,,levels ,,of ,,living  ,essays on      
,everyday ,ideals  by  ,,henry          
,,frederick ,,cope  ,author of ,the     
,modern ,sunday-,school in ,principle   
and ,practice        ,new ,york ----    
,chicago ---- ,toronto ,fleming ,h4     
,revell ,company ,london ,and ,edinburgh
 ,copyright1 #aijh1 by ,fleming ,h4     
,revell ,company ,new ,york3 #aeh ,fifth
 ,avenue ,chicago3 #hj ,wabash ,avenue  
,toronto3 #be ,richmond ,street1 ,w4    
,london3 #ba ,paternoster ,square       
,edinburgh3 #ajj ,princes ,street       
,to ,my ,wife    ,not in the sentiment  
of dedication alone1   offering to you  
what ,i may have done1 but   in simple  
acknowledgment of obligation   to you   
,elizabeth    best gift of ,god and     
inspiration of man     ,under the title 
of ,a ,sermon ,for ,to-day these short  
essays1 on the art of every-day living  
in the light of eternal life1 were      
published by ,the ,chicago ,sunday      
,tribune1 through a series of years1 and
 were regularly printed in the ,sunday  

editions of a group of the great        
dailies4  ,the short sentences were also
 published with the ,sermons under the  
head of ,sentence ,sermons4  ,the       
courtesy of ,the ,chicago ,daily        
,tribune in permitting the publication  
of these sermons1 with such changes as  
have seemed best1 is gratefully         
acknowledged4     ,,contents        ,i4 
,,the ,,higher ,,levels          ,the   
,real and the ,ideal--,the ,bread of    
,life--,life's          ,unvarying      
,values4      ,,ii4  ,,invisible        
,,allies          ,more than a ,fighting
 ,chance--,the ,unseen                  
,hand--,the ,one in the ,midst4         
,,iii4  ,,the ,,sovereignty ,,of        
,,service          ,self and            
,service--,my ,soul or ,my              
,service8--,the          ,satisfaction  
of ,service4      ,,iv4  ,,the ,,right  
,,to ,,happiness          ,the ,power of
 ,happiness--,the ,secret of            
,happiness--,the ,folly of ,anxiety4    
,v4  ,,the ,,curriculum ,,of ,,character

          ,the ,great ,school--,the     
,purpose of the          ,course--,the  
,price of ,perfection4      ,,vi4  ,,the
 ,,age-,,long ,,miracle          ,the   
,sufficient ,sign--,behold the          
,man--,the          ,life that ,lifts4  
,,vii4  ,,seeing ,,the ,,unseen         
,the ,sense of the ,unseen--,the ,brook 
in the          ,way--,that ,which ,is  
,high4    ,,viii4  ,,sources ,,of       
,,strength ,,and ,,inspiration          
,strength for the ,daily ,task--,the    
,sense of          the ,infinite--,the  
,great ,inspiration4      ,,ix4         
,,finding ,,foundations          ,the   
,passing and ,permanent--,facing the    
,facts--,the ,real ,foundation4         
,x4  ,,the ,,passion ,,for ,,perfection 
,the ,great ,search--,the ,hunger of the
 ,ages--,the          ,sole             
,satisfaction4      ,,xi4  ,,the ,,price
 ,,of ,,success          ,the ,law of   
,selection--,the ,fallacy of            
,negation--,the ,secret of ,all4        
,,xii4  ,,divine ,,service          ,the

 ,ideal ,service--,the ,orthodox        
,service--,the          ,heavenly       
,service4    ,,xiii4  ,,our ,,father    
,,and ,,our ,,fellows          ,the     
,primary ,reconciliation--,faith in ,our
          ,fellows--,the ,law of        
,forgiveness4     ,,xiv4  ,,men ,,and   
,,mammon          ,riches and           
,righteousness--,religion and           
,business--,the ,moral ,end of          
,money-,making4      ,,xv4  ,,the       
,,every-,,day ,,heaven          ,the    
,beauty of ,holiness--,the ,gladness of 
,goodness--,the ,true ,paradise         
,,xvi4  ,,truth ,,and ,,life            
,religion of a ,practical ,mind--,the   
,head          and the ,heart--,new     
,truths for ,new ,days4    ,,xvii4      
,,the ,,fruits ,,of ,,faith             
,root and ,fruit--,the ,orthodox        
,accent--,the          ,business of     
,religion4   ,,xviii4  ,,the ,,force    
,,of ,,faith          ,the ,victory that
 ,overcometh--,fear          and        
,faith--,faith for the ,future4         

,,xix4  ,,hindrances ,,and ,,helps      
,,from ,,within          ,worry--,a     
,cure for the ,blues--,the ,gospel of   
,song4      ,,xx4  ,,does ,,he ,,care8  
,the ,one at the ,helm--,the ,shepherd  
and          the ,sheep--,the ,father's 
,care4     ,i  ,the ,higher ,levels     
,the ,real and the ,ideal   ,the ,bread 
of ,life   ,life's ,unvarying ,values   
,the ideal is the mold in which the real
 is cast4  ,half of success is in seeing
 the significance of little things4  ,he
 finds no weal who flees all woe4  ,you 
do not make life sacred by looking sad4 
,sympathy is a key that fits the lock of
 any heart4  ,soul health will not come 
by taking religion as a dose4  ,many a  
cloud that we call sorrow is but the    
shadow of our own selfishness4  ,to live
 wholly for possessions is to paralyze  
the life to the possibility of          
permanently possessing anything4  ,it   
takes more than willingness to be       
nothing to make you amount to something4
  ,this is never a wrong world to him   

who is right with its heart4   ,,the    
,,real ,,and ,,the ,,ideal  ,it is      
probable that from the age of sixteen up
 to thirty ,jesus of ,nazareth spent    
,his life in mechanical toil2 ,he made  
wooden plows1 ax handles1 and yokes2 ,he
 served as a carpenter4  ,then for three
 years ,he gave ,himself to the ministry
 of ideal things1 exclusively to the    
service of the spirit4  ,there is a     
wonderful satisfaction in making things1
 in looking over some concrete piece of 
work accomplished when the day ends4    
,it is a satisfaction that belongs to   
the artisan4  ,is it not probable that  
many said that it was a great pity when 
,jesus gave up so useful a trade as     
,his8  ,to them ,he seemed to be but    
chasing the rainbow4  ,but to-day who   
possesses a single one of the things    
that young carpenter made8  ,and did we 
possess them all what better off would  
the world be8  ,yet1 on the other hand1 
how ill could this world afford to lose 
what ,he gave it by those three years of

 the service of the ideal4  ,in our age 
of things we so easily forget how large 
is the place of the ideal and the       
spiritual4  ,ever estimating our assets 
in the concrete1 we fail to recognize   
that our real wealth lies in thoughts   
and things abstract4  ,the permanent    
possessions of humanity are spiritual4  
,not acres nor armies1 not banks nor    
business make a nation1 but mighty1     
compelling ideals and traditions4       
,jesus1 ,shakespeare1 ,browning1        
,lowell1 ,emerson left no goods and     
chattels1 no bonds and mortgages2 they  
left inspirations2 they bequeathed      
ideals2 living first for the soul1 their
 souls survive and remain to us all4    
,the truly great who still stand after  
the test of the years are those who have
 lived for the spirit4  ,this is as true
 of the worker and the warrior as of the
 philosopher and poet4  ,all were       
inspired by glowing visions2 they set   
their affections on things above the    
trifles for which we struggle and spend 

ourselves4 ,they endured as seeing      
glories to us invisible2 therefore their
 names endure4  ,the great undertakings 
of our own day are possible only under  
spiritual inspirations4  ,no rewards of 
money only can induce a man to          
steadfastly conduct affairs of great    
moment and enterprise2 he is buoyed up  
by a great hope2 often the very         
greatness of the task and the sense of  
serving great ends carry him on2 always 
he sees the worth in the ideal rather   
than the wage4  ,we must learn to       
measure life with the sense of the      
infinite4  ,we must not think that a man
 has failed because he has not left     
burdened warehouses and bonds4  ,we must
 cease to think that we can tell whether
 work be high or lowly by the size of   
the wage4  ,we need eyes to see the     
glory of the least act in the light of  
the glowing motive4  ,a new estimate is 
placed on each act when it is measured  
not by bread alone but by the things of 
the soul4  ,the mother's care of the    

children2 the father's steady humble    
toil for them1 the faithful watching    
over the sick1 the ministry of the      
lowly1 all have a new glory in the light
 of the love that leads the way and the 
spirit that guides those who do the     
least of these things4  ,we need to     
learn for ourselves what is the work    
that endures4  ,it is a good thing to   
lay a course of bricks so that it shall 
be true1 but of greater value to the    
world than the wall that stands firm is 
the spirit that forces the man to build 
aright4  ,no man can do even this       
without an ideal set in his heart1 and  
when the wall shall have fallen the     
world shall still be enriched by his    
ideal4  ,too many of us are fretting    
because we are not getting on in the    
world4 ,seeing the apparent ease with   
which some acquire fortune1 we become   
discontented with our small gains4  ,we 
talk as though fortunes and follies1    
money and lands were the only things    
worth while4  ,yet we know better1 for  

we all find our real joys in other      
things4    ,,the ,,bread ,,of ,,life    
,there are lives that have bread in     
abundance and yet are starved2 with     
barns and warehouses filled1 with       
shelves and larders laden they are empty
 and hungry4  ,no man need envy them2   
their feverish1 restless whirl in the   
dust of publicity is but the search for 
a satisfaction never to be found in     
things4  ,they are called rich in a     
world where no others are more truly1   
pitiably poor2 having all1 they are yet 
lacking in all because they have        
neglected the things within4  ,the      
abundance of bread is the cause of many 
a man's deeper hunger4 ,having known    
nothing of the discipline that develops 
life's hidden sources of satisfaction1  
nothing of the struggle in which deep   
calls unto deep and the true life finds 
itself1 he spends his days seeking to   
satisfy his soul with furniture1 with   
houses and lands1 with yachts and       
merchandise1 seeking to feed his heart  

on things1 a process of less promise and
 reason than feeding a snapping turtle  
on thoughts4  ,it takes many of us      
altogether too long to learn that you   
cannot find satisfaction so long as you 
leave the soul out of your reckoning4   
,if the heart be empty the life cannot  
be filled4  ,the flow must cease at the 
faucet if the fountains go dry4  ,the   
prime1 the elemental necessities of our 
being are for the life rather than the  
body1 its house4  ,but1 alas1 how often 
out of the marble edifice issues the    
poor emaciated inmate1 how out of the   
life having many things comes that which
 amounts to nothing4  ,the essential    
things are not often those which most   
readily strike our blunt senses4  ,we   
see the shell first4  ,to the           
undeveloped mind the material is all    
there is4  ,but looking deeper into life
 there comes an awakening to the fact   
and the significance of the spiritual1  
the feeling that the reason1 the        
emotions1 the joys and pains that have  

nothing to do with things1 the ties that
 knit one to the infinite1 all          
constitute the permanent elements of    
life4  ,because man is a spirit his life
 never can consist wholly in things2 he 
must come into his heritage of the soul 
wealth of all the ages2 he must reach   
out1 though often as in the dark1 until 
across the void there come voices1 the  
sages and the seers1 the prophets1 and  
the poets speaking the language of the  
soul4  ,in these he finds his food nor  
can his deeper hunger be assuaged until 
it thus is fed4  ,because man is a      
spirit and gradually is coming into the 
dominant spirit life in which things    
shall count for less and thought and    
character for more1 he seeks after his  
own kind4  ,the deeps of life have their
 relationships4  ,the spirit of man     
cries out after the father of spirits4  
,by whatever name men have called the   
most high they ever have sought after   
,him1 the eternal1 who would be one with
 them in soul1 in all that is essential 

and abiding in being4  ,every religion1 
every philosophy1 every endeavour after 
character and truth is but the cry of   
humanity for word with ,god4  ,hearing  
,his word on any lip the heart of man   
answers with joy4  ,the words of eternal
 truth have been the food of the great  
in all ages4  ,fainting in the fight the
 message from the unseen1 the echo of   
everlasting verities1 has revived their 
spirits2 they have fought the fight that
 despises things and seeks truth4  ,who 
would not exchange a mess of pottage for
 the benediction from a father's lips8  
,who is so dead he no longer finds more 
satisfaction in truth and love and      
beauty than in food or furniture8  ,and 
why are we so foolish as to seek to     
satisfy ourselves with things that      
perish1 while down to the least blade of
 creation earth is laden with unfading  
riches and ,god is everywhere8  ,if we  
might but learn this lesson1 we people  
of the laden hand and the empty heart1  
that since life is more than digestion  

and man more than beast or machine1     
since determining all is the spiritual  
world1 they only are wise who set first 
things first1 who use the garnered      
experience of the past and the          
opportunities of the present to the     
enriching of the soul1 who listen among 
all the voices of time for the words    
that proceed from the lips of ,him who  
inhabiteth eternity4    ,,life',s       
,,unvarying ,,values  ,life is the      
business of learning to use things as   
tools1 the real as the servant of the   
ideal1 to make conditions even better   
that character may grow the more1 to    
serve in the making of things and the   
enduring of things under the inspiration
 of the full and glorious purpose of    
life1 the realizing of the best for     
ourselves1 the rendering of our best to 
others4  ,only an age that has lost both
 heart and intellect--the divinely given
 measuring rods of life--will think of  
estimating a life by the money measure4 
,it is a shallow world that knows a man 

as soon as and only when it has         
scheduled his marketable assets2 nor is 
it a happy augury for a nation when it  
acquires the habit of estimating its men
 by the length of the catalogues of     
their possessions4  ,a period of outer  
prosperity is always in danger of being 
one of inner paralysis4  ,luxury is a   
foe to life4  ,character does not       
develop freely1 largely1 beautifully in 
an atmosphere of commercialism4  ,a     
moral decline that but presages enduring
 disaster is sure to succeed the        
supremacy of the market4  ,the great    
danger is that we shall set the tools of
 life before its work1 that we shall    
make life serve our business or our     
ambitions instead of causing ambitions1 
activities1 and opportunities all to    
contribute to the deepening1 enriching1 
and strengthening of the life itself4   
,in the details of making a living it is
 easy to lose sight of the prime thing1 
the life2 it is easy to forget that the 
great question is not1 what have you8   

but1 what are you8  ,life cannot consist
 in things any more than silk can       
consist of shuttles1 or pictures of     
brushes and palettes4  ,life is both    
process and product2 but things and fame
 and power are no more than the tools   
and machinery serving to perfect the    
product4  ,life must consist in         
thoughts1 experiences1 motives1         
ideals--in a word1 in character4  ,a    
man's life is what he is4  ,but what a  
man is will depend on what he does with 
the things he has or may have4  ,let him
 once set the possession of things as   
his loftiest ideal1 let this avarice of 
things enter the heart and speedily the 
love of the good will leave4  ,to that  
god all honour1 all truth loving1 all   
gentleness and humanity are sacrificed4 
,when possession becomes life's ruling  
passion it doesn't take long for        
principle to be forgotten4  ,the danger 
to-day is not that our people will fail 
in the world's contests because they    
lack either money1 mind1 or muscle4  ,we

 are in little danger from illiteracy or
 from business incompetency2 but we are 
in danger from moral paralysis1 due to  
undue pressure on the money nerve4  ,we 
have talked before the youth in the home
 and amongst ourselves on the street as 
though the only thing worth living for  
was money1 as though they alone were    
great who had it and they only to be    
despised who had it not4  ,the danger is
 neither in our market1 our commerce1   
nor our laws2 the danger is in our own  
hearts4  ,no matter how world-potent our
 merchandise1 how marvellous our        
mechanical and material powers1 how     
brilliant our business strategy1 all    
will not avail to silence the voice1    
,thou fool1 this night thy soul is      
required of thee4  ,then whose shall    
these things be8  ,we need1 not fewer   
things1 not the return to an age of     
poverty or dreary destitution2 we need  
more power over things2 to let the man1 
so long buried beneath the money and the
 lands and houses1 come to the top2 to  

set ourselves over our things2 to make  
them serve us1 minister to our lives and
 our purposes in living4  ,there must be
 an elevation of standards1 the         
institution of new valuations1 clearer1 
nobler conceptions of what living means4
  ,boys and girls must be taught from   
the beginning that life is more than    
self-serving1 more than fame or glory2  
it is the service of humanity4 ,a       
passion for humanity will cure the      
passion for gold1 will teach the true   
value of life as something that only the
 infinite can estimate and will give to 
the heart those true riches that do not 
tarnish and that cannot be stolen4      
,,ii  ,invisible ,allies    ,more ,than 
a ,fighting ,chance   ,the ,unseen ,hand
   ,the ,one in the ,midst    ,logic may
 illumine1 but love leads4  ,the        
religion that produces no sunshine is   
all moonshine4  ,imaginary evils have   
more than imaginary effects4  ,he who   
lays out each day with prayer leaves it 
with praise4  ,light from above is for  

the path below4  ,singing of heaven     
gives no certainty of singing in heaven4
  ,it is better to have your bank in    
heaven than your heaven in a bank4  ,the
 burdens of earth demand that our hearts
 be nourished with the bread of heaven4 
,there are too many hungry for love for 
any ever to talk of suffering from      
loneliness4  ,the man who lives with    
,god does not have to advertise the     
fact4   ,,ii  ,,moke ,,than ,a          
,,fighting ,,chance  ,who has not cried 
out1 in haste but still in anguish3     
,alas6  ,all things are against me2 foes
 are many and friends there are none6   
,the roads to pessimism are many2 but   
surely this is the shortest one1 to get 
to think that life is but a conflict    
waged single-handed against great odds1 
a long story of struggle1 difficulties1 
pains1 disappointments1 temptations1    
failures1 wounds1 ending only in death4 
,even though you escape that chronic    
jaundiced view of life there are seasons
 of depression when it seems easy to get

 out of bed on the wrong side and to    
plow all day into stumps instead of in  
the good1 clear ground4  ,ever we need  
the vision that ,elisha of old gave to  
his young man1 to see the hills about us
 alive with our allies4  ,otherwise it  
is easy to conclude the fates fight     
against us4  ,how slight is the evidence
 on which men base their gloomy         
conclusions6 ,the pessimist always      
argues from a single instance to a      
general law4 ,if he strikes a poor peach
 on top he throws the whole basket      
away--or sells them as soon as he can4  
,he insists on sitting square on the    
cactus bunch when there is only one on  
the whole bench-land4  ,he then becomes 
an authority on cactus4  ,if he can     
discover a few foes on the horizon he is
 blind to a regiment of friends close at
 hand4  ,but the seers1 our poets and   
teachers1 have a wider vision2 they seek
 the glory rather than the gloom and    
they tell us that every man has more    
friends than foes4  ,this is the song of

