it will at the same time be taught +with terrible intensity the moral bearing of the physical law that what +falls from the loftiest height will sink to the deepest depth. + +At last the soul realizes that it is in the hands of a sympathetic, +holy, and loving Person, a Being who cannot be defeated, and who, in His +own time and way, will accomplish His own purposes. That vision of God +is the re-awakening, an inevitable and glorious reality in spiritual +progress. + +What are the causes of this re-awakening? The causes are many and can be +stated only in a general way. Moreover, spiritual experiences are +individual, and the answer which would apply to one might not to +another. + +The shock which attends some terrible moral failure, not infrequently, +is the proximate cause of the re-awakening of the soul. There is a deep +psychological truth in the old phrase, "conviction of sin." Men are +thus convicted. Some act of appalling wrong-doing reveals to them the +depths of their hearts and forces them in their extremity to look +upward. Hawthorne, in his story, "The Scarlet Letter," has depicted the +agony of a soul, in the consciousness of its guilt, finding no peace +until it dared to do right and to trust God. In the "Marble Faun," in +the character of Donatello, the same author has furnished an +illustration of one who was startled into a consciousness of manhood and +responsibility by his crime. It is the revelation of a soul to itself, +not of God to the soul. In Donatello we see a soul awakened to +self-consciousness and responsibility, but in "The Scarlet Letter" we +have the example of a man inspired to do his duty by the revelation of +God. Adoniram Judson was brought to himself by hearing the groans of a +dying man in a room adjoining his own in a New England hotel. Luther +was forced to serious thought by a flash of lightning which blinded and +came near killing him. Pascal was returning to his home at midnight when +his carriage halted on the brink of a precipice, and the narrowness of +his escape aroused him to a realization of his dependence upon God. The +sense of mortality, and the wonder as to what the consequences of +wrong-doing in "the dim unknown" may be, have been potent forces in the +re-awakening of souls. + +Still others have been given new and gracious visions of "the beauty of +holiness." They have seen the excellence of virtue, and in its light +have learned to hate the causes of their humiliation, and to press +forward with courage and hope. + +Speculations concerning the causes of this spiritual change are easy, +but they are of little value. Observation has never yet collected facts +enough to adequately account for the phenomena. Probably the most +complete and satisfactory answer that was ever given to such questions +was that of Jesus when He was treating of this very subject: "The wind +bloweth where it listeth, thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not +tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth." + +The mystery of the soul's re-awakening has never been fathomed. +Sometimes there has been flashed upon conscience, apparently without a +cause, a deep and awful sense of guilt. Whence did it come? What caused +it? Calamities many times sweep through a life as a tornado sweeps over +a field of wheat, and when they have passed there is more than an +appreciation of loss; there is a vision of the soul's unworthiness and +humiliation. Again death comes exceedingly near, and, in a single hour, +the solemnities of eternity become vivid, and the soul sees itself in +the light of God. And again, the essential glory of goodness is so +vividly manifest that the soul instinctively rises out of its sin, and +presses upward, as a man wakens from a hideous nightmare. The more such +phenomena are studied, the more distinct and significant do they appear +and the more impossible becomes the effort to explain them. They may be +verified, but they can never be explained. They are the results of the +action of the Spirit of God on the spirit of man. Is this answer +rejected as fanciful or superstitious? Then some of the most brilliant +and significant events in the history of humanity are inexplicable. + +What caused the revolution in the character of Augustine by which the +sensualist became a saint? Was it the study of Plato? or the prayers of +Monica? or the preaching of Ambrose? We know not; rather let us say it +was the Spirit of God. Who can define the process by which Wilberforce +was changed from the pet of fashionable society to one of the heroes in +the world's great crusade against injustice and oppression? Such +inquiries are more easily started than settled. I repeat, the only +rational and convincing word that was ever spoken on this subject is +that of Jesus. The Spirit of God, whose ministry is as still as the +sunlight, as mysterious as the wind, and as potent as gravitation, was +the One to whom He pointed. + +How has this epoch in the ascent of the soul been treated in literature? +I refer with frequency to the literary treatment of spiritual subjects +because poets, dramatists, and writers of fiction, more than any other +class of authors, have studied the soul in its depths, in its +inspirations, and in the process by which it rises and presses toward +its goal. + +The illustrations of this subject in the Scriptures are almost idyllic +in their simplicity and beauty. There is more than flippancy in the +remark that Adam's fall was a fall upward. The statement is literally +true. The fall was no fiction, but a condition of enlightenment and +growth. The exit from Eden was the beginning of the long, hard climb +toward the City of God. + +The very moment when Isaiah saw Uzziah, the king, stricken with leprosy, +he saw the Lord. + +The classical delineation of a soul attaining the higher knowledge is +that of the prodigal son, who, when he came to himself, saw clearly that +his father was waiting to welcome him. + +The "Idylls of the King" are a kind of "Pilgrim's Progress." In various +ways they trace, and with matchless music rehearse, the growth of souls +and their victories over spiritual enemies. One of the most pathetic +stories ever told is that of the beautiful Queen Guinevere, who by shame +and agony learned that "we needs must love the highest when we see it;" +and who never appreciated the great love in which she was enfolded +until Arthur, "moving ghost-like to his doom," had gone to fight his +last great battle in the west. + +The world owes George MacDonald gratitude it will never repay;--such +spiritual souls are never paid in the coin of this world. In "Robert +Falconer," he taught his time with a lucidity and sweetness that none +but Tennyson and Browning have equaled, and that not even they have +surpassed, that a "loving worm within its clod were lovelier than a +loveless God upon his Throne," and in "Thomas Wingfold" he has traced +with epic fidelity the growth of a soul from moral insensibility to +manly strength and vision. The description of the process by which +Wingfold is brought to see that he, a teacher in the church, is a fraud +and a hypocrite, and by which he is then lifted up and made worthy of +his vocation as a minister of the glorious Gospel of the blessed God is +a wonderful piece of spiritual delineation. + +With Guinevere the external humiliation was an essential stage in her +soul's development; but with Wingfold there was no public +disgrace,--only the not less poignant shame of a man who, looking into +his own heart, finds nothing but selfishness and duplicity. His +condition was a matter between himself, his friend, and his God; but +none the less the humiliation was the means by which his soul's eyes +were opened and his heart fired with a passion for reality. + +One result of the soul's re-awakening is the realization that it has +relations to God and that they are at once the nearest, the most vital, +and the most enduring of all its relations. Before, it had felt the call +of duty and had recognized that it had affinities with truth and right; +but now it has come into the consciousness of sonship. God is not +distant and unrelated, but near and personally helpful. In a very real +sense He is Father. He is interested in the welfare of His children; and +His will has now become the law of their lives. The first awakening is +to the consciousness of a moral order and of freedom; the second +awakening is to the consciousness of God and of a near and vital +relation with Him. The path of progress is still full of obstacles; +there are still attractions for the senses in animalism and +solicitations from something malign outside; but never again will the +soul be without the realization that it is in the hands of a +compassionate, as well as a just, God. I am inclined to think that the +elder Calvinists were right in their contention that when the soul has +once come to this saving knowledge of God it can never again "fall from +grace," or from the consciousness of its relation to the One mighty to +save. This does not mean that there may not be repeated and awful moral +lapses. The soul's realization of God does not imply that it has become +perfected. It has taken a long step in its ascent; it is now conscious +of its destiny, and of the power which is working in its behalf; but far +away stretch the spiritual heights and, before they can be reached, many +a cliff must be scaled and many a glacier passed; and few reach those +altitudes without many a savage fall, and without frequent hours of +weariness, doubt, and despair. The sufferings and the chastisements of +those who have come to this altitude often increase as the vision +becomes clearer. + +The difference between the former condition and the present is this: in +the former there was growth toward God without the conscious choice of +God; but in the latter the soul sees and chooses for itself that toward +which it has, heretofore, been impelled by the "cosmic process." + +That is a solemn and glad moment when, in the midst of the confusion, +the soul hears faint and far the call of its destiny; but the one in +which it realizes that it is related to God, and chooses His will for +its law, is far more glad and solemn. That consciousness may be +obscured, but never again will it utterly fail. The soul that knows that +it came from God, and is moving toward God, never can lose that +knowledge, nor long cease to feel the power of that divine attraction. + +A practical question at this stage of our inquiry concerns the relation +of one soul to another. May those who have realized this experience help +others to attain to it so that the process may be hastened and made +easier? Must those who have been enlightened wait for those who are dear +to them to be awfully humiliated by sin, or terribly crushed by sorrow, +before the light can fall upon their pathway? Is there no way by which +a soul may be brought to the knowledge of God except by bitter trials? + +One individual may help another to acquire other knowledge,--must it +make an exception of things spiritual? That cannot be. What one has +learned, in part at least, it may communicate to another, and the +constant and growing passion with those who know God is to tell others +of Him. All plans of education should include the communication of the +highest knowledge. He who seeks the physical or mental development of +his boy and cares not to crown his work by helping him to a realization +that he is a child of God, and a subject of His love, has sadly +misconceived the privilege of education. All curricula should move +toward this consciousness as their consummation and culmination. +Geology, biology, physiology, the languages, philosophy, the science of +society should be so studied as to lead directly to Him in whom all +live and move and have their being. The home, the school, the church +should be organized so as to obviate, in great measure, the necessity of +learning the deepest truths in the school of suffering. + +No holier privilege is given to one human soul than that of whispering +its secret into the ears of another who has not yet attained the wisdom +which comes only by living. + +God be merciful to the parent who is anxious about the mental culture of +his child and never tells him of the deeper possibilities of his life, +or never repeats to him the messages which he has heard in silent and +lonely hours. The growth of a soul in the knowledge of God may be +measured by the intensity of its desire to help other souls to the same +knowledge. + +What will the re-awakened soul do? It will be as individual and +distinctive in its action as before. The divine life in the souls of +men manifests itself in ways as various and numerous as solar energy is +manifested in nature. Variety in unity is the law of the spirit. Every +person will be led to do those things, to hold those beliefs, and to +minister in the ways for which he has been prepared. + +The experience of one can never be made the model for another, and the +message which the Spirit speaks in the ears of one may never be spoken +in the ears of another. Uniformity is neither to be expected nor to be +desired. The soul which realizes that it belongs to God will choose to +live for Him, and in its own way will forever move toward Him. +Henceforward His will will be its law. This is all we know and all we +need to know. + + + + +THE PLACE OF JESUS CHRIST + + + I say, the acknowledgment of God in Christ + Accepted by thy reason, solves for thee + All questions in the earth and out of it, + And has so far advanced thee to be wise. + + --_A Death in the Desert._ Browning. + + + 'Tis the weakness in strength that I cry for! my flesh that I seek + In the God-head! I seek and I find it. O Saul, it shall be + A Face like my face that receives thee; a Man like to me, + Thou shalt love and be loved by, for ever: a Hand like this hand + Shall throw open the gates of new life to thee! See the Christ stand! + + --_Saul._ Browning. + + + + +VII + +_THE PLACE OF JESUS CHRIST_ + + +In the ascent of the soul do light and power come to its assistance from +outside and from above? Is evolution alone a sufficient guarantee that +it will some time reach its goal? These are not so much questions of +theory as of fact, and as such will be treated in this chapter. + +Light and power have come to the race in its struggles upward from one +source as from no other. In history one figure appears colossal and +unique. Whether we classify Jesus Christ with men, or regard Him as a +special divine manifestation is of little consequence in our inquiry. If +He is the consummate flower of the evolutionary process, then, because +of some unexplained influence, that process reached a degree of +perfection in Him that it has reached in no other. If it pleased God in +a single instance to hasten the process, the result is not less +inspiring and illuminating than it would have been if the divine purpose +had been directly and instantly accomplished. The teachers and leaders +have ever been helpers of their fellow-men. In evolution, as in the race +of life, some always move more swiftly than others; and those who are +far in advance may, if they choose, become the servants of those who +move more slowly. One Being has appeared in the midst of the ages who is +so far superior to all others that He may be regarded as the revelation +of the soul's true goal, but who is, at the same time, so unlike others +as to convince many, at least, that He is also the revelation in +humanity of a higher power which is cooperating with the soul in its +ascent. + +In this chapter no attempt will be made to meet the various questions +that the formal theologians have raised. I cannot feel that such +subjects as "satisfaction," "expiation," "plan of salvation" are of any +practical importance, and I leave them to those who care for them. In +the meantime let us ask, What aid does the soul need in its passage +through its life on the earth? It needs light and power. We do not +meditate long on the soul's advance without realizing that it has been +constantly reinforced from outside itself. This phase of our subject +will be considered in the chapter on "The Inseparable Companion." + +It may, I think, be said that what the soul needs more than anything +else is light, and that all necessary light has been furnished. Jesus +said, "I am the Light of the World." That statement is literally true. +There may be room for perplexity as to the credibility of parts of the +New Testament, and as to what is called the miraculous element in +history. There is also room for difference of opinion as to the nature +of the person of Jesus, and as to His supernatural mission; but few +would deny that, if they could feel sure that He was actually from +above, they would accept His message because it contains all the ethical +and spiritual knowledge that men need in their earthly lives. + +A single assumption is made at the beginning of our study. It is as +follows: What satisfies our minds and hearts, in their hours of deepest +need and brightest illumination, should always be accepted as true until +it is proven to be false. + +The profoundest subjects of thought and life are illuminated by the +ministry and the teaching of Jesus Christ. The last word concerning +these subjects has not yet been spoken. Even our Bible is but a +collection of scattered rays of the true light. What vaster revelations +may come to men in future ages no one can predict. As growth goes on, +the soul will be fitted to receive messages which it could not now +understand; but all that men need to know in their present stage of +development is clearly revealed in the teaching, and the example, of the +Man of Nazareth and Calvary. He is the brightest light on the deepest +and darkest problems. + +Let us try to understand and define the place of Jesus Christ in the +ascent of the soul. + +Jesus Christ has given the world a rational and satisfying doctrine of +God. Other teachers have tried to answer the inquiry, Does God exist? +Jesus treated that question as an astronomer treats the sun. No sane +scientist would fill his pages with speculations as to the reality of +the sun. It moves and shines in the heavens; beginning with that fact, +the astronomer asks concerning the function which the sun performs in +the solar system and in the universe. + +Jesus discarded speculation and found the key to the doctrine of God in +the family, the simplest and most elemental of human institutions. There +may be wide differences concerning the nature of government, the +sanctions of law, etc., but there is no room for debate concerning the +meaning of the parental relation. It interprets itself. Tell a child +that a man is his father, and he can be told no more. The name +interprets the relation. In earlier times the vastness of the creation +was but dimly appreciated, and then the idea of God was equally +contracted. Jesus taught that the Deity, whether the conception of Him +was small or large, was to be interpreted in terms of fatherhood. What +an ideal father is to his family God is to the race and to the universe. +That meant one thing when the father was little more than the protector +of a tribe; it means something greater, but not essentially different +now. The conception of the universe is one of the most revolutionary +that ever entered the human mind. The conception of a tribe is larger +than that of a family; of a nation larger than that of a tribe; of the +race larger than that of the nation; but the conception of the universe, +with its myriads of worlds and possible multiplicity of races, is the +amazing contribution which science has made to the thought of to-day. +While the conception of the Deity has been enlarged the principle of +interpretation remains unchanged. Are we thinking of Jehovah the God of +Israel? He is the Father of the tribe. Has our idea expanded so as to +include all the nations? God is the Father not of a limited number but +of all that dwell upon the earth. Has the horizon been lifted to take in +heavenly heights? Are we now thinking of immensities, eternities, and +the cosmic process? The teaching of Jesus is not transcended; we still +continue to interpret in terms of fatherhood, and say all time, all +space, all men, all purposes and processes in the infinities and +eternities are in the hands of the Father. But when we have ascended to +such a height what does the word Father mean? Exactly the same in +essence that it meant in the humblest of Judean households among which +Jesus moved. The father there was the one who made the home, sustained +it, defended it, watched over it by day and by night; in exactly the +same way the followers of Jesus think of the Spirit who pervades all +things. He creates, He cares for, He defends, He provides, He loves, He +causes all processes to work for blessing to the intelligent beings who +are His children. + +Jesus in a peculiar way identified himself with the Deity. That does +not mean that all the divine omnipotence and glory were in that Man of +Nazareth, but it does mean that all of the Deity that could be expressed +in terms of humanity were visible in Him, so that those who saw Jesus +saw God as far as He could be manifested in the flesh. Beyond that veil +were abysses and heights of being which could not be expressed in human +terms; but in all the spaces we may dare to believe that there is +nothing essentially different from what was revealed in that unique Man. +A bay makes a curve in the Atlantic seaboard; its shallow waters are all +from the deeps of the sea. Tides that move along all the seas, and +forces which reach to the stars, fill that basin among the hills. The +bay is the ocean, but not all of it; for if we were to sail around the +earth we should find the same body of water reaching out to vaster +spaces. + +Even so the person of Jesus included all of God that humanity can +contain, but Bethlehem and Jerusalem, Gethsemane and Calvary were to the +Deity as some land-locked harbor to the immensities of the universe. In +Him love reached to enemies, to the outcast, to those who had been +called refuse and rubbish, to men of all classes in all the ages, to +lepers, beggars, criminals, lunatics, harlots, thieves, little children; +those who appreciated and those who hated alike were all included in the +infinite purpose of blessing. + +Those who have seen the love of Jesus, and its ministries, have seen the +Father; but beyond the love of Galilee and Calvary reach depths of love +which even the cross is powerless to express. Divine sympathy and divine +affection bind all men in a universal family; this we know, and this is +all we know. + +That teaching is so simple that a child can understand it; so profound +that no philosopher has ever transcended it; and so satisfying that +neither child nor philosopher would have it changed either as to its +simplicity or its fullness. + +Jesus furnishes the light which the soul needs on the nature of man. +Wonderfully has Holman Hunt elaborated this truth in his picture "The +Light of the World." The ideal humanity never had more beautiful +expression than in that great sermon in color. The poise of the figure +of Jesus indicates strength and self-control; the thorns on the brow +tell their story of sorrow and pain; the hand at the door shows that one +man at least is mindful of the welfare of His brother; the radiance on +the face and the inspiration in the eyes are the outshining of the +goodness which dwells within; while the light from the whole person, +which reaches far into the gloom, shows that the more nearly perfect the +being the more beneficent and beautiful his influence must be. Is Jesus +Christ the brightness of the Father's glory? He reveals also the beauty +and helpfulness, the love and the service of the ideal man. He is the +pattern of our common humanity. Are we in the midst of a process of +evolution? And is the man that is to be still far in the distance? When +he shall walk this earth he will be the spiritual reproduction of Jesus, +changed only to meet the requirements of other times and new conditions. + +The revelation of the ideal humanity was hardly less revolutionary than +that of the enlarged universe. Formerly men were regarded as things, +commodities to be bought and sold, creatures without souls, objects to +be used. But Jesus taught that all men are children of God; therefore +that they have the very life of God; therefore that they are created for +His eternity, and will forever approach His perfection. This vision of +the perfected race has been at work changing national boundaries, +destroying hoary institutions, undermining thrones, and making a new +world. A glance shows the revolutionary quality of His teaching. Slavery +was the curse of every land. With force on the one side and weakness on +the other oppression was inevitable. Jesus taught that even weakness may +be divine, and lo! from every civilized land slavery has already gone, +and from the world it is fast disappearing. + +According to the orthodox economic doctrine, supply and demand was the +law that should govern the relation between employer and employee. The +largest profit and the smallest wages was the watchword. As the teaching +of Jesus has penetrated further into the dealings of man with man +employers are beginning to realize that labor has to do with human +beings; that manhood is enduring and that conditions are ephemeral; and +that whosoever oppresses his brother, even in the name of economic law, +at last will have to reckon with the Almighty. Thus a new and more +beneficent social order is slowly but surely emerging. + +The doctrine of the survival of the fittest is, even now, applied to men +where the teaching of Jesus that Providence has made a way for the +survival of the unfit is unknown or ignored. In all lands the revelation +in Jesus of the ideal manhood, and of the destiny toward which all men +are moving is changing and glorifying human society. He is the one whom +"the low-browed beggar," and the criminal with a vicious heredity, are +some time to approach. Is it difficult to select the one phrase of all +human utterances which has exerted the largest influence in ameliorating +the human condition? Would it not be,--"Inasmuch as ye did it unto one +of the least of these, ye did it unto Me." The identification of +humanity with Deity, the revelation of the divine in the human, the +solemn truth that no one can injure or neglect his brother without, at +the same time, violating all that is sacred and holy in the universe is +the culminating point in the revelation of man to himself. In the light +which Jesus sheds on humanity all men appear in their enduring rather +than their transitory relations. + +The life and teaching of Jesus make the awful and insoluble mystery of +suffering endurable. He satisfies no curiosity on this subject. Why +suffering is permitted He does not tell us. He never allowed himself to +be diverted from His one purpose, which was not to solve problems but to +improve conditions. If any one approaches the New Testament expecting to +find an answer to his speculative questions he will be disappointed; but +if he asks, How may I so use the conditions in which I am placed that +they will minister to my spiritual purification and power? he will +receive a definite and satisfying reply. Why need sorrow, suffering, +sin, and death invade the fair realm into which man has been born? Other +teachers seek to answer this question but Jesus is silent. How may +sorrow, suffering, and even moral evil be made ministers of an upward +movement? On this subject Jesus speaks with a tone of authority. Among +the world's teachers He was the first to declare that while austere +experiences are not good in themselves they may, uniformly, become means +of moral and spiritual progress. The sweet may always be found in the +bitter. Sorrow may always be made a blessing. Tears never need be +wasted. Struggle always adds to strength; and sympathy is multiplied +when one bears the grief and carries the burden of another. + +Do not brood over what you are called to endure, but seek for the +secret of spiritual help which is hidden within, and you will find that +on every grief and every pain you may rise, as on stepping-stones, to +higher things. + +Jesus was the supreme optimist. Those who study life and history in the +light which shines from Him see that no human being walks with aimless +feet. They do not think of men as unrelated units, but as bound by love +to one another, and as living under the eye and in the strength of God. +In that light sorrow and pain may be justified, even though in +themselves they are hateful. The poison which destroys life, if rightly +used, will save life. + +Apart from God and His purpose of love, nothing is more to be dreaded +than pain; but in His hands pain becomes the servant and not the master +of men. + +I can think of nothing more dreary than the study of human life and +history apart from the interpretations put upon them by Jesus. Then one +generation seems to follow another, and the long procession, even though +the character of those composing it steadily improves, always ends at +the same goal,--the grave. Millions live and die like the beasts that +perish. They aspire, struggle, and are determined to rise, but just when +they are fitted to endure, and to enter upon ampler spheres of service, +the curtain falls on the tragedy, the stage scenery is changed, a new +company of players takes their places, and the farce, for it is a farce +as well as a tragedy, goes on from century to century, and there is no +meaning in anything. If that were the true interpretation of life, on +earth's loftiest mountain there might well be raised a temple in honor +of death; and around it all the races of men be invited to join in the +chorus, "Happy is the next one who dies!" + +But a better interpretation of human life's mystery has been given. +Jesus looked over its apparent desolation and confusion and poured upon +it divine light. He taught that it is not the Father's will that even +one should perish. Men are not being ground in an infinite mill, but +they are being refined and purified by the only processes which will +develop in them both strength and beauty. Out of confusion harmony will +come, and out of the battle of the elements peace will dawn at last. + +To those who know that pain and sorrow are ministers of strength and +sympathy, that by them narrow horizons are widened and deserts made to +blossom, human life does not seem so confused and terrible as it has +sometimes been pictured. Jesus makes evident the upward movement of the +race, and shows, let me repeat, that it is "under the eye and in the +strength of God." He was made perfect through suffering. The thorns on +His brow tell their own pathetic story. The passion vine above His head, +and beneath His feet, indicate that even His sufferings are not without +a purpose of blessing, and therefore are fully justified. + +And now we approach the saddest of all the dark experiences through +which the soul passes,--the mystery of sin. Of its enormity I have +already spoken; but what about its origin, its uses, and its +continuance? The question of its origin Jesus does not even mention. It +is not recognized as having any uses. It may be made an occasion of +good, but it is never ordained in order that good may come. Hardly any +other subject occupies so large a place in the teachings of Jesus. It +was said of Him, "His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His +people from their sins;" and of Him Paul wrote, "God commendeth His love +toward us in that when we were yet sinners Christ died for us." + +The terrible blight of moral evil, whatever its genesis, cannot be +explained away. Jesus passed by all other questions and devoted the +largest part of His ministry, as a teacher, to showing how the soul may +escape from the power, and be delivered from the bondage, of sin. This +is the practical problem. As one surveys the race the imperative inquiry +concerns deliverance. What light does Jesus shed upon this mystery? He +shows that sin is an incident in the ascent of the soul, and not an end; +that it is hateful and unnatural; and that all the strength and goodness +of God are pledged to its removal. The soul will be allowed to be in +bondage only so long as is necessary for its complete emancipation. +Moral evil is tolerated at all not because it is a good in itself, but +in order that the soul may learn that its safety and strength are to be +found only in conformity to the will of God. + +Jesus reveals the way of escape and thus confers upon the race the +greatest of possible blessings. This he does by the revelation of the +Fatherhood of God, which is not only compassionate but also holy. +Because God is the Father of all souls, when any one ceases to do evil +and begins to do well, or in other words repents, he finds a welcome and +help waiting for him. And Jesus clearly indicates, also, that in the +constitution of the soul, and in the inexorableness of moral law, there +is a deep remedial agency which is ever active, giving no individual +rest until it finds it in God. The tragedy of the cross was preeminently +a revelation. The cross is the manifestation, in terms of human life, of +the passion of the universe and of God. There must be suffering in all +who are good, until sin disappears. + +The cross is the revelation of the Eternal God in sacrifice for the +redemption of souls in bondage to selfishness and animalism. Jesus +taught that sin is to be abolished. By means of the revelations of +holiness, the sacrifices of love, the remedial agency in the universe, +and by His own new life the forces of evil are to be broken, and the +soul allowed to enter into its freedom as a child of God. This is not a +subject for definition and dogmatism. The greatest things cannot be +defined, but they may be appropriated. The light, the air, gravitation +and all elemental forces transcend definition. The love of God revealed +on the cross is too holy and too transcendent for "scheme and plan." It +may be accepted in a spirit of worship, but it can be comprehended no +more than the process by which rain and soil are transmuted into +nourishment, and light into physical strength and beauty. The cross is +the pledge of the redemption of the soul through the love and power of +God; and beyond that we have no knowledge except that wherever that +cross has been lifted up men have been drawn unto truth and virtue, love +and brotherhood. + +More than poetry and sentiment has found expression in a popular hymn +which thrills with a power which has been verified again and again in +human history: + + "In the cross of Christ I glory, + Towering o'er the wrecks of time + All the light of sacred story + Gathers round its head sublime." + +Jesus has furnished no clew to the origin of moral evil, but He has +given to the hope that it is to be overcome in the individual, the race, +and the universe, the testimony of His teaching and the emphasis of His +death. + +Which is the greater mystery, life or death? A satisfying answer is +impossible, since we cannot think of one without thinking of its +opposite. What is life? Whence is it? Why is it? Such are some of the +questions which arise and elicit no response when one meditates upon the +mystery of living. What is death? What purpose does it serve? Is it an +end or a beginning? Such are some of the inquiries which cannot be +escaped when one, for even a few moments, looks, as all some time must +look, on the still and peaceful face of one who has ceased to breathe. +Who shall answer our questions? Of all who have attempted to fathom +these depths One alone has brought a message which is satisfying both to +the minds and hearts of those who think. Does any light from Jesus +penetrate the mystery of death? What others have groped after he has +declared. He taught that the universe is like a house of many rooms, and +that dying is but passing from one room to another. In His own +experience He illustrated His teachings. He ministered to His +disciples; He communed with those whom He loved until their hearts +burned within them. Then He disappeared and has been seen no more. But +why did He appear at all after death? Was it not to confirm the message +of the Transfiguration that those who seem to die only change the mode +of their existence, and continue their companionships and ministries +even after they have laid aside their bodies? + +In the passage in the Gospel of Matthew, which may be called the parable +of the judgment, Jesus taught that the moral order is not changed by the +transition from bodily to disembodied existence. The thoughts which men +think, and the actions which they perform, affect the substance of the +soul. Evil works misery and virtue leads to happiness beyond the grave +as well as here. Seed sown on the earth may grow to its harvest in the +ages that lie beyond. + +This is all the light on this subject that we need now. Death removes +no one beyond the watch and care of the infinite love. In the home of +the Heavenly Father His children pass from place to place, as He calls. +Jesus appeared to those who loved Him, and was recognized by them, and +that indicates that, whatever the changes of the future, the spiritual +body will be recognized by all who love. + +The moral order is universal, and no change will touch the everlasting +distinctions between right and wrong, or diminish the obligation to +choose the right and refuse the wrong. + +These are some of the lessons which are impressed upon us as we meditate +upon the life and teachings of Jesus and their relation to the ascent of +the soul. + +He is the light of all souls. Into the darkness His glory has been +extending and expanding from His own time until now. If we may judge +the future from the past, it is easy to believe that this radiance will +not fail from among men until all realize that life and death, time and +eternity, humanity and history, are beset behind and before by the +Divine Fatherhood; that the goal of the race is the fullness of Christ; +that the severest experiences sometimes achieve the best results; that +sin will not forever darken the history of humanity; that death is a +passage not an abyss; an opening not a closing; a beginning not an +ending; and that beyond stretch opportunities of limitless life and +immortal growth. + + + + +THE INSEPARABLE COMPANION + + + The prayers I make will then be sweet indeed, + If Thou the Spirit give by which I pray: + My unassisted heart is barren clay, + Which of its native self can nothing feed: + Of good and pious works Thou art the seed, + Which quickens only where Thou say'st it may + Unless Thou show to us Thine own true way, + No man can find it: Father! Thou must lead. + Do Thou, then, breathe those thoughts into my mind + By which such virtue may in me be bred + That in Thy holy footsteps I may tread; + The fetters of my tongue do Thou unbind, + That I may have the power to sing of Thee, + And sound Thy praises everlastingly. + + --_Sonnet from Michael Angelo._ Wordsworth. + + + + +VIII + +_THE INSEPARABLE COMPANION_ + + +As the soul moves along its upward pathway it gradually becomes +conscious of many inspiring truths. Among the most delightful and +helpful of these is the fact that it is never alone, but is one of a +great company all pressing toward the same goal and all passing through +substantially the same experiences. In the midst of these +companionships, which are variable, and of these experiences which can +seldom be predicted, it slowly becomes aware that there is one +companionship which is constant, beneficent, and singularly +illuminating. The realization of this fellowship is intensely +individual. Of it others may speak, but concerning it they can give +little information. The full consciousness is always a personal one. +Having once enjoyed communion with the Over-soul it is difficult to +imagine that any are ever without this supreme spiritual privilege. +Sometimes the sense of spiritual coöperation is so vivid and continuous, +so compassionate and helpful, as to be almost startling--in those +moments when it seems to beset us behind and before. The process by +which a soul becomes conscious that it is forever attended by a +companion, whose one object seems to be to help it toward the spiritual +heights, will repay the most careful examination. To that delightful and +difficult study we will now turn. + +Before it has advanced far on its pathway the soul becomes painfully +aware of the dangers by which it is surrounded and of the obstacles +which it must overcome. The road before it seems to be infested with +enemies. Its defeats are frequent and humiliating. It learns much by +experience; but the more it learns the clearer it seems to discern the +difficulties which it must meet. In the midst of the confusion and +failure it slowly becomes aware that warning voices are speaking, and +that they are loudest when moral peril is near. This is one of those +simple facts which may be verified by every thoughtful man, but which no +thoughtful man would ever dream of trying to explain. So simple and +elemental is this truth that it may best be enforced by commonplace +illustrations, and by something like a personal appeal. + +A very distinguished man was one day walking with a friend along a +street in Edinburgh, when they came to one of the numerous wynds which +lead from the main thoroughfare into the midst of huge and gloomy +buildings. There the man stopped and asked to be excused while he +entered the wynd. Returning, after a moment, he explained his act by +saying that, in his young manhood, he had been tempted to do something +which would have wrecked his life. Just as he came to the place that he +had visited there sounded in his ears such a vivid warning as made it +morally impossible for him to proceed on his course of wrong-doing. He +felt sure that that voice was from above, for his whole nature, until +that instant, seemed to have been set on what would have led to moral +ruin. + +Another person testified that he was once on the verge of doing what +would have brought him undying disgrace when, as if she had been drawn +out of the air, his mother stood before him, looking reproachfully at +him. Thus the fascination of temptation was broken by what he always +believed to have been a veritable spiritual presence. + +Another experience is perfectly attested. A man in a distinguished +position did wrong, and was in peril of still greater wrong when +something, he could not have explained what, not only warned him but +kept warning him and following him so that he could not escape. If he +closed his eyes his danger became more vivid; if he stopped his ears +voices of reproach found their way in. He loved his wrong and would move +toward it, but then invisible hands seemed to hold him back until the +time of danger was past, and he was confirmed in right ways. Such +experiences are too numerous and varied to be doubted. No facts are +better attested. It may be said that they are only the usual warnings of +conscience. Be it so. Then what is conscience? The factors in the +problem are not materially changed, for the phenomena of conscience are +as remarkable, constant, and verifiable as light and heat. Most men who +have recorded their experiences, and who have observed with care the +workings of their own faculties, have been conscious of being attended +by some invisible presence warning them against evil. The explanation of +this phenomenon may be left for later consideration. + +Closely allied to warnings against moral danger, which are so vivid as +sometimes to be almost audible, are the evidences of what may be called +spiritual protection. The idea of guardian angels and tutelary deities +arose naturally and inevitably. Many who have been astonishingly +delivered from spiritual peril have been able to find no other +explanation of their escape. Those who receive the confidences of their +fellow-men have little difficulty in believing such a story as was once +confided to me. An able and prominent man who had, resolutely as he +thought, turned from a course of conduct which threatened disaster, +found himself drawn toward the evil from which he supposed that he had +been forever delivered. The attraction seemed to be resistless. Again +and again he was on the verge of falling when the fall would have been +ruin. Then something made it morally impossible for him to enter upon +the path which he had determined to follow. The means used to dissuade +him were various. Sometimes a friend would call, then a duty would +intervene, then some obligation would press until, to use his own way of +phrasing it,--"it seemed as if some unseen person who could read my +thoughts and desires was walking by my side and, as fast as I was in +danger of yielding to evil, ordering events so as to prevent me from +doing what I wanted to do." + +Few men who are trying to live on spiritual levels would hesitate to +acknowledge that they have been the subjects of similar protection. The +peculiar feature about it all is that the agents used are so often +entirely unconscious of the influence which they are exerting. An +unseen hand seems to be guiding our moves on the chess-board of life, so +as to check us every time that we are inclined to play falsely. I do not +mean that all are persuaded toward virtue, but I do mean that enough are +protected from moral evil and spiritual peril to justify the belief that +such ministries are around all; and that those who choose to do wrong do +so in the face of spiritual appeals which, if they would but give them +heed, would make resistance of evil easy and successful. If any one who +reads these words doubts my conclusions, let him study his own life, +with a little care, and learn for himself whether there are not many +hours in which he is almost persuaded to accept the ancient doctrine of +guardian angels. + +This phase of the spiritual experience is rendered still more vivid when +we remember that the souls of men are perpetually dissatisfied with +present attainments, and ever eager in their efforts to explore the +unseen. The history of human thought, if it could be written, would show +that the mind has never been satisfied with what it has possessed, and +that each new glimpse of truth has stimulated still more ardent inquiry. +The more it is pondered the more impressive this fact becomes. The soul +seems to have had just before it, in all the stages of its development, +a spiritual forerunner opening a way into larger and fairer realms. This +consciousness is not akin to a passion for wealth. A man with enormous +riches often ceases to acquire, and devotes himself to the enjoyment of +what he possesses; but who ever heard of a thoughtful man who felt that +he might cease investigating and devote himself to the pleasures of +knowledge? Such instances there may have been, but they are not numerous +and have never been recorded. + +Of course there are many, who in no true sense can be called seekers +after truth, who do not trouble themselves with questions about the +Unseen. They chew the cud of custom with all the placidity of +good-natured oxen. They do not live,--they simply exist. It is possible +for any man to shut his eyes to the light, but that does not banish the +light. It envelops him, and pours its splendors around him, regardless +of his wilful blindness. Millions are so engrossed with selfishness, or +animalism, that they catch the accents of no spiritual message, but +those appeals are never hushed. The deafness of the multitudes who will +not hear does not prove that no voices are calling. + +In some way men have been kept dissatisfied with their ignorance and +persistent in their search for truth. I make no distinction between +sacred and secular here because all truth is sacred. Scientist and +theologian alike have to do with reality. Whether we examine the tracks +of an extinct animal on ancient rocks, or bow our heads in prayer, we +are facing a real world which is steadily enlarging. For centuries men +have sought the causes of things; they have been made to feel that they +ought to do right, and then have been inspired with a passion to +discover the right. This is very wonderful. The being who has almost +limitless powers of physical enjoyment, whose senses are exquisitely +fitted for pleasure, is not satisfied with pleasure, but, in obedience +to unseen attractions, ever seeks for higher things. Whence does this +eagerness come? Is it from man himself? Then our problem is great +indeed, for, at one and the same time, something within himself impels +him upward, and another something drags him downward. But the point for +special consideration now is that the soul is never satisfied with +anything but truth, that the history of thought is the record of the +search for truth, that every new discovery has acted as a stimulus to +still more ardent exploration, and that the search is always for +elemental realities, the causes of phenomena, for "things as they are." +The promise of Jesus was fulfilled long before it was spoken. Some one, +in all the ages, has been leading into truth and showing things to come; +and the process was never more evident than after all these years of +intellectual and spiritual progress. I say some one has led. By that I +mean a personal spirit, unseen, but ever present; for how could he whose +home is in the mire be supposed, steadily and unwaveringly, to reach +toward the skies unless there was some attraction in the skies? The only +attraction for one spirit is another spirit. This age-long, unwavering +passion for truth and progress, the wisest of men have believed to have +been inspired by Providence or God or by guardian angels--which after +all are only other ways of stating the doctrine of Jesus concerning the +Holy Spirit. + +Another phase of this subject is the power, which has seemed to come +from outside the soul, to sustain and help those who have been called to +endure bitter and long-continued sorrow and pain. Those who feel +themselves to be weak as water under the stress of severe trial, almost +without previous suggestion, assume the proportions of heroes. They +endure and suffer with patience what would crush those who are only +physically brave and strong. A woman who seemed to have few resources in +herself, suddenly lost four children. In speaking of it, she very simply +but forcefully, said: "I could never have endured it myself." She +believed that her fragility had been reinforced by one stronger than +herself. Exceptional physical courage will account for deeds of amazing +heroism like that displayed at the sinking of the Merrimac in the +harbor of Santiago. Some persons are thus gifted by nature, as others +have a poetic temperament. But exhibitions of physical valor, stimulated +by the consciousness of world-wide applause, are very different from the +patience with which weak persons accept heavy burdens without a murmur, +and carry them apparently without assistance, sustained only by the +consciousness of being right. + +How shall we explain the singular devotion of Monica to Augustine? By +mother-love? But mother-love might have been content with the greatness +of her son, and his regard for her. She bore on her heart "the salvation +of his soul," and would not cease in her quest for his spiritual +welfare. A profligate father, the degraded ideals which justified vice, +distances which seemed to be almost world-wide, did not daunt her. +Without haste and without rest she sought to bring her gifted son to +his Saviour. He had fame, and at least all the wealth that he needed, +but Monica never faltered in her prayers, or in her service, until her +son bowed before the cross, albeit for years she carried a heavy heart. + +The age of martyrdom has passed but not the age in which men of vision +and strength have to serve their fellow-men with neither pecuniary +compensation nor expressed approval. And yet the number is steadily +increasing who quietly undertake herculean tasks for their fellow-men, +knowing that they will be neither appreciated nor understood, but, +instead, will have to suffer social ostracism, which is sometimes quite +as hard to endure as physical martyrdom. When a strong and earnest man +undertakes a service in which he must be misunderstood, and seldom if +ever applauded, when he chooses suffering with joy in order that he may +serve others, when he is willing to accept discomfort, social hunger, +physical pain, and without complaint continue in such a path, although +opportunities of worldly emolument and honor make their appeals to him, +it is difficult to explain the phenomena by simply saying that he is +finding strength in some hitherto unknown chamber of his own +personality. It would be easy to make a list of illustrations, long and +pathetic, of those who have patiently endured tribulation, who have +accepted heavy burdens and carried them without flinching that others +might be relieved, who have had physical deformity, depression of mind, +and pain of body, and yet who have never faltered as to their duty even +when the way was dark. The world's noblest heroes are to be found among +those who suffer but still endure and aspire in the night and silence, +clinging to duty when no one understands, and much less approves. Such +heroisms need explanation, and they have it in the inspiration and the +regeneration which are mediated by the Inseparable Spiritual Companion. + +Phenomena like those of which I have thus far been speaking have been +observed in every age and every land. Some like Socrates have felt +themselves warned against evil courses; others like Augustine have been +protected from moral and spiritual death; others like Sakya-Muni have +been led to give up wealth and power for truth and service; others, who +could draw upon no hidden source of strength, have been sustained in the +midst of trials which have seemed heavy enough to crush; and, most +wonderful of all, in spite of all vices and crimes, all darkness and +ignorance, all bondage to ignoble ideals and slavery to commercialism +and pleasure, the race of man has never been content with things as they +have been. As the moon draws the tides by unseen attractions, so by +unseen attractions the souls of men have been made dissatisfied, and +drawn toward truth and beauty, love and holiness; and this desire for +some better country has never been absent. The passage from Egypt to the +promised land is the eternal parable of humanity, which is always +getting out of some Egypt, with its slavery and tyranny, and pressing +toward some intellectual and spiritual Canaan. This is one of the most +marvelous facts in the history of our race--its discontent with things +as they are, its faith in something better, and the perfect confidence +with which it embarks on unknown seas in its search for ampler and +fairer worlds. + +The history of the past is the record of the weak receiving strength, of +the wicked being made uncomfortable in their wickedness, of limited and +provincial creatures reaching out to broad and high horizons, of +weakness, suffering, agony, willingly endured in the confidence that +relief and blessing will come at last, though far off, to all. + +Moreover, there is no indication of any cessation of such phenomena. In +these days, when we say that no man should be asked to affirm anything +which he cannot verify, voices of warning and entreaty are vivid, the +consciousness of protection is distinct, support in trial is frequent, +and the evidence that some force, or some person, is steadily leading +humanity toward truth and righteousness is as convincing and constant as +ever. + +What shall be said of these facts which are so numerous and so evident +as to make an effort at classification and explanation imperative? + +Four answers to this inquiry are possible. Is the old doctrine of +Guardian Angels true? Possibly we may be, individually, under the care +of spiritual beings who are appointed for that service. That conviction +often prevails, although so far as I have observed, not usually in +association with perfect sanity. A man of noble bearing and grave and +solemn manner who was talking about using the telephone for +trans-Atlantic communication, once declared that all men living now are +under the leadership of those who have gone, and that the great of other +times are continuing their work through those now on earth. He added: "I +am confident of my success for I am the representative in these days of +Sir Isaac Newton." Subsequent events proved that Sir Isaac Newton must +have lost most of his common sense since his departure from the earth, +or he would have chosen a more rational representative. + +This theory in no way solves the problem before us, but rather +complicates it, because it does not explain how the relation of souls is +adjusted. That there may be some truth in this speculation may be freely +granted. One text at least appears to give it a little confirmation: +"Are not their angels ministering spirits sent forth to minister to such +as shall be the heirs of salvation." That seems to teach that some who +have never dwelt in earthly bodies are the appointed ministers of those +who live on the earth. + +Many other persons dismiss this subject by saying that all souls, like +all objects in nature and events in history, are parts of an everlasting +and universal process, and that speculation is useless and a weariness +to the flesh. That is the easiest way out of the difficulty, but it can +be taken only by ignoring the facts. Are all ideas concerning spiritual +ministry delusions? Then how shall we account for the imagination which +is capable of giving birth to such magnificent dreams? And we may +venture to ask also--Who started this movement in which we are all +involved? How comes it that in this cosmic loom such a wondrous fabric +is being woven, if there is no pattern, and no weaver, and will be no +one to enjoy the work when it is finished? + +Possibly no one is warned against sin, impelled toward virtue, supported +in sorrow, led into larger visions of truth; and, possibly, truth and +right are also dreams, and the mind itself a delusion; and, possibly, +there is nothing but delusion. Then all study and struggle are useless; +let us go to sleep. But, some one else says, perhaps the phenomena of +which you speak are, in one sense, realities but caused by reactions of +the soul on itself. First it imagines that some spiritual leadership is +desirable, and then it concludes that that leadership is discernible. In +other words, sorrow, sin, relief, joy, truth, right, are only +imaginations born of other imaginations. If any are satisfied with such +reasoning the task of enlightening them is hopeless. + +There is another explanation of the sublime, ancient, and world-wide +facts which are before us. It is the answer of Jesus, which is simple, +profound, rational, and satisfying. He told His disciples, when they +were grieving that they should see Him no more, that they would always +have with them the Spirit of Truth who would convict of sin, show things +to come, and lead into all truth. That Spirit in the Scriptures is +called by one of the sweetest and dearest names in the languages of +men--the Comforter. Some have wrongly imagined that the New Testament +teaches that the presence of the Comforter is a new event in human +history. Not so. The Spirit of Truth inspired and sustained the Apostles +and Martyrs as He had sustained the Patriarchs and Prophets and the same +Spirit which is represented as descending upon Jesus at His baptism +brooded upon the face of the waters when the earth was without form and +void. + +Jesus teaches that God, as a Spirit, has never been absent from His +creation and never out of touch with the spirits of men. In the +beginning He created; later He inspired, supported, taught, comforted; +and always and everywhere He is present to sustain, to lead, to comfort, +to help, to save, and to bless. How simple, rational, and satisfying is +this interpretation of the phenomena of human history! + +We study our own spiritual experiences and discover that when we have +been in danger of being contented with moral failure we have been made +ashamed and disgusted by it; that when we have been on the verge of +yielding to temptation we have been strangely and almost preternaturally +protected; that when sorrows have come which would have crushed our +unaided strength we have experienced strange peace and have had +undreamed-of strength; and that never for a moment have we found rest or +peace except as they have come to us in hand with truth and right. A +wider study shows us that our experiences are in harmony with the common +human experience. All forces and all events, in all ages, have been +working for the welfare of individuals, society, the whole world. A +steady, unfailing, universal attraction has been drawing the human race +away from animalism, error, sorrow, war, separation and division, toward +righteousness, truth, love, brotherhood, the life of the Spirit, and the +unity and happiness of the children of God. + +That attraction is interpreted by Jesus in a simple and beautiful way. +He has taught us that the same Being who created the universe, and who +has revealed and is revealing Himself in creation, in history, and in +the earthly ministry of the Christ, is now, always has been, and always +will be in the most intimate, personal, and loving relations with men. +He warns them against evil, protects them in danger, comforts them in +sorrow, lifts their thoughts and desires toward the true, the beautiful, +and the good; and what He is doing for individuals He is also doing for +humanity and the universe. This is the culmination of the Christian +Revelation. This is to be the consummation and splendor of the Kingdom +of God. All the disciples of Jesus are followers of the Spirit of Truth. +The Spirit of Truth is the inspiration of all that is vital and enduring +in literature, art, government, society; and each individual, and "the +whole cosmic process" are being led by Him toward the beatitude of the +Children of God. + + + + +NURTURE AND CULTURE + + + O happy house! whose little ones are given + Early to Thee, in faith and prayer,-- + To Thee, their Friend, who from the heights of heaven + Guards them with more than mother's care. + O happy house! where little voices + Their glad hosannas love to raise, + And childhood's lisping tongue rejoices + To bring new songs of love and praise. + + O happy house! and happy servitude! + Where all alike one Master own; + Where daily duty, in Thy strength pursued, + Is never hard nor toilsome known; + Where each one serves Thee, meek and lowly, + Whatever thine appointments be, + Till common tasks seem great and holy, + When they are done as unto Thee. + + --_O Happy House._ Karl J.P. Spitta. + + + + +IX + +_NURTURE AND CULTURE_ + + +In the ascent of the soul two forces are ever at work: one is internal +and the other external. The internal is that which promotes growth; it +is resident within the soul, and, while it may be modified by +conditions, it is in no sense dependent on them. But environment is a +potent factor in all progress. Life necessitates growth, but environment +determines the end toward which it will move. Environment in large part +is composed of the circumstances into which we are born, of the +spiritual companionship from which none can escape, and of the training +which is provided by parents and friends. So much of the environment as +is furnished by others we will call nurture, and those influences and +instruments of advancement which the soul chooses for itself we will +call culture. This discrimination is not entirely accurate, but it is +sufficiently so for our present purpose. It at least indicates the lines +along which our thought will move. According to this definition nurture +has to do with that period of our existence when we are not able wisely +to make choices for ourselves. It is for those persons who are in +infancy and early youth, and also for those whose normal development has +been thwarted or hindered. The influences of the home, and of the church +so far as they are related to its younger members, are in the line of +nurture rather than of culture. + +Culture, on the other hand, is something which a responsible being seeks +for himself, to the end that his power may be increased and his +faculties have harmonious development. + +The soul grows according to its innate tendencies; it is also subject +to attractions from without. All souls are bound together; and all, +whether they wish or not, vitally and permanently affect those by whom +they are surrounded. Hence nurture and culture alike are both conscious +and unconscious. + +The growth of the soul is largely affected by the nurture which it +receives. This is usually provided for it by parents, or by those who +take the places of the parents; and, where possible, their unwearying +efforts should be to remove all obstacles from the pathway of their +children, to surround them with a pure and helpful environment, and to +provide them with such training as will make their progress inevitable +and easy. The importance of wholesome domestic influences cannot be +exaggerated. Their part in the formation of character is greater than +that of all others, because they touch the powers and faculties of the +child during those years in which it is most plastic. Neither the +school nor the university can ever entirely counteract the effect of the +home. The whole period of childhood is one in which the soul is under +tutelage, and in which more is done for it by others than by itself. It +can no more select its own environment than it could have chosen its +parents, or the time and place of its birth. For a few years it is +utterly dependent. The question as to how its growth may most wisely be +promoted is, therefore, one of surpassing importance. + +The object of nurture is to provide an unhindered path along which the +soul may move, to bring into full and free exercise all the powers which +it possesses, and to secure for them development and harmony. To insure +for each individual soul in the struggle of life a fair opportunity to +be itself is the end of nurture. Emerson has said that at birth every +child is loaded with bias, and that the purpose of culture is to remove +all impediment and bias, and to secure a balance among the faculties so +as to leave nothing but pure power. The same may be said as to the +object of nurture. Since impediment and bias are never a part of the +essence of the soul, the statement that the aim of nurture is to furnish +a full and free opportunity for each individual to secure a normal +development is, practically, identical with what Emerson has said of +culture. + +What are the agencies which have most to do with promoting the ascent of +the soul? The first is atmosphere. In a bright, clear, sunshiny +atmosphere the body attains its most healthful growth. So with the soul. +Atmosphere is one of those intangible things that every one understands +and no one can easily define. It is composed of a thousand different +elements. The atmosphere of a household is the spirit by which it is +pervaded. Are all reverent, earnest, cheerful, optimistic? Do love and +mutual helpfulness prevail? Do the members of the family live as if God +were a near and blessed reality, and right and duty were more sacred +than life? Then there will be an atmosphere of hopefulness, devotion, +service, reverence, pure religion, which will affect all as sunlight and +air, unconsciously but evidently, grow into the beauty and fruitfulness +of meadows and gardens. The rare spirituality, the urbane manner, the +exquisite regard for others, the dignity and deference which are found +in some persons have no explanation except that they have been absorbed +from the households in which their early lives were passed. Nurture is +chiefly a matter of mental and spiritual atmosphere. Attraction is +always stronger than compulsion. A child born into conditions in which +love prevails, where truth, duty, honor, are reverenced, and where all +dwelling together seek the highest things, will need neither instruction +in morals nor motives in religion. It will naturally turn toward truth +and righteousness. It will revere virtue and worship God as inevitably +and spontaneously as it breathes. We are all influenced more by the +words which we hear and the examples which we see than by the lessons +given us to learn, by the spirit of a man, or an institution, rather +than by rules. Persons show the conditions in which they have been +reared by their choice of words, their bearing, the subjects of their +conversation, by their mental and spiritual attitude. Reverence is +seldom found except in an atmosphere of reverence, and sincerity grows +among those who are sincere. It is a moral necessity that some men +should be earnest and enthusiastic, and impossible for their neighbors +to be other than cringing and mean. The largest element in environment +is atmosphere, and in the development of character environment is quite +as potent as heredity. Indeed, in the sphere of the spirit, as in that +of the body, heredity is always modified by environment. The chief +factor in nurture, therefore, is atmosphere. If that is healthful, +growth will be toward beauty and strength; if that is malarial, no +antiseptic force but the grace of God will be able to counteract its +influence. + +Next to atmosphere as an element in nurture I place ideals. For these +children are usually dependent on their elders. They reverence what they +are taught to revere. Ideals are placed before them by example and by +precept. Children grow like those whose deeds attract them, and they +seek those ideals toward which they are most wisely directed. Laws are +never as potent in the formation of character as examples. Men are made +brave by the sight of bravery, and honorable by contact with those who +will swear to their own hurt and change not. There is deep philosophy in +the saying that the songs of a people influence their institutions and +history more than legal enactments, for songs are usually of bravery, of +love, of victory. They create ideals; they excite enthusiasm. The +Marseillaise and The Watch on the Rhine send thrills through the blood +of those who hear them because in the most vivid way they suggest +patriotism and heroism. A good man inspires goodness. Philanthropy makes +others philanthropic. One courageous act sometimes makes heroes of a +hundred common men. If a father would have his son physically brave, and +he is a wise parent, he will not waste time in urging him to undertake +some forlorn hope, but he will read to him the story of the Greeks at +Thermopylæ, of Marshal Ney at Waterloo, of Nathan Hale and his holy +martyrdom, of Nelson at Trafalgar. If he would have that son a helper +and servant of his fellow-men he will tell him the story of Pastor +Fliedner and his work at Kaiserwerth, of Florence Nightingale at the +Crimea, of Wilberforce and Buxton, Whittier and Garrison in their +efforts to awaken their fellow-men to the enormity of human slavery. The +strongest force for making a young man brave and generous, honorable and +Christian, is the example of a father possessing such qualities. Men are +usually like their ideals, and their ideals in large part are created by +the examples of those who are most admired and loved. + +But example is not all. Training also does much. Conduct is but the +expression of thought. If one can determine what shall be the subject of +another's thinking, he will have gone a long way toward fixing his +character. This is a fact which deserves more attention than it has yet +received in plans for the education of the people. Parents have no +holier privilege than that of directing the thought of their children. +By their own conversation, by the friends whom they invite to their +homes, by the books which are given a place on their tables, by the +amusements to which they take their families, they determine for them +the channels in which their minds shall run. As a man thinketh in his +heart so is he. Boys usually dwell upon the same subjects as their +fathers, unless the fathers by skilful conversation are able to hide the +subjects to which they give most time. Children usually admire what +their parents admire, and shun what they shun. The organic unity of the +household is a large factor in individual and social progress. Both by +direct effort, and by the indirect operation of example, it furnishes +subjects for the youthful mind. The personality, whose seat is in the +will, is never determined, but it is very largely influenced both by the +example of those who are admired and by the thoughts which they +suggest. + +Environment in large part is composed of atmosphere, example, and +ideals. All these are provided for the growing child by others. He has +little or no voice in saying what they shall be. And environment has +more to do with the progress of the soul toward full and free +self-expression even than what is called education. Education is more by +atmosphere, example, and mental suggestion than by teachers and +text-books. When we speak of nurture we usually think of the period of +discipline in school and church; but we often make the mistake of not +taking into account the fact that the most effective training is seldom +that which comes directly from teachers. It is rather that which is +derived indirectly from the atmosphere, example, and ideals by which the +child is surrounded in his home. If I could determine those for a child +I should dread very little any malign force in the shape of an +incompetent teacher. Schools, in reality, are only for the unfinished +work of the homes. They may make the child better than his home, and +they may undo the good work which it has done; but, usually, what the +home is the child will be some time. + +The agencies of nurture, by which a soul is helped on its upward +pathway, are atmosphere, example, ideals, and direct training. Of these +the least important is the last, although the value of that is +self-evident. By the intellectual and spiritual air that we breathe, by +the sight of heroic and consecrated service, by the possibilities of +noble achievement the best that is in a man or a boy is usually drawn +out. Afterward the teacher may take him in hand and, by training, remove +the impediment and bias and thus make a balance in the faculties, or +take out of his way the obstacles which oppose his progress; but he +seldom does very much toward determining the direction in which the +child will move. That is decided by others in the years which are most +plastic. The soul naturally, and inevitably, grows toward truth and God. +How could it be otherwise, since its being is derived from Him? But a +part of the mystery of growth is the influence of environment, and early +environment is almost altogether composed of the circumstances and +influences into which one is born. + +The question of nurture, therefore, is of vital importance. What shall +one generation do for those which are to come after it? Each soul may +hinder or help the growth of countless other souls. The influence of +those nearest is always most potent for good or ill. Impediment is +increased, and bias exaggerated, by evil example. The effort to rise +becomes easy when the way is seen to be full of those whom we love and +honor going before us toward the heights, and it is difficult when no +familiar face is seen. Nurture is not so much a matter of teacher and +text-book, of church and catechism, as of atmosphere, example, and +inspiration. It is the effect of the contact of one pure and noble soul +upon another; it is something which father, mother, and friends give to +the child; it is the result of the spirit in which they impart +instruction and of the reverence and consecration which shine from their +lives. + +The best and only enduring nurture is that of a sweet, serene, +optimistic, and thoroughly Christian environment. With that, inherited +tendencies toward weakness and evil will go of themselves,--indeed will +seem never to have had existence. + +But all too soon the time comes in which the soul faces its own +responsibility, and realizes that it must choose for itself what its +course shall be. It has learned, if it has observed, that there is ever +with it an unseen leadership, and it has heard, faint and far, the call +of a noble destiny. What shall it now do for itself? Shall it choose +simply to exist? Shall it yield to the limitations and solicitations of +the body? or, shall it seek to prepare itself by discipline, and the +cultivation of right choices, for the goal whose intimations it has +heard? Nurture, if it has been wise, has been the forerunner of culture. +Atmosphere and example have inspired lofty ideals, but those ideals, if +they are to be realized, will require training. Matthew Arnold, quoting +Bishop Wilson, has said that culture "is a study of perfection." In +other words, it is the means which are used for the perfection of the +soul. Shall we choose to leave ourselves to grow like trees in a forest, +however they may, or shall we seek those conditions which will make +progress sure and swift? Culture is always a matter of choice; and it is +vastly more than anything which can be taught in the college or +university. The cultured man is he who has learned so to use the forces +and conditions of life as to make them minister to his perfection. The +one most cultured may come out of a factory, and the man of least +culture may be found in a university. Indeed colleges and universities, +not infrequently, are haunts of provincialism and of dread of +enthusiasm. The object of culture is the perfection of the spirit to the +end that all that hinders, or limits, may disappear and only pure power, +clear vision, and full self-realization remain. Those whose growth is +most evident are ever eager to use all experiences as means of progress. +They study books in order that they may better understand what others +have thought concerning the mystery of existence; they discipline their +minds in order that they may the better serve their fellow-men; they +seek fineness of manner and beauty of expression to the end that their +utterance of truth may be more persuasive and convincing. Culture and +the discipline of life are identical. Consequently, the wise man chooses +to put himself where he will best be taught by the events through which +he passes, by what he sees, and by what he may learn from others. It +matters little who have been the teachers, or what have been the +schools,--the real teacher is always life, and the real university is +the human experience. + +I do not make light of the benefit which may be derived from books and +institutions of learning, but I do insist on the recognition of the +deeper fact that the lessons which no one can afford to neglect are +those which can be taught only by overcoming obstacles. We can learn how +to live only in the school of life. The most vital books are always +those which tell us what others have done, and of the paths by which +they have been led to power. What shall the soul do for itself in order +that it may promote its own growth? It must first recognize where the +sources of knowledge and strength are to be found, and then put itself +where it will feel the touch of the vitality which can come only from +other souls. Quickly enough every man reaches the time in which he may +determine his own environment. When we are young others choose our +circumstances for us, but when we become older we select them for +ourselves. That means much. No monarch is mighty enough to compel me to +associate with those who will hinder my progress. He only is a slave +whose mind and will are in bondage. My body may be with boors but, at +the same time, my spirit may be holding companionship with seers and +sages. I may be compelled to work in a mine like John the Apostle, but +I, too, like him may hear One speaking whose voice is as the sound of +many waters, and whose eyes are like a flame of fire. Our real +associates are ever our spiritual companions; and no one can force +another to hold fellowship with those who are either intellectually or +spiritually uncongenial. + +And we also select our own subjects of thought. Who can govern the +thinking of another? At the very moment when one, who is stronger, is +rejoicing in what seems his supremacy, our thoughts may be ranging +through the spaces, and finding companionships among the stars. And we +choose our own examples. In youth they were put before us according to +the will of others, but later our heroes come to us at our bidding, and +no one can shut the gates against them. Whom shall we admire? Let them +be men of the spirit, who have sought truth and hated lies, "who have +fought their doubts and gathered strength," who would rather suffer +wrong than do wrong. The perfection of being is the end of effort, +therefore we will read what will best help our growth in vision, in +moral earnestness, in spiritual sensibility; therefore our books shall +treat of subjects which will ennoble; our amusements shall be pure and +clean; and our chief companionships shall be with the prophets and +masters, the noble and the good, because by associating with them we +shall become like them. + +Intellectual acuteness, mastery of faculty, elegance of expression, are +something very different from insight into the meaning of life. The +cultured man is he who has learned his relations to his fellow-men, who +recognizes his obligations toward them; and his relations to the unseen +and his duty toward it. + +Discipline which will produce such results will ever be sought by the +awakened soul. It will be satisfied with nothing less. + +The relation of nurture and culture to the ascent of the soul is now +evident. Both are the agencies by which all impediment and bias are to +be removed, and by which the soul is to come to the realization of pure +power. They are the means by which complete self-realization is to be +attained; they are the study of perfection. Nurture is what is done for +the soul by parents and friends in its plastic years; culture is the +means which the soul chooses in order that its growth may be hastened. +Nurture is chiefly promoted by lofty examples, noble ideals,--in short, +by beneficent environment; but culture is attained by the conscious +effort of the individual, by his own choice of healthful environment, +worthy example, inspiring companionships, and, perhaps still more, by +long and patient study of the facts of our mortal life, of the +revelations which have come from the unseen, and of the prophecies of +the future which are within the soul. There is a deep and almost +terrible significance in the text, "No man liveth to himself." Every +person is independent and free and yet is bound to every other. Most +delicate and vital of all human relations is that of parent and child. +How far one may be responsible for the other may be difficult to decide, +but that the one influences the other, inevitably and forever, is beyond +question. In many ways the child is what he is made by the parent. +Therefore the welfare of the child as a spirit, and not merely as a +body, should be a continual study. He who has dared to become a parent +can never honorably shirk the duty of nurture. The connection between +souls is a great mystery, but the mystery does not lessen the +obligation. We are responsible not only for the existence of our +children, but equally for their growth. It is the parent's privilege to +make sure that they start on the journey of life properly equipped, and +with no undue obstacles in their pathway--to make them realize that they +are not only his children but also children of God; and that they are to +live not only in time but in eternity. + +The training of the body is needful, and that of the mind still more so, +but that of the spirit is absolutely essential to its welfare. Therefore +plans and provisions for nurture first, last, and always should be to +the end that the soul may realize that it is from God, and that its goal +and glory are union with Him. + +And those who realize that they are free, that they are in a moral +order, that a noble destiny awaits them, should make everything in +thought, in study, in association, in companionship, bend toward the +perfection of being, the development of power, and the realization of +the life of the spirit. Nurture does much for every man, his parents +and friends also do much but, at last, when all mysteries are disclosed +and self-revelation is complete, it may be found that each one does +quite as much for himself as any one else, or every one else, does for +him. + + + + +IS DEATH THE END? + + + It's wiser being good than bad; + It's safer being meek than fierce; + It's fitter being sane than mad. + My own hope is, a sun will pierce + The thickest cloud earth ever stretched; + That after Last, returns the First, + Though a wide compass round be fetched; + That what began best, can't end worst, + Nor what God blessed once, prove accurst. + + --_Apparent Failure._ Browning. + + + + +X + +_IS DEATH THE END?