 those who told us long ago of          
,providence1 the one who backs a man up 
and fights on his side and furnishes him
 in the hour of need4  ,this is the song
 of ,lowell1 ,tennyson1 ,whittier1 and  
,browning4  ,life is not a lone-handed  
fight against unnumbered foes2 it is not
 a losing fight to any who will fight it
 well4  ,every force in this world works
 with the man who seeks the good4  ,this
 is a right world and only he who fights
 the right faces the unconquerable4  ,a 
man may meet rebuffs1 battle's tides may
 sweep back and forth1 but in the end1  
as it has ever been in all the long     
story of man's conflict with nature1 so 
in the conflict with every other foe1 he
 is bound to win4  ,this is as true in  
the individual life of every fighter as 
nature and history show it to be in     
universal life4  ,on our side there is  
the great world of the unseen4  ,little 
do we know of it1 but still that little 
gives us confidence to believe it is    
peopled with our allies4  ,our fairest  

hopes of good angels may be delusions as
 to details1 but they are essentially   
true1 being born of an eternal verity4  
,the gospel of good hope declares there 
is ,one over all1 the friend of all2    
greater is ,he that is with you than any
 against you2 greater is ,he than your  
temptations1 your adversaries1 your     
difficulties1 and your sorrows4  ,this  
was what the great ,teacher came to tell
 men1 that ,god was on their side1      
seeking to help them1 loving1 caring1   
coperating1 leading them into the life  
of victory over every enemy4  ,let a man
 face life in this confidence and he is 
invincible4  ,he goes forth and an      
unseen army goes with him4  ,he gains   
the seer's vision to see even the       
plotting of the enemy and the forces    
that fight against him all working for  
his good4  ,from many combats he gains  
strength for the decisive struggle4     
,all things work together for good4  ,he
 serves the right1 the truth1 the things
 that are eternal2 he fights for        

character1 for manhood1 and the good2   
and the eternal forces that rule the    
universe fight by his side4  ,he beholds
 the hills full of the hosts of heaven2 
though he has no time to enjoy the      
vision he knows they are there1 his     
allies1 his assurance of ultimate       
victory4    ,,the ,,unseen ,,hand  ,the 
mightiest and the eternal forces fight  
ever on the side of the right4  ,true1  
things do not always look that way4     
,sometimes ,napoleon's sneer about ,god 
being on the side of the largest        
battalions seems to have truth in it4   
,but ere long we see the large          
battalions swept away before the        
strange1 unaccountable1 and irresistible
 power of an insignificant body having  
truth and ,god on its side4  ,the man   
who takes up the struggle for truth1 who
 puts his hand to the sword for the     
oppressed1 for the right1 finds himself 
holding a two-handled weapon1 and if he 
grasps firmly the one hilt it is as     
though there were an omnipotent hand    

grasping the other4  ,he who fights     
worthily1 in fitting battle1 never      
fights alone4  ,it is not that some     
omnipotent person steps down from a     
throne in the heavens and plunges into  
the battle2 it is that every time a man 
steps out for right and truth he places 
himself in accord with eternal spiritual
 forces that give themselves to him and 
his work4  ,it is not that ,god comes to
 fight for a man so much as that a man  
finds himself fighting beside ,god2     
entering this battle1 he sees that where
 he thought none had been serving heaven
 had long been waging the contest4  ,it 
is so easy1 like old ,elijah1 to think  
that you alone are left to witness for  
truth1 to feel the loneliness of        
standing for things noble and worthy1 to
 become oppressed with the hopelessness 
of the minority in which you find       
yourself4  ,when real and concrete      
things press upon us and their uproar is
 in our ears we become deaf and blind to
 the greater forces that from the       

beginning of time have been working for 
the best4  ,every great reform has      
looked like a losing movement2 it has   
begun with most insignificant           
minorities2 it has met with violent and 
well-organized opposition2 its          
supporters have often been              
faint-hearted1 and yet ultimately it has
 overcome always4  ,as men have fought  
on they have found an unseen hand       
grasping the sword beside theirs4  ,we  
all need this sense of ,god with us1    
helping us in our lives4  ,this gives   
courage and confidence4  ,it does not   
mean weak reliance upon heaven to do    
things for us2 it means entering on the 
things that look impossible because we  
know that1 if they are right1 every     
great force in the universe will        
coperate with us4  ,this is the fine    
sense in which the human enters into    
partnership with the heavenly4  ,this   
determines whether we may call our work 
divine or not4  ,it is to be judged1 not
 by whether it is pleasant or looks     

respectable1 but by whether it is the   
work in which we know the ,lord of all  
can lay ,his hand to the tool or weapon 
alongside of our hands4  ,with a        
consciousness like this1 one attempts   
anything4  ,the practical question is   
not1 ,can this be done8 but ,ought this 
to be done8  ,is it such a task as will 
enlist the coperation of the eternal    
spirit of truth and right8  ,with the   
cry of ,gideon on their lips1 men have  
fared forth facing fearful odds2 their  
hands have fallen from their swords1 but
 the unseen hand has carried them on    
until the cause has won4  ,the          
,almighty1 who would have love and peace
 and righteousness to prevail1 needs    
your hand for ,his sword2 the sword of  
the ,lord is vain without ,gideon4      
,ideals and spiritual forces may exist1 
but men must be their realizations1     
their visible hands4  ,god's work waits 
for you to put your hand to the sword2  
you will find ,his already there4  ,this
 helping hand is always unseen2         

spiritual things are often apparently   
unreal4  ,god cannot be reduced to      
figures nor to material elements4  ,this
 hand that works with ours may mean one 
thing to one and another to another4    
,what we all need is to simply grasp the
 great fact of the spiritual forces that
 strengthen every good resolve1 that    
give vigour in every good work1 and give
 victory at last to the right4    ,,the 
,,one ,,in ,,the ,,midst  ,there are    
always a thousand blind men to one who  
can see4  ,all have eyes1 but not all   
have vision4  ,the things we most need  
and the things for which we most long   
are often nearest to us1 while we1 with 
eyes fast shut1 grope our way to the    
place where we think they ought to be4  
,the best things are the things we miss4
  ,the crowd by the fords of the ,jordan
 was longing to see the ,messiah2 yet of
 them all there was only one1 the son of
 the desert1 who saw that ,he was       
actually with them already4  ,john had  
eyes that pierced the husk of things4   

,he looked on this son of the carpenter 
and a thousand years of prophecy sank   
into insignificance beside its          
fulfillment2 the multitude became as    
nothing beside the all glorious ,son of 
,man4  ,he alone knew his ,lord1 because
 he alone looked with eyes of love4     
,john announced the sublime central     
truth that all the world's great seers  
have declared2 ,god is in ,his world4   
,man is an animal who seeks ,god2 he    
finds ,him when his eyes are opened4    
,some are looking for ,him in the       
records of ,his ways with men2 many are 
hoping to see ,him in some other world2 
a few see ,him by their side4  ,some1   
priding themselves on their spiritual   
vision1 and boastingly describing ,god  
as ,he was or ,god as ,he will be1 have 
eyes of stone when it comes to seeing   
,god as ,he is4  ,they do not stop to   
think that we want a ,god in the present
 tense--a ,god in our homes1 on our     
streets1 in our affairs4  ,and others   
say1 this thing is unthinkable1 for1 if 

you say that this is a spiritual        
presence1 you at once remove the whole  
question from touch with real things4   
,they forget that the most real things  
lie beyond the senses4  ,who ever saw   
mother-love8  ,yet who will not believe 
in it8  ,ambition1 affection1 pity1     
memory1 hope2 these are the real things1
 the lasting things2 these are the      
spiritual things4  ,no one ever saw     
these things1 and yet they can be seen  
everywhere2 it only needs the vision2 we
 all have seen them at times4  ,there   
are the selfish1 gross1 and sensual who 
tell us there is no love in the world2  
and there are those to whom every common
 bush is aflame with ,god4  ,so hearts  
that have forsaken the good see nothing 
but a ,god-forsaken world2 and1 in this 
same world1 hearts that are lifted up   
find ,him everywhere1 they see ,him in  
the movements of history1 in the forces 
of nature1 they hear ,him in the hum of 
commerce and in the silence of the      
fields1 in every human voice they catch 

,his tone4  ,he is ever in the midst4   
,he is more than a force1 a dream1 a    
thought4  ,he is to men to-day what ,he 
was to men when ,he walked their streets
 and touched their sick2 all that we    
think ,he would have been in that long  
ago ,he is to-day4  ,personal8  ,yes1   
that ,he may reach persons1 for we      
cannot know impersonal love or          
impersonal help4  ,his personality turns
 the universe from an institution into  
an organism4  ,yet more than personal2  
this one in the midst is infinite2 ,he  
is the whole where we are but fractions4
 ,but ,he does not hide ,himself in ,his
 infinity2 ,he is among you1 with men4  
,not by descent into the grave of the   
past1 nor by ascent into heaven do we   
find ,him2 ,he is here1 on every hand4  
,this it is that transforms individual  
character1 to know that ,he is by my    
side2 this it is that solves our        
problems1 to see ,him linking my fellow 
to me2 this it is that gives strength1  
to hear ,his voice2 this it is that     

gives hope1 to know ,he is working with 
us2 this it is that makes burdens       
bearable1 to know that ,he is           
sympathetic and strong4  ,this one in   
the midst explains suffering1 inspires  
heroism1 is the promise and the potency 
of all the possibilities of the sons of 
men4     ,,iii  ,the ,sovereignty of    
,service    ,self and ,service   ,my    
,soul or ,my ,service   ,the            
,satisfaction of ,service   ,the fruits 
of sacrifice become the roots of love4  
,a tin halo makes a fine trap for a man 
to tangle himself in4  ,it takes the    
base line of two worlds to get a correct
 elevation of any life4  ,life is always
 a dull grind to the man who thinks only
 of the grist4  ,knocking the saints    
will not open the doors of paradise4    
,capacity for that heaven comes from    
creating this one4  ,another man's      
burden is the ,christian's best badge4  
,the only way to lift life is to lay    
life down4  ,it doesn't take long to    
choose between a sinner who swears once 

in a while and a saint who makes every  
one swear all the while4  ,you cannot   
lift folks while you are looking down on
 them4   ,,iii  ,,self ,,and ,,service  
,there is such a thing as supremely     
selfish self-denial4  ,a man retires    
into the monk's pietic seclusion2 he    
isolates himself from interest in the   
world battles2 he shuts himself from    
sympathy with the struggles of business1
 civil1 and even social life4  ,to him  
these things are carnal4 ,he is         
engrossed with the complication of      
interpretations of languages long dead1 
or with visions of an unknown heaven1   
and this1 he thinks1 is living the life 
of self-denial4  ,the denial of self is 
not the death of self2 it is the leading
 of the best self into larger life4  ,it
 is not the dwarfing of the life2 it is 
its development into usefulness4  ,it is
 not the emasculation of character2 it  
is the submission and discipline of the 
life to new and nobler motives4  ,he    
best denies himself who best develops   

himself with the purpose of serving his 
fellows4  ,what ,jesus meant was that if
 any man would be one of ,his he must   
cease to make his own selfish pleasures1
 ambitions1 and passions the end of his 
living2 he must make the most of himself
 that he might have the more to give to 
the service of mankind2 he must make the
 one motive and end of his life the     
benefit and help of every other man4    
,that kind of a life means a change of  
centre4  ,instead of regarding the      
universe as revolving about itself it   
sees that self as but part of the great 
machinery of life1 planned and operating
 for the good of all4  ,a man begins to 
deny himself as soon as he begins to    
love another4  ,even a yellow dog may   
act to deflect the heart from its old   
self-centre4 ,the love of kin and       
family1 of friends1 and associates all  
serve to strengthen the habit of        
self-denial4  ,the fewer people a man   
takes into his plan of life the more    
likely is he to be selfish4  ,but some  

lives are but the more selfish because  
they take in all mankind and look on    
them as designed to contribute to their 
single enriching4  ,that kind of a life 
commits suicide2 ever grasping and never
 giving it dies of plethora4  ,it had   
never learned that strange secret of the
 best self-development1 sacrificing     
service4  ,we need to guard ourselves   
against the delusion that the denial of 
oneself means the impoverishment of the 
life4  ,there can be no true giving of  
the life in service unless there is a   
wise enriching of the self1 a thorough  
fitting for that service4  ,the more of 
a man you are1 the brighter your        
intellect1 the broader your sympathies1 
the better your service to the world may
 be4  ,the sloth that sinks the soul in 
indifference to its own development is  
the most sinful of all forms of         
selfishness4  ,this way of denial is    
more1 the ,master tells ,his disciples1 
than an emptying of the life4  ,if some 
of the cares of self are cast out the   

burdens of others more than take their  
place4  ,it is a full life1 overflowing 
with the interests1 the fears1 loves1   
hopes1 and longings of other lives4  ,it
 bears the cross1 not of an ornamental1 
vanity-serving glory1 but the cross of a
 world's sin and sorrow4  ,each man must
 carry his cross not on his breast but  
on his heart and brain4  ,it is what he 
can do1 what he can plan1 suggest1      
undertake towards saving this world4    
,the cross of discipleship will be to   
some statesmanship1 to others science1  
to others the daily service of a home or
 the work in the shop2 it is the kindly 
word1 the cheering look1 the lift by the
 way2 it is whatever is done in         
unselfish desire to make life better1 to
 bring men nearer to one another and to 
the ,father of all4  ,you have only to  
look at the great ,teacher to know what 
self-denial and cross bearing really    
mean1 and you have only to follow ,him  
to fully carry out their principles4    
,to ,him they meant the life of doing   

good1 of seeking the sorrowing1         
befriending the forsaken1 helping the   
helpless4  ,they who follow ,him lead   
the world2 they who seek to minister    
instead of being ministered to are the  
world's masters4  ,the value of every   
life must be measured at last not by    
what it has gathered to itself but by   
what it has given for the enriching and 
help of the whole life of the world4    
,,my ,,soul ,,or ,,my ,,service  ,there 
is no more subtle temptation than that  
which sets the soul as a hindrance to   
the service we should render4  ,a       
surprise awaits him who carefully will  
compare the emphasis laid upon the      
individual soul and its salvation by the
 modern church with the place given this
 in the teachings of the ,bible4        
,perhaps he will find in modern         
preaching1 with its insistent appeal to 
men to save their own souls1 an         
explanation of prevalent selfishness4   
,the moral effect of urging a man to    
save his soul is not much better than   

that which comes from advising him to   
save his skin at any cost4  ,the most   
serious objection ever made to religion 
is that it produces a narrow1           
self-centred type of mind4  ,that type  
of religion cannot be right1 regardless 
of its doctrinal orthodoxy1 which       
produces a wrong type of men and women4 
,but may not failure here be accounted  
for by the selfish basis on which men   
build the plea for what they call       
personal salvation8  ,what could be more
 selfish than this continual appeal to  
fear1 this urging of men to escape from 
punishment1 to make sure of a house in  
the heavenly city1 this offering of     
crowns and perpetual rest1 plenty and   
peace1 this emphasis on the great object
 of saving your own soul8  ,it is       
opposite directly to what the great     
,teacher told men4  ,did ,he not say    
that the man who would save his own life
 should lose it8  ,the concentration of 
mind on the self1 whether in the name of
 religion or in any other name1 is but  

moral suicide4  ,people who have no     
other object in life than that of saving
 their own souls are but little better  
than those whose whole object is to     
fatten1 protect1 and keep safe their    
bodies4  ,but ,christianity must be     
perverted greatly to make it teach men  
to set their own interests first4  ,it  
is the religion of the other man4  ,its 
appeal is not to the love of self1 but  
to the love of society4  ,it offers a   
way of salvation1 not as a thing        
desirable for your exclusive use1 but as
 the pathway for all lives1 for all the 
people4  ,its tree of life is not for a 
single pair1 but for the healing of the 
nations4  ,true religion is not in      
self-centred culture1 but in the culture
 of all through the service of the      
single ones and the culture of the one  
through his service for all4  ,only in  
the atmosphere of service does the soul 
grow1 expand1 and find itself4  ,to live
 in a circle is to die2 it is the       
centrifugal life that finds salvation4  