_ + + +We have been studying the ascent of the soul in the successive stages of +its development, from the dawn of consciousness to the measure of +progress which our race has now attained. But a dark shadow falls across +that history. No one has yet lived who has reached what all have +believed to be the fullness of his possible development. At a certain +period in physical history what we call death intervenes, and we are +left wondering as to whether that is the end of all, or whether the soul +persists and continues its advance unhindered by bodily limitations. +That death is the end of the body, in its present form, no one doubts; +but whether the relations of the soul to the body are so intimate and +enduring that what vitally affects one affects the other is a subject +concerning which there has been eager and constant inquiry, and but +little real knowledge. Job's question, "If a man die shall he live +again?" is the common question of humanity. The importance of the +subject is attested by the prominence which it has always had in human +thought. Philosophers have given it foremost place in their +speculations. Science, while seeking to explore every part of the +physical universe, never escapes from the fascination of this question. +Is the death of the body the end of the spirit? Or, if we have not +sufficient material for a positive statement, is there enough to make a +strong affirmation of probability? We are facing the deepest mystery +which is ever presented to thinking men. Heretofore we have been trying +to follow a history clearly marked in the progress of humanity; now we +can only balance probabilities. But all that has been learned concerning +the nature and development of the spirit of man not only warrants, but +compels, the belief that death is not the end of the soul; and that to +assert that it is, is to deny the revelations of the universe, and to +insist that there is nothing but irony and mockery where there ought to +be reason and wisdom. In treating this subject I can but repeat thoughts +which have been emphasized again and again; but it is so vital, and so +near to the welfare of all, that old arguments become new, and interest +in them increases, the more frequently they are emphasized. + +On what do we base our faith that the soul exists after death? That it +does is clearly the faith not only of religious teachers but of many of +the latest and most eminent scientists. Many expounders of evolutionary +philosophy unite in telling us that "the cosmic process" having reached +man, a spiritual being, can go no further in the physical order; that +evolution will never produce a higher being than a spirit, but that the +"cosmic" force will still persist and be utilized in the expansion and +perfection of spirits. + +In treating this subject little attention will be given to the +scriptural argument, for there is little if any difference of opinion +concerning the teaching of Jesus and that of the writers of the New +Testament. They are united and consistent in assuming the persistence of +being. That belief underlies all their appeals to the solemn sanctions +of the moral law which they derived from the future life. Jesus himself +said, "If it were not so, I would have told you;" and nearly, if not +quite all the Apostles base their warnings and their invitations on +motives which reach beyond the death of the body. The masters of other +religions have been equally positive. In some form or other they have +asserted the continued existence of the spiritual nature in man. + +But we turn, for the moment, from these and consider such evidence as +may be derived from the soul itself, and from what is known of its +progress. + +There is no evidence that when the body dies the soul dies with it. It +may not be possible to prove the reverse; all that we know is that the +vital functions cease, and that the body decays. No eye ever saw the +soul, and no dissection ever discovered the place of its dwelling. Is +that ethereal something which we call soul simply the result of the +organization of atoms? Or is the body like a house in which a spiritual +tenant dwells? At least this may be affirmed: No one has yet been able +to prove that the soul and body die together. Then there is no +reasonable presumption against the continuance of being. No spirit, so +far as we know, has returned to the earth in visible form, and spoken +its message; and yet, for aught we know, we may be surrounded every day +by spiritual beings, moving unseen along the avenues upon which we walk, +and entering without invitation the houses which we inhabit. At this +point it is enough simply to grant that presumptions are, perhaps, +evenly balanced. If one asks for proof that the spirit persists, the +only reply must be a Socratic one--Can you prove that it is vitally +connected with the body? + +Belief in the existence of the soul after death seems to be an innate +belief. It has been ascribed to the influence of the superstition about +ghosts; but that superstition is only an unscientific form of the larger +faith in the persistence of being. Where did this conviction originate? +We think only of such things as have been experienced. No thought is +ever entirely original. Even imagination cannot create anything +absolutely unlike anything which ever existed. All the fabled beings +who, according to the ancient mythology, filled the spaces and waters, +were but human creatures adapted to imaginary environments. Faith in the +existence of the soul after death could not have originated in the soul +itself; to believe that would be to contradict the laws of thought. It +seems to have been born with the soul, and yet not to be a part of it. + +The common conviction of continuance of being can be explained only on +the assumption that it is an innate idea. That this assumption starts, +perhaps, quite as many questions as it settles may be granted. +Nevertheless, it is the only way in which this fact in mental and +spiritual history can be accounted for. + +Not only is belief in persistence of being innate, but it is also +universal. It has been found in every land, in every time, in every +religion. Dr. Matthewson has finely argued that the savage worships a +fetish because he is seeking something which does not change[8]. He +knows that he dies; he worships that which he thinks does not die. A +piece of wood or a stone, at first, seems to him more enduring than a +man; therefore he worships the fetish. Gradually his eyes are opened and +he realizes that the man is more enduring than the thing. Then the +object of his worship is lifted from something material to a spiritual +being. The belief in immortality is coterminous with belief in the +Deity; the two forms of faith are always found together. The cultured +Greek, the mystic Egyptian, the idealistic Indian, the savage who +inhabits the forests of Africa, or who formerly dwelt in the forests of +America, alike have believed in some land of spirits to which their +loved ones have gone and to which they themselves, in turn, will also +go. Every age and every time, alike, have borne witness to the strength +and vitality of this faith. + +[Footnote 8: Distinctive Messages of the Old Religions, p. 9.] + +But still more convincing to me than any of the suggestions which have +gone before, is the fact that it is irrational to suppose that the soul +dies with the body. If that were true, how could we account for the +enormous waste in discipline and culture, in education and affection? +What is the meaning of the love that binds human beings together, if +after a short "three-score-and-ten career" it utterly ceases to be, and +being and affection alike go into oblivion? How can our systems of +education be justified, if the soul is perfected only to be destroyed? +On everything else man spends time, labor, affection in proportion to +the possibility of its endurance. He never seeks that which he knows +will be taken from him and destroyed as soon as it is perfected. An +artist would not spend a lifetime on a picture, or a sculptor in +finishing a statue, if he knew that when his work was completed it would +be instantly sunk in the depths of the sea. We devote a large part of +our lives to education; we cultivate our minds; our affections are +disciplined; we spend time, money, labor for years for the culture of +our children; can it be that all this preparation is for something which +never can be realized? In the midst of the loftiest manifestations of +the soul's power the body ceases to be. With indescribable bravery a +warrior lays down his life, a fireman rescues a child from a burning +building, a life-boatman goes through the surf to a sinking ship, and, +at that very moment when he proves himself best fitted to live, death +comes and he is seen no more. It cannot be proven that this is not the +end, but it is not reasonable to believe that this is the end. If it is, +human life is utterly without significance, and he is most to be +commended who quickest escapes from its misery and mockery. + +Moreover the inequalities of the human condition are strangely +prophetic. Much has been made of this argument in the past,--Job and +Socrates both felt its force. + +The value of it has often been discredited, but without reason. How +shall the bitter injustice which is frequently found on the earth be +explained? Some have an abundance of wealth, some have literally +nothing. Some enjoy the best of health and strength all their days, +while others pass their years in suffering and trial. Some are +surrounded by families and fairly revel in love and friendship, and +others lead lonely lives toward a welcome end. Some are strong and +brave, and able to act a part in the drama of life; others are weak, +obscure, unknown, and, for aught that they or we can see, might as well +have never been. The law of heredity sweeps down from the past and +brings a terrible legacy to many who spend all their days in trying to +escape from what has been forced upon them. What shall we say concerning +those who are born in lust and must live in the midst of the vice of a +great city, and who, in turn, give birth to a lustful and vicious brood? +Have they had a fair chance? Will their children have? Such questions +have puzzled the most earnest thinkers of all time, and there has seemed +to be but one explanation. Job seemed to be in darkness, until at last +there flashed upon his mind this question, which is also a modified +affirmation, "If a man die shall he live again?" If he live again, then +it is possible that what seems to be unjust may be righted; and those +who have known only suffering and pain during their dwelling in the +flesh, may some time enter into the fruition of their discipline in the +joy and victory of the endless life. The more this argument is pondered +the stronger its force becomes. It carries conviction to all who are +deeply sensitive to the common human experience, and who at all +understand the misery and the suffering of human existence. One in the +fullness of his physical strength may think little about it, but that +deformed girl who asked her mother after service one Easter Day, +"Mother, is it true that in heaven I shall be as straight as you and +father?" is a type of millions of others. Some suffer in body and some +in mind; some have a heredity of insanity or vice--they are born with +shackles on their faculties. If they ever have a fair chance to grow +noble and beautiful, morally and spiritually, it must be after their +bodies have been laid aside. It cannot be said that they do not now +desire benefit and blessing, but it is evident that it is impossible for +their longing to be gratified. The conviction that this is a moral and +rational universe compels us to believe that some time and somewhere +those who suffer will escape from their pain, that those who are +burdened with the evil that has been inherited from past generations +will rise above it, and that the soul will be given an unhindered +opportunity for growth and advancement. The inequalities in the human +condition almost compel us to believe that the death of the body cannot +be the end of the spirit. + +A little light on this subject comes from the faith of the world's +greatest teachers. As there are, now and then, those who see farther +than others with the physical eye, so there have been a few teachers who +have been rightly called seers, because their eyes have penetrated +farther into the mysteries of the universe than have those of their +fellow-men. Among the seers of the ages, I think that the two whom all +would recognize as being preëminent are Socrates and Jesus--the one the +finest flower of the intellectual development of Greece, and the other +the consummation of the hopes and visions of the most spiritual people +that the world has ever known. Both Socrates and Jesus believed in God, +and both have taught the world, with no uncertain sound, of their faith +in immortal life. The latter was clearly an axiom with Jesus, for He +said to His disciples in effect, "If there had been any question about +it I would have told you;" and almost with his last breath Socrates +compelled his disciples to think of him as immortal, for he told them +that, though his body might be buried anywhere, he defied both friend +and foe to catch his soul. Socrates and Jesus represent the belief of +the world's greatest seers. + +The deep and abiding confidence of the teachers, who increasingly +command our admiration as the years go by, is not to be entirely +disregarded. We may care little what those tell us who walk by our sides +in the dark valleys or on the dusty plains; but there are others who +have climbed to the crests of the loftiest mountains, and who have +looked into a world of which we have only dreamed. When they come down +we listen because we know that they have had visions. Even so it is in +our intellectual life. A few men have risen above the common levels of +humanity, as the Alps above the plains of Lombardy. They have spoken +concerning what they have seen. They have had glimpses of God--the soul +of the universe, and of the persistence of individuals in the realm that +lies beyond the grave. I might not let my faith be determined by their +testimony alone, but when what they say is confirmed by many other +voices speaking in the soul, and sounding through the history of the +world, it is easy to believe that they have spoken of things which have +been revealed to them. + +Another confirmation of our conviction of the reality of life after +death may be stated as follows: It is not possible for us to think of +the heroes and singers of the ages as having less endurance than the +words which they have uttered and the deeds which they have performed. +Milton's and Shakespeare's bodies have long been dead. The great +dramatist has recorded a dire curse on any one who should move his +bones. In the chancel of the Church of the Holy Trinity at +Stratford-on-Avon those bones are supposed to rest. But the plays that +Shakespeare wrote are still the wonder of the world, and the glory of +the English race. Is it possible to believe that the man was less +enduring than his work? Is it possible to believe that Shakespeare's +plays and Milton's epic will exist, perhaps, for a thousand years, while +the dramatist himself has utterly ceased to be? You open a neglected +drawer of your desk and come suddenly upon a letter written by a friend +of half a century ago; the paper is a little soiled, but as firm as +ever; the ink is hardly faded; the words are all clearly formed and full +of inspiration; and you hold that letter in your hand and ask yourself, +"Was the man who penned these lines less enduring than the paper on +which he wrote, or than the ink with which he wrote?" Such questions are +not arguments, and yet they have the force of arguments. It is not +possible in our better moments to feel that the great and good, by whom +this world has been lifted to its present condition, have gone entirely +into nothingness. + +It was said of our Lord, "It was not possible that such a man should be +holden of death." And it is not possible for us to believe, in our +inmost souls, that those who become a part of our being, whose love is +of more value to us than our own lives, whose memory is the dearest +treasure that we possess, by some accident, a taint in the food or the +water, can utterly pass from existence. If it were possible to believe +that, then the most miserable creature on the earth would be man, for he +would know of his greatness, and know also that his greatness is a +mockery and a sham. In hours of doubt, let us lean hard upon the +question, "Is it possible that those with whom we have walked and +worked, conversed and communed, and by whom we have been helped and +blessed, should forever cease to be, while the houses in which they +live, and the tools with which they labor, will endure for generations?" + +The soul is full of prophecies. Only as there may be continuance of +being can these prophecies have fulfillment. The feeling of dependence, +the desires for friendship which are never satisfied, the powers of +body and of mind which are capable of a development which they never +receive on earth, are prophecies of a life beyond death. Not the least +among the reasons for our belief that death is not the end of the soul +is the fact that the soul itself is a prophecy of its own immortality. + +It is always best to believe the best. This world and human life may be +interpreted on the materialistic hypothesis; then matter is all and +death is the gloomy _finale_ to the tragedy of existence. Or they may be +interpreted according to the spiritual hypothesis; then within the body +dwells the spirit; then the latter is but a tenant of the former. If the +house is destroyed the tenant goes elsewhere. If we interpret the world, +and human life, according to the materialistic theory all the beauty and +joy of existence on the earth will disappear. We will then live for a +little time; and our loves, our disciplines, and our victories alike +will be only delusions soon to be mercifully ended by death. Possibly +that is true; but, if it is true, then this universe is the embodiment +of the most dismal, desolate, and diabolical thought that it is possible +for a human being to conceive. On the spiritual hypothesis all +experiences are intended for the perfection of the soul. Bodily +limitations, physical sufferings, animal solicitations, may all be used +so as to promote the development and perfection of the spirit. When the +body can do no more the soul will emerge purified and strengthened by +contact with that which is physical. It will then move from the narrow +quarters in which it has dwelt into some larger and fairer room in the +great palace of God. Once more, I confess, we cannot demonstrate the +truth of this faith, but it is always best for ourselves and for the +world to believe the best. With this faith human life is nobler, and +human effort more persistent and enduring than it would be without it. +At the end "the finished product" will be larger, and more perfect, if +there is something to strive for than if hope is destroyed the moment +that aspiration is born. I should be willing to rest my faith in +immortality upon this one argument. A rational being should be satisfied +only with a rational answer to his questions; a moral being should be +satisfied only with a moral solution of his problems. This universe is +neither rational nor moral if the soul ceases to be at the death of the +body. On the other hand, if the soul passes into another and ampler +sphere all the mysteries are explained, and there is meaning even in the +darkest passages of human experience. All things work together for good +to those who are willing to be led toward the higher things. + +These are some of the reasons, with which all thinking persons are +familiar, for believing that the soul continues its growth after the +body has been laid aside. Evolution has opened a new vista in human +thought. There had been vague suggestions of it before, but evolution +has done much to confirm faith by its clear and strong testimony. It +prophesies the eternal growth of the spirit. These prophecies are +harmonious with those of the soul, and with the positive teachings of +the Christian revelation. This then is our conclusion:--in the process +of time, in accordance with natural law, our bodies will be laid aside, +some in one way and some in another, but the soul that has dwelt in +these bodies will become free. In ways of which we know not, and of +which it would be presumption to speak, its perfecting will be +continued. What teachers will take it in hand then is beyond our +knowledge; but we are confident that its individual existence will +continue, that its perfection will be along moral and spiritual lines, +that it will grow forever and forever in intelligence, in love, in the +power of rational choice, and into harmony with Him from whom it has +come and whose glory will be its perfection. To believe less would be to +refuse to listen to the voices which speak within and the voices which +speak without,--it would be to believe in an irrational and immoral +universe rather than a rational and moral one. + +Our souls have a right to be heard, and their prophecies have in them an +element of certainty. He who listens to the voices which speak within +will never believe that the death of the body is the end of his personal +being. The suggestion of a state of existence from which sin, sorrow, +and death shall be forever absent, into which there shall enter nothing +that maketh a lie, and where sacrificial love is the everlasting light, +is the highest and most satisfying ideal for human life that has ever +been spoken or imagined; and that which completely satisfies the heart +cannot at the same time be repudiated by the intellect. + +Let us, therefore, reverently confess that we believe in "the life +everlasting." + + + + +PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD + + + Thy voice is on the rolling air; + I hear thee where the waters run; + Thou standest in the rising sun, + And in the setting thou art fair. + + What art thou then? I cannot guess; + But tho' I seem in star and flower + To feel thee some diffusive power, + I do not therefore love thee less: + + My love involves the love before; + My love is vaster passion now; + Tho' mixed with God and Nature thou, + I seem to love thee more and more. + + Far off thou art, but ever nigh; + I have thee still, and I rejoice; + I prosper, circled with thy voice; + I shall not lose thee tho' I die. + + --_In Memoriam._ Tennyson. + + + + +XI + +_PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD_ + + +The wisest of men have little to guide them when they approach that +mysterious realm from which no traveler has ever returned. With humility +and the consciousness that we must, at the best, walk in the twilight, I +take up one of the most mysterious and fascinating of themes. No one has +any right to speak positively on such a subject, and I shall not do so. +Those who have the assurance of sight when they write about what lies +beyond the grave are both to be envied and to be pitied,--envied because +of their confidence, pitied because they may be self-deceived. + +Let me make my exact purpose as plain as I can by an illustration. A +dear friend, one with whom you have associated for years, enters the +silent life. The morning following, as has long been your custom, you +offer your prayers to the Heavenly Father, and, as usual, mention that +friend by name. Suddenly you stop and say to yourself, "I can no more +offer that petition, for my friend is now beyond the need of my poor +prayers." Then, suddenly and swiftly, come the questions, Although my +friend is called dead is he any less alive than when he was in the body? +Will not all that constituted his personality continue to grow in the +future as in the past? Does the death of the body do anything more than +change the mode of the spirit's existence? And the result is that you +say to yourself, "I will continue to pray for my friend, for, if he is +alive now, every reason which led to prayers before his death justifies +their continuance." + +From more than one person I have heard words similar to these which I +have put into this hypothetical form; and because of these expressions +of sane and sacred experience I am led to ask my readers to follow me in +the consideration of a subject which is seldom mentioned, except with +incredulity, by most Protestants. + +No one who may not appreciate the importance of this subject should be +either troubled or heedless. We learn our lessons concerning the +profounder mysteries simply by living. No one can be blamed for not +appreciating what he is not yet, either intellectually or spiritually, +ready to receive. Providence takes good care of us. When we are prepared +for the reception of any truth it usually finds us. + +This subject has been regarded with suspicion by two classes of +thinkers: Protestants who have revolted from the extent to which praying +for the dead has been carried in the Roman Catholic Church, and the +much smaller number who hold what they delight in affirming is "the true +theology," and who have insisted that when men die their state is +irrevocably and forever fixed, the good going at once into the perfect +bliss of heaven and the wicked into the suffering of hell. + +It will be more profitable for us to deal with the positive side of our +subject than to attempt to clear away misconceptions and half truths. + +What is meant by prayers for the dead? Exactly the same as prayers for +those in the body. When the body dies the soul, or the essential man, is +not touched by death. The personality is that which thinks, chooses, +lives. Your mother is not the form on which your eyes rested, or the +arms which encircled you, but the thought, the devotion, the affection +concealed, yet revealed, by the body, and which use it for their +instrument. In reality we never saw our dearest friends; what we saw +was color, form, but never the spirit. That is disclosed through the +body, but is not identified with it. Now just as we have prayed for a +mother, or a child, or a friend whose physical form is familiar, but +whose personality we have seen only in its revelations, so we continue +to pray for that loved one which we do not see any more, or any less, +after what is called death. + +In other words, instead of thinking of any as dead, we think of all as +alive, although many of them are in the unseen sphere. Love and sympathy +have never been dependent on the body except for expression, and there +is no evidence that they ever will be. Sympathy and affection, thought +and will, are matters of spirit; and why may not spirit feel for spirit +and minister to spirit, when the body is laid aside? Your hands, your +feet, your lips did not pray for your child; your spirit prayed for his +spirit, and now that his body is laid aside, like a worn-out garment, +you may keep on doing just what you did before. This is what is meant by +prayers for the dead. + +I am well aware that it may seem to some that these statements rest +largely on assumptions, but they are not baseless assumptions. One other +assumption must be made before we can proceed in our study, and that one +is the truthfulness of the Christian teaching that death is not +cessation of being, but only the decay of the bodily organism. + +How may prayers for the dead be justified? Are they taught as a duty in +the Scriptures? The privilege rests not so much on particular +exhortations as upon the whole Christian teaching concerning +immortality. God is the God of the living. Bishop Pearson in his +exposition of the Apostles' Creed has an impressive passage, which I +quote: "The communion of saints in the Church of Christ with those who +are departed is demonstrated by their communion with the saints alive. +For if I have a communion with a saint of God, as such, while he liveth +here, I must still have communion with him when he is departed hence; +because the foundation of that communion cannot be removed by death. The +mystical union between Christ and His Church ... is the true foundation +of that communion.... But death, which is nothing else but the +separation of the soul from the body, maketh no separation in the +mystical union, no breach of the spiritual conjunction, and consequently +there must be the same communion, because there remaineth the same +foundation."[9] + +[Footnote 9: Quoted in Welldon's "Hope of Immortality," page 332.] + +Jesus taught that death is but a change of the form of existence. On the +Mount of Transfiguration Moses and Elijah appeared alive, and as +interested in human affairs. If death is not cessation of being, but +only a change in the form of its manifestation, why should we think +that human sympathy ends when breathing ceases, and why should we +conclude that mutual service may be rendered impossible by "a snake's +bite or a falling tile." Tennyson in "In Memoriam" gives the Christian +doctrine exquisite expression, + + "Eternal form shall still divide + The eternal soul from all beside; + And I shall know him when we meet." + +Jesus teaches the reality of immortality He represents those gone from +us as not dead but as still living and still interested in human +affairs. If His teaching is true, is it not as reasonable to try to +serve those of our loved ones who are out of the body as those who are +in the body? So far as we can see, the only way in which we can serve +them is by prayer, although they may, possibly, minister to us in other +ways. + +If immortal existence means the possibility of unceasing growth, then +every reason which prompts prayer for those who are bodily present +remains a motive when they have entered the state which is purely +spiritual. + +But what efficacy will prayers for the dead have? My answer is two-fold. +All the efficacy that prayer ever has. If death is relative only to a +single state of existence, and if those whom we call dead are living, +and still free agents, then they may still choose good and evil, and +they may still grow toward virtue. Choice always implies a possibility +of freedom; and freedom is a necessity when there is moral +responsibility. If prayer helps any one, why not those who have passed +from our sight? Surely we must believe them still to possess the power +of choice and, therefore, that of choosing evil as well as good. + +You ask why pray at all. My answer is simple and free from all attempts +at casuistry: simply because we must. Prayer is not so much a Christian +doctrine as a human necessity. It is as natural as breathing. By prayer +I mean not only spoken petitions but, equally, the longing and pleading +of the soul, either blindly or intelligently, for things which are +beyond our reach, and which only a higher Power can provide. Those +longings may have formal expression, and they may not. Prayer so far as +it is petition is the soul pleading with the Unseen for what it deeply +desires. I do not suppose that God needs light from any mortal man, but +all men do need many things from Him, and, as naturally as children +present their desires to earthly parents, even though they know them to +be already favorable, we go with our deeper needs to our Heavenly +Father. + +Much time has been wasted in trying to formulate a rational basis for +prayer. When a child in the smaller family no longer asks his father to +accede to his wishes, when he no more pleads with his father for his +brother or his sister, then it will be time enough to inquire if, in the +larger family which we call humanity, we may do without prayer. Until +then let us believe, + + "More things are wrought by prayer + Than this world dreams of." + +Leaving now the apologetic side of the subject, which is alluring, we +observe one evident blessing which always attends praying for the dead. +It keeps ever before our minds the thought that they are actually alive. +It makes the doctrine of the communion of saints a sacred reality. If I +may in this essay be allowed to assume a hortatory tone I will say, if +you have been in the habit of praying for your friend, do not give it up +simply because he has ceased to breathe. As regularly as ever continue +to pray for him, and he will be to you more than a memory. What would +have been but an occasional remembrance will then be a daily communion; +and what would have been only formal praying to God will be an hour, or +a moment, of association with those who will grow nearer and dearer, and +not farther and vaguer, with the passing years. The hour of devotion +will thus be hallowed, because it will be a holy tryst with absent +friends, as well as a time for making our requests known to our Heavenly +Father. Who can exaggerate the delight and benefit of such an exercise? +What sources of strength are to be found in spiritual association with +our beloved! If we are thus helped why should we presume that they may +not also, by such sweet hours, be strengthened for their duties? I know +this may seem fanciful. I ask no one to follow me who is not ready to do +so. I do not speak dogmatically, but with great earnestness, when I say +that prayer for our beloved after they are gone is a privilege and a +help--I would fain believe both to them and to us. + +But it may be objected that the moral state of men is fixed at death, +and that nothing that we or they can do can influence it by a hair's +breadth. That this has been a popular opinion is true; and it is equally +true that many have supposed that all who have had faith on the earth +are in bliss; and that all who have been without faith are in misery; +and that the beatitude of all the good is equal and alike, and that the +misery of all unbelievers is the same. + +Such inferences, though held by many for whose scholarship and character +I have profound reverence, seem to me to be contrary to Scripture, to +the analogies of nature, and to the moral sense. Such a theory is +contrary to Christian Scriptures; for the parable of the talents shows +that some will have greater and some lesser reward; and the parable of +Dives and Lazarus has relation only to Hades, or to the state which in +the thought of that time intervened between death and the judgment. + +This theory is contrary to the analogies of life on earth. Here change +indicates not a finality but a new opportunity. Every crisis of life is +an opening into a newer and larger world. Why should we say that what we +call death, alone of all the changes through which we pass, leads to +that which is unchangeable? + +The theory is contrary to the moral sense of all earnest souls. Who does +not have to compel himself to believe, and that with difficulty, that +death determines forever the fate of all, and that there is neither +possibility of progress nor of going backward after the body is laid +aside? + +Let me quote a noble passage from Bishop Welldon: "But if a variety of +destinies in the unseen world, whether of happiness or of suffering, is +reserved for mankind, and yet more, if the principle of that world is +not inactivity but energy or character or life, it is reasonable to +believe that the souls which enter upon the future state with the taint +of sin clinging to them, in whatever form or degree, will be slowly +cleansed by a disciplinary or purifactory process from whatever it is +that, being evil in itself, necessarily obstructs or obscures the vision +of God." He continues, "And this is the benediction of human nature, to +feel that, as souls upon earth are fortified and elevated by the prayers +offered for them in the unseen world, so too by our prayers may the +souls which have passed behind the veil be lifted higher and higher into +the knowledge and contemplation and fruition of God."[10] + +[Footnote 10: The Hope of Immortality, page 337.] + +We do not know that death forever determines the condition of the soul. +On the other hand, as I grow older, the idea seems to me to be opposed +to Scripture, to the analogies of nature and history, to reason, and to +the universal moral sense. + +If any one should object to prayers for the dead because the privilege +and duty seem so distinctively a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, +my only reply is that we should never ask who are the advocates of any +teaching, but, only, is it true? Each branch of the church emphasizes +some phase of truth. The Roman Church has given more prominence to +prayers for the dead than Protestants, and because of that it will have +the gratitude of many honest souls who cannot believe that they are +entirely and forever severed from those whom they have loved and still +love. + +I am well aware that there are many difficult questions concerning this +subject which it is impossible for me to answer. Some truths are clearly +revealed and of others we have only glimpses. Concerning some we feel +more than we know, and feelings which are not selfish are prophetic. +What an earnest and inquiring spirit feels must be true is quite as +likely to be found true as conclusions which seem to have been reached +by a process of faultless logic. + +I fully believe that we are justified in praying for those who have +departed this life, that the good may grow better, that the clouds which +obscure the vision of the unbelieving may be removed, that all taints of +animalism may be washed away; and that we should pray even for the +wicked, that the disciplinary processes through which they are passing +may some time and somehow lead them to submit their wills to the love +and truth of God. We may pray for our loved ones, not simply by way of +asking something for them, but in order that there may be a meeting +place,--a time for communion and fellowship between those here and those +beyond the veil. That meeting place must be found in our common +approach to God. + +Does this teaching seem mystical and fanciful? What if it does? It is in +line with the human heart's deepest desires, and with the soul's +immortal aspirations. What they most earnestly affirm in their hours of +deepest need, and highest illumination, cannot be altogether without +foundation in reason and in the Scriptures. + +The unity of life cannot be too strongly emphasized. Life is one. It is +all under the eye and in the strength of God. It has to do with spirit; +death, if there is any such thing, has to do with matter. Spirits always +grow because they always live. The universe is not composed of two +hemispheres, in the upper one of which are to be gathered all the good +and in the lower all the evil. It is saner and better to believe that +the universe is a sphere in which, in their own places, are all the +spirits of men, some beautiful with the holiness of God; some only +beginning to rise toward Him, like seed that has broken the soil and +begun to move toward the light; and still others like seed whose +possibilities are all hidden, but which are not destroyed and which some +day also will hear the divine call, feel the touch of God's light, and +begin to move toward Him. + +We live in the midst of mystery. In the future we shall probably find +that our best attempts at rational answers to many questions have gone +wide of the mark. The most that any of us can do is to be true to +ourselves, and to respond to every call from above. In the midst of the +gloom of mortal existence it is safe to follow our hearts. + +We long to commune with those who have gone, to help them and to be +helped by them. This longing is natural and rational. That it is not +without reason is proved by the example of our Master, who, after His +death, is represented as ministering to those whom He loved, and who, we +are told, ever liveth to make intercession for us. + +What our hearts desire, what harmonizes with reason, what is confirmed +by the revelations and example of our divine Teacher, will persuade none +far from the path which leads to light and felicity. + +Those whom men call dead, it is best to believe, have but entered upon +another phase of the eternal life of the spirit. + +The Roman Church has an act or service called "The Culture of the Dead." +It means the "practice of the presence" of those who, though gone from +us, in spirit are with us. The Creed has an article which reads, "I +believe in the communion of saints." The Christian year has one day +called "All Saints' Day." We shall not be far from the traditions of +the church when we pray for our beloved, whether they be in the body or +out of the body. + +Those who would realize the beatitude of this privilege should remember +the truth in this stanza from "In Memoriam:" + + "How pure at heart and sound in head, + With what Divine affections bold, + Should be the man whose thought would hold + An hour's communion with the dead." + + + + +THE GOAL + + + But Thee, but Thee, O Sovereign Seer of time, + But Thee, O poet's Poet, Wisdom's Tongue, + But Thee, O man's best Man, O love's best Love, + O perfect life in perfect labor writ, + O all men's Comrade, Servant, King, or Priest,-- + What _if_ or _yet_, what mole, what flaw, what lapse, + What least defect or shadow of defect, + What rumor, tattled by an enemy, + Of inference loose, what lack of grace + Even in torture's grasp, or sleep's, or death's,-- + Oh, what amiss may I forgive in Thee, + Jesus, good Paragon, thou Crystal Christ? + + --_The Crystal._ Sidney Lanier. + + + + +XII + +_THE GOAL_ + + +If the cosmic process in the physical sphere culminated with the +appearance of man, and if, since that culmination, its movement has been +toward the perfection of the soul, it is fit and proper that this book +should end with a study of the goal toward which the human spirit is +pressing. Is it possible for us, with our limitations, to have an +adequate conception of the man that is to be "when the times are ripe" +and the "crowning race" walks this earth of ours?--or, if not this +earth, at least, dwells in the spiritual city? The fascination of this +subject has been widely recognized. The answer must be secured from many +sources. Only in imagination can we follow the lines along which the +spirit will move in the far-off ages, and yet our conclusions will not +be wholly imaginative, for the direction in which those lines are +tending is clearly perceived. Under the circumstances, therefore, +imagination may not be an untrustworthy guide. We are now to deal with +prophecies, some of them easy and some of them difficult to read. But +reading prophecies is not prophesying. I shall not prophesy, but rather +endeavor to understand and to interpret a few of the many voices which +have spoken, and are speaking, on this subject. + +The soul is itself a prediction of what it is to be. It utters a various +language. + +The growth of intelligence is prophetic. Savage tribes suggest the +original condition of primitive man. The pigmies in Africa afford hints +of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. From such as they, and from lower types +still, the race has slowly and painfully risen. In them a certain rude +intelligence appears. They have cunning rather than reason. They are +half akin to brute and half akin to man. A kind of selfish intelligence +characterizes their thinking. They lack a sense of proportion and +relation. Before the ant a man looms as large as a mountain before us. +An insect does not see things as they are but as they seem to it. Growth +in intelligence necessitates a truer appreciation of proportions and +relations. The pigmy also sees little but himself, but years and +experience leave behind them wisdom. The civilized races have all risen +from barbarism and savagery--that is, from a state of imperfect thinking +as well as of imperfect loving and choosing. Experience and culture +bring larger knowledge and a more equable balance of the faculties. No +man should be measured by his achievement in any one field of endeavor. +He may paint like Titian and be as voluptuous; he may write tragedies +like Shakespeare and have no logic; he may be a gatherer of facts like +Darwin and have no power of philosophic analysis. The intellect grows +steadily toward perfection of vision and logical strength, and also and +quite as significantly, toward harmony in the development of all the +powers of thought. + +The contrast between the selfish cunning of an African pigmy and the +large and noble minds which are steadily multiplying, is a prophecy of +the man who will dwell on this earth when the vision is clear and the +power of rational judgment is perfected. + +The prophecy of the soul is not less evident in the emotional nature. At +first the soul is either so imperfect, or so limited by the body, that +it seems to be nothing but a creature of emotions. It loves, but its +affections are selfish and egotistic. What may be called the epochs in +its growth are finely treated by Coleridge in "The Ancient Mariner" and +by Tennyson in "In Memoriam." The Ancient Mariner felt only selfish +affection. He had no love for "being as being." He killed the albatross +with as little heed as he disregarded his fellow-men; but the ministries +of his misery were multiplied until, at length, he was able to see +something beautiful even in the writhing green sea-serpents that +followed the ship of death on which he sailed. That was the first sign +of the larger interest which had long been growing within him, and which +was to continue to grow until he could say, + + "He prayeth best who loveth best + All things both great and small." + +"In Memoriam" is the record of the expansion of a soul through its +increase in love. At the beginning of his grief the poet sings, +dolefully and hopelessly, through his tears, + + "He is not here; but far away + The noise of life begins again, + And ghastly thro' the drizzling rain + On the bald street breaks the blank day." + +But the soul is growing secretly and surely as wheat grows in winter. +The Christmas bells ring out their music and at first are almost hated, +but they break through the shell of sorrow and let in a faint echo of +the world's great suffering and the world's great joy. Thus human +sympathy is enlarged just a bit. In successive years the music of the +Christmas bells is heard more distinctly, the sorrow of the world +becomes more audible, sympathy reaches farther. At last the poem which +began with a _miserere_ ends with a marriage, and he who could at first +write that dreary line, + + "On the bald street breaks the blank day" + +testifies to the beneficence of the path in which he had been led in +this wise and beautiful stanza, + + "Regret is dead, but love is more + Than in the summers that have flown, + For I myself with these have grown + To something greater than before." + +From dwelling in a prison with grief as a jailer he has caught a vision +of the, + + "One far off divine event + To which the whole creation moves." + +This expansion of the soul is not difficult to follow. Traces of it may +be seen in the enlarged sympathy, the growing brotherhood, and in the +rapidly increasing conviction that even nationalities are only temporary +expedients for bringing the day when love shall be the universal law. +The charities and philanthropies which are blossoming in every city and +country district, the consciousness of responsibility for the poor and +weak, the angel songs which are heard in the midst of battle, and the +gradual disappearance of war, are all vague but true prophecies of what +the soul will be when love is perfected. The knowledge of past progress +is an inspiration, and the imagination of what will be a glorious hope. + +A single clause in the Apocalypse has long seemed to me as fine a +statement of the condition which will prevail, when this prophecy is a +reality, as could be phrased,--"The Lamb is the light thereof." Light is +the medium in which objects are visible, and the Lamb is the symbol of +sacrificial love. The great dreamer, in his vision, beheld a time when +spirits would see in sacrificial love as now we see physical objects in +the medium of light. To those who have studied the expansion of +individual souls, and who then have contrasted the selfishness of +earlier social conditions with the love of men as it is revealed in the +laws, institutions, ministries of to-day, this dream of the Apostle +rises in the distance as a new continent to a voyager over the wide and +desolate ocean. + +Equally prophetic is the advance which has been made from the passion +of savage barbarism, or infantile wilfulness, to the moral reason of the +present day as seen in the highest types of humanity in civilized lands. +Wilfulness characterizes the childish nature and passion the savage +nature. But with the growth of the soul choices are differentiated from +impulses, and more and more regularly are inspired by intelligence and +unselfish affection. This progress toward intelligent and unselfish +choice distinguishes the movement toward civilization. Here, again, the +advance made by the individual soul and by the race are equally +prophetic. With the years the choices become more rational and loving. +Time mellows all men somewhat, and forces a little wisdom into the +hardest heads. Even slight growth prophesies that which shall be swifter +when conditions are more favorable. + +The soul is a prediction of clearer vision, truer thought, more +unselfish love and wiser choices. It is a prophecy of the perfect man. + +History is also prophetic of larger souls. The stream of human history, +after it has been followed backward a few thousand years, leads into the +region of legend and myth--that is, to a time when history could not be +written because there was no writing, and when all truth was conveyed in +symbolical forms. That means toward a time of narrow experience, and of +knowledge far more limited than the present. Memory, in those days, was +enormously and abnormally capacious and retentive, but there was no +appreciation of humanity. Few lessons from the experiences of others +were possible, because the mind was filled with merely tribal legends. +What was called early civilization was only relatively splendid. There +was unsurpassed poetry but no science, ample brawn but diminutive brain, +much passion but little love. Out of the darkness of the past the stream +of history, very narrow and shallow at first, has emerged and steadily +expanded and deepened. Men are now equally intense but far clearer in +vision, nobler in purpose, and purer in character. Their laws year by +year have become more humane, their sympathies less contracted, their +institutions more civilized. Nature's secret drawers have been unlocked. +We are sometimes told that science has added much to the store of man's +knowledge but nothing to the strength of his mind or the nobility of his +character. That is a serious mistake. With the enlarged visions of the +universe, with clearer conceptions of our cosmic relations, with the +national neighborliness which is now a necessity, the capacity and the +quality of the soul must change. Nay, it has already changed, for we +inhabit the same lands over which savages formerly roamed, and we find +in the earth and air what they never found; and when we look up into the +great wide sky and say, "The Heavens declare the glory of God," we are +not thinking of a tribal Deity, or a partial, and more or less +passionate, monarch enthroned in the midst of his splendors, but of the +King Eternal, immortal, invisible. Knowledge tends to enlarge the mind +by which it is acquired. All faculties are strengthened by use. + +History has moved along a bloody pathway, or, to revert to the figure of +a stream, is indeed a river of "tears and blood." The horrors of the +process by which the race has been lifted can hardly be exaggerated. I +do not forget them while I put stronger emphasis on the fact that the +outcome of all the struggle of individuals, the conflict of classes, and +the wars of nations has been a nobler and purer quality of soul,--not +less heroic but more sacrificial, not less strong but far more virtuous. + +The growth of the individual soul is mirrored in the progress of the +race. When we have learned to read aright the history of the world, we +are informed as to the interior forces which have made civilization. +Events are expressions of thoughts; institutions are manifestations of +soul. If there has been progress in institutions there must have been an +equal progress in the souls which are the real forces by which progress +is always won. As history has been the evolution of humanity toward +finer forms, so it is the assurance that the forces which have been at +work in the past will not cease, but steadily continue until "the pile +is complete." The perfect society will be composed of perfected +individuals. History as prophecy is harmonious with soul as prophecy. + +The future state of the soul has been the subject of rare fascination +for the world's great thinkers. Nearly all religions have a forward +look. "The Golden Age" lies far in the distance, but it has commanded +the faith of all the seers. It has sometimes been a dream concerning +individuals, and again a vision of the perfected society, but in reality +the two are one, for the social organism is but a congeries of +individuals. Bacon dreamed of New Atlantis, Sir Thomas More saw the fair +walls of Utopia rising in the future, Plato defined the boundaries of +the ideal Republic, Augustine wrote of the glories of the _Civitate +Dei_, and Tennyson with matchless music has sung of the crowning race:-- + + "Ring out old shapes of foul disease; + Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; + Ring out the thousand wars of old, + Ring in the thousand years of peace. + + Ring in the valiant man and free, + The larger heart, the kindlier hand; + Ring out the darkness of the land, + Ring in the Christ that is to be." + +The common characteristic of these social ideals is their dependence on +the culture of individuals. With the incoming of "the valiant man and +free," the man of "larger heart and kindlier hand," there is a +reasonable hope that the darkness of the land will disappear. + +With that deep look into the inmost secrets of human experience which +sounds strangely autobiographical, Browning wrote in "Rabbi Ben Ezra," + + "Praise be thine! + I see the whole design, + I, who saw power, see love now perfect too; + Perfect I call thy plan; + Thanks that I was a man! + Maker, remake, complete,--I trust what Thou shalt do!" + + "Therefore I summon age + To grant youth's heritage, + Life's struggle having so far reached its term; + Thence shall I pass, approved + A man, for aye removed + From the developed brute; a god though in the germ." + +Those last lines condense Browning's creed concerning man. He is "for +aye removed from the developed brute," and is "a god in the germ." +Browning holds that while in the future there will surely be expansion +of soul, evolution as a physical process is at an end. Henceforward +there will be no passing from one species to another. Species have to do +with physical organisms, not with spirits. Soul in man is but God "in +the germ." + +Emerson and Matthew Arnold have written much about education. The one +foretells a day when the soul, after mounting and meliorating, finds +that even the hells are turned into benefit; and the other makes his own +the thought of Bishop Wilson that culture is a study of perfection, and +that the soul must ever seek increased life, increased light, and +increased power. + +Education is the word of the hour and of the century. It is believed to +be the panacea for all ills, individual and social. But, precisely, what +does this passion for education signify if not that, either +intelligently or otherwise, all believe in the perfectibility of the +soul, and that it will have all the time that it needs for the process. +The absorbing devotion to intellectual training suggests the inquiry as +to whether many who affirm that they are agnostic concerning immortality +are not in reality earnest in their faith; for why should they seek the +culture of that which fades, as the flowers fade; when it approaches +life's winter? But, whether faith in continuance of being is firm or +frail, few doubt the perfectibility of spirit, because, beyond almost +all things, they are seeking its perfection. Literature, which is but +the thoughts of the great souls of successive periods recorded, +prophesies a day when all that hinders or taints shall be done away, and +when the divine in the germ shall have grown to large and fair +proportions. If there were no other light the outlook would still be +inspiring. It is well sometimes to ask ourselves what we were made to +be--not these bodies which are clearly decaying--but these spirits +which seem to grow younger with the passage of time. I have sometimes +thought that the very idea of second childhood is itself a prophecy of +the soul's eternal youth. Certain it is that we are the masters of the +years. The oldest persons that we know are usually the youngest in their +sympathies and ideals. Sorrow and opposition should not destroy, but +only strengthen the spiritual powers. Intelligence grows from more to +more. The sure reward of love is the capacity and opportunity for larger +love. Virtuous choices gradually become the law of liberty. These facts +are index fingers pointing toward large and loving, strenuous and +sympathetic manhood. And toward such human types, as a matter of fact, +the race has been moving. The expectation of the seers and prophets, +also, has been of a golden age in which all souls will have had time, +and opportunity, of reaching the far-off but splendid goal. Believing, +as we do, that death is never a finality, but that it is only an +incident in progress; that instead of being an end it is only freedom +from limitation, we find ourselves often vaguely, but ever eagerly, +asking, To what are all these souls tending? Toward a state glorious +beyond language to utter we deeply feel. But has no clearer voice +spoken? At last we have reached the end of our inquiry. If any other +voices speak they must sound from above. We stand by the unseen like +children by the ocean's shore. They know that beyond the storms and +waves lie fair and wealthy lands, but the waters separate and their eyes +are weak. So we stand before the future, and ask, Toward what goal are +all this education, experience and discipline tending? Are they +perfecting souls which at last are to be laid away with the bodies which +were fortunate enough to win an earlier death? It would be impiety to +believe that. Then indeed should we be put to "permanent intellectual +confusion." If all the voices of the soul are mockeries, then life is +worse than a mistake--it is a crime. + +The solution of the mystery is now before us. The man that is to be has +walked this earth, and wrought with human hands, and lived and labored +and loved, and passed into the silent land. Is Jesus the unique +revelation of the divine? There may be many to question that, but there +are few, indeed, who doubt that He embodied all of the perfect humanity +which could be expressed within the limitations of the body. He +represented Himself as essential truth and very life. He condensed duty +into such love as He manifested toward men. He embodied the heroism of +meekness, the courage of self-sacrifice, the vision of goodness. He was +an example of all that is strong, serene, sacrificial, in the midst of +the lowest and most unresponsive conditions. So much we see, and the +rest we dimly, but surely, feel. + +It was reserved for Paul, in a moment of inspiration, to put into a +single phrase a description of the goal of the human spirit, as +something which may be forever approached but never reached, in these +words, "Till we all attain unto the measure of the stature of the +fullness of Christ." The fullness of Christ! That is the soul's final +destiny. It was the far call of that goal which it faintly heard at its +first awakening and which has never entirely ceased to sound in his +ears. Who shall explore the contents of that great phrase? It is a +subject for meditation, for prayer, but never for discussion. He who +approaches it in a controversial spirit never understands it. What are +the qualities of the character of Christ? Some of them lie on the +surface of the story. He never doubted God, or, if so, but for a single +moment; He was unselfish; He lived to love and to express love; He had +some mysterious preternatural power over nature--such, perhaps, as +science is approaching in later times; kindness, sympathy, helpfulness, +purity, shone from His words and actions. He declared that the privilege +of dying to save those who despised Him was a joy. He lived in the +limitations of the human condition and, therefore, on the earth only +hints of "His fullness" are discernible. The full revelation is to be +the endless study of those who are able to see and to appreciate things +as they are. But we may ask ourselves whither these lines tend. When the +intelligence, the love, the compassion, the mercy, the purity, the moral +power and spiritual grandeur which only in dim outline are revealed in +the Christ, have perfect manifestations, what will the vision be? The +very thought transcends the farthest flights of the poet's imagination +and the most daring speculations of philosophers. In "the fullness of +Christ" is the soul's true goal. For that all men, and not the elect +few, were created. That is the revelation of the divine plan for +humanity. Toward that evolution has been slowly, and often painfully, +pressing from those dim æons when the earth was without form and void. +When man appeared as the flower of all the cosmic process he started at +once toward this goal. And with great modesty, and simply because I +believe in God and that His love cannot be defeated, I dare to hope +that, sometime and somehow, after all the pains of retribution and moral +discipline have done their inevitable work, after all the fires of +Gehenna have consumed the desire to sin, after Hades and Purgatory have +been passed, the souls which, for a time, have dwelt in these mortal +bodies, purified and without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, will be +given the beatific vision and permitted to realize the height and +depth, the length and breadth of "the fullness of Christ." + + "That one Face, far from vanish, rather grows, + Or decomposes but to recompose, + Become my universe that feels and knows." + + + + +INDEX + + +Achilles, 74. + +Actæon, 82. + +Adam's fall, 142. + +Adjustment to environment, 50, 52. + +Adjustment to knowledge of freedom, 58. + +Æschylus, 129. + +Ambrose, 140. + +Ancient Mariner, 295. + +Angelo, Michael, 48, 182. + +Animal entail, 79. + +Arnold, Matthew, 72, 98, 226, 306. + +Atmosphere in nurture, 215. + +Attraction vs. Compulsion, 216. + +Augustine, 34, 35, 140, 196, 199, 304. + +Austere experiences, 97. + +Awakening vs. Re-awakening, 147. + + +Bacon, Lord, 304. + +Bernard, St., 90. + +Books, The most vital, 229. + +Browning, Robert, 26, 113, 129, 152, 238, 305, 314. + +Browning, Mrs. E.B., 113. + +Byron, Lord, 74. + +Bunyan, John, 16. + +Bushnell, Horace, 37. + +Buxton, Sir Thomas Fowell, 220. + + +Cenci, Beatrice, 129. + +Chatterton, 74. + +Circe, 83. + +Comforter, The, 205. + +Companionship, Spiritual, 183. + +Comus, 81, 92. + +Conscience, 67, 187. + +Conversion, 133. + +Creationism, 11. + +Crisis in Ascent of the Soul, 134. + +Cross, The revelation of divine sacrifice, 175. + +Culture, 212. + +Culture, a study of perfection, 226. + +Culture and life, 227. + +Cultured man, The, 231. + + +Dante, 6. + +Death, Light on, 176. + +Death of the body, 239. + +Diana, 82. + +Donatello, 137. + +DuBois-Reymond, 55. + + +Edinburgh, Incident in, 186. + +Education, prophecy of soul's growth, 306. + +Emerson, 214, 215, 306. + +Emanation, 10. + +Environment, Influence of, 218. + +Environment, of what composed, 222. + +Epictetus, 111. + +Evolution and Immortality, 241. + +Experience, Individual, 150. + +Expiation, 155. + + +Falconer, Robert, 143. + +Faust, 5, 35, 129. + +Fetish worship, 245. + +Fiske, John, 5. + +Fliedner, Pastor, 220. + +Freedom, Realization of, 54. + + +Galahad, Sir, 85. + +Garrison, William Lloyd, 220. + +God, Rational doctrine of, 157. + +God revealed in Christ, 161. + +God cannot be defeated, 136. + +Goethe, 5. + +Golden Age, 303. + +Grace, Falling from, impossible, 145. + +Grail, The Holy, 126. + +Growth a means of knowledge, 61. + +Guardian angels, 88, 201. + +Guinevere, 129, 143, 144. + + +Hale, Nathan, 219. + +Hamlet, 129. + +Hannibal, 74. + +Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 36, 137. + +Helps in trial, 195. + +Heredity, 56. + +Heroism in silence, 198. + +Hesperus, 2. + +Hindu Swami, 64. + +Hindu mother, 66. + +Hindrances, Ministry of, 89. + +History, Prophetic, 300. + +Hope for all, 32. + +Hugo, Victor, 36, 86. + +Hunt, Holman, Light of the World, 163. + + +Ideals, Influence of, 218. + +Ideal Man seen in Jesus Christ, 164. + +Idylls of the King, 142. + +Immortality, Ode to, Wordsworth, 10. + +Immortality in the New Testament, 242. + +Immortality in the ethnic religions, 242. + +Immortality, belief in, innate, 244. + +Immortality, belief in, universal, 245. + +Immortality, unbelief in, irrational, 247. + +Immortality and the great teachers, 252. + +Inequalities in human condition, 249. + +In Memoriam and Growth of the Soul, 295. + +Intelligence, Growth in, prophetic, 292. + +Isaiah, 142. + + +Jesus the Soul's goal, 310. + +Jesus the Supreme Optimist, 169. + +Judson, Adoniram, 137. + + +Kaiserwerth, 220. + + +Lanier, Sidney, 290. + +Learning by experience should be unnecessary, 148. + +Life the best teacher, 228. + +Life, Unity of, 284. + +Life's mystery illumined, 171. + +Light of the World, Hunt's, 163. + +Luther, Martin, 138. + + +Macbeth, 129. + +Macdonald, George, 143. + +Mahomet, 111. + +Malthus, 118. + +Man, light on his nature, 163. + +Manhood, The ideal, 166. + +Marble Faun, 137. + +Marseillaise, The, 219. + +Matthewson, Dr. Geo., 245. + +Marguerite, 35. + +Melchizedek, 133. + +Milton, John, 82, 83, 92, 255. + +Moral order, 51. + +Morally excellent, the, how discern, 63. + +Moral failure, 73, 129. + +Moral evil inexplicable, 173. + +More, Sir Thomas, 304. + + +Napoleon, 74. + +Nelson, Lord, 220. + +New College, Oxford, 70. + +Newton, Sir Isaac, 202. + +Ney, Marshal, 219. + +Nightingale, Florence, 220. + +Nurture, 211. + +Nurture, part of parents in, 214. + +Nurture, vitally important, 224, 225. + + +Optimism, 105. + +Optimism, Rational basis of, 113. + +Over-soul, 94, 184. + +Ovid, Metamorphoses, 82. + + +Parents' duty to children, 149. + +Pascal, 21. + +Paul, 80. + +Pearson, Bishop, 272. + +Personality, 29, 270. + +Pigmies, 293. + +Pilgrim's Progress, 6. + +Plato, 140. + +Plan of salvation, 155. + +Poe, Edgar A., 74. + +Prayer, 276. + +Prayers for the dead, objections, 269. + +Prayers for the dead, definition, 270. + +Prayers for the dead, how justified, 272. + +Preëxistence, 10. + +Prodigal Son, 27, 28. + +Prometheus, 12. + +Prophecy, 121. + +Protestants and doctrine of prayers for the dead, 269. + + +Rabbi Ben Ezra, 305. + +Re-awakening of the Soul, 130. + +Re-awakening vs. Awakening, 147. + +Responsibility, 30. + +Resurrection of Christ, 14. + +Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 79. + +Ring and the Book, 129. + +Roman Church and prayers for the dead, 282. + + +Sakya Muni, 199. + +Santiago, 196. + +Satisfaction, 155. + +Saul, Browning's, 152. + +Scarlet Letter, The, 137. + +Self-realization, 31. + +Shakespeare, 112, 129, 255. + +Shelley, 74, 129. + +Siddhartha, 111. + +Sin always evil, 119. + +Sin a reality, 127. + +Sin, Mystery of, 172. + +Socrates, 74, 111, 199, 253. + +Sophocles, 129. + +Soul, Solitary, 87. + +Souls in society, 103. + +Soul, what awakens, 34. + +Soul, definition, 7. + +Soul, origin, 9. + +Soul, limited by body, 77. + +Soul, full of prophecies, 257. + +Spartans, 65. + +Spirit evidence of being of God, 20. + +Spiritual protection, 188. + +Spirits attract spirits, 194. + +Spirit, The Eternal, 206. + +Spitta, Karl J.P., 210. + +Subconscious action, 20. + +Sympathy, definition, 106. + +Sympathy, results from severe experience, 109. + +Suffering no mistake, 116. + +Suffering made endurable, 167. + + +Temptations of saints, 84. + +Tennyson, 85, 113, 126, 129, 274. + +Thoughts important in character, 230. + +Training an element in nurture, 220. + +Transfiguration of Christ, 14. + +Truth, Search for, 191. + +Truth finds those prepared for it, 269. + + +Ulysses, 83. + +Universe, Moral, 93. + +Universe, The idea of, 159. + +Utopia, 304. + + +Vedas, Hymns of, 114. + + +Warning voices, 187. + +Watch on the Rhine, 219. + +Welldon, 273, 280, 281. + +Whittier, John G., 220. + +Wilberforce, William, 140, 220. + +Wilson, Bishop, 226, 306. + +Wingfold, Thomas, 143. + +Wordsworth, 2, 10, 48, 182. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Ascent of the Soul, by Amory H. 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Bradford + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Ascent of the Soul + +Author: Amory H. Bradford + +Release Date: July 16, 2005 [EBook #16307] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ASCENT OF THE SOUL *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Thomas Hutchinson and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a><br /><br /></p> +<p><a name="THE_ASCENT_OF_THE_SOUL" id="THE_ASCENT_OF_THE_SOUL"></a></p> +<h1>THE ASCENT OF THE SOUL</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>AMORY H. BRADFORD, D.D.</h2> +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<div class="center">AUTHOR OF "SPIRIT AND LIFE," "HEREDITY AND CHRISTIAN PROBLEMS"<br /> +"THE GROWING REVELATION," "THE AGE OF FAITH"<br /> +"MESSAGES OF THE MASTERS," ETC.</div> + + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="center"><a name="NEW_YORK" id="NEW_YORK"></a>NEW YORK<br /> +THE OUTLOOK COMPANY<br /> +1902</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="center"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a>Copyright, 1902<br /> +By The Outlook Company<br /><br /></div> + + +<div class="center"><b>Mount Pleasant Press</b><br /> +J. Horace McFarland Company<br /> +Harrisburg, Pennsylvania</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="To_The_Memory_of" id="To_The_Memory_of"></a><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3" />To The Memory of<br /> +My Father</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<p><i> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That each, who seems a separate whole,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Should move his rounds, and fusing all</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">The skirts of self again, should fall</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Remerging in the general Soul,</span><br /><br /></i></p> +<p><i> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Is faith as vague as all unsweet:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Eternal form shall still divide</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">The eternal soul from all beside;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I shall know him when we meet.</span><br /><br /></i></p> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—<i>In Memoriam</i>.</span><br /></p> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4" /><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a>INTRODUCTION</h2> + + +<p>The purpose of the following chapters will be evident to all who may +care to peruse them. I have endeavored simply to read the soul of man +with something of the care that one reads a book containing a message +which he believes to be of importance.</p> + +<p>While one class of scientists are seeking to explore the physical +universe, another class, with equal care, are studying the human spirit, +and, already, startling discoveries have been made. My work is in no +sense new in kind, but it is such as one whose whole time is devoted to +dealing with the inner life would naturally give to such a subject. It +hardly needs to be added that my method is practical rather than +speculative. I am more interested in helping <a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a>the ascent of the soul +than in accounting for its origin. In carrying out my plan I have +considered the following subjects: The nature and genesis of the soul, +its awakening to a consciousness of responsibility, the steps which it +first takes on its upward pathway, the experience of moral failure, its +second awakening, which is to an appreciation that the universe is on +its side, the part of Christ in promoting its awakening, the sense of +spiritual companionship by which it is ever attended, the discipline of +struggle, and the nurture and culture best fitted to promote its growth. +I have also sought to read some of the prophecies of the soul, and have +found them all pointing toward a continuance of its being beyond the +event called death, and toward the fullness of Christ as the goal of +humanity. I have found a place for prayers for the departed even among +Protestants of the strictest sects.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a>A study of the soul, like a study of history, inspires optimism. It is +hard to believe that it could have been intended first for perfection +and then for extinction. It is equally difficult to believe that any +soul will, in the end, be "cast as rubbish to the void."</p> + +<p>In these studies I have tried ever to be mindful of my own limitations, +and not to forget that a fraction of humanity can never hope to +comprehend the fullness of truth. Of that side of the spiritual sphere +which has been turned toward me, and of that alone, have I presumed to +write. All that I claim for this book is that it is the contribution of +one, anxious to know what is true, toward a better understanding of a +subject which is daily receiving wider recognition and more thorough +consideration.</p> + +<p>AMORY H. BRADFORD.</p> + +<p>MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, +<i>August 30, 1902.</i></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9" /></p> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Table of Contents"> +<tr><td> </td><td align="center">Page</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_SOUL"><b>The Soul</b></a></td><td align='right'>1</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_AWAKENING_OF_THE_SOUL"><b>The Awakening of the Soul</b></a></td><td align='right'>25</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_FIRST_STEPS"><b>The First Steps</b></a></td><td align='right'>47</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#HINDRANCES"><b>Hindrances</b></a></td><td align='right'>71</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_AUSTERE"><b>The Austere</b></a></td><td align='right'>97</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_RE_AWAKENING"><b>Re-Awakening</b></a></td><td align='right'>125</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_PLACE_OF_JESUS_CHRIST"><b>The Place of Jesus Christ</b></a></td><td align='right'>151</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_INSEPARABLE_COMPANION"><b>The Inseparable Companion</b></a> </td><td align='right'>181</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#NURTURE_AND_CULTURE"><b>Nurture and Culture</b></a></td><td align='right'>209</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#IS_DEATH_THE_END"><b>Is Death the End?</b></a></td><td align='right'>237</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#PRAYERS_FOR_THE_DEAD"><b>Prayers for the Dead</b></a></td><td align='right'>265</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#THE_GOAL"><b>The Goal</b></a></td><td align='right'>289</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#FOOTNOTES"><b>Footnotes</b></a></td><td align='right'>314</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#INDEX"><b>Index</b></a></td><td align='right'>315</td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_SOUL" id="THE_SOUL"></a><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10" /><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a>THE SOUL</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<p><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It is no spirit who from heaven hath flown</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And is descending on his embassy;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Nor traveler gone from earth the heaven t'espy!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis Hesperus—there he stands with glittering crown,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">First admonition that the sun is down,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For yet it is broad daylight!—clouds pass by;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A few are near him still—and now the sky,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He hath it to himself—'tis all his own.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O most ambitious star! an inquest wrought</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Within me when I recognized thy light;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A moment I was startled at the sight;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And, while I gazed, there came to me a thought</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That even I beyond my natural race</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Might step as thou dost now:—might one day trace</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Some ground not mine; and, strong her strength above,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My soul, an apparition in the place,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Tread there, with steps that no one shall reprove!</span><br /><br /> +</p><p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—Wordsworth.</span><br /></p> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="I" id="I"></a><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13" />I</h2> +<h2><i>THE SOUL</i></h2> + + +<p>Subjects which a few years ago were regarded as the exclusive property +of cultured thinkers, are now common themes of thought and conversation. +Psychology has been popularized. Materialistic doctrines are at a +discount even in this age of physical science.</p> + +<p>It is difficult to explain the somewhat sudden appearance of intense +interest in questions which have to do with the life of the spirit; but, +whatever the theory of its genesis, there is no doubt of its presence. +This, therefore, is a favorable time for a somewhat extended study of +the stages through which we pass in our spiritual growth. I shall +endeavor to use the inductive method in this inquiry, <a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>and trust that I +am not presumptuous in giving to these essays the title,</p> + +<div class="blockquot">THE ASCENT OF THE SOUL.</div> + +<p>The phrases, "The Ascent of Man" and "The Descent of Man" are familiar +to all readers of the literature of modern science. One of the most +eminent of American writers on science and philosophy too soon taken +from his work, if any act of Providence is ever too soon, has made a +clear distinction between evolution as applied to the body and as +applied to the spirit. In lucid and luminous pages he has taught us that +evolution, as a physical process, having culminated in man can go no +further along those lines; that henceforward "the Cosmic force" will be +expended in the perfection of the spirit, and that that process will +require eternity to complete.</p> + +<p>More perspicuously than any other <a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>author, John Fiske has introduced to +modern English thought the conception of the ascent of the soul, +considered in its relation to the individual and to the race.</p> + +<p>This subject naturally divides itself into two departments, viz.—the +ascent of each individual soul and, then, the far-off perfecting of +humanity. I shall make suggestions along both lines of inquiry. I do not +know of any writer who has, in a compact form, presented the results of +such studies, although there have been illustrations, especially in +literature, which indicate that many thinkers have had in mind the +attempt to trace and describe the progress of the soul from its bondage +to animalism toward its perfection and glory in the freedom of the +spirit.</p> + +<p>Goethe, in "Faust," has made an effort to follow the process by which a +weak woman and a weaker man, ignorant of the forces struggling within +them and <a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>susceptible to malign influences from without, through +terrible mistakes and bitter failure, at length reach the heights of +character.</p> + +<p>The Trilogy of Dante is a study of the soul in its slow and painful +passage from hell, through purgatory, to heaven. Perhaps, however, the +noblest and truest effort in this direction to be found in the world's +literature is "The Pilgrim's Progress," in which a man of glorious +genius and vision, but without academic culture, reflecting too much the +crude and materialistic theology of his time and condition, follows the +progress of a soul in its movement from the City of Destruction to the +City Celestial. The City of Destruction is the state of animalism and +selfishness from which the race has slowly emerged; and the City +Celestial is not only the Christian's heaven, but also the state of +those who, having escaped from earthliness, having conquered animalism +and risen into the <a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>freedom of the spirit, breathe the air and enjoy the +companionship of the sons of God.</p> + +<p>It is my purpose in a different way to attempt to trace some of the +steps of what may be called the evolution of the spirit, or, in the +light of modern knowledge, the growth of the soul as it moves upward. At +the outset I must make it plain that I am speaking of evolution since +the time when man as a spirit appeared. Given the spiritual being, what +are the stages through which he will pass on his way to the goal toward +which he is surely pressing?</p> + +<p>Just here we should ask, What do we mean by the soul? The word is used +in its popular sense, as synonymous with spirit or personality. Man has +a dual nature; one part of his being is of the dust and to the dust it +returns; the other part is a mystery; it is known only by what it does. +Man thinks, loves, chooses, and is conscious of himself <a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>as thinking, +loving, choosing. The unity of this being who thinks, loves, chooses in +a single self-consciousness constitutes him a spirit, or personality; +and that is what the word soul signifies in its popular usage. There is +another technical definition which may be true or false but which is of +no importance in our study.</p> + +<p>The problem of life is the right adjustment of spirit and body, so that +the former shall never be the servant but always the master of the +latter.</p> + +<p>We are on this earth, in the midst of darkness, with nothing absolutely +sure except that in a little while we must die. We are two-fold beings +in which there is war almost from the cradle to the grave, and that war +is caused by the effort of the body to rule the soul and of the soul to +conquer the body.</p> + +<p>At the gates of this mystery we continually do cry, and little light +comes <a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>from any quarter; indeed, it may be said no light except that of +the Christian revelation, and the, as yet, not very pronounced +prophecies of evolution.</p> + +<p>One of the questions, which in all ages has been most persistently +asked, concerns the origin of the soul. Perhaps, in reality, that is no +more mysterious than the genesis of the body; but the body is material +and we live in a world of matter, and it is comparatively easy to see +that our bodies are from the earth which they inhabit. Our souls, +however, are invisible, immaterial, ethereal. There is no evident +kinship between a thought and a stone, between love and the soil which +produces vegetables, between a heroic choice and the stuff of the earth, +between spirit and matter. Well, then, whence does the soul come?</p> + +<p>It will be interesting at least to recall a few of the many answers +which have been given to this inquiry.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>One theory of the genesis of the soul is called Emanation. That means +that in the universe there is really but one source of spiritual being, +one Infinite Spirit, and that all other spiritual beings have proceeded +from Him as the rays of light are flashed from the sun; and that, in +time, all will return to Him again and be absorbed in the being from +which they have come. Thus all spirits are supposed to have proceeded +from one source—God. As all natural life in the end is but a +manifestation of solar energy, so all human beings are supposed to be +only bits of God, for a time imprisoned in bodies, and some time to +return to the Deity and be absorbed in Him, or in it.</p> + +<p>Another answer to the question as to the soul's origin is that of +Preëxistence. This may be called the Oriental theory, for almost the +whole Orient holds this view. The substance of the teaching is suggested +by Wordsworth, in his "Ode to Immortality," in the following lines:<a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a></p> +<p> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The soul that rises with us, our life's star,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hath had elsewhere its setting,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">And cometh from afar."</span><br /></p> + +<p>Many Occidentals have believed in preëxistence. One of the most +intelligent persons whom I have ever known once affirmed that she had +had thoughts which she was sure were memories of events which had +occurred in a previous life. This answer only pushes the question one +stage further back, and leaves us still inquiring, Where do the souls of +men originally come from?</p> + +<p>Another answer to our question affirms that every individual soul is +created by God whenever a body is in readiness to receive it—that when +a body is born a soul is made to order for it. An old poet wrote as +follows:</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Then God smites His hands together</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And strikes out a soul as a spark,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Into the organized glory of things,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From the deeps of the dark."<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></span><br /></p> + +<p><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>The Greek myth of Prometheus is an illustration of this teaching, for +"Prometheus is said to have made a human image from the dust of the +ground, and then, by fire stolen from heaven, to have animated it with a +living soul."<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a></p> + +<p>Another answer teaches that all human souls have been derived by +heredity from that of Adam. This is a speculation found in medieval +theology, and in the Koran.</p> + +<p>A fanciful theory suggests that all souls have been in existence since +the universe was formed; that they are floating in space like rays of +light; and that when a body comes into being a soul is drawn into it +with its first breath, or first nourishment. This is pure imagination, +but intelligent and earnest men have believed it to be the true solution +of the problem.</p> + +<p>One other answer to this question of origin teaches that souls are +propagated <a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>in the same way and at the same time as bodies; that when a +human being appears he is body and spirit; that both are born together, +both grow together; and then, some add, both die together, while others +believe that the spirit enters at death on a larger and freer stage of +existence.</p> + +<p>I have recalled these speculations concerning the soul in order to show +that in all ages this question has been eagerly put and reverently +pressed. How could it have been otherwise? And what more convincing +evidence of the spiritual nature of man could be desired than that he +asks such questions? Would a figure of clay ask whether it were the +abode of a higher order of being? Dust asks no questions concerning +personality; but intelligence can never be satisfied until it knows the +causes of things.</p> + +<p>What is the teaching of the New Testament concerning this subject? The +attitude of Jesus toward all the great <a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>problems was the practical one. +He attempted to shed no light on causes, but ever endeavored to show how +to make the best of things as they are. Whence came the soul? we may ask +of Him, but He will tell us that a far more important inquiry is, How +may the soul be delivered from imperfection, suffering, and sin, and +saved to its noblest uses and loftiest possibilities?</p> + +<p>The reality of spirit is everywhere assumed in the teaching of Jesus, +but nowhere does there appear any effort to throw light on the mystery +of its genesis.</p> + +<p>The distinction between spirit and body is indicated by the +Transfiguration, the Resurrection, the narratives of the continued +existence of Jesus after His Crucifixion, by many references to the +heavenly life, and by the appeals and invitations of the Gospel which +are all addressed to intelligence and will. The presence of Jesus in +history is an assertion of the spiritual nature of man. <a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>Various +philosophers have tried to satisfy the desire for light on the question +of the origin of personality; but Jesus has told us how, being here, we +may break our prison-houses and rise into the full freedom and glory of +the children of God. While inquirers have been seeking light, Jesus has +brought to them salvation; while they have fruitlessly asked whence they +came, Jesus has told them whither they are going.</p> + +<p>The real problem of human life is not one which has to do with our +birth, but with our destiny. We know that we think, choose, love; we +know that we are self-conscious; we feel that we have kinship with +something higher than the ground on which we walk. The stars attract us +because they are above and have motion, but the earth we tread upon has +few fascinations.</p> + +<p>Jesus has responded to the essential questions: For what have we been +created? What is our true home? <a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>What is the goal of personality? By +what path does man move from the bondage of his will, and the limitation +of his animalism toward the glorious liberty of the children of God, and +toward the fullness of his possible being?</p> + +<p>We are thus brought face to face with other questions of deep importance +What part do weakness, limitation, suffering, sorrow, and even sin, play +in the development of souls? Is it necessary that any should fall in +order that they may rise? Did John Bunyan truly picture the ascent of +the soul? Does its path, of necessity, lead through the Slough of +Despond, through Vanity Fair, by Castle Dangerous, and into the realm of +Giant Despair?</p> + +<p>Must one pass through hell and purgatory before he may enjoy the +"beatific vision?" Are temptation, sin, sorrow, and even death, angels +of God sent forth to minister to the perfection <a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>of man? or are they +fiends which, in some foul way, have invaded the otherwise fair regions +in which we dwell?</p> + +<p>These are some of the questions to which we are to seek answers in the +pages which are to follow. I am persuaded that, as the result of our +studies, we shall find that the same beneficent hand which led the +"Cosmic process" for unnumbered ages, until the appearance of man, is +leading it still, that far more wonderful disclosures are waiting for +the children of men as they shall be prepared to receive them, and that +the glory of the "Spiritual Universe," as it approaches its +consummation, when compared with the finest growths of character yet +seen, will transcend them as the ordered creation, with its countless +stars, transcends the primeval chaos.</p> + +<p>In the meantime it is well to remember a few very simple and +self-evident facts. One of these is that human souls <a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>must vary, at +least as much as the bodies in which they dwell. Individuality has to do +with spirits. We think, love, and choose in ways that differ quite as +much as our bodily appearance. There is no uniformity in the spiritual +sphere;—this we know from its manifestations in conduct and history. +One man is heroic and another tender, one a reformer and another a +recluse, one conservative and another radical. The same Bible has +passages as widely contrasted as the twenty-third and the fifty-eighth +Psalms, and characters as unlike as Jacob and Jesus. Indeed, may it not +be assumed that physical differences are but expressions of still more +clearly marked differences in spirits? If this is true it will follow +that, as we move toward the goal of our being, while all will be under +the same good care, we will move along different, though converging, +paths. There are many roads to the "Celestial City" and, possibly, <a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>some +of them do not lead through the Slough of Despond, or go very near to +the realms of Giant Despair.</p> + +<p>I cannot leave this part of my subject without dwelling for a moment +upon two thoughts which to me seem to be full of significance.</p> + +<p>This wonderfully complex nature of ours,—this power of thinking, +choosing, loving, these mysterious inner depths out of which come +strange suggestions, and within which, all the time, processes are +carried on which may rise into consciousness and startle with their +beauty or shame with their ugliness—does no suggestion come from it +concerning its origin and destiny? Until they pass mid-life few men +realize the terrible significance of the command of the oracle at +Delphi, "Know Thyself." Who is not surprised every day at what he finds +within himself? It sometimes seems as if two beings dwelt in every body, +one in the region of consciousness, <a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>and one down below consciousness +steadily forging the material which, sooner or later, must be forced up +for the conscious man to think about.</p> + +<p>In proportion as we know ourselves more accurately it becomes +increasingly evident that as spirits we are allied to the great Spirit. +Few who earnestly think can believe that their power of thought could +have grown out of the earth; few when they love can believe that there +is no fountain of love, unlimited and free; and few, when they choose +one course and refuse another, would be willing to affirm that they are +without the power of choice, and have no destiny but the grave. In other +words, is not the fact that we are spirits all the proof that we need to +have of the Father of Spirits? Is not a single ray of light all the +evidence which any one needs of the reality of the sun? Is not the +presence of one spiritual being a demonstration of a greater Spirit +somewhere? <a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>Every soul indicates that, whatever the process by which it +has reached its present development, it came originally from God. "In +the beginning God" is a phrase which applies to the spiritual as well as +to the material universe.</p> + +<p>The soul is not only a witness concerning its own origin, but it is also +a prophecy concerning its destiny. The more thoroughly it is studied the +more convincing becomes the evidence that it must some time reach its +perfected state. The perfection of intelligence, love, and will require +endless growth. The great words of Pascal can hardly be recalled too +frequently:</p> + +<p>"Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed. It +is not necessary that the entire universe arm itself to crush him. A +breath of air, a drop of water suffices to kill him. But were the +universe to crush him, man would still be more noble than that <a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>which +kills him, because he knows that he dies; and the universe knows nothing +of the advantage it has over him."</p> + +<p>We can as yet hardly begin to comprehend that for which we were +created;—now we see through a glass darkly. A caterpillar on the earth +cannot appreciate a butterfly in the air. Jesus was the typical man, as +well as the revelation of God. St. Paul has set our thoughts moving +toward the "fullness of Christ" as the final goal of humanity. We may +not, for many milleniums, know all that is contained in that phrase "the +fullness of Christ;" but no one ever attentively listened to the voices +which speak in his own soul, no one has even asked himself the meaning +of the fact that nothing earthly ever completely satisfies, no one ever +saw another in the ripeness of splendid powers growing more intelligent, +loving, and spiritually beautiful, without feeling that if death were +really the end no being is so much to be pitied <a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>as man, and no fate so +much to be coveted as a short life in which the mockery may go on.</p> + +<p>Our souls themselves assure us that they have come from a fountain of +spiritual being—that is, from God; and they are also prophecies of a +perfection which has never yet been realized on the earth and which will +require eternity to complete. But all are not conscious of themselves as +spiritual beings and children of eternity, and many come slowly to that +consciousness. Our next inquiry, therefore, will concern the Soul's +Awakening.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_AWAKENING_OF_THE_SOUL" id="THE_AWAKENING_OF_THE_SOUL"></a><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34" /><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>THE AWAKENING OF THE SOUL</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<p><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">There's a palace in Florence, the world knows well,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And a statue watches it from the square,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And this story of both do our townsmen tell.</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ages ago, a lady there,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">At the farthest window facing the East</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Asked, Who rides by with the royal air?</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That selfsame instant, underneath,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Duke rode past in his idle way</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Empty and fine like a swordless sheath.</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">He looked at her, as a lover can;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">She looked at him as one who awakes:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The past was a sleep, and her life began.</span><br /><br /> +</p><p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—<i>The Statue and the Bust</i>. Browning</span><br /></p> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="II" id="II"></a><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37" />II</h2> + + <h2><i>THE AWAKENING OF THE SOUL</i></h2> + + +<p>The process of physical awakening is not always sudden or swift. The +passage from sleep to consciousness is sometimes slow and difficult. The +soul's realization of itself is often equally long delayed. The effect +of eloquence on an audience has often been observed when one by one the +dormant souls wake up and begin to look out of their windows, the eyes, +at the speaker who is addressing them. In something the same way the +souls of men come to a consciousness of their powers and, with +clearness, begin to look out on their possibilities and their destiny.</p> + +<p>The prodigal son in the parable of Jesus lived his earlier years without +an appreciation either of his powers or <a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>possibilities. When he came to +himself this appreciation flashed upon his will and he turned toward his +father.</p> + +<p>Two chapters of this book will have to do with thoughts suggested by +this "pearl of parables," viz., the Soul's Awakening and its +Re-awakening. Before this young man decided to return to his father he +knew himself as an intelligent and as a responsible being; the power of +choice was not given him then for the first time. Long ere this he had +decided how he would use his wealth. He knew the difference between +right and wrong. He was intellectually and morally awake before he saw +things in their true relations. "The wine of the senses" intoxicated +him; the delights of the flesh seemed the only pleasures to be desired. +At first he did not discover the essential excellence of virtue or the +sure results of vice. Later, when he saw things in a clearer light, +their proper proportions and relations <a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>appeared, and he came to himself +and made the wise choice.</p> + +<p>In this chapter we are to study the process of the soul's awakening to a +consciousness of its powers, and in a subsequent chapter that +re-awakening which is so radical as to merit the name it has usually +received, viz., the new birth.</p> + +<p>There is a time when the soul first realizes itself as a personality +with definite responsibilities and relations. This experience comes to +some earlier, and to some with greater vividness, than to others. So +long as we are blind to our powers, responsibilities, relations, we can +hardly be said to be spiritually awake. He only is awake who knows +himself as a personality; who has heard the voice of duty; who, to some +extent, appreciates the fact that he is dependent on a higher +personality or power; and who recognizes that he is surrounded by other +personalities who also have their <a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>rights, responsibilities, and +relations. I think, I choose, I love, I know that I am dependent upon a +Being higher than myself. I see that I am related to other personalities +with rights as sacred as my own, and, therefore, that I must choose, +think, love so as to be acceptable to the One to whom I am responsible, +and harmonious with those by whom I am surrounded.