,they court death who seek only their   
own lives2 they find life who1          
disregarding death and loss1 seek only  
to make others live4  ,religion is not  
simply a cure for my ills4  ,true1 it   
does cure many of them1 but only that ,i
 may be better able to do its work4  ,it
 is a great cause1 a mighty project1    
commanding the noblest enthusiasms and  
the highest efficiency of effort1 the   
project of bringing this whole world to 
salvation4  ,and that not the salvation 
of a mental condition but of the        
perfection of its whole being1 the      
realization of its highest              
possibilities1 the full noontide of the 
day of ,god4  ,is not this enough to    
satisfy any man and to call forth the   
best in him1 that he should in some way 
serve this glorious ideal8  ,is not this
 man's purpose in this world even as it 
was the purpose of the one who called   
,himself the ,son of ,man8  ,what nobler
 summary could any life have than ,his1 
that ,he went about doing good8  ,how   

quickly would that kingdom of heaven    
come if this were the program of every  
life6  ,let but a man do his duty       
towards this shining ideal1 let him but 
be lifted up1 carried along in the      
mighty enthusiasm it ought to engender1 
and his own soul1 his own development1  
his character perfection will take care 
of itself4  ,no man ever did any great  
work without becoming greater himself1  
and greatness never was found in any    
other way4  ,this is an unvarying law4  
,service is the secret of culture4  ,the
 pious hypochondriac is sure to be a    
sickly soul4  ,the best thing you can do
 for your soul is to forget that you    
have one1 just as the healthy man       
forgets he has a heart or liver4  ,the  
self-forgetting service is the secret of
 happiness1 of full finding of self4    
,freedom in self-giving brings fullness 
in living4  ,in the right life the hour 
of prayer1 the quiet thought1 the search
 for abstract truth1 may all have their 
place2 but it is only the place that the

 wise workman gives to his meals4  ,he  
does not live for these things2 they are
 but ministrants to his work4  ,he uses 
everything that will make him a better  
workman2 but not because he sees the    
workman as his end4  ,he forgets himself
 in the perfection of that he seeks to  
make4  ,the saving of the soul1 the     
culture of the self1 as an end is shame 
and suicide2 as a means to service it is
 life and peace and perfection4    ,,the
 ,,satisfaction ,,of ,,service  ,a man  
always thinks more of his work than of  
his wages4  ,he would never be content  
to toil day in and day out but for the  
thought that somehow to some one his    
work was worth while4  ,neither wages1  
nor salary1 nor any other cash          
consideration would of itself be        
sufficient to satisfy him4  ,the workman
 is proud of the product of his hands2  
his reward is in that he has made2 the  
good shepherd thinks more of the flock  
than of their fleece or his pay4        
,satisfaction in work can only come from

 service rendered4  ,whether a man be   
plowing or preaching1 sweeping the      
streets or building empires1 his work is
 only worthy if his motive be the good  
he is doing1 the value of the work      
itself4  ,we call the man who preaches a
 minister1 a servant4  ,there is no more
 honourable title1 but it belongs to    
every one who seeks to do any worthy    
work in the world4  ,the purpose of     
living is service1 therefore the        
business of religion must be the        
cultivation of proficiency in service4  
,the work of ,christianity is to teach  
men how to be most valuable and useful  
as children and parents1 as neighbours  
and citizens1 how to make the most of   
their lives and to do the most with     
them4  ,it aims to bring the race to its
 highest efficiency4  ,religion reveals 
to man the worth-while object of all his
 endeavours1 to work as a servant for   
others4  ,never was ,jesus more glorious
 than when ,he stooped to lift the      
palsied1 to heal the sick1 to feed the  

hungry4  ,he found ,his right to rule   
men by ,his exercise of the privilege of
 serving them4  ,the sheep belong to the
 good shepherd because he gives his life
 to them4  ,this marks the true follower
 of the great ,teacher to-day2 his      
business is to serve1 he makes living an
 investment for humanity4  ,he is       
commanded to lose his life1 to be       
willing to give up1 to sacrifice all in 
self-denial1 to take his cross and      
suffer persecution and loss in this way 
of walking after his ,master4  ,but he  
is not told to throw his life away as a 
worthless thing4  ,he is to lose it as  
the seed is lost in the sowing1 as the  
money in the investing2 to sacrifice it 
as the tool is sacrificed to that which 
it is carving4  ,he who would be of real
 service to the world must cultivate the
 best in himself4  ,if living is seed   
sowing1 then the seed must be good or   
the harvest will be thin4  ,true        
altruism finds right expression first in
 self-care4  ,it is a man's business to 

be strong1 healthy1 sane1 trained1      
developed2 to be the best kind of a man1
 complete in all his faculties1 that he 
may have the more to offer to the       
service of his fellows4  ,there is no   
merit in offering the wrecked body and  
soured mind4  ,if you are going to give 
your life to the world you must make it 
worth the giving4  ,heaven's work       
demands the finest tools4  ,nothing is  
too good for the service of humanity4   
,there is a good deal more religion in  
the honest attempt to make the most of  
yourself1 to keep health1 to secure     
education and culture1 in order that you
 may have the larger1 better1 wealthier 
self to use in service than in unending 
ascetic exercises1 prayers1 devotions1  
meditations1 mumbling1 or visions of    
things spiritual4  ,the only way you can
 prove the genuineness of your religion 
is by your gifts to the children of     
,god1 your own brothers about you4      
,there is no gift that begins to compare
 in value with a well-trained1          

well-equipped1 strong and clean life4   
,we cannot all give gold or lands1 or   
even learning to men1 but we can all    
give lives1 and that which heaven and   
earth both have a right to expect is    
that we shall give the best lives we    
can4     ,,iv  ,the ,right to ,happiness
    ,the ,power of ,happiness   ,the    
,secret of ,happiness   ,the ,folly of  
,anxiety   ,happy is that happy makes4  
,heaven leaves the heart when hatred    
enters4  ,the man who is so wise that he
 never laughs is the greatest of fools4 
,when your face spells failure it's no  
use talking of the glory of your faith4 
,to set a child towards gladness is to  
incline him towards ,god4  ,the graces  
do not grow in gloom4  ,there's no      
argument equal to a happy smile4        
,stealing sorrow is as much a sin as    
acquiring stolen joys4  ,life's music is
 never perfect without the chord of     
pain4  ,happiness is never found by     
dodging my neighbour's sorrows4   ,,iv  
,,the ,,power ,,of ,,happiness  ,instead

 of the strength of your faith being    
marked by the length of your sighs1 the 
genuineness of your religion is to be   
known by its joyfulness4  ,the same ,god
 who gives the sunlight and the smiling 
fields1 who makes the brooks to laugh   
through the meadows and the stars to    
sing at night1 would rather see smiles  
than frowns on the faces of ,his        
children4  ,his glory is not in gloom   
but in gladness4  ,he designed this     
world for happiness1 and religion is but
 the pursuing of ,his plans for the good
 of ,his children4  ,that which is holy 
must be happy4  ,artificial sadness is  
always sinful4 ,a church is not sacred  
because it looks like a sepulchre2 music
 is not sacred because all the spring is
 taken out of it4  ,you do not keep a   
day sacred to divine ends by making it  
dismal4  ,it is a religious duty resting
 on all to cultivate happiness1 to make 
this world less sad4  ,no matter how    
sincere a man may be1 if his sanctity   
results only in sorrow to others its    

satisfaction to him must count for      
nothing4  ,there is a great deal of     
piety that needs an operation to cut the
 bands that bind its heart and reduce   
the inflammation of its spleen4         
,happiness is the very health of        
religion4  ,if religion does not give   
right relations to those things that    
determine the tone and colour of life it
 is a failure4  ,but true happiness can 
never be selfish4  ,it grows only by    
giving4  ,no one can eat a feast by     
himself4  ,happiness is not found on    
lonely mounts of vision4  ,it is a fair1
 refreshing stream that flows through   
the dusty ways of daily life4  ,its     
waters are never so sweet and cool to   
you as when you seek them for others4   
,none ever find it who go only with     
their own pitchers4  ,the reason so many
 would-be saints are sad is because they
 will not be other than selfish4  ,it is
 not strange that men who love this     
heaven-born life of ours should turn    
away from the religion that represented 

every happy1 joyous human thing as an   
enormous offense against its ,god4      
,once men gathered together every dark  
and depressing thought and thing and    
said these constitute the divine in this
 world2 they looked out through the     
smoked glasses of sanctimony and        
declared that every glad1 generous      
hearty impulse and action must be evil  
because such things gave happiness4     
,the old boundary line between the pain 
that was piety and the pleasure that    
spelt perdition has almost passed away4 
,men now know that there is pain and    
loss in the way of sin1 that the way of 
the transgressor is hard2 they learn by 
tasting that the fruits of righteousness
 are joy and peace4  ,the age demands   
what the ,lord of all has ever intended1
 that religion should send men on their 
way with the vigour of happier hearts1  
with the upwelling love for men that    
should drive the squalor1 misery1       
despair1 and heart-aches of sin before  
it4  ,life has its work and it has its  

sorrows2 but they ought both to be for  
its enriching4  ,the business of        
religion is to teach us that            
understanding and adjustment of life    
which will make it a feast of fat       
things1 to teach us that the ,god of all
 desires the good of all4  ,the more    
true piety--the seeking for the loving  
will of the all wise and loving--there  
is in this world the more pleasure there
 will be in it4  ,this happiness is the 
cure for the madness that some call     
pleasure4 ,life is a mockery indeed to  
those whose only hope is for the hours  
of leisure in which to drink the        
deadening drafts of excitement1 the     
lethal cup that only hides life's misery
 by paralyzing the faculties against the
 possibilities of real pleasure4  ,if   
men might only hear again the call of   
,him who bade the weary and heavy laden 
to come2 if they might but know that    
,his way of life can give strength1     
rest1 peace1 joy1 what an enriching life
 might have4  ,make life happier and you

 will make it holier4  ,make it full of 
pleasure--not that of a fool's          
paradise--but that of peace with        
heaven's plans1 with the joy of knowing 
that over all is infinite love1 the     
strength that comes from knowing right  
is invincible1 the tender and sweet joys
 that spring up at the touch of human   
love4  ,go your ways to make them paths 
of gladness1 to show love shining       
through sorrow1 to give love in the name
 of the ,lord of love and yours shall be
 religious service indeed4    ,,the     
,,secret ,,of ,,happiness  ,how did your
 ,puritan forefathers dispose of the    
text which in their day read1 ,a merry  
heart is a continual feast4  ,did they  
explain it away by saying that the man  
was made anyway for fasting and not for 
feasting8  ,perhaps underneath their    
austere exterior they1 after all1 knew  
something of deep joys and unfailing    
sources of refreshing happiness4  ,in   
their teaching they made the mistake of 
insisting that it was necessary to seem 

sad in order to please the ,most ,high4 
,we make the mistake of being sad in    
order to please ourselves4  ,their      
misery at least had the grace of a high 
motive2 ours is born of a short-sighted 
selfishness that grasps at the shadow of
 a fleeting satisfaction and loses the  
substance of lasting joy4  ,happiness is
 the highest aim of life1 higher than   
holiness or usefulness1 because it must 
include both4  ,to us it is so          
unfamiliar that we do not know it from  
frivolity2 we seek the excitement of    
some pleasing sensation1 and1 rising to 
its stimulus1 we fall afterwards into   
the reaction of misery4  ,happiness is  
the poise1 calm1 strength1 and spring of
 the life fully in harmony with all     
things good and true4  ,nothing praises 
,god better than a happy disposition4   
,many have thought to give ,him glory by
 learned treatises on ,his majesty and  
mystery4  ,but a little child1 so happy 
that he only can kick and crow1 praises 
the ,almighty more effectively and even 

devoutly than does the theologian who   
only can offer his bloodless            
speculations4  ,the great ,father gives 
,his children a world brimming over with
 joy1 with laughing meadows1 with       
smiling morns1 with rippling bird song1 
and to man ,he gives faculties of       
immeasurable happiness4  ,life is       
learning the law of happiness and       
practicing its use and service4  ,but   
what is the secret of happiness8  ,how  
can we learn to be happy when life has  
so much to make us sad8  ,the praise of 
happiness does not take away the fact of
 sorrow or solve its dark problem4      
,there remain the million aching hearts 
and all the griefs of a world4  ,true4  
,god forbid that we should lose our     
sorrows2 that were to make this a sad   
world indeed4  ,our cares are but part  
of joy's curriculum4  ,learning their   
lesson1 bearing their load is essential 
to deep1 lasting happiness4  ,it is not 
the life of the butterfly experience    
that is firm1 calm1 serene in times of  

storm and stress4  ,it is the life that 
by loads of care has been forced to     
strike its roots down to the rocks4     
,there are some lives that seem to run  
over with a happiness that is full of   
refreshing to all who know them1 and    
these have come out of great            
tribulation4  ,at first the             
multiplication table is a burden2 later1
 when mastered1 it becomes a wonderful  
bearer of burdens4  ,to wear a careworn1
 fretful look1 to go through life       
shedding misery1 is to confess that we  
have not learned our lesson1 that we are
 dunces in life's school4  ,the secret  
of happiness is in grasping the         
significance of living1 to learn that we
 live for things other and higher than  
those mad follies and fading prizes for 
which men sell their bodies and souls   
and fret out their nerves and hearts4   
,no man can be happy whose heart is set 
on the changing fashion of things or who
 looks for satisfaction in things4  ,the
 lover is happy because he has          

discovered his prize and is enthralled  
by a pursuit that makes all other things
 seem mean and paltry4  ,men are happy  
in proportion as they yield themselves  
to the best1 as they tune their hearts  
to strike the highest key of their      
lives4  ,paul is happier in the dungeon1
 where he can be true to his ideal1 than
 ,nero on the throne without one4       
,there is feast in days of famine for   
those who have the inner eyes for the   
riches of life4  ,you always can find in
 this world what your heart is looking  
for4  ,but you cannot satisfy your heart
 on everything you may chance to find1  
and until the heart is satisfied and the
 deeper needs of the life are met there 
is no happiness4  ,the search for       
happiness is not altogether selfish4    
,few things can we do that will help    
others more than the cultivation of     
serene strength and cheer in ourselves4 
,not the soulless1 set smile1 but the   
strength and sympathy that flow from a  
life fixed in confidence in eternal     

right and good and unfailing love4      
,,the ,,folly ,,of ,,anxiety  ,the great
 ,teacher does not say that we are not  
to be thoughtful1 or provident2 but ,he 
insists that no event can be provided   
for by anxiety1 by fretting over it     
before it comes4  ,half the people on   
our streets look as though life was a   
sorry business4  ,it is hard to find a  
happy looking man or woman4  ,worry is  
the cause of their woebegone appearance4
  ,worry makes the wrinkles2 worry cuts 
the deep1 down-glancing lines on the    
face2 worry is the worst disease of our 
modern times4  ,care is contagious2 it  
is hard work being cheerful at a        
funeral1 and it is a good deal harder to
 keep the frown from your face when you 
are in the throng of the worry worn     
ones4  ,yet1 we have no right to be     
dispensers of gloom2 no matter how heavy
 our loads may seem to be we have no    
right to throw their burden on others   
nor even to cast the shadow of them on  
other hearts4  ,anxiety is instability4 

,fret steals away force4  ,he who dreads
 to-morrow trembles to-day4  ,worry is  
weakness4  ,the successful men may be   
always wide-awake1 but they never worry4
  ,fret and fear are like fine sand1    
thrown into life's delicate mechanism2  
they cause more than half the friction2 
they steal half the power4  ,cheer is   
strength4  ,nothing is so well done as  
that which is done heartily1 and nothing
 is so heartily done as that which is   
done happily4  ,be happy1 is an         
injunction not impossible of            
fulfillment4 ,pleasure may be an        
accident2 but happiness comes in        
definite ways4  ,it is the casting out  
of our foolish fears that we may have   
room for a few of our common joys4  ,it 
is the telling our worries to wait until
 we get through appreciating our        
blessings4  ,take a deep breath1 raise  
your chest1 lift your eyes from the     
ground1 look up and think how many      
things you have for which to be         
grateful1 and you will find a smile     

growing where one may long have been    
unknown4  ,take the right kind of       
thought--for to take no thought would be
 sin--but take the calm1 unanxious      
thought of your business1 your duties1  
your difficulties1 your disappointments 
and all the things that once have caused
 you fear1 and you will find yourself   
laughing at most of them4  ,in some you 
will see but friends in disguise1 and in
 others puny foes decked out as giants4 
,but begin to dread them1 brood over    
them1 look at them with eyes prejudiced 
with fear1 and the least difficulties   
rise like mountains4  ,in winter some   
people worry themselves into malaria    
over the mosquitoes they may meet next  
summer4  ,mistaken ideas of religion are
 responsible for a great many of the    
unnecessary wrinkles on the human face4 
,too many have thought it would be      
impossible to be happy in two worlds1   
and so1 having elected happiness in the 
one which they thought would last       
longest1 they have no choice but to be  

unhappy in this one4  ,in fact1 some    
seem to suppose that the greater their  
misery here the more intense will their 
bliss be there4  ,if heaven is to be    
bought that way certainly many are      
paying full price for it4  ,burdens we  
all must bear2 but they need not break  
us4  ,sorrows we all must share2 but    
they need not unmake us4  ,they will not
 if we have learned the ,teacher's      
secret of living2 ,he1 the man of       
sorrows1 was the man who could bequeath 
to ,his friends ,his joy4  ,to ,him life
 lost its anxiety1 because the chief    
things of life were not food or raiment1
 or even social standing1 but manhood   
and unselfishness to men1 and the       
possibilities of these were as easily   
realized in need and adversity as in    
riches and prosperity4     ,v  ,the     
,curriculum of ,character    ,the ,great
 ,school   ,the ,purpose of the ,course 
,the ,price of ,perfection   ,a good    
many resolutions die of heart failure4  
,no man possesses more religion than he 

practices4  ,when men say our faults    
they usually mean yours4  ,there are no 
delights in the worship that dodges     
duty4  ,when fear gets into the pulpit  
faith goes out of the pews4  ,it's not  
the man with a putty backbone who is    
most truly resigned to the will of ,god4
  ,when a man buys a horse on its       
specifications he is likely to call his 
folly faith and its consequences the    
dispensation of ,providence4  ,it is    
folly to hope to have a clean heart when
 you pay no attention to what enters its
 doorways4  ,some folks think they have 
the house of character because they     
possess the plans of virtue4  ,it is    
folly to talk of being guided by the    
light of your conscience when you take  
pains to keep it in the dark4   ,v      
,,the ,,great ,,school  ,with all our   
learning the greatest lesson before us  
is this one of living right1 of finding 
our full heritage and filling our places
 as men and women in this world4  ,if   
our systems of education fail to teach  

us how to live they fail altogether4    
,the great need of our day is that we   
shall train the conscience to right     
moral judgment1 that we shall educate   
all for the business of living1 and that
 we shall so educate all that we shall  
not only have a generation of bright1   
smart1 money-making or fame-making      
machines1 but that we may have clean1   
upright1 truth-loving1 self-reverencing1
 ,god-fearing men and women4  ,there is 
little likelihood that ,america will    
fail for lack of business ability4  ,the
 danger is that we shall fail at the    
point of character2 that we shall fail  
where failure is fatal to every other   
kind of success4  ,this is the crucial  
point4  ,we do well to perfect the plans
 by which we teach men the encyclopedia 
of their bodies1 their country1 the     
world and its history4  ,but we cannot  
forget1 and recent events have reminded 
us with a terrible note of warning1 that
 no amount of knowledge constitutes any 
sort1 even the feeblest kind1 of        

guarantee as to rectitude of life4  ,if 
you neglect the heart1 the will1 and    
conscience1 if you neglect the knowledge
 of and training in right relations with
 men1 reverence and right relations to  
the most high1 your culture of the      
intellect is worse than waste2 it is the
 perfecting of the poison of our social 
life2 it is the whetting of the edge of 
a man's villainy and grossness4  ,above 
all other things1 the most desirable is 
that men shall love truth and hate a    
lie2 that they shall love honour and    
truth so much more than fame1 power1 or 
possessions that never for an instant   
will these weigh in the scale against   
the former4  ,but for long it has been  
thought that this choice flower of      
nobility grew by chance2 the culture of 
the soul was so mysterious as never to  
be brought under scientific law4  ,if a 
man grew up to be good it was due either
 to accident or to miracle4  ,the realm 
of character has been the last to come  
under the reign of law4  ,now we        

recognize that we must learn to live as 
truly as we must learn to read1 and that
 the culture of the soul must profit by 
the wondrous strides that all           
educational science has made2 that all  
our efforts to produce character must be
 so wisely directed that we shall secure
 the best and most enduring results4    
,one message comes from the lips of     
every seer1 from every page of history4 
,it is that the man or the nation alone 
is wise1 alone finds enduring life1 who 
sets before commercial supremacy or     
political power or fame in learning the 
glory of righteousness1 the beauty of   
practical holiness4  ,their wealth lies 
beyond corruption and their days know no
 end who are wise and rich in the things
 within4  ,the greatest service we can  
render our day is by giving it the      
riches of worthy living1 by setting     
before ourselves the production of high 
character through all life's processes  
of learning1 and by bringing in every   
way we may to an age engrossed in       

selfishness and commercialism the       
significance of the call of character4  
,no wonder it sometimes seems to us that
 we have forgotten to smile2 that our   
faces are so drawn with the tense       
struggle of life that we have lost sight
 of the meaning of happiness4  ,how can 
we be happy unless we shall set our     
whole lives in harmony with the things  
that are fundamental and eternal8  ,we  
must learn to order our lives1 not as   
machines to be driven at the top of     
their efficiency in the money mill1 but 
as part of the great life of the        
spiritual world1 as inheritors of things
 divine1 sublime1 and glorious1 as      
possessors of the joy that made the     
morning stars sing together and the     
beauty that paints the evening red4     
,,the ,,purpose ,,of ,,the ,,course     
,the early question of the old creeds1  
,what is the chief end of man8 was      
conceived in a spirit more practical    
than academic4  ,it was the voice of the
 constant inquiry as to the purpose of  

living4  ,but the answer given by the   
creed lacks the assurance of a moral    
conviction2 it fails to find any        
response in us4  ,to glorify ,god and to
 enjoy ,him forever may be the portion  
of angels1 but honest men have to       
confess that they have no great desire  
to be angels1 yet4  ,the emphasis of the
 creed with that as its basis           
practically was on dying rather than on 
living2 it owed whatever grip it had on 
men to the promise it held1 to those who
 were in the midst of the sordid round  
of tasks or the dull1 heavy grind of    
poverty1 of a felicitude that knew      
neither hunger1 fear1 nor pain2 it      
offered a heaven forever to those who   
could endure a hell for a short time4   
,the logical consequence was to make    
dying the chief end of living4  ,who    
cannot remember being told to despise   
the present1 to consider how brief it   
is1 like a cloud before the dawn of the 
endless day8  ,it was compared to the   
short waiting outside some door beyond  

which was warmth1 cheer1 and unending   
bliss4  ,so that the pious soul thought 
of life only in terms of waiting1       
watching1 enduring4  ,piety became      
positive only in prospect1 negative in  
the present4  ,to say to a man1 be      
patient with wrong and oppression to-day
 and you will be prospered tomorrow1 is 
to teach him to compound a felony1 to   
wink at the despoiling of the earth by  
the iniquitous for the consideration of 
a title to the riches of heaven4  ,it is
 to lose sight of the fact that unless  
the life finds itself now it never will 
find itself1 that to dwarf a soul to-day
 is to dwarf it forever4  ,then1 says   
the practical man1 this means that we   
can ignore the future2 we must make the 
most of the present2 get all you can2   
keep all you get2 the whole purpose of  
life is to make a good living1 to enjoy 
yourself4  ,this is only the swing of   
the pendulum away from the old thought4 
,the ideal of the present day is        
material advantage4  ,the chief end of  

man is to make money4  ,if once he was  
the slave of an unjust order1 he now is 
the slave of an unworthy appetite4      
,living only for wealth or for wages is 
not living at all4  ,who knows less of  
life than the slave of modern           
commercialism1 the man who lifts his    
eyes no higher than the pay roll1 or the
 ticker tape8  ,it is better to be the  
victim of a delusion that gives some    
happiness1 that gives some fortitude1   
and to live the simple life of the poor 
than to be the slave bound to the wheel 
of modern social greed and money        
madness4  ,life itself is the object of 
living2 the chief end of man is to      
become glorious as his ideal of ,god is 
glorious1 to realize the highest that   
comes to him in the song of poet1 the   
vision of seer1 the hope of his own     
heart4  ,the money1 the acres1 the      
resources are the tools for the         
development of life4  ,this world is a  
workshop2 it has failed utterly if it   
produces nothing but an array of        

machines and a heap of shavings2 it must
 turn out the finished product of men4  
,are you living thus for life1 or are   
you living to do no more than make a    
living8  ,we need to educate our        
children to set honour1 truth1 justice1 
a high life1 before all things1 to prize
 noble attainments so that they shall   
not be content with the lesser prizes of
 prosperity in things1 so that whether  
we win or lose in the markets of the    
world we shall stand rich and glorious  
in manhood1 finding the ends of life in 
the achievement of high character and   
finding in commerce but the servant of  
character4    ,,the ,,price ,,of        
,,perfection  ,gold may depreciate1     
stocks rise or fall1 and business values
 change so as to leave the market in    
panic1 but every man on the street or in
 the store knows that one value forever 
remains permanent1 unvarying1 and that  
is character4  ,every other asset may be
 swept away and success still achieved  
if this remain2 every other aid may be  

at its best and failure only await him  
who lacks the wealth of character4      
,character is that of which reputation  
is but the echo1 often mistaken and     
misleading4  ,character is the last1 the
 ultimate1 value of life4 ,it is the    
trend of the whole being towards the    
best4  ,it is the passion and power that
 holds one true despite all persuasion4 
,it is the one thing worth having1      
because upon it all other values depend4
  ,the wealth of the whole world still  
leaves poor him from whom the soul1 the 
power to appreciate1 the purity of heart
 which sees ,god and the good1 the peace
 and quietness of a good conscience1    
have fled4 ,when we turn away from our  
fighting for fame and our grinding for  
gold long enough to think1 then we know 
that the things within determine wholly 
the value and reality of all things     
without4  ,the wise ever have set this  
treasure above all others4  ,happy the  
people that love righteousness more than
 revenue1 the way of virtue1 the clear  

eye1 the upward look1 and the approval  
of a good conscience above all other    
prosperity or advantage4  ,the days of  
national greatness ever have been those 
when the things that make manhood bulked
 far above all other considerations4    
,alike to people and individuals1 the   
imperishable value ever has been that of
 character4  ,this asset comes not to a 
man by accident4  ,he who is rich in    
character1 whose success in many ways is
 built upon his resources in this way1  
does not just simply happen to be good1 
true1 and square4 ,there is a price to  
character2 it costs more than any other 
thing1 for it is worth more than all    
other things4  ,essentially it never is 
inherited1 but always acquired by       
processes often slow and toilsome and at
 great price4  ,if you would be perfect 
you must pay the price of perfection4   
,unless the passion of life is this     
perfection it never will be your        
possession4  ,dreams of ideal goodness  
only waste the hours in which it might  

have been achieved4  ,no man ever finds 
character in his sleep4 ,the education  
of the heart is a thing even more       
definite than the education of the head4
  ,the school of character has an       
infinite variety of courses and an      
unending curriculum4  ,folks who are    
sighing for goodness usually go away    
sorrowful when they learn what it costs4
  ,but life ever is putting to us just  
such tests as the wise teacher put to   
the rich young man4  ,you say you desire
 character1 the perfection of manhood or
 womanhood above all other things2 do   
you desire this enough to pay for it    
your ease1 your coveted fame1 your      
cherished gold1 perhaps your present    
good name and peace of mind8  ,is the   
search for character a passion or only a
 pastime8  ,this does not mean that this
 prize of eternity falls only to those  
who devote themselves wholly to         
self-culture1 to the salvation of their 
own souls4  ,the best lives have thought
 little of themselves1 but they have    

lived for the ends of the soul1 to help 
men to better living1 to save them from 
the things that blight and damn the     
soul4  ,like the ,leader of men they    
have found the life unending by laying  
down their lives1 paying the full price1
 selling all in order that right and    
truth and honour and purity1 love and   
kindness and justice might remain to    
man4  ,the world's wealth depends not on
 what we have in our hands1 nor even on 
what we can carry in our heads4  ,it    
depends on the things that we have and  
the beings we are in our hearts4  ,fools
 we are who live only to make a living1 
houses1 shelter1 food1 rags1 and toys1  
who might live to make a life1 and to   
mold lives1 to earn the riches and      
honour enduring2 who have not learned   
the gain of all loss that leads the     
heart to look up1 the joy of all sorrow 
that sweetens the soul1 and the profit  
from every sacrifice that is a paying of
 the price of perfection4     ,,vi  ,the
 ,age-,long ,miracle    ,the ,sufficient

 ,sign   ,behold the ,man   ,the ,life  
that ,lifts   ,silent goodness speaks   
loudest4  ,our loads lift us up to      
strength4  ,life grows as love is given4
  ,from the grind of drudgery comes at  
last the glorious divine spark4  ,the   
spirit of the father never works        
separation in the family4  ,that day    
best fulfills its purpose which is a    
preparation for the next4  ,the proof of
 a faith is not in its prestige1 but in 
its present power4  ,things divine are  
not defended by dodging4  ,it is the    
heart that gives ease to any work4  ,the
 door of truth never opens to the key of
 prejudice4  ,love never knows how much 
it gives nor what it costs4   ,,vi      
,,the ,,sufficient ,,sign  ,the scribe  
and the ,pharisee are still with us4    
,establish the credibility of the       
miracles of ,jesus1 or1 better still1   
let ,him work a miracle to-day1 and we  
will believe1 they say4  ,this age is   
credulous2 it hungers to believe the    
extraordinary4  ,yet1 while it is       

running after folly1 it is blind to the 
most extraordinary fact1 the most       
stupendous miracle that ever took place1
 although it goes on right before its   
eyes and is open to every kind of proof4
  ,it cannot see the miracle of ,jesus  
in the world to-day1 the miracle beside 
which all the works ,he did in ,his     
lifetime sink into insignificance4      
,here is the sign to-day offered to the 
skeptic3 ,once1 nearly twenty centuries 
ago1 a young preacher travelled and     
taught through the villages and by the  
wayside in an obscure oriental country4 
,he addressed a subject race1 insular in
 their prejudices1 lacking in political 
genius and in artistic culture4  ,he    
lived in days calculated to chill the   
most fervid religious enthusiasm4  ,he  
was at first ignored and then hated by  
,his own people2 the religious leaders  
became ,his implacable foes4  ,his work 
ended in apparent failure1 in a death of
 shame4  ,but that was not the end4  ,it
 is strange that the world remembers    

anything about that young preacher2 but 
stranger still is the fact that to-day  
,he influences more than half the       
population of the globe1 surpassing all 
other teachers1 more people are under   
,his sway now than the whole world held 
when ,he lived4  ,these millions make   
,him the object of their worship and    
devotion2 in ,his name they gather      
regularly all over the world1 without   
regard to language or race4  ,more than 
this1 this one whom the wise men of ,his
 day ignored has been the inspiration of
 the works of genius and art1 of the    
deeds of heroism1 of the lofty          
endeavours of the world since ,he died4 
,he has changed the mind4  ,he has      
changed the appearance of the world2 by 
,him nations have fallen and risen4     
,the humble1 the despised1 the rejected 
has become the world's hero1 the        
mightiest of all the sons of men1 the   
saviour of ,his race4  ,once ,he touched
 a few who were blind and lame and they 
were healed2 to-day in ,his name1 in    

every city1 a thousand suffering ones   
are made whole4  ,science does the work2
 but the opportunity for its development
 and the inspiration for its application
 came from ,him4  ,nor is this all4  ,he
 made the world to see2 ,he touched the 
blind eyes of the people1 as they groped
 in superstition1 and has given them    
sight2 ,he has made the ages1 once      
limping and halting1 to arise and march 
forward with magnificent tread2 ,he     
found the world a babel of jarring      
voices and fretting purposes1 and ,his  
touch gave peace and singleness of      
purpose until men could discern that    
through the ages one unceasing purpose  
runs4  ,he did for man and mind what was
 first done for matter1 brought the     
cosmos out of chaos4  ,this is the      
miracle indeed4  ,it goes right on      
before our eyes4  ,they take ,his name  
to a dead people1 and soon there is life
 there4  ,light1 and love1 and larger   
life spring up everywhere in ,his name4 
,from this modern miracle of the power1 

the growing authority1 the kingship of  
the once despised ,jesus we cannot      
escape2 we are perforce participants in 
its benefits2 it conditions all our     
lives4  ,if all the gospel stories could
 be proved myths and the miracles but   
inventions1 there would still remain the
 greater1 the insuperable miracle of the
 world's picture of the perfect and all 
glorious personality of ,jesus and the  
fact of ,his preminent power in the     
world to-day4  ,this is the sign ,he    
gives this age1 and to this the open    
mind answers3 ,thou art the ,christ1 the
 saviour of the world4    ,,behold ,,the
 ,,man  ,the two words1 ,ecce homo1     
contemptuously spoken by the cynical    
,roman governor contained the highest   
tribute that had been given to ,jesus4  
,how empty appear all the high sounding 
titles1 such as king and emperor1 beside
 this significant one of ,man4  ,how sad
 and self-damning the bitter railing of 
,his enemies in the light of that serene
 dignity4 ,how puerile the bickering    

over words and ways of worship1 and all 
the wrangling that blinded them to the  
heavenly radiance of that all glorious  
manhood4  ,the wonder of ,jesus is not  
in the deeds ,he did1 but in the being  
,he was4  ,and the wonder of ,his being 
is not in that it offers elements for   
arguments as to a divine personality1   
but it is that of a simple1 clear1      
sublimely perfect manhood4  ,it is upon 
this perfection of personal character   
that ,his abiding claim to divinity must
 rest2 it depends not on ,his birth but 
on ,his being4  ,there is something     
strange about the perversity with which 
the church has emphasized the least     
attractive aspects of its master's      
person4 ,the preachers have scolded men 
for not coming to church1 and when they 
did come they offered them pictures of  
an emaciated1 effeminate being for their
 adoration4  ,with them the painters    
have conspired to set on canvas and in  
church window representations from the  
reality of which we would turn with     

repulsion or on which we would look with
 pity4  ,if ,jesus is to be the leader  
of men ,he must go before them4  ,he    
must stand in the front1 not set there  
by artificial arguments as to ,his right
 to rule over men1 but there because ,he
 belongs there1 first because ,he is    
first in all that makes manhood2 ,he is 
king because ,he can1 and because ,he   
has overcome in life's great conflict4  
,if ,he is to show us the way we should 
go ,he must walk in that way2 ,he must  
be flesh of our flesh1 true man1 knowing
 the full fellowship of our lives4  ,if 
,he was born with a halo2 if ,he lived  
on angel's fare2 if somehow ,he belongs 
to another world and ,his perfections   
are not those of our nature1 then1      
almighty as ,he may be as a leader for  
beings of another world1 ,he has no     
value to us4  ,but men have ever set    
aside the weavings of minds so absorbed 
in the wonder of their speculations that
 they could not see the truth4  ,they   
have seen through the dreamings of      

poets1 painters1 and preachers1 who     
pictured only their sickly ideals4      
,and1 instead of their caricatures1 men 
have held in their hearts a man1 one of 
their own4  ,and this true fellow1      
brother and friend1 has spurred them to 
noble deeds and lofty living4           
,perfection is seen in strength1 not in 
weakness1 in virility and not in tears1 
in majesty1 the majesty truly of        
meekness1 but not of a maudlin1 mooning 
etherealism4  ,the revelation of the    
perfect man cannot come in a form that a
 child will pity2 it will be admirable  
from all points of view4  ,it is the    
heroic rather than the esthetic we must 
admire4  ,the men who followed that one 
long ago did so not because they had    
heard arguments as to ,his divine       
claims1 but because they were drawn by  
the heavenly power of ,his manhood4     
,this it is that wins men ever1 the     
magnetism of manhood4  ,the force of a  
great life is mightier than any of the  
things it does4  ,there is about this   

leader1 ,jesus1 that which compels us to
 greatness1 spurs us to strife for our  
better selves1 strengthens to sacrifice 
and to service for our fellows4  ,it    
matters little whence a life like this  
has come2 the greater question is where 
does it lead us4  ,childish minds spend 
time on the genealogical trees of the   
giants2 the wise men follow them4  ,the 
value of the life of the great ,teacher 
does not depend on our ability to       
comprehend it biologically or arrange it
 chronologically1 but on our vision of  
its moral and manly perfections and on  
the power these attributes have over our
 lives4  ,this world will be little     
helped by the most irrefutable syllogism
 concerning the peculiar nature and     
separate exclusive divinity of its great
 religious ,teacher4  ,but lives will be
 lifted everywhere in the measure that  
they see the man in ,him who taught us  
of ,god4  ,for men need not so much a   
,god who has come down as a man who has 
attained to ,god1 not a descent1 but an 

ascent1 one who is the life and the     
truth because ,he is the way which they 
may tread up to the glory that is their 
heritage and the ,god who is their own4 
,,the ,,life ,,that ,,lifts  ,to any    
save the few in the group of ,his       
friends that statement of ,jesus that   
being lifted up ,he would draw all men  
to ,him must have sounded like the      
ravings of one deluded4  ,it has taken  
the centuries to show that ,he was      
right4  ,he was right in ,his estimation
 of ,his life's end2 it was a lifting   
up4  ,his enemies thought it a casting  
down1 a defeat2 ,he knew it to be a     
triumph4  ,sorrow1 injustice1           
oppression1 hatred1 the things that seem
 to crush are the things that elevate4  
,only by opposition has any life        
discovered power4  ,the fiercer blow    
these winds the firmer grows the tree4  
,out of the petty persecutions1 the     
countless meannesses1 the littleness of 
those who oppose him the great soul     
builds its greatness4  ,it is1 and ever 

has been by a cross that men are lifted 
up4  ,history abounds with prisons1     
gibbets1 and crosses which have become  
thrones of eternal glory4  ,whether we  
shall be cast down or lifted up depends 
upon ourselves2 neither enemies nor     
adverse circumstances have the power to 
do this4 ,the soul that seeks the stars 
builds its staircase out of the stones  
flung by the persecutor1 out of the     
rocks of difficulties4  ,if your heart  
is great1 my brother1 nothing can keep  
you from greatness2 if it is mean1 no   
amount of o'ervaulting ambition can make
 you other than a little1 obscure man1  
as truly lost on the peak as you would  
be at the base4  ,jesus died a failure2 
,his friends were few1 and the best of  
them thought ,his life a mistake4  ,it  
takes more than the span of our lives to
 measure their size4  ,it is better that
 a great soul should be called a failure
 than that it should die a shrivelled   
success4  ,earth measures by what the   
hands hold2 heaven by the heart4  ,the  

hands at last lose their grasp1 but the 
heart wealth goes on from more to more4 
,this it is that is worth while4  ,jesus
 was right when ,he said that ,he would 
draw all men to ,him4  ,then it sounded 
like folly2 to-day it demonstrates ,his 
divine insight4 ,lifted up in shame the 
riches of ,his life were revealed4      
,after all1 the best in us answers to   
the best2 it is love that leads4  ,in   
the end1 goodness1 truth1 gentleness1   
sincerity have the greatest attraction  
for men4  ,jesus is known and loved by  
millions who never heard of ,nero or of 
,augustus4  ,their glory was that of    
circumstance2 ,his that of character4   
,his life lifts4  ,this it is that most 
helps the world2 not learning1 but a    
life2 not power or position1 but simple 
passion for men2 not riches1 but wealth 
of the inner life4  ,you may not found a
 university or build libraries or       
hospitals1 or even write books or preach
 sermons4  ,but every one may do the    
principal thing that ,jesus did4  ,that 