</p> + +<p>The soul's awakening is primarily a recognition and an appreciation of +its responsibility. It may think, choose, love, without realizing +responsibility, and, therefore, live as if it were the only being in the +universe; but the moment it recognizes responsibility it also discerns a +higher Person, and other persons, since responsibility to no one, and +for nothing, is inconceivable.</p> + +<p>The soul's awakening, therefore, carries with it the idea of obligation, +and that includes the recognition of God, of duty, of right and wrong, +in short, of a moral <a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>ideal. I do not mean to insist that every one +appreciates all that is implied in consciousness of responsibility. +There are degrees of alertness, and some men are wide awake and others +half asleep.</p> + +<p>However it may have come to its self-realization, that is a solemn and +sublime moment when a human soul understands, ever so dimly, that it is +facing in the unseen Being one on whom it knows itself to be dependent; +and when it discerns the hitherto invisible lines which bind it to other +personalities, in all space and time. At that moment life really begins. +Henceforward, by various ways, over undreamed-of obstacles, assisted by +invisible hands, hindered by unseen forces, in spite of foes within and +enemies without, the course of that soul must ever be toward its true +home and goal, in the bosom of God.</p> + +<p>The difficulties in the way of such a faith for the thoughtful and +sensitive are <a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>many and serious. Not all blossoms come to fruitage; not +all human beings are fit to live; processes of degeneration seem to be +at work in nature, in society, and in the individual life.</p> + +<p>Apparently true and time-honored interpretations of Scripture are quoted +against the faith that in some way, and by some kind of discipline, the +souls of men will forever approach God; while the belief of the church, +so far as it has found expression in the creeds is urged in opposition. +But when I see how timidly the creeds of the church have been held by +many in all ages, how large a number of the most spiritual and morally +earnest have questioned them at this point, and how often they have been +rejected in whole, or in part, by those who have dared to trust their +hearts; when I remember that the Scripture quoted as opposing is +susceptible of another interpretation, when I remember that blossoms are +not men, <a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>and, most of all when I see the God-like possibilities in +every human being, I cannot resist the conviction that every soul of man +is from God, and that, sometime and somehow, it may be by the hard path +of retribution, possibly through great agonies and by means of austere +chastisements and severe discipline as well as by loving entreaty, after +suffering shall have accomplished all its ministries it will reach a +blissful goal and the "beatific vision."</p> + +<p>The awakening of the soul is its entrance upon an appreciation of its +powers, relations, possibilities, and responsibilities.</p> + +<p>What awakens the soul? The answer to that question is hidden. The wind +bloweth where it listeth. Elemental processes and forces are all silent +and viewless. The stillness of the sunrise is like that of the deeps of +the sea. No eye ever traced the birth of life, and no sound ever +attended the awakening <a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>of the soul; and yet this subject is not +altogether mysterious. A few rays of light have fallen upon it. I +venture suggestions which may help a little toward a rational answer to +this question.</p> + +<p>The soul awakens because it grows, and its growth is sure. Everything +that is alive must grow; only death is stationary. It is as natural for +us sometime to know ourselves as having relations both to the seen and +the unseen as for our bodies to increase in stature. The Confession of +Augustine<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> is true of all, "Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart +is restless until it repose in Thee."</p> + +<p>The soul turns toward God as naturally as children turn toward their +parents. I know no other way of explaining the fact that in all ages the +majority of the people have had faith in some kind of a deity; and that, +widely as they differ as to what is right, all feel that they <a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>should +follow their convictions of duty. The various ethnic religions, however +repulsive, cruel, and vile some of their teachings may be, all indicate +a realization of dependence, and all, in some way, bear witness to man's +longing for God. Augustine was right—"The heart is restless until it +repose in Thee."</p> + +<p>The healthful soul will always move along the pathway of growth. The +next stage in its evolution after its birth is its awakening. Its +progress may be hindered, but it cannot be prevented, and it may be +hastened.</p> + +<p>The means by which a soul comes to its self-realization has been a +favorite study with poets, dramatists, and novelists. Marguerite, in +"Faust," was a simple, sweet, sensuous, traditionally religious girl +until she was rudely startled by the knowledge that she was a great +sinner; that moment the scales began to fall from her eyes. In her, +Goethe has shown how one class of persons, <a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>and that a large class, come +to self-realization.</p> + +<p>Victor Hugo, in a passage of almost unparalleled pathos, has pictured in +Jean Valjean a kind of big human beast who, when half awake, steals a +loaf of bread to save others from starving, but who is startled into +fullness of manhood by the sympathy and consideration of the good Bishop +whose silver he had also stolen.</p> + +<p>Hawthorne, in Donatello, has pictured a beautiful creature fully +equipped with affections, emotions, passions, but with little +consciousness of responsibility, until the fatal moment in which a crime +illuminates his soul like a flash of lightning.</p> + +<p>Such experiences are not to be compared with those of the prodigal son +or of Saul. Before the one was reduced to husks, or the light blazed +upon the other, they felt the obligation to do right. The prodigal chose +pleasure <a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>with his eyes wide open and Saul was, mistakenly but truly, +trying to do God's will even when he assisted in the stoning of Stephen.</p> + +<p>Hugo, Goethe, and Hawthorne have accurately delineated single steps in +the growth of the soul. They have shown how the process of the soul's +awakening may be, and often has been, hastened. It may be hindered by +false ideals and a vicious environment, and it may be hastened by lofty +ideals and a holy environment.</p> + +<p>Dr. Bushnell, in his lectures on Christian Nurture, has said that the +formative years of every man's life are the first three. Is he correct? +I am not sure, but there can be no doubt but what with a good +environment the consciousness of moral obligation will be very early +developed.</p> + +<p>The soul cannot long be imprisoned. The consciousness of "ought" and +"ought not" will break all barriers as a <a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>growing seed will split a +rock; and, when that stage of growth appears, the soul knows itself.</p> + +<p>When the soul is finally awakened, when it realizes that it is +indissolubly bound to a larger personality in the unseen sphere; when it +finds that it is tied to other souls, and that it cannot escape from its +responsibility for itself and them,—what then? Then the struggle of +life begins. The awakening is to a realization of conflict with the seen +and unseen environment, with forces within and fascinations without. +When Paul speaks of the law as the minister of death, he simply means +that law introduces an ideal, and ideals always start struggles. Law is +something to be obeyed. It is sure to antagonize the animal in man. When +our possibilities dawn upon us, in that moment there comes the feeling +that they should be our masters. Then the lower nature resists and +becomes clamorous. <a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>Duty calls in one direction and inclination impels +in another. The period of ignorance has passed. Weakness and +imperfection remain, but not ignorance. There is a conflict in the soul. +The law in the members wars against the law in the mind. We feel that we +ought to move upward, but unseen weights press heavily upon us, and to +rise seems impossible.</p> + +<p>Between God calling from above and animalism from below the poor soul +has a hard time of it. The morally great in all ages have become strong +by overcoming their fleshly natures. They have risen on their dead +selves to higher things. The vision of God has reached them even in +their prison-houses; and it has broken their chains and they have begun +to move toward Him. To the end of the chapter they have had a long +fight, and not seldom have been sadly worsted. Goethe and Augustine, +Pascal and Coleridge, DeQuincey and <a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>Webster—how the list of those who +have had to fight bitter battles for spiritual liberty might be extended +I and many have not been victorious before the shadows have lengthened +and the day closed. Should they be blamed or pitied? Pitied, surely, and +for the rest let us leave them to Him who knoweth all things. "Vengeance +is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Men have nothing to do with +judgment; the final word concerning any soul will be spoken only by Him +whose vision is perfect. "Steep and craggy is the pathway of the gods," +and steep and craggy is the path by which men rise to spiritual heights.</p> + +<p>He who is sensitive to life can hardly survey this universal human +struggle with undimmed eye or with unquestioning faith. The young are +driven here and there by heartless and, sometimes, almost furious +passions; some are weak and fall because they are blind, and <a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>others +because they love and trust; and many who desire to do good mistake and +choose evil. The strong often try to run away from themselves but can +find no solitude in which to hide; and all the time right and truth +shine in the darkness like stars. What shall we say of these confusing +conditions? To ignore them is foolish; to insist that the struggle is +but a delusion is nonsense. The only sane course is to face facts and +adjust our theories to them.</p> + +<p>The battle between duty and inclination, between the ideal and the +actual, will continue as long as life in the body endures. It is not an +unmixed evil. In the end right is never worsted. The way that leads to +holiness is long and sometimes bloody; but it always develops strength +and courage. The fight, for each individual, will be ended only by the +full and perfect choice of truth and virtue, which are always the will +of God. The victory will be secure long before <a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>it is fully won. Enough +for us to know that conformity to the will of God at last will be the +end of strife.</p> + +<p>It is not well to be overmuch troubled when we see those whom we love +fighting a hard battle against inherited tendencies and an evil +environment, for the fight, however fierce, is a good sign. Those alone +are to be pitied who are drifting, and not resisting. Progress is ever +by a steep and spiral pathway. Sometimes the face of the ascending soul +is toward the sun and sometimes it is toward the darkness. No man can +deliver his friend from the forces which oppose him. Each must conquer +for himself and none can evade the conflict. From the hour when the soul +awakens to a consciousness of its powers and possibilities, its +movement, in spite of all hindrances and difficulties, must be to the +heights. Those only need cause anxiety who are not yet awake; or who, +having been awake, <a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>have turned backward instead of pressing onward.</p> + +<p>We are now face to face with a momentous inquiry. When the soul is +awake, when it realizes something of its descent from God and of its +relation to Him and to other souls, what should be its environment? +Intelligent and otherwise sane people at this point have been strangely +insane and blind. We are always affected by influence more than by +teaching. Education by atmosphere is quite as effective as education by +study. Involuntarily all become like their ideals. Personalities absorb +characteristics from surroundings as flowers absorb colors from the +light. The awakened soul, therefore, from the first should have a +spiritual environment. Parents and friends should be helps, not +hindrances, to its progress. I once read a letter from one who had +changed an old for a new home. The letter was full of aspiration for the +best things, of thoughts <a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>about God and the spiritual verities. It was +not difficult to see that the new home in its reverence for truth, its +loyalty to right, its reaching for reality, was providing the same good +influence as the old one. If, in the environment, truth and duty are +honored, virtue reverenced, God worshipped sincerely and devoutly, +manhood held to be as sacred as deity, the unseen and spiritual never +spoken of unadvisedly or lightly, courage always found hand in hand with +character, the soul will never long fight a losing battle.</p> + +<p>The home should be organized to promote, as swiftly as possible, the +awakening of the souls of the children; and, from the moment of this +awakening, everything should be planned to help their growth. The books +on the tables should tell the life-stories of those who have bravely +fought and never faltered. Biographies of men like Wilberforce and +Howard who have lived <a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>to help their fellow-men; and of women like +Florence Nightingale and Lady Stanley, who have regarded their social +gifts and ample wealth as calls to service; histories of charities, +intellectual development and noble achievement, pictures like Sir +Galahad and The Light of the World are potent forces in the formation of +character. The ideal side of life should ever be presented in its most +attractive form to the awakened soul in its near environment. Because +the ideal culminates in the religious, and the feeling of moral +obligation rests at last upon the conviction that God is, and that He is +not far from any one, Jesus, in all the beauty and pathos of His earthly +career, in all the tragic grandeur of His death and glory of His +Resurrection, in all the nearness and helpfulness of His continuing +ministry, should be the subject of frequent, earnest, honest, sane, and +sympathetic conversation.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a>The awakened soul needs first of all an environment which will be +favorable to its growth. Its development then will usually be steadily +and swiftly toward God and conformity to His will. There ought to be no +need of any re-awakening. If the soul opens its eyes among those who +reverence truth and righteousness, who guard virtue and revere love, to +whom God is the nearest and most blessed of realities, and Jesus is +Master, Saviour, and daily Friend, its growth toward the spiritual goal +will be as natural and beautiful as it will also be swift and sure.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_FIRST_STEPS" id="THE_FIRST_STEPS"></a><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57" />THE FIRST STEPS</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<p><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No mortal object did these eyes behold</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">When first they met the placid light of thine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And my soul felt her destiny divine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And hope of endless peace in me grew bold:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Heaven-born, the soul a heav'nward course must hold;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Beyond the visible world she soars to seek</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(For what delights the sense is false and weak)</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ideal form, the universal mould.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The wise man, I affirm, can find no rest</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In that which perishes: nor will he lend</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His heart to aught which doth on time depend.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis sense, unbridled will, and not true love,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which kills the soul: Love betters what is best,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Even here below, but more in heaven above.</span><br /><br /> +</p><p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—<i>Sonnet from Michael Angelo.</i> Wordsworth</span><br /></p> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="III" id="III"></a><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59" />III</h2> +<h2><i>THE FIRST STEPS</i></h2> + + +<p>The first movements of the awakened soul are difficult to trace. +Observation, painstaking and long-continued, alone can furnish the +desired information. In the attempt to recall our own experiences there +is always a possibility of inaccuracy. Bias counts for more in +self-examination than in an examination of others. There is also danger +of confusing religious preconceptions with what actually transpires. +What we have been led to imagine should be experienced we are very +likely to insist has taken place. The truth concerning the Ascent of the +Soul will be found in the conclusions of many observers in widely +different conditions.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>The soul awakens to a consciousness of its responsibilities and to a +knowledge that it is in a moral order from which escape is forever +impossible. This is our point of departure in this chapter.</p> + +<p>The new-born child has to become adjusted to its physical environment, +to learn to use its powers, to breathe, to eat, to allow the various +senses to do their work. In like manner the newly awakened soul has to +become adjusted to the moral order. The moral order is the rule of right +in the sphere of thought, emotion, and choice. It is the government of +the soul as the physical order is the government of the body. It may be +best explained by analogy. There is a physical order ruled by physical +laws. If those laws are obeyed, strength, health, sanity result; but if +they are disobeyed, the consequences, which are inevitable and +self-perpetuating, are weakness, disease, insanity. <a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>If one violates +gravitation he is dashed in pieces; if he trifles with microbes their +infinitesimal grasp will be like a shackle of steel. No one can get +outside the physical universe and the sweep of its laws.</p> + +<p>There is also a right and a wrong way to use thought, emotion, will. The +mind which has hospitality only for holy thoughts will become clearer, +and its vision more distinct; but the mind which harbors impure +thoughts, gradually, but surely, confuses evil with good, obscures its +vision, and becomes a fountain of moral miasm. If we choose to recall +and to retain feelings that are animal, and are the relics of animalism, +the natural tendency toward bestiality will gather momentum; but if +emotion is turned toward higher objects, and we are thrilled from above +rather than lulled from below, the sensibilities become sources of +enduring joy. The moral order is like the physical order <a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>in its +universality and in the remorselessness of the consequences which follow +choices.</p> + +<p>How does the soul become adjusted to the moral order? This question is +difficult to answer. At the first there is sight enough to see that one +course is right and another wrong, but the vision is indistinct. +Gradually the ability to make accurate discriminations increases, and, +with time and other growth, the faculty of vision is enlarged and +clarified.</p> + +<p>The first step in the Ascent of the Soul is the development of ability +to discriminate between right and wrong. The powers of the soul are +enlarged and vivified with the bodily growth, but whether there is any +necessary connection between the growth of the one and that of the +other, we know not. This alone is sure—clearer vision, with +ever-increasing distinctness, reveals the certainty that moral laws are +universal and unchangeable. The process <a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>of adjustment to the moral +order is partly voluntary and partly involuntary. It is hastened by the +hidden forces of vitality, and it may be hindered by its own choices. As +a human being who refuses to eat will starve, so a soul which turns away +from truth will starve. The law in one case is as inexorable as in the +other. This consciousness of the moral order is sometimes dim even in +mature years because neglect always deadens appreciation. Paul said that +the law is a schoolmaster leading to Christ. By that he intended to +teach that we must realize that we are under moral law before we can +know that its violation will result in a state of ruin needing +salvation. First that which is natural, then that which is spiritual. +The phrase "natural law in the spiritual world" means that the +consequences following right and wrong are as inevitable and essential +in the realm of spirit as in that of matter.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>The progress of the soul is dependent on the realization that there is +a moral quality in thoughts, emotions, choices; that the consequences +following them grow out of them as flowers from seed, and that they +determine not only the character but the happiness and welfare of the +one exercising them.</p> + +<p>The next step in the upward movement of the soul is the realization of +its freedom. It is possible for one to know that he is under law, +without at the same time appreciating that he is free to choose whether +he will obey. I may see a storm sweeping toward me and know that behind +it is resistless force, and know, also, that to step outside the track +of that storm is impossible; and it is conceivable that a soul may know +itself as able to think, feel, act, and, at the same time, be under the +dominion of forces before which it is powerless. The practical question, +therefore, for all in this human world <a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>is not, are there spiritual +laws? but, may we choose for ourselves whether we will obey or disobey +them? Until the soul knows itself to be free to choose, there will be no +deep feeling of obligation, without which there can be no motive +impelling toward the heights. Here also we walk in the dark. The genesis +of the consciousness of freedom has never been observed. DuBois-Reymond +has called it one of "the seven riddles of science." We are no nearer +the solution of the problem than were our fathers a thousand years ago. +But one thing at least we do know: He who believes himself to be a +puppet in the hands of unseen forces will never fight them. If freedom +is a fiction the universe is not only unmoral, but immoral. The final +argument for freedom is consciousness. I know I could have chosen +differently from what I did. But how do I know? The process cannot be +pushed farther back. Consciousness is <a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>ultimate and authoritative. But +what then shall be said of heredity? A child when first born is little +but a bundle of sensibilities. Its growth seems to be but the unfolding +of inherited tendencies. Every man is what his ancestors have made him +plus what he has absorbed from his environment. How can we say then that +any are free? That man who is surly, uncomfortable, ugly, as hard to +endure as a March wind, is but the extension of his father. When one +knows the elder it is difficult to do otherwise than pity the younger. +He is but living the tendencies which were born in him and which are an +inseparable part of his nature. He cannot be genial and urbane. Are not +some born moral cripples as others are born with physical deformities? +Are not some spiritually deaf, dumb, and blind from birth? It cannot be +doubted. We are all more or less what our fathers were, but our +surroundings do <a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>much to modify us. Many men seem to be driven on wings +of passion, as leaves by tornadoes; and yet we know that we are free, +and that all life and conduct, individual and social, must be ordered on +that hypothesis. Teach men that they are not free, and anarchy and chaos +will quickly follow. No freedom? Then there is no obligation. No one +feels that he ought to do what he cannot do, and no one will try to do +what he does not feel that he ought to do. If men are but machines, +moving only as the power is turned on, there is no moral quality in any +action. If we live in a moral world, whether we can understand it or +not, we must be free to choose for ourselves. The possibility of the +soul's expansion depends on its freedom. There is no right and no wrong, +no truth and no error, if it is a slave to the inheritance with which it +was born. What gives to the invitations of Jesus a quality so serious +and so solemn <a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a>is the fact that they may be rejected. The power of +choice is the most sublime endowment which man possesses. When we have +learned to know ourselves as free a long step forward has been taken. +The soul grows by a right use of the power of choice.</p> + +<p>How may it be adjusted to this knowledge? It will undoubtedly grow to +it, but the process will be slow. It may, however, be hastened by a use +of the experience of others. No man should be allowed to begin the +battle of life as ignorant as his father was. Each new soul should have +the benefit of the experience of all who have lived before. Children +should be taught by example and conversation, in the home and the +school, that the beginning of wisdom is a right use of the experience of +others. However this lesson may be learned, and however swift may be the +process of growth, the next step in the soul's progress, after its +<a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a>realization that it is in a moral order, must be its adjustment to the +fact that it is a free agent and sovereign over its own choices.</p> + +<p>No man is ever forced into any course of conduct. Character is the +resultant of many choices rather than of necessity. The moral law may be +obeyed or it may be violated. Its seat is, indeed, in the bosom of God. +It is the only guarantee of individual progress and social harmony. Its +sway is without bound and without end. To know how to live in a moral +world, and how best to use the gifts of liberty, is a subject for an +eternity of study. That this consciousness of freedom comes slowly is an +immense blessing; otherwise the soul would be dazed as, for the first +time, it looked around on the solemnities and splendors of the spiritual +universe; and be overwhelmed as it realized, at the very beginning of +its career, that it was endowed with a <a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>sovereignty as mysterious and +potent as that of God.</p> + +<p>The next step in the upward movement of the soul is appreciation of a +moral ideal. That is a solemn and sublime moment when the newly awakened +soul realizes that it dwells in a moral order and is free to make its +own choices. But another moment is equally thrilling—that in which, in +faint and scarcely audible accents, it catches the far call of the goal +toward which, henceforward and forever, it must move. It now knows not +only that there is a difference between right and wrong, but that there +are mysterious affinities between itself and truth and right. Later the +sound of that far-away voice will become more distinct. But in its +infancy the soul is more or less confused. It hears many sounds and does +not always know how to distinguish between siren voices and those which +prophesy its destiny. It also has to learn to distinguish <a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>truth and +right. The task of making moral discriminations is not easy at any time. +Amid a babel of noises to detect the one clear call which alone can +satisfy is almost impossible. The mistakes, therefore, are many, but +even by mistakes the soul learns to distinguish the true from the false. +But how is it to be taught to appreciate that one voice only in all that +confusion of strange sounds should be heeded, and all the rest +disregarded? The same answer as before must be given. This knowledge, +also, will come in large part with the years. It seems to be the cosmic +purpose to provide fresh light with every new step of progress. No one +is ever left in total darkness. As the soul advances it learns to +distinguish between the voices which speak to it. The necessity of +growth is the angel of the Lord whose ministries and prophecies are the +hope and glory of the race. Growth may be hindered, but it can <a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>never be +banished from the universe. It moved in chaos, and never faltered in its +march, until under its beneficent leading all things were seen to be +good. It led the cosmic movement until man appeared; and now it has +taken man in hand, with all the vestiges of animalism clinging to him, +and it will never leave him as he rises toward the perfection and glory +of God. The law of growth answers most if not all of our questions. The +soul of man must grow. With its growth will come vision, strength, and +progress toward its goal.</p> + +<p>But growth is not all. The voices to which we choose to give heed will +sound most distinctly in our ears. Here we face a fact which is often in +evidence. The earth and animalism will never cease to make appeal to our +senses, while at the same time voices from above will call from their +heights to our spirits. To distinguish between desire and duty, between +truth and tradition, <a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>between the spiritual and the animal, is a step +which has to be taken, and which is taken whether we appreciate how or +not. By the pain which follows wrong choices, or by the intuitions of +the spirit, the soul comes to realize that its obligation is always in +one direction; that its choice ought to be in favor of the morally +excellent. But how shall it discern the morally excellent? The process +of learning will be a long one, and never fully completed on the earth. +This is a realm that poets and dramatists, who are usually the +profoundest and most accurate students of life, have not often tried to +enter. Such questions can be answered only after careful and +long-continued inductive study. Moralists are usually content to stop +short of this inquiry. How the soul comes to learn that it is obligated +to truth and right we may not fully know; but that it does learn, and +that no step in all its development is more important, there is no +<a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a>doubt. In His dealing with this question Jesus preserves the same +attitude as toward all subjects of speculation. I came not to explain +how life adjusts itself to its environment, He seems to say, but to give +life a richness and a beauty which it never had before; I came not to +answer questions, but to save to the best uses that which already +exists. Nevertheless, the question as to how the soul is taught to +distinguish the morally excellent is of serious importance. If we do not +recognize the sanctity of truth and right we may not give them +hospitality; and we may not appreciate their sanctity if we are ignorant +of what gives them their authority. How, then, does it learn what truth +and right are? Are there any clearly defined paths by which this +knowledge may be reached? Is not truth a matter of education? And is +there any absolute right? A Hindoo Swami, of the school of the Vedanta, +lecturing in this country, <a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>solemnly assured an intelligent audience +that there is no sin; that what is called sin is only the result of +education; that what is vice in one place may be virtue in another; and +that in the sphere of morals all is relative and nothing absolute. Then +there is no wrong, for wrong and sin are closely related; and no right +because if right is not a dream it implies the possibility of an +opposite. There is little permanent danger from such shallow theories. +The peril from confusion is greater than from denial. But even confusion +at this point is not long necessary because in every soul there is a +voice which men call conscience, which never fails to impel toward the +true and the good. Conscience may be likened to a compass whose needle +always points toward the north. When it is uninfluenced by distracting +causes conscience always shows the way toward truth and right. The +Spartans believed that lying was a virtue <a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>if it was sufficiently +obscure; and a Hindoo woman who throws her child to the god of the +Ganges does so because she is deeply religious. Are not such persons +conscientious? Yet they perform acts which are in themselves wrong? Of +what value, then, is conscience? That they are both conscientious and +religious I have no doubt. It is their misfortune to be ignorant. The +light appears to be colored by the medium through which it passes, and +yet it is not colored; and conscience seems to approve what is wrong, +and yet it never does. It always impels toward the right, but men often +make serious mistakes because of their ignorance. The needle in the +moral compass is deflected by selfishness or false teaching. The Hindoo +mother might hear and, if she dared to listen to it, would hear a deeper +voice than the one calling her to sacrifice her child—even one telling +her to spare her child. She <a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>has not yet learned that it is always safe +to trust the moral sense. Superstitions are not conscience; they are +ignorance obscuring and deadening conscience. Every man is born with a +guide within to point him to paths of virtue and truth, and one of the +most important lessons which the growing soul has to learn is that when +it is true to itself it may always trust that guide. The call of his +destiny finds every man, and, when he hears it, he asks: How may I reach +that goal? It is far away and the path is confused. Then a voice within +makes answer, and, if he heeds that, he will make no mistake. That +voice, I believe, is the result of no evolutionary process, but is the +holy God immanent in every soul, making His will known. Evolution +gradually gives to conscience a larger place, but there is no evidence +that it is produced by any physical process. It may be hindered by +physical limitations, but it can be destroyed by none. <a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>Why are we so +slow in learning that conscience, being divine, is authoritative and may +be trusted? I know no answer except this: We so often confuse ignorance +with conscience that at last we conclude that the latter is not +trustworthy. But there we mistake. It is trustworthy. It never fails +those who heed its message. That realization may now and then come +early, but it seldom comes all at once. Nevertheless it is a step to be +taken before the progress of the soul can be either swift or sure.</p> + +<p>The moment that the soul realizes that God is not far away, but within; +that all the divine voices did not speak in the past, but that many are +speaking now; that whosoever will listen may hear within his own being a +message as clear and sacred as any that ever came to prophet or teacher +in other times, it will begin to realize the luxury of its liberty, and +something of the grandeur of its destiny. Truth and right are not +<a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>fictions of the imagination, they are realities opening before the +growing soul like continents before explorers. They always invite +entrance and possession. They have horizons full of splendor and beauty +and music. They alone can satisfy. But the soul has not yet fully +escaped from the mists and fogs and glooms of the earth. It is +surrounded by those who still wallow in animalism, and the sounds of the +lower world are yet echoing in its ears. But at last its face is toward +the light; the far call of its destiny has been heard; it knows itself +to be in a moral order; it is assured that, however closely the body may +be imprisoned, no bolts and no bars can shut in a spirit; that before it +is a fair and favored land, far off but ever open; and, best of all, +that within its own being, impervious to all influences from without, is +a guide which may be implicitly trusted and which will never betray. Why +not follow its <a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a>suggestions at once and press on toward that fair land +of truth and beauty which so earnestly invites? Ah! why not? Here we are +face to face with other facts. There are hindrances, many and serious, +in the pathway of the soul, and they must be met and forced before that +land can be entered. This is the time for us to consider them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="HINDRANCES" id="HINDRANCES"></a><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81" />HINDRANCES</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<p><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And many, many are the souls</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Life's movement fascinates, controls;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It draws them on, they cannot save</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Their feet from its alluring wave;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They cannot leave it, they must go</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With its unconquerable flow;</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They faint, they stagger to and fro,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And wandering from the stream they go;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In pain, in terror, in distress,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">They see all round a wilderness.</span><br /><br /> +</p><p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—<i>Epilogue to Lessing's "Laocoon"</i>. Matthew Arnold</span><br /></p> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IV" id="IV"></a><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83" />IV</h2> +<h2><i>HINDRANCES</i></h2> + + +<p>When the soul has heard the far call of its destiny and realizes that it +may respond to that call, and that it has, in conscience, a guide which +will not fail even in the deepest darkness, it turns in the direction +from which the appeal comes and begins to move toward its goal. Almost +simultaneously it realizes that it has to meet and to overcome numerous +and serious obstacles. To the hindrances in the way of the spirit our +thought is to be turned in this chapter.</p> + +<p>The moral failure of many men and women of superb intellectual and +physical equipment is one of the sad and serious marvels of human +history. What a pathetic and significant roll <a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>might be made of those +who have been great intellectually and pitiful failures morally! It has +often been affirmed that Hannibal might have conquered Rome, and been +the master of the world except for the fatal winter at Capua. Antony, +possibly, would have been victor at Actium if it had not been for +something in himself that made him susceptible to the fascination of the +fair but treacherous Egyptian queen. Achilles was a symbolical as well +as an historical character. There was one place—with him in the +heel—where he was vulnerable, and through that he fell. Socrates was +like a tornado when inflamed by anger. Napoleon laid Europe waste and +desolated more distant lands, but he was an enormous egotist and morally +a blot on civilization.</p> + +<p>The life-history of many of the poets is inexpressibly sad. Chatterton, +Shelley, Byron, Poe—their very names call up <a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>facts which those who +admire their genius would gladly conceal. Many artists are in the same +category. It explains nothing to ascribe their moral pollution to their +finer sensibilities, for finer sensibilities ought to be attended by +untarnished characters. It is, perhaps, best not even to mention their +names lest, thereby, we dull the appreciation of noble masterpieces +which represent the better moods of the men. One of imperial genius was +a slave to wine, another to lust, another was too envious to detect any +merit in the work of others of his craft. There are statesmen of whose +achievements we speak, but never of the men themselves; and there have +been ministers of the Gospel, unhappily not a few, who have suddenly +disappeared and been heard of no more. Into a kindly oblivion they have +gone, and that is all that any one needs to know. What do such facts +signify? That many, or most, of these men have <a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>been essentially and +totally bad? Or that they are moral failures? They signify only that +they have not yet risen above the hindrances which they have found in +their pathways. The world knows of the temporary obscuration of a fair +fame; it does not see the grief, the tears, the gradual gathering of the +energies for a new assault upon the obstacles in the road; and it does +not see how tenderly, but faithfully, Providence, through nature, is +dealing with them. Some time they will be brought to themselves—The +Eternal Goodness is the pledge of that. It is not with this unseen and +beneficent ministry of restoration, however, that I am now dealing, but +with the awful wrecks and failures which are so common in human history, +and concerning which most men know something in their own experiences. +How shall they be explained?—since to evade them is impossible. In +other words when a man is awake, when he <a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a>feels that he is in a moral +order, is free, and hears the call of his destiny, why is his progress +so slow and difficult? No one has ever delineated this period in the +soul's growth with greater vividness than Bunyan. The Valley of +Humiliation, the Slough of Despond, Giant Despair, Doubting Castle are +all pictures of human life taken with photographic accuracy. What are +some of these hindrances?</p> + +<p>The soul is free, but its abode is in a limited body. The movement of +the soul is swift and unconstrained as thought. It is not limited by +time. It may project itself a thousand years into the future or travel a +thousand years into the past; but it dwells in the body and is more or +less restrained by it. Bodily limitation narrows experience and compels +ignorance. It makes large acquaintance impossible. The flowers beneath +the ice on the Alps are small; the flowers of the tropics have the +proportions of trees. Thus <a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>environment modifies growth. The body cannot +put fetters on the will, but it may hold in captivity the powers which +acquire knowledge, withhold from the emotions persons worthy of +affection, and make the range of objects of choice poor and pitiful. The +soul has often been compared to a bird in a cage,—fitted for broad +horizons but confined within narrow spaces. This hindrance is a very +real one. The man who grows swiftly must be in the open world with +beings to love and to serve ever within his reach. Hence the life beyond +death is often called the unhindered life because of its freedom from +the body. The old story of "Rasselas" is symbolical. In the Happy Valley +a man might be as good, but he could not be as great and wise, as in the +larger world. The soul will meet fewer temptations there, but those it +does encounter will be more insistent and harder to escape. He who would +respond to a call to service <a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>must needs have about him those whom he +may serve. Large views are for those who are able to rise to the +heights. He who lives in a cave may be true to his little light, and +surely is responsible for no more, but he will see far less than the one +whose home is on the mountaintop. Thus even bodily limitations, to which +are attached no moral qualities, are hindrances to the growth of the +being, whose destiny is not only purification but expansion:—its +movement is not only toward goodness but also toward greatness; not only +toward virtue but also toward power.</p> + +<p>The animal entail is one of the greatest mysteries of our mortal life. +The soul in its moments of illumination feels that it is related to some +person like itself, but far higher, and aspires to it. Sir Joshua +Reynolds' figure of "Faith" in the famous window in the chapel of New +College, Oxford, suggests the attitude of the newly awakened soul. In +freshness <a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>and beauty it is turning toward the light. But in human +experience something occurs which Sir Joshua has not tried to depict. A +clammy hand reaches up from the deeps out of which rise suffocating +clouds, and that pure spirit finds itself enveloped in darkness and +fastened to the earth. The humiliation is complete. What has occurred? +Only what has happened again and again; and what will continue to happen +for no one knows how long. The animal has gotten the better of the +spirit. The soul has sinned—for sin is little, if anything, but a +spirit allowing itself to return to the fascinations of the animal +conditions out of which it has been evolved, and from which it ought to +have escaped forever. The animal entail is the chief hindrance to the +aspiring spirit. The animal lives by his senses. He is content when they +are satisfied. It can hardly be said that animals are ever happy. +Happiness is a state higher than contentment. Paul said <a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>he had learned +in whatsoever state he was to be content, but even he never said that in +all states he had learned to be happy. Animals are contented when their +senses are gratified and they are savage when their senses are +clamorous. Lions and bears are dangerous when they are hungry, and cruel +when other desires are obstructed.</p> + +<p>Whatever the theory of evolution, from the beginning of its upward +movement, the nearest, most potent, and most dangerous hindrance to the +soul is this entail of animalism, which it can never escape but which it +must some time conquer. The spirit and the body seem to be in endless +antagonism, and yet the body itself will become the fair servant of the +soul when once the question of its supremacy has been determined. The +tendency to revert to animalism has been vividly depicted by the poets, +and the clamorous and insistent nature of the passions portrayed by the +artists.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>The liquor in the enchanted cup of Comus may be called "the wine of the +senses." Its effect is thus described by Milton. Comus offers</p> + + +<p><span style="margin-left: 5.5em;">... "To every weary traveler</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">His orient liquor in a crystal glass,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To quench the drought of Phœbus; which, as they taste</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">(For most do taste through fond, intemperate thirst)</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Soon as the potion works, their human countenance,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The express resemblance of the gods, is changed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Into some brutish form of wolf or bear,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or ounce or tiger, hog or bearded goat."</span><br /></p> + +<p>A famous passage from Ovid's "Metamorphoses"<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> represents Actæon as +changed into a stag; but, if I read the fable aright, the glimpse of +Diana in her bath, while not an intelligent choice, was more than a mere +accident—it was the uprising of innate sensuality; for even the Greek +gods were supposed to have had senses.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Actæon was the first of all his race,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Who grieved his grandsire in his borrowed face;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Condemned by stern Diana to bemoan</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The branching horns and visage not his own;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To shun his once-loved dogs, to bound away</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And from their huntsman to become their prey;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And yet consider why the change was wrought;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">You'll find it his misfortune, not his fault;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or, if a fault it was the fault of chance;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For how can guilt proceed from ignorance?"</span><br /></p> + +<p>The story of Circe is the common story of those who have yielded to the +flesh. The companions of Ulysses visited the palace of Circe, were +allured by her charms, and the result is read in these words:</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Before the spacious front, a herd we find</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of beasts, the fiercest of the savage kind.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Our trembling steps with blandishments they meet</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And fawn, unlike their species, at our feet."</span><br /></p> + +<p>The strong words of Milton are none too strong:</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Their human countenance</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The express resemblance of the gods, is changed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Into some brutish form."</span><br /></p> + +<p><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a>A common subject with artists has been the temptations of the saints. +They have fled from luxury, and what they supposed to be moral peril, +but have found no solitude to which they could go and leave their bodies +behind. In the silences faces have appeared to them full of alluring +entreaty, and more than one anchorite has found to his sorrow that he +carried within himself the cause of his danger.</p> + +<p>A singularly vivid painting represents one of the saints in the desert, +and clinging to him, with their arms around his neck, are two figures of +exquisite physical beauty. Their charms are so near and perilous that +the pale and haggard man in desperation has shut his eyes, and in this +extremity, with his one free hand, is frantically clinging to a cross. +The artist has accurately depicted the condition in which the soul finds +itself as it begins its growth;—its chief enemies are those of its own +household.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>Happy indeed is it for all that none see at the first the obstacles in +their way. Faint and far shines the splendor of the goal; the hindrances +are reached one by one, and each one, for the moment, seems to be the +last.</p> + +<p>But close and persistent as is the animal entail, it is not +unconquerable. Many a Sir Galahad, and many a woman fair and holy as his +pure sister, have lived on this earth of ours. They were not always so; +and their beauty and holiness are but the outshining of spiritual +victory.</p> + +<p>Is this environment of evil necessary to the development of the soul? We +may not know; but we do know that it can be conquered, and some time and +somehow will be conquered; and that then men, like ourselves, grown from +the same stock, evolved from the lower levels, will constitute "the +crowning race."</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"No longer half akin to brute,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">For all we thought and loved and did,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And hoped, and suffered, is but seed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of what in them is flower and fruit."</span><br /></p> + +<p><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a>These are a few samples of the hindrances which the soul must face in +its progress through "the thicket of this world." But these are not all. +Hardly less serious is the ignorance which clothes it like a garment. It +comes it knows not whence; it journeys it knows not whither, and +apparently is attended by no one wiser than itself.</p> + +<p>Hugo's awful picture of a man in the ocean with the vast and silent +heavens above, the desolate waves around, the birds like dwellers from +another world circling in the evening light, and the poor fellow trying +to swim, he knows not where, is not so wide of the mark as some +thoughtless readers might suppose.</p> + +<p>The soul is ignorant and timid, in the vast and void night, with its +environment of ignorance and of other souls also blindly struggling. At +the same time there is the consciousness of a duty to do something, of a +voice calling it <a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a>somewhere which ought to be heeded, and of having +bitterly failed.</p> + +<p>The solitariness of the soul is also one of the most mysterious and +solemn of its characteristics. The prophecy which is applied to Jesus +might equally be applied to every human being: He trod the wine-press +alone. In all its deepest experiences the soul is solitary. Craving +companionship, in the very times when it seeks it most it finds it +denied. Every crucial choice must at last be individual. When sorrows +are multiplied there are in them deeps into which no friendly eye can +look. When the hour of death comes, even though friends crowd the rooms, +not one of them can accompany the soul on its journey. It seems as if +this solitariness must hinder its growth. Perhaps were our eyes clearer +we should see that what seems to retard in reality hastens progress. But +to our human sight it seems as if every soul needed companionship and +coöperation in all its deep <a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a>experiences; and that the ancients were not +altogether wrong in their belief in the presence and protection of +Guardian Angels. But something more vital and assuring than that faith +is desired. It is rather the inseparable fellowship of those who are +facing the same mysteries and fighting the same battles as ourselves; +but even that not infrequently is denied.</p> + +<p>Is this all? There is another possibility which observation has never +detected and which science is powerless to disprove. Can we be sure that +no malign spiritual influences hinder and bewilder? We cannot be sure. +The common belief of nearly all peoples ought not to be rudely brushed +aside. No one willingly believes in lies nor clings to them when he +knows that they are lies. Superstitions always have some element of +truth in them, and the truth, not the error, wins adherents. The most +that we can say, at this point, is that we do not know. It is possible +<a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a>that the common beliefs of many widely separated people have no basis +in fact, that they are born of dreams and delusions; and, on the other +hand, it is equally possible that the spaces which we inhabit, but which +we cannot fully explore, have other inhabitants than our vision +discerns, and that those beings may help and may hinder us in our +progress. It is not wise to dogmatize where we are ignorant. While the +scales balance we must wait.</p> + +<p>Are the hindrances in the path of the soul without any ministry? That +cannot be; for then they are exceptions to the universal law, that +nothing which exists is without a purpose of benefit.</p> + +<p>All the analogies of nature indicate that human limitations are intended +to serve some good end, since, so far as observation has yet extended, +it has found nothing which is caused by chance. Emerson says, "As the +Sandwich Islander believes that the strength <a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a>and valor of the enemy he +kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptations we +resist;"<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> and St. Bernard says, "Nothing can work me damage except +myself; the harm that I sustain I carry about with me, and never am a +real sufferer but by my own fault."<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> + +<p>And St. John says, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the +tree of life."<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a></p> + +<p>The mission of the austere is the development of strength. Concerning +this suggestion we shall inquire later. The souls which have reached the +serene summits have ever been those which have most resolutely faced the +obstacles in their pathways. Even apparent hindrances always exercise a +beneficent ministry. As Jesus was made perfect by the things which He +suffered, so, in the Cosmic plan, all souls must come to <a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a>strength and +perfection by the difficulties which they overcome and the enemies which +they subdue.</p> + +<p>What should be the attitude of the soul in view of the hindrances by +which it is environed? It should be taught to fight them at every point. +Nowhere is the kindness of nature more evident than in the patience and +persistence with which this instruction is conveyed.</p> + +<p>Nature withholds her favors until they are earned. New light comes only +to those who have used-the light they had. Strength is developed by +resistance. Growth is for those who place themselves where growth is +possible. Nature gives the soul nothing, but she always waits to +coöperate with it. This lesson was impressed long ago. It ought never to +require new emphasis. Let the younger study the experiences of their +elders. They will be saved many failures and much pain. The soul can +never be coerced, but it may be taught. <a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a>Milton has enforced this great +lesson in Comus:</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 5em;">"Against the threats</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of malice or of sorcery, of that power</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which erring men call Chance, this I hold firm—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Virtue may be assailed, but never hurt,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Surprised by unjust force, but not enthralled;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Yet, even that which mischief meant most harm,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shall in the happy trial prove most glory;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But evil on itself shall back recoil,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And mix no more with goodness, when at last</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Gathered like a scum, and settled to itself,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It shall be in eternal restless change</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Self-fed, and self-consumed; if this fail</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The pillar'd firmament is rottenness</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And earth's base built on stubble."</span><br /></p> + +<p>No one should believe, after all the growth of the ages, that the soul +was made to be imprisoned in a fleshly prison. It was intended that it +should burst its barriers and press toward the light. There is an +eternal enmity between the serpent and the soul, and the serpent's head +must be bruised, but the soul resisting all the forces and fascinations +of the flesh, rising on that which has been cast down to higher things, +<a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a>slowly but surely, painfully but with ever added strength moves toward +the ideal humanity which has never been better defined than as "the +fullness of Christ."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile it is well to reinforce our faith by remembering that it is +written in the nature of things that truth and goodness must prevail.</p> + +<p>This is a moral universe. Error never can be victorious. It may be +exalted for a time, but that will be only in order that it may be sunk +to deeper depths. Evil and error are doomed and always have been. Evil +is moral disease, and disease always tends toward death, while life +always and of necessity presses toward larger, more beautiful, and more +beneficent being.</p> + +<p>Here let us rest. Many things are dark and impossible of explanation, +but we have already been taught a few lessons of superlative importance. +We have learned that the soul is made for <a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>the light; that it can be +satisfied only with love and truth; that every hindrance may be +overcome; that the animal was made to be the servant of the spirit; that +the body makes a good servant but a poor master; that strength comes to +those who refuse to submit to the clamors of appetite: thus we have been +led to see something of the way along which the soul has moved from +animalism toward freedom and victory.</p> + +<p>And we have learned one thing more, viz., that the Over-soul is not a +dream, but a reality; that the individual may be in correspondence with +the Over-soul and from it be continually reinforced. Or, to put our +faith in sweeter and simpler form, we have learned by experience which +cannot be gainsaid that God is a personal spirit, interested in all that +concerns His children, and anxious for their growth; and that He can no +more allow His love for them to be defeated than He could allow the +<a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>suns and planets to break from their orbits. How much more is a man +than a sun! Therefore, since God is in His heaven, all must be right +with the world and with man, and some time all the hindrances will be +changed into helps, all obstacles be converted into strength, and "all +hells into benefit."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_AUSTERE" id="THE_AUSTERE"></a><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106" /><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a>THE AUSTERE</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<p><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We cannot kindle when we will</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The fire which in the heart resides;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Spirit bloweth and is still,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In mystery our soul abides.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But tasks in hours of insight will'd</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Can be through hours of gloom fulfill'd.</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">With aching hands and bleeding feet</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We dig and heap, lay stone on stone;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">We bear the burden and the heat</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of the long day, and wish 'twere done.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Not till the hours of light return,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All we have built do we discern.</span><br /><br /> +</p><p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—<i>Morality</i>. Matthew Arnold.</span><br /></p> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="V" id="V"></a><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109" />V</h2> +<h2><i>THE AUSTERE</i></h2> + + +<p>The soul has discovered that it is in a moral order, that it is a free +agent, and that it has mysterious affinities with truth and right. It +has taken a few steps, and with them has learned that its upward +movement will not be easy.</p> + +<p>It next discovers that it has no isolated existence, but that it is +surrounded by countless other similar beings all indissolubly bound +together and having mutual relations. With the dawn of intelligence +comes the realization of relations. This realization is dim at the +first, but it is very real. Soon the soul learns that the relations +between it and other souls are so intimate that the interest of one is +the interest <a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a>of all. Appreciation of relations is a long advance in the +movement upward, and it necessitates other knowledge. The realization of +relations leads, necessarily and swiftly, to the consciousness of +responsibility. The process of this growth cannot be described in +detail, but the path is clearly marked and its milestones may be +numbered. Each soul is always in a society of souls. Each one, +therefore, affects others, and is affected by them. It is free and, +therefore, responsible for the influence which it exerts. Moreover, it +is bound to other souls by love, and love always carries with it the +possibility of sorrow; for sorrow is usually only love thwarted. It is +not far from the truth to say that when there is no love there is no +sorrow, and that the possibilities of sorrow are always increased in +proportion to the perfection of being.</p> + +<p>In time the soul finds itself not only one among myriads of souls, but +it <a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a>realizes that its relations to some are more intimate than to +others. It needs not to seek the causes of this fact, since it cannot +escape from the reality. Thus it finds itself in families, in tribes, in +nations, in social groups where the bonds are strong and enduring.</p> + +<p>Some souls, more capacious than others, have a richer and more varied +experience, and thus inevitably become teachers. The process goes on, +and, with both teachers and scholars, the horizon expands and the +strength increases with each new day. The soul has found that it is not +a solitary being dazed and saddened by the consciousness of its powers, +but that it is in a society in which all are similarly endowed, and that +all are pressing toward the same goal. It has discovered that its growth +is hastened, or hindered, by its environment; and that the spiritual +environment is ever the nearest and most potent.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a>Each new step in this pilgrim's progress reveals something more +wonderful than the opening of a continent. It is an entrance into a +larger and more complex world. A strange fact now emerges. Every +enlargement of being, either of faculty or capacity, is attended by pain +either physical or mental. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth," seems +to be a universal law rather than an isolated text. All life is +strenuous because it is always attended by growth. The soul moves not +only onward but upward, and climbing is always a difficult process.</p> + +<p>Before a second step is taken the soul begins to experience suffering +and sorrow; and as its growth advances it never afterward, so far as +human sight has penetrated, escapes from them. Why are they allowed? and +what purpose do they serve?</p> + +<p>The soul exists in a body, and the body is the seat of sensations. Those +<a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a>sensations, whether pleasing or painful, belong to the physical organs, +but they affect the spirit, and escape from them is impossible. Pain has +a perceptible effect on the soul, even though the latter has no other +relation to the body than that of tenant to a house. It suffers because +of the intimate relations which it sustains to the organs through which +it works.</p> + +<p>The individual soul is related to other souls. Therefore it has plans +and purposes concerning them, and it has affinities which are +inseparable from existence in society. Those purposes and affinities may +be gratified or thwarted. The soul sometimes finds a response from the +one whom it seeks and sometimes it does not. Pain belongs to the body, +and sorrow is an experience of the soul.</p> + +<p>The body is in constant limitations, subject to diseases and accidents, +and the soul is affected by all that the <a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a>body feels. Because of these +intimate relationships the soul is limited by ignorance, and defeated in +its purposes. It becomes attached to other souls, and those attachments +are either rudely shattered or roughly repulsed, and, consequently, the +life of the soul is as full of sorrow as is a summer day of clouds.</p> + +<p>It faces its hindrances and rises by overcoming them. It finds pain +besetting nearly every step of its advance, and the constant shadow of +its existence is sorrow. Along such a pathway it moves in its ascent +and, in spite of all opposition, it is never permanently hindered; while +sorrow and suffering continually add to its strength. The austere +experiences through which all pass hasten their spiritual growth. They +are ever ministers of blessing; they pay no visits without leaving some +fair gifts behind.</p> + +<p>Questions arise here which it is difficult to answer. Why are such +ministries <a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a>needed? Why could not the ascent of the spirit be along an +easier pathway? Why should it be necessary to write its history in tears +and blood? Inquiries like these are insistent. Optimism assumes that the +end always justifies the means, even when we are in the dark as to why +other means were not used; and that it is better to comfort ourselves +with the beneficent fact than to refuse to be comforted because we may +not penetrate the depths of the Cosmic process. The emphasis of thought +may well rest here. The austere is never merely the severe. What seems +to human sight to be evil and only evil, always has a side of benefit. +The soul is purified and strengthened as it rises above animalism; it is +made courageous by bodily pain; tears clarify its vision. Even Jesus is +said to have been made perfect by the things which He suffered. The +universal characteristic of life is growth, and growth ever <a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a>reaches out +of old and narrow toward new, larger and better environment.</p> + +<p>The soul needs strength, vision, sympathy, faith. These qualities are +the fruit of experience. Muscle is converted into strength by use; and +its use is possible only as it finds something to overcome. Vision is +largely the fruit of training. The man on the lookout discovers a ship +ahead long before the passenger on the deck. That fine accuracy of sight +has come to him as he has battled with the tempests, and learned to +distinguish between the whiteness of flying foam and the sunlight on a +sail. Clearness of spiritual vision is acquired in the same way. He who +can see even to "the far-off interest of tears" has been taught his +discernment by reading the meaning of nearer events.</p> + +<p>Sympathy is the art of suffering with another without the definite +choice to do so. One soul spontaneously enters <a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>into the condition of +another and bears his pains and griefs as though they were his own; that +is sympathy. But who ever bore the griefs of another before he himself +had felt sadness? Sympathy is a fruit that grows on the tree of sorrow. +So intensely is this felt that even kindly words in hours of deep trial +are ungrateful if they come from one who had had no hard experience of +his own. In proportion as one has borne his own griefs he is presumed to +be able to bear the griefs of others. He who has passed through the +valley of the shadow, and who knows the way, is the only one whose hand +is sought by another approaching the same valley. No human +characteristic is more beautiful, or more appreciated, than sympathy; +but its genuineness is seldom trusted unless the one offering it is +known to have suffered himself.</p> + +<p>Jesus is said to have been a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, +and, <a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a>therefore, has led the long procession of the broken-hearted +toward hope and peace. There is no other place known among men for the +cultivation of sympathy except the school of suffering.</p> + +<p>If possible, faith even more than sympathy is dependent on struggle. +There is no other conceivable means by which it can be acquired. It +cannot be imparted. No multiplying of words increases faith. If one has +been in the blackest darkness and some way, he knows not how, has been +led out into light, it will be easier for him to think that the same +experience may be realized again. If every sorrow has had in it some +hidden seed of blessing; if the overcoming of hindrances has ever +increased strength; if at the very moment that calamity seemed ready to +destroy the storm has blown around, and this has occurred again and +again, it is impossible to refrain from expecting, or at least hoping, +that behind the darkness <a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>an unseen hand is making things to work for +good. Faith is essential to courage. He never cares to struggle who +knows that failure is just ahead. Courage is required as the soul +progresses, and becomes more deeply conscious of the mysteries and +enemies by which it is surrounded. Faith results from the experience of +beneficent leading. If one has been guided by love through many periods, +and if that love has always been found waiting for its object on every +corner of life, it will, ere long, be expected, watched for, and +trusted.</p> + +<p>Strength, vision, sympathy, courage, the fair attributes of the soul, +all appear as it overcomes difficulties, fights doubts, goes deep into +sorrow, and thus learns to realize that it is being led. It is easy to +see how sorrow, pain, and death in the older legends and poetry were so +often spoken of as beneficent angels. They are like those Sisters of +Charity <a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a>who hide beneath their long black bonnets serene and angelic +faces. The austere in human life has never yet been explained, but it +has been justified millions of times, and will be justified every time a +human soul rises toward the goal for which all were created and toward +which all, slowly or swiftly, are moving.</p> + +<p>These conclusions have many confirmations, and with some of them it will +be worth while to spend a little time. Every thinking man's experience +assures him that he grows by overcoming. Emerson has finely said that we +have occasion to thank our faults, by which he means limitations; and he +has also reminded us that the oyster mends its broken shell with pearl.</p> + +<p>We do not like overmuch to read with care our own experiences; but, when +we are honest, we see that every struggle has left a residuum of added +strength, that every loss has been a gain, <a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a>that every calamity has +opened doors into a larger world, and that what has been dreaded most +has really most enriched us. Experience is a wise teacher.</p> + +<p>History confirms the witness of experience. The strong man has always +gained strength by struggle. The story of a few of the preëminent +teachers is impressive reading. Mahomet knew the bitter pangs of +poverty; Epictetus was a slave; Socrates was regarded as a fanatic, if +not a lunatic, by most of the people of Athens; Siddhartha is said to +have been a useless and luxurious young man until, wearied with the +monotony of his father's palace, he ventured into the larger world and +saw wherever he went poverty, sickness, death. He was startled into +activity by the want, woe, and misery through which his pathway led.</p> + +<p>Nearly all moral and spiritual leaders have had to suffer and thus grow +strong. Mere genius has done little for human <a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>progress. It has made +physical discoveries, but seldom touched the sphere of the soul. Elijah +heard the voice of God in the midst of the terrors of the wilderness in +which he was ready to die; Isaiah shared the usual fate of reformers and +spoke his message into the ears of those who returned insult for +warning. The story of Job is a long tragedy,—the world's tragedy, the +tragedy of the soul in all ages. What deeps of anguish Dante fathomed +before he could begin to write! Who can read the story of "Faust," as +Goethe has interpreted it, without feeling that in it he has given the +world in thin disguise much of his own life-story? Shakespeare alone, of +men of genius of the first rank, seems to have learned comparatively few +of his lessons in the school of suffering. But, possibly, if more were +known of Shakespeare, it would be found that Lear, Macbeth, and Hamlet +are but the expressions of lessons learned as he fought life's battle.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a>The "In Memoriam" of Tennyson, the "De Profundis" of Mrs. Browning, and +the rich and glorious music of Robert Browning could have come only from +souls which had been profoundly moved by grief and pain. All men listen +most attentively to those who have gone farthest into the dark shadows.</p> + +<p>The austere in human experience always accomplishes a purpose of +blessing; and the soul comes into such an environment, not for the +purpose of being humiliated, but in order that its strength may be +developed, its sight clarified, and its powers perfected.</p> + +<p>Thus we reach a rational basis for optimism. It has been said that +optimism must not only show that beneficent results are being +accomplished in human life, but it must also justify the means by which +such results are achieved. It is not enough to show that all will be +well in the end; it must be shown that even grief, pain, <a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a>loss, and +death are ordained to be the servants of man. This is evident to all who +allow themselves to reach to the deeper meanings of their limitations +and sufferings.</p> + +<p>Opposite conclusions have been reached by some of those who have studied +the hard and harsh phenomena of human life. The dreamy Hindu mind at +first seemed to discern the truth that suffering is but the under side +of blessing, and the hymns of the Vedas are full of hope and +anticipation of better times; but, under the stress of prolonged +disappointment and measureless calamities, bewildered in his attempt to +explain the mystery of suffering, the Hindu at last came to deny its +reality. But no bitter trials can be escaped by denial, and in India, +to-day, disappointment and calamity are no less frequent than in elder +ages. Refusal to believe in darkness effects no change in a midnight. +The negation of precipices makes the <a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a>ascent of a mountain no easier, +and the denial of sickness, sorrow, and death deliver none from their +presence. On the other hand, the very rocks that are the most difficult +to scale will lift the climber toward an ampler horizon; and he who +places his feet upon his temptations and sorrows will see in his own +life the increasing purpose that widens with the suns.</p> + +<p>Slowly, and over many obstacles, the soul rises from its humiliation and +presses toward the heights, and every forest passed and every mountain +scaled adds to its stature, to the swiftness of its advance, and to the +glory of its vision.</p> + +<p>The teaching of Jesus concerning the ministry of the austere has greatly +changed the popular estimate of the value of many of the experiences +through which men pass. Sorrow, pain, and death were formerly regarded +as enemies, and only enemies, and they <a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a>are still so regarded where the +full force of His message is either not welcomed or not understood. The +common opinion in many quarters, even to this day, is that suffering is +either a hideous mistake in the universe, an awful nightmare, or a cruel +mockery. Paul, using language as men used it in his time, spoke of death +as an enemy. That he was speaking popularly, rather than technically, is +evident because he also said that the sting of death—that which made it +dreaded—is sin. Jesus, however, justified the method by which men are +perfected; and His teaching harmonizes with what may be learned by a +reverent scrutiny of the nature of things. The more carefully "the +Cosmic process" is studied, the clearer it becomes that events are so +ordered that, sooner or later, everything helps toward richer and better +conditions. A tidal wave or a pestilence may seem to be inexplicable, +but even pestilence teaches <a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a>men habits of thrift and cleanliness, and +tidal waves warn them of their points of danger.</p> + +<p>What has made the average of human life so much longer than it was +formerly? That very mysterious pestilence has turned attention toward +its causes, and thus the race has been made cleaner, purer, more fit to +endure. Why do men live in houses with scientific plumbing, fresh air, +and have well-cooked food? Because that fierce teacher, pestilence, has +taught them that any other course means weakness and death. Whom nature +loveth she chasteneth is a truth as clearly written in human history as +"Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth" is written in the Bible. The true +attitude toward the austere, for a philosophic as for a Christian mind, +is one of complacency. Every severity is intended for benefit. By wars +the enormity of war is made evident. By disease the necessity for +<a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a>observation of the laws of health is emphasized. Even death, in the +order of things, at last is a blessing, for one generation must give +place to another, or the evils that Malthus feared would be quickly +reached. Moreover death, in its proper time, is only nature's way of +giving the soul its freedom. Hindrances in its path do not indicate the +presence of an enemy but of a friend who discovers the only sure way of +securing its finest development. The cultivation of the philosophic and +Christian temper, which are practically the same, would make this a +happier world. We could endure trials with more courage if we would but +remember that they are as necessary to our growth as the cutting of a +diamond is necessary to the revelation of the treasury of light which it +holds.</p> + +<p>The heights of character are slowly reached, and, usually, only by the +ministry of the austere; but once they are <a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a>reached the horizon expands, +and the soul finds in the clearer light peace if not joy.</p> + +<p>This course of reasoning does not make the mistake of regarding sin as +less than dreadful. Every sin has hidden in its heart a blessing; but +sin as such is never a blessing. It may be necessary for Providence to +allow a spirit to sink again into animalism in order that it may be +taught its danger, and made to realize that only through struggle can +its goal be reached—but the animalism in itself is never beneficent.</p> + +<p>When we say that the process by which a man rises may be justified, we +do not mean that all his choices are justifiable. The process of his +growth provides for his fall, if he will learn in no other way, but it +does not necessitate his fall; that is ever because of his own choice. A +spirit may choose to return to the slime from which it has emerged. That +choice is <a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a>sin, but it can never be made without the protests of +conscience which will not be silenced, and it is by those protests that +a man is impelled upward again, and never by the sin in itself. No one +was ever helped by his sin, but millions, when they have sinned, have +found that the misery was greater than the joy, and this perpetual +connection of sin and suffering is the blessed fact. Sin is never +anything but hideous. The more unique the genius the more awful and +inexcusable his fall. Even out of their sins men do rise, but that is +because there sounds in the deeps of the soul a voice which becomes more +pathetic in its warning and entreaty, the more it is disregarded. Those +who desire to justify sin say that it is the cause of the rising. It may +be the occasion, but it is never the cause. The occasion includes the +time, place, environment,—but the cause is the impelling force; and sin +never impels <a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a>toward virtue. Satan has not yet turned evangelist.</p> + +<p>Because in the past the soul has risen, one need not be unduly +optimistic to presume that, in spite of opposition, it will meet no +enemies which it will not conquer, and find no heights which it will not +be able to scale. Prophecy is the art of reading history forward. The +spirit having come thus far, it is not possible to believe that it can +ever permanently revert to the conditions from which it has emerged; +neither can we believe that it will fail of reaching that development of +which its every power and faculty is so distinct a prophecy.</p> + +<p>No light has ever yet penetrated far into the mystery of human +suffering, sorrow, and sin. Why they need to be at all, has been often +asked, but no one has furnished a reply which satisfies many people. +With the old insistent and pathetic earnestness millions are <a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a>still +"knocking at nature's door" and asking wherefore they were born. Hosts +of others are looking out on desolation and grief, thinking of the tears +which have fallen and the sobs which are sure to sound in the future, +and asking with eager and pleading intensity, why such things need be. +Out of the heavens above, or out of the earth beneath, no clear answer +has come.</p> + +<p>As we wonder and study, still deeper grows the mystery. Three courses +are open to those who are sensitive to the hard, sad facts of the human +condition. One is to say that all things in their essence are just as +they seem; that sorrow, sin, death none can escape, that they are evils, +and that a world in which they exist is the worst of possible worlds, +and that there is neither God nor good anywhere. Then let us eat and +drink, for to-morrow we die, and the quicker the end the sweeter the +doom.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a>Another way is simply to confess ignorance. Out of the darkness no +voice has come. The veil over the statue of the god of the future has +never been lifted, and inquiry concerning such subjects is folly. To +this I reply agnosticism is consistent, but it is not wise. Because it +cannot explain all things it turns from the clues which may yet lead out +of the labyrinth.</p> + +<p>The other course, and the wiser, is to use all the light that has yet +been given and from what is known to draw rational conclusions +concerning what has not yet been fully revealed. Deep in the heart of +things is a beneficent and universal law. In accordance with that law +hindrances are made to minister to the soul's growth, the opposition of +enemies is transmuted into strength, and moral evil resisted becomes a +means of spiritual expansion and enlightenment.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_RE_AWAKENING" id="THE_RE_AWAKENING"></a><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134" /><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a>THE RE-AWAKENING</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<p><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a> +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">I, Galahad, saw the Grail,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The Holy Grail, descend upon the Shrine:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I saw the fiery face as of a child</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That smote itself into the bread, and went;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And hither am I come; and never yet</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Hath what my sister taught me first to see,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">This Holy Thing, fail'd from my side, nor come</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Cover'd, but moving with me night and day,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Fainter by day, but always in the night....</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 5em;">And in the strength of this I rode,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shattering all evil customs everywhere,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And past thro' Pagan realms, and made them mine,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And clash'd with Pagan hordes, and bore them down,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And broke thro' all, and in the strength of this</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Come victor.</span><br /><br /> +</p><p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—<i>The Holy Grail</i>. Tennyson.</span><br /></p> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VI" id="VI"></a><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137" />VI</h2> +<h2><i>THE RE-AWAKENING</i></h2> + + +<p>As despondency and a feeling of failure comes to every soul with the +realization of its mistakes and sins, so there will some time come to +all a period of Re-awakening. This statement is the expression of a hope +which is cherished in the face of much opposing evidence. Nevertheless, +that this hope is cherished by so many persons of all classes is a +credit to humanity. It is difficult to believe that in the end an +infinitely wise and good God will fail of the achievement of His purpose +in regard to a single one of His creatures.</p> + +<p>The saddest fact in the ascent of the soul is sin. However it may be +accounted for, it cannot be evaded, but must be honestly and resolutely +faced. <a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a>Sin is the deliberate choice to return to animalism, for a +longer or shorter time, by a being who realizes that he is in a moral +order, that he is free, and who has heard the far-off call of a +spiritual destiny. It is the choice, by a spirit, of the condition from +which it ought to have forever escaped. Imperfection and ignorance are +not, in themselves, blameworthy and should never be classified as sins. +Weakness always palliates a wrong choice. An evil condition is a +misfortune; it does not justify condemnation. Sin always implies a +voluntary act. That all men have sinned is a contention not without +abundant justification. The better the man the more intensely he is +humiliated by the consciousness of moral failure.</p> + +<p>After long-continued discipline, after much progress has been made, the +soul again and again chooses evil; and, after it ought to have moved far +on its upward career, it is found to be a <a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a>bond-slave of tendencies +which should have been forever left behind. This is the solemn fact +which faces every student of human life. It is not a doctrine of an +effete theology but a continuous human experience. The consciousness of +moral failure is terrible and universal. This consciousness requires +neither definition nor illustration. Experience is a sufficient witness. +Who has been able exhaustively to delineate the soul's humiliation? +Æschylus and Sophocles, Shakespeare and Goethe, Shelley, Tennyson, and +Browning have but skimmed the surface of the great tragedy of human +life. Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth, Faust, and Wilhelm Meister, Beatrice Cenci, +the sad, sad story of Guinevere, and the awful shadows of the Ring and +the Book—how luridly realistic are all these studies of the downfall of +souls and the desolation of character! If they had expressed all there +is of life it would be only a long, repulsive tragedy; but <a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a>happily +there is another side. To that brighter phase of the growth of the soul +we turn in this chapter.</p> + +<p>What is the difference between the awakening of the soul and its +re-awakening? Are they two experiences? or different phases of the same +experience? The awakening is nearly simultaneous with the dawn of +consciousness. It is the adjustment of the soul to its environment—the +realization of its self-consciousness as free, as in a moral order, and +as possessing mysterious affinities with truth and right. This +realization is followed by a period of growth, during which many +hindrances are overcome, and in which the ministries of environment, +both kindly and austere, help to free it from its limitations and to +promote its advance along the spiritual pathway. But while the soul +dimly hears voices from above it has not yet, altogether, escaped from +the influence of animalism. It dwells in <a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a>a body whose desires clamor to +be gratified. It is like a bird trying to rise into the air when it has +not yet acquired the use of its wings. Malign influences are still about +it, and earthly attractions are ever drawing it downward. It falls many +times. I do not mean that it is compelled to fall, but that, as a matter +of fact, its lapses are frequent and discouraging. In the midst of this +painful movement upward, there sometime comes to the soul a realization +of a presence of which it has scarcely dreamed before. It begins to +understand that it is never alone, that its struggle is never hopeless +because God and the universe, equally with itself, are concerned for its +progress. It is humiliated by its failures, but it has learned that, +however many times it may fail and however bitter its disappointment, in +the end it must be victorious because neither principalities nor powers, +neither things on the earth nor beyond the <a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a>earth, can forever resist +God. Thus hope is born, and he who one moment cries, Who shall deliver +from this body of death? the next moment with exultation exclaims, I +thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord.</p> + +<p>The light which shines into the soul from Jesus Christ is the revelation +of the coöperation of the Deity, and of the forces of the universe, with +every man who is moving upward. The realization that, however deep the +darkness, humiliating the moral failure, constant and imperious the +solicitations of animalism, "the nature of things" and the everlasting +love are on the side of the soul is its re-awakening.</p> + +<p>It now not only knows that it is free, in a moral order, and that voices +from a far-off goal are calling it, but also that those who are with it +are more than those who can be against it. Thus hope, confidence, power +to resist, and faith even in the midst of failure dawn, <a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a>and will never +be permanently eclipsed. The re-awakening of the soul is now complete.</p> + +<p>This experience is traditionally called conversion. It is usually +associated with an appropriation of the teaching of Jesus Christ, and +inevitably follows an appreciation of His words and His work. But all +the revelations of the Christ have not been through the historic Jesus. +In every land, and in every age, souls have come to this new +consciousness. It was said of Isaiah that he saw the Lord; and of +Melchizedek that he was the priest of the most high God. The former was +a Hebrew, but the latter was not in what was to be the chosen line of +succession. The assurance that they are never alone has found many in +what has seemed impenetrable darkness, and they have risen and moved +upward. Instances of this kind are not limited to Christian lands, +although they are most common where the Christian <a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a>revelation is known. +I cannot doubt that those who have not had this vision on the earth will +have it some time and somewhere. The Divine power and purpose to save, +and to save to the utter-most, are revealed with perfect clearness in +the teachings of Jesus Christ. Nothing could be more explicit than His +message that God loves all men, and that it is His will that all should +repent and come to the knowledge of the truth.</p> + +<p>This stage of advance may be called the crisis in the ascent of the +soul. Before this it has moved slowly and with faltering steps. +Henceforth it will move more confidently and swiftly. But that does not +mean that it will find that hindrances are all removed, or that no +unseen hand will draw it downward. Some of the bitterest hours are to +follow—days and, possibly, longer periods of spiritual obscuration; +darkness like that of Jesus in which He cried, "My God, my God, why hast +Thou forsaken <a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a>me." Who can explain the appalling humiliation of a man +when, as if a star had fallen from heaven, he sinks into awful and +inexplicable selfishness or sensuality? It is not necessary that we +explain, but we should remember that the goodness of God has so ordered +things that even disgrace may lead to stronger faith, clearer vision, +and tenderer sympathy.</p> + +<p>Austere ministries are still needed; only fire will consume the dross. +The re-awakening of a soul is not its perfecting; but it is its +realization that the process of perfecting must go on, and will go on, +if need be along a pathway of shame and agony, until all that attracts +to the earth and sensuality has disappeared, and the spirit, like a bird +released, rises toward the heavens.</p> + +<p>The law that whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap will never be +transcended, and if an enlightened spirit ever chooses to sink once more +into the <a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a>slime it may do so; but it will at the same time be taught +with terrible intensity the moral bearing of the physical law that what +falls from the loftiest height will sink to the deepest depth.</p> + +<p>At last the soul realizes that it is in the hands of a sympathetic, +holy, and loving Person, a Being who cannot be defeated, and who, in His +own time and way, will accomplish His own purposes. That vision of God +is the re-awakening, an inevitable and glorious reality in spiritual +progress.</p> + +<p>What are the causes of this re-awakening? The causes are many and can be +stated only in a general way. Moreover, spiritual experiences are +individual, and the answer which would apply to one might not to +another.</p> + +<p>The shock which attends some terrible moral failure, not infrequently, +is the proximate cause of the re-awakening of the soul. There is a deep +psychological truth in the old phrase, "conviction <a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a>of sin." Men are +thus convicted. Some act of appalling wrong-doing reveals to them the +depths of their hearts and forces them in their extremity to look +upward. Hawthorne, in his story, "The Scarlet Letter," has depicted the +agony of a soul, in the consciousness of its guilt, finding no peace +until it dared to do right and to trust God. In the "Marble Faun," in +the character of Donatello, the same author has furnished an +illustration of one who was startled into a consciousness of manhood and +responsibility by his crime. It is the revelation of a soul to itself, +not of God to the soul. In Donatello we see a soul awakened to +self-consciousness and responsibility, but in "The Scarlet Letter" we +have the example of a man inspired to do his duty by the revelation of +God. Adoniram Judson was brought to himself by hearing the groans of a +dying man in a room adjoining his own in a New England <a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a>hotel. Luther +was forced to serious thought by a flash of lightning which blinded and +came near killing him. Pascal was returning to his home at midnight when +his carriage halted on the brink of a precipice, and the narrowness of +his escape aroused him to a realization of his dependence upon God. The +sense of mortality, and the wonder as to what the consequences of +wrong-doing in "the dim unknown" may be, have been potent forces in the +re-awakening of souls.</p> + +<p>Still others have been given new and gracious visions of "the beauty of +holiness." They have seen the excellence of virtue, and in its light +have learned to hate the causes of their humiliation, and to press +forward with courage and hope.</p> + +<p>Speculations concerning the causes of this spiritual change are easy, +but they are of little value. Observation has never yet collected facts +enough to <a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a>adequately account for the phenomena. Probably the most +complete and satisfactory answer that was ever given to such questions +was that of Jesus when He was treating of this very subject: "The wind +bloweth where it listeth, thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not +tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth."</p> + +<p>The mystery of the soul's re-awakening has never been fathomed. +Sometimes there has been flashed upon conscience, apparently without a +cause, a deep and awful sense of guilt. Whence did it come? What caused +it? Calamities many times sweep through a life as a tornado sweeps over +a field of wheat, and when they have passed there is more than an +appreciation of loss; there is a vision of the soul's unworthiness and +humiliation. Again death comes exceedingly near, and, in a single hour, +the solemnities of eternity become vivid, and the soul sees itself in +the light of <a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a>God. And again, the essential glory of goodness is so +vividly manifest that the soul instinctively rises out of its sin, and +presses upward, as a man wakens from a hideous nightmare. The more such +phenomena are studied, the more distinct and significant do they appear +and the more impossible becomes the effort to explain them. They may be +verified, but they can never be explained. They are the results of the +action of the Spirit of God on the spirit of man. Is this answer +rejected as fanciful or superstitious? Then some of the most brilliant +and significant events in the history of humanity are inexplicable.</p> + +<p>What caused the revolution in the character of Augustine by which the +sensualist became a saint? Was it the study of Plato? or the prayers of +Monica? or the preaching of Ambrose? We know not; rather let us say it +was the Spirit of God. Who can define the process by which Wilberforce +was changed <a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a>from the pet of fashionable society to one of the heroes in +the world's great crusade against injustice and oppression? Such +inquiries are more easily started than settled. I repeat, the only +rational and convincing word that was ever spoken on this subject is +that of Jesus. The Spirit of God, whose ministry is as still as the +sunlight, as mysterious as the wind, and as potent as gravitation, was +the One to whom He pointed.</p> + +<p>How has this epoch in the ascent of the soul been treated in literature? +I refer with frequency to the literary treatment of spiritual subjects +because poets, dramatists, and writers of fiction, more than any other +class of authors, have studied the soul in its depths, in its +inspirations, and in the process by which it rises and presses toward +its goal.</p> + +<p>The illustrations of this subject in the Scriptures are almost idyllic +in their simplicity and beauty. There is more than flippancy in the +remark that Adam's fall <a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a>was a fall upward. The statement is literally +true. The fall was no fiction, but a condition of enlightenment and +growth. The exit from Eden was the beginning of the long, hard climb +toward the City of God.</p> + +<p>The very moment when Isaiah saw Uzziah, the king, stricken with leprosy, +he saw the Lord.</p> + +<p>The classical delineation of a soul attaining the higher knowledge is +that of the prodigal son, who, when he came to himself, saw clearly that +his father was waiting to welcome him.</p> + +<p>The "Idylls of the King" are a kind of "Pilgrim's Progress." In various +ways they trace, and with matchless music rehearse, the growth of souls +and their victories over spiritual enemies. One of the most pathetic +stories ever told is that of the beautiful Queen Guinevere, who by shame +and agony learned that "we needs must love the highest when we see it;" +and who never <a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a>appreciated the great love in which she was enfolded +until Arthur, "moving ghost-like to his doom," had gone to fight his +last great battle in the west.</p> + +<p>The world owes George MacDonald gratitude it will never repay;—such +spiritual souls are never paid in the coin of this world. In "Robert +Falconer," he taught his time with a lucidity and sweetness that none +but Tennyson and Browning have equaled, and that not even they have +surpassed, that a "loving worm within its clod were lovelier than a +loveless God upon his Throne," and in "Thomas Wingfold" he has traced +with epic fidelity the growth of a soul from moral insensibility to +manly strength and vision. The description of the process by which +Wingfold is brought to see that he, a teacher in the church, is a fraud +and a hypocrite, and by which he is then lifted up and made worthy of +his vocation as a minister of the glorious Gospel <a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a>of the blessed God is +a wonderful piece of spiritual delineation.</p> + +<p>With Guinevere the external humiliation was an essential stage in her +soul's development; but with Wingfold there was no public +disgrace,—only the not less poignant shame of a man who, looking into +his own heart, finds nothing but selfishness and duplicity. His +condition was a matter between himself, his friend, and his God; but +none the less the humiliation was the means by which his soul's eyes +were opened and his heart fired with a passion for reality.</p> + +<p>One result of the soul's re-awakening is the realization that it has +relations to God and that they are at once the nearest, the most vital, +and the most enduring of all its relations. Before, it had felt the call +of duty and had recognized that it had affinities with truth and right; +but now it has come into the consciousness of sonship. God is not +distant and unrelated, but near and <a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a>personally helpful. In a very real +sense He is Father. He is interested in the welfare of His children; and +His will has now become the law of their lives. The first awakening is +to the consciousness of a moral order and of freedom; the second +awakening is to the consciousness of God and of a near and vital +relation with Him. The path of progress is still full of obstacles; +there are still attractions for the senses in animalism and +solicitations from something malign outside; but never again will the +soul be without the realization that it is in the hands of a +compassionate, as well as a just, God. I am inclined to think that the +elder Calvinists were right in their contention that when the soul has +once come to this saving knowledge of God it can never again "fall from +grace," or from the consciousness of its relation to the One mighty to +save. This does not mean that there may not be repeated and <a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a>awful moral +lapses. The soul's realization of God does not imply that it has become +perfected. It has taken a long step in its ascent; it is now conscious +of its destiny, and of the power which is working in its behalf; but far +away stretch the spiritual heights and, before they can be reached, many +a cliff must be scaled and many a glacier passed; and few reach those +altitudes without many a savage fall, and without frequent hours of +weariness, doubt, and despair. The sufferings and the chastisements of +those who have come to this altitude often increase as the vision +becomes clearer.</p> + +<p>The difference between the former condition and the present is this: in +the former there was growth toward God without the conscious choice of +God; but in the latter the soul sees and chooses for itself that toward +which it has, heretofore, been impelled by the "cosmic process."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a>That is a solemn and glad moment when, in the midst of the confusion, +the soul hears faint and far the call of its destiny; but the one in +which it realizes that it is related to God, and chooses His will for +its law, is far more glad and solemn. That consciousness may be +obscured, but never again will it utterly fail. The soul that knows that +it came from God, and is moving toward God, never can lose that +knowledge, nor long cease to feel the power of that divine attraction.</p> + +<p>A practical question at this stage of our inquiry concerns the relation +of one soul to another. May those who have realized this experience help +others to attain to it so that the process may be hastened and made +easier? Must those who have been enlightened wait for those who are dear +to them to be awfully humiliated by sin, or terribly crushed by sorrow, +before the light can fall upon their pathway? Is there <a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a>no way by which +a soul may be brought to the knowledge of God except by bitter trials?</p> + +<p>One individual may help another to acquire other knowledge,—must it +make an exception of things spiritual? That cannot be. What one has +learned, in part at least, it may communicate to another, and the +constant and growing passion with those who know God is to tell others +of Him. All plans of education should include the communication of the +highest knowledge. He who seeks the physical or mental development of +his boy and cares not to crown his work by helping him to a realization +that he is a child of God, and a subject of His love, has sadly +misconceived the privilege of education. All curricula should move +toward this consciousness as their consummation and culmination. +Geology, biology, physiology, the languages, philosophy, the science of +society should be so studied as to lead directly <a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a>to Him in whom all +live and move and have their being. The home, the school, the church +should be organized so as to obviate, in great measure, the necessity of +learning the deepest truths in the school of suffering.</p> + +<p>No holier privilege is given to one human soul than that of whispering +its secret into the ears of another who has not yet attained the wisdom +which comes only by living.</p> + +<p>God be merciful to the parent who is anxious about the mental culture of +his child and never tells him of the deeper possibilities of his life, +or never repeats to him the messages which he has heard in silent and +lonely hours. The growth of a soul in the knowledge of God may be +measured by the intensity of its desire to help other souls to the same +knowledge.</p> + +<p>What will the re-awakened soul do? It will be as individual and +distinctive in its action as before. The divine life <a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a>in the souls of +men manifests itself in ways as various and numerous as solar energy is +manifested in nature. Variety in unity is the law of the spirit. Every +person will be led to do those things, to hold those beliefs, and to +minister in the ways for which he has been prepared.</p> + +<p>The experience of one can never be made the model for another, and the +message which the Spirit speaks in the ears of one may never be spoken +in the ears of another. Uniformity is neither to be expected nor to be +desired. The soul which realizes that it belongs to God will choose to +live for Him, and in its own way will forever move toward Him. +Henceforward His will will be its law. This is all we know and all we +need to know.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_PLACE_OF_JESUS_CHRIST" id="THE_PLACE_OF_JESUS_CHRIST"></a><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161" />THE PLACE OF JESUS CHRIST</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<p><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I say, the acknowledgment of God in Christ</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Accepted by thy reason, solves for thee</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All questions in the earth and out of it,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And has so far advanced thee to be wise.</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">—<i>A Death in the Desert</i>. Browning.</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">'Tis the weakness in strength that I cry for! my flesh that I seek</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">In the God-head! I seek and I find it. O Saul, it shall be</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">A Face like my face that receives thee; a Man like to me,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thou shalt love and be loved by, for ever: a Hand like this hand</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Shall throw open the gates of new life to thee! See the Christ stand!</span><br /><br /> +</p><p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—<i>Saul</i>. Browning.</span><br /></p> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VII" id="VII"></a><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163" />VII</h2> +<h2><i>THE PLACE OF JESUS CHRIST</i></h2> + + +<p>In the ascent of the soul do light and power come to its assistance from +outside and from above? Is evolution alone a sufficient guarantee that +it will some time reach its goal? These are not so much questions of +theory as of fact, and as such will be treated in this chapter.</p> + +<p>Light and power have come to the race in its struggles upward from one +source as from no other. In history one figure appears colossal and +unique. Whether we classify Jesus Christ with men, or regard Him as a +special divine manifestation is of little consequence in our inquiry. If +He is the consummate flower of the evolutionary process, then, because +of some unexplained <a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>influence, that process reached a degree of +perfection in Him that it has reached in no other. If it pleased God in +a single instance to hasten the process, the result is not less +inspiring and illuminating than it would have been if the divine purpose +had been directly and instantly accomplished. The teachers and leaders +have ever been helpers of their fellow-men. In evolution, as in the race +of life, some always move more swiftly than others; and those who are +far in advance may, if they choose, become the servants of those who +move more slowly. One Being has appeared in the midst of the ages who is +so far superior to all others that He may be regarded as the revelation +of the soul's true goal, but who is, at the same time, so unlike others +as to convince many, at least, that He is also the revelation in +humanity of a higher power which is cooperating with the soul in its +ascent.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a>In this chapter no attempt will be made to meet the various questions +that the formal theologians have raised. I cannot feel that such +subjects as "satisfaction," "expiation," "plan of salvation" are of any +practical importance, and I leave them to those who care for them. In +the meantime let us ask, What aid does the soul need in its passage +through its life on the earth? It needs light and power. We do not +meditate long on the soul's advance without realizing that it has been +constantly reinforced from outside itself. This phase of our subject +will be considered in the chapter on "The Inseparable Companion."</p> + +<p>It may, I think, be said that what the soul needs more than anything +else is light, and that all necessary light has been furnished. Jesus +said, "I am the Light of the World." That statement is literally true. +There may be room for perplexity as to the credibility of <a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a>parts of the +New Testament, and as to what is called the miraculous element in +history. There is also room for difference of opinion as to the nature +of the person of Jesus, and as to His supernatural mission; but few +would deny that, if they could feel sure that He was actually from +above, they would accept His message because it contains all the ethical +and spiritual knowledge that men need in their earthly lives.</p> + +<p>A single assumption is made at the beginning of our study. It is as +follows: What satisfies our minds and hearts, in their hours of deepest +need and brightest illumination, should always be accepted as true until +it is proven to be false.</p> + +<p>The profoundest subjects of thought and life are illuminated by the +ministry and the teaching of Jesus Christ. The last word concerning +these subjects has not yet been spoken. Even our Bible <a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a>is but a +collection of scattered rays of the true light. What vaster revelations +may come to men in future ages no one can predict. As growth goes on, +the soul will be fitted to receive messages which it could not now +understand; but all that men need to know in their present stage of +development is clearly revealed in the teaching, and the example, of the +Man of Nazareth and Calvary. He is the brightest light on the deepest +and darkest problems.</p> + +<p>Let us try to understand and define the place of Jesus Christ in the +ascent of the soul.</p> + +<p>Jesus Christ has given the world a rational and satisfying doctrine of +God. Other teachers have tried to answer the inquiry, Does God exist? +Jesus treated that question as an astronomer treats the sun. No sane +scientist would fill his pages with speculations as to the reality of +the sun. It moves and shines in the heavens; beginning with that <a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a>fact, +the astronomer asks concerning the function which the sun performs in +the solar system and in the universe.</p> + +<p>Jesus discarded speculation and found the key to the doctrine of God in +the family, the simplest and most elemental of human institutions. There +may be wide differences concerning the nature of government, the +sanctions of law, etc., but there is no room for debate concerning the +meaning of the parental relation. It interprets itself. Tell a child +that a man is his father, and he can be told no more. The name +interprets the relation. In earlier times the vastness of the creation +was but dimly appreciated, and then the idea of God was equally +contracted. Jesus taught that the Deity, whether the conception of Him +was small or large, was to be interpreted in terms of fatherhood. What +an ideal father is to his family God is to the race and to the universe. +That meant one thing when the father <a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a>was little more than the protector +of a tribe; it means something greater, but not essentially different +now. The conception of the universe is one of the most revolutionary +that ever entered the human mind. The conception of a tribe is larger +than that of a family; of a nation larger than that of a tribe; of the +race larger than that of the nation; but the conception of the universe, +with its myriads of worlds and possible multiplicity of races, is the +amazing contribution which science has made to the thought of to-day. +While the conception of the Deity has been enlarged the principle of +interpretation remains unchanged. Are we thinking of Jehovah the God of +Israel? He is the Father of the tribe. Has our idea expanded so as to +include all the nations? God is the Father not of a limited number but +of all that dwell upon the earth. Has the horizon been lifted to take in +heavenly heights? Are we now thinking <a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a>of immensities, eternities, and +the cosmic process? The teaching of Jesus is not transcended; we still +continue to interpret in terms of fatherhood, and say all time, all +space, all men, all purposes and processes in the infinities and +eternities are in the hands of the Father. But when we have ascended to +such a height what does the word Father mean? Exactly the same in +essence that it meant in the humblest of Judean households among which +Jesus moved. The father there was the one who made the home, sustained +it, defended it, watched over it by day and by night; in exactly the +same way the followers of Jesus think of the Spirit who pervades all +things. He creates, He cares for, He defends, He provides, He loves, He +causes all processes to work for blessing to the intelligent beings who +are His children.</p> + +<p>Jesus in a peculiar way identified himself with the Deity. That does +<a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a>not mean that all the divine omnipotence and glory were in that Man of +Nazareth, but it does mean that all of the Deity that could be expressed +in terms of humanity were visible in Him, so that those who saw Jesus +saw God as far as He could be manifested in the flesh. Beyond that veil +were abysses and heights of being which could not be expressed in human +terms; but in all the spaces we may dare to believe that there is +nothing essentially different from what was revealed in that unique Man. +A bay makes a curve in the Atlantic seaboard; its shallow waters are all +from the deeps of the sea. Tides that move along all the seas, and +forces which reach to the stars, fill that basin among the hills. The +bay is the ocean, but not all of it; for if we were to sail around the +earth we should find the same body of water reaching out to vaster +spaces.</p> + +<p>Even so the person of Jesus included <a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a>all of God that humanity can +contain, but Bethlehem and Jerusalem, Gethsemane and Calvary were to the +Deity as some land-locked harbor to the immensities of the universe. In +Him love reached to enemies, to the outcast, to those who had been +called refuse and rubbish, to men of all classes in all the ages, to +lepers, beggars, criminals, lunatics, harlots, thieves, little children; +those who appreciated and those who hated alike were all included in the +infinite purpose of blessing.</p> + +<p>Those who have seen the love of Jesus, and its ministries, have seen the +Father; but beyond the love of Galilee and Calvary reach depths of love +which even the cross is powerless to express. Divine sympathy and divine +affection bind all men in a universal family; this we know, and this is +all we know.</p> + +<p>That teaching is so simple that a child can understand it; so profound +that no <a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a>philosopher has ever transcended it; and so satisfying that +neither child nor philosopher would have it changed either as to its +simplicity or its fullness.</p> + +<p>Jesus furnishes the light which the soul needs on the nature of man. +Wonderfully has Holman Hunt elaborated this truth in his picture "The +Light of the World." The ideal humanity never had more beautiful +expression than in that great sermon in color. The poise of the figure +of Jesus indicates strength and self-control; the thorns on the brow +tell their story of sorrow and pain; the hand at the door shows that one +man at least is mindful of the welfare of His brother; the radiance on +the face and the inspiration in the eyes are the outshining of the +goodness which dwells within; while the light from the whole person, +which reaches far into the gloom, shows that the more nearly perfect the +being the more beneficent and beautiful his influence must <a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a>be. Is Jesus +Christ the brightness of the Father's glory? He reveals also the beauty +and helpfulness, the love and the service of the ideal man. He is the +pattern of our common humanity. Are we in the midst of a process of +evolution? And is the man that is to be still far in the distance? When +he shall walk this earth he will be the spiritual reproduction of Jesus, +changed only to meet the requirements of other times and new conditions.</p> + +<p>The revelation of the ideal humanity was hardly less revolutionary than +that of the enlarged universe. Formerly men were regarded as things, +commodities to be bought and sold, creatures without souls, objects to +be used. But Jesus taught that all men are children of God; therefore +that they have the very life of God; therefore that they are created for +His eternity, and will forever approach His perfection. This vision of +the perfected race has been <a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a>at work changing national boundaries, +destroying hoary institutions, undermining thrones, and making a new +world. A glance shows the revolutionary quality of His teaching. Slavery +was the curse of every land. With force on the one side and weakness on +the other oppression was inevitable. Jesus taught that even weakness may +be divine, and lo! from every civilized land slavery has already gone, +and from the world it is fast disappearing.</p> + +<p>According to the orthodox economic doctrine, supply and demand was the +law that should govern the relation between employer and employee. The +largest profit and the smallest wages was the watchword. As the teaching +of Jesus has penetrated further into the dealings of man with man +employers are beginning to realize that labor has to do with human +beings; that manhood is enduring and that conditions are ephemeral; and +that whosoever <a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a>oppresses his brother, even in the name of economic law, +at last will have to reckon with the Almighty. Thus a new and more +beneficent social order is slowly but surely emerging.</p> + +<p>The doctrine of the survival of the fittest is, even now, applied to men +where the teaching of Jesus that Providence has made a way for the +survival of the unfit is unknown or ignored. In all lands the revelation +in Jesus of the ideal manhood, and of the destiny toward which all men +are moving is changing and glorifying human society. He is the one whom +"the low-browed beggar," and the criminal with a vicious heredity, are +some time to approach. Is it difficult to select the one phrase of all +human utterances which has exerted the largest influence in ameliorating +the human condition? Would it not be,—"Inasmuch as ye did it unto one +of the least of these, ye did it unto Me." The identification of +<a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>humanity with Deity, the revelation of the divine in the human, the +solemn truth that no one can injure or neglect his brother without, at +the same time, violating all that is sacred and holy in the universe is +the culminating point in the revelation of man to himself. In the light +which Jesus sheds on humanity all men appear in their enduring rather +than their transitory relations.</p> + +<p>The life and teaching of Jesus make the awful and insoluble mystery of +suffering endurable. He satisfies no curiosity on this subject. Why +suffering is permitted He does not tell us. He never allowed himself to +be diverted from His one purpose, which was not to solve problems but to +improve conditions. If any one approaches the New Testament expecting to +find an answer to his speculative questions he will be disappointed; but +if he asks, How may I so use the conditions in which I am placed that +they will <a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a>minister to my spiritual purification and power? he will +receive a definite and satisfying reply. Why need sorrow, suffering, +sin, and death invade the fair realm into which man has been born? Other +teachers seek to answer this question but Jesus is silent. How may +sorrow, suffering, and even moral evil be made ministers of an upward +movement? On this subject Jesus speaks with a tone of authority. Among +the world's teachers He was the first to declare that while austere +experiences are not good in themselves they may, uniformly, become means +of moral and spiritual progress. The sweet may always be found in the +bitter. Sorrow may always be made a blessing. Tears never need be +wasted. Struggle always adds to strength; and sympathy is multiplied +when one bears the grief and carries the burden of another.</p> + +<p>Do not brood over what you are called to endure, but seek for the +<a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a>secret of spiritual help which is hidden within, and you will find that +on every grief and every pain you may rise, as on stepping-stones, to +higher things.</p> + +<p>Jesus was the supreme optimist. Those who study life and history in the +light which shines from Him see that no human being walks with aimless +feet. They do not think of men as unrelated units, but as bound by love +to one another, and as living under the eye and in the strength of God. +In that light sorrow and pain may be justified, even though in +themselves they are hateful. The poison which destroys life, if rightly +used, will save life.</p> + +<p>Apart from God and His purpose of love, nothing is more to be dreaded +than pain; but in His hands pain becomes the servant and not the master +of men.</p> + +<p>I can think of nothing more dreary than the study of human life and +<a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a>history apart from the interpretations put upon them by Jesus. Then one +generation seems to follow another, and the long procession, even though +the character of those composing it steadily improves, always ends at +the same goal,—the grave. Millions live and die like the beasts that +perish. They aspire, struggle, and are determined to rise, but just when +they are fitted to endure, and to enter upon ampler spheres of service, +the curtain falls on the tragedy, the stage scenery is changed, a new +company of players takes their places, and the farce, for it is a farce +as well as a tragedy, goes on from century to century, and there is no +meaning in anything. If that were the true interpretation of life, on +earth's loftiest mountain there might well be raised a temple in honor +of death; and around it all the races of men be invited to join in the +chorus, "Happy is the next one who dies!"</p> + +<p><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a>But a better interpretation of human life's mystery has been given. +Jesus looked over its apparent desolation and confusion and poured upon +it divine light. He taught that it is not the Father's will that even +one should perish. Men are not being ground in an infinite mill, but +they are being refined and purified by the only processes which will +develop in them both strength and beauty. Out of confusion harmony will +come, and out of the battle of the elements peace will dawn at last.</p> + +<p>To those who know that pain and sorrow are ministers of strength and +sympathy, that by them narrow horizons are widened and deserts made to +blossom, human life does not seem so confused and terrible as it has +sometimes been pictured. Jesus makes evident the upward movement of the +race, and shows, let me repeat, that it is "under the eye and in the +strength of God." <a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a>He was made perfect through suffering. The thorns on +His brow tell their own pathetic story. The passion vine above His head, +and beneath His feet, indicate that even His sufferings are not without +a purpose of blessing, and therefore are fully justified.</p> + +<p>And now we approach the saddest of all the dark experiences through +which the soul passes,—the mystery of sin. Of its enormity I have +already spoken; but what about its origin, its uses, and its +continuance? The question of its origin Jesus does not even mention. It +is not recognized as having any uses. It may be made an occasion of +good, but it is never ordained in order that good may come. Hardly any +other subject occupies so large a place in the teachings of Jesus. It +was said of Him, "His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His +people from their sins;" and of Him Paul wrote, "God commendeth His love +toward us <a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a>in that when we were yet sinners Christ died for us."</p> + +<p>The terrible blight of moral evil, whatever its genesis, cannot be +explained away. Jesus passed by all other questions and devoted the +largest part of His ministry, as a teacher, to showing how the soul may +escape from the power, and be delivered from the bondage, of sin. This +is the practical problem. As one surveys the race the imperative inquiry +concerns deliverance. What light does Jesus shed upon this mystery? He +shows that sin is an incident in the ascent of the soul, and not an end; +that it is hateful and unnatural; and that all the strength and goodness +of God are pledged to its removal. The soul will be allowed to be in +bondage only so long as is necessary for its complete emancipation. +Moral evil is tolerated at all not because it is a good in itself, but +in order that the soul may learn that its safety and strength are to <a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a>be +found only in conformity to the will of God.</p> + +<p>Jesus reveals the way of escape and thus confers upon the race the +greatest of possible blessings. This he does by the revelation of the +Fatherhood of God, which is not only compassionate but also holy. +Because God is the Father of all souls, when any one ceases to do evil +and begins to do well, or in other words repents, he finds a welcome and +help waiting for him. And Jesus clearly indicates, also, that in the +constitution of the soul, and in the inexorableness of moral law, there +is a deep remedial agency which is ever active, giving no individual +rest until it finds it in God. The tragedy of the cross was preeminently +a revelation. The cross is the manifestation, in terms of human life, of +the passion of the universe and of God. There must be suffering in all +who are good, until sin disappears.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a>The cross is the revelation of the Eternal God in sacrifice for the +redemption of souls in bondage to selfishness and animalism. Jesus +taught that sin is to be abolished. By means of the revelations of +holiness, the sacrifices of love, the remedial agency in the universe, +and by His own new life the forces of evil are to be broken, and the +soul allowed to enter into its freedom as a child of God. This is not a +subject for definition and dogmatism. The greatest things cannot be +defined, but they may be appropriated. The light, the air, gravitation +and all elemental forces transcend definition. The love of God revealed +on the cross is too holy and too transcendent for "scheme and plan." It +may be accepted in a spirit of worship, but it can be comprehended no +more than the process by which rain and soil are transmuted into +nourishment, and light into physical strength and beauty. The cross is +the <a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a>pledge of the redemption of the soul through the love and power of +God; and beyond that we have no knowledge except that wherever that +cross has been lifted up men have been drawn unto truth and virtue, love +and brotherhood.</p> + +<p>More than poetry and sentiment has found expression in a popular hymn +which thrills with a power which has been verified again and again in +human history:</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"In the cross of Christ I glory,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Towering o'er the wrecks of time</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2.5em;">All the light of sacred story</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 4em;">Gathers round its head sublime."</span><br /></p> + +<p>Jesus has furnished no clew to the origin of moral evil, but He has +given to the hope that it is to be overcome in the individual, the race, +and the universe, the testimony of His teaching and the emphasis of His +death.</p> + +<p>Which is the greater mystery, life or death? A satisfying answer is +impossible, since we cannot think of one without <a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a>thinking of its +opposite. What is life? Whence is it? Why is it? Such are some of the +questions which arise and elicit no response when one meditates upon the +mystery of living. What is death? What purpose does it serve? Is it an +end or a beginning? Such are some of the inquiries which cannot be +escaped when one, for even a few moments, looks, as all some time must +look, on the still and peaceful face of one who has ceased to breathe. +Who shall answer our questions? Of all who have attempted to fathom +these depths One alone has brought a message which is satisfying both to +the minds and hearts of those who think. Does any light from Jesus +penetrate the mystery of death? What others have groped after he has +declared. He taught that the universe is like a house of many rooms, and +that dying is but passing from one room to another. In His own +experience He illustrated His teachings. He <a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a>ministered to His +disciples; He communed with those whom He loved until their hearts +burned within them. Then He disappeared and has been seen no more. But +why did He appear at all after death? Was it not to confirm the message +of the Transfiguration that those who seem to die only change the mode +of their existence, and continue their companionships and ministries +even after they have laid aside their bodies?</p> + +<p>In the passage in the Gospel of Matthew, which may be called the parable +of the judgment, Jesus taught that the moral order is not changed by the +transition from bodily to disembodied existence. The thoughts which men +think, and the actions which they perform, affect the substance of the +soul. Evil works misery and virtue leads to happiness beyond the grave +as well as here. Seed sown on the earth may grow to its harvest in the +ages that lie beyond.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a>This is all the light on this subject that we need now. Death removes +no one beyond the watch and care of the infinite love. In the home of +the Heavenly Father His children pass from place to place, as He calls. +Jesus appeared to those who loved Him, and was recognized by them, and +that indicates that, whatever the changes of the future, the spiritual +body will be recognized by all who love.</p> + +<p>The moral order is universal, and no change will touch the everlasting +distinctions between right and wrong, or diminish the obligation to +choose the right and refuse the wrong.</p> + +<p>These are some of the lessons which are impressed upon us as we meditate +upon the life and teachings of Jesus and their relation to the ascent of +the soul.</p> + +<p>He is the light of all souls. Into the darkness His glory has been +extending and expanding from His own time until <a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a>now. If we may judge +the future from the past, it is easy to believe that this radiance will +not fail from among men until all realize that life and death, time and +eternity, humanity and history, are beset behind and before by the +Divine Fatherhood; that the goal of the race is the fullness of Christ; +that the severest experiences sometimes achieve the best results; that +sin will not forever darken the history of humanity; that death is a +passage not an abyss; an opening not a closing; a beginning not an +ending; and that beyond stretch opportunities of limitless life and +immortal growth.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_INSEPARABLE_COMPANION" id="THE_INSEPARABLE_COMPANION"></a><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191" />THE INSEPARABLE COMPANION</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<p><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The prayers I make will then be sweet indeed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">If Thou the Spirit give by which I pray:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My unassisted heart is barren clay,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which of its native self can nothing feed:</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of good and pious works Thou art the seed,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Which quickens only where Thou say'st it may</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Unless Thou show to us Thine own true way,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">No man can find it: Father! Thou must lead.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Do Thou, then, breathe those thoughts into my mind</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">By which such virtue may in me be bred</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That in Thy holy footsteps I may tread;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The fetters of my tongue do Thou unbind,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">That I may have the power to sing of Thee,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And sound Thy praises everlastingly.</span><br /><br /> +</p><p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—<i>Sonnet from Michael Angelo</i>. Wordsworth.</span><br /></p> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="VIII" id="VIII"></a><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193" />VIII</h2> +<h2><i>THE INSEPARABLE COMPANION</i></h2> + + +<p>As the soul moves along its upward pathway it gradually becomes +conscious of many inspiring truths. Among the most delightful and +helpful of these is the fact that it is never alone, but is one of a +great company all pressing toward the same goal and all passing through +substantially the same experiences. In the midst of these +companionships, which are variable, and of these experiences which can +seldom be predicted, it slowly becomes aware that there is one +companionship which is constant, beneficent, and singularly +illuminating. The realization of this fellowship is intensely +individual. Of it others may speak, but concerning it they can give +little information. The <a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a>full consciousness is always a personal one. +Having once enjoyed communion with the Over-soul it is difficult to +imagine that any are ever without this supreme spiritual privilege. +Sometimes the sense of spiritual coöperation is so vivid and continuous, +so compassionate and helpful, as to be almost startling—in those +moments when it seems to beset us behind and before. The process by +which a soul becomes conscious that it is forever attended by a +companion, whose one object seems to be to help it toward the spiritual +heights, will repay the most careful examination. To that delightful and +difficult study we will now turn.</p> + +<p>Before it has advanced far on its pathway the soul becomes painfully +aware of the dangers by which it is surrounded and of the obstacles +which it must overcome. The road before it seems to be infested with +enemies. Its defeats are frequent and humiliating. It learns <a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a>much by +experience; but the more it learns the clearer it seems to discern the +difficulties which it must meet. In the midst of the confusion and +failure it slowly becomes aware that warning voices are speaking, and +that they are loudest when moral peril is near. This is one of those +simple facts which may be verified by every thoughtful man, but which no +thoughtful man would ever dream of trying to explain. So simple and +elemental is this truth that it may best be enforced by commonplace +illustrations, and by something like a personal appeal.</p> + +<p>A very distinguished man was one day walking with a friend along a +street in Edinburgh, when they came to one of the numerous wynds which +lead from the main thoroughfare into the midst of huge and gloomy +buildings. There the man stopped and asked to be excused while he +entered the wynd. Returning, after a moment, he explained <a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>his act by +saying that, in his young manhood, he had been tempted to do something +which would have wrecked his life. Just as he came to the place that he +had visited there sounded in his ears such a vivid warning as made it +morally impossible for him to proceed on his course of wrong-doing. He +felt sure that that voice was from above, for his whole nature, until +that instant, seemed to have been set on what would have led to moral +ruin.</p> + +<p>Another person testified that he was once on the verge of doing what +would have brought him undying disgrace when, as if she had been drawn +out of the air, his mother stood before him, looking reproachfully at +him. Thus the fascination of temptation was broken by what he always +believed to have been a veritable spiritual presence.</p> + +<p>Another experience is perfectly attested. A man in a distinguished +position did wrong, and was in peril of <a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a>still greater wrong when +something, he could not have explained what, not only warned him but +kept warning him and following him so that he could not escape. If he +closed his eyes his danger became more vivid; if he stopped his ears +voices of reproach found their way in. He loved his wrong and would move +toward it, but then invisible hands seemed to hold him back until the +time of danger was past, and he was confirmed in right ways. Such +experiences are too numerous and varied to be doubted. No facts are +better attested. It may be said that they are only the usual warnings of +conscience. Be it so. Then what is conscience? The factors in the +problem are not materially changed, for the phenomena of conscience are +as remarkable, constant, and verifiable as light and heat. Most men who +have recorded their experiences, and who have observed with care the +workings of their own faculties, have <a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a>been conscious of being attended +by some invisible presence warning them against evil. The explanation of +this phenomenon may be left for later consideration.</p> + +<p>Closely allied to warnings against moral danger, which are so vivid as +sometimes to be almost audible, are the evidences of what may be called +spiritual protection. The idea of guardian angels and tutelary deities +arose naturally and inevitably. Many who have been astonishingly +delivered from spiritual peril have been able to find no other +explanation of their escape. Those who receive the confidences of their +fellow-men have little difficulty in believing such a story as was once +confided to me. An able and prominent man who had, resolutely as he +thought, turned from a course of conduct which threatened disaster, +found himself drawn toward the evil from which he supposed that he had +been forever delivered. <a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a>The attraction seemed to be resistless. Again +and again he was on the verge of falling when the fall would have been +ruin. Then something made it morally impossible for him to enter upon +the path which he had determined to follow. The means used to dissuade +him were various. Sometimes a friend would call, then a duty would +intervene, then some obligation would press until, to use his own way of +phrasing it,—"it seemed as if some unseen person who could read my +thoughts and desires was walking by my side and, as fast as I was in +danger of yielding to evil, ordering events so as to prevent me from +doing what I wanted to do."</p> + +<p>Few men who are trying to live on spiritual levels would hesitate to +acknowledge that they have been the subjects of similar protection. The +peculiar feature about it all is that the agents used are so often +entirely unconscious <a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a>of the influence which they are exerting. An +unseen hand seems to be guiding our moves on the chess-board of life, so +as to check us every time that we are inclined to play falsely. I do not +mean that all are persuaded toward virtue, but I do mean that enough are +protected from moral evil and spiritual peril to justify the belief that +such ministries are around all; and that those who choose to do wrong do +so in the face of spiritual appeals which, if they would but give them +heed, would make resistance of evil easy and successful. If any one who +reads these words doubts my conclusions, let him study his own life, +with a little care, and learn for himself whether there are not many +hours in which he is almost persuaded to accept the ancient doctrine of +guardian angels.</p> + +<p>This phase of the spiritual experience is rendered still more vivid when +we remember that the souls of men <a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a>are perpetually dissatisfied with +present attainments, and ever eager in their efforts to explore the +unseen. The history of human thought, if it could be written, would show +that the mind has never been satisfied with what it has possessed, and +that each new glimpse of truth has stimulated still more ardent inquiry. +The more it is pondered the more impressive this fact becomes. The soul +seems to have had just before it, in all the stages of its development, +a spiritual forerunner opening a way into larger and fairer realms. This +consciousness is not akin to a passion for wealth. A man with enormous +riches often ceases to acquire, and devotes himself to the enjoyment of +what he possesses; but who ever heard of a thoughtful man who felt that +he might cease investigating and devote himself to the pleasures of +knowledge? Such instances there may have been, but they are not numerous +and have never been recorded.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a>Of course there are many, who in no true sense can be called seekers +after truth, who do not trouble themselves with questions about the +Unseen. They chew the cud of custom with all the placidity of +good-natured oxen. They do not live,—they simply exist. It is possible +for any man to shut his eyes to the light, but that does not banish the +light. It envelops him, and pours its splendors around him, regardless +of his wilful blindness. Millions are so engrossed with selfishness, or +animalism, that they catch the accents of no spiritual message, but +those appeals are never hushed. The deafness of the multitudes who will +not hear does not prove that no voices are calling.</p> + +<p>In some way men have been kept dissatisfied with their ignorance and +persistent in their search for truth. I make no distinction between +sacred and secular here because all truth is sacred. Scientist and +theologian alike have to <a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a>do with reality. Whether we examine the tracks +of an extinct animal on ancient rocks, or bow our heads in prayer, we +are facing a real world which is steadily enlarging. For centuries men +have sought the causes of things; they have been made to feel that they +ought to do right, and then have been inspired with a passion to +discover the right. This is very wonderful. The being who has almost +limitless powers of physical enjoyment, whose senses are exquisitely +fitted for pleasure, is not satisfied with pleasure, but, in obedience +to unseen attractions, ever seeks for higher things. Whence does this +eagerness come? Is it from man himself? Then our problem is great +indeed, for, at one and the same time, something within himself impels +him upward, and another something drags him downward. But the point for +special consideration now is that the soul is never satisfied with +anything but truth, that the history of <a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a>thought is the record of the +search for truth, that every new discovery has acted as a stimulus to +still more ardent exploration, and that the search is always for +elemental realities, the causes of phenomena, for "things as they are." +The promise of Jesus was fulfilled long before it was spoken. Some one, +in all the ages, has been leading into truth and showing things to come; +and the process was never more evident than after all these years of +intellectual and spiritual progress. I say some one has led. By that I +mean a personal spirit, unseen, but ever present; for how could he whose +home is in the mire be supposed, steadily and unwaveringly, to reach +toward the skies unless there was some attraction in the skies? The only +attraction for one spirit is another spirit. This age-long, unwavering +passion for truth and progress, the wisest of men have believed to have +been inspired by Providence or God or by guardian angels—which after +<a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a>all are only other ways of stating the doctrine of Jesus concerning the +Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>Another phase of this subject is the power, which has seemed to come +from outside the soul, to sustain and help those who have been called to +endure bitter and long-continued sorrow and pain. Those who feel +themselves to be weak as water under the stress of severe trial, almost +without previous suggestion, assume the proportions of heroes. They +endure and suffer with patience what would crush those who are only +physically brave and strong. A woman who seemed to have few resources in +herself, suddenly lost four children. In speaking of it, she very simply +but forcefully, said: "I could never have endured it myself." She +believed that her fragility had been reinforced by one stronger than +herself. Exceptional physical courage will account for deeds of amazing +heroism <a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a>like that displayed at the sinking of the Merrimac in the +harbor of Santiago. Some persons are thus gifted by nature, as others +have a poetic temperament. But exhibitions of physical valor, stimulated +by the consciousness of world-wide applause, are very different from the +patience with which weak persons accept heavy burdens without a murmur, +and carry them apparently without assistance, sustained only by the +consciousness of being right.</p> + +<p>How shall we explain the singular devotion of Monica to Augustine? By +mother-love? But mother-love might have been content with the greatness +of her son, and his regard for her. She bore on her heart "the salvation +of his soul," and would not cease in her quest for his spiritual +welfare. A profligate father, the degraded ideals which justified vice, +distances which seemed to be almost world-wide, did not daunt her. +Without haste and without rest <a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a>she sought to bring her gifted son to +his Saviour. He had fame, and at least all the wealth that he needed, +but Monica never faltered in her prayers, or in her service, until her +son bowed before the cross, albeit for years she carried a heavy heart.</p> + +<p>The age of martyrdom has passed but not the age in which men of vision +and strength have to serve their fellow-men with neither pecuniary +compensation nor expressed approval. And yet the number is steadily +increasing who quietly undertake herculean tasks for their fellow-men, +knowing that they will be neither appreciated nor understood, but, +instead, will have to suffer social ostracism, which is sometimes quite +as hard to endure as physical martyrdom. When a strong and earnest man +undertakes a service in which he must be misunderstood, and seldom if +ever applauded, when he chooses suffering with joy in order that he may +serve others, <a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"></a>when he is willing to accept discomfort, social hunger, +physical pain, and without complaint continue in such a path, although +opportunities of worldly emolument and honor make their appeals to him, +it is difficult to explain the phenomena by simply saying that he is +finding strength in some hitherto unknown chamber of his own +personality. It would be easy to make a list of illustrations, long and +pathetic, of those who have patiently endured tribulation, who have +accepted heavy burdens and carried them without flinching that others +might be relieved, who have had physical deformity, depression of mind, +and pain of body, and yet who have never faltered as to their duty even +when the way was dark. The world's noblest heroes are to be found among +those who suffer but still endure and aspire in the night and silence, +clinging to duty when no one understands, and much less approves. Such +heroisms <a name="Page_209" id="Page_209"></a>need explanation, and they have it in the inspiration and the +regeneration which are mediated by the Inseparable Spiritual Companion.</p> + +<p>Phenomena like those of which I have thus far been speaking have been +observed in every age and every land. Some like Socrates have felt +themselves warned against evil courses; others like Augustine have been +protected from moral and spiritual death; others like Sakya-Muni have +been led to give up wealth and power for truth and service; others, who +could draw upon no hidden source of strength, have been sustained in the +midst of trials which have seemed heavy enough to crush; and, most +wonderful of all, in spite of all vices and crimes, all darkness and +ignorance, all bondage to ignoble ideals and slavery to commercialism +and pleasure, the race of man has never been content with things as they +have been. As the moon draws the tides by unseen attractions, <a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a>so by +unseen attractions the souls of men have been made dissatisfied, and +drawn toward truth and beauty, love and holiness; and this desire for +some better country has never been absent. The passage from Egypt to the +promised land is the eternal parable of humanity, which is always +getting out of some Egypt, with its slavery and tyranny, and pressing +toward some intellectual and spiritual Canaan. This is one of the most +marvelous facts in the history of our race—its discontent with things +as they are, its faith in something better, and the perfect confidence +with which it embarks on unknown seas in its search for ampler and +fairer worlds.</p> + +<p>The history of the past is the record of the weak receiving strength, of +the wicked being made uncomfortable in their wickedness, of limited and +provincial creatures reaching out to broad and high horizons, of +weakness, suffering, agony, willingly endured in the <a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a>confidence that +relief and blessing will come at last, though far off, to all.</p> + +<p>Moreover, there is no indication of any cessation of such phenomena. In +these days, when we say that no man should be asked to affirm anything +which he cannot verify, voices of warning and entreaty are vivid, the +consciousness of protection is distinct, support in trial is frequent, +and the evidence that some force, or some person, is steadily leading +humanity toward truth and righteousness is as convincing and constant as +ever.</p> + +<p>What shall be said of these facts which are so numerous and so evident +as to make an effort at classification and explanation imperative?</p> + +<p>Four answers to this inquiry are possible. Is the old doctrine of +Guardian Angels true? Possibly we may be, individually, under the care +of spiritual beings who are appointed for that service. That conviction +often prevails, although <a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"></a>so far as I have observed, not usually in +association with perfect sanity. A man of noble bearing and grave and +solemn manner who was talking about using the telephone for +trans-Atlantic communication, once declared that all men living now are +under the leadership of those who have gone, and that the great of other +times are continuing their work through those now on earth. He added: "I +am confident of my success for I am the representative in these days of +Sir Isaac Newton." Subsequent events proved that Sir Isaac Newton must +have lost most of his common sense since his departure from the earth, +or he would have chosen a more rational representative.</p> + +<p>This theory in no way solves the problem before us, but rather +complicates it, because it does not explain how the relation of souls is +adjusted. That there may be some truth in this speculation may be freely +granted. One <a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"></a>text at least appears to give it a little confirmation: +"Are not their angels ministering spirits sent forth to minister to such +as shall be the heirs of salvation." That seems to teach that some who +have never dwelt in earthly bodies are the appointed ministers of those +who live on the earth.</p> + +<p>Many other persons dismiss this subject by saying that all souls, like +all objects in nature and events in history, are parts of an everlasting +and universal process, and that speculation is useless and a weariness +to the flesh. That is the easiest way out of the difficulty, but it can +be taken only by ignoring the facts. Are all ideas concerning spiritual +ministry delusions? Then how shall we account for the imagination which +is capable of giving birth to such magnificent dreams? And we may +venture to ask also—Who started this movement in which we are all +involved? How comes it that in this cosmic loom such a wondrous fabric +is <a name="Page_214" id="Page_214"></a>being woven, if there is no pattern, and no weaver, and will be no +one to enjoy the work when it is finished?</p> + +<p>Possibly no one is warned against sin, impelled toward virtue, supported +in sorrow, led into larger visions of truth; and, possibly, truth and +right are also dreams, and the mind itself a delusion; and, possibly, +there is nothing but delusion. Then all study and struggle are useless; +let us go to sleep. But, some one else says, perhaps the phenomena of +which you speak are, in one sense, realities but caused by reactions of +the soul on itself. First it imagines that some spiritual leadership is +desirable, and then it concludes that that leadership is discernible. In +other words, sorrow, sin, relief, joy, truth, right, are only +imaginations born of other imaginations. If any are satisfied with such +reasoning the task of enlightening them is hopeless.</p> + +<p>There is another explanation of the sublime, ancient, and world-wide +facts <a name="Page_215" id="Page_215"></a>which are before us. It is the answer of Jesus, which is simple, +profound, rational, and satisfying. He told His disciples, when they +were grieving that they should see Him no more, that they would always +have with them the Spirit of Truth who would convict of sin, show things +to come, and lead into all truth. That Spirit in the Scriptures is +called by one of the sweetest and dearest names in the languages of +men—the Comforter. Some have wrongly imagined that the New Testament +teaches that the presence of the Comforter is a new event in human +history. Not so. The Spirit of Truth inspired and sustained the Apostles +and Martyrs as He had sustained the Patriarchs and Prophets and the same +Spirit which is represented as descending upon Jesus at His baptism +brooded upon the face of the waters when the earth was without form and +void.</p> + +<p>Jesus teaches that God, as a Spirit, <a name="Page_216" id="Page_216"></a>has never been absent from His +creation and never out of touch with the spirits of men. In the +beginning He created; later He inspired, supported, taught, comforted; +and always and everywhere He is present to sustain, to lead, to comfort, +to help, to save, and to bless. How simple, rational, and satisfying is +this interpretation of the phenomena of human history!</p> + +<p>We study our own spiritual experiences and discover that when we have +been in danger of being contented with moral failure we have been made +ashamed and disgusted by it; that when we have been on the verge of +yielding to temptation we have been strangely and almost preternaturally +protected; that when sorrows have come which would have crushed our +unaided strength we have experienced strange peace and have had +undreamed-of strength; and that never for a moment have we found rest or +peace except as they have come <a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"></a>to us in hand with truth and right. A +wider study shows us that our experiences are in harmony with the common +human experience. All forces and all events, in all ages, have been +working for the welfare of individuals, society, the whole world. A +steady, unfailing, universal attraction has been drawing the human race +away from animalism, error, sorrow, war, separation and division, toward +righteousness, truth, love, brotherhood, the life of the Spirit, and the +unity and happiness of the children of God.</p> + +<p>That attraction is interpreted by Jesus in a simple and beautiful way. +He has taught us that the same Being who created the universe, and who +has revealed and is revealing Himself in creation, in history, and in +the earthly ministry of the Christ, is now, always has been, and always +will be in the most intimate, personal, and loving relations with men. +He warns them against evil, protects <a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a>them in danger, comforts them in +sorrow, lifts their thoughts and desires toward the true, the beautiful, +and the good; and what He is doing for individuals He is also doing for +humanity and the universe. This is the culmination of the Christian +Revelation. This is to be the consummation and splendor of the Kingdom +of God. All the disciples of Jesus are followers of the Spirit of Truth. +The Spirit of Truth is the inspiration of all that is vital and enduring +in literature, art, government, society; and each individual, and "the +whole cosmic process" are being led by Him toward the beatitude of the +Children of God.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="NURTURE_AND_CULTURE" id="NURTURE_AND_CULTURE"></a><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219" />NURTURE AND CULTURE</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<p><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220"></a> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O happy house! whose little ones are given</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Early to Thee, in faith and prayer,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To Thee, their Friend, who from the heights of heaven</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Guards them with more than mother's care.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O happy house! where little voices</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Their glad hosannas love to raise,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And childhood's lisping tongue rejoices</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">To bring new songs of love and praise.</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O happy house! and happy servitude!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Where all alike one Master own;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where daily duty, in Thy strength pursued,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Is never hard nor toilsome known;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Where each one serves Thee, meek and lowly,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Whatever thine appointments be,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Till common tasks seem great and holy,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">When they are done as unto Thee.</span><br /><br /> +</p><p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—<i>O Happy House</i>. Karl J.P. Spitta.</span><br /></p> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IX" id="IX"></a><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221" />IX</h2> +<h2><i>NURTURE AND CULTURE</i></h2> + + +<p>In the ascent of the soul two forces are ever at work: one is internal +and the other external. The internal is that which promotes growth; it +is resident within the soul, and, while it may be modified by +conditions, it is in no sense dependent on them. But environment is a +potent factor in all progress. Life necessitates growth, but environment +determines the end toward which it will move. Environment in large part +is composed of the circumstances into which we are born, of the +spiritual companionship from which none can escape, and of the training +which is provided by parents and friends. So much of the environment as +is furnished by others we will call nurture, and those <a name="Page_222" id="Page_222"></a>influences and +instruments of advancement which the soul chooses for itself we will +call culture. This discrimination is not entirely accurate, but it is +sufficiently so for our present purpose. It at least indicates the lines +along which our thought will move. According to this definition nurture +has to do with that period of our existence when we are not able wisely +to make choices for ourselves. It is for those persons who are in +infancy and early youth, and also for those whose normal development has +been thwarted or hindered. The influences of the home, and of the church +so far as they are related to its younger members, are in the line of +nurture rather than of culture.</p> + +<p>Culture, on the other hand, is something which a responsible being seeks +for himself, to the end that his power may be increased and his +faculties have harmonious development.</p> + +<p>The soul grows according to its innate <a name="Page_223" id="Page_223"></a>tendencies; it is also subject +to attractions from without. All souls are bound together; and all, +whether they wish or not, vitally and permanently affect those by whom +they are surrounded. Hence nurture and culture alike are both conscious +and unconscious.</p> + +<p>The growth of the soul is largely affected by the nurture which it +receives. This is usually provided for it by parents, or by those who +take the places of the parents; and, where possible, their unwearying +efforts should be to remove all obstacles from the pathway of their +children, to surround them with a pure and helpful environment, and to +provide them with such training as will make their progress inevitable +and easy. The importance of wholesome domestic influences cannot be +exaggerated. Their part in the formation of character is greater than +that of all others, because they touch the powers and faculties of the +child during those years in which <a name="Page_224" id="Page_224"></a>it is most plastic. Neither the +school nor the university can ever entirely counteract the effect of the +home. The whole period of childhood is one in which the soul is under +tutelage, and in which more is done for it by others than by itself. It +can no more select its own environment than it could have chosen its +parents, or the time and place of its birth. For a few years it is +utterly dependent. The question as to how its growth may most wisely be +promoted is, therefore, one of surpassing importance.</p> + +<p>The object of nurture is to provide an unhindered path along which the +soul may move, to bring into full and free exercise all the powers which +it possesses, and to secure for them development and harmony. To insure +for each individual soul in the struggle of life a fair opportunity to +be itself is the end of nurture. Emerson has said that at birth every +child is loaded with <a name="Page_225" id="Page_225"></a>bias, and that the purpose of culture is to remove +all impediment and bias, and to secure a balance among the faculties so +as to leave nothing but pure power. The same may be said as to the +object of nurture. Since impediment and bias are never a part of the +essence of the soul, the statement that the aim of nurture is to furnish +a full and free opportunity for each individual to secure a normal +development is, practically, identical with what Emerson has said of +culture.</p> + +<p>What are the agencies which have most to do with promoting the ascent of +the soul? The first is atmosphere. In a bright, clear, sunshiny +atmosphere the body attains its most healthful growth. So with the soul. +Atmosphere is one of those intangible things that every one understands +and no one can easily define. It is composed of a thousand different +elements. The atmosphere of a household is the spirit by <a name="Page_226" id="Page_226"></a>which it is +pervaded. Are all reverent, earnest, cheerful, optimistic? Do love and +mutual helpfulness prevail? Do the members of the family live as if God +were a near and blessed reality, and right and duty were more sacred +than life? Then there will be an atmosphere of hopefulness, devotion, +service, reverence, pure religion, which will affect all as sunlight and +air, unconsciously but evidently, grow into the beauty and fruitfulness +of meadows and gardens. The rare spirituality, the urbane manner, the +exquisite regard for others, the dignity and deference which are found +in some persons have no explanation except that they have been absorbed +from the households in which their early lives were passed. Nurture is +chiefly a matter of mental and spiritual atmosphere. Attraction is +always stronger than compulsion. A child born into conditions in which +love prevails, where truth, duty, honor, are reverenced, and where <a name="Page_227" id="Page_227"></a>all +dwelling together seek the highest things, will need neither instruction +in morals nor motives in religion. It will naturally turn toward truth +and righteousness. It will revere virtue and worship God as inevitably +and spontaneously as it breathes. We are all influenced more by the +words which we hear and the examples which we see than by the lessons +given us to learn, by the spirit of a man, or an institution, rather +than by rules. Persons show the conditions in which they have been +reared by their choice of words, their bearing, the subjects of their +conversation, by their mental and spiritual attitude. Reverence is +seldom found except in an atmosphere of reverence, and sincerity grows +among those who are sincere. It is a moral necessity that some men +should be earnest and enthusiastic, and impossible for their neighbors +to be other than cringing and mean. The largest element in environment +is atmosphere, <a name="Page_228" id="Page_228"></a>and in the development of character environment is quite +as potent as heredity. Indeed, in the sphere of the spirit, as in that +of the body, heredity is always modified by environment. The chief +factor in nurture, therefore, is atmosphere. If that is healthful, +growth will be toward beauty and strength; if that is malarial, no +antiseptic force but the grace of God will be able to counteract its +influence.</p> + +<p>Next to atmosphere as an element in nurture I place ideals. For these +children are usually dependent on their elders. They reverence what they +are taught to revere. Ideals are placed before them by example and by +precept. Children grow like those whose deeds attract them, and they +seek those ideals toward which they are most wisely directed. Laws are +never as potent in the formation of character as examples. Men are made +brave by the sight of bravery, and honorable by contact with <a name="Page_229" id="Page_229"></a>those who +will swear to their own hurt and change not. There is deep philosophy in +the saying that the songs of a people influence their institutions and +history more than legal enactments, for songs are usually of bravery, of +love, of victory. They create ideals; they excite enthusiasm. The +Marseillaise and The Watch on the Rhine send thrills through the blood +of those who hear them because in the most vivid way they suggest +patriotism and heroism. A good man inspires goodness. Philanthropy makes +others philanthropic. One courageous act sometimes makes heroes of a +hundred common men. If a father would have his son physically brave, and +he is a wise parent, he will not waste time in urging him to undertake +some forlorn hope, but he will read to him the story of the Greeks at +Thermopylæ, of Marshal Ney at Waterloo, of Nathan Hale and his holy +martyrdom, of Nelson at Trafalgar. If he would have that son <a name="Page_230" id="Page_230"></a>a helper +and servant of his fellow-men he will tell him the story of Pastor +Fliedner and his work at Kaiserwerth, of Florence Nightingale at the +Crimea, of Wilberforce and Buxton, Whittier and Garrison in their +efforts to awaken their fellow-men to the enormity of human slavery. The +strongest force for making a young man brave and generous, honorable and +Christian, is the example of a father possessing such qualities. Men are +usually like their ideals, and their ideals in large part are created by +the examples of those who are most admired and loved.</p> + +<p>But example is not all. Training also does much. Conduct is but the +expression of thought. If one can determine what shall be the subject of +another's thinking, he will have gone a long way toward fixing his +character. This is a fact which deserves more attention than it has yet +received in plans for the education of the people. Parents have no +<a name="Page_231" id="Page_231"></a>holier privilege than that of directing the thought of their children. +By their own conversation, by the friends whom they invite to their +homes, by the books which are given a place on their tables, by the +amusements to which they take their families, they determine for them +the channels in which their minds shall run. As a man thinketh in his +heart so is he. Boys usually dwell upon the same subjects as their +fathers, unless the fathers by skilful conversation are able to hide the +subjects to which they give most time. Children usually admire what +their parents admire, and shun what they shun. The organic unity of the +household is a large factor in individual and social progress. Both by +direct effort, and by the indirect operation of example, it furnishes +subjects for the youthful mind. The personality, whose seat is in the +will, is never determined, but it is very largely influenced both by the +example of those <a name="Page_232" id="Page_232"></a>who are admired and by the thoughts which they +suggest.</p> + +<p>Environment in large part is composed of atmosphere, example, and +ideals. All these are provided for the growing child by others. He has +little or no voice in saying what they shall be. And environment has +more to do with the progress of the soul toward full and free +self-expression even than what is called education. Education is more by +atmosphere, example, and mental suggestion than by teachers and +text-books. When we speak of nurture we usually think of the period of +discipline in school and church; but we often make the mistake of not +taking into account the fact that the most effective training is seldom +that which comes directly from teachers. It is rather that which is +derived indirectly from the atmosphere, example, and ideals by which the +child is surrounded in his home. If I could determine those for a child +I should <a name="Page_233" id="Page_233"></a>dread very little any malign force in the shape of an +incompetent teacher. Schools, in reality, are only for the unfinished +work of the homes. They may make the child better than his home, and +they may undo the good work which it has done; but, usually, what the +home is the child will be some time.</p> + +<p>The agencies of nurture, by which a soul is helped on its upward +pathway, are atmosphere, example, ideals, and direct training. Of these +the least important is the last, although the value of that is +self-evident. By the intellectual and spiritual air that we breathe, by +the sight of heroic and consecrated service, by the possibilities of +noble achievement the best that is in a man or a boy is usually drawn +out. Afterward the teacher may take him in hand and, by training, remove +the impediment and bias and thus make a balance in the faculties, or +take out of his way <a name="Page_234" id="Page_234"></a>the obstacles which oppose his progress; but he +seldom does very much toward determining the direction in which the +child will move. That is decided by others in the years which are most +plastic. The soul naturally, and inevitably, grows toward truth and God. +How could it be otherwise, since its being is derived from Him? But a +part of the mystery of growth is the influence of environment, and early +environment is almost altogether composed of the circumstances and +influences into which one is born.</p> + +<p>The question of nurture, therefore, is of vital importance. What shall +one generation do for those which are to come after it? Each soul may +hinder or help the growth of countless other souls. The influence of +those nearest is always most potent for good or ill. Impediment is +increased, and bias exaggerated, by evil example. The effort to rise +becomes easy when the way is <a name="Page_235" id="Page_235"></a>seen to be full of those whom we love and +honor going before us toward the heights, and it is difficult when no +familiar face is seen. Nurture is not so much a matter of teacher and +text-book, of church and catechism, as of atmosphere, example, and +inspiration. It is the effect of the contact of one pure and noble soul +upon another; it is something which father, mother, and friends give to +the child; it is the result of the spirit in which they impart +instruction and of the reverence and consecration which shine from their +lives.</p> + +<p>The best and only enduring nurture is that of a sweet, serene, +optimistic, and thoroughly Christian environment. With that, inherited +tendencies toward weakness and evil will go of themselves,—indeed will +seem never to have had existence.</p> + +<p>But all too soon the time comes in which the soul faces its own +responsibility, and realizes that it must choose <a name="Page_236" id="Page_236"></a>for itself what its +course shall be. It has learned, if it has observed, that there is ever +with it an unseen leadership, and it has heard, faint and far, the call +of a noble destiny. What shall it now do for itself? Shall it choose +simply to exist? Shall it yield to the limitations and solicitations of +the body? or, shall it seek to prepare itself by discipline, and the +cultivation of right choices, for the goal whose intimations it has +heard? Nurture, if it has been wise, has been the forerunner of culture. +Atmosphere and example have inspired lofty ideals, but those ideals, if +they are to be realized, will require training. Matthew Arnold, quoting +Bishop Wilson, has said that culture "is a study of perfection." In +other words, it is the means which are used for the perfection of the +soul. Shall we choose to leave ourselves to grow like trees in a forest, +however they may, or shall we seek those conditions which <a name="Page_237" id="Page_237"></a>will make +progress sure and swift? Culture is always a matter of choice; and it is +vastly more than anything which can be taught in the college or +university. The cultured man is he who has learned so to use the forces +and conditions of life as to make them minister to his perfection. The +one most cultured may come out of a factory, and the man of least +culture may be found in a university. Indeed colleges and universities, +not infrequently, are haunts of provincialism and of dread of +enthusiasm. The object of culture is the perfection of the spirit to the +end that all that hinders, or limits, may disappear and only pure power, +clear vision, and full self-realization remain. Those whose growth is +most evident are ever eager to use all experiences as means of progress. +They study books in order that they may better understand what others +have thought concerning the mystery of existence; they discipline their +minds <a name="Page_238" id="Page_238"></a>in order that they may the better serve their fellow-men; they +seek fineness of manner and beauty of expression to the end that their +utterance of truth may be more persuasive and convincing. Culture and +the discipline of life are identical. Consequently, the wise man chooses +to put himself where he will best be taught by the events through which +he passes, by what he sees, and by what he may learn from others. It +matters little who have been the teachers, or what have been the +schools,—the real teacher is always life, and the real university is +the human experience.