was to live a life amongst men of love  
for them1 of simple kindnesses1 of      
,god-seeking aspiration1 of white       
sincerity4  ,the race needs not so much 
men who will shake it with their power  
or dazzle it with their learning as it  
needs men and women who will lift it    
with the quiet earnestness and sincerity
 of their lives4  ,herein is lasting    
greatness and true power1 to live as ,he
 lived1 to love as ,he loved1 true to   
,god1 to yourself1 and to your fellows1 
seeking the best and giving of your     
best4  ,service and sacrifice are the   
things that lift to the supreme places2 
the lower you stoop in helpfulness the  
higher you are lifted in lasting glory4 
,and they are lifted to heaven1 they    
achieve immortality1 they can never die 
who were willing to die if death lay in 
the path of duty1 to be sacrificed if   
sacrifice was part of their service4    
,,vii  ,seeing the ,unseen    ,the      
,sense of the ,unseen   ,the ,brook in  
the ,way   ,that ,which is ,high   ,the 

song of sympathy never comes until the  
singer has been to the school of sorrow4
  ,true spirituality can see the altar  
in the cookstove and the washtub4       
,people who are always off the key are  
never content out of the choir4  ,the   
only version of the ,bible authorized by
 heaven is that on two feet4  ,every    
life must have days in the desert but it
 does not need to build its house there4
  ,many a man thinks he is patient with 
pain when he is only perverse in eating 
pickles4  ,no man knows how much        
religion he has until he goes of fishing
 alone where mosquitoes are many4       
,there are too many people to whom ,god 
has given wings who are complaining of  
corns4  ,it is some consolation to know 
that when you aim at nothing you are    
sure to hit it4  ,if you have large     
reserves of religion you will not be    
without the small change of kindness4   
,,vii  ,,the ,,sense ,,of ,,the ,,unseen
  ,when the practically-minded man ,paul
 writes of looking at the things which  

are not seen his words sound like either
 fantasy or folly4   ,yet it is plain   
fact1 practical1 and certainly essential
 to any success4 ,he is blind who can   
see only with his eyes1 and he only is  
sensible who knows there are many things
 beyond his senses4  ,practical men     
consider all the factors to every       
problem1 and things are not less real to
 them because they may chance to be     
intangible4  ,the unseen things are     
imminent to us always4  ,there are many 
things not yet pigeonholed by our       
science nor catalogued by our           
philosophies4  ,you can dissect a daisy 
and enumerate its parts2 but you never  
know a daisy until you have seen the    
unseen things thereof1 until you have   
felt the subtle appeal of its beauty4   
,bobbie ,burns saw more of the daisy    
than the greatest botanist without his  
spiritual eyes4  ,the danger is that in 
our hard workaday we shall forget the   
reality of the unseen1 we shall get to  
think that gold and steel and land are  

the only real things1 and we shall shape
 ourselves by the blind and base creed  
of gold1 and steel1 and land4  ,how easy
 it is to measure every man by his      
possessions in tangible things4  ,how   
easy to make these our chief end in     
life1 to slight the real prizes1 the    
unseen wealth that lies so close at hand
 or already possessed1 while we rush and
 strive for the rainbow of riches4      
,deep within us we know that he is rich1
 and he alone1 who has wisdom1 love1    
patience1 who possesses friends1 who    
creates kindly thoughts1 whose life with
 simple joy abounds4  ,once again and   
often do we need to see ,bunyan's       
picture of the man bending over his     
refuse1 gathered with the muck rake1 and
 heedless of the angel holding the crown
 that only waits his taking4  ,a man is 
wealthy according to what is within him4
  ,his greatness is of the things that  
are unseen4  ,there are limits to the   
possession and the use of the things    
that are seen2 but who shall set a limit

 to a man's possible wealth in love and 
honour1 in wisdom and integrity1 in all 
the things that make up the soul of man8
  ,few are the things that a man may    
hold for his own all the days of his    
life1 and fewer still are those he may  
grasp with pleasure when the hands are  
falling helpless by his side4  ,but many
 are the riches he may have to hold     
forever in the things of the unseen4    
,many a man walks through the fields    
penniless and yet richer far than their 
owner2 to him the birds sing1 for him   
the flowers bloom1 to his eyes there are
 beauties in the blue beyond all words1 
and all the loveliness of the fair land 
lifts his heart within him4  ,the other 
man who holds the title deeds sees      
nothing beside them4 ,possession is     
wholly a matter of appreciation4  ,the  
earth is the ,lord's and ,he gives it to
 those who have eyes to see4  ,it is the
 eye to see the unseen that gives wealth
 to the seen4  ,values depend on vision4
  ,appreciation does not prevent        

possession2 it makes the possession     
actual4  ,and the vision of the         
realities behind things keeps a man from
 the sense of destitution when all      
things are taken from him4  ,he cannot  
be destitute4  ,he may lose all his     
fellows1 but he cannot be friendless2   
the ,father of ,spirits cannot lose him1
 nor can he be cut off from fellowship  
with those who die no more4  ,the seeing
 eye is the stimulus to the worth while 
endeavour4  ,the inventors who have     
enriched the world endured derision     
seeing the things invisible to others4  
,the truth is that it is the unspiritual
 world that makes the least progress in 
things material4  ,the men of faith and 
vision are back of all advance4  ,they  
have endurance1 patience1 and strength4 
,the sense of another world where       
motives are rightly measured1 the sense 
of a great cloud of worthy witnesses to 
other eyes invisible1 the sense of      
reward in the very service itself1      
rewards intangible yet most real1 the   

joy of sacrifice and service2 these all 
enable one to push on1 to toil1 to      
endure4  ,then1 long afterwards1 the    
dull1 weary world sees and understands4 
,,the ,,brook ,,in ,,the ,,way          
,alongside every highway runs the brook 
whereof a man may drink often if he will
 and drinking lift up his head4  ,its   
little song we scarce hear in the rush  
of our businesses2 its refreshing we    
forget even though our throats be       
parched with the dust of our petty      
affairs4  ,yet it is ever there1 cool1  
refreshing1 this world of spirits and   
ideals4  ,nature has a prodigal way of  
scattering rivulets down the hillside   
and along the pathways1 little heeding  
whether men walk there or not4  ,the    
practical eye sees waste2 these streams 
might have been made to turn wheels2 the
 needs of the traveller1 weary with the 
way1 might be met by faucets at regular 
intervals4  ,it is well for us all that 
the power of the practical man finds its
 limitations1 else all poetry would have

 gone from the world1 and great and     
glorious as might have been our physical
 perfections our bodies would be but the
 empty habitations whence souls had long
 since fled4 ,the utilitarian would have
 stolen from us the bliss of the deep   
draft from the pebbly brook4  ,the man  
who is proud of being practical tells us
 we are wasting time and nervous energy 
in stopping to think of ideal things2 we
 must take the world as we find it1 he  
says1 forgetting how fair and poetic we 
once found it and how bleak and ugly we 
are likely to leave it4  ,but to him    
trees are always lumber1 grass and      
flowers but hay1 bird songs spell       
poultry1 wind and waters energy4  ,many 
are too busy making things ever to enjoy
 anything that is made4  ,in this steel 
age it may seem folly and waste to stop 
and think of sacrifice and courage and  
love1 to admire and answer to the thrill
 of human passions2 but alas for him who
 never sees the light of heaven in      
another's tear1 nor hears the brush of  

angels' wings when men and women fly to 
their fellow's aid4  ,if you haven't    
time in your busy life to turn aside to 
drink of the brook of human affection1  
to look deep into the eyes of           
friendship1 to sympathize1 to comfort1  
to taste this strange sweet and bitter  
cup of our common fellowship1 then is   
your heart going dry and thirsty and    
life becoming a whitened road that knows
 no wells or springs4  ,but something   
there is in man that calls for drafts at
 yet deeper streams than these4         
,foolish and unlearned he may be1       
ignorant of the wise conclusions of     
philosophers who have looked into these 
things with their lanterns1 but through 
the ages he has been drinking eagerly at
 the waters of eternity4  ,in every man 
there is a thirst after the deep1       
immeasurable things divine2 the deeper  
the nature of the man the greater his   
necessity for drinking often here4  ,the
 consciousness of the great life that   
embraces all life1 the sense of its     

nearness to us all1 has been a perennial
 refreshing to all great hearts4  ,in   
some way to bring the life into touch   
with the infinite is to take down its   
limitations1 break its barriers1 and    
give it a sense of infinitude1 to lift  
up the head in vision of the divinity of
 our lives and of every life4  ,we who  
walk in the dust often need to be filled
 with the divine lest we become         
ourselves but dust4  ,this world of     
things is hungry for the life that is   
more than things1 the life of the       
spirit2 that is why so many love to sing
 of heaven and dream of a fair world    
peopled by strange and glorious         
celestial ones4 ,heaven is nearer than  
we think2 like the brook by the way1 the
 life of the spirit flows beside this   
life2 happy they who drink of its       
waters1 who already enter into eternity1
 who find strength for this life's way  
and work by the contact with the life   
that is life indeed4  ,is it any wonder 
that life is a wearisome thing1 a dead  

drag1 when you are starving its very    
sources8  ,you neglect the soul at the  
peril of all4  ,so anxious are you to   
run this race that you have no time to  
allow him who rides in the chariot to   
drink of the water of life4  ,this is   
not utilitarianism2 this is suicide from
 the centre out4  ,the most practical   
common sense demands that you feed the  
inner places of your life1 the heart    
that has gone so long thirsty and       
longing for love1 for things too deep   
for words1 for things that cannot be    
used and cannot be quoted in dollars4   
,give your inner life its deep drafts of
 the infinite life and your outer life  
shall take its place and do its work in 
the world4    ,,that ,,which ,,is ,,high
  ,there are two ways of viewing the    
oncoming years1 as burdens or as        
opportunities1 with fear or with        
expectation4  ,the days of the new year 
may loom up as a series of unwelcome    
tasks to be unwillingly done or as so   
many invitations to attempt and achieve 

great things4  ,the difference between  
these two points of view marks the      
difference between enduring life and    
finding the life that endures4  ,the    
wise preacher of long ago caught sight  
of one of these distinctions that cut   
clear through to the roots of things4   
,he says that the sign of old age is    
that a man is afraid of that which is   
high4  ,when courage and ambition have  
gone old age and decrepitude have       
entered in1 no matter whether a man be  
eighteen or eighty4  ,he alone has      
youth1 he alone has life before him1 who
 can still catch the vision of the      
ideal1 of that which is high1 who can   
lift up his eyes beyond the horizon of  
practicabilities and precedents and see 
the things not yet realized4  ,there is 
a time when men must dream dreams and   
see visions1 when they must feast on    
noble purposes or die so far as the     
inner spirit and all that makes real    
living is concerned4  ,if you find the  
will becoming dull and listless1 with no

 quickening of the pulses1 but only     
apathy or a sneer for the high purpose  
or the great promise1 it is but a sign  
of the approach of senility1 of the     
failure of the powers4  ,when the       
ambition can be satisfied with the less 
while the greater is before it1 when    
things low and base are preferred to    
things high1 afar off1 and difficult to 
attain1 the heart is dying already4     
,cherish as the spark of life the       
aspiration to have and do and be the    
best4  ,yet who is there does not know  
the paralyzing chill that the sneer of  
the philistine or even the memory of our
 own many failures can give when great  
possibilities offer themselves to us8   
,how easily enter in the cold           
considerations that deaden our          
aspirations2 how subtle the temptation  
to be content with the condition that   
involves neither toil nor pain4  ,how   
hard to realize that this is an         
invitation to death4  ,to all men comes 
the thrill of the passion to do some    

great thing1 to give to our world some  
worthy service4  ,to yield to this is to
 keep the heart young1 is to defy time1 
to conquer the years4  ,whether the     
coming days shall bend the back with    
their burdens or shall nerve and        
strengthen the life does not depend on  
whether they have cares or joys in them1
 but on whether they find us responsive 
to the call of noble things4  ,no man   
can afford to let a pure and lofty      
impulse die1 nor1 for fear of failure or
 of ridicule1 to become afraid or       
ashamed of his ideals4 ,living is more  
than a dull feeding at tables or        
troughs1 more than shelter and sleep2 it
 is growing1 climbing1 becoming1 finding
 higher levels and seeing yet higher    
before4  ,nor is this all2 the spirit of
 greatness finds ample play in daily    
duties4  ,the success of the year does  
not depend on whether you can do things 
that shall amaze men to-day or make your
 name known forever1 but upon whether   
into all the things you do1 lowly1      

humdrum1 commonplace as they may seem to
 be1 the daily duties of home or shop or
 store1 the care of the baby1 or the    
running of a typewriter1 there shall    
enter the great and high motive4  ,this 
is what we all need1 the high vision of 
the lowly things1 the sight of the fact 
that the least piece of work is an      
essential part of the service of the    
whole universe1 that a man serves the   
,divine not by wearing a black coat but 
by doing1 as in ,god's name1 with high  
motives the least duties that may be    
his4  ,it is not place nor authority nor
 wage that makes the work high or low2  
it is the spirit of the service and the 
part it plays in the world's great      
business of perfecting humanity4  ,would
 you ward off old age1 cherish vitality 
and give value to your days1 seek the   
things that are above1 the life that    
serves some worthy end4  ,one is young  
as long as his heart leaps responsive to
 a noble call4  ,but he who lives to    
pleasure1 to the satisfaction of self1  

who has shut his eyes to the high things
 that call for self-denial1 for toil and
 loss1 is dead already4     ,,viii      
,sources of ,strength and ,inspiration  
,strength for the ,daily ,task   ,the   
,sense of the ,infinite   ,the ,great   
,inspiration   ,living heartily is one  
secret of living happily4  ,life is     
early blighted if it knows no clouds4   
,you can tell the character of any age  
by the place it gives to character4     
,there is little danger in the          
discontent with conditions that is      
equalled by discontent with character4  
,heart health never comes so long as the
 hand is kept on the pulse4  ,feed on   
garbage and you soon lose faith in good 
things4  ,the fruitful life seeks       
showers as well as sunshine4  ,it's hard
 for a man who has ground of his nose on
 the money mill to smell a taint on     
anything4  ,many a man goes back by     
trying to put up a good front and       
nothing more4  ,every life is worth the 
love it gives4   ,,viii  ,,strength     

,,for ,,the ,,daily ,,task  ,it is the  
dull grind and monotony of life that    
makes it so hard to bear for the        
ninety-nine per cent4 of us4  ,sometimes
 it seems as though we spend all our    
days toiling1 wearing strength1 and     
hope1 and heart away for no other end   
than to gain just bread and shelter so  
as to keep the machine in condition for 
further toil4  ,how hopeless is the     
outlook of many a life6  ,the mother    
with the weary round of home duties day 
after day1 the father who goes to the   
same task year after year1 seeing the   
same people1 doing the same things1 and 
coming home at the day's end with the   
same weariness1 only augmented as age   
makes itself felt--all who toil feel at 
times these depressing limitations4     
,little wonder that lives snatch at     
every fleeting1 alluring promise of     
relief1 through amusement1 through      
anything that offers change and         
excitement4  ,little wonder that1 robbed
 of opportunity for vision1 they foment 

blind discontent1 so that we all feel   
there is a mighty substratum of         
wretchedness and of menace lying under  
our social order4  ,yet there are few   
lives1 perhaps no worthy ones1 without  
tasks that often seem monotonous and    
become matters of dull grinding that    
bring weariness and longing for relief4 
,all worth while work involves much     
tediousness1 painstaking exertion4  ,all
 great things stand for so much life    
poured out1 and life is never poured out
 without pain and loss4  ,the stern     
,puritan was doubtless wrong when he saw
 nothing in life but repression and     
stern duty1 but he was nearer right than
 he who looks only for frivolity and    
amusement4  ,life is too large a        
business to be always light and trivial4
  ,yet we must not allow its high       
purposes to be thwarted by robbing      
ourselves and our fellows of all joy and
 brightness and converting life into    
dull1 mechanical servitude4  ,how may we
 find that proportion of toil and       

relief1 that happy mixture of duty and  
delight that shall make life not only   
endurable but also useful1 fruitful1 and
 enjoyable8  ,for it is man's duty to be
 happy2 otherwise he can never be useful
 in any high or valuable sense4  ,it    
would be easy to try to give comfort by 
the philosophy which sees the fine      
fruitage that is coming from to-day's   
stern discipline4  ,that fair fruitage  
is coming1 but the trouble is it is too 
far off to give us much comfort now2 we 
want something nearer and more easily   
apprehended4  ,then1 too1 the truth is  
no high fruitage will ever issue from a 
life crushed by slavish subjection4     
,after all1 what life is to every one of
 us depends not on the demands of outer 
circumstances1 but on the development of
 the life within4  ,the heart determines
 the worth and beauty of life4  ,it     
makes all the difference whether the    
physical determines its circumference or
 whether you have an intellect that is  
reaching out to the things unmeasurable 

and a soul that grows into glory        
indescribable4  ,you can tie a great    
soul down hand and brain to a loom or a 
machine and he will still see his       
visions and dream his deep1 refreshing  
dreams2 you can set the brutish being   
down in a gallery of the world's        
treasures of art and beauty and he will 
think of nothing and see nothing but    
bread and beer4  ,we must do our dull   
and heavy tasks1 but we can do them and 
not be crushed by them so long as within
 there are fragrant memories1 high      
aspirations1 great thoughts2 so long as 
the task does not set the boundary of   
the life4  ,and it is the cherishing of 
these eternal riches within that lifts  
any life and makes it worthy of higher  
tasks4  ,we need to seek out the springs
 of noble thoughts1 to find in the      
riches of the world's literature1 in    
music1 and in beauty of art the food for
 that inner life in the strength of     
which1 drawing often on its secret      
resources1 we can go many days through  

the desert of toil4  ,the wise life uses
 every opportunity of refreshing2 it    
drinks of every spring of the up-welling
 waters of life2 it seeks communion with
 every great soul4  ,holidays and rest  
days are to it times of replenishing    
when the eyes that ache from bending    
over the machine or desk lift themselves
 to the eternal hills and the heart     
turns to the things that are infinite4  
,,the ,,sense ,,of ,,the ,,infinite     
,one does not have to believe in the    
same kind of a god as did the seers and 
singers of long ago in order to obtain  
the spiritual values which they found in
 the thought of his nearness to them4   
,david and ,browning1 ,isaiah and       
,whittier1 with all the centuries       
between them1 still come to the same    
thought--we know that ,thou art near4   
,through all ages and in all peoples    
this sense of that which is other than  
ourselves1 from which our highest good  
comes1 towards which our ideals and     
aspirations strain1 the ultimate force  

of our being1 this feeling after the    
infinite is universal4  ,it is the      
essential and determinative mark of     
every religion4  ,when those singers of 
long ago tried to express their sense of
 the infinite life and love they used   
words which make it appear that they    
thought only of some being larger1      
mightier1 wiser than themselves1 yet1   
after all1 like themselves1 a great man 
deified because ,he was great4  ,perhaps
 that really was their conception2      
still1 we use precisely the same        
language1 even though our ideas are     
entirely different4  ,it makes          
relatively little difference what their 
conceptions were1 so far as ours are    
concerned4  ,their words are not        
accurate1 detailed pen pictures of some 
being who can be described or           
photographed4  ,no man has seen the     
infinite at any time4  ,the great thing 
is that ever and everywhere men find    
themselves with a hunger after this     
sublime unseen4  ,one may use terms of  

personality and another terms of power2 
to one the infinite may be but a local  
deity2 to another1 that which embraces  
all spirit and being1 and each may have 
all of the divine his heart is capable  
of containing4   ,here none may         
dogmatize for others4  ,religion does   
not depend on uniformity of conceptions 
of the divine4 ,it depends more upon    
universality of consciousness of the    
infinite and openness of mind and life  
to whatever we may feel and know1 from  
any source or through any means         
whatsoever1 of that life or energy which
 lies back of all life and energy1 of   
that love and light which cheer and     
lighten every son of man4  ,definitions 
determine nothing1 but they do work     
great damage when minds capable of being
 stereotyped to them agree to impose    
those definitions on their fellows as   
final1 authoritative1 and essential to  
their welfare4  ,the divine is neither  
infinite nor sublime when you can say1  
,here are ,his lineaments and ,he has no

 other likeness or appearance4  ,to the 
question1 ,how shall we think of the    
divine8 there can be but one answer--in 
higher1 wider1 deeper1 nobler1 purer    
ways than yesterday4 ,the conception    
must be a developing one4  ,a man's     
spiritual capacities develop as his     
inner vision becomes more keen4  ,the   
soul takes wider flight1 and in our deep
 thoughts we discover that which        
language cannot compass4  ,there are    
those who think they must be atheists   
because they cannot believe in the ,god 
of the ,hebrews1 the ,god of the ,old   
,testament--a limited personality4  ,but
 the genuine atheists are more likely to
 be those who are without a sense of the
 divine1 because they have taken        
definitions and descriptions prepared by
 others instead of seeking truth for    
themselves4  ,we are but poor learners  
of those ancient teachers if we have not
 discovered that their greatest lesson  
to us is not truth1 as they had found   
it1 but the blessing of the persistent  

search after truth4  ,to cherish as     
final past presentations of truth is to 
be false to its present possibilities4  
,we do not need to worry over           
definitions of the divine4  ,we do need 
to cultivate the temper of mind and the 
sensitiveness of spirit that will save  
us from blindness to the higher facts of
 life1 that will save us from the       
blasting whirlwind of materialism1 with 
its sense of nothing but a soulless     
world of things4  ,we need to avoid the 
mind that shuts the divine up in some   
far off heaven to be reached only by    
formal telephony called prayer2 that    
fails to see the infinite in all        
things--in sunlight and flower1 in      
children's laughter1 and in misery's    
wail1 in factories and stores1 as well  
as in churches4  ,we need the mind that 
argues not about omnipresence1 but in   
duty and delight cries1 ,always and     
everywhere1 ,thou art near4   ,,the     
,,great ,,inspiration  ,christianity is 
distinguished and dominated by the ideal

 of the life and character of ,jesus of 
,nazareth2 it is a philosophy and a     
system of individual and social ethics  
under the inspiration of a glowing      
ideal4 ,no matter how greatly its people
 may differ on other points1 all are    
agreed in recognizing in ,jesus the     
fairest of the sons of men4  ,there     
never was a time when the thought of    
this life was more potent than it is    
to-day4  ,men think of ,him as a fellow 
being1 one who went about doing good1   
who looked out on life with the windows 
of ,his soul unsullied and who lived out
 ever the holiest and highest that came 
to ,him4  ,the thought of such a one has
 become so real to men that they do not 
stop to argue about ,his existence1 as  
once they did4  ,if it was possible     
indisputably to disprove the historic   
,christ men still would cherish1 as     
highly as ever1 the ideal1 the vision of
 such a life1 and in their hearts would 
know that such a picture could only have
 been born of such a person4  ,this     

goodly1 glorious man no longer is one   
who now sits on the throne of heaven4   
,men are not particularly concerned as  
to whether ,he is artistically glorified
 and perpetuated by some divine decree4 
,he has crowned ,himself in the glory of
 a pure and beneficent character2 ,he   
has perpetuated ,himself in human loves 
and admiration4  ,because ,he once      
showed ,himself as the friend of all1   
the pure1 high souled friend of the     
down-trodden and the outcast1 the       
strong1 invigorating friend of the rich 
and successful1 ,he to-day walks by many
 a man as ,his unseen friend1 and in    
busy mart or office men feel the        
presence of a heavenly guest4  ,once men
 made that life the centre of dispute2  
they sought to prove ,his divinity by   
,his unlikeness to ordinary humanity4   
,but the facts defeated them4  ,this man
 whom men so learned to love that they  
became willing to die for ,him was in   
all respects a man4  ,his life is worth 
so much to us because ,he was so much   

like us4  ,it has come as a new         
revelation to the world that the supreme
 religious soul of the ages should be so
 tenderly1 naturally human4  ,we cry    
,father6 with a new sense of            
relationship and fellowship when we see 
the likeness of the father in the face  
of such a son4  ,we are coming to       
believe that just what the great friend 
of mankind was so is the great father of
 us all to us all1 that just as the ,son
 of the most high moved amongst men     
seeking to help1 cheering1 comforting1  
loving1 so is the eternal spirit moving 
in our world1 going about doing good4   
,once every effort of the theologian was
 bent to setting this majestic figure   
apart from mankind to secure ,him       
sovereignty over us by separation from  
us4  ,how different is that from the    
simple pictures drawn of ,him1 from the 
naturalness of ,his life1 from the love 
which ,he had for homes and human       
friendships1 from the life which earned 
the illuminating rebuke of being called 

a friend of sinners4  ,it is a good     
thing for us all often to remember that 
there has been such a life1 that one    
born in poverty and unknown1 far removed
 from centres of culture and wealth1    
living the hard life of a peasant1      
knowing all our temptations and         
weaknesses1 yet should open ,his life so
 fully and completely to spiritual      
influences as to become to all the ages 
the greatest of all spiritual leaders4  
,what one has done another may do4      
,what ,he has been we may be4  ,he but  
shows the possibility of any life4  ,he 
had no advantage over us2 we know no    
disadvantages against which ,he did not 
have to strive4  ,the divine heights    
have been scaled by human feet2 ,his    
footprints beckon us on4     ,,ix       
,finding ,foundations    ,the ,passing  
and ,permanent   ,facing the ,facts     
,the ,real ,foundation   ,things not    
right can never be religious4  ,bigotry 
puts blinders on the best of men4       
,submission is the first step to        

sovereignty4  ,the principle of         
expediency expels all other principle4  
,quiet lives are often eloquent4  ,the  
love of wealth steals wealth of love4   
,it's the common virtues that make      
uncommon saints4  ,many a man is        
shouting his convictions to drown the   
voice of conscience4  ,a little learning
 is dangerous if you are planning to get
 to heaven by degrees4  ,when a man gets
 over anxious about the gnat it's time  
to hang on to the camel4   ,,ix  ,,the  
,,passing ,,and ,,permanent  ,when the  
walls are being rebuilt it is easy to   
imagine that the foundations are being  
destroyed4  ,old creeds pass away1 but  
truth remains2 if they were true in     
their day they do but give place to the 
larger truth of the new day4  ,we need  
to distinguish between the turmoil      
attendant to the process of building and
 the beauty of the new temple that      
arises4  ,the old folks hear the new    
truths and ask1 where are the           
foundations gone8  ,the young hear the  

discussion between the old and the new  
and ask1 is there anything settled1     
anything worth believing8  ,what are the
 permanent elements in religion on which
 the life may build while the things    
that are but temporary are adjusting    
themselves8  ,it would be the height of 
folly to assert that there is no change4
 ,some say that we must believe         
precisely the same things as our fathers
 believed4  ,to do so would be to be    
false to our fathers1 for they refused  
to accept the traditions of their       
elders4  ,the landmarks we leave behind 
once were far in front of the seekers   
after truth4  ,truth never changes but  
our vision is ever enlarging4  ,the road
 remains1 but the traveller moves on4   
,with the living every day has some new 
light4  ,creeds are crystallized        
statements of truth2 truth is vital and 
cannot be contained in unchanging forms4
  ,credulity blindly accepts yesterday's
 picture of truth2 faith1 with open     
eyes1 seeks to-day's truth itself4      

,skepticism is much less sinful than    
credulity4  ,the sloth of the man who   
will not examine things1 will not prove 
them1 who prefers to buy his garments of
 truth ready made1 results in what is   
worse than unbelief1 and that is blind  
belief in the false4  ,it is a religious
 duty to question every teaching1 to    
prove all things4  ,how may we find     
those things that are certain8  ,how may
 we discover the truth for our day1 the 
truth upon which we may build8  ,surely 
there are some things fixed and certain1
 there is somewhere pole star and       
compass4  ,how may we find that truth   
which belongs to our day and in which we
 may have the confidence that our       
fathers had in their truth8  ,the test  
of the vital truths is a practical one4 
,only those truths are vital which      
concern the present business of living  
in all its wide sweep4  ,it is a matter 
of indifference what we may think of the
 colour of angels' hair or the number of
 strings to their harps2 it is a vastly 

different matter what we may believe as 
to moral obligations1 human rights1 and 
duties4  ,the test of creed is an       
ethical one4  ,what things work out best
 in living1 what are the ideals1        
doctrines1 beliefs that make the noblest
 characters and the most useful         
citizens1 the best sons1 and daughters1 
and parents1 and neighbours8  ,what are 
the things that help me most in my life1
 the things that give me moral stimulus 
and bracing1 the things that lead me to 
covet the best8  ,the way to find the   
truth is to do the truth2 only the truth
 that we can do is worth discussing4    
,if you will give yourself to the       
business of living the truth you have   
you soon will have the living truth for 
this new day4  ,too many people are     
holding up as saving doctrines matters  
of philosophy and speculation1 matters  
of childish curiosity1 because it is    
easier to hold these things             
theoretically than to hold living truth 
practically4  ,the truths that save men 

are the ones that change their          
characters2 the great authorized and    
divine translation of the ,bible is its 
translation into present day lofty      
living4  ,build your life on the belief 
in goodness1 in eternal1 infinite       
goodness as the order of the universe1  
on the superiority of love to hatred1 on
 the final victory of love and goodness1
 on the ideal of this great human family
 of ours that shall come to live in     
unity and brotherliness1 and so fulfill 
the will of the infinite father of all4 
,these things work well4    ,,facing    
,,the ,,facts  ,this is the age of the  
dominance of science4  ,when a man asks1
 ,what shall ,i believe8 only one answer
 can be returned3 ,believe the things   
that are4  ,an age now past found it    
easy to believe that it believed what it
 was told1 even the things that it knew 
were not so4  ,but to-day at least has  
the merit of finding no merit in that   
form of self-deception4  ,the passion   
for absolute truth and rightness is one 

of the noblest that can spring up in any
 breast2 it is a ripe fruit of religion4
  ,the scientist1 by his devotion to    
exact facts1 to pure truth1 is the      
religious man of our day1 and the       
schools become religious educators in   
their power to instill a primary love   
for truth and to lift up ideals of      
exactness and equity4  ,when we         
translate religion into terms of life1  
into actuality as contrasted with       
imagination1 we begin to discover the   
necessity for foundations deeper than   
legend or romance4  ,so long as a man's 
religion consisted in what he might     
picture in glowing colours of           
imagination on the canvas of fancy about
 his past or future he did not need to  
take his designs from facts4  ,but when 
religion becomes the science of right   
living1 the process of securing right   
social relationships and character as   
the expression of ideal personal and    
individual character1 it is evident that
 in such a work religion must proceed on

 ascertained1 indisputable verities4    
,we may be satisfied with myths as to   
the ordering of the first family1 and we
 may leave to the play of fancy the     
specifications of an ideal heaven2 but  
when we begin to order our own families 
and adjust our social and civic affairs 
we are compelled to wait for principles 
based on facts1 for truth4  ,religion   
thus becomes a science4  ,much eloquence
 was spilled over the conflict between  
religion and science4  ,it was only a   
conflict between the old religion and   
its new form1 between the gray dawn and 
the growing day4  ,our fathers were not 
wilfully false1 holding on to darkness  
when the light came2 but they so long   
had held sacred the pictures seen in    
twilight they were loath to give them up
 for those of the full day's printing4  
,the most damaging infidelity is the    
lack of faith in truth1 the fear that it
 might not be safe to allow all the     
facts to be known4  ,he who in the name 
of religion seeks to prevent our seeing 

and accepting the full facts is         
religion's greatest foe4  ,only the full
 truth can set us fully free1           
intellectually1 spiritually1 morally4   
,why should we fear the light of        
investigation on the things of religion8
  ,there is more sacredness in simple   
truth than in secrecy4 ,it were better  
to be lost forever seeking truth than   
saved by sophistry4  ,how foolish to    
attempt to adjust our lives by laws     
built out of speculation1 to attempt to 
steer by a compass when there is no pole
 of truth8  ,in to-day's changing tides 
of thought1 when the old faiths seem    
slipping away1 when we wonder why we    
have lost the simple faith of our own   
youth or our father's1 looking for some 
firm ground for our feet1 we do well to 
set them down on nothing but facts1 to  
discriminate among the sands of time and
 the alluvial deposits of tradition till
 we find the rock of truth4  ,but facing
 the facts we find everywhere one writ  
large1 over all one great principle of  

unchanging law1 one great purpose moving
 through all nature and all history1 and
 what we once only dared to hope and    
dream1 that back of all there throbs    
infinite love and there rules infinite  
wisdom1 now is attested by the          
impressive array of the witnesses of    
science4  ,truth always is safe4  ,the  
holiest error must be born of hell4  ,we
 can make no mistake in refusing to go  
beyond truth1 and we will find that she 
leads to the ordering of life according 
to eternal laws1 to the doing of duties 
and finding of sweet joys as old as the 
hills and as unchanging2 she will lead  
in the paths of rightness4  ,some day   
our race will know all the alphabet of  
nature and be able to read the story of 
the unchanging goodness2 some day we    
shall comprehend the wavering           
handwriting of history2 some day we     
shall catch the harmony of love and law2
 we shall know the full truth that is   
religion2 shall know things as they are 
and be what we should be4    ,,the      

,,real ,,foundation  ,a good many       
thousand sermons have been preached on  
the parable of the houses built on sand 
and on rock1 probably nearly all of them
 with the intent to prove that the way  
to build the life on a rock foundation  
is to pass through the experience known 
as conversion1 obtain saving faith and  
join the church4  ,this is typical of a 
popular way of interpreting the         
scriptures3 ,first1 determine what you  
wish them to mean and then make them    
mean that4  ,the purpose being to       
persuade people to join the church1 then
 by hook or crook that duty must be     
discovered in every divine precept4     
,but this is simply to ignore the plain 
words of the great ,teacher4   ,it would
 be impossible to clarify ,his          
statement3 ,if any man hears and does   
the things ,i have been teaching he is  
like one who builds on a rock4  ,one    
thing marks the rock founded life1 the  
doing of ,christly deeds4  ,the course  
of conduct1 the kind of character ,he   

has just outlined in the sermon on the  
mount gives the established staple      
character4  ,the enduring life is not   
built on dreams4  ,many people think    
that their lives are rock founded       
because they have a nebulous admiration 
for the moral teachings of ,jesus4  ,on 
the whole they admire the sermon on the 
mount2 having taken the trouble to say  
as much as this they sit back with the  
comfortable feeling that they have set  
themselves right with the universe1 that
 the ,almighty will be delighted with   
their indorsement4  ,one of the most    
dangerous hypocrites is the easy-going1 
thoughtless being who fancies that the  
indorsement of a duty is equivalent to  
the doing of it4  ,he evaporates his    
convictions into compliments instead of 
crystallizing them into conduct4  ,so   
far from being built on a rock he floats
 around like a wisp of hay in a high    
wind4  ,a butterfly might better hope to
 drill and quarry out a foundation than 
he4  ,besides this1 his hypocritical    

praise of right precepts makes them only
 offensive to those who might desire to 
practice them4  ,others imagine that an 
intellectual assent to certain          
statements concerning the church or the 
,bible or ,jesus is sufficient to fix   
the life in stability4  ,but the great  
,teacher does not place the emphasis so 
much on what men may think of ,his      
character or mission1 nor even on their 
honest opinions on the theories of the  
past and the future1 which have         
delighted mental gymnasts since the     
world was young1 to ,him the great      
differentiating fact touches those      
dynamic convictions that are determining
 your conduct this day4  ,he places     
conduct before creed4  ,he long ago took
 that method of teaching which modern   
pedagogy approves4  ,he taught religion 
by the manual method4  ,instead of      
saying1 as theologians do1 first        
comprehend these doctrines and then you 
will be able to do them1 ,he says1 first
 do these things1 practice ,my precepts1

 and they will ere long become plain to 
you4  ,men learn religion by doing4     
,begin to do the right and you will get 
the reason2 get the rule through the    
example4  ,deeds are the solvents of    
doctrines4  ,the house of life is built 
differently from any other2 we get the  
plans by erecting the structure4  ,in   
the realm of character it is houses     
rather than architecture we need4       
,build but one hour's conduct squarely  
on the plain1 cogent teachings of the   
man of ,nazareth and you will serve the 
world better than if you gave a lifetime
 to the explanation of ,his words4      
,doctrines are but teachings intended to
 be done into deeds4  ,doing them you   
gain a larger peace of mind and sense of
 stability of life than in any other    
way4  ,if you want the equilibrium of   
faith you will find it by simply laying 
life's daily details on the plain       
foundation of ,his principles4  ,nothing
 could be plainer2 there are no         
hair-splitting metaphysics1 no subtle   