</p> + +<p>I do not make light of the benefit which may be derived from books and +institutions of learning, but I do insist on the recognition of the +deeper fact that the lessons which no one can afford to neglect are +those which can be taught only by overcoming obstacles. We can learn how +to live only in the school of life. The most vital books are always +<a name="Page_239" id="Page_239"></a>those which tell us what others have done, and of the paths by which +they have been led to power. What shall the soul do for itself in order +that it may promote its own growth? It must first recognize where the +sources of knowledge and strength are to be found, and then put itself +where it will feel the touch of the vitality which can come only from +other souls. Quickly enough every man reaches the time in which he may +determine his own environment. When we are young others choose our +circumstances for us, but when we become older we select them for +ourselves. That means much. No monarch is mighty enough to compel me to +associate with those who will hinder my progress. He only is a slave +whose mind and will are in bondage. My body may be with boors but, at +the same time, my spirit may be holding companionship with seers and +sages. I may be compelled to work in a mine <a name="Page_240" id="Page_240"></a>like John the Apostle, but +I, too, like him may hear One speaking whose voice is as the sound of +many waters, and whose eyes are like a flame of fire. Our real +associates are ever our spiritual companions; and no one can force +another to hold fellowship with those who are either intellectually or +spiritually uncongenial.</p> + +<p>And we also select our own subjects of thought. Who can govern the +thinking of another? At the very moment when one, who is stronger, is +rejoicing in what seems his supremacy, our thoughts may be ranging +through the spaces, and finding companionships among the stars. And we +choose our own examples. In youth they were put before us according to +the will of others, but later our heroes come to us at our bidding, and +no one can shut the gates against them. Whom shall we admire? Let them +be men of the spirit, who have sought truth and hated <a name="Page_241" id="Page_241"></a>lies, "who have +fought their doubts and gathered strength," who would rather suffer +wrong than do wrong. The perfection of being is the end of effort, +therefore we will read what will best help our growth in vision, in +moral earnestness, in spiritual sensibility; therefore our books shall +treat of subjects which will ennoble; our amusements shall be pure and +clean; and our chief companionships shall be with the prophets and +masters, the noble and the good, because by associating with them we +shall become like them.</p> + +<p>Intellectual acuteness, mastery of faculty, elegance of expression, are +something very different from insight into the meaning of life. The +cultured man is he who has learned his relations to his fellow-men, who +recognizes his obligations toward them; and his relations to the unseen +and his duty toward it.</p> + +<p>Discipline which will produce such results will ever be sought by the +<a name="Page_242" id="Page_242"></a>awakened soul. It will be satisfied with nothing less.</p> + +<p>The relation of nurture and culture to the ascent of the soul is now +evident. Both are the agencies by which all impediment and bias are to +be removed, and by which the soul is to come to the realization of pure +power. They are the means by which complete self-realization is to be +attained; they are the study of perfection. Nurture is what is done for +the soul by parents and friends in its plastic years; culture is the +means which the soul chooses in order that its growth may be hastened. +Nurture is chiefly promoted by lofty examples, noble ideals,—in short, +by beneficent environment; but culture is attained by the conscious +effort of the individual, by his own choice of healthful environment, +worthy example, inspiring companionships, and, perhaps still more, by +long and patient study of the facts of our mortal life, of the +revelations <a name="Page_243" id="Page_243"></a>which have come from the unseen, and of the prophecies of +the future which are within the soul. There is a deep and almost +terrible significance in the text, "No man liveth to himself." Every +person is independent and free and yet is bound to every other. Most +delicate and vital of all human relations is that of parent and child. +How far one may be responsible for the other may be difficult to decide, +but that the one influences the other, inevitably and forever, is beyond +question. In many ways the child is what he is made by the parent. +Therefore the welfare of the child as a spirit, and not merely as a +body, should be a continual study. He who has dared to become a parent +can never honorably shirk the duty of nurture. The connection between +souls is a great mystery, but the mystery does not lessen the +obligation. We are responsible not only for the existence of our +children, but equally for their growth. It is the <a name="Page_244" id="Page_244"></a>parent's privilege to +make sure that they start on the journey of life properly equipped, and +with no undue obstacles in their pathway—to make them realize that they +are not only his children but also children of God; and that they are to +live not only in time but in eternity.</p> + +<p>The training of the body is needful, and that of the mind still more so, +but that of the spirit is absolutely essential to its welfare. Therefore +plans and provisions for nurture first, last, and always should be to +the end that the soul may realize that it is from God, and that its goal +and glory are union with Him.</p> + +<p>And those who realize that they are free, that they are in a moral +order, that a noble destiny awaits them, should make everything in +thought, in study, in association, in companionship, bend toward the +perfection of being, the development of power, and the realization of +the life of the spirit. Nurture does much for every man, his parents +<a name="Page_245" id="Page_245"></a>and friends also do much but, at last, when all mysteries are disclosed +and self-revelation is complete, it may be found that each one does +quite as much for himself as any one else, or every one else, does for +him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="IS_DEATH_THE_END" id="IS_DEATH_THE_END"></a><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246" /><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247"></a>IS DEATH THE END?</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<p><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248"></a> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It's wiser being good than bad;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">It's safer being meek than fierce;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">It's fitter being sane than mad.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">My own hope is, a sun will pierce</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The thickest cloud earth ever stretched;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">That after Last, returns the First,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Though a wide compass round be fetched;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">That what began best, can't end worst,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Nor what God blessed once, prove accurst.</span><br /><br /> +</p><p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—<i>Apparent Failure</i>. Browning.</span><br /></p> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="X" id="X"></a><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249" />X</h2> + <h2><i>IS DEATH THE END?</i></h2> + + +<p>We have been studying the ascent of the soul in the successive stages of +its development, from the dawn of consciousness to the measure of +progress which our race has now attained. But a dark shadow falls across +that history. No one has yet lived who has reached what all have +believed to be the fullness of his possible development. At a certain +period in physical history what we call death intervenes, and we are +left wondering as to whether that is the end of all, or whether the soul +persists and continues its advance unhindered by bodily limitations. +That death is the end of the body, in its present form, no one doubts; +but whether the relations of the soul to <a name="Page_250" id="Page_250"></a>the body are so intimate and +enduring that what vitally affects one affects the other is a subject +concerning which there has been eager and constant inquiry, and but +little real knowledge. Job's question, "If a man die shall he live +again?" is the common question of humanity. The importance of the +subject is attested by the prominence which it has always had in human +thought. Philosophers have given it foremost place in their +speculations. Science, while seeking to explore every part of the +physical universe, never escapes from the fascination of this question. +Is the death of the body the end of the spirit? Or, if we have not +sufficient material for a positive statement, is there enough to make a +strong affirmation of probability? We are facing the deepest mystery +which is ever presented to thinking men. Heretofore we have been trying +to follow a history clearly marked in the progress <a name="Page_251" id="Page_251"></a>of humanity; now we +can only balance probabilities. But all that has been learned concerning +the nature and development of the spirit of man not only warrants, but +compels, the belief that death is not the end of the soul; and that to +assert that it is, is to deny the revelations of the universe, and to +insist that there is nothing but irony and mockery where there ought to +be reason and wisdom. In treating this subject I can but repeat thoughts +which have been emphasized again and again; but it is so vital, and so +near to the welfare of all, that old arguments become new, and interest +in them increases, the more frequently they are emphasized.</p> + +<p>On what do we base our faith that the soul exists after death? That it +does is clearly the faith not only of religious teachers but of many of +the latest and most eminent scientists. Many expounders of evolutionary +philosophy unite in telling us that "the cosmic <a name="Page_252" id="Page_252"></a>process" having reached +man, a spiritual being, can go no further in the physical order; that +evolution will never produce a higher being than a spirit, but that the +"cosmic" force will still persist and be utilized in the expansion and +perfection of spirits.</p> + +<p>In treating this subject little attention will be given to the +scriptural argument, for there is little if any difference of opinion +concerning the teaching of Jesus and that of the writers of the New +Testament. They are united and consistent in assuming the persistence of +being. That belief underlies all their appeals to the solemn sanctions +of the moral law which they derived from the future life. Jesus himself +said, "If it were not so, I would have told you;" and nearly, if not +quite all the Apostles base their warnings and their invitations on +motives which reach beyond the death of the body. The masters of other +religions have been equally positive. In some <a name="Page_253" id="Page_253"></a>form or other they have +asserted the continued existence of the spiritual nature in man.</p> + +<p>But we turn, for the moment, from these and consider such evidence as +may be derived from the soul itself, and from what is known of its +progress.</p> + +<p>There is no evidence that when the body dies the soul dies with it. It +may not be possible to prove the reverse; all that we know is that the +vital functions cease, and that the body decays. No eye ever saw the +soul, and no dissection ever discovered the place of its dwelling. Is +that ethereal something which we call soul simply the result of the +organization of atoms? Or is the body like a house in which a spiritual +tenant dwells? At least this may be affirmed: No one has yet been able +to prove that the soul and body die together. Then there is no +reasonable presumption against the continuance of being. No spirit, so +far as we know, has returned to the <a name="Page_254" id="Page_254"></a>earth in visible form, and spoken +its message; and yet, for aught we know, we may be surrounded every day +by spiritual beings, moving unseen along the avenues upon which we walk, +and entering without invitation the houses which we inhabit. At this +point it is enough simply to grant that presumptions are, perhaps, +evenly balanced. If one asks for proof that the spirit persists, the +only reply must be a Socratic one—Can you prove that it is vitally +connected with the body?</p> + +<p>Belief in the existence of the soul after death seems to be an innate +belief. It has been ascribed to the influence of the superstition about +ghosts; but that superstition is only an unscientific form of the larger +faith in the persistence of being. Where did this conviction originate? +We think only of such things as have been experienced. No thought is +ever entirely original. Even imagination cannot create anything +absolutely unlike <a name="Page_255" id="Page_255"></a>anything which ever existed. All the fabled beings +who, according to the ancient mythology, filled the spaces and waters, +were but human creatures adapted to imaginary environments. Faith in the +existence of the soul after death could not have originated in the soul +itself; to believe that would be to contradict the laws of thought. It +seems to have been born with the soul, and yet not to be a part of it.</p> + +<p>The common conviction of continuance of being can be explained only on +the assumption that it is an innate idea. That this assumption starts, +perhaps, quite as many questions as it settles may be granted. +Nevertheless, it is the only way in which this fact in mental and +spiritual history can be accounted for.</p> + +<p>Not only is belief in persistence of being innate, but it is also +universal. It has been found in every land, in every time, in every +religion. Dr. Matthewson <a name="Page_256" id="Page_256"></a>has finely argued that the savage worships a +fetish because he is seeking something which does not change<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a>. He +knows that he dies; he worships that which he thinks does not die. A +piece of wood or a stone, at first, seems to him more enduring than a +man; therefore he worships the fetish. Gradually his eyes are opened and +he realizes that the man is more enduring than the thing. Then the +object of his worship is lifted from something material to a spiritual +being. The belief in immortality is coterminous with belief in the +Deity; the two forms of faith are always found together. The cultured +Greek, the mystic Egyptian, the idealistic Indian, the savage who +inhabits the forests of Africa, or who formerly dwelt in the forests of +America, alike have believed in some land of spirits to which their +loved ones have gone and to which they themselves, in <a name="Page_257" id="Page_257"></a>turn, will also +go. Every age and every time, alike, have borne witness to the strength +and vitality of this faith.</p> + +<p>But still more convincing to me than any of the suggestions which have +gone before, is the fact that it is irrational to suppose that the soul +dies with the body. If that were true, how could we account for the +enormous waste in discipline and culture, in education and affection? +What is the meaning of the love that binds human beings together, if +after a short "three-score-and-ten career" it utterly ceases to be, and +being and affection alike go into oblivion? How can our systems of +education be justified, if the soul is perfected only to be destroyed? +On everything else man spends time, labor, affection in proportion to +the possibility of its endurance. He never seeks that which he knows +will be taken from him and destroyed as soon as it is perfected. An +artist would not spend a lifetime <a name="Page_258" id="Page_258"></a>on a picture, or a sculptor in +finishing a statue, if he knew that when his work was completed it would +be instantly sunk in the depths of the sea. We devote a large part of +our lives to education; we cultivate our minds; our affections are +disciplined; we spend time, money, labor for years for the culture of +our children; can it be that all this preparation is for something which +never can be realized? In the midst of the loftiest manifestations of +the soul's power the body ceases to be. With indescribable bravery a +warrior lays down his life, a fireman rescues a child from a burning +building, a life-boatman goes through the surf to a sinking ship, and, +at that very moment when he proves himself best fitted to live, death +comes and he is seen no more. It cannot be proven that this is not the +end, but it is not reasonable to believe that this is the end. If it is, +human life is utterly without significance, <a name="Page_259" id="Page_259"></a>and he is most to be +commended who quickest escapes from its misery and mockery.</p> + +<p>Moreover the inequalities of the human condition are strangely +prophetic. Much has been made of this argument in the past,—Job and +Socrates both felt its force.</p> + +<p>The value of it has often been discredited, but without reason. How +shall the bitter injustice which is frequently found on the earth be +explained? Some have an abundance of wealth, some have literally +nothing. Some enjoy the best of health and strength all their days, +while others pass their years in suffering and trial. Some are +surrounded by families and fairly revel in love and friendship, and +others lead lonely lives toward a welcome end. Some are strong and +brave, and able to act a part in the drama of life; others are weak, +obscure, unknown, and, for aught that they or we can see, might as well +have never been. <a name="Page_260" id="Page_260"></a>The law of heredity sweeps down from the past and +brings a terrible legacy to many who spend all their days in trying to +escape from what has been forced upon them. What shall we say concerning +those who are born in lust and must live in the midst of the vice of a +great city, and who, in turn, give birth to a lustful and vicious brood? +Have they had a fair chance? Will their children have? Such questions +have puzzled the most earnest thinkers of all time, and there has seemed +to be but one explanation. Job seemed to be in darkness, until at last +there flashed upon his mind this question, which is also a modified +affirmation, "If a man die shall he live again?" If he live again, then +it is possible that what seems to be unjust may be righted; and those +who have known only suffering and pain during their dwelling in the +flesh, may some time enter into the fruition of their discipline in the +joy and victory of the <a name="Page_261" id="Page_261"></a>endless life. The more this argument is pondered +the stronger its force becomes. It carries conviction to all who are +deeply sensitive to the common human experience, and who at all +understand the misery and the suffering of human existence. One in the +fullness of his physical strength may think little about it, but that +deformed girl who asked her mother after service one Easter Day, +"Mother, is it true that in heaven I shall be as straight as you and +father?" is a type of millions of others. Some suffer in body and some +in mind; some have a heredity of insanity or vice—they are born with +shackles on their faculties. If they ever have a fair chance to grow +noble and beautiful, morally and spiritually, it must be after their +bodies have been laid aside. It cannot be said that they do not now +desire benefit and blessing, but it is evident that it is impossible for +their longing to be gratified. The conviction that this is a <a name="Page_262" id="Page_262"></a>moral and +rational universe compels us to believe that some time and somewhere +those who suffer will escape from their pain, that those who are +burdened with the evil that has been inherited from past generations +will rise above it, and that the soul will be given an unhindered +opportunity for growth and advancement. The inequalities in the human +condition almost compel us to believe that the death of the body cannot +be the end of the spirit.</p> + +<p>A little light on this subject comes from the faith of the world's +greatest teachers. As there are, now and then, those who see farther +than others with the physical eye, so there have been a few teachers who +have been rightly called seers, because their eyes have penetrated +farther into the mysteries of the universe than have those of their +fellow-men. Among the seers of the ages, I think that the two whom all +would recognize as being preëminent <a name="Page_263" id="Page_263"></a>are Socrates and Jesus—the one the +finest flower of the intellectual development of Greece, and the other +the consummation of the hopes and visions of the most spiritual people +that the world has ever known. Both Socrates and Jesus believed in God, +and both have taught the world, with no uncertain sound, of their faith +in immortal life. The latter was clearly an axiom with Jesus, for He +said to His disciples in effect, "If there had been any question about +it I would have told you;" and almost with his last breath Socrates +compelled his disciples to think of him as immortal, for he told them +that, though his body might be buried anywhere, he defied both friend +and foe to catch his soul. Socrates and Jesus represent the belief of +the world's greatest seers.</p> + +<p>The deep and abiding confidence of the teachers, who increasingly +command our admiration as the years go by, is <a name="Page_264" id="Page_264"></a>not to be entirely +disregarded. We may care little what those tell us who walk by our sides +in the dark valleys or on the dusty plains; but there are others who +have climbed to the crests of the loftiest mountains, and who have +looked into a world of which we have only dreamed. When they come down +we listen because we know that they have had visions. Even so it is in +our intellectual life. A few men have risen above the common levels of +humanity, as the Alps above the plains of Lombardy. They have spoken +concerning what they have seen. They have had glimpses of God—the soul +of the universe, and of the persistence of individuals in the realm that +lies beyond the grave. I might not let my faith be determined by their +testimony alone, but when what they say is confirmed by many other +voices speaking in the soul, and sounding through the history of the +world, it is easy to believe that <a name="Page_265" id="Page_265"></a>they have spoken of things which have +been revealed to them.</p> + +<p>Another confirmation of our conviction of the reality of life after +death may be stated as follows: It is not possible for us to think of +the heroes and singers of the ages as having less endurance than the +words which they have uttered and the deeds which they have performed. +Milton's and Shakespeare's bodies have long been dead. The great +dramatist has recorded a dire curse on any one who should move his +bones. In the chancel of the Church of the Holy Trinity at +Stratford-on-Avon those bones are supposed to rest. But the plays that +Shakespeare wrote are still the wonder of the world, and the glory of +the English race. Is it possible to believe that the man was less +enduring than his work? Is it possible to believe that Shakespeare's +plays and Milton's epic will exist, perhaps, for a thousand years, while +the dramatist himself has utterly <a name="Page_266" id="Page_266"></a>ceased to be? You open a neglected +drawer of your desk and come suddenly upon a letter written by a friend +of half a century ago; the paper is a little soiled, but as firm as +ever; the ink is hardly faded; the words are all clearly formed and full +of inspiration; and you hold that letter in your hand and ask yourself, +"Was the man who penned these lines less enduring than the paper on +which he wrote, or than the ink with which he wrote?" Such questions are +not arguments, and yet they have the force of arguments. It is not +possible in our better moments to feel that the great and good, by whom +this world has been lifted to its present condition, have gone entirely +into nothingness.</p> + +<p>It was said of our Lord, "It was not possible that such a man should be +holden of death." And it is not possible for us to believe, in our +inmost souls, that those who become a part of <a name="Page_267" id="Page_267"></a>our being, whose love is +of more value to us than our own lives, whose memory is the dearest +treasure that we possess, by some accident, a taint in the food or the +water, can utterly pass from existence. If it were possible to believe +that, then the most miserable creature on the earth would be man, for he +would know of his greatness, and know also that his greatness is a +mockery and a sham. In hours of doubt, let us lean hard upon the +question, "Is it possible that those with whom we have walked and +worked, conversed and communed, and by whom we have been helped and +blessed, should forever cease to be, while the houses in which they +live, and the tools with which they labor, will endure for generations?"</p> + +<p>The soul is full of prophecies. Only as there may be continuance of +being can these prophecies have fulfillment. The feeling of dependence, +the desires for friendship which are never satisfied, <a name="Page_268" id="Page_268"></a>the powers of +body and of mind which are capable of a development which they never +receive on earth, are prophecies of a life beyond death. Not the least +among the reasons for our belief that death is not the end of the soul +is the fact that the soul itself is a prophecy of its own immortality.</p> + +<p>It is always best to believe the best. This world and human life may be +interpreted on the materialistic hypothesis; then matter is all and +death is the gloomy <i>finale</i> to the tragedy of existence. Or they may be +interpreted according to the spiritual hypothesis; then within the body +dwells the spirit; then the latter is but a tenant of the former. If the +house is destroyed the tenant goes elsewhere. If we interpret the world, +and human life, according to the materialistic theory all the beauty and +joy of existence on the earth will disappear. We will then live for a +little time; and our loves, our disciplines, and our <a name="Page_269" id="Page_269"></a>victories alike +will be only delusions soon to be mercifully ended by death. Possibly +that is true; but, if it is true, then this universe is the embodiment +of the most dismal, desolate, and diabolical thought that it is possible +for a human being to conceive. On the spiritual hypothesis all +experiences are intended for the perfection of the soul. Bodily +limitations, physical sufferings, animal solicitations, may all be used +so as to promote the development and perfection of the spirit. When the +body can do no more the soul will emerge purified and strengthened by +contact with that which is physical. It will then move from the narrow +quarters in which it has dwelt into some larger and fairer room in the +great palace of God. Once more, I confess, we cannot demonstrate the +truth of this faith, but it is always best for ourselves and for the +world to believe the best. With this faith human life is nobler, and +human effort more persistent and enduring than <a name="Page_270" id="Page_270"></a>it would be without it. +At the end "the finished product" will be larger, and more perfect, if +there is something to strive for than if hope is destroyed the moment +that aspiration is born. I should be willing to rest my faith in +immortality upon this one argument. A rational being should be satisfied +only with a rational answer to his questions; a moral being should be +satisfied only with a moral solution of his problems. This universe is +neither rational nor moral if the soul ceases to be at the death of the +body. On the other hand, if the soul passes into another and ampler +sphere all the mysteries are explained, and there is meaning even in the +darkest passages of human experience. All things work together for good +to those who are willing to be led toward the higher things.</p> + +<p>These are some of the reasons, with which all thinking persons are +familiar, for believing that the soul continues <a name="Page_271" id="Page_271"></a>its growth after the +body has been laid aside. Evolution has opened a new vista in human +thought. There had been vague suggestions of it before, but evolution +has done much to confirm faith by its clear and strong testimony. It +prophesies the eternal growth of the spirit. These prophecies are +harmonious with those of the soul, and with the positive teachings of +the Christian revelation. This then is our conclusion:—in the process +of time, in accordance with natural law, our bodies will be laid aside, +some in one way and some in another, but the soul that has dwelt in +these bodies will become free. In ways of which we know not, and of +which it would be presumption to speak, its perfecting will be +continued. What teachers will take it in hand then is beyond our +knowledge; but we are confident that its individual existence will +continue, that its perfection will be along moral and spiritual lines, +that it will <a name="Page_272" id="Page_272"></a>grow forever and forever in intelligence, in love, in the +power of rational choice, and into harmony with Him from whom it has +come and whose glory will be its perfection. To believe less would be to +refuse to listen to the voices which speak within and the voices which +speak without,—it would be to believe in an irrational and immoral +universe rather than a rational and moral one.</p> + +<p>Our souls have a right to be heard, and their prophecies have in them an +element of certainty. He who listens to the voices which speak within +will never believe that the death of the body is the end of his personal +being. The suggestion of a state of existence from which sin, sorrow, +and death shall be forever absent, into which there shall enter nothing +that maketh a lie, and where sacrificial love is the everlasting light, +is the highest and most satisfying ideal for human life that has ever +been spoken or imagined; and that <a name="Page_273" id="Page_273"></a>which completely satisfies the heart +cannot at the same time be repudiated by the intellect.</p> + +<p>Let us, therefore, reverently confess that we believe in "the life +everlasting."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="PRAYERS_FOR_THE_DEAD" id="PRAYERS_FOR_THE_DEAD"></a><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274" /><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275"></a>PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<p><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276"></a> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Thy voice is on the rolling air;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">I hear thee where the waters run;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Thou standest in the rising sun,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And in the setting thou art fair.</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What art thou then? I cannot guess;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">But tho' I seem in star and flower</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">To feel thee some diffusive power,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I do not therefore love thee less:</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">My love involves the love before;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">My love is vaster passion now;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Tho' mixed with God and Nature thou,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I seem to love thee more and more.</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Far off thou art, but ever nigh;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">I have thee still, and I rejoice;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">I prosper, circled with thy voice;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I shall not lose thee tho' I die.</span><br /><br /> +</p><p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—<i>In Memoriam</i>. Tennyson.</span><br /></p> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XI" id="XI"></a><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277" />XI</h2> +<h2><i>PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD</i></h2> + + +<p>The wisest of men have little to guide them when they approach that +mysterious realm from which no traveler has ever returned. With humility +and the consciousness that we must, at the best, walk in the twilight, I +take up one of the most mysterious and fascinating of themes. No one has +any right to speak positively on such a subject, and I shall not do so. +Those who have the assurance of sight when they write about what lies +beyond the grave are both to be envied and to be pitied,—envied because +of their confidence, pitied because they may be self-deceived.</p> + +<p>Let me make my exact purpose as plain as I can by an illustration. A +<a name="Page_278" id="Page_278"></a>dear friend, one with whom you have associated for years, enters the +silent life. The morning following, as has long been your custom, you +offer your prayers to the Heavenly Father, and, as usual, mention that +friend by name. Suddenly you stop and say to yourself, "I can no more +offer that petition, for my friend is now beyond the need of my poor +prayers." Then, suddenly and swiftly, come the questions, Although my +friend is called dead is he any less alive than when he was in the body? +Will not all that constituted his personality continue to grow in the +future as in the past? Does the death of the body do anything more than +change the mode of the spirit's existence? And the result is that you +say to yourself, "I will continue to pray for my friend, for, if he is +alive now, every reason which led to prayers before his death justifies +their continuance."</p> + +<p>From more than one person I have <a name="Page_279" id="Page_279"></a>heard words similar to these which I +have put into this hypothetical form; and because of these expressions +of sane and sacred experience I am led to ask my readers to follow me in +the consideration of a subject which is seldom mentioned, except with +incredulity, by most Protestants.</p> + +<p>No one who may not appreciate the importance of this subject should be +either troubled or heedless. We learn our lessons concerning the +profounder mysteries simply by living. No one can be blamed for not +appreciating what he is not yet, either intellectually or spiritually, +ready to receive. Providence takes good care of us. When we are prepared +for the reception of any truth it usually finds us.</p> + +<p>This subject has been regarded with suspicion by two classes of +thinkers: Protestants who have revolted from the extent to which praying +for the dead has been carried in the Roman Catholic Church, <a name="Page_280" id="Page_280"></a>and the +much smaller number who hold what they delight in affirming is "the true +theology," and who have insisted that when men die their state is +irrevocably and forever fixed, the good going at once into the perfect +bliss of heaven and the wicked into the suffering of hell.</p> + +<p>It will be more profitable for us to deal with the positive side of our +subject than to attempt to clear away misconceptions and half truths.</p> + +<p>What is meant by prayers for the dead? Exactly the same as prayers for +those in the body. When the body dies the soul, or the essential man, is +not touched by death. The personality is that which thinks, chooses, +lives. Your mother is not the form on which your eyes rested, or the +arms which encircled you, but the thought, the devotion, the affection +concealed, yet revealed, by the body, and which use it for their +instrument. In reality we never saw our dearest <a name="Page_281" id="Page_281"></a>friends; what we saw +was color, form, but never the spirit. That is disclosed through the +body, but is not identified with it. Now just as we have prayed for a +mother, or a child, or a friend whose physical form is familiar, but +whose personality we have seen only in its revelations, so we continue +to pray for that loved one which we do not see any more, or any less, +after what is called death.</p> + +<p>In other words, instead of thinking of any as dead, we think of all as +alive, although many of them are in the unseen sphere. Love and sympathy +have never been dependent on the body except for expression, and there +is no evidence that they ever will be. Sympathy and affection, thought +and will, are matters of spirit; and why may not spirit feel for spirit +and minister to spirit, when the body is laid aside? Your hands, your +feet, your lips did not pray for your child; your spirit prayed for his +spirit, <a name="Page_282" id="Page_282"></a>and now that his body is laid aside, like a worn-out garment, +you may keep on doing just what you did before. This is what is meant by +prayers for the dead.</p> + +<p>I am well aware that it may seem to some that these statements rest +largely on assumptions, but they are not baseless assumptions. One other +assumption must be made before we can proceed in our study, and that one +is the truthfulness of the Christian teaching that death is not +cessation of being, but only the decay of the bodily organism.</p> + +<p>How may prayers for the dead be justified? Are they taught as a duty in +the Scriptures? The privilege rests not so much on particular +exhortations as upon the whole Christian teaching concerning +immortality. God is the God of the living. Bishop Pearson in his +exposition of the Apostles' Creed has an impressive passage, which I +quote: "The communion of saints in the Church of Christ with those who +are departed <a name="Page_283" id="Page_283"></a>is demonstrated by their communion with the saints alive. +For if I have a communion with a saint of God, as such, while he liveth +here, I must still have communion with him when he is departed hence; +because the foundation of that communion cannot be removed by death. The +mystical union between Christ and His Church ... is the true foundation +of that communion.... But death, which is nothing else but the +separation of the soul from the body, maketh no separation in the +mystical union, no breach of the spiritual conjunction, and consequently +there must be the same communion, because there remaineth the same +foundation."<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> + +<p>Jesus taught that death is but a change of the form of existence. On the +Mount of Transfiguration Moses and Elijah appeared alive, and as +interested in human affairs. If death is not cessation of being, but +only a change in the form <a name="Page_284" id="Page_284"></a>of its manifestation, why should we think +that human sympathy ends when breathing ceases, and why should we +conclude that mutual service may be rendered impossible by "a snake's +bite or a falling tile." Tennyson in "In Memoriam" gives the Christian +doctrine exquisite expression,</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Eternal form shall still divide</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">The eternal soul from all beside;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">And I shall know him when we meet."</span><br /></p> + +<p>Jesus teaches the reality of immortality He represents those gone from +us as not dead but as still living and still interested in human +affairs. If His teaching is true, is it not as reasonable to try to +serve those of our loved ones who are out of the body as those who are +in the body? So far as we can see, the only way in which we can serve +them is by prayer, although they may, possibly, minister to us in other +ways.</p> + +<p>If immortal existence means the <a name="Page_285" id="Page_285"></a>possibility of unceasing growth, then +every reason which prompts prayer for those who are bodily present +remains a motive when they have entered the state which is purely +spiritual.</p> + +<p>But what efficacy will prayers for the dead have? My answer is two-fold. +All the efficacy that prayer ever has. If death is relative only to a +single state of existence, and if those whom we call dead are living, +and still free agents, then they may still choose good and evil, and +they may still grow toward virtue. Choice always implies a possibility +of freedom; and freedom is a necessity when there is moral +responsibility. If prayer helps any one, why not those who have passed +from our sight? Surely we must believe them still to possess the power +of choice and, therefore, that of choosing evil as well as good.</p> + +<p>You ask why pray at all. My answer is simple and free from all attempts +at casuistry: simply because we must. <a name="Page_286" id="Page_286"></a>Prayer is not so much a Christian +doctrine as a human necessity. It is as natural as breathing. By prayer +I mean not only spoken petitions but, equally, the longing and pleading +of the soul, either blindly or intelligently, for things which are +beyond our reach, and which only a higher Power can provide. Those +longings may have formal expression, and they may not. Prayer so far as +it is petition is the soul pleading with the Unseen for what it deeply +desires. I do not suppose that God needs light from any mortal man, but +all men do need many things from Him, and, as naturally as children +present their desires to earthly parents, even though they know them to +be already favorable, we go with our deeper needs to our Heavenly +Father.</p> + +<p>Much time has been wasted in trying to formulate a rational basis for +prayer. When a child in the smaller family no longer asks his father to +accede to his <a name="Page_287" id="Page_287"></a>wishes, when he no more pleads with his father for his +brother or his sister, then it will be time enough to inquire if, in the +larger family which we call humanity, we may do without prayer. Until +then let us believe,</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"More things are wrought by prayer</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Than this world dreams of."</span><br /></p> + +<p>Leaving now the apologetic side of the subject, which is alluring, we +observe one evident blessing which always attends praying for the dead. +It keeps ever before our minds the thought that they are actually alive. +It makes the doctrine of the communion of saints a sacred reality. If I +may in this essay be allowed to assume a hortatory tone I will say, if +you have been in the habit of praying for your friend, do not give it up +simply because he has ceased to breathe. As regularly as ever continue +to pray for him, and he will be to you more than a memory. What would +<a name="Page_288" id="Page_288"></a>have been but an occasional remembrance will then be a daily communion; +and what would have been only formal praying to God will be an hour, or +a moment, of association with those who will grow nearer and dearer, and +not farther and vaguer, with the passing years. The hour of devotion +will thus be hallowed, because it will be a holy tryst with absent +friends, as well as a time for making our requests known to our Heavenly +Father. Who can exaggerate the delight and benefit of such an exercise? +What sources of strength are to be found in spiritual association with +our beloved! If we are thus helped why should we presume that they may +not also, by such sweet hours, be strengthened for their duties? I know +this may seem fanciful. I ask no one to follow me who is not ready to do +so. I do not speak dogmatically, but with great earnestness, when I say +that prayer for our beloved after they are gone is <a name="Page_289" id="Page_289"></a>a privilege and a +help—I would fain believe both to them and to us.</p> + +<p>But it may be objected that the moral state of men is fixed at death, +and that nothing that we or they can do can influence it by a hair's +breadth. That this has been a popular opinion is true; and it is equally +true that many have supposed that all who have had faith on the earth +are in bliss; and that all who have been without faith are in misery; +and that the beatitude of all the good is equal and alike, and that the +misery of all unbelievers is the same.</p> + +<p>Such inferences, though held by many for whose scholarship and character +I have profound reverence, seem to me to be contrary to Scripture, to +the analogies of nature, and to the moral sense. Such a theory is +contrary to Christian Scriptures; for the parable of the talents shows +that some will have greater and some lesser reward; and the parable of +Dives and Lazarus has relation only to <a name="Page_290" id="Page_290"></a>Hades, or to the state which in +the thought of that time intervened between death and the judgment.</p> + +<p>This theory is contrary to the analogies of life on earth. Here change +indicates not a finality but a new opportunity. Every crisis of life is +an opening into a newer and larger world. Why should we say that what we +call death, alone of all the changes through which we pass, leads to +that which is unchangeable?</p> + +<p>The theory is contrary to the moral sense of all earnest souls. Who does +not have to compel himself to believe, and that with difficulty, that +death determines forever the fate of all, and that there is neither +possibility of progress nor of going backward after the body is laid +aside?</p> + +<p>Let me quote a noble passage from Bishop Welldon: "But if a variety of +destinies in the unseen world, whether of happiness or of suffering, is +reserved for mankind, and yet more, if the <a name="Page_291" id="Page_291"></a>principle of that world is +not inactivity but energy or character or life, it is reasonable to +believe that the souls which enter upon the future state with the taint +of sin clinging to them, in whatever form or degree, will be slowly +cleansed by a disciplinary or purifactory process from whatever it is +that, being evil in itself, necessarily obstructs or obscures the vision +of God." He continues, "And this is the benediction of human nature, to +feel that, as souls upon earth are fortified and elevated by the prayers +offered for them in the unseen world, so too by our prayers may the +souls which have passed behind the veil be lifted higher and higher into +the knowledge and contemplation and fruition of God."<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a></p> + +<p>We do not know that death forever determines the condition of the soul. +On the other hand, as I grow older, the idea seems to me to be opposed +to <a name="Page_292" id="Page_292"></a>Scripture, to the analogies of nature and history, to reason, and to +the universal moral sense.</p> + +<p>If any one should object to prayers for the dead because the privilege +and duty seem so distinctively a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, +my only reply is that we should never ask who are the advocates of any +teaching, but, only, is it true? Each branch of the church emphasizes +some phase of truth. The Roman Church has given more prominence to +prayers for the dead than Protestants, and because of that it will have +the gratitude of many honest souls who cannot believe that they are +entirely and forever severed from those whom they have loved and still +love.</p> + +<p>I am well aware that there are many difficult questions concerning this +subject which it is impossible for me to answer. Some truths are clearly +revealed and of others we have only glimpses. Concerning <a name="Page_293" id="Page_293"></a>some we feel +more than we know, and feelings which are not selfish are prophetic. +What an earnest and inquiring spirit feels must be true is quite as +likely to be found true as conclusions which seem to have been reached +by a process of faultless logic.</p> + +<p>I fully believe that we are justified in praying for those who have +departed this life, that the good may grow better, that the clouds which +obscure the vision of the unbelieving may be removed, that all taints of +animalism may be washed away; and that we should pray even for the +wicked, that the disciplinary processes through which they are passing +may some time and somehow lead them to submit their wills to the love +and truth of God. We may pray for our loved ones, not simply by way of +asking something for them, but in order that there may be a meeting +place,—a time for communion and fellowship between those here and those +<a name="Page_294" id="Page_294"></a>beyond the veil. That meeting place must be found in our common +approach to God.</p> + +<p>Does this teaching seem mystical and fanciful? What if it does? It is in +line with the human heart's deepest desires, and with the soul's +immortal aspirations. What they most earnestly affirm in their hours of +deepest need, and highest illumination, cannot be altogether without +foundation in reason and in the Scriptures.</p> + +<p>The unity of life cannot be too strongly emphasized. Life is one. It is +all under the eye and in the strength of God. It has to do with spirit; +death, if there is any such thing, has to do with matter. Spirits always +grow because they always live. The universe is not composed of two +hemispheres, in the upper one of which are to be gathered all the good +and in the lower all the evil. It is saner and better to believe that +the universe is a sphere in <a name="Page_295" id="Page_295"></a>which, in their own places, are all the +spirits of men, some beautiful with the holiness of God; some only +beginning to rise toward Him, like seed that has broken the soil and +begun to move toward the light; and still others like seed whose +possibilities are all hidden, but which are not destroyed and which some +day also will hear the divine call, feel the touch of God's light, and +begin to move toward Him.</p> + +<p>We live in the midst of mystery. In the future we shall probably find +that our best attempts at rational answers to many questions have gone +wide of the mark. The most that any of us can do is to be true to +ourselves, and to respond to every call from above. In the midst of the +gloom of mortal existence it is safe to follow our hearts.</p> + +<p>We long to commune with those who have gone, to help them and to be +helped by them. This longing is natural and rational. That it is not +without <a name="Page_296" id="Page_296"></a>reason is proved by the example of our Master, who, after His +death, is represented as ministering to those whom He loved, and who, we +are told, ever liveth to make intercession for us.</p> + +<p>What our hearts desire, what harmonizes with reason, what is confirmed +by the revelations and example of our divine Teacher, will persuade none +far from the path which leads to light and felicity.</p> + +<p>Those whom men call dead, it is best to believe, have but entered upon +another phase of the eternal life of the spirit.</p> + +<p>The Roman Church has an act or service called "The Culture of the Dead." +It means the "practice of the presence" of those who, though gone from +us, in spirit are with us. The Creed has an article which reads, "I +believe in the communion of saints." The Christian year has one day +called "All Saints' Day." We shall not be far from the <a name="Page_297" id="Page_297"></a>traditions of +the church when we pray for our beloved, whether they be in the body or +out of the body.</p> + +<p>Those who would realize the beatitude of this privilege should remember +the truth in this stanza from "In Memoriam:"</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"How pure at heart and sound in head,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">With what Divine affections bold,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Should be the man whose thought would hold</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">An hour's communion with the dead."</span><br /></p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="THE_GOAL" id="THE_GOAL"></a><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298" /><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299"></a>THE GOAL</h2> +<div class="poem"> +<p><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300"></a> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But Thee, but Thee, O Sovereign Seer of time,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But Thee, O poet's Poet, Wisdom's Tongue,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">But Thee, O man's best Man, O love's best Love,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O perfect life in perfect labor writ,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">O all men's Comrade, Servant, King, or Priest,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What <i>if</i> or <i>yet</i>, what mole, what flaw, what lapse,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What least defect or shadow of defect,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">What rumor, tattled by an enemy,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Of inference loose, what lack of grace</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Even in torture's grasp, or sleep's, or death's,—</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Oh, what amiss may I forgive in Thee,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Jesus, good Paragon, thou Crystal Christ?</span><br /><br /> +</p><p> +<span style="margin-left: 10em;">—<i>The Crystal</i>. Sidney Lanier.</span><br /></p> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="XII" id="XII"></a><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301" />XII</h2> +<h2><i>THE GOAL</i></h2> + + +<p>If the cosmic process in the physical sphere culminated with the +appearance of man, and if, since that culmination, its movement has been +toward the perfection of the soul, it is fit and proper that this book +should end with a study of the goal toward which the human spirit is +pressing. Is it possible for us, with our limitations, to have an +adequate conception of the man that is to be "when the times are ripe" +and the "crowning race" walks this earth of ours?—or, if not this +earth, at least, dwells in the spiritual city? The fascination of this +subject has been widely recognized. The answer must be secured from many +sources. Only in imagination can we follow the lines <a name="Page_302" id="Page_302"></a>along which the +spirit will move in the far-off ages, and yet our conclusions will not +be wholly imaginative, for the direction in which those lines are +tending is clearly perceived. Under the circumstances, therefore, +imagination may not be an untrustworthy guide. We are now to deal with +prophecies, some of them easy and some of them difficult to read. But +reading prophecies is not prophesying. I shall not prophesy, but rather +endeavor to understand and to interpret a few of the many voices which +have spoken, and are speaking, on this subject.</p> + +<p>The soul is itself a prediction of what it is to be. It utters a various +language.</p> + +<p>The growth of intelligence is prophetic. Savage tribes suggest the +original condition of primitive man. The pigmies in Africa afford hints +of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. From such as they, and from lower types +still, the race has slowly and painfully risen. In <a name="Page_303" id="Page_303"></a>them a certain rude +intelligence appears. They have cunning rather than reason. They are +half akin to brute and half akin to man. A kind of selfish intelligence +characterizes their thinking. They lack a sense of proportion and +relation. Before the ant a man looms as large as a mountain before us. +An insect does not see things as they are but as they seem to it. Growth +in intelligence necessitates a truer appreciation of proportions and +relations. The pigmy also sees little but himself, but years and +experience leave behind them wisdom. The civilized races have all risen +from barbarism and savagery—that is, from a state of imperfect thinking +as well as of imperfect loving and choosing. Experience and culture +bring larger knowledge and a more equable balance of the faculties. No +man should be measured by his achievement in any one field of endeavor. +He may paint like Titian and be as voluptuous; he <a name="Page_304" id="Page_304"></a>may write tragedies +like Shakespeare and have no logic; he may be a gatherer of facts like +Darwin and have no power of philosophic analysis. The intellect grows +steadily toward perfection of vision and logical strength, and also and +quite as significantly, toward harmony in the development of all the +powers of thought.</p> + +<p>The contrast between the selfish cunning of an African pigmy and the +large and noble minds which are steadily multiplying, is a prophecy of +the man who will dwell on this earth when the vision is clear and the +power of rational judgment is perfected.</p> + +<p>The prophecy of the soul is not less evident in the emotional nature. At +first the soul is either so imperfect, or so limited by the body, that +it seems to be nothing but a creature of emotions. It loves, but its +affections are selfish and egotistic. What may be called the epochs in +its growth are finely treated <a name="Page_305" id="Page_305"></a>by Coleridge in "The Ancient Mariner" and +by Tennyson in "In Memoriam." The Ancient Mariner felt only selfish +affection. He had no love for "being as being." He killed the albatross +with as little heed as he disregarded his fellow-men; but the ministries +of his misery were multiplied until, at length, he was able to see +something beautiful even in the writhing green sea-serpents that +followed the ship of death on which he sailed. That was the first sign +of the larger interest which had long been growing within him, and which +was to continue to grow until he could say,</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"He prayeth best who loveth best</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">All things both great and small."</span><br /></p> + +<p>"In Memoriam" is the record of the expansion of a soul through its +increase in love. At the beginning of his grief the poet sings, +dolefully and hopelessly, through his tears,<a name="Page_306" id="Page_306"></a></p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"He is not here; but far away</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">The noise of life begins again,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">And ghastly thro' the drizzling rain</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">On the bald street breaks the blank day."</span><br /></p> + +<p>But the soul is growing secretly and surely as wheat grows in winter. +The Christmas bells ring out their music and at first are almost hated, +but they break through the shell of sorrow and let in a faint echo of +the world's great suffering and the world's great joy. Thus human +sympathy is enlarged just a bit. In successive years the music of the +Christmas bells is heard more distinctly, the sorrow of the world +becomes more audible, sympathy reaches farther. At last the poem which +began with a <i>miserere</i> ends with a marriage, and he who could at first +write that dreary line,</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"On the bald street breaks the blank day"</span><br /></p> + +<p>testifies to the beneficence of the path in which he had been led in +this wise and beautiful stanza,<a name="Page_307" id="Page_307"></a></p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Regret is dead, but love is more</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">Than in the summers that have flown,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3.5em;">For I myself with these have grown</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To something greater than before."</span><br /></p> + +<p>From dwelling in a prison with grief as a jailer he has caught a vision +of the,</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"One far off divine event</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">To which the whole creation moves."</span><br /></p> + +<p>This expansion of the soul is not difficult to follow. Traces of it may +be seen in the enlarged sympathy, the growing brotherhood, and in the +rapidly increasing conviction that even nationalities are only temporary +expedients for bringing the day when love shall be the universal law. +The charities and philanthropies which are blossoming in every city and +country district, the consciousness of responsibility for the poor and +weak, the angel songs which are heard in the midst of battle, and the +gradual disappearance of war, are all vague but true prophecies of what +the soul will be when love is <a name="Page_308" id="Page_308"></a>perfected. The knowledge of past progress +is an inspiration, and the imagination of what will be a glorious hope.</p> + +<p>A single clause in the Apocalypse has long seemed to me as fine a +statement of the condition which will prevail, when this prophecy is a +reality, as could be phrased,—"The Lamb is the light thereof." Light is +the medium in which objects are visible, and the Lamb is the symbol of +sacrificial love. The great dreamer, in his vision, beheld a time when +spirits would see in sacrificial love as now we see physical objects in +the medium of light. To those who have studied the expansion of +individual souls, and who then have contrasted the selfishness of +earlier social conditions with the love of men as it is revealed in the +laws, institutions, ministries of to-day, this dream of the Apostle +rises in the distance as a new continent to a voyager over the wide and +desolate ocean.</p> + +<p>Equally prophetic is the advance which <a name="Page_309" id="Page_309"></a>has been made from the passion +of savage barbarism, or infantile wilfulness, to the moral reason of the +present day as seen in the highest types of humanity in civilized lands. +Wilfulness characterizes the childish nature and passion the savage +nature. But with the growth of the soul choices are differentiated from +impulses, and more and more regularly are inspired by intelligence and +unselfish affection. This progress toward intelligent and unselfish +choice distinguishes the movement toward civilization. Here, again, the +advance made by the individual soul and by the race are equally +prophetic. With the years the choices become more rational and loving. +Time mellows all men somewhat, and forces a little wisdom into the +hardest heads. Even slight growth prophesies that which shall be swifter +when conditions are more favorable.</p> + +<p>The soul is a prediction of clearer vision, truer thought, more +unselfish love <a name="Page_310" id="Page_310"></a>and wiser choices. It is a prophecy of the perfect man.</p> + +<p>History is also prophetic of larger souls. The stream of human history, +after it has been followed backward a few thousand years, leads into the +region of legend and myth—that is, to a time when history could not be +written because there was no writing, and when all truth was conveyed in +symbolical forms. That means toward a time of narrow experience, and of +knowledge far more limited than the present. Memory, in those days, was +enormously and abnormally capacious and retentive, but there was no +appreciation of humanity. Few lessons from the experiences of others +were possible, because the mind was filled with merely tribal legends. +What was called early civilization was only relatively splendid. There +was unsurpassed poetry but no science, ample brawn but diminutive brain, +much passion but little love. Out of the darkness of the past the stream +of history, <a name="Page_311" id="Page_311"></a>very narrow and shallow at first, has emerged and steadily +expanded and deepened. Men are now equally intense but far clearer in +vision, nobler in purpose, and purer in character. Their laws year by +year have become more humane, their sympathies less contracted, their +institutions more civilized. Nature's secret drawers have been unlocked. +We are sometimes told that science has added much to the store of man's +knowledge but nothing to the strength of his mind or the nobility of his +character. That is a serious mistake. With the enlarged visions of the +universe, with clearer conceptions of our cosmic relations, with the +national neighborliness which is now a necessity, the capacity and the +quality of the soul must change. Nay, it has already changed, for we +inhabit the same lands over which savages formerly roamed, and we find +in the earth and air what they never found; and when we look up into the +great wide sky and say, "<a name="Page_312" id="Page_312"></a>The Heavens declare the glory of God," we are +not thinking of a tribal Deity, or a partial, and more or less +passionate, monarch enthroned in the midst of his splendors, but of the +King Eternal, immortal, invisible. Knowledge tends to enlarge the mind +by which it is acquired. All faculties are strengthened by use.</p> + +<p>History has moved along a bloody pathway, or, to revert to the figure of +a stream, is indeed a river of "tears and blood." The horrors of the +process by which the race has been lifted can hardly be exaggerated. I +do not forget them while I put stronger emphasis on the fact that the +outcome of all the struggle of individuals, the conflict of classes, and +the wars of nations has been a nobler and purer quality of soul,—not +less heroic but more sacrificial, not less strong but far more virtuous.</p> + +<p>The growth of the individual soul is mirrored in the progress of the +race. When we have learned to read aright <a name="Page_313" id="Page_313"></a>the history of the world, we +are informed as to the interior forces which have made civilization. +Events are expressions of thoughts; institutions are manifestations of +soul. If there has been progress in institutions there must have been an +equal progress in the souls which are the real forces by which progress +is always won. As history has been the evolution of humanity toward +finer forms, so it is the assurance that the forces which have been at +work in the past will not cease, but steadily continue until "the pile +is complete." The perfect society will be composed of perfected +individuals. History as prophecy is harmonious with soul as prophecy.</p> + +<p>The future state of the soul has been the subject of rare fascination +for the world's great thinkers. Nearly all religions have a forward +look. "The Golden Age" lies far in the distance, but it has commanded +the faith of all <a name="Page_314" id="Page_314"></a>the seers. It has sometimes been a dream concerning +individuals, and again a vision of the perfected society, but in reality +the two are one, for the social organism is but a congeries of +individuals. Bacon dreamed of New Atlantis, Sir Thomas More saw the fair +walls of Utopia rising in the future, Plato defined the boundaries of +the ideal Republic, Augustine wrote of the glories of the <i>Civitate +Dei</i>, and Tennyson with matchless music has sung of the crowning race:—</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"Ring out old shapes of foul disease;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ring out the narrowing lust of gold;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ring out the thousand wars of old,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ring in the thousand years of peace.</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ring in the valiant man and free,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">The larger heart, the kindlier hand;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Ring out the darkness of the land,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Ring in the Christ that is to be."</span><br /></p> + +<p>The common characteristic of these social ideals is their dependence on +the culture of individuals. With the incoming <a name="Page_315" id="Page_315"></a>of "the valiant man and +free," the man of "larger heart and kindlier hand," there is a +reasonable hope that the darkness of the land will disappear.</p> + +<p>With that deep look into the inmost secrets of human experience which +sounds strangely autobiographical, Browning wrote in "Rabbi Ben Ezra,"</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Praise be thine!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">I see the whole design,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">I, who saw power, see love now perfect too;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Perfect I call thy plan;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Thanks that I was a man!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Maker, remake, complete,—I trust what Thou shalt do!"</span><br /><br /> + +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">"Therefore I summon age</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">To grant youth's heritage,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Life's struggle having so far reached its term;</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">Thence shall I pass, approved</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 3em;">A man, for aye removed</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">From the developed brute; a god though in the germ."</span><br /></p> + +<p>Those last lines condense Browning's creed concerning man. He is "for +aye removed from the developed brute," and is "a god in the germ." +Browning holds that while in the future there will <a name="Page_316" id="Page_316"></a>surely be expansion +of soul, evolution as a physical process is at an end. Henceforward +there will be no passing from one species to another. Species have to do +with physical organisms, not with spirits. Soul in man is but God "in +the germ."</p> + +<p>Emerson and Matthew Arnold have written much about education. The one +foretells a day when the soul, after mounting and meliorating, finds +that even the hells are turned into benefit; and the other makes his own +the thought of Bishop Wilson that culture is a study of perfection, and +that the soul must ever seek increased life, increased light, and +increased power.</p> + +<p>Education is the word of the hour and of the century. It is believed to +be the panacea for all ills, individual and social. But, precisely, what +does this passion for education signify if not that, either +intelligently or otherwise, all believe in the perfectibility of the +soul, <a name="Page_317" id="Page_317"></a>and that it will have all the time that it needs for the process. +The absorbing devotion to intellectual training suggests the inquiry as +to whether many who affirm that they are agnostic concerning immortality +are not in reality earnest in their faith; for why should they seek the +culture of that which fades, as the flowers fade; when it approaches +life's winter? But, whether faith in continuance of being is firm or +frail, few doubt the perfectibility of spirit, because, beyond almost +all things, they are seeking its perfection. Literature, which is but +the thoughts of the great souls of successive periods recorded, +prophesies a day when all that hinders or taints shall be done away, and +when the divine in the germ shall have grown to large and fair +proportions. If there were no other light the outlook would still be +inspiring. It is well sometimes to ask ourselves what we were made to +be—not these bodies which are clearly <a name="Page_318" id="Page_318"></a>decaying—but these spirits +which seem to grow younger with the passage of time. I have sometimes +thought that the very idea of second childhood is itself a prophecy of +the soul's eternal youth. Certain it is that we are the masters of the +years. The oldest persons that we know are usually the youngest in their +sympathies and ideals. Sorrow and opposition should not destroy, but +only strengthen the spiritual powers. Intelligence grows from more to +more. The sure reward of love is the capacity and opportunity for larger +love. Virtuous choices gradually become the law of liberty. These facts +are index fingers pointing toward large and loving, strenuous and +sympathetic manhood. And toward such human types, as a matter of fact, +the race has been moving. The expectation of the seers and prophets, +also, has been of a golden age in which all souls will have had time, +and opportunity, of reaching the far-off <a name="Page_319" id="Page_319"></a>but splendid goal. Believing, +as we do, that death is never a finality, but that it is only an +incident in progress; that instead of being an end it is only freedom +from limitation, we find ourselves often vaguely, but ever eagerly, +asking, To what are all these souls tending? Toward a state glorious +beyond language to utter we deeply feel. But has no clearer voice +spoken? At last we have reached the end of our inquiry. If any other +voices speak they must sound from above. We stand by the unseen like +children by the ocean's shore. They know that beyond the storms and +waves lie fair and wealthy lands, but the waters separate and their eyes +are weak. So we stand before the future, and ask, Toward what goal are +all this education, experience and discipline tending? Are they +perfecting souls which at last are to be laid away with the bodies which +were fortunate enough to win an earlier death? It would be <a name="Page_320" id="Page_320"></a>impiety to +believe that. Then indeed should we be put to "permanent intellectual +confusion." If all the voices of the soul are mockeries, then life is +worse than a mistake—it is a crime.</p> + +<p>The solution of the mystery is now before us. The man that is to be has +walked this earth, and wrought with human hands, and lived and labored +and loved, and passed into the silent land. Is Jesus the unique +revelation of the divine? There may be many to question that, but there +are few, indeed, who doubt that He embodied all of the perfect humanity +which could be expressed within the limitations of the body. He +represented Himself as essential truth and very life. He condensed duty +into such love as He manifested toward men. He embodied the heroism of +meekness, the courage of self-sacrifice, the vision of goodness. He was +an example of all that is strong, serene, sacrificial, in the midst of +the lowest <a name="Page_321" id="Page_321"></a>and most unresponsive conditions. So much we see, and the +rest we dimly, but surely, feel.</p> + +<p>It was reserved for Paul, in a moment of inspiration, to put into a +single phrase a description of the goal of the human spirit, as +something which may be forever approached but never reached, in these +words, "Till we all attain unto the measure of the stature of the +fullness of Christ." The fullness of Christ! That is the soul's final +destiny. It was the far call of that goal which it faintly heard at its +first awakening and which has never entirely ceased to sound in his +ears. Who shall explore the contents of that great phrase? It is a +subject for meditation, for prayer, but never for discussion. He who +approaches it in a controversial spirit never understands it. What are +the qualities of the character of Christ? Some of them lie on the +surface of the story. He never doubted God, or, if so, but for a single +moment; <a name="Page_322" id="Page_322"></a>He was unselfish; He lived to love and to express love; He had +some mysterious preternatural power over nature—such, perhaps, as +science is approaching in later times; kindness, sympathy, helpfulness, +purity, shone from His words and actions. He declared that the privilege +of dying to save those who despised Him was a joy. He lived in the +limitations of the human condition and, therefore, on the earth only +hints of "His fullness" are discernible. The full revelation is to be +the endless study of those who are able to see and to appreciate things +as they are. But we may ask ourselves whither these lines tend. When the +intelligence, the love, the compassion, the mercy, the purity, the moral +power and spiritual grandeur which only in dim outline are revealed in +the Christ, have perfect manifestations, what will the vision be? The +very thought transcends the farthest flights of the poet's imagination +and the <a name="Page_323" id="Page_323"></a>most daring speculations of philosophers. In "the fullness of +Christ" is the soul's true goal. For that all men, and not the elect +few, were created. That is the revelation of the divine plan for +humanity. Toward that evolution has been slowly, and often painfully, +pressing from those dim æons when the earth was without form and void. +When man appeared as the flower of all the cosmic process he started at +once toward this goal. And with great modesty, and simply because I +believe in God and that His love cannot be defeated, I dare to hope +that, sometime and somehow, after all the pains of retribution and moral +discipline have done their inevitable work, after all the fires of +Gehenna have consumed the desire to sin, after Hades and Purgatory have +been passed, the souls which, for a time, have dwelt in these mortal +bodies, purified and without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, will be +given the beatific vision and permitted to realize the height and +depth, the length and breadth of "the fullness of Christ."</p> + +<p><span style="margin-left: 2em;">"That one Face, far from vanish, rather grows,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Or decomposes but to recompose,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 2em;">Become my universe that feels and knows."</span><br /></p> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><a name="Page_324" id="Page_324"></a></p> +<h2><a name="FOOTNOTES" id="FOOTNOTES"></a>FOOTNOTES</h2> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> W.R. Alger, "History of the Doctrine of a Future Life," page 10.<br /></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> W.R. Alger, "History of the Doctrine of a Future Life," page 10.<br /></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> Confessions. Book I, 1.<br /></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Addison's translation, Book III, pages 188-198.<br /></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Essay on Compensation.<br /></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> Quoted by Emerson in Essay on Compensation.<br /></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> Revelation 2:7.<br /></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> Distinctive Messages of the Old Religions, p. 9.<br /></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Quoted in Welldon's "Hope of Immortality," page 332.<br /></p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> The Hope of Immortality, page 337.<br /></p></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="INDEX" id="INDEX"></a><a name="Page_325" id="Page_325" />INDEX</h2> + + +<p>Achilles, <a href="#Page_74"><span class="label">74</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Actæon, <a href="#Page_82"><span class="label">82</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Adam's fall, <a href="#Page_142"><span class="label">142</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Adjustment to environment, <a href="#Page_50"><span class="label">50</span></a>, <a href="#Page_52"><span class="label">52</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Adjustment to knowledge of freedom, <a href="#Page_58"><span class="label">58</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Æschylus, <a href="#Page_129"><span class="label">129</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Ambrose, <a href="#Page_140"><span class="label">140</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Ancient Mariner, <a href="#Page_295"><span class="label">295</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Angelo, Michael, <a href="#Page_48"><span class="label">48</span></a>, <a href="#Page_182"><span class="label">182</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Animal entail, <a href="#Page_79"><span class="label">79</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Arnold, Matthew, <a href="#Page_72"><span class="label">72</span></a>, <a href="#Page_98"><span class="label">98</span></a>, <a href="#Page_226"><span class="label">226</span></a>, <a href="#Page_306"><span class="label">306</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Atmosphere in nurture, <a href="#Page_215"><span class="label">215</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Attraction vs. Compulsion, <a href="#Page_216"><span class="label">216</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Augustine, <a href="#Page_34"><span class="label">34</span></a>, <a href="#Page_35"><span class="label">35</span></a>, <a href="#Page_140"><span class="label">140</span></a>, <a href="#Page_196"><span class="label">196</span></a>, <a href="#Page_199"><span class="label">199</span></a>, <a href="#Page_304"><span class="label">304</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Austere experiences, <a href="#Page_97"><span class="label">97</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Awakening vs. Re-awakening, <a href="#Page_147"><span class="label">147</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Bacon, Lord, <a href="#Page_304"><span class="label">304</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Bernard, St., <a href="#Page_90"><span class="label">90</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Books, The most vital, <a href="#Page_229"><span class="label">229</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Browning, Robert, <a href="#Page_26"><span class="label">26</span></a>, <a href="#Page_113"><span class="label">113</span></a>, <a href="#Page_129"><span class="label">129</span></a>, <a href="#Page_152"><span class="label">152</span></a>, <a href="#Page_238"><span class="label">238</span></a>, <a href="#Page_305"><span class="label">305</span></a>, <a href="#Page_314"><span class="label">314</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Browning, Mrs. E.B., <a href="#Page_113"><span class="label">113</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Byron, Lord, <a href="#Page_74"><span class="label">74</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Bunyan, John, <a href="#Page_16"><span class="label">16</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Bushnell, Horace, <a href="#Page_37"><span class="label">37</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Buxton, Sir Thomas Fowell, <a href="#Page_220"><span class="label">220</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Cenci, Beatrice, <a href="#Page_129"><span class="label">129</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Chatterton, <a href="#Page_74"><span class="label">74</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Circe, <a href="#Page_83"><span class="label">83</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Comforter, The, <a href="#Page_205"><span class="label">205</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Companionship, Spiritual, <a href="#Page_183"><span class="label">183</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Comus, <a href="#Page_81"><span class="label">81</span></a>, <a href="#Page_92"><span class="label">92</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Conscience, <a href="#Page_67"><span class="label">67</span></a>, <a href="#Page_187"><span class="label">187</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Conversion, <a href="#Page_133"><span class="label">133</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Creationism, <a href="#Page_11"><span class="label">11</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Crisis in Ascent of the Soul, <a href="#Page_134"><span class="label">134</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Cross, The revelation of divine sacrifice, <a href="#Page_175"><span class="label">175</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Culture, <a href="#Page_212"><span class="label">212</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Culture, a study of perfection, <a href="#Page_226"><span class="label">226</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Culture and life, <a href="#Page_227"><span class="label">227</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Cultured man, The, <a href="#Page_231"><span class="label">231</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Dante, <a href="#Page_6"><span class="label">6</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Death, Light on, <a href="#Page_176"><span class="label">176</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Death of the body, <a href="#Page_239"><span class="label">239</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Diana, <a href="#Page_82"><span class="label">82</span></a>.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_326" id="Page_326"></a>Donatello, <a href="#Page_137"><span class="label">137</span></a>.</p> + +<p>DuBois-Reymond, <a href="#Page_55"><span class="label">55</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Edinburgh, Incident in, <a href="#Page_186"><span class="label">186</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Education, prophecy of soul's growth, <a href="#Page_306"><span class="label">306</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Emerson, <a href="#Page_214"><span class="label">214</span></a>, <a href="#Page_215"><span class="label">215</span></a>, <a href="#Page_306"><span class="label">306</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Emanation, <a href="#Page_10"><span class="label">10</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Environment, Influence of, <a href="#Page_218"><span class="label">218</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Environment, of what composed, <a href="#Page_222"><span class="label">222</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Epictetus, <a href="#Page_111"><span class="label">111</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Evolution and Immortality, <a href="#Page_241"><span class="label">241</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Experience, Individual, <a href="#Page_150"><span class="label">150</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Expiation, <a href="#Page_155"><span class="label">155</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Falconer, Robert, <a href="#Page_143"><span class="label">143</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Faust, <a href="#Page_5"><span class="label">5</span></a>, <a href="#Page_35"><span class="label">35</span></a>, <a href="#Page_129"><span class="label">129</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Fetish worship, <a href="#Page_245"><span class="label">245</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Fiske, John, <a href="#Page_5"><span class="label">5</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Fliedner, Pastor, <a href="#Page_220"><span class="label">220</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Freedom, Realization of, <a href="#Page_54"><span class="label">54</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Galahad, Sir, <a href="#Page_85"><span class="label">85</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Garrison, William Lloyd, <a href="#Page_220"><span class="label">220</span></a>.</p> + +<p>God, Rational doctrine of, <a href="#Page_157"><span class="label">157</span></a>.</p> + +<p>God revealed in Christ, <a href="#Page_161"><span class="label">161</span></a>.</p> + +<p>God cannot be defeated, <a href="#Page_136"><span class="label">136</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Goethe, <a href="#Page_5"><span class="label">5</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Golden Age, <a href="#Page_303"><span class="label">303</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Grace, Falling from, impossible, <a href="#Page_145"><span class="label">145</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Grail, The Holy, <a href="#Page_126"><span class="label">126</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Growth a means of knowledge, <a href="#Page_61"><span class="label">61</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Guardian angels, <a href="#Page_88"><span class="label">88</span></a>, <a href="#Page_201"><span class="label">201</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Guinevere, <a href="#Page_129"><span class="label">129</span></a>, <a href="#Page_143"><span class="label">143</span></a>, <a href="#Page_144"><span class="label">144</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Hale, Nathan, <a href="#Page_219"><span class="label">219</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Hamlet, <a href="#Page_129"><span class="label">129</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Hannibal, <a href="#Page_74"><span class="label">74</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Hawthorne, Nathaniel, <a href="#Page_36"><span class="label">36</span></a>, <a href="#Page_137"><span class="label">137</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Helps in trial, <a href="#Page_195"><span class="label">195</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Heredity, <a href="#Page_56"><span class="label">56</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Heroism in silence, <a href="#Page_198"><span class="label">198</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Hesperus, <a href="#Page_2"><span class="label">2</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Hindu Swami, <a href="#Page_64"><span class="label">64</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Hindu mother, <a href="#Page_66"><span class="label">66</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Hindrances, Ministry of, <a href="#Page_89"><span class="label">89</span></a>.</p> + +<p>History, Prophetic, <a href="#Page_300"><span class="label">300</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Hope for all, <a href="#Page_32"><span class="label">32</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Hugo, Victor, <a href="#Page_36"><span class="label">36</span></a>, <a href="#Page_86"><span class="label">86</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Hunt, Holman, Light of the World, <a href="#Page_163"><span class="label">163</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Ideals, Influence of, <a href="#Page_218"><span class="label">218</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Ideal Man seen in Jesus Christ, <a href="#Page_164"><span class="label">164</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Idylls of the King, <a href="#Page_142"><span class="label">142</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Immortality, Ode to, Wordsworth, <a href="#Page_10"><span class="label">10</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Immortality in the New Testament, <a href="#Page_242"><span class="label">242</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Immortality in the ethnic religions, <a href="#Page_242"><span class="label">242</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Immortality, belief in, innate, <a href="#Page_244"><span class="label">244</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Immortality, belief in, universal, <a href="#Page_245"><span class="label">245</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Immortality, unbelief in, irrational, <a href="#Page_247"><span class="label">247</span></a>.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_327" id="Page_327"></a>Immortality and the great teachers, <a href="#Page_252"><span class="label">252</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Inequalities in human condition, <a href="#Page_249"><span class="label">249</span></a>.</p> + +<p>In Memoriam and Growth of the Soul, <a href="#Page_295"><span class="label">295</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Intelligence, Growth in, prophetic, <a href="#Page_292"><span class="label">292</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Isaiah, <a href="#Page_142"><span class="label">142</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Jesus the Soul's goal, <a href="#Page_310"><span class="label">310</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Jesus the Supreme Optimist, <a href="#Page_169"><span class="label">169</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Judson, Adoniram, <a href="#Page_137"><span class="label">137</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Kaiserwerth, <a href="#Page_220"><span class="label">220</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Lanier, Sidney, <a href="#Page_290"><span class="label">290</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Learning by experience should be unnecessary, <a href="#Page_148"><span class="label">148</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Life the best teacher, <a href="#Page_228"><span class="label">228</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Life, Unity of, <a href="#Page_284"><span class="label">284</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Life's mystery illumined, <a href="#Page_171"><span class="label">171</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Light of the World, Hunt's, <a href="#Page_163"><span class="label">163</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Luther, Martin, <a href="#Page_138"><span class="label">138</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Macbeth, <a href="#Page_129"><span class="label">129</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Macdonald, George, <a href="#Page_143"><span class="label">143</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Mahomet, <a href="#Page_111"><span class="label">111</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Malthus, <a href="#Page_118"><span class="label">118</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Man, light on his nature, <a href="#Page_163"><span class="label">163</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Manhood, The ideal, <a href="#Page_166"><span class="label">166</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Marble Faun, <a href="#Page_137"><span class="label">137</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Marseillaise, The, <a href="#Page_219"><span class="label">219</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Matthewson, Dr. Geo., <a href="#Page_245"><span class="label">245</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Marguerite, <a href="#Page_35"><span class="label">35</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Melchizedek, <a href="#Page_133"><span class="label">133</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Milton, John, <a href="#Page_82"><span class="label">82</span></a>, <a href="#Page_83"><span class="label">83</span></a>, <a href="#Page_92"><span class="label">92</span></a>, <a href="#Page_255"><span class="label">255</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Moral order, <a href="#Page_51"><span class="label">51</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Morally excellent, the, how discern, <a href="#Page_63"><span class="label">63</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Moral failure, <a href="#Page_73"><span class="label">73</span></a>, <a href="#Page_129"><span class="label">129</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Moral evil inexplicable, <a href="#Page_173"><span class="label">173</span></a>.