questions of policy here2 do these      
things and the heart finds calm1 the    
life certitude1 the soul satisfaction4  
,x  ,the ,passion for ,perfection       
,the ,great ,search   ,the ,hunger of   
the ,ages   ,the ,sole ,satisfaction    
,pain is the parent of power4  ,marking 
time leaves no mark on time4  ,the proof
 of love is loving the unlovely4  ,truth
 never is found by twisting the facts4  
,wings come not to those who refuse to  
walk4  ,an ideal usually is what we want
 the other man to be4  ,there is no     
righteousness without some self-respect4
  ,you cannot lead men to the divine by 
crawling in the dust4  ,the real saints 
have no time to write their             
autobiographies4  ,when a man boils over
 quickly you soon find out what is in   
him4  ,true piety simply is the         
prosperity of the eternal things in a   
man4  ,the world never will be won from 
the love of evil until we make the good 
lovely4   ,x  ,,the ,,great ,,search    
,the cry1 ,how may ,i be right8 is the  

cry of the ages4  ,human history is the 
record of our attempt to answer it4     
,man is naturally a truth seeker1 and   
this is the search of all truly great   
souls4  ,the enduring monuments of      
literature are those that have in some  
measure answered this question4  ,all   
things that have been worth while have  
helped us to know and to realize the    
right4  ,health1 happiness1 freedom1    
morality1 all are but parts of the      
right2 all are but sections of the      
sublime whole for which man ever seeks4 
,the search manifests itself in         
different ways2 it may be as science1   
the passion for the knowledge of the    
right relations of things2 as justice1  
for right relations amongst men2 as     
philosophy1 as ethics1 as religion4     
,back of all our life is the instinct of
 progress2 we push towards the perfect4 
,and perfection we now know rests not in
 more things but in bringing all the    
things that are into right relations    
with one another4  ,the idea that any   

man can be right regardless of others we
 scout as absurd4  ,the ideal           
civilization we work for here1 even the 
heaven we long for1 is simply a         
condition of living where the things    
that separate1 despoil1 and introduce   
discord are no more4  ,the hope of the  
race is to be in right relations with   
all things4  ,all the great religions   
are as the footprints of peoples who    
have sought the truth that would lead   
them to be right and just with one      
another1 with the world1 and with the   
great unseen powers behind all being4   
,our universal sense of wrongness is but
 part of our passion for rightness4     
,the sense of imperfection and the      
desire for improvement have marked all  
religions that have influenced men4  ,in
 the ,jew this desire for righteousness 
was supreme4  ,job is but a type4       
,coming to himself amongst the ruin of  
all the things he counted most precious1
 he forgets their loss in his desire to 
solve the great problem1 ,what is right 

and how may ,i reach it8  ,somewhere he 
knows there is a solution to all the    
riddles of his friends and the questions
 of his own heart4  ,an orderly universe
 is not crowned by a being whose life   
must ever remain an unsolved riddle4    
,men are not adrift in a fog with no    
hope of taking bearings4  ,if men have  
marked the natural world with lines of  
latitude and longitude for the guidance 
of its travellers1 the moral world is   
not without its markings4  ,job's very  
question contains the only answer that  
has ever satisfied man4  ,god ,himself  
is the great meridian of all morality4  
,from ,him we may measure all           
relationships and get them right4  ,that
 is the essential message of the ,bible2
 it strikes that first of all in ,in the
 beginning ,god----  ,every life is     
right in the measure that it adjusts    
itself to the unvarying will2 amongst   
the nations they have the kingdom who do
 ,his will4  ,the world has made        
progress in precisely the proportion    

that this will has been realized4  ,the 
promise of the present is that this     
great standard1 this universal law by   
which all may find the right1 has been  
made known to all through a life4  ,one 
of our own has set forth ,god4  ,one has
 lived who has shown us how to live4    
,for every problem there is now an      
example of its solution4  ,for every    
difficulty there is something better far
 than a declaration of duty2 there is   
the great ,doer of the deed4  ,he has   
come near to man that men might come    
near to one another4  ,he reveals the   
right4  ,yet we must not allow ,his     
perfection to make ,him unapproachable4 
,he is only an example as long as ,his  
example is attainable4  ,his divinity   
does not depend on ,his distance from us
 but on the degree in which ,he lifts   
us1 inspires us towards the height ,he  
has gained4    ,,the ,,hunger ,,of ,,the
 ,,ages  ,blessed are they which do     
hunger and thirst after righteousness1  
for they shall be filled1 is the central

 beatitude2 in a measure it embraces all
 the others1 for every virtue they      
inculcate is included in righteousness4 
,but it is often rejected as            
impracticable because fanciful teachers 
who substitute subtle definitions for   
simple duties have twisted its plain    
words until righteousness is made       
something so unreasonable as to be      
repulsive to a right mind4  ,as a matter
 of fact1 it means no more than         
rightness2 the hunger and thirst for    
righteousness is but the earnest1       
supreme desire and endeavour to be right
 and to do right at all times1 the      
appetite for the right4  ,theological   
righteousness may mean some strange     
imputed quality laid on a man like a    
cloak to cover his real condition or a  
bill of health given to a sick man4     
,but men who live next to real things   
care nothing one way or the other for   
theoretical rightness2 they want the    
real article4  ,and a right man will not
 be satisfied to have even the ,most    

,high think of him as being perfectly   
right when he knows he falls far short  
of it4  ,he would rather be the         
faltering pursuer of actual rightness   
than the possessor of a hypothetical1   
ascribed perfection4  ,the great        
,teacher cares nothing about imaginary  
virtues2 ,he praises those who ardently 
seek the real ones4  ,he knows that in  
the market of character cash alone is   
currency2 here you cannot draw checks on
 some other person's deposits4  ,to ,him
 it is better by far to die facing the  
right than to live in smug content with 
borrowed merits4  ,this world will never
 be content with a gospel that offers   
only vicarious virtues2 at its heart it 
knows too well its need of the genuine  
usable ones2 it has at least the dormant
 faculties of an appetite for rightness4
  ,and all this world story is but a    
record of the struggle for rightness4   
,all human progress is but its fruitage4
  ,in every age there have been glorious
 souls who have made this passion a     

thing that glowed in their lives and    
became a light to their day4  ,in every 
man the divine discontent that divides  
him from the animal is the sign of this 
desire in some form2 it shows man       
seeking to find more perfect1 more      
nearly right relations with the things  
about him4  ,as the things about him    
come to include ,god and heaven and     
things unseen so will his search for    
rightness become wider and deeper and   
more spiritual4  ,every form of         
spiritual aspiration1 every religion1 no
 matter how uncouth and strange1 is     
still the soul of man seeking right     
relations to the infinite4  ,what a     
glorious thing is this passion for the  
right2 what visions it has seen1 what   
strength it has given to their          
realization4  ,it is the great tide     
that1 moving restless and resistless in 
our bosoms1 has carried us on towards   
,god4  ,we cannot but believe it is born
 of him4 ,it does not originate in him1 
for it disturbs his peace1 it stirs him 

from sloth1 it spurs him to new and     
often unwelcome endeavours4  ,it ever   
holds before him the shining possibility
 of a perfect being in a perfect world4 
,no wonder ,christ used the figure of   
hunger and thirst4  ,literal appetites  
have been the motives back of the       
world's struggle for physical rightness2
 yet these cravings have not been more  
general or more forceful than those of  
the soul4  ,but for hunger and thirst   
man would have lived in perfect content 
with the form and facts of life as he   
found them2 progress1 all that we call  
civilization1 would not have been4  ,man
 is happy in proportion as necessity    
compels him to heed these cravings4  ,so
 is it in the moral world2 the struggle 
has been our salvation4  ,to cease to   
strive for rightness is to cease to     
live4 ,individually and nationally they 
are happy who accept the rigorous       
climate of lofty ethical ideals1 who are
 not content to take life as they find  
it1 but who seek to cultivate flowers   

and fruits of paradise on the sterile1  
rocky soil of the human heart4  ,this is
 the life that ,jesus shows1 the life   
that seeks and finds the truth1 that    
with passionate ardour seeks right      
relations both with ,his fellows and    
with ,his ,father4  ,out of the fullness
 of experience1 in the midst of ,his own
 struggle ,he encourages all who strive2
 they shall be satisfied4  ,no ideal1 no
 noble passion1 no glorious sacrifice1  
no honest endeavour for the right was   
ever in vain2 the soul finds itself in  
seeking the supreme good4    ,,the      
,,sole ,,satisfaction  ,through the ages
 men have waited for voices to speak    
from out the great unknown4  ,answering 
to this universal longing for larger    
light1 to this search for truth1 there  
has been the conviction that1 where our 
own scanty knowledge ended1 there       
something akin to revelation would give 
us light4  ,we have been listening for  
voices that would speak with an         
authority transcending that given to our

 fellows4  ,cold reason may mock at     
revelation1 but the soul struggling in  
darkness1 baffled by its problems1 lost 
in the night1 still looks up and hopes4 
,for what awaits us but despair if the  
mysteries of the universe are forever   
sealed1 our questions forever           
unanswered1 and no higher appeal to be  
known than that to our own selfish      
interests8  ,it is not strange that men 
have heeded those who1 though often     
mistaken or but impostors1 have cried1  
,thus saith the ,lord6  ,it would be    
strange if in a world of spirits there  
might be no communication of spirit4    
,if the fairest thought of our era is   
that which was given us when man was    
taught to think of the omnipotent as    
father1 it would be strange if there    
should be no way by which such a father 
might speak to his children4  ,such a   
world would contradict all our best     
instincts4  ,such a world would mean    
that man was better than his maker4     
,the divine voice speaks1 but we too    

often listen in the wrong direction4    
,it falls not from the skies2 it comes  
not in strange1 unusual ways of visions 
and portents4  ,but it is ever speaking 
through the things of daily life2 it is 
ever revealing truth and beauty to the  
inner ear1 for it comes not from without
 but springs up within2 heard by the    
heart rather than by the ear4  ,the best
 things have not dropped down2 they have
 grown up4  ,life is not from without1  
but from within4  ,god speaks not in    
thunders1 but in the hopes and the      
longings of hearts4  ,even the voice we 
hear in the sighings of the wind or the 
message we read in the rays of setting  
sun must be in us before it means aught 
to us4  ,the ten commandments owe their 
force not to any writing on stone but to
 their writing on our hearts2 to them   
the soul of man answers affirmatively4  
,the only moral code we can follow is   
that which speaks with the authority of 
a conscience convicted4  ,that does not 
mean that man is his own ,god1 nor that 

he knows no law higher than himself2 it 
does mean that by the laws of spiritual 
development the law is being written on 
every heart4  ,every real revelation is 
a divine revelation1 since all truth is 
divine4  ,once we thought the scientist 
the enemy of religion2 now we know that 
whenever science lays bare one of the   
facts of the universe we do but look on 
what the finger of the ,infinite has    
written4  ,when religion fights truth   
simply because truth speaks an          
unfamiliar tongue or fails to respect   
her traditions1 she is fighting against 
,god ,himself4  ,our need is not some   
strange1 awe-inspiring voice that shall 
break the silence of the midnight sky2  
our need is an ear trained to hear1 a   
spirit to understand and reverence the  
sublime voices that are ever speaking in
 our world1 the voices of the beauty of 
nature1 the joy of living1 the stories  
of every-day divine heroism1 the forces 
that are making a new world to-day as   
truly as ever one was made long ago4    

,the life of our day has not less of the
 divine than the life of long ago2 but  
the message is harder to read2 it is for
 an educated race2 it is spiritual      
rather than merely material2 it is from 
within2 it is found in every good       
impulse1 in every outgoing sympathy1 in 
the kindling of eye as friend greets    
friend1 in the good that men are doing1 
in the toleration that is becoming      
wider1 the love stronger between man and
 man4  ,god speaks to men now as ,he    
spoke to ,moses or to ,david1 though the
 manner may have changed4  ,but the poor
 in spirit1 those with whom pride of the
 past has not served to make them       
unwilling to learn1 these hear the      
voice2 the pure in heart see ,him2 the  
seekers after truth find ,him1 and to   
all ,he comes in the thrilling moment or
 in the quiet hour when the voice of the
 heart makes itself heard4     ,,xi     
,the ,price of ,success    ,the ,law of 
,selection   ,the ,fallacy of ,negation 
,the ,secret of ,all   ,no life is lost 

that is lived for love4  ,the only      
wealth you can possess is that you have 
in the heart4  ,love never knows        
hardship1 even when it meets it4  ,when 
men pray for harvest they often get a   
plow4  ,a man's holiness is to be       
measured by the happiness he creates4   
,the only way to reach heaven is by     
attempting to realize heaven now4       
,whatever is saved by selfishness is    
lost to the true self4  ,one of the     
worst offenses against humanity is the  
pretense of divinity4  ,weapons that fly
 off the handle have little effect on   
the walls of sin4  ,many a man thinks   
that taking a lease on a front pew gives
 him a freehold on a corner lot in      
heaven4  ,success is not in an endeavour
 to do a great things but in repeated   
endeavours to do greater things4   ,,xi 
,,the ,,law ,,of ,,selection  ,jesus    
said1 ,if thy hand or thy foot offend   
thee1 cut them off1 and cast them from  
thee1 but this age finds it hard to     
accept that saying4 ,it asks1 ,if we are

 to throw life away why should it have  
been given to us8  ,why this selfhood   
with its passions1 its surging desires1 
its great longing to be untrammelled and
 free if all is to be restrained and the
 passions are to be perpetually denied8 
,if religion means1 as some plainly have
 said1 doing the things you don't want  
to do and leaving undone those you      
desire1 then it is a mockery1 a         
contradiction of our lives and natures4 
,therefore there exists another         
philosophy which says1 boldly3 ,live out
 all that is in you2 do all the things  
you want to do2 your passions in        
themselves are sufficient justification 
for their gratification4  ,they say man 
is free2 therefore1 let him realize     
himself by giving free and full         
expression to every thought1            
inclination1 appetite1 and possibility  
within him4  ,when the average man puts 
the two philosophies in contrast he is  
likely to conclude that the path of     
self-denial1 of stern repression1 is the

 mistaken one2 for1 he will say1 does it
 not contradict nature8--does it not    
involve the repression of natural       
instincts and make all life a perpetual 
fight against ourselves1 a waste of     
forces1 instead of1 as it should be1 a  
plan by which a man might find success  
through the realization of the best in  
himself8  ,but let another test be put  
to this philosophy--the test of life4   
,how does it work out8  ,what are the   
best lives1 the lives that are richest  
and that have most enriched the world8  
,are they those that have given free    
rein to every fancy1 that have nurtured 
and brought to fruitage every growth of 
the heart's garden1 whether it be       
thistle1 brier1 or poison root1 or fair1
 nutritious product8  ,are they those   
that have given the tiger and the beast 
of prey free and full range of the life8
  ,there is striking unanimity in the   
answer4  ,the rich and the enriching    
lives have been those that have come by 
the path of the cross2 they have learned

 repression1 practiced denial1 and      
suffered death4  ,in every sphere the   
lights that have illumined the way of   
man's advance have not been the dancing 
flames of selfish1 sensual passion but  
the consuming of the bodies of the      
martyrs and heroes1 either burning in   
their passion for others or denying and 
losing all rather than denying truth and
 light4  ,the law runs through all2 if  
you would have a perfect flower you must
 deny existence to many weeds1 you must 
repress the rank growth1 you must pluck 
off many a leaf and nip many a bud that 
the one may come to the fullness of its 
beauty4  ,through the grain of character
 goes the wise husbandman1 and death is 
in his hand--the death of the less      
worthy1 the harmful1 and the enemy that 
life may abound yet more and more in    
that which is worthy4  ,in those fields 
where all things grow in their own way  
the weeds become the standard for all2  
license brings all down to the level of 
the lowest4  ,but life is not           

license--it is choice1 selection1       
sacrifice1 death4  ,pain is the only    
price at which perfection may be        
purchased4 ,self-realization comes not  
by permitting all things to have their  
way but by subjecting all parts to the  
securing of that high end4  ,it is but  
cowardice that cries for the so-called  
natural outworking of everything within 
man2 it seeks to save the labour of     
weeding1 the pain of cutting here and   
pruning there4  ,it asks only to be left
 alone4  ,but that way lies the deepest 
pain of all1 the pain of a life where   
there is nothing but tangles of         
weeds--no flowers1 no capacities for    
joy1 no power to will1 no eye to see the
 good and true and beautiful4  ,no2 the 
great ,teacher was right when ,he called
 for self-denial and self-victory4  ,he 
only is great1 he alone has found life  
who has learned to bring all his parts  
and faculties into service1 who brings  
all his body and self into subjection   
that all may be keen and well kept tools

 in the work he is doing as a servant of
 his brothers and his age4  ,this       
service gives the supreme and sufficient
 motive for the suppression and         
elimination of all things that might    
hinder2 the development of the best self
 for the best service by means of the   
cutting off of anything that might      
hinder or thwart the high and holy      
service purposes of a life4    ,,the    
,,fallacy ,,of ,,negation  ,the ancient 
law that nature abhors a vacuum holds   
true in the moral realm4  ,the heart of 
man is never long empty4  ,and yet the  
whole scheme of modern ecclesiastical   
regulation of life is built on the plan 
of making a man holy by emptying him of 
all evil and stopping there1 leaving a  
negative condition1 without a thought of
 the necessity of filling the void4  ,so
 long have we been trained in this that 
we are all a good deal more concerned   
about the things we ought not to do than
 about the things we ought to do4  ,we  
spend our days nipping off the buds of  

evil inclinations1 pulling up the weeds 
of evil habits1 wondering how it happens
 they multiply so fast1 forgetting      
altogether the wiser plan we would adopt
 with weeds and briers in our gardens4  
,there are many who still think of the  
pious man as one who succeeds in        
accomplishing the largest number of     
repressions in his life1 the ideal being
 the colourless life1 never doing a     
thing that is wrong or subject to       
criticism4  ,the energy of many a life  
is being spent in a campaign against a  
certain list of proscribed deeds4       
,blessed is the man--according to their 
beatitudes--who has the largest number  
of things he does not do4  ,but if      
rightness is abstinence from evil1 then 
a lamp-post must always be better than a
 man1 for it justly can lay claim to all
 the negative virtues4  ,what an easy   
way of life is this1 simply to find out 
the things we know other people like to 
do and to determine that if we only can 
leave them undone we are holy in the    

sight of heaven4  ,but not only is this 
a way of folly1 it is a way of positive 
harm1 a way fatal at last to the true   
life4  ,to do no more than to turn out  
one set of devils only is to invite     
other and worse devils into the heart4  
,to seek emptiness only is to invite yet
 more iniquity4  ,an empty heart is as  
dangerous as an empty hour4  ,emptiness 
is not holiness1 it is idiocy4  ,there  
cannot be an empty heart4  ,to take a   
bad thing away from a man gives an      
opportunity for a worse thing to enter  
unless you simply choke the bad by      
implanting the good4  ,some of the most 
dangerous people are those who feel     
pious because they can say1 ,we never   
did any harm4  ,religion often has come 
to mean only a multitude of repressive  
regulations1 apparently a scheme for    
making others abstain from those things 
for which we have no appetite4  ,little 
wonder that children feel only repulsion
 for a church which seems to take       
delight in finding impiety in every     

natural pleasure2 that men turn from a  
path which1 according to its prospectus1
 promises nothing but pain1 privation1  
and emptiness4  ,we do not object to the
 pain and privation provided they have  
their purpose4  ,but all nature objects 
to a course of life that maims1 pinches1
 and restricts without corresponding and
 compensating development and liberty   
somewhere4  ,we fight against every law 
of life and court the ways of death so  
long as we endeavour to develop         
character by putting it into bandages1  
leading strings1 and legal restrictions4
  ,there is evil to be eliminated2 there
 are thousands of things we ought not to
 do4  ,but the best way to get rid of   
the tares is to sow good wheat in       
abundance4  ,the way to avoid the things
 we ought not to do is to do the things 
that ought to be done4  ,the empty life 
is a standing invitation to temptation2 
the busy man seldom finds the devil's   
card left at his door4  ,live the life  
above the things you would overcome4    