</p> + +<p>More, Sir Thomas, <a href="#Page_304"><span class="label">304</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Napoleon, <a href="#Page_74"><span class="label">74</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Nelson, Lord, <a href="#Page_220"><span class="label">220</span></a>.</p> + +<p>New College, Oxford, 70.</p> + +<p>Newton, Sir Isaac, <a href="#Page_202"><span class="label">202</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Ney, Marshal, <a href="#Page_219"><span class="label">219</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Nightingale, Florence, <a href="#Page_220"><span class="label">220</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Nurture, <a href="#Page_211"><span class="label">211</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Nurture, part of parents in, <a href="#Page_214"><span class="label">214</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Nurture, vitally important, <a href="#Page_224"><span class="label">224</span></a>, <a href="#Page_225"><span class="label">225</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Optimism, <a href="#Page_105"><span class="label">105</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Optimism, Rational basis of, <a href="#Page_113"><span class="label">113</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Over-soul, <a href="#Page_94"><span class="label">94</span></a>, <a href="#Page_184"><span class="label">184</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Ovid, Metamorphoses, <a href="#Page_82"><span class="label">82</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Parents' duty to children, <a href="#Page_149"><span class="label">149</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Pascal, <a href="#Page_21"><span class="label">21</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Paul, <a href="#Page_80"><span class="label">80</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Pearson, Bishop, <a href="#Page_272"><span class="label">272</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Personality, <a href="#Page_29"><span class="label">29</span></a>, <a href="#Page_270"><span class="label">270</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Pigmies, <a href="#Page_293"><span class="label">293</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Pilgrim's Progress, <a href="#Page_6"><span class="label">6</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Plato, <a href="#Page_140"><span class="label">140</span></a>.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_328" id="Page_328"></a>Plan of salvation, <a href="#Page_155"><span class="label">155</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Poe, Edgar A., <a href="#Page_74"><span class="label">74</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Prayer, <a href="#Page_276"><span class="label">276</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Prayers for the dead, objections, <a href="#Page_269"><span class="label">269</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Prayers for the dead, definition, <a href="#Page_270"><span class="label">270</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Prayers for the dead, how justified, <a href="#Page_272"><span class="label">272</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Preëxistence, <a href="#Page_10"><span class="label">10</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Prodigal Son, <a href="#Page_27"><span class="label">27</span></a>, <a href="#Page_28"><span class="label">28</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Prometheus, <a href="#Page_12"><span class="label">12</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Prophecy, <a href="#Page_121"><span class="label">121</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Protestants and doctrine of prayers for the dead, <a href="#Page_269"><span class="label">269</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Rabbi Ben Ezra, <a href="#Page_305"><span class="label">305</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Re-awakening of the Soul, <a href="#Page_130"><span class="label">130</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Re-awakening vs. Awakening, <a href="#Page_147"><span class="label">147</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Responsibility, <a href="#Page_30"><span class="label">30</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Resurrection of Christ, <a href="#Page_14"><span class="label">14</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Reynolds, Sir Joshua, <a href="#Page_79"><span class="label">79</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Ring and the Book, <a href="#Page_129"><span class="label">129</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Roman Church and prayers for the dead, <a href="#Page_282"><span class="label">282</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Sakya Muni, <a href="#Page_199"><span class="label">199</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Santiago, <a href="#Page_196"><span class="label">196</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Satisfaction, <a href="#Page_155"><span class="label">155</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Saul, Browning's, <a href="#Page_152"><span class="label">152</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Scarlet Letter, The, <a href="#Page_137"><span class="label">137</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Self-realization, <a href="#Page_31"><span class="label">31</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Shakespeare, <a href="#Page_112"><span class="label">112</span></a>, <a href="#Page_129"><span class="label">129</span></a>, <a href="#Page_255"><span class="label">255</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Shelley, <a href="#Page_74"><span class="label">74</span></a>, <a href="#Page_129"><span class="label">129</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Siddhartha, <a href="#Page_111"><span class="label">111</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Sin always evil, <a href="#Page_119"><span class="label">119</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Sin a reality, <a href="#Page_127"><span class="label">127</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Sin, Mystery of, <a href="#Page_172"><span class="label">172</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Socrates, <a href="#Page_74"><span class="label">74</span></a>, <a href="#Page_111"><span class="label">111</span></a>, <a href="#Page_199"><span class="label">199</span></a>, <a href="#Page_253"><span class="label">253</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Sophocles, <a href="#Page_129"><span class="label">129</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Soul, Solitary, <a href="#Page_87"><span class="label">87</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Souls in society, <a href="#Page_103"><span class="label">103</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Soul, what awakens, <a href="#Page_34"><span class="label">34</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Soul, definition, <a href="#Page_7"><span class="label">7</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Soul, origin, <a href="#Page_9"><span class="label">9</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Soul, limited by body, <a href="#Page_77"><span class="label">77</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Soul, full of prophecies, <a href="#Page_257"><span class="label">257</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Spartans, <a href="#Page_65"><span class="label">65</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Spirit evidence of being of God, <a href="#Page_20"><span class="label">20</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Spiritual protection, <a href="#Page_188"><span class="label">188</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Spirits attract spirits, <a href="#Page_194"><span class="label">194</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Spirit, The Eternal, <a href="#Page_206"><span class="label">206</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Spitta, Karl J.P., <a href="#Page_210"><span class="label">210</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Subconscious action, <a href="#Page_20"><span class="label">20</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Sympathy, definition, <a href="#Page_106"><span class="label">106</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Sympathy, results from severe experience, <a href="#Page_109"><span class="label">109</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Suffering no mistake, <a href="#Page_116"><span class="label">116</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Suffering made endurable, <a href="#Page_167"><span class="label">167</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Temptations of saints, <a href="#Page_84"><span class="label">84</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Tennyson, <a href="#Page_85"><span class="label">85</span></a>, <a href="#Page_113"><span class="label">113</span></a>, <a href="#Page_126"><span class="label">126</span></a>, <a href="#Page_129"><span class="label">129</span></a>, <a href="#Page_274"><span class="label">274</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Thoughts important in character, <a href="#Page_230"><span class="label">230</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Training an element in nurture, <a href="#Page_220"><span class="label">220</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Transfiguration of Christ, <a href="#Page_14"><span class="label">14</span></a>.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_329" id="Page_329"></a>Truth, Search for, <a href="#Page_191"><span class="label">191</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Truth finds those prepared for it, <a href="#Page_269"><span class="label">269</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Ulysses, <a href="#Page_83"><span class="label">83</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Universe, Moral, <a href="#Page_93"><span class="label">93</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Universe, The idea of, <a href="#Page_159"><span class="label">159</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Utopia, <a href="#Page_304"><span class="label">304</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Vedas, Hymns of, <a href="#Page_114"><span class="label">114</span></a>.</p> + + +<p>Warning voices, <a href="#Page_187"><span class="label">187</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Watch on the Rhine, <a href="#Page_219"><span class="label">219</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Welldon, <a href="#Page_273"><span class="label">273</span></a>, <a href="#Page_280"><span class="label">280</span></a>, <a href="#Page_281"><span class="label">281</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Whittier, John G., <a href="#Page_220"><span class="label">220</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Wilberforce, William, <a href="#Page_140"><span class="label">140</span></a>, <a href="#Page_220"><span class="label">220</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Wilson, Bishop, <a href="#Page_226"><span class="label">226</span></a>, <a href="#Page_306"><span class="label">306</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Wingfold, Thomas, <a href="#Page_143"><span class="label">143</span></a>.</p> + +<p>Wordsworth, <a href="#Page_2"><span class="label">2</span></a>, <a href="#Page_10"><span class="label">10</span></a>, <a href="#Page_48"><span class="label">48</span></a>, <a href="#Page_182"><span class="label">182</span></a>.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Ascent of the Soul, by Amory H. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Ascent of the Soul + +Author: Amory H. Bradford + +Release Date: July 16, 2005 [EBook #16307] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ASCENT OF THE SOUL *** + + + + +Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Thomas Hutchinson and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +THE ASCENT OF THE SOUL + +BY + +AMORY H. BRADFORD, D.D. + + +AUTHOR OF + "SPIRIT AND LIFE," + "HEREDITY AND CHRISTIAN PROBLEMS" + "THE GROWING REVELATION," + "THE AGE OF FAITH" + "MESSAGES OF THE MASTERS," ETC. + + + + + NEW YORK + THE OUTLOOK COMPANY + 1902 + + Copyright, 1902 + By The Outlook Company + + + Mount Pleasant Press + J. Horace McFarland Company + Harrisburg, Pennsylvania + + + + +To The Memory of My Father + + _That each, who seems a separate whole, + Should move his rounds, and fusing all + The skirts of self again, should fall + Remerging in the general Soul, + + Is faith as vague as all unsweet: + Eternal form shall still divide + The eternal soul from all beside; + And I shall know him when we meet._ + + --_In Memoriam._ + + + + +INTRODUCTION + + +The purpose of the following chapters will be evident to all who may +care to peruse them. I have endeavored simply to read the soul of man +with something of the care that one reads a book containing a message +which he believes to be of importance. + +While one class of scientists are seeking to explore the physical +universe, another class, with equal care, are studying the human spirit, +and, already, startling discoveries have been made. My work is in no +sense new in kind, but it is such as one whose whole time is devoted to +dealing with the inner life would naturally give to such a subject. It +hardly needs to be added that my method is practical rather than +speculative. I am more interested in helping the ascent of the soul +than in accounting for its origin. In carrying out my plan I have +considered the following subjects: The nature and genesis of the soul, +its awakening to a consciousness of responsibility, the steps which it +first takes on its upward pathway, the experience of moral failure, its +second awakening, which is to an appreciation that the universe is on +its side, the part of Christ in promoting its awakening, the sense of +spiritual companionship by which it is ever attended, the discipline of +struggle, and the nurture and culture best fitted to promote its growth. +I have also sought to read some of the prophecies of the soul, and have +found them all pointing toward a continuance of its being beyond the +event called death, and toward the fullness of Christ as the goal of +humanity. I have found a place for prayers for the departed even among +Protestants of the strictest sects. + +A study of the soul, like a study of history, inspires optimism. It is +hard to believe that it could have been intended first for perfection +and then for extinction. It is equally difficult to believe that any +soul will, in the end, be "cast as rubbish to the void." + +In these studies I have tried ever to be mindful of my own limitations, +and not to forget that a fraction of humanity can never hope to +comprehend the fullness of truth. Of that side of the spiritual sphere +which has been turned toward me, and of that alone, have I presumed to +write. All that I claim for this book is that it is the contribution of +one, anxious to know what is true, toward a better understanding of a +subject which is daily receiving wider recognition and more thorough +consideration. + +AMORY H. BRADFORD. + +MONTCLAIR, NEW JERSEY, +_August 30, 1902._ + + + + +CONTENTS Page + + +The Soul 1 + +The Awakening of the Soul 25 + +The First Steps 47 + +Hindrances 71 + +The Austere 97 + +Re-Awakening 125 + +The Place of Jesus Christ 151 + +The Inseparable Companion 181 + +Nurture and Culture 209 + +Is Death the End? 237 + +Prayers for the Dead 265 + +The Goal 289 + + + + +THE SOUL + + + It is no spirit who from heaven hath flown + And is descending on his embassy; + Nor traveler gone from earth the heaven t'espy! + 'Tis Hesperus--there he stands with glittering crown, + First admonition that the sun is down,-- + For yet it is broad daylight!--clouds pass by; + A few are near him still--and now the sky, + He hath it to himself--'tis all his own. + O most ambitious star! an inquest wrought + Within me when I recognized thy light; + A moment I was startled at the sight; + And, while I gazed, there came to me a thought + That even I beyond my natural race + Might step as thou dost now:--might one day trace + Some ground not mine; and, strong her strength above, + My soul, an apparition in the place, + Tread there, with steps that no one shall reprove! + + --Wordsworth. + + + + +I + +_THE SOUL_ + + +Subjects which a few years ago were regarded as the exclusive property +of cultured thinkers, are now common themes of thought and conversation. +Psychology has been popularized. Materialistic doctrines are at a +discount even in this age of physical science. + +It is difficult to explain the somewhat sudden appearance of intense +interest in questions which have to do with the life of the spirit; but, +whatever the theory of its genesis, there is no doubt of its presence. +This, therefore, is a favorable time for a somewhat extended study of +the stages through which we pass in our spiritual growth. I shall +endeavor to use the inductive method in this inquiry, and trust that I +am not presumptuous in giving to these essays the title, + + THE ASCENT OF THE SOUL. + +The phrases, "The Ascent of Man" and "The Descent of Man" are familiar +to all readers of the literature of modern science. One of the most +eminent of American writers on science and philosophy too soon taken +from his work, if any act of Providence is ever too soon, has made a +clear distinction between evolution as applied to the body and as +applied to the spirit. In lucid and luminous pages he has taught us that +evolution, as a physical process, having culminated in man can go no +further along those lines; that henceforward "the Cosmic force" will be +expended in the perfection of the spirit, and that that process will +require eternity to complete. + +More perspicuously than any other author, John Fiske has introduced to +modern English thought the conception of the ascent of the soul, +considered in its relation to the individual and to the race. + +This subject naturally divides itself into two departments, viz.--the +ascent of each individual soul and, then, the far-off perfecting of +humanity. I shall make suggestions along both lines of inquiry. I do not +know of any writer who has, in a compact form, presented the results of +such studies, although there have been illustrations, especially in +literature, which indicate that many thinkers have had in mind the +attempt to trace and describe the progress of the soul from its bondage +to animalism toward its perfection and glory in the freedom of the +spirit. + +Goethe, in "Faust," has made an effort to follow the process by which a +weak woman and a weaker man, ignorant of the forces struggling within +them and susceptible to malign influences from without, through +terrible mistakes and bitter failure, at length reach the heights of +character. + +The Trilogy of Dante is a study of the soul in its slow and painful +passage from hell, through purgatory, to heaven. Perhaps, however, the +noblest and truest effort in this direction to be found in the world's +literature is "The Pilgrim's Progress," in which a man of glorious +genius and vision, but without academic culture, reflecting too much the +crude and materialistic theology of his time and condition, follows the +progress of a soul in its movement from the City of Destruction to the +City Celestial. The City of Destruction is the state of animalism and +selfishness from which the race has slowly emerged; and the City +Celestial is not only the Christian's heaven, but also the state of +those who, having escaped from earthliness, having conquered animalism +and risen into the freedom of the spirit, breathe the air and enjoy the +companionship of the sons of God. + +It is my purpose in a different way to attempt to trace some of the +steps of what may be called the evolution of the spirit, or, in the +light of modern knowledge, the growth of the soul as it moves upward. At +the outset I must make it plain that I am speaking of evolution since +the time when man as a spirit appeared. Given the spiritual being, what +are the stages through which he will pass on his way to the goal toward +which he is surely pressing? + +Just here we should ask, What do we mean by the soul? The word is used +in its popular sense, as synonymous with spirit or personality. Man has +a dual nature; one part of his being is of the dust and to the dust it +returns; the other part is a mystery; it is known only by what it does. +Man thinks, loves, chooses, and is conscious of himself as thinking, +loving, choosing. The unity of this being who thinks, loves, chooses in +a single self-consciousness constitutes him a spirit, or personality; +and that is what the word soul signifies in its popular usage. There is +another technical definition which may be true or false but which is of +no importance in our study. + +The problem of life is the right adjustment of spirit and body, so that +the former shall never be the servant but always the master of the +latter. + +We are on this earth, in the midst of darkness, with nothing absolutely +sure except that in a little while we must die. We are two-fold beings +in which there is war almost from the cradle to the grave, and that war +is caused by the effort of the body to rule the soul and of the soul to +conquer the body. + +At the gates of this mystery we continually do cry, and little light +comes from any quarter; indeed, it may be said no light except that of +the Christian revelation, and the, as yet, not very pronounced +prophecies of evolution. + +One of the questions, which in all ages has been most persistently +asked, concerns the origin of the soul. Perhaps, in reality, that is no +more mysterious than the genesis of the body; but the body is material +and we live in a world of matter, and it is comparatively easy to see +that our bodies are from the earth which they inhabit. Our souls, +however, are invisible, immaterial, ethereal. There is no evident +kinship between a thought and a stone, between love and the soil which +produces vegetables, between a heroic choice and the stuff of the earth, +between spirit and matter. Well, then, whence does the soul come? + +It will be interesting at least to recall a few of the many answers +which have been given to this inquiry. + +One theory of the genesis of the soul is called Emanation. That means +that in the universe there is really but one source of spiritual being, +one Infinite Spirit, and that all other spiritual beings have proceeded +from Him as the rays of light are flashed from the sun; and that, in +time, all will return to Him again and be absorbed in the being from +which they have come. Thus all spirits are supposed to have proceeded +from one source--God. As all natural life in the end is but a +manifestation of solar energy, so all human beings are supposed to be +only bits of God, for a time imprisoned in bodies, and some time to +return to the Deity and be absorbed in Him, or in it. + +Another answer to the question as to the soul's origin is that of +Preexistence. This may be called the Oriental theory, for almost the +whole Orient holds this view. The substance of the teaching is suggested +by Wordsworth, in his "Ode to Immortality," in the following lines: + + "Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting; + The soul that rises with us, our life's star, + Hath had elsewhere its setting, + And cometh from afar." + +Many Occidentals have believed in preexistence. One of the most +intelligent persons whom I have ever known once affirmed that she had +had thoughts which she was sure were memories of events which had +occurred in a previous life. This answer only pushes the question one +stage further back, and leaves us still inquiring, Where do the souls of +men originally come from? + +Another answer to our question affirms that every individual soul is +created by God whenever a body is in readiness to receive it--that when +a body is born a soul is made to order for it. An old poet wrote as +follows: + + "Then God smites His hands together + And strikes out a soul as a spark, + Into the organized glory of things, + From the deeps of the dark."[1] + +[Footnote 1: W.R. Alger, "History of the Doctrine of a Future Life," +page 10.] + +The Greek myth of Prometheus is an illustration of this teaching, for +"Prometheus is said to have made a human image from the dust of the +ground, and then, by fire stolen from heaven, to have animated it with a +living soul."[2] + +[Footnote 2: W.R. Alger, "History of the Doctrine of a Future Life," +page 10.] + +Another answer teaches that all human souls have been derived by +heredity from that of Adam. This is a speculation found in medieval +theology, and in the Koran. + +A fanciful theory suggests that all souls have been in existence since +the universe was formed; that they are floating in space like rays of +light; and that when a body comes into being a soul is drawn into it +with its first breath, or first nourishment. This is pure imagination, +but intelligent and earnest men have believed it to be the true solution +of the problem. + +One other answer to this question of origin teaches that souls are +propagated in the same way and at the same time as bodies; that when a +human being appears he is body and spirit; that both are born together, +both grow together; and then, some add, both die together, while others +believe that the spirit enters at death on a larger and freer stage of +existence. + +I have recalled these speculations concerning the soul in order to show +that in all ages this question has been eagerly put and reverently +pressed. How could it have been otherwise? And what more convincing +evidence of the spiritual nature of man could be desired than that he +asks such questions? Would a figure of clay ask whether it were the +abode of a higher order of being? Dust asks no questions concerning +personality; but intelligence can never be satisfied until it knows the +causes of things. + +What is the teaching of the New Testament concerning this subject? The +attitude of Jesus toward all the great problems was the practical one. +He attempted to shed no light on causes, but ever endeavored to show how +to make the best of things as they are. Whence came the soul? we may ask +of Him, but He will tell us that a far more important inquiry is, How +may the soul be delivered from imperfection, suffering, and sin, and +saved to its noblest uses and loftiest possibilities? + +The reality of spirit is everywhere assumed in the teaching of Jesus, +but nowhere does there appear any effort to throw light on the mystery +of its genesis. + +The distinction between spirit and body is indicated by the +Transfiguration, the Resurrection, the narratives of the continued +existence of Jesus after His Crucifixion, by many references to the +heavenly life, and by the appeals and invitations of the Gospel which +are all addressed to intelligence and will. The presence of Jesus in +history is an assertion of the spiritual nature of man. Various +philosophers have tried to satisfy the desire for light on the question +of the origin of personality; but Jesus has told us how, being here, we +may break our prison-houses and rise into the full freedom and glory of +the children of God. While inquirers have been seeking light, Jesus has +brought to them salvation; while they have fruitlessly asked whence they +came, Jesus has told them whither they are going. + +The real problem of human life is not one which has to do with our +birth, but with our destiny. We know that we think, choose, love; we +know that we are self-conscious; we feel that we have kinship with +something higher than the ground on which we walk. The stars attract us +because they are above and have motion, but the earth we tread upon has +few fascinations. + +Jesus has responded to the essential questions: For what have we been +created? What is our true home? What is the goal of personality? By +what path does man move from the bondage of his will, and the limitation +of his animalism toward the glorious liberty of the children of God, and +toward the fullness of his possible being? + +We are thus brought face to face with other questions of deep importance +What part do weakness, limitation, suffering, sorrow, and even sin, play +in the development of souls? Is it necessary that any should fall in +order that they may rise? Did John Bunyan truly picture the ascent of +the soul? Does its path, of necessity, lead through the Slough of +Despond, through Vanity Fair, by Castle Dangerous, and into the realm of +Giant Despair? + +Must one pass through hell and purgatory before he may enjoy the +"beatific vision?" Are temptation, sin, sorrow, and even death, angels +of God sent forth to minister to the perfection of man? or are they +fiends which, in some foul way, have invaded the otherwise fair regions +in which we dwell? + +These are some of the questions to which we are to seek answers in the +pages which are to follow. I am persuaded that, as the result of our +studies, we shall find that the same beneficent hand which led the +"Cosmic process" for unnumbered ages, until the appearance of man, is +leading it still, that far more wonderful disclosures are waiting for +the children of men as they shall be prepared to receive them, and that +the glory of the "Spiritual Universe," as it approaches its +consummation, when compared with the finest growths of character yet +seen, will transcend them as the ordered creation, with its countless +stars, transcends the primeval chaos. + +In the meantime it is well to remember a few very simple and +self-evident facts. One of these is that human souls must vary, at +least as much as the bodies in which they dwell. Individuality has to do +with spirits. We think, love, and choose in ways that differ quite as +much as our bodily appearance. There is no uniformity in the spiritual +sphere;--this we know from its manifestations in conduct and history. +One man is heroic and another tender, one a reformer and another a +recluse, one conservative and another radical. The same Bible has +passages as widely contrasted as the twenty-third and the fifty-eighth +Psalms, and characters as unlike as Jacob and Jesus. Indeed, may it not +be assumed that physical differences are but expressions of still more +clearly marked differences in spirits? If this is true it will follow +that, as we move toward the goal of our being, while all will be under +the same good care, we will move along different, though converging, +paths. There are many roads to the "Celestial City" and, possibly, some +of them do not lead through the Slough of Despond, or go very near to +the realms of Giant Despair. + +I cannot leave this part of my subject without dwelling for a moment +upon two thoughts which to me seem to be full of significance. + +This wonderfully complex nature of ours,--this power of thinking, +choosing, loving, these mysterious inner depths out of which come +strange suggestions, and within which, all the time, processes are +carried on which may rise into consciousness and startle with their +beauty or shame with their ugliness--does no suggestion come from it +concerning its origin and destiny? Until they pass mid-life few men +realize the terrible significance of the command of the oracle at +Delphi, "Know Thyself." Who is not surprised every day at what he finds +within himself? It sometimes seems as if two beings dwelt in every body, +one in the region of consciousness, and one down below consciousness +steadily forging the material which, sooner or later, must be forced up +for the conscious man to think about. + +In proportion as we know ourselves more accurately it becomes +increasingly evident that as spirits we are allied to the great Spirit. +Few who earnestly think can believe that their power of thought could +have grown out of the earth; few when they love can believe that there +is no fountain of love, unlimited and free; and few, when they choose +one course and refuse another, would be willing to affirm that they are +without the power of choice, and have no destiny but the grave. In other +words, is not the fact that we are spirits all the proof that we need to +have of the Father of Spirits? Is not a single ray of light all the +evidence which any one needs of the reality of the sun? Is not the +presence of one spiritual being a demonstration of a greater Spirit +somewhere? Every soul indicates that, whatever the process by which it +has reached its present development, it came originally from God. "In +the beginning God" is a phrase which applies to the spiritual as well as +to the material universe. + +The soul is not only a witness concerning its own origin, but it is also +a prophecy concerning its destiny. The more thoroughly it is studied the +more convincing becomes the evidence that it must some time reach its +perfected state. The perfection of intelligence, love, and will require +endless growth. The great words of Pascal can hardly be recalled too +frequently: + +"Man is but a reed, the weakest in nature, but he is a thinking reed. It +is not necessary that the entire universe arm itself to crush him. A +breath of air, a drop of water suffices to kill him. But were the +universe to crush him, man would still be more noble than that which +kills him, because he knows that he dies; and the universe knows nothing +of the advantage it has over him." + +We can as yet hardly begin to comprehend that for which we were +created;--now we see through a glass darkly. A caterpillar on the earth +cannot appreciate a butterfly in the air. Jesus was the typical man, as +well as the revelation of God. St. Paul has set our thoughts moving +toward the "fullness of Christ" as the final goal of humanity. We may +not, for many milleniums, know all that is contained in that phrase "the +fullness of Christ;" but no one ever attentively listened to the voices +which speak in his own soul, no one has even asked himself the meaning +of the fact that nothing earthly ever completely satisfies, no one ever +saw another in the ripeness of splendid powers growing more intelligent, +loving, and spiritually beautiful, without feeling that if death were +really the end no being is so much to be pitied as man, and no fate so +much to be coveted as a short life in which the mockery may go on. + +Our souls themselves assure us that they have come from a fountain of +spiritual being--that is, from God; and they are also prophecies of a +perfection which has never yet been realized on the earth and which will +require eternity to complete. But all are not conscious of themselves as +spiritual beings and children of eternity, and many come slowly to that +consciousness. Our next inquiry, therefore, will concern the Soul's +Awakening. + + + + +THE AWAKENING OF THE SOUL + + + There's a palace in Florence, the world knows well, + And a statue watches it from the square, + And this story of both do our townsmen tell. + + Ages ago, a lady there, + At the farthest window facing the East + Asked, Who rides by with the royal air? + + * * * * * + + That selfsame instant, underneath, + The Duke rode past in his idle way + Empty and fine like a swordless sheath. + + * * * * * + + He looked at her, as a lover can; + She looked at him as one who awakes: + The past was a sleep, and her life began. + + --_The Statue and the Bust._ Browning + + + + +II + +_THE AWAKENING OF THE SOUL_ + + +The process of physical awakening is not always sudden or swift. The +passage from sleep to consciousness is sometimes slow and difficult. The +soul's realization of itself is often equally long delayed. The effect +of eloquence on an audience has often been observed when one by one the +dormant souls wake up and begin to look out of their windows, the eyes, +at the speaker who is addressing them. In something the same way the +souls of men come to a consciousness of their powers and, with +clearness, begin to look out on their possibilities and their destiny. + +The prodigal son in the parable of Jesus lived his earlier years without +an appreciation either of his powers or possibilities. When he came to +himself this appreciation flashed upon his will and he turned toward his +father. + +Two chapters of this book will have to do with thoughts suggested by +this "pearl of parables," viz., the Soul's Awakening and its +Re-awakening. Before this young man decided to return to his father he +knew himself as an intelligent and as a responsible being; the power of +choice was not given him then for the first time. Long ere this he had +decided how he would use his wealth. He knew the difference between +right and wrong. He was intellectually and morally awake before he saw +things in their true relations. "The wine of the senses" intoxicated +him; the delights of the flesh seemed the only pleasures to be desired. +At first he did not discover the essential excellence of virtue or the +sure results of vice. Later, when he saw things in a clearer light, +their proper proportions and relations appeared, and he came to himself +and made the wise choice. + +In this chapter we are to study the process of the soul's awakening to a +consciousness of its powers, and in a subsequent chapter that +re-awakening which is so radical as to merit the name it has usually +received, viz., the new birth. + +There is a time when the soul first realizes itself as a personality +with definite responsibilities and relations. This experience comes to +some earlier, and to some with greater vividness, than to others. So +long as we are blind to our powers, responsibilities, relations, we can +hardly be said to be spiritually awake. He only is awake who knows +himself as a personality; who has heard the voice of duty; who, to some +extent, appreciates the fact that he is dependent on a higher +personality or power; and who recognizes that he is surrounded by other +personalities who also have their rights, responsibilities, and +relations. I think, I choose, I love, I know that I am dependent upon a +Being higher than myself. I see that I am related to other personalities +with rights as sacred as my own, and, therefore, that I must choose, +think, love so as to be acceptable to the One to whom I am responsible, +and harmonious with those by whom I am surrounded. + +The soul's awakening is primarily a recognition and an appreciation of +its responsibility. It may think, choose, love, without realizing +responsibility, and, therefore, live as if it were the only being in the +universe; but the moment it recognizes responsibility it also discerns a +higher Person, and other persons, since responsibility to no one, and +for nothing, is inconceivable. + +The soul's awakening, therefore, carries with it the idea of obligation, +and that includes the recognition of God, of duty, of right and wrong, +in short, of a moral ideal. I do not mean to insist that every one +appreciates all that is implied in consciousness of responsibility. +There are degrees of alertness, and some men are wide awake and others +half asleep. + +However it may have come to its self-realization, that is a solemn and +sublime moment when a human soul understands, ever so dimly, that it is +facing in the unseen Being one on whom it knows itself to be dependent; +and when it discerns the hitherto invisible lines which bind it to other +personalities, in all space and time. At that moment life really begins. +Henceforward, by various ways, over undreamed-of obstacles, assisted by +invisible hands, hindered by unseen forces, in spite of foes within and +enemies without, the course of that soul must ever be toward its true +home and goal, in the bosom of God. + +The difficulties in the way of such a faith for the thoughtful and +sensitive are many and serious. Not all blossoms come to fruitage; not +all human beings are fit to live; processes of degeneration seem to be +at work in nature, in society, and in the individual life. + +Apparently true and time-honored interpretations of Scripture are quoted +against the faith that in some way, and by some kind of discipline, the +souls of men will forever approach God; while the belief of the church, +so far as it has found expression in the creeds is urged in opposition. +But when I see how timidly the creeds of the church have been held by +many in all ages, how large a number of the most spiritual and morally +earnest have questioned them at this point, and how often they have been +rejected in whole, or in part, by those who have dared to trust their +hearts; when I remember that the Scripture quoted as opposing is +susceptible of another interpretation, when I remember that blossoms are +not men, and, most of all when I see the God-like possibilities in +every human being, I cannot resist the conviction that every soul of man +is from God, and that, sometime and somehow, it may be by the hard path +of retribution, possibly through great agonies and by means of austere +chastisements and severe discipline as well as by loving entreaty, after +suffering shall have accomplished all its ministries it will reach a +blissful goal and the "beatific vision." + +The awakening of the soul is its entrance upon an appreciation of its +powers, relations, possibilities, and responsibilities. + +What awakens the soul? The answer to that question is hidden. The wind +bloweth where it listeth. Elemental processes and forces are all silent +and viewless. The stillness of the sunrise is like that of the deeps of +the sea. No eye ever traced the birth of life, and no sound ever +attended the awakening of the soul; and yet this subject is not +altogether mysterious. A few rays of light have fallen upon it. I +venture suggestions which may help a little toward a rational answer to +this question. + +The soul awakens because it grows, and its growth is sure. Everything +that is alive must grow; only death is stationary. It is as natural for +us sometime to know ourselves as having relations both to the seen and +the unseen as for our bodies to increase in stature. The Confession of +Augustine[3] is true of all, "Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart +is restless until it repose in Thee." + +[Footnote 3: Confessions. Book I, 1.] + +The soul turns toward God as naturally as children turn toward their +parents. I know no other way of explaining the fact that in all ages the +majority of the people have had faith in some kind of a deity; and that, +widely as they differ as to what is right, all feel that they should +follow their convictions of duty. The various ethnic religions, however +repulsive, cruel, and vile some of their teachings may be, all indicate +a realization of dependence, and all, in some way, bear witness to man's +longing for God. Augustine was right--"The heart is restless until it +repose in Thee." + +The healthful soul will always move along the pathway of growth. The +next stage in its evolution after its birth is its awakening. Its +progress may be hindered, but it cannot be prevented, and it may be +hastened. + +The means by which a soul comes to its self-realization has been a +favorite study with poets, dramatists, and novelists. Marguerite, in +"Faust," was a simple, sweet, sensuous, traditionally religious girl +until she was rudely startled by the knowledge that she was a great +sinner; that moment the scales began to fall from her eyes. In her, +Goethe has shown how one class of persons, and that a large class, come +to self-realization. + +Victor Hugo, in a passage of almost unparalleled pathos, has pictured in +Jean Valjean a kind of big human beast who, when half awake, steals a +loaf of bread to save others from starving, but who is startled into +fullness of manhood by the sympathy and consideration of the good Bishop +whose silver he had also stolen. + +Hawthorne, in Donatello, has pictured a beautiful creature fully +equipped with affections, emotions, passions, but with little +consciousness of responsibility, until the fatal moment in which a crime +illuminates his soul like a flash of lightning. + +Such experiences are not to be compared with those of the prodigal son +or of Saul. Before the one was reduced to husks, or the light blazed +upon the other, they felt the obligation to do right. The prodigal chose +pleasure with his eyes wide open and Saul was, mistakenly but truly, +trying to do God's will even when he assisted in the stoning of Stephen. + +Hugo, Goethe, and Hawthorne have accurately delineated single steps in +the growth of the soul. They have shown how the process of the soul's +awakening may be, and often has been, hastened. It may be hindered by +false ideals and a vicious environment, and it may be hastened by lofty +ideals and a holy environment. + +Dr. Bushnell, in his lectures on Christian Nurture, has said that the +formative years of every man's life are the first three. Is he correct? +I am not sure, but there can be no doubt but what with a good +environment the consciousness of moral obligation will be very early +developed. + +The soul cannot long be imprisoned. The consciousness of "ought" and +"ought not" will break all barriers as a growing seed will split a +rock; and, when that stage of growth appears, the soul knows itself. + +When the soul is finally awakened, when it realizes that it is +indissolubly bound to a larger personality in the unseen sphere; when it +finds that it is tied to other souls, and that it cannot escape from its +responsibility for itself and them,--what then? Then the struggle of +life begins. The awakening is to a realization of conflict with the seen +and unseen environment, with forces within and fascinations without. +When Paul speaks of the law as the minister of death, he simply means +that law introduces an ideal, and ideals always start struggles. Law is +something to be obeyed. It is sure to antagonize the animal in man. When +our possibilities dawn upon us, in that moment there comes the feeling +that they should be our masters. Then the lower nature resists and +becomes clamorous. Duty calls in one direction and inclination impels +in another. The period of ignorance has passed. Weakness and +imperfection remain, but not ignorance. There is a conflict in the soul. +The law in the members wars against the law in the mind. We feel that we +ought to move upward, but unseen weights press heavily upon us, and to +rise seems impossible. + +Between God calling from above and animalism from below the poor soul +has a hard time of it. The morally great in all ages have become strong +by overcoming their fleshly natures. They have risen on their dead +selves to higher things. The vision of God has reached them even in +their prison-houses; and it has broken their chains and they have begun +to move toward Him. To the end of the chapter they have had a long +fight, and not seldom have been sadly worsted. Goethe and Augustine, +Pascal and Coleridge, DeQuincey and Webster--how the list of those who +have had to fight bitter battles for spiritual liberty might be extended +I and many have not been victorious before the shadows have lengthened +and the day closed. Should they be blamed or pitied? Pitied, surely, and +for the rest let us leave them to Him who knoweth all things. "Vengeance +is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." Men have nothing to do with +judgment; the final word concerning any soul will be spoken only by Him +whose vision is perfect. "Steep and craggy is the pathway of the gods," +and steep and craggy is the path by which men rise to spiritual heights. + +He who is sensitive to life can hardly survey this universal human +struggle with undimmed eye or with unquestioning faith. The young are +driven here and there by heartless and, sometimes, almost furious +passions; some are weak and fall because they are blind, and others +because they love and trust; and many who desire to do good mistake and +choose evil. The strong often try to run away from themselves but can +find no solitude in which to hide; and all the time right and truth +shine in the darkness like stars. What shall we say of these confusing +conditions? To ignore them is foolish; to insist that the struggle is +but a delusion is nonsense. The only sane course is to face facts and +adjust our theories to them. + +The battle between duty and inclination, between the ideal and the +actual, will continue as long as life in the body endures. It is not an +unmixed evil. In the end right is never worsted. The way that leads to +holiness is long and sometimes bloody; but it always develops strength +and courage. The fight, for each individual, will be ended only by the +full and perfect choice of truth and virtue, which are always the will +of God. The victory will be secure long before it is fully won. Enough +for us to know that conformity to the will of God at last will be the +end of strife. + +It is not well to be overmuch troubled when we see those whom we love +fighting a hard battle against inherited tendencies and an evil +environment, for the fight, however fierce, is a good sign. Those alone +are to be pitied who are drifting, and not resisting. Progress is ever +by a steep and spiral pathway. Sometimes the face of the ascending soul +is toward the sun and sometimes it is toward the darkness. No man can +deliver his friend from the forces which oppose him. Each must conquer +for himself and none can evade the conflict. From the hour when the soul +awakens to a consciousness of its powers and possibilities, its +movement, in spite of all hindrances and difficulties, must be to the +heights. Those only need cause anxiety who are not yet awake; or who, +having been awake, have turned backward instead of pressing onward. + +We are now face to face with a momentous inquiry. When the soul is +awake, when it realizes something of its descent from God and of its +relation to Him and to other souls, what should be its environment? +Intelligent and otherwise sane people at this point have been strangely +insane and blind. We are always affected by influence more than by +teaching. Education by atmosphere is quite as effective as education by +study. Involuntarily all become like their ideals. Personalities absorb +characteristics from surroundings as flowers absorb colors from the +light. The awakened soul, therefore, from the first should have a +spiritual environment. Parents and friends should be helps, not +hindrances, to its progress. I once read a letter from one who had +changed an old for a new home. The letter was full of aspiration for the +best things, of thoughts about God and the spiritual verities. It was +not difficult to see that the new home in its reverence for truth, its +loyalty to right, its reaching for reality, was providing the same good +influence as the old one. If, in the environment, truth and duty are +honored, virtue reverenced, God worshipped sincerely and devoutly, +manhood held to be as sacred as deity, the unseen and spiritual never +spoken of unadvisedly or lightly, courage always found hand in hand with +character, the soul will never long fight a losing battle. + +The home should be organized to promote, as swiftly as possible, the +awakening of the souls of the children; and, from the moment of this +awakening, everything should be planned to help their growth. The books +on the tables should tell the life-stories of those who have bravely +fought and never faltered. Biographies of men like Wilberforce and +Howard who have lived to help their fellow-men; and of women like +Florence Nightingale and Lady Stanley, who have regarded their social +gifts and ample wealth as calls to service; histories of charities, +intellectual development and noble achievement, pictures like Sir +Galahad and The Light of the World are potent forces in the formation of +character. The ideal side of life should ever be presented in its most +attractive form to the awakened soul in its near environment. Because +the ideal culminates in the religious, and the feeling of moral +obligation rests at last upon the conviction that God is, and that He is +not far from any one, Jesus, in all the beauty and pathos of His earthly +career, in all the tragic grandeur of His death and glory of His +Resurrection, in all the nearness and helpfulness of His continuing +ministry, should be the subject of frequent, earnest, honest, sane, and +sympathetic conversation. + +The awakened soul needs first of all an environment which will be +favorable to its growth. Its development then will usually be steadily +and swiftly toward God and conformity to His will. There ought to be no +need of any re-awakening. If the soul opens its eyes among those who +reverence truth and righteousness, who guard virtue and revere love, to +whom God is the nearest and most blessed of realities, and Jesus is +Master, Saviour, and daily Friend, its growth toward the spiritual goal +will be as natural and beautiful as it will also be swift and sure. + + + + +THE FIRST STEPS + + + No mortal object did these eyes behold + When first they met the placid light of thine, + And my soul felt her destiny divine, + And hope of endless peace in me grew bold: + Heaven-born, the soul a heav'nward course must hold; + Beyond the visible world she soars to seek + (For what delights the sense is false and weak) + Ideal form, the universal mould. + The wise man, I affirm, can find no rest + In that which perishes: nor will he lend + His heart to aught which doth on time depend. + 'Tis sense, unbridled will, and not true love, + Which kills the soul: Love betters what is best, + Even here below, but more in heaven above. + + --_Sonnet from Michael Angelo._ Wordsworth + + + + +III + +_THE FIRST STEPS_ + + +The first movements of the awakened soul are difficult to trace. +Observation, painstaking and long-continued, alone can furnish the +desired information. In the attempt to recall our own experiences there +is always a possibility of inaccuracy. Bias counts for more in +self-examination than in an examination of others. There is also danger +of confusing religious preconceptions with what actually transpires. +What we have been led to imagine should be experienced we are very +likely to insist has taken place. The truth concerning the Ascent of the +Soul will be found in the conclusions of many observers in widely +different conditions. + +The soul awakens to a consciousness of its responsibilities and to a +knowledge that it is in a moral order from which escape is forever +impossible. This is our point of departure in this chapter. + +The new-born child has to become adjusted to its physical environment, +to learn to use its powers, to breathe, to eat, to allow the various +senses to do their work. In like manner the newly awakened soul has to +become adjusted to the moral order. The moral order is the rule of right +in the sphere of thought, emotion, and choice. It is the government of +the soul as the physical order is the government of the body. It may be +best explained by analogy. There is a physical order ruled by physical +laws. If those laws are obeyed, strength, health, sanity result; but if +they are disobeyed, the consequences, which are inevitable and +self-perpetuating, are weakness, disease, insanity. If one violates +gravitation he is dashed in pieces; if he trifles with microbes their +infinitesimal grasp will be like a shackle of steel. No one can get +outside the physical universe and the sweep of its laws. + +There is also a right and a wrong way to use thought, emotion, will. The +mind which has hospitality only for holy thoughts will become clearer, +and its vision more distinct; but the mind which harbors impure +thoughts, gradually, but surely, confuses evil with good, obscures its +vision, and becomes a fountain of moral miasm. If we choose to recall +and to retain feelings that are animal, and are the relics of animalism, +the natural tendency toward bestiality will gather momentum; but if +emotion is turned toward higher objects, and we are thrilled from above +rather than lulled from below, the sensibilities become sources of +enduring joy. The moral order is like the physical order in its +universality and in the remorselessness of the consequences which follow +choices. + +How does the soul become adjusted to the moral order? This question is +difficult to answer. At the first there is sight enough to see that one +course is right and another wrong, but the vision is indistinct. +Gradually the ability to make accurate discriminations increases, and, +with time and other growth, the faculty of vision is enlarged and +clarified. + +The first step in the Ascent of the Soul is the development of ability +to discriminate between right and wrong. The powers of the soul are +enlarged and vivified with the bodily growth, but whether there is any +necessary connection between the growth of the one and that of the +other, we know not. This alone is sure--clearer vision, with +ever-increasing distinctness, reveals the certainty that moral laws are +universal and unchangeable. The process of adjustment to the moral +order is partly voluntary and partly involuntary. It is hastened by the +hidden forces of vitality, and it may be hindered by its own choices. As +a human being who refuses to eat will starve, so a soul which turns away +from truth will starve. The law in one case is as inexorable as in the +other. This consciousness of the moral order is sometimes dim even in +mature years because neglect always deadens appreciation. Paul said that +the law is a schoolmaster leading to Christ. By that he intended to +teach that we must realize that we are under moral law before we can +know that its violation will result in a state of ruin needing +salvation. First that which is natural, then that which is spiritual. +The phrase "natural law in the spiritual world" means that the +consequences following right and wrong are as inevitable and essential +in the realm of spirit as in that of matter. + +The progress of the soul is dependent on the realization that there is +a moral quality in thoughts, emotions, choices; that the consequences +following them grow out of them as flowers from seed, and that they +determine not only the character but the happiness and welfare of the +one exercising them. + +The next step in the upward movement of the soul is the realization of +its freedom. It is possible for one to know that he is under law, +without at the same time appreciating that he is free to choose whether +he will obey. I may see a storm sweeping toward me and know that behind +it is resistless force, and know, also, that to step outside the track +of that storm is impossible; and it is conceivable that a soul may know +itself as able to think, feel, act, and, at the same time, be under the +dominion of forces before which it is powerless. The practical question, +therefore, for all in this human world is not, are there spiritual +laws? but, may we choose for ourselves whether we will obey or disobey +them? Until the soul knows itself to be free to choose, there will be no +deep feeling of obligation, without which there can be no motive +impelling toward the heights. Here also we walk in the dark. The genesis +of the consciousness of freedom has never been observed. DuBois-Reymond +has called it one of "the seven riddles of science." We are no nearer +the solution of the problem than were our fathers a thousand years ago. +But one thing at least we do know: He who believes himself to be a +puppet in the hands of unseen forces will never fight them. If freedom +is a fiction the universe is not only unmoral, but immoral. The final +argument for freedom is consciousness. I know I could have chosen +differently from what I did. But how do I know? The process cannot be +pushed farther back. Consciousness is ultimate and authoritative. But +what then shall be said of heredity? A child when first born is little +but a bundle of sensibilities. Its growth seems to be but the unfolding +of inherited tendencies. Every man is what his ancestors have made him +plus what he has absorbed from his environment. How can we say then that +any are free? That man who is surly, uncomfortable, ugly, as hard to +endure as a March wind, is but the extension of his father. When one +knows the elder it is difficult to do otherwise than pity the younger. +He is but living the tendencies which were born in him and which are an +inseparable part of his nature. He cannot be genial and urbane. Are not +some born moral cripples as others are born with physical deformities? +Are not some spiritually deaf, dumb, and blind from birth? It cannot be +doubted. We are all more or less what our fathers were, but our +surroundings do much to modify us. Many men seem to be driven on wings +of passion, as leaves by tornadoes; and yet we know that we are free, +and that all life and conduct, individual and social, must be ordered on +that hypothesis. Teach men that they are not free, and anarchy and chaos +will quickly follow. No freedom? Then there is no obligation. No one +feels that he ought to do what he cannot do, and no one will try to do +what he does not feel that he ought to do. If men are but machines, +moving only as the power is turned on, there is no moral quality in any +action. If we live in a moral world, whether we can understand it or +not, we must be free to choose for ourselves. The possibility of the +soul's expansion depends on its freedom. There is no right and no wrong, +no truth and no error, if it is a slave to the inheritance with which it +was born. What gives to the invitations of Jesus a quality so serious +and so solemn is the fact that they may be rejected. The power of +choice is the most sublime endowment which man possesses. When we have +learned to know ourselves as free a long step forward has been taken. +The soul grows by a right use of the power of choice. + +How may it be adjusted to this knowledge? It will undoubtedly grow to +it, but the process will be slow. It may, however, be hastened by a use +of the experience of others. No man should be allowed to begin the +battle of life as ignorant as his father was. Each new soul should have +the benefit of the experience of all who have lived before. Children +should be taught by example and conversation, in the home and the +school, that the beginning of wisdom is a right use of the experience of +others. However this lesson may be learned, and however swift may be the +process of growth, the next step in the soul's progress, after its +realization that it is in a moral order, must be its adjustment to the +fact that it is a free agent and sovereign over its own choices. + +No man is ever forced into any course of conduct. Character is the +resultant of many choices rather than of necessity. The moral law may be +obeyed or it may be violated. Its seat is, indeed, in the bosom of God. +It is the only guarantee of individual progress and social harmony. Its +sway is without bound and without end. To know how to live in a moral +world, and how best to use the gifts of liberty, is a subject for an +eternity of study. That this consciousness of freedom comes slowly is an +immense blessing; otherwise the soul would be dazed as, for the first +time, it looked around on the solemnities and splendors of the spiritual +universe; and be overwhelmed as it realized, at the very beginning of +its career, that it was endowed with a sovereignty as mysterious and +potent as that of God. + +The next step in the upward movement of the soul is appreciation of a +moral ideal. That is a solemn and sublime moment when the newly awakened +soul realizes that it dwells in a moral order and is free to make its +own choices. But another moment is equally thrilling--that in which, in +faint and scarcely audible accents, it catches the far call of the goal +toward which, henceforward and forever, it must move. It now knows not +only that there is a difference between right and wrong, but that there +are mysterious affinities between itself and truth and right. Later the +sound of that far-away voice will become more distinct. But in its +infancy the soul is more or less confused. It hears many sounds and does +not always know how to distinguish between siren voices and those which +prophesy its destiny. It also has to learn to distinguish truth and +right. The task of making moral discriminations is not easy at any time. +Amid a babel of noises to detect the one clear call which alone can +satisfy is almost impossible. The mistakes, therefore, are many, but +even by mistakes the soul learns to distinguish the true from the false. +But how is it to be taught to appreciate that one voice only in all that +confusion of strange sounds should be heeded, and all the rest +disregarded? The same answer as before must be given. This knowledge, +also, will come in large part with the years. It seems to be the cosmic +purpose to provide fresh light with every new step of progress. No one +is ever left in total darkness. As the soul advances it learns to +distinguish between the voices which speak to it. The necessity of +growth is the angel of the Lord whose ministries and prophecies are the +hope and glory of the race. Growth may be hindered, but it can never be +banished from the universe. It moved in chaos, and never faltered in its +march, until under its beneficent leading all things were seen to be +good. It led the cosmic movement until man appeared; and now it has +taken man in hand, with all the vestiges of animalism clinging to him, +and it will never leave him as he rises toward the perfection and glory +of God. The law of growth answers most if not all of our questions. The +soul of man must grow. With its growth will come vision, strength, and +progress toward its goal. + +But growth is not all. The voices to which we choose to give heed will +sound most distinctly in our ears. Here we face a fact which is often in +evidence. The earth and animalism will never cease to make appeal to our +senses, while at the same time voices from above will call from their +heights to our spirits. To distinguish between desire and duty, between +truth and tradition, between the spiritual and the animal, is a step +which has to be taken, and which is taken whether we appreciate how or +not. By the pain which follows wrong choices, or by the intuitions of +the spirit, the soul comes to realize that its obligation is always in +one direction; that its choice ought to be in favor of the morally +excellent. But how shall it discern the morally excellent? The process +of learning will be a long one, and never fully completed on the earth. +This is a realm that poets and dramatists, who are usually the +profoundest and most accurate students of life, have not often tried to +enter. Such questions can be answered only after careful and +long-continued inductive study. Moralists are usually content to stop +short of this inquiry. How the soul comes to learn that it is obligated +to truth and right we may not fully know; but that it does learn, and +that no step in all its development is more important, there is no +doubt. In His dealing with this question Jesus preserves the same +attitude as toward all subjects of speculation. I came not to explain +how life adjusts itself to its environment, He seems to say, but to give +life a richness and a beauty which it never had before; I came not to +answer questions, but to save to the best uses that which already +exists. Nevertheless, the question as to how the soul is taught to +distinguish the morally excellent is of serious importance. If we do not +recognize the sanctity of truth and right we may not give them +hospitality; and we may not appreciate their sanctity if we are ignorant +of what gives them their authority. How, then, does it learn what truth +and right are? Are there any clearly defined paths by which this +knowledge may be reached? Is not truth a matter of education? And is +there any absolute right? A Hindoo Swami, of the school of the Vedanta, +lecturing in this country, solemnly assured an intelligent audience +that there is no sin; that what is called sin is only the result of +education; that what is vice in one place may be virtue in another; and +that in the sphere of morals all is relative and nothing absolute. Then +there is no wrong, for wrong and sin are closely related; and no right +because if right is not a dream it implies the possibility of an +opposite. There is little permanent danger from such shallow theories. +The peril from confusion is greater than from denial. But even confusion +at this point is not long necessary because in every soul there is a +voice which men call conscience, which never fails to impel toward the +true and the good. Conscience may be likened to a compass whose needle +always points toward the north. When it is uninfluenced by distracting +causes conscience always shows the way toward truth and right. The +Spartans believed that lying was a virtue if it was sufficiently +obscure; and a Hindoo woman who throws her child to the god of the +Ganges does so because she is deeply religious. Are not such persons +conscientious? Yet they perform acts which are in themselves wrong? Of +what value, then, is conscience? That they are both conscientious and +religious I have no doubt. It is their misfortune to be ignorant. The +light appears to be colored by the medium through which it passes, and +yet it is not colored; and conscience seems to approve what is wrong, +and yet it never does. It always impels toward the right, but men often +make serious mistakes because of their ignorance. The needle in the +moral compass is deflected by selfishness or false teaching. The Hindoo +mother might hear and, if she dared to listen to it, would hear a deeper +voice than the one calling her to sacrifice her child--even one telling +her to spare her child. She has not yet learned that it is always safe +to trust the moral sense. Superstitions are not conscience; they are +ignorance obscuring and deadening conscience. Every man is born with a +guide within to point him to paths of virtue and truth, and one of the +most important lessons which the growing soul has to learn is that when +it is true to itself it may always trust that guide. The call of his +destiny finds every man, and, when he hears it, he asks: How may I reach +that goal? It is far away and the path is confused. Then a voice within +makes answer, and, if he heeds that, he will make no mistake. That +voice, I believe, is the result of no evolutionary process, but is the +holy God immanent in every soul, making His will known. Evolution +gradually gives to conscience a larger place, but there is no evidence +that it is produced by any physical process. It may be hindered by +physical limitations, but it can be destroyed by none. Why are we so +slow in learning that conscience, being divine, is authoritative and may +be trusted? I know no answer except this: We so often confuse ignorance +with conscience that at last we conclude that the latter is not +trustworthy. But there we mistake. It is trustworthy. It never fails +those who heed its message. That realization may now and then come +early, but it seldom comes all at once. Nevertheless it is a step to be +taken before the progress of the soul can be either swift or sure. + +The moment that the soul realizes that God is not far away, but within; +that all the divine voices did not speak in the past, but that many are +speaking now; that whosoever will listen may hear within his own being a +message as clear and sacred as any that ever came to prophet or teacher +in other times, it will begin to realize the luxury of its liberty, and +something of the grandeur of its destiny. Truth and right are not +fictions of the imagination, they are realities opening before the +growing soul like continents before explorers. They always invite +entrance and possession. They have horizons full of splendor and beauty +and music. They alone can satisfy. But the soul has not yet fully +escaped from the mists and fogs and glooms of the earth. It is +surrounded by those who still wallow in animalism, and the sounds of the +lower world are yet echoing in its ears. But at last its face is toward +the light; the far call of its destiny has been heard; it knows itself +to be in a moral order; it is assured that, however closely the body may +be imprisoned, no bolts and no bars can shut in a spirit; that before it +is a fair and favored land, far off but ever open; and, best of all, +that within its own being, impervious to all influences from without, is +a guide which may be implicitly trusted and which will never betray. Why +not follow its suggestions at once and press on toward that fair land +of truth and beauty which so earnestly invites? Ah! why not? Here we are +face to face with other facts. There are hindrances, many and serious, +in the pathway of the soul, and they must be met and forced before that +land can be entered. This is the time for us to consider them. + + + + +HINDRANCES + + + And many, many are the souls + Life's movement fascinates, controls; + It draws them on, they cannot save + Their feet from its alluring wave; + They cannot leave it, they must go + With its unconquerable flow; + + * * * * * + + They faint, they stagger to and fro, + And wandering from the stream they go; + In pain, in terror, in distress, + They see all round a wilderness. + + --_Epilogue to Lessing's "Laocoon"._ Matthew Arnold + + + + +IV + +_HINDRANCES_ + + +When the soul has heard the far call of its destiny and realizes that it +may respond to that call, and that it has, in conscience, a guide which +will not fail even in the deepest darkness, it turns in the direction +from which the appeal comes and begins to move toward its goal. Almost +simultaneously it realizes that it has to meet and to overcome numerous +and serious obstacles. To the hindrances in the way of the spirit our +thought is to be turned in this chapter. + +The moral failure of many men and women of superb intellectual and +physical equipment is one of the sad and serious marvels of human +history. What a pathetic and significant roll might be made of those +who have been great intellectually and pitiful failures morally! It has +often been affirmed that Hannibal might have conquered Rome, and been +the master of the world except for the fatal winter at Capua. Antony, +possibly, would have been victor at Actium if it had not been for +something in himself that made him susceptible to the fascination of the +fair but treacherous Egyptian queen. Achilles was a symbolical as well +as an historical character. There was one place--with him in the +heel--where he was vulnerable, and through that he fell. Socrates was +like a tornado when inflamed by anger. Napoleon laid Europe waste and +desolated more distant lands, but he was an enormous egotist and morally +a blot on civilization. + +The life-history of many of the poets is inexpressibly sad. Chatterton, +Shelley, Byron, Poe--their very names call up facts which those who +admire their genius would gladly conceal. Many artists are in the same +category. It explains nothing to ascribe their moral pollution to their +finer sensibilities, for finer sensibilities ought to be attended by +untarnished characters. It is, perhaps, best not even to mention their +names lest, thereby, we dull the appreciation of noble masterpieces +which represent the better moods of the men. One of imperial genius was +a slave to wine, another to lust, another was too envious to detect any +merit in the work of others of his craft. There are statesmen of whose +achievements we speak, but never of the men themselves; and there have +been ministers of the Gospel, unhappily not a few, who have suddenly +disappeared and been heard of no more. Into a kindly oblivion they have +gone, and that is all that any one needs to know. What do such facts +signify? That many, or most, of these men have been essentially and +totally bad? Or that they are moral failures? They signify only that +they have not yet risen above the hindrances which they have found in +their pathways. The world knows of the temporary obscuration of a fair +fame; it does not see the grief, the tears, the gradual gathering of the +energies for a new assault upon the obstacles in the road; and it does +not see how tenderly, but faithfully, Providence, through nature, is +dealing with them. Some time they will be brought to themselves--The +Eternal Goodness is the pledge of that. It is not with this unseen and +beneficent ministry of restoration, however, that I am now dealing, but +with the awful wrecks and failures which are so common in human history, +and concerning which most men know something in their own experiences. +How shall they be explained?--since to evade them is impossible. In +other words when a man is awake, when he feels that he is in a moral +order, is free, and hears the call of his destiny, why is his progress +so slow and difficult? No one has ever delineated this period in the +soul's growth with greater vividness than Bunyan. The Valley of +Humiliation, the Slough of Despond, Giant Despair, Doubting Castle are +all pictures of human life taken with photographic accuracy. What are +some of these hindrances? + +The soul is free, but its abode is in a limited body. The movement of +the soul is swift and unconstrained as thought. It is not limited by +time. It may project itself a thousand years into the future or travel a +thousand years into the past; but it dwells in the body and is more or +less restrained by it. Bodily limitation narrows experience and compels +ignorance. It makes large acquaintance impossible. The flowers beneath +the ice on the Alps are small; the flowers of the tropics have the +proportions of trees. Thus environment modifies growth. The body cannot +put fetters on the will, but it may hold in captivity the powers which +acquire knowledge, withhold from the emotions persons worthy of +affection, and make the range of objects of choice poor and pitiful. The +soul has often been compared to a bird in a cage,--fitted for broad +horizons but confined within narrow spaces. This hindrance is a very +real one. The man who grows swiftly must be in the open world with +beings to love and to serve ever within his reach. Hence the life beyond +death is often called the unhindered life because of its freedom from +the body. The old story of "Rasselas" is symbolical. In the Happy Valley +a man might be as good, but he could not be as great and wise, as in the +larger world. The soul will meet fewer temptations there, but those it +does encounter will be more insistent and harder to escape. He who would +respond to a call to service must needs have about him those whom he +may serve. Large views are for those who are able to rise to the +heights. He who lives in a cave may be true to his little light, and +surely is responsible for no more, but he will see far less than the one +whose home is on the mountaintop. Thus even bodily limitations, to which +are attached no moral qualities, are hindrances to the growth of the +being, whose destiny is not only purification but expansion:--its +movement is not only toward goodness but also toward greatness; not only +toward virtue but also toward power. + +The animal entail is one of the greatest mysteries of our mortal life. +The soul in its moments of illumination feels that it is related to some +person like itself, but far higher, and aspires to it. Sir Joshua +Reynolds' figure of "Faith" in the famous window in the chapel of New +College, Oxford, suggests the attitude of the newly awakened soul. In +freshness and beauty it is turning toward the light. But in human +experience something occurs which Sir Joshua has not tried to depict. A +clammy hand reaches up from the deeps out of which rise suffocating +clouds, and that pure spirit finds itself enveloped in darkness and +fastened to the earth. The humiliation is complete. What has occurred? +Only what has happened again and again; and what will continue to happen +for no one knows how long. The animal has gotten the better of the +spirit. The soul has sinned--for sin is little, if anything, but a +spirit allowing itself to return to the fascinations of the animal +conditions out of which it has been evolved, and from which it ought to +have escaped forever. The animal entail is the chief hindrance to the +aspiring spirit. The animal lives by his senses. He is content when they +are satisfied. It can hardly be said that animals are ever happy. +Happiness is a state higher than contentment. Paul said he had learned +in whatsoever state he was to be content, but even he never said that in +all states he had learned to be happy. Animals are contented when their +senses are gratified and they are savage when their senses are +clamorous. Lions and bears are dangerous when they are hungry, and cruel +when other desires are obstructed. + +Whatever the theory of evolution, from the beginning of its upward +movement, the nearest, most potent, and most dangerous hindrance to the +soul is this entail of animalism, which it can never escape but which it +must some time conquer. The spirit and the body seem to be in endless +antagonism, and yet the body itself will become the fair servant of the +soul when once the question of its supremacy has been determined. The +tendency to revert to animalism has been vividly depicted by the poets, +and the clamorous and insistent nature of the passions portrayed by the +artists. + +The liquor in the enchanted cup of Comus may be called "the wine of the +senses." Its effect is thus described by Milton. Comus offers + + ... "To every weary traveler + His orient liquor in a crystal glass, + To quench the drought of Phoebus; which, as they taste + (For most do taste through fond, intemperate thirst) + Soon as the potion works, their human countenance, + The express resemblance of the gods, is changed + Into some brutish form of wolf or bear, + Or ounce or tiger, hog or bearded goat." + +A famous passage from Ovid's "Metamorphoses"[4] represents Actaeon as +changed into a stag; but, if I read the fable aright, the glimpse of +Diana in her bath, while not an intelligent choice, was more than a mere +accident--it was the uprising of innate sensuality; for even the Greek +gods were supposed to have had senses. + +[Footnote 4: Addison's translation, Book III, pages 188-198.] + + "Actaeon was the first of all his race, + Who grieved his grandsire in his borrowed face; + Condemned by stern Diana to bemoan + The branching horns and visage not his own; + To shun his once-loved dogs, to bound away + And from their huntsman to become their prey; + And yet consider why the change was wrought; + You'll find it his misfortune, not his fault; + Or, if a fault it was the fault of chance; + For how can guilt proceed from ignorance?" + +The story of Circe is the common story of those who have yielded to the +flesh. The companions of Ulysses visited the palace of Circe, were +allured by her charms, and the result is read in these words: + + "Before the spacious front, a herd we find + Of beasts, the fiercest of the savage kind. + Our trembling steps with blandishments they meet + And fawn, unlike their species, at our feet." + +The strong words of Milton are none too strong: + + "Their human countenance + The express resemblance of the gods, is changed + Into some brutish form." + +A common subject with artists has been the temptations of the saints. +They have fled from luxury, and what they supposed to be moral peril, +but have found no solitude to which they could go and leave their bodies +behind. In the silences faces have appeared to them full of alluring +entreaty, and more than one anchorite has found to his sorrow that he +carried within himself the cause of his danger. + +A singularly vivid painting represents one of the saints in the desert, +and clinging to him, with their arms around his neck, are two figures of +exquisite physical beauty. Their charms are so near and perilous that +the pale and haggard man in desperation has shut his eyes, and in this +extremity, with his one free hand, is frantically clinging to a cross. +The artist has accurately depicted the condition in which the soul finds +itself as it begins its growth;--its chief enemies are those of its own +household. + +Happy indeed is it for all that none see at the first the obstacles in +their way. Faint and far shines the splendor of the goal; the hindrances +are reached one by one, and each one, for the moment, seems to be the +last. + +But close and persistent as is the animal entail, it is not +unconquerable. Many a Sir Galahad, and many a woman fair and holy as his +pure sister, have lived on this earth of ours. They were not always so; +and their beauty and holiness are but the outshining of spiritual +victory. + +Is this environment of evil necessary to the development of the soul? We +may not know; but we do know that it can be conquered, and some time and +somehow will be conquered; and that then men, like ourselves, grown from +the same stock, evolved from the lower levels, will constitute "the +crowning race." + + "No longer half akin to brute, + For all we thought and loved and did, + And hoped, and suffered, is but seed + Of what in them is flower and fruit." + +These are a few samples of the hindrances which the soul must face in +its progress through "the thicket of this world." But these are not all. +Hardly less serious is the ignorance which clothes it like a garment. It +comes it knows not whence; it journeys it knows not whither, and +apparently is attended by no one wiser than itself. + +Hugo's awful picture of a man in the ocean with the vast and silent +heavens above, the desolate waves around, the birds like dwellers from +another world circling in the evening light, and the poor fellow trying +to swim, he knows not where, is not so wide of the mark as some +thoughtless readers might suppose. + +The soul is ignorant and timid, in the vast and void night, with its +environment of ignorance and of other souls also blindly struggling. At +the same time there is the consciousness of a duty to do something, of a +voice calling it somewhere which ought to be heeded, and of having +bitterly failed. + +The solitariness of the soul is also one of the most mysterious and +solemn of its characteristics. The prophecy which is applied to Jesus +might equally be applied to every human being: He trod the wine-press +alone. In all its deepest experiences the soul is solitary. Craving +companionship, in the very times when it seeks it most it finds it +denied. Every crucial choice must at last be individual. When sorrows +are multiplied there are in them deeps into which no friendly eye can +look. When the hour of death comes, even though friends crowd the rooms, +not one of them can accompany the soul on its journey. It seems as if +this solitariness must hinder its growth. Perhaps were our eyes clearer +we should see that what seems to retard in reality hastens progress. But +to our human sight it seems as if every soul needed companionship and +cooeperation in all its deep experiences; and that the ancients were not +altogether wrong in their belief in the presence and protection of +Guardian Angels. But something more vital and assuring than that faith +is desired. It is rather the inseparable fellowship of those who are +facing the same mysteries and fighting the same battles as ourselves; +but even that not infrequently is denied. + +Is this all? There is another possibility which observation has never +detected and which science is powerless to disprove. Can we be sure that +no malign spiritual influences hinder and bewilder? We cannot be sure. +The common belief of nearly all peoples ought not to be rudely brushed +aside. No one willingly believes in lies nor clings to them when he +knows that they are lies. Superstitions always have some element of +truth in them, and the truth, not the error, wins adherents. The most +that we can say, at this point, is that we do not know. It is possible +that the common beliefs of many widely separated people have no basis +in fact, that they are born of dreams and delusions; and, on the other +hand, it is equally possible that the spaces which we inhabit, but which +we cannot fully explore, have other inhabitants than our vision +discerns, and that those beings may help and may hinder us in our +progress. It is not wise to dogmatize where we are ignorant. While the +scales balance we must wait. + +Are the hindrances in the path of the soul without any ministry? That +cannot be; for then they are exceptions to the universal law, that +nothing which exists is without a purpose of benefit. + +All the analogies of nature indicate that human limitations are intended +to serve some good end, since, so far as observation has yet extended, +it has found nothing which is caused by chance. Emerson says, "As the +Sandwich Islander believes that the strength and valor of the enemy he +kills passes into himself, so we gain the strength of the temptations we +resist;"[5] and St. Bernard says, "Nothing can work me damage except +myself; the harm that I sustain I carry about with me, and never am a +real sufferer but by my own fault."[6] + +[Footnote 5: Essay on Compensation.] + +[Footnote 6: Quoted by Emerson in Essay on Compensation.] + +And St. John says, "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the +tree of life."[7] + +[Footnote 7: Revelation 2:7.] + +The mission of the austere is the development of strength. Concerning +this suggestion we shall inquire later. The souls which have reached the +serene summits have ever been those which have most resolutely faced the +obstacles in their pathways. Even apparent hindrances always exercise a +beneficent ministry. As Jesus was made perfect by the things which He +suffered, so, in the Cosmic plan, all souls must come to strength and +perfection by the difficulties which they overcome and the enemies which +they subdue. + +What should be the attitude of the soul in view of the hindrances by +which it is environed? It should be taught to fight them at every point. +Nowhere is the kindness of nature more evident than in the patience and +persistence with which this instruction is conveyed. + +Nature withholds her favors until they are earned. New light comes only +to those who have used-the light they had. Strength is developed by +resistance. Growth is for those who place themselves where growth is +possible. Nature gives the soul nothing, but she always waits to +cooeperate with it. This lesson was impressed long ago. It ought never to +require new emphasis. Let the younger study the experiences of their +elders. They will be saved many failures and much pain. The soul can +never be coerced, but it may be taught. Milton has enforced this great +lesson in Comus: + + "Against the threats + Of malice or of sorcery, of that power + Which erring men call Chance, this I hold firm-- + Virtue may be assailed, but never hurt, + Surprised by unjust force, but not enthralled; + Yet, even that which mischief meant most harm, + Shall in the happy trial prove most glory; + But evil on itself shall back recoil, + And mix no more with goodness, when at last + Gathered like a scum, and settled to itself, + It shall be in eternal restless change + Self-fed, and self-consumed; if this fail + The pillar'd firmament is rottenness + And earth's base built on stubble." + +No one should believe, after all the growth of the ages, that the soul +was made to be imprisoned in a fleshly prison. It was intended that it +should burst its barriers and press toward the light. There is an +eternal enmity between the serpent and the soul, and the serpent's head +must be bruised, but the soul resisting all the forces and fascinations +of the flesh, rising on that which has been cast down to higher things, +slowly but surely, painfully but with ever added strength moves toward +the ideal humanity which has never been better defined than as "the +fullness of Christ." + +Meanwhile it is well to reinforce our faith by remembering that it is +written in the nature of things that truth and goodness must prevail. + +This is a moral universe. Error never can be victorious. It may be +exalted for a time, but that will be only in order that it may be sunk +to deeper depths. Evil and error are doomed and always have been. Evil +is moral disease, and disease always tends toward death, while life +always and of necessity presses toward larger, more beautiful, and more +beneficent being. + +Here let us rest. Many things are dark and impossible of explanation, +but we have already been taught a few lessons of superlative importance. +We have learned that the soul is made for the light; that it can be +satisfied only with love and truth; that every hindrance may be +overcome; that the animal was made to be the servant of the spirit; that +the body makes a good servant but a poor master; that strength comes to +those who refuse to submit to the clamors of appetite: thus we have been +led to see something of the way along which the soul has moved from +animalism toward freedom and victory. + +And we have learned one thing more, viz., that the Over-soul is not a +dream, but a reality; that the individual may be in correspondence with +the Over-soul and from it be continually reinforced. Or, to put our +faith in sweeter and simpler form, we have learned by experience which +cannot be gainsaid that God is a personal spirit, interested in all that +concerns His children, and anxious for their growth; and that He can no +more allow His love for them to be defeated than He could allow the +suns and planets to break from their orbits. How much more is a man +than a sun! Therefore, since God is in His heaven, all must be right +with the world and with man, and some time all the hindrances will be +changed into helps, all obstacles be converted into strength, and "all +hells into benefit." + + + + +THE AUSTERE + + + We cannot kindle when we will + The fire which in the heart resides; + The Spirit bloweth and is still, + In mystery our soul abides. + But tasks in hours of insight will'd + Can be through hours of gloom fulfill'd. + + With aching hands and bleeding feet + We dig and heap, lay stone on stone; + We bear the burden and the heat + Of the long day, and wish 'twere done. + Not till the hours of light return, + All we have built do we discern. + + --_Morality._ Matthew Arnold. + + + + +V + +_THE AUSTERE_ + + +The soul has discovered that it is in a moral order, that it is a free +agent, and that it has mysterious affinities with truth and right. It +has taken a few steps, and with them has learned that its upward +movement will not be easy. + +It next discovers that it has no isolated existence, but that it is +surrounded by countless other similar beings all indissolubly bound +together and having mutual relations. With the dawn of intelligence +comes the realization of relations. This realization is dim at the +first, but it is very real. Soon the soul learns that the relations +between it and other souls are so intimate that the interest of one is +the interest of all. Appreciation of relations is a long advance in the +movement upward, and it necessitates other knowledge. The realization of +relations leads, necessarily and swiftly, to the consciousness of +responsibility. The process of this growth cannot be described in +detail, but the path is clearly marked and its milestones may be +numbered. Each soul is always in a society of souls. Each one, +therefore, affects others, and is affected by them. It is free and, +therefore, responsible for the influence which it exerts. Moreover, it +is bound to other souls by love, and love always carries with it the +possibility of sorrow; for sorrow is usually only love thwarted. It is +not far from the truth to say that when there is no love there is no +sorrow, and that the possibilities of sorrow are always increased in +proportion to the perfection of being. + +In time the soul finds itself not only one among myriads of souls, but +it realizes that its relations to some are more intimate than to +others. It needs not to seek the causes of this fact, since it cannot +escape from the reality. Thus it finds itself in families, in tribes, in +nations, in social groups where the bonds are strong and enduring. + +Some souls, more capacious than others, have a richer and more varied +experience, and thus inevitably become teachers. The process goes on, +and, with both teachers and scholars, the horizon expands and the +strength increases with each new day. The soul has found that it is not +a solitary being dazed and saddened by the consciousness of its powers, +but that it is in a society in which all are similarly endowed, and that +all are pressing toward the same goal. It has discovered that its growth +is hastened, or hindered, by its environment; and that the spiritual +environment is ever the nearest and most potent. + +Each new step in this pilgrim's progress reveals something more +wonderful than the opening of a continent. It is an entrance into a +larger and more complex world. A strange fact now emerges. Every +enlargement of being, either of faculty or capacity, is attended by pain +either physical or mental. "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth," seems +to be a universal law rather than an isolated text. All life is +strenuous because it is always attended by growth. The soul moves not +only onward but upward, and climbing is always a difficult process. + +Before a second step is taken the soul begins to experience suffering +and sorrow; and as its growth advances it never afterward, so far as +human sight has penetrated, escapes from them. Why are they allowed? and +what purpose do they serve? + +The soul exists in a body, and the body is the seat of sensations. Those +sensations, whether pleasing or painful, belong to the physical organs, +but they affect the spirit, and escape from them is impossible. Pain has +a perceptible effect on the soul, even though the latter has no other +relation to the body than that of tenant to a house. It suffers because +of the intimate relations which it sustains to the organs through which +it works. + +The individual soul is related to other souls. Therefore it has plans +and purposes concerning them, and it has affinities which are +inseparable from existence in society. Those purposes and affinities may +be gratified or thwarted. The soul sometimes finds a response from the +one whom it seeks and sometimes it does not. Pain belongs to the body, +and sorrow is an experience of the soul. + +The body is in constant limitations, subject to diseases and accidents, +and the soul is affected by all that the body feels. Because of these +intimate relationships the soul is limited by ignorance, and defeated in +its purposes. It becomes attached to other souls, and those attachments +are either rudely shattered or roughly repulsed, and, consequently, the +life of the soul is as full of sorrow as is a summer day of clouds. + +It faces its hindrances and rises by overcoming them. It finds pain +besetting nearly every step of its advance, and the constant shadow of +its existence is sorrow. Along such a pathway it moves in its ascent +and, in spite of all opposition, it is never permanently hindered; while +sorrow and suffering continually add to its strength. The austere +experiences through which all pass hasten their spiritual growth. They +are ever ministers of blessing; they pay no visits without leaving some +fair gifts behind. + +Questions arise here which it is difficult to answer. Why are such +ministries needed? Why could not the ascent of the spirit be along an +easier pathway? Why should it be necessary to write its history in tears +and blood? Inquiries like these are insistent. Optimism assumes that the +end always justifies the means, even when we are in the dark as to why +other means were not used; and that it is better to comfort ourselves +with the beneficent fact than to refuse to be comforted because we may +not penetrate the depths of the Cosmic process. The emphasis of thought +may well rest here. The austere is never merely the severe. What seems +to human sight to be evil and only evil, always has a side of benefit. +The soul is purified and strengthened as it rises above animalism; it is +made courageous by bodily pain; tears clarify its vision. Even Jesus is +said to have been made perfect by the things which He suffered. The +universal characteristic of life is growth, and growth ever reaches out +of old and narrow toward new, larger and better environment. + +The soul needs strength, vision, sympathy, faith. These qualities are +the fruit of experience. Muscle is converted into strength by use; and +its use is possible only as it finds something to overcome. Vision is +largely the fruit of training. The man on the lookout discovers a ship +ahead long before the passenger on the deck. That fine accuracy of sight +has come to him as he has battled with the tempests, and learned to +distinguish between the whiteness of flying foam and the sunlight on a +sail. Clearness of spiritual vision is acquired in the same way. He who +can see even to "the far-off interest of tears" has been taught his +discernment by reading the meaning of nearer events. + +Sympathy is the art of suffering with another without the definite +choice to do so. One soul spontaneously enters into the condition of +another and bears his pains and griefs as though they were his own; that +is sympathy. But who ever bore the griefs of another before he himself +had felt sadness? Sympathy is a fruit that grows on the tree of sorrow. +So intensely is this felt that even kindly words in hours of deep trial +are ungrateful if they come from one who had had no hard experience of +his own. In proportion as one has borne his own griefs he is presumed to +be able to bear the griefs of others. He who has passed through the +valley of the shadow, and who knows the way, is the only one whose hand +is sought by another approaching the same valley. No human +characteristic is more beautiful, or more appreciated, than sympathy; +but its genuineness is seldom trusted unless the one offering it is +known to have suffered himself. + +Jesus is said to have been a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, +and, therefore, has led the long procession of the broken-hearted +toward hope and peace. There is no other place known among men for the +cultivation of sympathy except the school of suffering. + +If possible, faith even more than sympathy is dependent on struggle. +There is no other conceivable means by which it can be acquired. It +cannot be imparted. No multiplying of words increases faith. If one has +been in the blackest darkness and some way, he knows not how, has been +led out into light, it will be easier for him to think that the same +experience may be realized again. If every sorrow has had in it some +hidden seed of blessing; if the overcoming of hindrances has ever +increased strength; if at the very moment that calamity seemed ready to +destroy the storm has blown around, and this has occurred again and +again, it is impossible to refrain from expecting, or at least hoping, +that behind the darkness an unseen hand is making things to work for +good. Faith is essential to courage. He never cares to struggle who +knows that failure is just ahead. Courage is required as the soul +progresses, and becomes more deeply conscious of the mysteries and +enemies by which it is surrounded. Faith results from the experience of +beneficent leading. If one has been guided by love through many periods, +and if that love has always been found waiting for its object on every +corner of life, it will, ere long, be expected, watched for, and +trusted. + +Strength, vision, sympathy, courage, the fair attributes of the soul, +all appear as it overcomes difficulties, fights doubts, goes deep into +sorrow, and thus learns to realize that it is being led. It is easy to +see how sorrow, pain, and death in the older legends and poetry were so +often spoken of as beneficent angels. They are like those Sisters of +Charity who hide beneath their long black bonnets serene and angelic +faces. The austere in human life has never yet been explained, but it +has been justified millions of times, and will be justified every time a +human soul rises toward the goal for which all were created and toward +which all, slowly or swiftly, are moving. + +These conclusions have many confirmations, and with some of them it will +be worth while to spend a little time. Every thinking man's experience +assures him that he grows by overcoming. Emerson has finely said that we +have occasion to thank our faults, by which he means limitations; and he +has also reminded us that the oyster mends its broken shell with pearl. + +We do not like overmuch to read with care our own experiences; but, when +we are honest, we see that every struggle has left a residuum of added +strength, that every loss has been a gain, that every calamity has +opened doors into a larger world, and that what has been dreaded most +has really most enriched us. Experience is a wise teacher. + +History confirms the witness of experience. The strong man has always +gained strength by struggle. The story of a few of the preeminent +teachers is impressive reading. Mahomet knew the bitter pangs of +poverty; Epictetus was a slave; Socrates was regarded as a fanatic, if +not a lunatic, by most of the people of Athens; Siddhartha is said to +have been a useless and luxurious young man until, wearied with the +monotony of his father's palace, he ventured into the larger world and +saw wherever he went poverty, sickness, death. He was startled into +activity by the want, woe, and misery through which his pathway led. + +Nearly all moral and spiritual leaders have had to suffer and thus grow +strong. Mere genius has done little for human progress. It has made +physical discoveries, but seldom touched the sphere of the soul. Elijah +heard the voice of God in the midst of the terrors of the wilderness in +which he was ready to die; Isaiah shared the usual fate of reformers and +spoke his message into the ears of those who returned insult for +warning. The story of Job is a long tragedy,--the world's tragedy, the +tragedy of the soul in all ages. What deeps of anguish Dante fathomed +before he could begin to write! Who can read the story of "Faust," as +Goethe has interpreted it, without feeling that in it he has given the +world in thin disguise much of his own life-story? Shakespeare alone, of +men of genius of the first rank, seems to have learned comparatively few +of his lessons in the school of suffering. But, possibly, if more were +known of Shakespeare, it would be found that Lear, Macbeth, and Hamlet +are but the expressions of lessons learned as he fought life's battle. + +The "In Memoriam" of Tennyson, the "De Profundis" of Mrs. Browning, and +the rich and glorious music of Robert Browning could have come only from +souls which had been profoundly moved by grief and pain. All men listen +most attentively to those who have gone farthest into the dark shadows. + +The austere in human experience always accomplishes a purpose of +blessing; and the soul comes into such an environment, not for the +purpose of being humiliated, but in order that its strength may be +developed, its sight clarified, and its powers perfected. + +Thus we reach a rational basis for optimism. It has been said that +optimism must not only show that beneficent results are being +accomplished in human life, but it must also justify the means by which +such results are achieved. It is not enough to show that all will be +well in the end; it must be shown that even grief, pain, loss, and +death are ordained to be the servants of man. This is evident to all who +allow themselves to reach to the deeper meanings of their limitations +and sufferings. + +Opposite conclusions have been reached by some of those who have studied +the hard and harsh phenomena of human life. The dreamy Hindu mind at +first seemed to discern the truth that suffering is but the under side +of blessing, and the hymns of the Vedas are full of hope and +anticipation of better times; but, under the stress of prolonged +disappointment and measureless calamities, bewildered in his attempt to +explain the mystery of suffering, the Hindu at last came to deny its +reality. But no bitter trials can be escaped by denial, and in India, +to-day, disappointment and calamity are no less frequent than in elder +ages. Refusal to believe in darkness effects no change in a midnight. +The negation of precipices makes the ascent of a mountain no easier, +and the denial of sickness, sorrow, and death deliver none from their +presence. On the other hand, the very rocks that are the most difficult +to scale will lift the climber toward an ampler horizon; and he who +places his feet upon his temptations and sorrows will see in his own +life the increasing purpose that widens with the suns. + +Slowly, and over many obstacles, the soul rises from its humiliation and +presses toward the heights, and every forest passed and every mountain +scaled adds to its stature, to the swiftness of its advance, and to the +glory of its vision. + +The teaching of Jesus concerning the ministry of the austere has greatly +changed the popular estimate of the value of many of the experiences +through which men pass. Sorrow, pain, and death were formerly regarded +as enemies, and only enemies, and they are still so regarded where the +full force of His message is either not welcomed or not understood. The +common opinion in many quarters, even to this day, is that suffering is +either a hideous mistake in the universe, an awful nightmare, or a cruel +mockery. Paul, using language as men used it in his time, spoke of death +as an enemy. That he was speaking popularly, rather than technically, is +evident because he also said that the sting of death--that which made it +dreaded--is sin. Jesus, however, justified the method by which men are +perfected; and His teaching harmonizes with what may be learned by a +reverent scrutiny of the nature of things. The more carefully "the +Cosmic process" is studied, the clearer it becomes that events are so +ordered that, sooner or later, everything helps toward richer and better +conditions. A tidal wave or a pestilence may seem to be inexplicable, +but even pestilence teaches men habits of thrift and cleanliness, and +tidal waves warn them of their points of danger. + +What has made the average of human life so much longer than it was +formerly? That very mysterious pestilence has turned attention toward +its causes, and thus the race has been made cleaner, purer, more fit to +endure. Why do men live in houses with scientific plumbing, fresh air, +and have well-cooked food? Because that fierce teacher, pestilence, has +taught them that any other course means weakness and death. Whom nature +loveth she chasteneth is a truth as clearly written in human history as +"Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth" is written in the Bible. The true +attitude toward the austere, for a philosophic as for a Christian mind, +is one of complacency. Every severity is intended for benefit. By wars +the enormity of war is made evident. By disease the necessity for +observation of the laws of health is emphasized. Even death, in the +order of things, at last is a blessing, for one generation must give +place to another, or the evils that Malthus feared would be quickly +reached. Moreover death, in its proper time, is only nature's way of +giving the soul its freedom. Hindrances in its path do not indicate the +presence of an enemy but of a friend who discovers the only sure way of +securing its finest development. The cultivation of the philosophic and +Christian temper, which are practically the same, would make this a +happier world. We could endure trials with more courage if we would but +remember that they are as necessary to our growth as the cutting of a +diamond is necessary to the revelation of the treasury of light which it +holds. + +The heights of character are slowly reached, and, usually, only by the +ministry of the austere; but once they are reached the horizon expands, +and the soul finds in the clearer light peace if not joy. + +This course of reasoning does not make the mistake of regarding sin as +less than dreadful. Every sin has hidden in its heart a blessing; but +sin as such is never a blessing. It may be necessary for Providence to +allow a spirit to sink again into animalism in order that it may be +taught its danger, and made to realize that only through struggle can +its goal be reached--but the animalism in itself is never beneficent. + +When we say that the process by which a man rises may be justified, we +do not mean that all his choices are justifiable. The process of his +growth provides for his fall, if he will learn in no other way, but it +does not necessitate his fall; that is ever because of his own choice. A +spirit may choose to return to the slime from which it has emerged. That +choice is sin, but it can never be made without the protests of +conscience which will not be silenced, and it is by those protests that +a man is impelled upward again, and never by the sin in itself. No one +was ever helped by his sin, but millions, when they have sinned, have +found that the misery was greater than the joy, and this perpetual +connection of sin and suffering is the blessed fact. Sin is never +anything but hideous. The more unique the genius the more awful and +inexcusable his fall. Even out of their sins men do rise, but that is +because there sounds in the deeps of the soul a voice which becomes more +pathetic in its warning and entreaty, the more it is disregarded. Those +who desire to justify sin say that it is the cause of the rising. It may +be the occasion, but it is never the cause. The occasion includes the +time, place, environment,--but the cause is the impelling force; and sin +never impels toward virtue. Satan has not yet turned evangelist. + +Because in the past the soul has risen, one need not be unduly +optimistic to presume that, in spite of opposition, it will meet no +enemies which it will not conquer, and find no heights which it will not +be able to scale. Prophecy is the art of reading history forward. The +spirit having come thus far, it is not possible to believe that it can +ever permanently revert to the conditions from which it has emerged; +neither can we believe that it will fail of reaching that development of +which its every power and faculty is so distinct a prophecy. + +No light has ever yet penetrated far into the mystery of human +suffering, sorrow, and sin. Why they need to be at all, has been often +asked, but no one has furnished a reply which satisfies many people. +With the old insistent and pathetic earnestness millions are still +"knocking at nature's door" and asking wherefore they were born. Hosts +of others are looking out on desolation and grief, thinking of the tears +which have fallen and the sobs which are sure to sound in the future, +and asking with eager and pleading intensity, why such things need be. +Out of the heavens above, or out of the earth beneath, no clear answer +has come. + +As we wonder and study, still deeper grows the mystery. Three courses +are open to those who are sensitive to the hard, sad facts of the human +condition. One is to say that all things in their essence are just as +they seem; that sorrow, sin, death none can escape, that they are evils, +and that a world in which they exist is the worst of possible worlds, +and that there is neither God nor good anywhere. Then let us eat and +drink, for to-morrow we die, and the quicker the end the sweeter the +doom. + +Another way is simply to confess ignorance. Out of the darkness no +voice has come. The veil over the statue of the god of the future has +never been lifted, and inquiry concerning such subjects is folly. To +this I reply agnosticism is consistent, but it is not wise. Because it +cannot explain all things it turns from the clues which may yet lead out +of the labyrinth. + +The other course, and the wiser, is to use all the light that has yet +been given and from what is known to draw rational conclusions +concerning what has not yet been fully revealed. Deep in the heart of +things is a beneficent and universal law. In accordance with that law +hindrances are made to minister to the soul's growth, the opposition of +enemies is transmuted into strength, and moral evil resisted becomes a +means of spiritual expansion and enlightenment. + + + + +THE RE-AWAKENING + + + I, Galahad, saw the Grail, + The Holy Grail, descend upon the Shrine: + I saw the fiery face as of a child + That smote itself into the bread, and went; + And hither am I come; and never yet + Hath what my sister taught me first to see, + This Holy Thing, fail'd from my side, nor come + Cover'd, but moving with me night and day, + Fainter by day, but always in the night.... + + * * * * * + + And in the strength of this I rode, + Shattering all evil customs everywhere, + And past thro' Pagan realms, and made them mine, + And clash'd with Pagan hordes, and bore them down, + And broke thro' all, and in the strength of this + Come victor. + + --_The Holy Grail._ Tennyson. + + + + +VI + +_THE RE-AWAKENING_ + + +As despondency and a feeling of failure comes to every soul with the +realization of its mistakes and sins, so there will some time come to +all a period of Re-awakening. This statement is the expression of a hope +which is cherished in the face of much opposing evidence. Nevertheless, +that this hope is cherished by so many persons of all classes is a +credit to humanity. It is difficult to believe that in the end an +infinitely wise and good God will fail of the achievement of His purpose +in regard to a single one of His creatures. + +The saddest fact in the ascent of the soul is sin. However it may be +accounted for, it cannot be evaded, but must be honestly and resolutely +faced. Sin is the deliberate choice to return to animalism, for a +longer or shorter time, by a being who realizes that he is in a moral +order, that he is free, and who has heard the far-off call of a +spiritual destiny. It is the choice, by a spirit, of the condition from +which it ought to have forever escaped. Imperfection and ignorance are +not, in themselves, blameworthy and should never be classified as sins. +Weakness always palliates a wrong choice. An evil condition is a +misfortune; it does not justify condemnation. Sin always implies a +voluntary act. That all men have sinned is a contention not without +abundant justification. The better the man the more intensely he is +humiliated by the consciousness of moral failure. + +After long-continued discipline, after much progress has been made, the +soul again and again chooses evil; and, after it ought to have moved far +on its upward career, it is found to be a bond-slave of tendencies +which should have been forever left behind. This is the solemn fact +which faces every student of human life. It is not a doctrine of an +effete theology but a continuous human experience. The consciousness of +moral failure is terrible and universal. This consciousness requires +neither definition nor illustration. Experience is a sufficient witness. +Who has been able exhaustively to delineate the soul's humiliation? +AEschylus and Sophocles, Shakespeare and Goethe, Shelley, Tennyson, and +Browning have but skimmed the surface of the great tragedy of human +life. Hamlet, Lear, Macbeth, Faust, and Wilhelm Meister, Beatrice Cenci, +the sad, sad story of Guinevere, and the awful shadows of the Ring and +the Book--how luridly realistic are all these studies of the downfall of +souls and the desolation of character! If they had expressed all there +is of life it would be only a long, repulsive tragedy; but happily +there is another side. To that brighter phase of the growth of the soul +we turn in this chapter. + +What is the difference between the awakening of the soul and its +re-awakening? Are they two experiences? or different phases of the same +experience? The awakening is nearly simultaneous with the dawn of +consciousness. It is the adjustment of the soul to its environment--the +realization of its self-consciousness as free, as in a moral order, and +as possessing mysterious affinities with truth and right. This +realization is followed by a period of growth, during which many +hindrances are overcome, and in which the ministries of environment, +both kindly and austere, help to free it from its limitations and to +promote its advance along the spiritual pathway. But while the soul +dimly hears voices from above it has not yet, altogether, escaped from +the influence of animalism. It dwells in a body whose desires clamor to +be gratified. It is like a bird trying to rise into the air when it has +not yet acquired the use of its wings. Malign influences are still about +it, and earthly attractions are ever drawing it downward. It falls many +times. I do not mean that it is compelled to fall, but that, as a matter +of fact, its lapses are frequent and discouraging. In the midst of this +painful movement upward, there sometime comes to the soul a realization +of a presence of which it has scarcely dreamed before. It begins to +understand that it is never alone, that its struggle is never hopeless +because God and the universe, equally with itself, are concerned for its +progress. It is humiliated by its failures, but it has learned that, +however many times it may fail and however bitter its disappointment, in +the end it must be victorious because neither principalities nor powers, +neither things on the earth nor beyond the earth, can forever resist +God. Thus hope is born, and he who one moment cries, Who shall deliver +from this body of death? the next moment with exultation exclaims, I +thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord. + +The light which shines into the soul from Jesus Christ is the revelation +of the cooeperation of the Deity, and of the forces of the universe, with +every man who is moving upward. The realization that, however deep the +darkness, humiliating the moral failure, constant and imperious the +solicitations of animalism, "the nature of things" and the everlasting +love are on the side of the soul is its re-awakening. + +It now not only knows that it is free, in a moral order, and that voices +from a far-off goal are calling it, but also that those who are with it +are more than those who can be against it. Thus hope, confidence, power +to resist, and faith even in the midst of failure dawn, and will never +be permanently eclipsed. The re-awakening of the soul is now complete. + +This experience is traditionally called conversion. It is usually +associated with an appropriation of the teaching of Jesus Christ, and +inevitably follows an appreciation of His words and His work. But all +the revelations of the Christ have not been through the historic Jesus. +In every land, and in every age, souls have come to this new +consciousness. It was said of Isaiah that he saw the Lord; and of +Melchizedek that he was the priest of the most high God. The former was +a Hebrew, but the latter was not in what was to be the chosen line of +succession. The assurance that they are never alone has found many in +what has seemed impenetrable darkness, and they have risen and moved +upward. Instances of this kind are not limited to Christian lands, +although they are most common where the Christian revelation is known. +I cannot doubt that those who have not had this vision on the earth will +have it some time and somewhere. The Divine power and purpose to save, +and to save to the utter-most, are revealed with perfect clearness in +the teachings of Jesus Christ. Nothing could be more explicit than His +message that God loves all men, and that it is His will that all should +repent and come to the knowledge of the truth. + +This stage of advance may be called the crisis in the ascent of the +soul. Before this it has moved slowly and with faltering steps. +Henceforth it will move more confidently and swiftly. But that does not +mean that it will find that hindrances are all removed, or that no +unseen hand will draw it downward. Some of the bitterest hours are to +follow--days and, possibly, longer periods of spiritual obscuration; +darkness like that of Jesus in which He cried, "My God, my God, why hast +Thou forsaken me." Who can explain the appalling humiliation of a man +when, as if a star had fallen from heaven, he sinks into awful and +inexplicable selfishness or sensuality? It is not necessary that we +explain, but we should remember that the goodness of God has so ordered +things that even disgrace may lead to stronger faith, clearer vision, +and tenderer sympathy. + +Austere ministries are still needed; only fire will consume the dross. +The re-awakening of a soul is not its perfecting; but it is its +realization that the process of perfecting must go on, and will go on, +if need be along a pathway of shame and agony, until all that attracts +to the earth and sensuality has disappeared, and the spirit, like a bird +released, rises toward the heavens. + +The law that whatsoever a man soweth that shall he reap will never be +transcended, and if an enlightened spirit ever chooses to sink once more +into the slime it may do so; but it will at the same time be taught +with terrible intensity the moral bearing of the physical law that what +falls from the loftiest height will sink to the deepest depth. + +At last the soul realizes that it is in the hands of a sympathetic, +holy, and loving Person, a Being who cannot be defeated, and who, in His +own time and way, will accomplish His own purposes. That vision of God +is the re-awakening, an inevitable and glorious reality in spiritual +progress. + +What are the causes of this re-awakening? The causes are many and can be +stated only in a general way. Moreover, spiritual experiences are +individual, and the answer which would apply to one might not to +another. + +The shock which attends some terrible moral failure, not infrequently, +is the proximate cause of the re-awakening of the soul. There is a deep +psychological truth in the old phrase, "conviction of sin." Men are +thus convicted. Some act of appalling wrong-doing reveals to them the +depths of their hearts and forces them in their extremity to look +upward. Hawthorne, in his story, "The Scarlet Letter," has depicted the +agony of a soul, in the consciousness of its guilt, finding no peace +until it dared to do right and to trust God. In the "Marble Faun," in +the character of Donatello, the same author has furnished an +illustration of one who was startled into a consciousness of manhood and +responsibility by his crime. It is the revelation of a soul to itself, +not of God to the soul. In Donatello we see a soul awakened to +self-consciousness and responsibility, but in "The Scarlet Letter" we +have the example of a man inspired to do his duty by the revelation of +God. Adoniram Judson was brought to himself by hearing the groans of a +dying man in a room adjoining his own in a New England hotel. Luther +was forced to serious thought by a flash of lightning which blinded and +came near killing him. Pascal was returning to his home at midnight when +his carriage halted on the brink of a precipice, and the narrowness of +his escape aroused him to a realization of his dependence upon God. The +sense of mortality, and the wonder as to what the consequences of +wrong-doing in "the dim unknown" may be, have been potent forces in the +re-awakening of souls. + +Still others have been given new and gracious visions of "the beauty of +holiness." They have seen the excellence of virtue, and in its light +have learned to hate the causes of their humiliation, and to press +forward with courage and hope. + +Speculations concerning the causes of this spiritual change are easy, +but they are of little value. Observation has never yet collected facts +enough to adequately account for the phenomena. Probably the most +complete and satisfactory answer that was ever given to such questions +was that of Jesus when He was treating of this very subject: "The wind +bloweth where it listeth, thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not +tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth." + +The mystery of the soul's re-awakening has never been fathomed. +Sometimes there has been flashed upon conscience, apparently without a +cause, a deep and awful sense of guilt. Whence did it come? What caused +it? Calamities many times sweep through a life as a tornado sweeps over +a field of wheat, and when they have passed there is more than an +appreciation of loss; there is a vision of the soul's unworthiness and +humiliation. Again death comes exceedingly near, and, in a single hour, +the solemnities of eternity become vivid, and the soul sees itself in +the light of God. And again, the essential glory of goodness is so +vividly manifest that the soul instinctively rises out of its sin, and +presses upward, as a man wakens from a hideous nightmare. The more such +phenomena are studied, the more distinct and significant do they appear +and the more impossible becomes the effort to explain them. They may be +verified, but they can never be explained. They are the results of the +action of the Spirit of God on the spirit of man. Is this answer +rejected as fanciful or superstitious? Then some of the most brilliant +and significant events in the history of humanity are inexplicable. + +What caused the revolution in the character of Augustine by which the +sensualist became a saint? Was it the study of Plato? or the prayers of +Monica? or the preaching of Ambrose? We know not; rather let us say it +was the Spirit of God. Who can define the process by which Wilberforce +was changed from the pet of fashionable society to one of the heroes in +the world's great crusade against injustice and oppression? Such +inquiries are more easily started than settled. I repeat, the only +rational and convincing word that was ever spoken on this subject is +that of Jesus. The Spirit of God, whose ministry is as still as the +sunlight, as mysterious as the wind, and as potent as gravitation, was +the One to whom He pointed. + +How has this epoch in the ascent of the soul been treated in literature? +I refer with frequency to the literary treatment of spiritual subjects +because poets, dramatists, and writers of fiction, more than any other +class of authors, have studied the soul in its depths, in its +inspirations, and in the process by which it rises and presses toward +its goal. + +The illustrations of this subject in the Scriptures are almost idyllic +in their simplicity and beauty. There is more than flippancy in the +remark that Adam's fall was a fall upward. The statement is literally +true. The fall was no fiction, but a condition of enlightenment and +growth. The exit from Eden was the beginning of the long, hard climb +toward the City of God. + +The very moment when Isaiah saw Uzziah, the king, stricken with leprosy, +he saw the Lord. + +The classical delineation of a soul attaining the higher knowledge is +that of the prodigal son, who, when he came to himself, saw clearly that +his father was waiting to welcome him. + +The "Idylls of the King" are a kind of "Pilgrim's Progress." In various +ways they trace, and with matchless music rehearse, the growth of souls +and their victories over spiritual enemies. One of the most pathetic +stories ever told is that of the beautiful Queen Guinevere, who by shame +and agony learned that "we needs must love the highest when we see it;" +and who never appreciated the great love in which she was enfolded +until Arthur, "moving ghost-like to his doom," had gone to fight his +last great battle in the west. + +The world owes George MacDonald gratitude it will never repay;--such +spiritual souls are never paid in the coin of this world. In "Robert +Falconer," he taught his time with a lucidity and sweetness that none +but Tennyson and Browning have equaled, and that not even they have +surpassed, that a "loving worm within its clod were lovelier than a +loveless God upon his Throne," and in "Thomas Wingfold" he has traced +with epic fidelity the growth of a soul from moral insensibility to +manly strength and vision. The description of the process by which +Wingfold is brought to see that he, a teacher in the church, is a fraud +and a hypocrite, and by which he is then lifted up and made worthy of +his vocation as a minister of the glorious Gospel of the blessed God is +a wonderful piece of spiritual delineation. + +With Guinevere the external humiliation was an essential stage in her +soul's development; but with Wingfold there was no public +disgrace,--only the not less poignant shame of a man who, looking into +his own heart, finds nothing but selfishness and duplicity. His +condition was a matter between himself, his friend, and his God; but +none the less the humiliation was the means by which his soul's eyes +were opened and his heart fired with a passion for reality. + +One result of the soul's re-awakening is the realization that it has +relations to God and that they are at once the nearest, the most vital, +and the most enduring of all its relations. Before, it had felt the call +of duty and had recognized that it had affinities with truth and right; +but now it has come into the consciousness of sonship. God is not +distant and unrelated, but near and personally helpful. In a very real +sense He is Father. He is interested in the welfare of His children; and +His will has now become the law of their lives. The first awakening is +to the consciousness of a moral order and of freedom; the second +awakening is to the consciousness of God and of a near and vital +relation with Him. The path of progress is still full of obstacles; +there are still attractions for the senses in animalism and +solicitations from something malign outside; but never again will the +soul be without the realization that it is in the hands of a +compassionate, as well as a just, God. I am inclined to think that the +elder Calvinists were right in their contention that when the soul has +once come to this saving knowledge of God it can never again "fall from +grace," or from the consciousness of its relation to the One mighty to +save. This does not mean that there may not be repeated and awful moral +lapses. The soul's realization of God does not imply that it has become +perfected. It has taken a long step in its ascent; it is now conscious +of its destiny, and of the power which is working in its behalf; but far +away stretch the spiritual heights and, before they can be reached, many +a cliff must be scaled and many a glacier passed; and few reach those +altitudes without many a savage fall, and without frequent hours of +weariness, doubt, and despair. The sufferings and the chastisements of +those who have come to this altitude often increase as the vision +becomes clearer. + +The difference between the former condition and the present is this: in +the former there was growth toward God without the conscious choice of +God; but in the latter the soul sees and chooses for itself that toward +which it has, heretofore, been impelled by the "cosmic process." + +That is a solemn and glad moment when, in the midst of the confusion, +the soul hears faint and far the call of its destiny; but the one in +which it realizes that it is related to God, and chooses His will for +its law, is far more glad and solemn. That consciousness may be +obscured, but never again will it utterly fail. The soul that knows that +it came from God, and is moving toward God, never can lose that +knowledge, nor long cease to feel the power of that divine attraction. + +A practical question at this stage of our inquiry concerns the relation +of one soul to another. May those who have realized this experience help +others to attain to it so that the process may be hastened and made +easier? Must those who have been enlightened wait for those who are dear +to them to be awfully humiliated by sin, or terribly crushed by sorrow, +before the light can fall upon their pathway? Is there no way by which +a soul may be brought to the knowledge of God except by bitter trials? + +One individual may help another to acquire other knowledge,--must it +make an exception of things spiritual? That cannot be. What one has +learned, in part at least, it may communicate to another, and the +constant and growing passion with those who know God is to tell others +of Him. All plans of education should include the communication of the +highest knowledge. He who seeks the physical or mental development of +his boy and cares not to crown his work by helping him to a realization +that he is a child of God, and a subject of His love, has sadly +misconceived the privilege of education. All curricula should move +toward this consciousness as their consummation and culmination. +Geology, biology, physiology, the languages, philosophy, the science of +society should be so studied as to lead directly to Him in whom all +live and move and have their being. The home, the school, the church +should be organized so as to obviate, in great measure, the necessity of +learning the deepest truths in the school of suffering. + +No holier privilege is given to one human soul than that of whispering +its secret into the ears of another who has not yet attained the wisdom +which comes only by living. + +God be merciful to the parent who is anxious about the mental culture of +his child and never tells him of the deeper possibilities of his life, +or never repeats to him the messages which he has heard in silent and +lonely hours. The growth of a soul in the knowledge of God may be +measured by the intensity of its desire to help other souls to the same +knowledge. + +What will the re-awakened soul do? It will be as individual and +distinctive in its action as before. The divine life in the souls of +men manifests itself in ways as various and numerous as solar energy is +manifested in nature. Variety in unity is the law of the spirit. Every +person will be led to do those things, to hold those beliefs, and to +minister in the ways for which he has been prepared. + +The experience of one can never be made the model for another, and the +message which the Spirit speaks in the ears of one may never be spoken +in the ears of another. Uniformity is neither to be expected nor to be +desired. The soul which realizes that it belongs to God will choose to +live for Him, and in its own way will forever move toward Him. +Henceforward His will will be its law. This is all we know and all we +need to know. + + + + +THE PLACE OF JESUS CHRIST + + + I say, the acknowledgment of God in Christ + Accepted by thy reason, solves for thee + All questions in the earth and out of it, + And has so far advanced thee to be wise. + + --_A Death in the Desert._ Browning. + + + 'Tis the weakness in strength that I cry for! my flesh that I seek + In the God-head! I seek and I find it. O Saul, it shall be + A Face like my face that receives thee; a Man like to me, + Thou shalt love and be loved by, for ever: a Hand like this hand + Shall throw open the gates of new life to thee! See the Christ stand! + + --_Saul._ Browning. + + + + +VII + +_THE PLACE OF JESUS CHRIST_ + + +In the ascent of the soul do light and power come to its assistance from +outside and from above? Is evolution alone a sufficient guarantee that +it will some time reach its goal? These are not so much questions of +theory as of fact, and as such will be treated in this chapter. + +Light and power have come to the race in its struggles upward from one +source as from no other. In history one figure appears colossal and +unique. Whether we classify Jesus Christ with men, or regard Him as a +special divine manifestation is of little consequence in our inquiry. If +He is the consummate flower of the evolutionary process, then, because +of some unexplained influence, that process reached a degree of +perfection in Him that it has reached in no other. If it pleased God in +a single instance to hasten the process, the result is not less +inspiring and illuminating than it would have been if the divine purpose +had been directly and instantly accomplished. The teachers and leaders +have ever been helpers of their fellow-men. In evolution, as in the race +of life, some always move more swiftly than others; and those who are +far in advance may, if they choose, become the servants of those who +move more slowly. One Being has appeared in the midst of the ages who is +so far superior to all others that He may be regarded as the revelation +of the soul's true goal, but who is, at the same time, so unlike others +as to convince many, at least, that He is also the revelation in +humanity of a higher power which is cooperating with the soul in its +ascent. + +In this chapter no attempt will be made to meet the various questions +that the formal theologians have raised. I cannot feel that such +subjects as "satisfaction," "expiation," "plan of salvation" are of any +practical importance, and I leave them to those who care for them. In +the meantime let us ask, What aid does the soul need in its passage +through its life on the earth? It needs light and power. We do not +meditate long on the soul's advance without realizing that it has been +constantly reinforced from outside itself. This phase of our subject +will be considered in the chapter on "The Inseparable Companion." + +It may, I think, be said that what the soul needs more than anything +else is light, and that all necessary light has been furnished. Jesus +said, "I am the Light of the World." That statement is literally true. +There may be room for perplexity as to the credibility of parts of the +New Testament, and as to what is called the miraculous element in +history. There is also room for difference of opinion as to the nature +of the person of Jesus, and as to His supernatural mission; but few +would deny that, if they could feel sure that He was actually from +above, they would accept His message because it contains all the ethical +and spiritual knowledge that men need in their earthly lives. + +A single assumption is made at the beginning of our study. It is as +follows: What satisfies our minds and hearts, in their hours of deepest +need and brightest illumination, should always be accepted as true until +it is proven to be false. + +The profoundest subjects of thought and life are illuminated by the +ministry and the teaching of Jesus Christ. The last word concerning +these subjects has not yet been spoken. Even our Bible is but a +collection of scattered rays of the true light. What vaster revelations +may come to men in future ages no one can predict. As growth goes on, +the soul will be fitted to receive messages which it could not now +understand; but all that men need to know in their present stage of +development is clearly revealed in the teaching, and the example, of the +Man of Nazareth and Calvary. He is the brightest light on the deepest +and darkest problems. + +Let us try to understand and define the place of Jesus Christ in the +ascent of the soul. + +Jesus Christ has given the world a rational and satisfying doctrine of +God. Other teachers have tried to answer the inquiry, Does God exist? +Jesus treated that question as an astronomer treats the sun. No sane +scientist would fill his pages with speculations as to the reality of +the sun. It moves and shines in the heavens; beginning with that fact, +the astronomer asks concerning the function which the sun performs in +the solar system and in the universe. + +Jesus discarded speculation and found the key to the doctrine of God in +the family, the simplest and most elemental of human institutions. There +may be wide differences concerning the nature of government, the +sanctions of law, etc., but there is no room for debate concerning the +meaning of the parental relation. It interprets itself. Tell a child +that a man is his father, and he can be told no more. The name +interprets the relation. In earlier times the vastness of the creation +was but dimly appreciated, and then the idea of God was equally +contracted. Jesus taught that the Deity, whether the conception of Him +was small or large, was to be interpreted in terms of fatherhood. What +an ideal father is to his family God is to the race and to the universe. +That meant one thing when the father was little more than the protector +of a tribe; it means something greater, but not essentially different +now. The conception of the universe is one of the most revolutionary +that ever entered the human mind. The conception of a tribe is larger +than that of a family; of a nation larger than that of a tribe; of the +race larger than that of the nation; but the conception of the universe, +with its myriads of worlds and possible multiplicity of races, is the +amazing contribution which science has made to the thought of to-day. +While the conception of the Deity has been enlarged the principle of +interpretation remains unchanged. Are we thinking of Jehovah the God of +Israel? He is the Father of the tribe. Has our idea expanded so as to +include all the nations? God is the Father not of a limited number but +of all that dwell upon the earth. Has the horizon been lifted to take in +heavenly heights? Are we now thinking of immensities, eternities, and +the cosmic process? The teaching of Jesus is not transcended; we still +continue to interpret in terms of fatherhood, and say all time, all +space, all men, all purposes and processes in the infinities and +eternities are in the hands of the Father. But when we have ascended to +such a height what does the word Father mean? Exactly the same in +essence that it meant in the humblest of Judean households among which +Jesus moved. The father there was the one who made the home, sustained +it, defended it, watched over it by day and by night; in exactly the +same way the followers of Jesus think of the Spirit who pervades all +things. He creates, He cares for, He defends, He provides, He loves, He +causes all processes to work for blessing to the intelligent beings who +are His children. + +Jesus in a peculiar way identified himself with the Deity. That does +not mean that all the divine omnipotence and glory were in that Man of +Nazareth, but it does mean that all of the Deity that could be expressed +in terms of humanity were visible in Him, so that those who saw Jesus +saw God as far as He could be manifested in the flesh. Beyond that veil +were abysses and heights of being which could not be expressed in human +terms; but in all the spaces we may dare to believe that there is +nothing essentially different from what was revealed in that unique Man. +A bay makes a curve in the Atlantic seaboard; its shallow waters are all +from the deeps of the sea. Tides that move along all the seas, and +forces which reach to the stars, fill that basin among the hills. The +bay is the ocean, but not all of it; for if we were to sail around the +earth we should find the same body of water reaching out to vaster +spaces. + +Even so the person of Jesus included all of God that humanity can +contain, but Bethlehem and Jerusalem, Gethsemane and Calvary were to the +Deity as some land-locked harbor to the immensities of the universe. In +Him love reached to enemies, to the outcast, to those who had been +called refuse and rubbish, to men of all classes in all the ages, to +lepers, beggars, criminals, lunatics, harlots, thieves, little children; +those who appreciated and those who hated alike were all included in the +infinite purpose of blessing. + +Those who have seen the love of Jesus, and its ministries, have seen the +Father; but beyond the love of Galilee and Calvary reach depths of love +which even the cross is powerless to express. Divine sympathy and divine +affection bind all men in a universal family; this we know, and this is +all we know. + +That teaching is so simple that a child can understand it; so profound +that no philosopher has ever transcended it; and so satisfying that +neither child nor philosopher would have it changed either as to its +simplicity or its fullness. + +Jesus furnishes the light which the soul needs on the nature of man. +Wonderfully has Holman Hunt elaborated this truth in his picture "The +Light of the World." The ideal humanity never had more beautiful +expression than in that great sermon in color. The poise of the figure +of Jesus indicates strength and self-control; the thorns on the brow +tell their story of sorrow and pain; the hand at the door shows that one +man at least is mindful of the welfare of His brother; the radiance on +the face and the inspiration in the eyes are the outshining of the +goodness which dwells within; while the light from the whole person, +which reaches far into the gloom, shows that the more nearly perfect the +being the more beneficent and beautiful his influence must be. Is Jesus +Christ the brightness of the Father's glory? He reveals also the beauty +and helpfulness, the love and the service of the ideal man. He is the +pattern of our common humanity. Are we in the midst of a process of +evolution? And is the man that is to be still far in the distance? When +he shall walk this earth he will be the spiritual reproduction of Jesus, +changed only to meet the requirements of other times and new conditions. + +The revelation of the ideal humanity was hardly less revolutionary than +that of the enlarged universe. Formerly men were regarded as things, +commodities to be bought and sold, creatures without souls, objects to +be used. But Jesus taught that all men are children of God; therefore +that they have the very life of God; therefore that they are created for +His eternity, and will forever approach His perfection. This vision of +the perfected race has been at work changing national boundaries, +destroying hoary institutions, undermining thrones, and making a new +world. A glance shows the revolutionary quality of His teaching. Slavery +was the curse of every land. With force on the one side and weakness on +the other oppression was inevitable. Jesus taught that even weakness may +be divine, and lo! from every civilized land slavery has already gone, +and from the world it is fast disappearing. + +According to the orthodox economic doctrine, supply and demand was the +law that should govern the relation between employer and employee. The +largest profit and the smallest wages was the watchword. As the teaching +of Jesus has penetrated further into the dealings of man with man +employers are beginning to realize that labor has to do with human +beings; that manhood is enduring and that conditions are ephemeral; and +that whosoever oppresses his brother, even in the name of economic law, +at last will have to reckon with the Almighty. Thus a new and more +beneficent social order is slowly but surely emerging. + +The doctrine of the survival of the fittest is, even now, applied to men +where the teaching of Jesus that Providence has made a way for the +survival of the unfit is unknown or ignored. In all lands the revelation +in Jesus of the ideal manhood, and of the destiny toward which all men +are moving is changing and glorifying human society. He is the one whom +"the low-browed beggar," and the criminal with a vicious heredity, are +some time to approach. Is it difficult to select the one phrase of all +human utterances which has exerted the largest influence in ameliorating +the human condition? Would it not be,--"Inasmuch as ye did it unto one +of the least of these, ye did it unto Me." The identification of +humanity with Deity, the revelation of the divine in the human, the +solemn truth that no one can injure or neglect his brother without, at +the same time, violating all that is sacred and holy in the universe is +the culminating point in the revelation of man to himself. In the light +which Jesus sheds on humanity all men appear in their enduring rather +than their transitory relations. + +The life and teaching of Jesus make the awful and insoluble mystery of +suffering endurable. He satisfies no curiosity on this subject. Why +suffering is permitted He does not tell us. He never allowed himself to +be diverted from His one purpose, which was not to solve problems but to +improve conditions. If any one approaches the New Testament expecting to +find an answer to his speculative questions he will be disappointed; but +if he asks, How may I so use the conditions in which I am placed that +they will minister to my spiritual purification and power? he will +receive a definite and satisfying reply. Why need sorrow, suffering, +sin, and death invade the fair realm into which man has been born? Other +teachers seek to answer this question but Jesus is silent. How may +sorrow, suffering, and even moral evil be made ministers of an upward +movement? On this subject Jesus speaks with a tone of authority. Among +the world's teachers He was the first to declare that while austere +experiences are not good in themselves they may, uniformly, become means +of moral and spiritual progress. The sweet may always be found in the +bitter. Sorrow may always be made a blessing. Tears never need be +wasted. Struggle always adds to strength; and sympathy is multiplied +when one bears the grief and carries the burden of another. + +Do not brood over what you are called to endure, but seek for the +secret of spiritual help which is hidden within, and you will find that +on every grief and every pain you may rise, as on stepping-stones, to +higher things. + +Jesus was the supreme optimist. Those who study life and history in the +light which shines from Him see that no human being walks with aimless +feet. They do not think of men as unrelated units, but as bound by love +to one another, and as living under the eye and in the strength of God. +In that light sorrow and pain may be justified, even though in +themselves they are hateful. The poison which destroys life, if rightly +used, will save life. + +Apart from God and His purpose of love, nothing is more to be dreaded +than pain; but in His hands pain becomes the servant and not the master +of men. + +I can think of nothing more dreary than the study of human life and +history apart from the interpretations put upon them by Jesus. Then one +generation seems to follow another, and the long procession, even though +the character of those composing it steadily improves, always ends at +the same goal,--the grave. Millions live and die like the beasts that +perish. They aspire, struggle, and are determined to rise, but just when +they are fitted to endure, and to enter upon ampler spheres of service, +the curtain falls on the tragedy, the stage scenery is changed, a new +company of players takes their places, and the farce, for it is a farce +as well as a tragedy, goes on from century to century, and there is no +meaning in anything. If that were the true interpretation of life, on +earth's loftiest mountain there might well be raised a temple in honor +of death; and around it all the races of men be invited to join in the +chorus, "Happy is the next one who dies!" + +But a better interpretation of human life's mystery has been given. +Jesus looked over its apparent desolation and confusion and poured upon +it divine light. He taught that it is not the Father's will that even +one should perish. Men are not being ground in an infinite mill, but +they are being refined and purified by the only processes which will +develop in them both strength and beauty. Out of confusion harmony will +come, and out of the battle of the elements peace will dawn at last. + +To those who know that pain and sorrow are ministers of strength and +sympathy, that by them narrow horizons are widened and deserts made to +blossom, human life does not seem so confused and terrible as it has +sometimes been pictured. Jesus makes evident the upward movement of the +race, and shows, let me repeat, that it is "under the eye and in the +strength of God." He was made perfect through suffering. The thorns on +His brow tell their own pathetic story. The passion vine above His head, +and beneath His feet, indicate that even His sufferings are not without +a purpose of blessing, and therefore are fully justified. + +And now we approach the saddest of all the dark experiences through +which the soul passes,--the mystery of sin. Of its enormity I have +already spoken; but what about its origin, its uses, and its +continuance? The question of its origin Jesus does not even mention. It +is not recognized as having any uses. It may be made an occasion of +good, but it is never ordained in order that good may come. Hardly any +other subject occupies so large a place in the teachings of Jesus. It +was said of Him, "His name shall be called Jesus, for He shall save His +people from their sins;" and of Him Paul wrote, "God commendeth His love +toward us in that when we were yet sinners Christ died for us." + +The terrible blight of moral evil, whatever its genesis, cannot be +explained away. Jesus passed by all other questions and devoted the +largest part of His ministry, as a teacher, to showing how the soul may +escape from the power, and be delivered from the bondage, of sin. This +is the practical problem. As one surveys the race the imperative inquiry +concerns deliverance. What light does Jesus shed upon this mystery? He +shows that sin is an incident in the ascent of the soul, and not an end; +that it is hateful and unnatural; and that all the strength and goodness +of God are pledged to its removal. The soul will be allowed to be in +bondage only so long as is necessary for its complete emancipation. +Moral evil is tolerated at all not because it is a good in itself, but +in order that the soul may learn that its safety and strength are to be +found only in conformity to the will of God. + +Jesus reveals the way of escape and thus confers upon the race the +greatest of possible blessings. This he does by the revelation of the +Fatherhood of God, which is not only compassionate but also holy. +Because God is the Father of all souls, when any one ceases to do evil +and begins to do well, or in other words repents, he finds a welcome and +help waiting for him. And Jesus clearly indicates, also, that in the +constitution of the soul, and in the inexorableness of moral law, there +is a deep remedial agency which is ever active, giving no individual +rest until it finds it in God. The tragedy of the cross was preeminently +a revelation. The cross is the manifestation, in terms of human life, of +the passion of the universe and of God. There must be suffering in all +who are good, until sin disappears. + +The cross is the revelation of the Eternal God in sacrifice for the +redemption of souls in bondage to selfishness and animalism. Jesus +taught that sin is to be abolished. By means of the revelations of +holiness, the sacrifices of love, the remedial agency in the universe, +and by His own new life the forces of evil are to be broken, and the +soul allowed to enter into its freedom as a child of God. This is not a +subject for definition and dogmatism. The greatest things cannot be +defined, but they may be appropriated. The light, the air, gravitation +and all elemental forces transcend definition. The love of God revealed +on the cross is too holy and too transcendent for "scheme and plan." It +may be accepted in a spirit of worship, but it can be comprehended no +more than the process by which rain and soil are transmuted into +nourishment, and light into physical strength and beauty. The cross is +the pledge of the redemption of the soul through the love and power of +God; and beyond that we have no knowledge except that wherever that +cross has been lifted up men have been drawn unto truth and virtue, love +and brotherhood. + +More than poetry and sentiment has found expression in a popular hymn +which thrills with a power which has been verified again and again in +human history: + + "In the cross of Christ I glory, + Towering o'er the wrecks of time + All the light of sacred story + Gathers round its head sublime." + +Jesus has furnished no clew to the origin of moral evil, but He has +given to the hope that it is to be overcome in the individual, the race, +and the universe, the testimony of His teaching and the emphasis of His +death. + +Which is the greater mystery, life or death? A satisfying answer is +impossible, since we cannot think of one without thinking of its +opposite. What is life? Whence is it? Why is it? Such are some of the +questions which arise and elicit no response when one meditates upon the +mystery of living. What is death? What purpose does it serve? Is it an +end or a beginning? Such are some of the inquiries which cannot be +escaped when one, for even a few moments, looks, as all some time must +look, on the still and peaceful face of one who has ceased to breathe. +Who shall answer our questions? Of all who have attempted to fathom +these depths One alone has brought a message which is satisfying both to +the minds and hearts of those who think. Does any light from Jesus +penetrate the mystery of death? What others have groped after he has +declared. He taught that the universe is like a house of many rooms, and +that dying is but passing from one room to another. In His own +experience He illustrated His teachings. He ministered to His +disciples; He communed with those whom He loved until their hearts +burned within them. Then He disappeared and has been seen no more. But +why did He appear at all after death? Was it not to confirm the message +of the Transfiguration that those who seem to die only change the mode +of their existence, and continue their companionships and ministries +even after they have laid aside their bodies? + +In the passage in the Gospel of Matthew, which may be called the parable +of the judgment, Jesus taught that the moral order is not changed by the +transition from bodily to disembodied existence. The thoughts which men +think, and the actions which they perform, affect the substance of the +soul. Evil works misery and virtue leads to happiness beyond the grave +as well as here. Seed sown on the earth may grow to its harvest in the +ages that lie beyond. + +This is all the light on this subject that we need now. Death removes +no one beyond the watch and care of the infinite love. In the home of +the Heavenly Father His children pass from place to place, as He calls. +Jesus appeared to those who loved Him, and was recognized by them, and +that indicates that, whatever the changes of the future, the spiritual +body will be recognized by all who love. + +The moral order is universal, and no change will touch the everlasting +distinctions between right and wrong, or diminish the obligation to +choose the right and refuse the wrong. + +These are some of the lessons which are impressed upon us as we meditate +upon the life and teachings of Jesus and their relation to the ascent of +the soul. + +He is the light of all souls. Into the darkness His glory has been +extending and expanding from His own time until now. If we may judge +the future from the past, it is easy to believe that this radiance will +not fail from among men until all realize that life and death, time and +eternity, humanity and history, are beset behind and before by the +Divine Fatherhood; that the goal of the race is the fullness of Christ; +that the severest experiences sometimes achieve the best results; that +sin will not forever darken the history of humanity; that death is a +passage not an abyss; an opening not a closing; a beginning not an +ending; and that beyond stretch opportunities of limitless life and +immortal growth. + + + + +THE INSEPARABLE COMPANION + + + The prayers I make will then be sweet indeed, + If Thou the Spirit give by which I pray: + My unassisted heart is barren clay, + Which of its native self can nothing feed: + Of good and pious works Thou art the seed, + Which quickens only where Thou say'st it may + Unless Thou show to us Thine own true way, + No man can find it: Father! Thou must lead. + Do Thou, then, breathe those thoughts into my mind + By which such virtue may in me be bred + That in Thy holy footsteps I may tread; + The fetters of my tongue do Thou unbind, + That I may have the power to sing of Thee, + And sound Thy praises everlastingly. + + --_Sonnet from Michael Angelo._ Wordsworth. + + + + +VIII + +_THE INSEPARABLE COMPANION_ + + +As the soul moves along its upward pathway it gradually becomes +conscious of many inspiring truths. Among the most delightful and +helpful of these is the fact that it is never alone, but is one of a +great company all pressing toward the same goal and all passing through +substantially the same experiences. In the midst of these +companionships, which are variable, and of these experiences which can +seldom be predicted, it slowly becomes aware that there is one +companionship which is constant, beneficent, and singularly +illuminating. The realization of this fellowship is intensely +individual. Of it others may speak, but concerning it they can give +little information. The full consciousness is always a personal one. +Having once enjoyed communion with the Over-soul it is difficult to +imagine that any are ever without this supreme spiritual privilege. +Sometimes the sense of spiritual cooeperation is so vivid and continuous, +so compassionate and helpful, as to be almost startling--in those +moments when it seems to beset us behind and before. The process by +which a soul becomes conscious that it is forever attended by a +companion, whose one object seems to be to help it toward the spiritual +heights, will repay the most careful examination. To that delightful and +difficult study we will now turn. + +Before it has advanced far on its pathway the soul becomes painfully +aware of the dangers by which it is surrounded and of the obstacles +which it must overcome. The road before it seems to be infested with +enemies. Its defeats are frequent and humiliating. It learns much by +experience; but the more it learns the clearer it seems to discern the +difficulties which it must meet. In the midst of the confusion and +failure it slowly becomes aware that warning voices are speaking, and +that they are loudest when moral peril is near. This is one of those +simple facts which may be verified by every thoughtful man, but which no +thoughtful man would ever dream of trying to explain. So simple and +elemental is this truth that it may best be enforced by commonplace +illustrations, and by something like a personal appeal. + +A very distinguished man was one day walking with a friend along a +street in Edinburgh, when they came to one of the numerous wynds which +lead from the main thoroughfare into the midst of huge and gloomy +buildings. There the man stopped and asked to be excused while he +entered the wynd. Returning, after a moment, he explained his act by +saying that, in his young manhood, he had been tempted to do something +which would have wrecked his life. Just as he came to the place that he +had visited there sounded in his ears such a vivid warning as made it +morally impossible for him to proceed on his course of wrong-doing. He +felt sure that that voice was from above, for his whole nature, until +that instant, seemed to have been set on what would have led to moral +ruin. + +Another person testified that he was once on the verge of doing what +would have brought him undying disgrace when, as if she had been drawn +out of the air, his mother stood before him, looking reproachfully at +him. Thus the fascination of temptation was broken by what he always +believed to have been a veritable spiritual presence. + +Another experience is perfectly attested. A man in a distinguished +position did wrong, and was in peril of still greater wrong when +something, he could not have explained what, not only warned him but +kept warning him and following him so that he could not escape. If he +closed his eyes his danger became more vivid; if he stopped his ears +voices of reproach found their way in. He loved his wrong and would move +toward it, but then invisible hands seemed to hold him back until the +time of danger was past, and he was confirmed in right ways. Such +experiences are too numerous and varied to be doubted. No facts are +better attested. It may be said that they are only the usual warnings of +conscience. Be it so. Then what is conscience? The factors in the +problem are not materially changed, for the phenomena of conscience are +as remarkable, constant, and verifiable as light and heat. Most men who +have recorded their experiences, and who have observed with care the +workings of their own faculties, have been conscious of being attended +by some invisible presence warning them against evil. The explanation of +this phenomenon may be left for later consideration. + +Closely allied to warnings against moral danger, which are so vivid as +sometimes to be almost audible, are the evidences of what may be called +spiritual protection. The idea of guardian angels and tutelary deities +arose naturally and inevitably. Many who have been astonishingly +delivered from spiritual peril have been able to find no other +explanation of their escape. Those who receive the confidences of their +fellow-men have little difficulty in believing such a story as was once +confided to me. An able and prominent man who had, resolutely as he +thought, turned from a course of conduct which threatened disaster, +found himself drawn toward the evil from which he supposed that he had +been forever delivered. The attraction seemed to be resistless. Again +and again he was on the verge of falling when the fall would have been +ruin. Then something made it morally impossible for him to enter upon +the path which he had determined to follow. The means used to dissuade +him were various. Sometimes a friend would call, then a duty would +intervene, then some obligation would press until, to use his own way of +phrasing it,--"it seemed as if some unseen person who could read my +thoughts and desires was walking by my side and, as fast as I was in +danger of yielding to evil, ordering events so as to prevent me from +doing what I wanted to do." + +Few men who are trying to live on spiritual levels would hesitate to +acknowledge that they have been the subjects of similar protection. The +peculiar feature about it all is that the agents used are so often +entirely unconscious of the influence which they are exerting. An +unseen hand seems to be guiding our moves on the chess-board of life, so +as to check us every time that we are inclined to play falsely. I do not +mean that all are persuaded toward virtue, but I do mean that enough are +protected from moral evil and spiritual peril to justify the belief that +such ministries are around all; and that those who choose to do wrong do +so in the face of spiritual appeals which, if they would but give them +heed, would make resistance of evil easy and successful. If any one who +reads these words doubts my conclusions, let him study his own life, +with a little care, and learn for himself whether there are not many +hours in which he is almost persuaded to accept the ancient doctrine of +guardian angels. + +This phase of the spiritual experience is rendered still more vivid when +we remember that the souls of men are perpetually dissatisfied with +present attainments, and ever eager in their efforts to explore the +unseen. The history of human thought, if it could be written, would show +that the mind has never been satisfied with what it has possessed, and +that each new glimpse of truth has stimulated still more ardent inquiry. +The more it is pondered the more impressive this fact becomes. The soul +seems to have had just before it, in all the stages of its development, +a spiritual forerunner opening a way into larger and fairer realms. This +consciousness is not akin to a passion for wealth. A man with enormous +riches often ceases to acquire, and devotes himself to the enjoyment of +what he possesses; but who ever heard of a thoughtful man who felt that +he might cease investigating and devote himself to the pleasures of +knowledge? Such instances there may have been, but they are not numerous +and have never been recorded. + +Of course there are many, who in no true sense can be called seekers +after truth, who do not trouble themselves with questions about the +Unseen. They chew the cud of custom with all the placidity of +good-natured oxen. They do not live,--they simply exist. It is possible +for any man to shut his eyes to the light, but that does not banish the +light. It envelops him, and pours its splendors around him, regardless +of his wilful blindness. Millions are so engrossed with selfishness, or +animalism, that they catch the accents of no spiritual message, but +those appeals are never hushed. The deafness of the multitudes who will +not hear does not prove that no voices are calling. + +In some way men have been kept dissatisfied with their ignorance and +persistent in their search for truth. I make no distinction between +sacred and secular here because all truth is sacred. Scientist and +theologian alike have to do with reality. Whether we examine the tracks +of an extinct animal on ancient rocks, or bow our heads in prayer, we +are facing a real world which is steadily enlarging. For centuries men +have sought the causes of things; they have been made to feel that they +ought to do right, and then have been inspired with a passion to +discover the right. This is very wonderful. The being who has almost +limitless powers of physical enjoyment, whose senses are exquisitely +fitted for pleasure, is not satisfied with pleasure, but, in obedience +to unseen attractions, ever seeks for higher things. Whence does this +eagerness come? Is it from man himself? Then our problem is great +indeed, for, at one and the same time, something within himself impels +him upward, and another something drags him downward. But the point for +special consideration now is that the soul is never satisfied with +anything but truth, that the history of thought is the record of the +search for truth, that every new discovery has acted as a stimulus to +still more ardent exploration, and that the search is always for +elemental realities, the causes of phenomena, for "things as they are." +The promise of Jesus was fulfilled long before it was spoken. Some one, +in all the ages, has been leading into truth and showing things to come; +and the process was never more evident than after all these years of +intellectual and spiritual progress. I say some one has led. By that I +mean a personal spirit, unseen, but ever present; for how could he whose +home is in the mire be supposed, steadily and unwaveringly, to reach +toward the skies unless there was some attraction in the skies? The only +attraction for one spirit is another spirit. This age-long, unwavering +passion for truth and progress, the wisest of men have believed to have +been inspired by Providence or God or by guardian angels--which after +all are only other ways of stating the doctrine of Jesus concerning the +Holy Spirit. + +Another phase of this subject is the power, which has seemed to come +from outside the soul, to sustain and help those who have been called to +endure bitter and long-continued sorrow and pain. Those who feel +themselves to be weak as water under the stress of severe trial, almost +without previous suggestion, assume the proportions of heroes. They +endure and suffer with patience what would crush those who are only +physically brave and strong. A woman who seemed to have few resources in +herself, suddenly lost four children. In speaking of it, she very simply +but forcefully, said: "I could never have endured it myself." She +believed that her fragility had been reinforced by one stronger than +herself. Exceptional physical courage will account for deeds of amazing +heroism like that displayed at the sinking of the Merrimac in the +harbor of Santiago. Some persons are thus gifted by nature, as others +have a poetic temperament. But exhibitions of physical valor, stimulated +by the consciousness of world-wide applause, are very different from the +patience with which weak persons accept heavy burdens without a murmur, +and carry them apparently without assistance, sustained only by the +consciousness of being right. + +How shall we explain the singular devotion of Monica to Augustine? By +mother-love? But mother-love might have been content with the greatness +of her son, and his regard for her. She bore on her heart "the salvation +of his soul," and would not cease in her quest for his spiritual +welfare. A profligate father, the degraded ideals which justified vice, +distances which seemed to be almost world-wide, did not daunt her. +Without haste and without rest she sought to bring her gifted son to +his Saviour. He had fame, and at least all the wealth that he needed, +but Monica never faltered in her prayers, or in her service, until her +son bowed before the cross, albeit for years she carried a heavy heart. + +The age of martyrdom has passed but not the age in which men of vision +and strength have to serve their fellow-men with neither pecuniary +compensation nor expressed approval. And yet the number is steadily +increasing who quietly undertake herculean tasks for their fellow-men, +knowing that they will be neither appreciated nor understood, but, +instead, will have to suffer social ostracism, which is sometimes quite +as hard to endure as physical martyrdom. When a strong and earnest man +undertakes a service in which he must be misunderstood, and seldom if +ever applauded, when he chooses suffering with joy in order that he may +serve others, when he is willing to accept discomfort, social hunger, +physical pain, and without complaint continue in such a path, although +opportunities of worldly emolument and honor make their appeals to him, +it is difficult to explain the phenomena by simply saying that he is +finding strength in some hitherto unknown chamber of his own +personality. It would be easy to make a list of illustrations, long and +pathetic, of those who have patiently endured tribulation, who have +accepted heavy burdens and carried them without flinching that others +might be relieved, who have had physical deformity, depression of mind, +and pain of body, and yet who have never faltered as to their duty even +when the way was dark. The world's noblest heroes are to be found among +those who suffer but still endure and aspire in the night and silence, +clinging to duty when no one understands, and much less approves. Such +heroisms need explanation, and they have it in the inspiration and the +regeneration which are mediated by the Inseparable Spiritual Companion. + +Phenomena like those of which I have thus far been speaking have been +observed in every age and every land. Some like Socrates have felt +themselves warned against evil courses; others like Augustine have been +protected from moral and spiritual death; others like Sakya-Muni have +been led to give up wealth and power for truth and service; others, who +could draw upon no hidden source of strength, have been sustained in the +midst of trials which have seemed heavy enough to crush; and, most +wonderful of all, in spite of all vices and crimes, all darkness and +ignorance, all bondage to ignoble ideals and slavery to commercialism +and pleasure, the race of man has never been content with things as they +have been. As the moon draws the tides by unseen attractions, so by +unseen attractions the souls of men have been made dissatisfied, and +drawn toward truth and beauty, love and holiness; and this desire for +some better country has never been absent. The passage from Egypt to the +promised land is the eternal parable of humanity, which is always +getting out of some Egypt, with its slavery and tyranny, and pressing +toward some intellectual and spiritual Canaan. This is one of the most +marvelous facts in the history of our race--its discontent with things +as they are, its faith in something better, and the perfect confidence +with which it embarks on unknown seas in its search for ampler and +fairer worlds. + +The history of the past is the record of the weak receiving strength, of +the wicked being made uncomfortable in their wickedness, of limited and +provincial creatures reaching out to broad and high horizons, of +weakness, suffering, agony, willingly endured in the confidence that +relief and blessing will come at last, though far off, to all. + +Moreover, there is no indication of any cessation of such phenomena. In +these days, when we say that no man should be asked to affirm anything +which he cannot verify, voices of warning and entreaty are vivid, the +consciousness of protection is distinct, support in trial is frequent, +and the evidence that some force, or some person, is steadily leading +humanity toward truth and righteousness is as convincing and constant as +ever. + +What shall be said of these facts which are so numerous and so evident +as to make an effort at classification and explanation imperative? + +Four answers to this inquiry are possible. Is the old doctrine of +Guardian Angels true? Possibly we may be, individually, under the care +of spiritual beings who are appointed for that service. That conviction +often prevails, although so far as I have observed, not usually in +association with perfect sanity. A man of noble bearing and grave and +solemn manner who was talking about using the telephone for +trans-Atlantic communication, once declared that all men living now are +under the leadership of those who have gone, and that the great of other +times are continuing their work through those now on earth. He added: "I +am confident of my success for I am the representative in these days of +Sir Isaac Newton." Subsequent events proved that Sir Isaac Newton must +have lost most of his common sense since his departure from the earth, +or he would have chosen a more rational representative. + +This theory in no way solves the problem before us, but rather +complicates it, because it does not explain how the relation of souls is +adjusted. That there may be some truth in this speculation may be freely +granted. One text at least appears to give it a little confirmation: +"Are not their angels ministering spirits sent forth to minister to such +as shall be the heirs of salvation." That seems to teach that some who +have never dwelt in earthly bodies are the appointed ministers of those +who live on the earth. + +Many other persons dismiss this subject by saying that all souls, like +all objects in nature and events in history, are parts of an everlasting +and universal process, and that speculation is useless and a weariness +to the flesh. That is the easiest way out of the difficulty, but it can +be taken only by ignoring the facts. Are all ideas concerning spiritual +ministry delusions? Then how shall we account for the imagination which +is capable of giving birth to such magnificent dreams? And we may +venture to ask also--Who started this movement in which we are all +involved? How comes it that in this cosmic loom such a wondrous fabric +is being woven, if there is no pattern, and no weaver, and will be no +one to enjoy the work when it is finished? + +Possibly no one is warned against sin, impelled toward virtue, supported +in sorrow, led into larger visions of truth; and, possibly, truth and +right are also dreams, and the mind itself a delusion; and, possibly, +there is nothing but delusion. Then all study and struggle are useless; +let us go to sleep. But, some one else says, perhaps the phenomena of +which you speak are, in one sense, realities but caused by reactions of +the soul on itself. First it imagines that some spiritual leadership is +desirable, and then it concludes that that leadership is discernible. In +other words, sorrow, sin, relief, joy, truth, right, are only +imaginations born of other imaginations. If any are satisfied with such +reasoning the task of enlightening them is hopeless. + +There is another explanation of the sublime, ancient, and world-wide +facts which are before us. It is the answer of Jesus, which is simple, +profound, rational, and satisfying. He told His disciples, when they +were grieving that they should see Him no more, that they would always +have with them the Spirit of Truth who would convict of sin, show things +to come, and lead into all truth. That Spirit in the Scriptures is +called by one of the sweetest and dearest names in the languages of +men--the Comforter. Some have wrongly imagined that the New Testament +teaches that the presence of the Comforter is a new event in human +history. Not so. The Spirit of Truth inspired and sustained the Apostles +and Martyrs as He had sustained the Patriarchs and Prophets and the same +Spirit which is represented as descending upon Jesus at His baptism +brooded upon the face of the waters when the earth was without form and +void. + +Jesus teaches that God, as a Spirit, has never been absent from His +creation and never out of touch with the spirits of men. In the +beginning He created; later He inspired, supported, taught, comforted; +and always and everywhere He is present to sustain, to lead, to comfort, +to help, to save, and to bless. How simple, rational, and satisfying is +this interpretation of the phenomena of human history! + +We study our own spiritual experiences and discover that when we have +been in danger of being contented with moral failure we have been made +ashamed and disgusted by it; that when we have been on the verge of +yielding to temptation we have been strangely and almost preternaturally +protected; that when sorrows have come which would have crushed our +unaided strength we have experienced strange peace and have had +undreamed-of strength; and that never for a moment have we found rest or +peace except as they have come to us in hand with truth and right. A +wider study shows us that our experiences are in harmony with the common +human experience. All forces and all events, in all ages, have been +working for the welfare of individuals, society, the whole world. A +steady, unfailing, universal attraction has been drawing the human race +away from animalism, error, sorrow, war, separation and division, toward +righteousness, truth, love, brotherhood, the life of the Spirit, and the +unity and happiness of the children of God. + +That attraction is interpreted by Jesus in a simple and beautiful way. +He has taught us that the same Being who created the universe, and who +has revealed and is revealing Himself in creation, in history, and in +the earthly ministry of the Christ, is now, always has been, and always +will be in the most intimate, personal, and loving relations with men. +He warns them against evil, protects them in danger, comforts them in +sorrow, lifts their thoughts and desires toward the true, the beautiful, +and the good; and what He is doing for individuals He is also doing for +humanity and the universe. This is the culmination of the Christian +Revelation. This is to be the consummation and splendor of the Kingdom +of God. All the disciples of Jesus are followers of the Spirit of Truth. +The Spirit of Truth is the inspiration of all that is vital and enduring +in literature, art, government, society; and each individual, and "the +whole cosmic process" are being led by Him toward the beatitude of the +Children of God. + + + + +NURTURE AND CULTURE + + + O happy house! whose little ones are given + Early to Thee, in faith and prayer,-- + To Thee, their Friend, who from the heights of heaven + Guards them with more than mother's care. + O happy house! where little voices + Their glad hosannas love to raise, + And childhood's lisping tongue rejoices + To bring new songs of love and praise. + + O happy house! and happy servitude! + Where all alike one Master own; + Where daily duty, in Thy strength pursued, + Is never hard nor toilsome known; + Where each one serves Thee, meek and lowly, + Whatever thine appointments be, + Till common tasks seem great and holy, + When they are done as unto Thee. + + --_O Happy House._ Karl J.P. Spitta. + + + + +IX + +_NURTURE AND CULTURE_ + + +In the ascent of the soul two forces are ever at work: one is internal +and the other external. The internal is that which promotes growth; it +is resident within the soul, and, while it may be modified by +conditions, it is in no sense dependent on them. But environment is a +potent factor in all progress. Life necessitates growth, but environment +determines the end toward which it will move. Environment in large part +is composed of the circumstances into which we are born, of the +spiritual companionship from which none can escape, and of the training +which is provided by parents and friends. So much of the environment as +is furnished by others we will call nurture, and those influences and +instruments of advancement which the soul chooses for itself we will +call culture. This discrimination is not entirely accurate, but it is +sufficiently so for our present purpose. It at least indicates the lines +along which our thought will move. According to this definition nurture +has to do with that period of our existence when we are not able wisely +to make choices for ourselves. It is for those persons who are in +infancy and early youth, and also for those whose normal development has +been thwarted or hindered. The influences of the home, and of the church +so far as they are related to its younger members, are in the line of +nurture rather than of culture. + +Culture, on the other hand, is something which a responsible being seeks +for himself, to the end that his power may be increased and his +faculties have harmonious development. + +The soul grows according to its innate tendencies; it is also subject +to attractions from without. All souls are bound together; and all, +whether they wish or not, vitally and permanently affect those by whom +they are surrounded. Hence nurture and culture alike are both conscious +and unconscious. + +The growth of the soul is largely affected by the nurture which it +receives. This is usually provided for it by parents, or by those who +take the places of the parents; and, where possible, their unwearying +efforts should be to remove all obstacles from the pathway of their +children, to surround them with a pure and helpful environment, and to +provide them with such training as will make their progress inevitable +and easy. The importance of wholesome domestic influences cannot be +exaggerated. Their part in the formation of character is greater than +that of all others, because they touch the powers and faculties of the +child during those years in which it is most plastic. Neither the +school nor the university can ever entirely counteract the effect of the +home. The whole period of childhood is one in which the soul is under +tutelage, and in which more is done for it by others than by itself. It +can no more select its own environment than it could have chosen its +parents, or the time and place of its birth. For a few years it is +utterly dependent. The question as to how its growth may most wisely be +promoted is, therefore, one of surpassing importance. + +The object of nurture is to provide an unhindered path along which the +soul may move, to bring into full and free exercise all the powers which +it possesses, and to secure for them development and harmony. To insure +for each individual soul in the struggle of life a fair opportunity to +be itself is the end of nurture. Emerson has said that at birth every +child is loaded with bias, and that the purpose of culture is to remove +all impediment and bias, and to secure a balance among the faculties so +as to leave nothing but pure power. The same may be said as to the +object of nurture. Since impediment and bias are never a part of the +essence of the soul, the statement that the aim of nurture is to furnish +a full and free opportunity for each individual to secure a normal +development is, practically, identical with what Emerson has said of +culture. + +What are the agencies which have most to do with promoting the ascent of +the soul? The first is atmosphere. In a bright, clear, sunshiny +atmosphere the body attains its most healthful growth. So with the soul. +Atmosphere is one of those intangible things that every one understands +and no one can easily define. It is composed of a thousand different +elements. The atmosphere of a household is the spirit by which it is +pervaded. Are all reverent, earnest, cheerful, optimistic? Do love and +mutual helpfulness prevail? Do the members of the family live as if God +were a near and blessed reality, and right and duty were more sacred +than life? Then there will be an atmosphere of hopefulness, devotion, +service, reverence, pure religion, which will affect all as sunlight and +air, unconsciously but evidently, grow into the beauty and fruitfulness +of meadows and gardens. The rare spirituality, the urbane manner, the +exquisite regard for others, the dignity and deference which are found +in some persons have no explanation except that they have been absorbed +from the households in which their early lives were passed. Nurture is +chiefly a matter of mental and spiritual atmosphere. Attraction is +always stronger than compulsion. A child born into conditions in which +love prevails, where truth, duty, honor, are reverenced, and where all +dwelling together seek the highest things, will need neither instruction +in morals nor motives in religion. It will naturally turn toward truth +and righteousness. It will revere virtue and worship God as inevitably +and spontaneously as it breathes. We are all influenced more by the +words which we hear and the examples which we see than by the lessons +given us to learn, by the spirit of a man, or an institution, rather +than by rules. Persons show the conditions in which they have been +reared by their choice of words, their bearing, the subjects of their +conversation, by their mental and spiritual attitude. Reverence is +seldom found except in an atmosphere of reverence, and sincerity grows +among those who are sincere. It is a moral necessity that some men +should be earnest and enthusiastic, and impossible for their neighbors +to be other than cringing and mean. The largest element in environment +is atmosphere, and in the development of character environment is quite +as potent as heredity. Indeed, in the sphere of the spirit, as in that +of the body, heredity is always modified by environment. The chief +factor in nurture, therefore, is atmosphere. If that is healthful, +growth will be toward beauty and strength; if that is malarial, no +antiseptic force but the grace of God will be able to counteract its +influence. + +Next to atmosphere as an element in nurture I place ideals. For these +children are usually dependent on their elders. They reverence what they +are taught to revere. Ideals are placed before them by example and by +precept. Children grow like those whose deeds attract them, and they +seek those ideals toward which they are most wisely directed. Laws are +never as potent in the formation of character as examples. Men are made +brave by the sight of bravery, and honorable by contact with those who +will swear to their own hurt and change not. There is deep philosophy in +the saying that the songs of a people influence their institutions and +history more than legal enactments, for songs are usually of bravery, of +love, of victory. They create ideals; they excite enthusiasm. The +Marseillaise and The Watch on the Rhine send thrills through the blood +of those who hear them because in the most vivid way they suggest +patriotism and heroism. A good man inspires goodness. Philanthropy makes +others philanthropic. One courageous act sometimes makes heroes of a +hundred common men. If a father would have his son physically brave, and +he is a wise parent, he will not waste time in urging him to undertake +some forlorn hope, but he will read to him the story of the Greeks at +Thermopylae, of Marshal Ney at Waterloo, of Nathan Hale and his holy +martyrdom, of Nelson at Trafalgar. If he would have that son a helper +and servant of his fellow-men he will tell him the story of Pastor +Fliedner and his work at Kaiserwerth, of Florence Nightingale at the +Crimea, of Wilberforce and Buxton, Whittier and Garrison in their +efforts to awaken their fellow-men to the enormity of human slavery. The +strongest force for making a young man brave and generous, honorable and +Christian, is the example of a father possessing such qualities. Men are +usually like their ideals, and their ideals in large part are created by +the examples of those who are most admired and loved. + +But example is not all. Training also does much. Conduct is but the +expression of thought. If one can determine what shall be the subject of +another's thinking, he will have gone a long way toward fixing his +character. This is a fact which deserves more attention than it has yet +received in plans for the education of the people. Parents have no +holier privilege than that of directing the thought of their children. +By their own conversation, by the friends whom they invite to their +homes, by the books which are given a place on their tables, by the +amusements to which they take their families, they determine for them +the channels in which their minds shall run. As a man thinketh in his +heart so is he. Boys usually dwell upon the same subjects as their +fathers, unless the fathers by skilful conversation are able to hide the +subjects to which they give most time. Children usually admire what +their parents admire, and shun what they shun. The organic unity of the +household is a large factor in individual and social progress. Both by +direct effort, and by the indirect operation of example, it furnishes +subjects for the youthful mind. The personality, whose seat is in the +will, is never determined, but it is very largely influenced both by the +example of those who are admired and by the thoughts which they +suggest. + +Environment in large part is composed of atmosphere, example, and +ideals. All these are provided for the growing child by others. He has +little or no voice in saying what they shall be. And environment has +more to do with the progress of the soul toward full and free +self-expression even than what is called education. Education is more by +atmosphere, example, and mental suggestion than by teachers and +text-books. When we speak of nurture we usually think of the period of +discipline in school and church; but we often make the mistake of not +taking into account the fact that the most effective training is seldom +that which comes directly from teachers. It is rather that which is +derived indirectly from the atmosphere, example, and ideals by which the +child is surrounded in his home. If I could determine those for a child +I should dread very little any malign force in the shape of an +incompetent teacher. Schools, in reality, are only for the unfinished +work of the homes. They may make the child better than his home, and +they may undo the good work which it has done; but, usually, what the +home is the child will be some time. + +The agencies of nurture, by which a soul is helped on its upward +pathway, are atmosphere, example, ideals, and direct training. Of these +the least important is the last, although the value of that is +self-evident. By the intellectual and spiritual air that we breathe, by +the sight of heroic and consecrated service, by the possibilities of +noble achievement the best that is in a man or a boy is usually drawn +out. Afterward the teacher may take him in hand and, by training, remove +the impediment and bias and thus make a balance in the faculties, or +take out of his way the obstacles which oppose his progress; but he +seldom does very much toward determining the direction in which the +child will move. That is decided by others in the years which are most +plastic. The soul naturally, and inevitably, grows toward truth and God. +How could it be otherwise, since its being is derived from Him? But a +part of the mystery of growth is the influence of environment, and early +environment is almost altogether composed of the circumstances and +influences into which one is born. + +The question of nurture, therefore, is of vital importance. What shall +one generation do for those which are to come after it? Each soul may +hinder or help the growth of countless other souls. The influence of +those nearest is always most potent for good or ill. Impediment is +increased, and bias exaggerated, by evil example. The effort to rise +becomes easy when the way is seen to be full of those whom we love and +honor going before us toward the heights, and it is difficult when no +familiar face is seen. Nurture is not so much a matter of teacher and +text-book, of church and catechism, as of atmosphere, example, and +inspiration. It is the effect of the contact of one pure and noble soul +upon another; it is something which father, mother, and friends give to +the child; it is the result of the spirit in which they impart +instruction and of the reverence and consecration which shine from their +lives. + +The best and only enduring nurture is that of a sweet, serene, +optimistic, and thoroughly Christian environment. With that, inherited +tendencies toward weakness and evil will go of themselves,--indeed will +seem never to have had existence. + +But all too soon the time comes in which the soul faces its own +responsibility, and realizes that it must choose for itself what its +course shall be. It has learned, if it has observed, that there is ever +with it an unseen leadership, and it has heard, faint and far, the call +of a noble destiny. What shall it now do for itself? Shall it choose +simply to exist? Shall it yield to the limitations and solicitations of +the body? or, shall it seek to prepare itself by discipline, and the +cultivation of right choices, for the goal whose intimations it has +heard? Nurture, if it has been wise, has been the forerunner of culture. +Atmosphere and example have inspired lofty ideals, but those ideals, if +they are to be realized, will require training. Matthew Arnold, quoting +Bishop Wilson, has said that culture "is a study of perfection." In +other words, it is the means which are used for the perfection of the +soul. Shall we choose to leave ourselves to grow like trees in a forest, +however they may, or shall we seek those conditions which will make +progress sure and swift? Culture is always a matter of choice; and it is +vastly more than anything which can be taught in the college or +university. The cultured man is he who has learned so to use the forces +and conditions of life as to make them minister to his perfection. The +one most cultured may come out of a factory, and the man of least +culture may be found in a university. Indeed colleges and universities, +not infrequently, are haunts of provincialism and of dread of +enthusiasm. The object of culture is the perfection of the spirit to the +end that all that hinders, or limits, may disappear and only pure power, +clear vision, and full self-realization remain. Those whose growth is +most evident are ever eager to use all experiences as means of progress. +They study books in order that they may better understand what others +have thought concerning the mystery of existence; they discipline their +minds in order that they may the better serve their fellow-men; they +seek fineness of manner and beauty of expression to the end that their +utterance of truth may be more persuasive and convincing. Culture and +the discipline of life are identical. Consequently, the wise man chooses +to put himself where he will best be taught by the events through which +he passes, by what he sees, and by what he may learn from others. It +matters little who have been the teachers, or what have been the +schools,--the real teacher is always life, and the real university is +the human experience. + +I do not make light of the benefit which may be derived from books and +institutions of learning, but I do insist on the recognition of the +deeper fact that the lessons which no one can afford to neglect are +those which can be taught only by overcoming obstacles. We can learn how +to live only in the school of life. The most vital books are always +those which tell us what others have done, and of the paths by which +they have been led to power. What shall the soul do for itself in order +that it may promote its own growth? It must first recognize where the +sources of knowledge and strength are to be found, and then put itself +where it will feel the touch of the vitality which can come only from +other souls. Quickly enough every man reaches the time in which he may +determine his own environment. When we are young others choose our +circumstances for us, but when we become older we select them for +ourselves. That means much. No monarch is mighty enough to compel me to +associate with those who will hinder my progress. He only is a slave +whose mind and will are in bondage. My body may be with boors but, at +the same time, my spirit may be holding companionship with seers and +sages. I may be compelled to work in a mine like John the Apostle, but +I, too, like him may hear One speaking whose voice is as the sound of +many waters, and whose eyes are like a flame of fire. Our real +associates are ever our spiritual companions; and no one can force +another to hold fellowship with those who are either intellectually or +spiritually uncongenial. + +And we also select our own subjects of thought. Who can govern the +thinking of another? At the very moment when one, who is stronger, is +rejoicing in what seems his supremacy, our thoughts may be ranging +through the spaces, and finding companionships among the stars. And we +choose our own examples. In youth they were put before us according to +the will of others, but later our heroes come to us at our bidding, and +no one can shut the gates against them. Whom shall we admire? Let them +be men of the spirit, who have sought truth and hated lies, "who have +fought their doubts and gathered strength," who would rather suffer +wrong than do wrong. The perfection of being is the end of effort, +therefore we will read what will best help our growth in vision, in +moral earnestness, in spiritual sensibility; therefore our books shall +treat of subjects which will ennoble; our amusements shall be pure and +clean; and our chief companionships shall be with the prophets and +masters, the noble and the good, because by associating with them we +shall become like them. + +Intellectual acuteness, mastery of faculty, elegance of expression, are +something very different from insight into the meaning of life. The +cultured man is he who has learned his relations to his fellow-men, who +recognizes his obligations toward them; and his relations to the unseen +and his duty toward it. + +Discipline which will produce such results will ever be sought by the +awakened soul. It will be satisfied with nothing less. + +The relation of nurture and culture to the ascent of the soul is now +evident. Both are the agencies by which all impediment and bias are to +be removed, and by which the soul is to come to the realization of pure +power. They are the means by which complete self-realization is to be +attained; they are the study of perfection. Nurture is what is done for +the soul by parents and friends in its plastic years; culture is the +means which the soul chooses in order that its growth may be hastened. +Nurture is chiefly promoted by lofty examples, noble ideals,--in short, +by beneficent environment; but culture is attained by the conscious +effort of the individual, by his own choice of healthful environment, +worthy example, inspiring companionships, and, perhaps still more, by +long and patient study of the facts of our mortal life, of the +revelations which have come from the unseen, and of the prophecies of +the future which are within the soul. There is a deep and almost +terrible significance in the text, "No man liveth to himself." Every +person is independent and free and yet is bound to every other. Most +delicate and vital of all human relations is that of parent and child. +How far one may be responsible for the other may be difficult to decide, +but that the one influences the other, inevitably and forever, is beyond +question. In many ways the child is what he is made by the parent. +Therefore the welfare of the child as a spirit, and not merely as a +body, should be a continual study. He who has dared to become a parent +can never honorably shirk the duty of nurture. The connection between +souls is a great mystery, but the mystery does not lessen the +obligation. We are responsible not only for the existence of our +children, but equally for their growth. It is the parent's privilege to +make sure that they start on the journey of life properly equipped, and +with no undue obstacles in their pathway--to make them realize that they +are not only his children but also children of God; and that they are to +live not only in time but in eternity. + +The training of the body is needful, and that of the mind still more so, +but that of the spirit is absolutely essential to its welfare. Therefore +plans and provisions for nurture first, last, and always should be to +the end that the soul may realize that it is from God, and that its goal +and glory are union with Him. + +And those who realize that they are free, that they are in a moral +order, that a noble destiny awaits them, should make everything in +thought, in study, in association, in companionship, bend toward the +perfection of being, the development of power, and the realization of +the life of the spirit. Nurture does much for every man, his parents +and friends also do much but, at last, when all mysteries are disclosed +and self-revelation is complete, it may be found that each one does +quite as much for himself as any one else, or every one else, does for +him. + + + + +IS DEATH THE END? + + + It's wiser being good than bad; + It's safer being meek than fierce; + It's fitter being sane than mad. + My own hope is, a sun will pierce + The thickest cloud earth ever stretched; + That after Last, returns the First, + Though a wide compass round be fetched; + That what began best, can't end worst, + Nor what God blessed once, prove accurst. + + --_Apparent Failure._ Browning. + + + + +X + +_IS DEATH THE END?_ + + +We have been studying the ascent of the soul in the successive stages of +its development, from the dawn of consciousness to the measure of +progress which our race has now attained. But a dark shadow falls across +that history. No one has yet lived who has reached what all have +believed to be the fullness of his possible development. At a certain +period in physical history what we call death intervenes, and we are +left wondering as to whether that is the end of all, or whether the soul +persists and continues its advance unhindered by bodily limitations. +That death is the end of the body, in its present form, no one doubts; +but whether the relations of the soul to the body are so intimate and +enduring that what vitally affects one affects the other is a subject +concerning which there has been eager and constant inquiry, and but +little real knowledge. Job's question, "If a man die shall he live +again?" is the common question of humanity. The importance of the +subject is attested by the prominence which it has always had in human +thought. Philosophers have given it foremost place in their +speculations. Science, while seeking to explore every part of the +physical universe, never escapes from the fascination of this question. +Is the death of the body the end of the spirit? Or, if we have not +sufficient material for a positive statement, is there enough to make a +strong affirmation of probability? We are facing the deepest mystery +which is ever presented to thinking men. Heretofore we have been trying +to follow a history clearly marked in the progress of humanity; now we +can only balance probabilities. But all that has been learned concerning +the nature and development of the spirit of man not only warrants, but +compels, the belief that death is not the end of the soul; and that to +assert that it is, is to deny the revelations of the universe, and to +insist that there is nothing but irony and mockery where there ought to +be reason and wisdom. In treating this subject I can but repeat thoughts +which have been emphasized again and again; but it is so vital, and so +near to the welfare of all, that old arguments become new, and interest +in them increases, the more frequently they are emphasized. + +On what do we base our faith that the soul exists after death? That it +does is clearly the faith not only of religious teachers but of many of +the latest and most eminent scientists. Many expounders of evolutionary +philosophy unite in telling us that "the cosmic process" having reached +man, a spiritual being, can go no further in the physical order; that +evolution will never produce a higher being than a spirit, but that the +"cosmic" force will still persist and be utilized in the expansion and +perfection of spirits. + +In treating this subject little attention will be given to the +scriptural argument, for there is little if any difference of opinion +concerning the teaching of Jesus and that of the writers of the New +Testament. They are united and consistent in assuming the persistence of +being. That belief underlies all their appeals to the solemn sanctions +of the moral law which they derived from the future life. Jesus himself +said, "If it were not so, I would have told you;" and nearly, if not +quite all the Apostles base their warnings and their invitations on +motives which reach beyond the death of the body. The masters of other +religions have been equally positive. In some form or other they have +asserted the continued existence of the spiritual nature in man. + +But we turn, for the moment, from these and consider such evidence as +may be derived from the soul itself, and from what is known of its +progress. + +There is no evidence that when the body dies the soul dies with it. It +may not be possible to prove the reverse; all that we know is that the +vital functions cease, and that the body decays. No eye ever saw the +soul, and no dissection ever discovered the place of its dwelling. Is +that ethereal something which we call soul simply the result of the +organization of atoms? Or is the body like a house in which a spiritual +tenant dwells? At least this may be affirmed: No one has yet been able +to prove that the soul and body die together. Then there is no +reasonable presumption against the continuance of being. No spirit, so +far as we know, has returned to the earth in visible form, and spoken +its message; and yet, for aught we know, we may be surrounded every day +by spiritual beings, moving unseen along the avenues upon which we walk, +and entering without invitation the houses which we inhabit. At this +point it is enough simply to grant that presumptions are, perhaps, +evenly balanced. If one asks for proof that the spirit persists, the +only reply must be a Socratic one--Can you prove that it is vitally +connected with the body? + +Belief in the existence of the soul after death seems to be an innate +belief. It has been ascribed to the influence of the superstition about +ghosts; but that superstition is only an unscientific form of the larger +faith in the persistence of being. Where did this conviction originate? +We think only of such things as have been experienced. No thought is +ever entirely original. Even imagination cannot create anything +absolutely unlike anything which ever existed. All the fabled beings +who, according to the ancient mythology, filled the spaces and waters, +were but human creatures adapted to imaginary environments. Faith in the +existence of the soul after death could not have originated in the soul +itself; to believe that would be to contradict the laws of thought. It +seems to have been born with the soul, and yet not to be a part of it. + +The common conviction of continuance of being can be explained only on +the assumption that it is an innate idea. That this assumption starts, +perhaps, quite as many questions as it settles may be granted. +Nevertheless, it is the only way in which this fact in mental and +spiritual history can be accounted for. + +Not only is belief in persistence of being innate, but it is also +universal. It has been found in every land, in every time, in every +religion. Dr. Matthewson has finely argued that the savage worships a +fetish because he is seeking something which does not change[8]. He +knows that he dies; he worships that which he thinks does not die. A +piece of wood or a stone, at first, seems to him more enduring than a +man; therefore he worships the fetish. Gradually his eyes are opened and +he realizes that the man is more enduring than the thing. Then the +object of his worship is lifted from something material to a spiritual +being. The belief in immortality is coterminous with belief in the +Deity; the two forms of faith are always found together. The cultured +Greek, the mystic Egyptian, the idealistic Indian, the savage who +inhabits the forests of Africa, or who formerly dwelt in the forests of +America, alike have believed in some land of spirits to which their +loved ones have gone and to which they themselves, in turn, will also +go. Every age and every time, alike, have borne witness to the strength +and vitality of this faith. + +[Footnote 8: Distinctive Messages of the Old Religions, p. 9.] + +But still more convincing to me than any of the suggestions which have +gone before, is the fact that it is irrational to suppose that the soul +dies with the body. If that were true, how could we account for the +enormous waste in discipline and culture, in education and affection? +What is the meaning of the love that binds human beings together, if +after a short "three-score-and-ten career" it utterly ceases to be, and +being and affection alike go into oblivion? How can our systems of +education be justified, if the soul is perfected only to be destroyed? +On everything else man spends time, labor, affection in proportion to +the possibility of its endurance. He never seeks that which he knows +will be taken from him and destroyed as soon as it is perfected. An +artist would not spend a lifetime on a picture, or a sculptor in +finishing a statue, if he knew that when his work was completed it would +be instantly sunk in the depths of the sea. We devote a large part of +our lives to education; we cultivate our minds; our affections are +disciplined; we spend time, money, labor for years for the culture of +our children; can it be that all this preparation is for something which +never can be realized? In the midst of the loftiest manifestations of +the soul's power the body ceases to be. With indescribable bravery a +warrior lays down his life, a fireman rescues a child from a burning +building, a life-boatman goes through the surf to a sinking ship, and, +at that very moment when he proves himself best fitted to live, death +comes and he is seen no more. It cannot be proven that this is not the +end, but it is not reasonable to believe that this is the end. If it is, +human life is utterly without significance, and he is most to be +commended who quickest escapes from its misery and mockery. + +Moreover the inequalities of the human condition are strangely +prophetic. Much has been made of this argument in the past,--Job and +Socrates both felt its force. + +The value of it has often been discredited, but without reason. How +shall the bitter injustice which is frequently found on the earth be +explained? Some have an abundance of wealth, some have literally +nothing. Some enjoy the best of health and strength all their days, +while others pass their years in suffering and trial. Some are +surrounded by families and fairly revel in love and friendship, and +others lead lonely lives toward a welcome end. Some are strong and +brave, and able to act a part in the drama of life; others are weak, +obscure, unknown, and, for aught that they or we can see, might as well +have never been. The law of heredity sweeps down from the past and +brings a terrible legacy to many who spend all their days in trying to +escape from what has been forced upon them. What shall we say concerning +those who are born in lust and must live in the midst of the vice of a +great city, and who, in turn, give birth to a lustful and vicious brood? +Have they had a fair chance? Will their children have? Such questions +have puzzled the most earnest thinkers of all time, and there has seemed +to be but one explanation. Job seemed to be in darkness, until at last +there flashed upon his mind this question, which is also a modified +affirmation, "If a man die shall he live again?" If he live again, then +it is possible that what seems to be unjust may be righted; and those +who have known only suffering and pain during their dwelling in the +flesh, may some time enter into the fruition of their discipline in the +joy and victory of the endless life. The more this argument is pondered +the stronger its force becomes. It carries conviction to all who are +deeply sensitive to the common human experience, and who at all +understand the misery and the suffering of human existence. One in the +fullness of his physical strength may think little about it, but that +deformed girl who asked her mother after service one Easter Day, +"Mother, is it true that in heaven I shall be as straight as you and +father?" is a type of millions of others. Some suffer in body and some +in mind; some have a heredity of insanity or vice--they are born with +shackles on their faculties. If they ever have a fair chance to grow +noble and beautiful, morally and spiritually, it must be after their +bodies have been laid aside. It cannot be said that they do not now +desire benefit and blessing, but it is evident that it is impossible for +their longing to be gratified. The conviction that this is a moral and +rational universe compels us to believe that some time and somewhere +those who suffer will escape from their pain, that those who are +burdened with the evil that has been inherited from past generations +will rise above it, and that the soul will be given an unhindered +opportunity for growth and advancement. The inequalities in the human +condition almost compel us to believe that the death of the body cannot +be the end of the spirit. + +A little light on this subject comes from the faith of the world's +greatest teachers. As there are, now and then, those who see farther +than others with the physical eye, so there have been a few teachers who +have been rightly called seers, because their eyes have penetrated +farther into the mysteries of the universe than have those of their +fellow-men. Among the seers of the ages, I think that the two whom all +would recognize as being preeminent are Socrates and Jesus--the one the +finest flower of the intellectual development of Greece, and the other +the consummation of the hopes and visions of the most spiritual people +that the world has ever known. Both Socrates and Jesus believed in God, +and both have taught the world, with no uncertain sound, of their faith +in immortal life. The latter was clearly an axiom with Jesus, for He +said to His disciples in effect, "If there had been any question about +it I would have told you;" and almost with his last breath Socrates +compelled his disciples to think of him as immortal, for he told them +that, though his body might be buried anywhere, he defied both friend +and foe to catch his soul. Socrates and Jesus represent the belief of +the world's greatest seers. + +The deep and abiding confidence of the teachers, who increasingly +command our admiration as the years go by, is not to be entirely +disregarded. We may care little what those tell us who walk by our sides +in the dark valleys or on the dusty plains; but there are others who +have climbed to the crests of the loftiest mountains, and who have +looked into a world of which we have only dreamed. When they come down +we listen because we know that they have had visions. Even so it is in +our intellectual life. A few men have risen above the common levels of +humanity, as the Alps above the plains of Lombardy. They have spoken +concerning what they have seen. They have had glimpses of God--the soul +of the universe, and of the persistence of individuals in the realm that +lies beyond the grave. I might not let my faith be determined by their +testimony alone, but when what they say is confirmed by many other +voices speaking in the soul, and sounding through the history of the +world, it is easy to believe that they have spoken of things which have +been revealed to them. + +Another confirmation of our conviction of the reality of life after +death may be stated as follows: It is not possible for us to think of +the heroes and singers of the ages as having less endurance than the +words which they have uttered and the deeds which they have performed. +Milton's and Shakespeare's bodies have long been dead. The great +dramatist has recorded a dire curse on any one who should move his +bones. In the chancel of the Church of the Holy Trinity at +Stratford-on-Avon those bones are supposed to rest. But the plays that +Shakespeare wrote are still the wonder of the world, and the glory of +the English race. Is it possible to believe that the man was less +enduring than his work? Is it possible to believe that Shakespeare's +plays and Milton's epic will exist, perhaps, for a thousand years, while +the dramatist himself has utterly ceased to be? You open a neglected +drawer of your desk and come suddenly upon a letter written by a friend +of half a century ago; the paper is a little soiled, but as firm as +ever; the ink is hardly faded; the words are all clearly formed and full +of inspiration; and you hold that letter in your hand and ask yourself, +"Was the man who penned these lines less enduring than the paper on +which he wrote, or than the ink with which he wrote?" Such questions are +not arguments, and yet they have the force of arguments. It is not +possible in our better moments to feel that the great and good, by whom +this world has been lifted to its present condition, have gone entirely +into nothingness. + +It was said of our Lord, "It was not possible that such a man should be +holden of death." And it is not possible for us to believe, in our +inmost souls, that those who become a part of our being, whose love is +of more value to us than our own lives, whose memory is the dearest +treasure that we possess, by some accident, a taint in the food or the +water, can utterly pass from existence. If it were possible to believe +that, then the most miserable creature on the earth would be man, for he +would know of his greatness, and know also that his greatness is a +mockery and a sham. In hours of doubt, let us lean hard upon the +question, "Is it possible that those with whom we have walked and +worked, conversed and communed, and by whom we have been helped and +blessed, should forever cease to be, while the houses in which they +live, and the tools with which they labor, will endure for generations?" + +The soul is full of prophecies. Only as there may be continuance of +being can these prophecies have fulfillment. The feeling of dependence, +the desires for friendship which are never satisfied, the powers of +body and of mind which are capable of a development which they never +receive on earth, are prophecies of a life beyond death. Not the least +among the reasons for our belief that death is not the end of the soul +is the fact that the soul itself is a prophecy of its own immortality. + +It is always best to believe the best. This world and human life may be +interpreted on the materialistic hypothesis; then matter is all and +death is the gloomy _finale_ to the tragedy of existence. Or they may be +interpreted according to the spiritual hypothesis; then within the body +dwells the spirit; then the latter is but a tenant of the former. If the +house is destroyed the tenant goes elsewhere. If we interpret the world, +and human life, according to the materialistic theory all the beauty and +joy of existence on the earth will disappear. We will then live for a +little time; and our loves, our disciplines, and our victories alike +will be only delusions soon to be mercifully ended by death. Possibly +that is true; but, if it is true, then this universe is the embodiment +of the most dismal, desolate, and diabolical thought that it is possible +for a human being to conceive. On the spiritual hypothesis all +experiences are intended for the perfection of the soul. Bodily +limitations, physical sufferings, animal solicitations, may all be used +so as to promote the development and perfection of the spirit. When the +body can do no more the soul will emerge purified and strengthened by +contact with that which is physical. It will then move from the narrow +quarters in which it has dwelt into some larger and fairer room in the +great palace of God. Once more, I confess, we cannot demonstrate the +truth of this faith, but it is always best for ourselves and for the +world to believe the best. With this faith human life is nobler, and +human effort more persistent and enduring than it would be without it. +At the end "the finished product" will be larger, and more perfect, if +there is something to strive for than if hope is destroyed the moment +that aspiration is born. I should be willing to rest my faith in +immortality upon this one argument. A rational being should be satisfied +only with a rational answer to his questions; a moral being should be +satisfied only with a moral solution of his problems. This universe is +neither rational nor moral if the soul ceases to be at the death of the +body. On the other hand, if the soul passes into another and ampler +sphere all the mysteries are explained, and there is meaning even in the +darkest passages of human experience. All things work together for good +to those who are willing to be led toward the higher things. + +These are some of the reasons, with which all thinking persons are +familiar, for believing that the soul continues its growth after the +body has been laid aside. Evolution has opened a new vista in human +thought. There had been vague suggestions of it before, but evolution +has done much to confirm faith by its clear and strong testimony. It +prophesies the eternal growth of the spirit. These prophecies are +harmonious with those of the soul, and with the positive teachings of +the Christian revelation. This then is our conclusion:--in the process +of time, in accordance with natural law, our bodies will be laid aside, +some in one way and some in another, but the soul that has dwelt in +these bodies will become free. In ways of which we know not, and of +which it would be presumption to speak, its perfecting will be +continued. What teachers will take it in hand then is beyond our +knowledge; but we are confident that its individual existence will +continue, that its perfection will be along moral and spiritual lines, +that it will grow forever and forever in intelligence, in love, in the +power of rational choice, and into harmony with Him from whom it has +come and whose glory will be its perfection. To believe less would be to +refuse to listen to the voices which speak within and the voices which +speak without,--it would be to believe in an irrational and immoral +universe rather than a rational and moral one. + +Our souls have a right to be heard, and their prophecies have in them an +element of certainty. He who listens to the voices which speak within +will never believe that the death of the body is the end of his personal +being. The suggestion of a state of existence from which sin, sorrow, +and death shall be forever absent, into which there shall enter nothing +that maketh a lie, and where sacrificial love is the everlasting light, +is the highest and most satisfying ideal for human life that has ever +been spoken or imagined; and that which completely satisfies the heart +cannot at the same time be repudiated by the intellect. + +Let us, therefore, reverently confess that we believe in "the life +everlasting." + + + + +PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD + + + Thy voice is on the rolling air; + I hear thee where the waters run; + Thou standest in the rising sun, + And in the setting thou art fair. + + What art thou then? I cannot guess; + But tho' I seem in star and flower + To feel thee some diffusive power, + I do not therefore love thee less: + + My love involves the love before; + My love is vaster passion now; + Tho' mixed with God and Nature thou, + I seem to love thee more and more. + + Far off thou art, but ever nigh; + I have thee still, and I rejoice; + I prosper, circled with thy voice; + I shall not lose thee tho' I die. + + --_In Memoriam._ Tennyson. + + + + +XI + +_PRAYERS FOR THE DEAD_ + + +The wisest of men have little to guide them when they approach that +mysterious realm from which no traveler has ever returned. With humility +and the consciousness that we must, at the best, walk in the twilight, I +take up one of the most mysterious and fascinating of themes. No one has +any right to speak positively on such a subject, and I shall not do so. +Those who have the assurance of sight when they write about what lies +beyond the grave are both to be envied and to be pitied,--envied because +of their confidence, pitied because they may be self-deceived. + +Let me make my exact purpose as plain as I can by an illustration. A +dear friend, one with whom you have associated for years, enters the +silent life. The morning following, as has long been your custom, you +offer your prayers to the Heavenly Father, and, as usual, mention that +friend by name. Suddenly you stop and say to yourself, "I can no more +offer that petition, for my friend is now beyond the need of my poor +prayers." Then, suddenly and swiftly, come the questions, Although my +friend is called dead is he any less alive than when he was in the body? +Will not all that constituted his personality continue to grow in the +future as in the past? Does the death of the body do anything more than +change the mode of the spirit's existence? And the result is that you +say to yourself, "I will continue to pray for my friend, for, if he is +alive now, every reason which led to prayers before his death justifies +their continuance." + +From more than one person I have heard words similar to these which I +have put into this hypothetical form; and because of these expressions +of sane and sacred experience I am led to ask my readers to follow me in +the consideration of a subject which is seldom mentioned, except with +incredulity, by most Protestants. + +No one who may not appreciate the importance of this subject should be +either troubled or heedless. We learn our lessons concerning the +profounder mysteries simply by living. No one can be blamed for not +appreciating what he is not yet, either intellectually or spiritually, +ready to receive. Providence takes good care of us. When we are prepared +for the reception of any truth it usually finds us. + +This subject has been regarded with suspicion by two classes of +thinkers: Protestants who have revolted from the extent to which praying +for the dead has been carried in the Roman Catholic Church, and the +much smaller number who hold what they delight in affirming is "the true +theology," and who have insisted that when men die their state is +irrevocably and forever fixed, the good going at once into the perfect +bliss of heaven and the wicked into the suffering of hell. + +It will be more profitable for us to deal with the positive side of our +subject than to attempt to clear away misconceptions and half truths. + +What is meant by prayers for the dead? Exactly the same as prayers for +those in the body. When the body dies the soul, or the essential man, is +not touched by death. The personality is that which thinks, chooses, +lives. Your mother is not the form on which your eyes rested, or the +arms which encircled you, but the thought, the devotion, the affection +concealed, yet revealed, by the body, and which use it for their +instrument. In reality we never saw our dearest friends; what we saw +was color, form, but never the spirit. That is disclosed through the +body, but is not identified with it. Now just as we have prayed for a +mother, or a child, or a friend whose physical form is familiar, but +whose personality we have seen only in its revelations, so we continue +to pray for that loved one which we do not see any more, or any less, +after what is called death. + +In other words, instead of thinking of any as dead, we think of all as +alive, although many of them are in the unseen sphere. Love and sympathy +have never been dependent on the body except for expression, and there +is no evidence that they ever will be. Sympathy and affection, thought +and will, are matters of spirit; and why may not spirit feel for spirit +and minister to spirit, when the body is laid aside? Your hands, your +feet, your lips did not pray for your child; your spirit prayed for his +spirit, and now that his body is laid aside, like a worn-out garment, +you may keep on doing just what you did before. This is what is meant by +prayers for the dead. + +I am well aware that it may seem to some that these statements rest +largely on assumptions, but they are not baseless assumptions. One other +assumption must be made before we can proceed in our study, and that one +is the truthfulness of the Christian teaching that death is not +cessation of being, but only the decay of the bodily organism. + +How may prayers for the dead be justified? Are they taught as a duty in +the Scriptures? The privilege rests not so much on particular +exhortations as upon the whole Christian teaching concerning +immortality. God is the God of the living. Bishop Pearson in his +exposition of the Apostles' Creed has an impressive passage, which I +quote: "The communion of saints in the Church of Christ with those who +are departed is demonstrated by their communion with the saints alive. +For if I have a communion with a saint of God, as such, while he liveth +here, I must still have communion with him when he is departed hence; +because the foundation of that communion cannot be removed by death. The +mystical union between Christ and His Church ... is the true foundation +of that communion.... But death, which is nothing else but the +separation of the soul from the body, maketh no separation in the +mystical union, no breach of the spiritual conjunction, and consequently +there must be the same communion, because there remaineth the same +foundation."[9] + +[Footnote 9: Quoted in Welldon's "Hope of Immortality," page 332.] + +Jesus taught that death is but a change of the form of existence. On the +Mount of Transfiguration Moses and Elijah appeared alive, and as +interested in human affairs. If death is not cessation of being, but +only a change in the form of its manifestation, why should we think +that human sympathy ends when breathing ceases, and why should we +conclude that mutual service may be rendered impossible by "a snake's +bite or a falling tile." Tennyson in "In Memoriam" gives the Christian +doctrine exquisite expression, + + "Eternal form shall still divide + The eternal soul from all beside; + And I shall know him when we meet." + +Jesus teaches the reality of immortality He represents those gone from +us as not dead but as still living and still interested in human +affairs. If His teaching is true, is it not as reasonable to try to +serve those of our loved ones who are out of the body as those who are +in the body? So far as we can see, the only way in which we can serve +them is by prayer, although they may, possibly, minister to us in other +ways. + +If immortal existence means the possibility of unceasing growth, then +every reason which prompts prayer for those who are bodily present +remains a motive when they have entered the state which is purely +spiritual. + +But what efficacy will prayers for the dead have? My answer is two-fold. +All the efficacy that prayer ever has. If death is relative only to a +single state of existence, and if those whom we call dead are living, +and still free agents, then they may still choose good and evil, and +they may still grow toward virtue. Choice always implies a possibility +of freedom; and freedom is a necessity when there is moral +responsibility. If prayer helps any one, why not those who have passed +from our sight? Surely we must believe them still to possess the power +of choice and, therefore, that of choosing evil as well as good. + +You ask why pray at all. My answer is simple and free from all attempts +at casuistry: simply because we must. Prayer is not so much a Christian +doctrine as a human necessity. It is as natural as breathing. By prayer +I mean not only spoken petitions but, equally, the longing and pleading +of the soul, either blindly or intelligently, for things which are +beyond our reach, and which only a higher Power can provide. Those +longings may have formal expression, and they may not. Prayer so far as +it is petition is the soul pleading with the Unseen for what it deeply +desires. I do not suppose that God needs light from any mortal man, but +all men do need many things from Him, and, as naturally as children +present their desires to earthly parents, even though they know them to +be already favorable, we go with our deeper needs to our Heavenly +Father. + +Much time has been wasted in trying to formulate a rational basis for +prayer. When a child in the smaller family no longer asks his father to +accede to his wishes, when he no more pleads with his father for his +brother or his sister, then it will be time enough to inquire if, in the +larger family which we call humanity, we may do without prayer. Until +then let us believe, + + "More things are wrought by prayer + Than this world dreams of." + +Leaving now the apologetic side of the subject, which is alluring, we +observe one evident blessing which always attends praying for the dead. +It keeps ever before our minds the thought that they are actually alive. +It makes the doctrine of the communion of saints a sacred reality. If I +may in this essay be allowed to assume a hortatory tone I will say, if +you have been in the habit of praying for your friend, do not give it up +simply because he has ceased to breathe. As regularly as ever continue +to pray for him, and he will be to you more than a memory. What would +have been but an occasional remembrance will then be a daily communion; +and what would have been only formal praying to God will be an hour, or +a moment, of association with those who will grow nearer and dearer, and +not farther and vaguer, with the passing years. The hour of devotion +will thus be hallowed, because it will be a holy tryst with absent +friends, as well as a time for making our requests known to our Heavenly +Father. Who can exaggerate the delight and benefit of such an exercise? +What sources of strength are to be found in spiritual association with +our beloved! If we are thus helped why should we presume that they may +not also, by such sweet hours, be strengthened for their duties? I know +this may seem fanciful. I ask no one to follow me who is not ready to do +so. I do not speak dogmatically, but with great earnestness, when I say +that prayer for our beloved after they are gone is a privilege and a +help--I would fain believe both to them and to us. + +But it may be objected that the moral state of men is fixed at death, +and that nothing that we or they can do can influence it by a hair's +breadth. That this has been a popular opinion is true; and it is equally +true that many have supposed that all who have had faith on the earth +are in bliss; and that all who have been without faith are in misery; +and that the beatitude of all the good is equal and alike, and that the +misery of all unbelievers is the same. + +Such inferences, though held by many for whose scholarship and character +I have profound reverence, seem to me to be contrary to Scripture, to +the analogies of nature, and to the moral sense. Such a theory is +contrary to Christian Scriptures; for the parable of the talents shows +that some will have greater and some lesser reward; and the parable of +Dives and Lazarus has relation only to Hades, or to the state which in +the thought of that time intervened between death and the judgment. + +This theory is contrary to the analogies of life on earth. Here change +indicates not a finality but a new opportunity. Every crisis of life is +an opening into a newer and larger world. Why should we say that what we +call death, alone of all the changes through which we pass, leads to +that which is unchangeable? + +The theory is contrary to the moral sense of all earnest souls. Who does +not have to compel himself to believe, and that with difficulty, that +death determines forever the fate of all, and that there is neither +possibility of progress nor of going backward after the body is laid +aside? + +Let me quote a noble passage from Bishop Welldon: "But if a variety of +destinies in the unseen world, whether of happiness or of suffering, is +reserved for mankind, and yet more, if the principle of that world is +not inactivity but energy or character or life, it is reasonable to +believe that the souls which enter upon the future state with the taint +of sin clinging to them, in whatever form or degree, will be slowly +cleansed by a disciplinary or purifactory process from whatever it is +that, being evil in itself, necessarily obstructs or obscures the vision +of God." He continues, "And this is the benediction of human nature, to +feel that, as souls upon earth are fortified and elevated by the prayers +offered for them in the unseen world, so too by our prayers may the +souls which have passed behind the veil be lifted higher and higher into +the knowledge and contemplation and fruition of God."[10] + +[Footnote 10: The Hope of Immortality, page 337.] + +We do not know that death forever determines the condition of the soul. +On the other hand, as I grow older, the idea seems to me to be opposed +to Scripture, to the analogies of nature and history, to reason, and to +the universal moral sense. + +If any one should object to prayers for the dead because the privilege +and duty seem so distinctively a doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, +my only reply is that we should never ask who are the advocates of any +teaching, but, only, is it true? Each branch of the church emphasizes +some phase of truth. The Roman Church has given more prominence to +prayers for the dead than Protestants, and because of that it will have +the gratitude of many honest souls who cannot believe that they are +entirely and forever severed from those whom they have loved and still +love. + +I am well aware that there are many difficult questions concerning this +subject which it is impossible for me to answer. Some truths are clearly +revealed and of others we have only glimpses. Concerning some we feel +more than we know, and feelings which are not selfish are prophetic. +What an earnest and inquiring spirit feels must be true is quite as +likely to be found true as conclusions which seem to have been reached +by a process of faultless logic. + +I fully believe that we are justified in praying for those who have +departed this life, that the good may grow better, that the clouds which +obscure the vision of the unbelieving may be removed, that all taints of +animalism may be washed away; and that we should pray even for the +wicked, that the disciplinary processes through which they are passing +may some time and somehow lead them to submit their wills to the love +and truth of God. We may pray for our loved ones, not simply by way of +asking something for them, but in order that there may be a meeting +place,--a time for communion and fellowship between those here and those +beyond the veil. That meeting place must be found in our common +approach to God. + +Does this teaching seem mystical and fanciful? What if it does? It is in +line with the human heart's deepest desires, and with the soul's +immortal aspirations. What they most earnestly affirm in their hours of +deepest need, and highest illumination, cannot be altogether without +foundation in reason and in the Scriptures. + +The unity of life cannot be too strongly emphasized. Life is one. It is +all under the eye and in the strength of God. It has to do with spirit; +death, if there is any such thing, has to do with matter. Spirits always +grow because they always live. The universe is not composed of two +hemispheres, in the upper one of which are to be gathered all the good +and in the lower all the evil. It is saner and better to believe that +the universe is a sphere in which, in their own places, are all the +spirits of men, some beautiful with the holiness of God; some only +beginning to rise toward Him, like seed that has broken the soil and +begun to move toward the light; and still others like seed whose +possibilities are all hidden, but which are not destroyed and which some +day also will hear the divine call, feel the touch of God's light, and +begin to move toward Him. + +We live in the midst of mystery. In the future we shall probably find +that our best attempts at rational answers to many questions have gone +wide of the mark. The most that any of us can do is to be true to +ourselves, and to respond to every call from above. In the midst of the +gloom of mortal existence it is safe to follow our hearts. + +We long to commune with those who have gone, to help them and to be +helped by them. This longing is natural and rational. That it is not +without reason is proved by the example of our Master, who, after His +death, is represented as ministering to those whom He loved, and who, we +are told, ever liveth to make intercession for us. + +What our hearts desire, what harmonizes with reason, what is confirmed +by the revelations and example of our divine Teacher, will persuade none +far from the path which leads to light and felicity. + +Those whom men call dead, it is best to believe, have but entered upon +another phase of the eternal life of the spirit. + +The Roman Church has an act or service called "The Culture of the Dead." +It means the "practice of the presence" of those who, though gone from +us, in spirit are with us. The Creed has an article which reads, "I +believe in the communion of saints." The Christian year has one day +called "All Saints' Day." We shall not be far from the traditions of +the church when we pray for our beloved, whether they be in the body or +out of the body. + +Those who would realize the beatitude of this privilege should remember +the truth in this stanza from "In Memoriam:" + + "How pure at heart and sound in head, + With what Divine affections bold, + Should be the man whose thought would hold + An hour's communion with the dead." + + + + +THE GOAL + + + But Thee, but Thee, O Sovereign Seer of time, + But Thee, O poet's Poet, Wisdom's Tongue, + But Thee, O man's best Man, O love's best Love, + O perfect life in perfect labor writ, + O all men's Comrade, Servant, King, or Priest,-- + What _if_ or _yet_, what mole, what flaw, what lapse, + What least defect or shadow of defect, + What rumor, tattled by an enemy, + Of inference loose, what lack of grace + Even in torture's grasp, or sleep's, or death's,-- + Oh, what amiss may I forgive in Thee, + Jesus, good Paragon, thou Crystal Christ? + + --_The Crystal._ Sidney Lanier. + + + + +XII + +_THE GOAL_ + + +If the cosmic process in the physical sphere culminated with the +appearance of man, and if, since that culmination, its movement has been +toward the perfection of the soul, it is fit and proper that this book +should end with a study of the goal toward which the human spirit is +pressing. Is it possible for us, with our limitations, to have an +adequate conception of the man that is to be "when the times are ripe" +and the "crowning race" walks this earth of ours?--or, if not this +earth, at least, dwells in the spiritual city? The fascination of this +subject has been widely recognized. The answer must be secured from many +sources. Only in imagination can we follow the lines along which the +spirit will move in the far-off ages, and yet our conclusions will not +be wholly imaginative, for the direction in which those lines are +tending is clearly perceived. Under the circumstances, therefore, +imagination may not be an untrustworthy guide. We are now to deal with +prophecies, some of them easy and some of them difficult to read. But +reading prophecies is not prophesying. I shall not prophesy, but rather +endeavor to understand and to interpret a few of the many voices which +have spoken, and are speaking, on this subject. + +The soul is itself a prediction of what it is to be. It utters a various +language. + +The growth of intelligence is prophetic. Savage tribes suggest the +original condition of primitive man. The pigmies in Africa afford hints +of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel. From such as they, and from lower types +still, the race has slowly and painfully risen. In them a certain rude +intelligence appears. They have cunning rather than reason. They are +half akin to brute and half akin to man. A kind of selfish intelligence +characterizes their thinking. They lack a sense of proportion and +relation. Before the ant a man looms as large as a mountain before us. +An insect does not see things as they are but as they seem to it. Growth +in intelligence necessitates a truer appreciation of proportions and +relations. The pigmy also sees little but himself, but years and +experience leave behind them wisdom. The civilized races have all risen +from barbarism and savagery--that is, from a state of imperfect thinking +as well as of imperfect loving and choosing. Experience and culture +bring larger knowledge and a more equable balance of the faculties. No +man should be measured by his achievement in any one field of endeavor. +He may paint like Titian and be as voluptuous; he may write tragedies +like Shakespeare and have no logic; he may be a gatherer of facts like +Darwin and have no power of philosophic analysis. The intellect grows +steadily toward perfection of vision and logical strength, and also and +quite as significantly, toward harmony in the development of all the +powers of thought. + +The contrast between the selfish cunning of an African pigmy and the +large and noble minds which are steadily multiplying, is a prophecy of +the man who will dwell on this earth when the vision is clear and the +power of rational judgment is perfected. + +The prophecy of the soul is not less evident in the emotional nature. At +first the soul is either so imperfect, or so limited by the body, that +it seems to be nothing but a creature of emotions. It loves, but its +affections are selfish and egotistic. What may be called the epochs in +its growth are finely treated by Coleridge in "The Ancient Mariner" and +by Tennyson in "In Memoriam." The Ancient Mariner felt only selfish +affection. He had no love for "being as being." He killed the albatross +with as little heed as he disregarded his fellow-men; but the ministries +of his misery were multiplied until, at length, he was able to see +something beautiful even in the writhing green sea-serpents that +followed the ship of death on which he sailed. That was the first sign +of the larger interest which had long been growing within him, and which +was to continue to grow until he could say, + + "He prayeth best who loveth best + All things both great and small." + +"In Memoriam" is the record of the expansion of a soul through its +increase in love. At the beginning of his grief the poet sings, +dolefully and hopelessly, through his tears, + + "He is not here; but far away + The noise of life begins again, + And ghastly thro' the drizzling rain + On the bald street breaks the blank day." + +But the soul is growing secretly and surely as wheat grows in winter. +The Christmas bells ring out their music and at first are almost hated, +but they break through the shell of sorrow and let in a faint echo of +the world's great suffering and the world's great joy. Thus human +sympathy is enlarged just a bit. In successive years the music of the +Christmas bells is heard more distinctly, the sorrow of the world +becomes more audible, sympathy reaches farther. At last the poem which +began with a _miserere_ ends with a marriage, and he who could at first +write that dreary line, + + "On the bald street breaks the blank day" + +testifies to the beneficence of the path in which he had been led in +this wise and beautiful stanza, + + "Regret is dead, but love is more + Than in the summers that have flown, + For I myself with these have grown + To something greater than before." + +From dwelling in a prison with grief as a jailer he has caught a vision +of the, + + "One far off divine event + To which the whole creation moves." + +This expansion of the soul is not difficult to follow. Traces of it may +be seen in the enlarged sympathy, the growing brotherhood, and in the +rapidly increasing conviction that even nationalities are only temporary +expedients for bringing the day when love shall be the universal law. +The charities and philanthropies which are blossoming in every city and +country district, the consciousness of responsibility for the poor and +weak, the angel songs which are heard in the midst of battle, and the +gradual disappearance of war, are all vague but true prophecies of what +the soul will be when love is perfected. The knowledge of past progress +is an inspiration, and the imagination of what will be a glorious hope. + +A single clause in the Apocalypse has long seemed to me as fine a +statement of the condition which will prevail, when this prophecy is a +reality, as could be phrased,--"The Lamb is the light thereof." Light is +the medium in which objects are visible, and the Lamb is the symbol of +sacrificial love. The great dreamer, in his vision, beheld a time when +spirits would see in sacrificial love as now we see physical objects in +the medium of light. To those who have studied the expansion of +individual souls, and who then have contrasted the selfishness of +earlier social conditions with the love of men as it is revealed in the +laws, institutions, ministries of to-day, this dream of the Apostle +rises in the distance as a new continent to a voyager over the wide and +desolate ocean. + +Equally prophetic is the advance which has been made from the passion +of savage barbarism, or infantile wilfulness, to the moral reason of the +present day as seen in the highest types of humanity in civilized lands. +Wilfulness characterizes the childish nature and passion the savage +nature. But with the growth of the soul choices are differentiated from +impulses, and more and more regularly are inspired by intelligence and +unselfish affection. This progress toward intelligent and unselfish +choice distinguishes the movement toward civilization. Here, again, the +advance made by the individual soul and by the race are equally +prophetic. With the years the choices become more rational and loving. +Time mellows all men somewhat, and forces a little wisdom into the +hardest heads. Even slight growth prophesies that which shall be swifter +when conditions are more favorable. + +The soul is a prediction of clearer vision, truer thought, more +unselfish love and wiser choices. It is a prophecy of the perfect man. + +History is also prophetic of larger souls. The stream of human history, +after it has been followed backward a few thousand years, leads into the +region of legend and myth--that is, to a time when history could not be +written because there was no writing, and when all truth was conveyed in +symbolical forms. That means toward a time of narrow experience, and of +knowledge far more limited than the present. Memory, in those days, was +enormously and abnormally capacious and retentive, but there was no +appreciation of humanity. Few lessons from the experiences of others +were possible, because the mind was filled with merely tribal legends. +What was called early civilization was only relatively splendid. There +was unsurpassed poetry but no science, ample brawn but diminutive brain, +much passion but little love. Out of the darkness of the past the stream +of history, very narrow and shallow at first, has emerged and steadily +expanded and deepened. Men are now equally intense but far clearer in +vision, nobler in purpose, and purer in character. Their laws year by +year have become more humane, their sympathies less contracted, their +institutions more civilized. Nature's secret drawers have been unlocked. +We are sometimes told that science has added much to the store of man's +knowledge but nothing to the strength of his mind or the nobility of his +character. That is a serious mistake. With the enlarged visions of the +universe, with clearer conceptions of our cosmic relations, with the +national neighborliness which is now a necessity, the capacity and the +quality of the soul must change. Nay, it has already changed, for we +inhabit the same lands over which savages formerly roamed, and we find +in the earth and air what they never found; and when we look up into the +great wide sky and say, "The Heavens declare the glory of God," we are +not thinking of a tribal Deity, or a partial, and more or less +passionate, monarch enthroned in the midst of his splendors, but of the +King Eternal, immortal, invisible. Knowledge tends to enlarge the mind +by which it is acquired. All faculties are strengthened by use. + +History has moved along a bloody pathway, or, to revert to the figure of +a stream, is indeed a river of "tears and blood." The horrors of the +process by which the race has been lifted can hardly be exaggerated. I +do not forget them while I put stronger emphasis on the fact that the +outcome of all the struggle of individuals, the conflict of classes, and +the wars of nations has been a nobler and purer quality of soul,--not +less heroic but more sacrificial, not less strong but far more virtuous. + +The growth of the individual soul is mirrored in the progress of the +race. When we have learned to read aright the history of the world, we +are informed as to the interior forces which have made civilization. +Events are expressions of thoughts; institutions are manifestations of +soul. If there has been progress in institutions there must have been an +equal progress in the souls which are the real forces by which progress +is always won. As history has been the evolution of humanity toward +finer forms, so it is the assurance that the forces which have been at +work in the past will not cease, but steadily continue until "the pile +is complete." The perfect society will be composed of perfected +individuals. History as prophecy is harmonious with soul as prophecy. + +The future state of the soul has been the subject of rare fascination +for the world's great thinkers. Nearly all religions have a forward +look. "The Golden Age" lies far in the distance, but it has commanded +the faith of all the seers. It has sometimes been a dream concerning +individuals, and again a vision of the perfected society, but in reality +the two are one, for the social organism is but a congeries of +individuals. Bacon dreamed of New Atlantis, Sir Thomas More saw the fair +walls of Utopia rising in the future, Plato defined the boundaries of +the ideal Republic, Augustine wrote of the glories of the _Civitate +Dei_, and Tennyson with matchless music has sung of the crowning race:-- + + "Ring out old shapes of foul disease; + Ring out the narrowing lust of gold; + Ring out the thousand wars of old, + Ring in the thousand years of peace. + + Ring in the valiant man and free, + The larger heart, the kindlier hand; + Ring out the darkness of the land, + Ring in the Christ that is to be." + +The common characteristic of these social ideals is their dependence on +the culture of individuals. With the incoming of "the valiant man and +free," the man of "larger heart and kindlier hand," there is a +reasonable hope that the darkness of the land will disappear. + +With that deep look into the inmost secrets of human experience which +sounds strangely autobiographical, Browning wrote in "Rabbi Ben Ezra," + + "Praise be thine! + I see the whole design, + I, who saw power, see love now perfect too; + Perfect I call thy plan; + Thanks that I was a man! + Maker, remake, complete,--I trust what Thou shalt do!" + + "Therefore I summon age + To grant youth's heritage, + Life's struggle having so far reached its term; + Thence shall I pass, approved + A man, for aye removed + From the developed brute; a god though in the germ." + +Those last lines condense Browning's creed concerning man. He is "for +aye removed from the developed brute," and is "a god in the germ." +Browning holds that while in the future there will surely be expansion +of soul, evolution as a physical process is at an end. Henceforward +there will be no passing from one species to another. Species have to do +with physical organisms, not with spirits. Soul in man is but God "in +the germ." + +Emerson and Matthew Arnold have written much about education. The one +foretells a day when the soul, after mounting and meliorating, finds +that even the hells are turned into benefit; and the other makes his own +the thought of Bishop Wilson that culture is a study of perfection, and +that the soul must ever seek increased life, increased light, and +increased power. + +Education is the word of the hour and of the century. It is believed to +be the panacea for all ills, individual and social. But, precisely, what +does this passion for education signify if not that, either +intelligently or otherwise, all believe in the perfectibility of the +soul, and that it will have all the time that it needs for the process. +The absorbing devotion to intellectual training suggests the inquiry as +to whether many who affirm that they are agnostic concerning immortality +are not in reality earnest in their faith; for why should they seek the +culture of that which fades, as the flowers fade; when it approaches +life's winter? But, whether faith in continuance of being is firm or +frail, few doubt the perfectibility of spirit, because, beyond almost +all things, they are seeking its perfection. Literature, which is but +the thoughts of the great souls of successive periods recorded, +prophesies a day when all that hinders or taints shall be done away, and +when the divine in the germ shall have grown to large and fair +proportions. If there were no other light the outlook would still be +inspiring. It is well sometimes to ask ourselves what we were made to +be--not these bodies which are clearly decaying--but these spirits +which seem to grow younger with the passage of time. I have sometimes +thought that the very idea of second childhood is itself a prophecy of +the soul's eternal youth. Certain it is that we are the masters of the +years. The oldest persons that we know are usually the youngest in their +sympathies and ideals. Sorrow and opposition should not destroy, but +only strengthen the spiritual powers. Intelligence grows from more to +more. The sure reward of love is the capacity and opportunity for larger +love. Virtuous choices gradually become the law of liberty. These facts +are index fingers pointing toward large and loving, strenuous and +sympathetic manhood. And toward such human types, as a matter of fact, +the race has been moving. The expectation of the seers and prophets, +also, has been of a golden age in which all souls will have had time, +and opportunity, of reaching the far-off but splendid goal. Believing, +as we do, that death is never a finality, but that it is only an +incident in progress; that instead of being an end it is only freedom +from limitation, we find ourselves often vaguely, but ever eagerly, +asking, To what are all these souls tending? Toward a state glorious +beyond language to utter we deeply feel. But has no clearer voice +spoken? At last we have reached the end of our inquiry. If any other +voices speak they must sound from above. We stand by the unseen like +children by the ocean's shore. They know that beyond the storms and +waves lie fair and wealthy lands, but the waters separate and their eyes +are weak. So we stand before the future, and ask, Toward what goal are +all this education, experience and discipline tending? Are they +perfecting souls which at last are to be laid away with the bodies which +were fortunate enough to win an earlier death? It would be impiety to +believe that. Then indeed should we be put to "permanent intellectual +confusion." If all the voices of the soul are mockeries, then life is +worse than a mistake--it is a crime. + +The solution of the mystery is now before us. The man that is to be has +walked this earth, and wrought with human hands, and lived and labored +and loved, and passed into the silent land. Is Jesus the unique +revelation of the divine? There may be many to question that, but there +are few, indeed, who doubt that He embodied all of the perfect humanity +which could be expressed within the limitations of the body. He +represented Himself as essential truth and very life. He condensed duty +into such love as He manifested toward men. He embodied the heroism of +meekness, the courage of self-sacrifice, the vision of goodness. He was +an example of all that is strong, serene, sacrificial, in the midst of +the lowest and most unresponsive conditions. So much we see, and the +rest we dimly, but surely, feel. + +It was reserved for Paul, in a moment of inspiration, to put into a +single phrase a description of the goal of the human spirit, as +something which may be forever approached but never reached, in these +words, "Till we all attain unto the measure of the stature of the +fullness of Christ." The fullness of Christ! That is the soul's final +destiny. It was the far call of that goal which it faintly heard at its +first awakening and which has never entirely ceased to sound in his +ears. Who shall explore the contents of that great phrase? It is a +subject for meditation, for prayer, but never for discussion. He who +approaches it in a controversial spirit never understands it. What are +the qualities of the character of Christ? Some of them lie on the +surface of the story. He never doubted God, or, if so, but for a single +moment; He was unselfish; He lived to love and to express love; He had +some mysterious preternatural power over nature--such, perhaps, as +science is approaching in later times; kindness, sympathy, helpfulness, +purity, shone from His words and actions. He declared that the privilege +of dying to save those who despised Him was a joy. He lived in the +limitations of the human condition and, therefore, on the earth only +hints of "His fullness" are discernible. The full revelation is to be +the endless study of those who are able to see and to appreciate things +as they are. But we may ask ourselves whither these lines tend. When the +intelligence, the love, the compassion, the mercy, the purity, the moral +power and spiritual grandeur which only in dim outline are revealed in +the Christ, have perfect manifestations, what will the vision be? The +very thought transcends the farthest flights of the poet's imagination +and the most daring speculations of philosophers. In "the fullness of +Christ" is the soul's true goal. For that all men, and not the elect +few, were created. That is the revelation of the divine plan for +humanity. Toward that evolution has been slowly, and often painfully, +pressing from those dim aeons when the earth was without form and void. +When man appeared as the flower of all the cosmic process he started at +once toward this goal. And with great modesty, and simply because I +believe in God and that His love cannot be defeated, I dare to hope +that, sometime and somehow, after all the pains of retribution and moral +discipline have done their inevitable work, after all the fires of +Gehenna have consumed the desire to sin, after Hades and Purgatory have +been passed, the souls which, for a time, have dwelt in these mortal +bodies, purified and without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, will be +given the beatific vision and permitted to realize the height and +depth, the length and breadth of "the fullness of Christ." + + "That one Face, far from vanish, rather grows, + Or decomposes but to recompose, + Become my universe that feels and knows." + + + + +INDEX + + +Achilles, 74. + +Actaeon, 82. + +Adam's fall, 142. + +Adjustment to environment, 50, 52. + +Adjustment to knowledge of freedom, 58. + +AEschylus, 129. + +Ambrose, 140. + +Ancient Mariner, 295. + +Angelo, Michael, 48, 182. + +Animal entail, 79. + +Arnold, Matthew, 72, 98, 226, 306. + +Atmosphere in nurture, 215. + +Attraction vs. Compulsion, 216. + +Augustine, 34, 35, 140, 196, 199, 304. + +Austere experiences, 97. + +Awakening vs. Re-awakening, 147. + + +Bacon, Lord, 304. + +Bernard, St., 90. + +Books, The most vital, 229. + +Browning, Robert, 26, 113, 129, 152, 238, 305, 314. + +Browning, Mrs. E.B., 113. + +Byron, Lord, 74. + +Bunyan, John, 16. + +Bushnell, Horace, 37. + +Buxton, Sir Thomas Fowell, 220. + + +Cenci, Beatrice, 129. + +Chatterton, 74. + +Circe, 83. + +Comforter, The, 205. + +Companionship, Spiritual, 183. + +Comus, 81, 92. + +Conscience, 67, 187. + +Conversion, 133. + +Creationism, 11. + +Crisis in Ascent of the Soul, 134. + +Cross, The revelation of divine sacrifice, 175. + +Culture, 212. + +Culture, a study of perfection, 226. + +Culture and life, 227. + +Cultured man, The, 231. + + +Dante, 6. + +Death, Light on, 176. + +Death of the body, 239. + +Diana, 82. + +Donatello, 137. + +DuBois-Reymond, 55. + + +Edinburgh, Incident in, 186. + +Education, prophecy of soul's growth, 306. + +Emerson, 214, 215, 306. + +Emanation, 10. + +Environment, Influence of, 218. + +Environment, of what composed, 222. + +Epictetus, 111. + +Evolution and Immortality, 241. + +Experience, Individual, 150. + +Expiation, 155. + + +Falconer, Robert, 143. + +Faust, 5, 35, 129. + +Fetish worship, 245. + +Fiske, John, 5. + +Fliedner, Pastor, 220. + +Freedom, Realization of, 54. + + +Galahad, Sir, 85. + +Garrison, William Lloyd, 220. + +God, Rational doctrine of, 157. + +God revealed in Christ, 161. + +God cannot be defeated, 136. + +Goethe, 5. + +Golden Age, 303. + +Grace, Falling from, impossible, 145. + +Grail, The Holy, 126. + +Growth a means of knowledge, 61. + +Guardian angels, 88, 201. + +Guinevere, 129, 143, 144. + + +Hale, Nathan, 219. + +Hamlet, 129. + +Hannibal, 74. + +Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 36, 137. + +Helps in trial, 195. + +Heredity, 56. + +Heroism in silence, 198. + +Hesperus, 2. + +Hindu Swami, 64. + +Hindu mother, 66. + +Hindrances, Ministry of, 89. + +History, Prophetic, 300. + +Hope for all, 32. + +Hugo, Victor, 36, 86. + +Hunt, Holman, Light of the World, 163. + + +Ideals, Influence of, 218. + +Ideal Man seen in Jesus Christ, 164. + +Idylls of the King, 142. + +Immortality, Ode to, Wordsworth, 10. + +Immortality in the New Testament, 242. + +Immortality in the ethnic religions, 242. + +Immortality, belief in, innate, 244. + +Immortality, belief in, universal, 245. + +Immortality, unbelief in, irrational, 247. + +Immortality and the great teachers, 252. + +Inequalities in human condition, 249. + +In Memoriam and Growth of the Soul, 295. + +Intelligence, Growth in, prophetic, 292. + +Isaiah, 142. + + +Jesus the Soul's goal, 310. + +Jesus the Supreme Optimist, 169. + +Judson, Adoniram, 137. + + +Kaiserwerth, 220. + + +Lanier, Sidney, 290. + +Learning by experience should be unnecessary, 148. + +Life the best teacher, 228. + +Life, Unity of, 284. + +Life's mystery illumined, 171. + +Light of the World, Hunt's, 163. + +Luther, Martin, 138. + + +Macbeth, 129. + +Macdonald, George, 143. + +Mahomet, 111. + +Malthus, 118. + +Man, light on his nature, 163. + +Manhood, The ideal, 166. + +Marble Faun, 137. + +Marseillaise, The, 219. + +Matthewson, Dr. Geo., 245. + +Marguerite, 35. + +Melchizedek, 133. + +Milton, John, 82, 83, 92, 255. + +Moral order, 51. + +Morally excellent, the, how discern, 63. + +Moral failure, 73, 129. + +Moral evil inexplicable, 173. + +More, Sir Thomas, 304. + + +Napoleon, 74. + +Nelson, Lord, 220. + +New College, Oxford, 70. + +Newton, Sir Isaac, 202. + +Ney, Marshal, 219. + +Nightingale, Florence, 220. + +Nurture, 211. + +Nurture, part of parents in, 214. + +Nurture, vitally important, 224, 225. + + +Optimism, 105. + +Optimism, Rational basis of, 113. + +Over-soul, 94, 184. + +Ovid, Metamorphoses, 82. + + +Parents' duty to children, 149. + +Pascal, 21. + +Paul, 80. + +Pearson, Bishop, 272. + +Personality, 29, 270. + +Pigmies, 293. + +Pilgrim's Progress, 6. + +Plato, 140. + +Plan of salvation, 155. + +Poe, Edgar A., 74. + +Prayer, 276. + +Prayers for the dead, objections, 269. + +Prayers for the dead, definition, 270. + +Prayers for the dead, how justified, 272. + +Preexistence, 10. + +Prodigal Son, 27, 28. + +Prometheus, 12. + +Prophecy, 121. + +Protestants and doctrine of prayers for the dead, 269. + + +Rabbi Ben Ezra, 305. + +Re-awakening of the Soul, 130. + +Re-awakening vs. Awakening, 147. + +Responsibility, 30. + +Resurrection of Christ, 14. + +Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 79. + +Ring and the Book, 129. + +Roman Church and prayers for the dead, 282. + + +Sakya Muni, 199. + +Santiago, 196. + +Satisfaction, 155. + +Saul, Browning's, 152. + +Scarlet Letter, The, 137. + +Self-realization, 31. + +Shakespeare, 112, 129, 255. + +Shelley, 74, 129. + +Siddhartha, 111. + +Sin always evil, 119. + +Sin a reality, 127. + +Sin, Mystery of, 172. + +Socrates, 74, 111, 199, 253. + +Sophocles, 129. + +Soul, Solitary, 87. + +Souls in society, 103. + +Soul, what awakens, 34. + +Soul, definition, 7. + +Soul, origin, 9. + +Soul, limited by body, 77. + +Soul, full of prophecies, 257. + +Spartans, 65. + +Spirit evidence of being of God, 20. + +Spiritual protection, 188. + +Spirits attract spirits, 194. + +Spirit, The Eternal, 206. + +Spitta, Karl J.P., 210. + +Subconscious action, 20. + +Sympathy, definition, 106. + +Sympathy, results from severe experience, 109. + +Suffering no mistake, 116. + +Suffering made endurable, 167. + + +Temptations of saints, 84. + +Tennyson, 85, 113, 126, 129, 274. + +Thoughts important in character, 230. + +Training an element in nurture, 220. + +Transfiguration of Christ, 14. + +Truth, Search for, 191. + +Truth finds those prepared for it, 269. + + +Ulysses, 83. + +Universe, Moral, 93. + +Universe, The idea of, 159. + +Utopia, 304. + + +Vedas, Hymns of, 114. + + +Warning voices, 187. + +Watch on the Rhine, 219. + +Welldon, 273, 280, 281. + +Whittier, John G., 220. + +Wilberforce, William, 140, 220. + +Wilson, Bishop, 226, 306. + +Wingfold, Thomas, 143. + +Wordsworth, 2, 10, 48, 182. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Ascent of the Soul, by Amory H. 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