,it never has been found necessary to   
pass a law prohibiting the president    
from playing marbles2 larger interests  
fill his life so that these things do   
not even occur to him4  ,give a man a   
great work to do and you will save him  
from a thousand temptations to do small 
and unworthy things4  ,do not allow the 
modern conception of religion as gloom  
and denial to keep you from that which  
is your right as a spiritual being1 the 
strength1 joy and beauty of the divine  
life4  ,holiness of life is not in      
innocence of evil but in positive       
forcefulness for good2 not in doing as  
little harm as we can1 but in filling   
the whole life with worthy1 helpful1    
uplifting deeds4  ,the good life not    
only has no debts--it has large assets1 
deep and lasting value2 it enriches all 
life4  ,it offers to the world not      
barren land claiming the virtue of      
freedom from the thorn and the brier1 it
 crowns all with the abundance and glory
 of fir and myrtle4    ,,the ,,secret   

,,of ,,all  ,the words hold a large     
place in every alert life3 ,happiness1  
,health and ,heart2 some may put them   
,success1 ,strength and the ,soul4  ,it 
is easy to recognize the importance of  
the first two2 that of the third is more
 remote4  ,some have imagined that      
religion emphasizes the last alone and  
ignores the other two4  ,evidently it is
 a legitimate thing for the ,christian  
to pray for prosperity2 and it is right 
for him to try to answer his own        
prayers4 ,poverty is no proof of piety4 
,nothing about ,god is or can be        
poverty-stricken4  ,he gives us a rich  
and glorious world1 prolific in its     
resources2 its life is rich and         
prosperous4  ,nature is running over1   
fairly rioting in splendour and wealth4 
,the ,creator has given man this garden 
of glory that he might enjoy it4  ,it is
 a sin not to enter into its possession2
 he is dead already who does not desire 
prosperity1 who no longer seeks success 
in life4  ,it is an easy matter for the 

man who has made an all around failure  
to talk about the dispensations of      
,providence and the compensations of the
 future4 ,prosperity is always a sin to 
the man who lacks the pluck to secure   
it4  ,yet many who seem to have failed  
may have succeeded best of all4         
,prosperity often comes in strange      
packages2 it may even be labelled       
,adversity4  ,not all will succeed      
according to popular standards4  ,many  
will be more fortunate2 they will win   
the riches of influence1 friendship1    
family1 thought1 knowledge1 love1       
character4  ,it is not the things we    
have that make us rich2 it is the amount
 of life we are capable of enjoying4    
,the soul determines prosperity4  ,it is
 the energizing spirit of man1 stirring 
him out of the ignoble dust1 creating   
the desire for more of the things of    
life and then for more of life itself4  
,it determines values4  ,it has a way of
 reversing things so that one man gets  
more out of a dollar book than another  

gets out of a million dollar bond4  ,it 
alone gives appetite and appreciation1  
and1 without these1 though there may be 
many possessions1 there is no           
prosperity4  ,what is true of prosperity
 is true also of health4  ,happily the  
days are gone when sickness passed for  
saintliness4  ,no longer is red blood   
counted a foe of righteousness4  ,we are
 getting back to the simpler1 earlier   
thinking4  ,it is not only right to seek
 health2 it is wrong not to4  ,the      
haggard face no longer indicates the    
holy heart2 it is likely to evidence the
 opposite4  ,we are getting over the    
notion that ,god is glorified by ruining
 the fair temple ,he has given us4  ,men
 no longer count on being beautiful     
angels in the skies because they have   
looked like walking sepulchres on our   
streets4  ,it is an imperfect holiness  
that does not have health4  ,health1    
that is physical prosperity1 is a duty4 
,and here1 also1 the soul is central4   
,the clean heart1 pure thoughts1        

controlled appetites1 aspiring hopes1   
these make health4  ,evil temper1 lust1 
worry1 care1 envy1 these are the soul   
processes that disturb the life and     
destroy health4  ,happiness is health1  
and happiness is wholly of the heart4   
,the soul is but the sum of all the     
things within1 the force that moves all 
things in life2 if within the man looks 
up1 then he lives up2 if the soul       
droops1 he decays4  ,what you are within
 determines what you are without2 he who
 is poor in heart1 in this inner life1  
will be poor in prosperity and weak in  
health1 no matter how much he possesses4
  ,but he who with his soul takes in the
 world of beauty1 of love1 of joy1 who  
reaches out to heaven and ,god1 all     
these things are his and he is rich and 
strong indeed4     ,,xii  ,divine       
,service    ,the ,ideal ,service   ,the 
,orthodox ,service   ,the ,heavenly     
,service   ,kindness is the evidence of 
kingliness4  ,the surest way to         
impoverish your heart is to hoard up    

your love4  ,a really smart man will    
refrain from saying things that smart4  
,many a prayer for vision ought to be   
changed to a petition for vertebra4     
,the damning doubts are those that deter
 us from good deeds4  ,the leaders of   
men are not the ones who are trying to  
get ahead of their fellows4  ,folks who 
are too good for anything are good for  
nothing4  ,it's hard to steer a straight
 course if your conscience is in your   
pants pocket4  ,you do not have much    
faith in your ,father unless you have   
some in ,his family4  ,no man can have a
 place in the kingdom of heaven who is  
complacent to the ills of earth4   ,,xii
  ,,the ,,ideal ,,service  ,never was   
the greatest of all greater than when   
,he put about ,him the badge of the     
servant4  ,his example has made the     
towel1 the apron1 the badge of true     
honour4  ,nothing could have surprised  
those men who were quarrelling over     
their precedence more than that their   
great ,master should stoop to perform   

this menial service of washing their    
feet4 ,like many who call themselves    
,his to-day they strove over chief      
seats1 honours1 titles1 and dignities4  
,they were seeking the chief places and 
by their strife showing themselves fit  
only for the lowest4  ,nowhere is the   
sense of honour more easily slain than  
in the search for honours4  ,the only   
dignity that really adorns a man is that
 which comes without his demanding it4  
,how often have the servants of the meek
 and lowly ,jesus turned the world away 
from ,him by their examples of vanity1  
greed1 lust for power1 their pomp and   
pride of self-glory4  ,they who were    
sent to be the shepherds of men have    
fleeced the flock for their own adorning
 and then fought amongst themselves to  
see who should wear the choicest robes4 
,history has shown that they were wrong 
and their ,master was right4  ,the      
greater their greedy ambition the       
greater their shame2 the higher the     
place they have claimed the lower has   

been that which the voice of humanity   
has awarded them4  ,on the other hand   
there shine forth those who have        
followed ,him in lowly service2 theirs  
is the honour to-day4  ,because ,he took
 upon ,him the form of a servant then   
now is the kingdom and the power and the
 glory ,his4  ,so it has always been1   
sovereignty comes by way of service2    
heaven and earth unite in honouring     
those who have not scorned the humble   
place of helpfulness4  ,john says that  
it was because ,jesus was conscious of  
,his divine origin and ,his glorious    
destiny that ,he took the towel and did 
the work of the slave4  ,only those who 
realize their true greatness can ignore 
the littleness of man's petty dignities1
 can lose all sense of stooping1 of     
condescension when they serve others1   
and so can be of service to mankind4  ,a
 man proves that he is the son of a     
heavenly ,father by his service for his 
least brother4  ,when that dignity1     
heaven born1 is in a man's heart there  

is nothing in the dirt he may touch by  
deeds of kindness that can defile him2  
contact does not contaminate4  ,love    
never thinks of any of its services as  
loathsome4  ,that from which a          
superficial dignity would revolt love   
does with rejoicing4  ,it thinks nothing
 of the honour or the dishonour1 but    
only of the helpfulness it may render4  
,it is not asking whether men are       
approving or whether promotion is       
coming4  ,it needs no promotion or      
approval2 the work itself is the highest
 reward2 the service elevates to the    
loftiest of all positions4  ,the world's
 sovereigns are its servants4  ,he makes
 an alliance with ,god who helps a      
fellow man4  ,work is that by which the 
,creator has lifted man above the       
creatures of the field1 and the work    
that sacrifices that it may serve is    
that by which ,god lifts man to         
,himself4  ,the heavenly gate may be    
shut to robes and miters1 epaulettes and
 crowns2 but it shall be open wide to   

that great throng who bear the stains of
 toil1 who have served their fellows1   
who wear the apron of sacrificing       
service2 and the ,son of the carpenter  
shall lead them in4  ,this is a working 
world2 its ,maker is pictured as a      
worker2 there is no better evidence of  
religion than willingness to serve4     
,work determines a man's worth to the   
world4  ,and religion must be known by  
the things it does1 and not1 as many    
have fondly supposed1 by the dreams it  
has4    ,,the ,,orthodox ,,service      
,this is a working world1 with no place 
for the idler1 whether he be high or    
low1 rich or poor4  ,the measure of a   
man is the service he renders humanity4 
,actions are measured by the same rule4 
,the value of religion to life1 its     
right to time and place1 is measured by 
this1 ,does it help or inspire men to   
service1 does it increase the quantity  
or improve the quality of the work that 
they do for their world8  ,men rightly  
ignore the piety that satisfies itself  

with platitudes on the duties of others1
 or with philosophical speculations on  
problems which1 if they were accurately 
solved1 would contribute nothing either 
to our peace1 our possessions1 or our   
personal characters4  ,yet1 how many    
imagine that they are profoundly pious  
because they cherish properly indorsed  
opinions1 duly certified as to their    
antiquity4  ,they who profess to follow 
the ,man of ,nazareth cannot do it by   
sitting in their pews or kneeling at    
their altars2 they cannot do it by      
dreaming of a place of bliss or         
picturing one of torment4  ,one of the  
first lessons ,he gives ,his disciples  
is that it is not he that speaketh the  
word1 but he that doeth the will1 who is
 pleasing to ,god4  ,nor do men do ,his 
will in any important or complete sense 
by going to church or serving in its    
meetings or on its committees4  ,when a 
man is ordained to divine orders1 that  
is1 to give himself wholly to do the    
will and work of the ,most ,high1 it is 

said that he becomes a minister4 ,if    
minister means anything at all it means 
servant1 one who works for others1 who  
ministers to them4  ,the ,master spoke  
of ,himself as being among men as one   
who served them4  ,the only orthodox    
service is the service of humanity4     
,this is religion1 such a consciousness 
of the reality of the ,infinite ,spirit 
that you will steadily do the things    
that that spirit of love is doing in    
this world1 ministering to men1 binding 
up the broken in heart1 lifting the     
lame1 and leading the wandering1 feeding
 the hungry and clothing the naked1     
bringing light and love and cheer to    
those that sit in darkness1 you will    
become feet and fingers to ,god4  ,one  
does not need to wait for a special garb
 to do this religious work2 one does not
 need to wait for formal ordination2    
whoever loves men already is divinely   
ordained to serve them4  ,one does not  
need to wait for a church or a special  
organization2 the sufficient motive is  

deep1 sacrificing love2 the method will 
be just what the ,master's was1 to go   
where men are and help them4  ,after    
all1 what this world needs is not so    
much that men shall go to their fellows 
with money1 with clothes1 or even with  
employment2 it needs that they shall    
just go to them4  ,the good mixer1 who  
mingles with men1 who knows how they    
live1 and what they think1 how they     
suffer1 and what they feel1 if1 going   
amongst them1 he carries a clean heart1 
a love for his fellows1 a firm faith in 
heaven1 and hope for men1 is doing them 
more good by his presence than he who   
may send carloads of goods4  ,men did   
not need that ,jesus should wear a label
 saying that the ,most ,high was with   
,him2 the more ,he mingled with men1 the
 more clearly they saw ,he belonged to  
,god4  ,what ,he was willing to do for  
them showed that they1 too1 were the    
children of the ,most ,high4  ,if any   
man would have that infinite presence   
with him1 if he desires the deep sense  

of the spiritual1 let him seek it not in
 closet or convent1 but in the touch of 
hand and in the sight of the face of    
friend and fellow being4  ,many of us   
are worried at times because our lives  
seem wasted in doing little things2 we  
would become immortal by saving our     
powers for some great deed4  ,we need to
 remember ,him whom the world most      
easily remembers and most highly        
honours1 the ,man of ,nazareth1 whose   
life was spent in trivial services1     
doing the next thing that came to hand1 
helping ordinary people in every-day    
needs4  ,yet ,god was with ,him1 as ,he 
ever is with those who love their       
fellows in sincere service4    ,,the    
,,heavenly ,,service  ,it seems easy to 
see something peculiarly holy1 something
 deeply religious in the occupations and
 acts of the priesthood or the ministry4
  ,but thinking of these as religious   
and of such service as divine we fall   
into the habit of thinking that they    
alone1 in all the world of action1 are  

divine4  ,we set on one side of life the
 religious service limited to these     
formal acts and on the other side what  
we call the secular life and service4   
,we have sacred days1 sacred deeds1     
sacred callings1 religious services2 all
 separate from the rest of life1        
belonging in a department1 a            
pigeon-hole1 by themselves4  ,whatever  
is not of these is of the world1        
worldly1 secular1 lacking in the        
peculiar aroma of sanctity that attaches
 to the church or the profession of     
religion4  ,there are many who desire to
 do some religious work2 who fain would 
engage in divine service4  ,there is in 
almost every breast a desire to do      
something high and holy1 something that 
is not necessary1 utilitarian1 with some
 other motive than bread-winning4  ,but 
there seems to be no opportunity2 such  
deeds are supposed to belong to special 
callings2 one must be ordained to do    
divine service4  ,the truth is1 divine  
service is the duty and high privilege  

of every human being2 we all are        
divinely called to the ministry2 the    
service of ,god and humanity belongs to 
us all4  ,we must not wait for ordaining
 hands nor ecclesiastical robes nor for 
the environment of official sanctity4   
,every impulse to do good1 to show human
 love1 and do loving service is a       
commission from high heaven4  ,the good 
,master invites men and women to ,his   
kind of service1 the highest and holiest
 known to all the ages4  ,he never was  
separated to a clerical calling2 ,he did
 not wait for an ordaining council nor  
did ,he confine ,his divine service to  
prayer and praise or to the activities  
of the church ritual4  ,his divine      
service was the service of the sons of  
men1 the going about doing good4        
,heavenly work is not work for some far 
off heaven2 it is the work of making    
this present earth like heaven4  ,the   
work of ,god is not working for an      
absent deity2 it is doing the work that 
the ,god of all love would do in this   

world2 it is being feet and fingers1    
voice and lips to the great ,spirit who 
is over and in us all4  ,it is making   
that spirit of love real1 actual1       
concrete to our fellows4  ,the holiest  
work in this world may be done in the   
humblest places2 the most divine service
 may not be in the cathedral but in the 
cottage2 the angels may pass by the     
intoning choir to listen to a mother's  
crooning cradle song or to watch the    
patient service1 the loving kindness    
shown in washing the faces or wiping    
away the tears of dirty and destitute   
children4  ,the holy service which will 
fill your heart with joy and give you   
the unfading crown of eternity1 never   
will be done if you are waiting for some
 ecclesiastical uniform to do it in4    
,whatever is done in the spirit of the  
infinite love1 in the spirit of the     
great ,master1 that truly is divine and 
glorious4  ,it is the good work that is 
glorious4  ,it is a thing more truly    
divine to do well your daily duty1 to   

put out good1 honest work1 than it is to
 wear a clerical garb or perform        
professional religious duties4  ,the    
honour1 the worthiness1 the glory of    
your work may be measured by the spirit 
in which it is done and by its          
helpfulness and worth to the world4     
,all life becomes glorious as we see    
that even in the least of our daily     
tasks we may be doing the will of ,god1 
that it may be just as necessary a part 
of the divine service that ,i should    
serve at a desk1 a counter1 or a        
machine1 should sweep a room or tend a  
child as that another should preach or  
pray4  ,for the great ,master of all who
 knows all our work1 measures it all1   
not as we do2 ,he sees the glory of the 
cup of cold water and the divinity of   
the commonplace4     ,,xiii  ,our       
,father and ,our ,fellows    ,the       
,primary ,reconciliation   ,faith in    
,our ,fellows   ,the ,law of            
,forgiveness   ,sorrow is sympathy's    
school4  ,love makes the heaviest load  

seem light4  ,to be willing to be saved 
alone is to be lost4  ,the truly godly  
see something divine in all4  ,your     
appreciation may be another's           
inspiration4  ,kindness is the sign of  
divine kinship4  ,you cannot knit the   
souls of men with soft sawder4  ,you    
cannot be a leader and lose sight of    
those who are to be led4  ,the shortness
 of the day excuses no man from         
greatness of endeavour4  ,when a man    
thinks of nothing but his sins and      
failures he will have nothing else to   
think of4  ,lots of people who talk of  
their lives as blue are only colour     
blind1 they either are green or yellow4 
,he is only shortsighted who pronounces 
the world bad after looking in his own  
heart4  ,many a man is waiting for an   
inspiration who would find success at   
once if he was not so afraid of a little
 perspiration4   ,,xiii  ,,the ,,primary
 ,,reconciliation  ,men in the days of  
the great ,teacher were as we are       
to-day1 prone to compound for the       

neglect of duties near at hand by the   
adoration of spiritual delights far off4
  ,they talked about getting right with 
,god while they continued to do wrong to
 men4  ,the problem of the hypocrite who
 is so thrilled with the delights of    
heaven that he scorns earthly duties and
 decencies is not a new one4  ,how easy 
it is to substitute syllogisms for      
service1 to think that we do our duty by
 describing it1 so to exhaust oneself in
 pleasant and seductive dreams of a     
distant heaven that we have no power    
left to apply to the problems of a needy
 present-day world4  ,the mockery of    
religion to-day is that men and women   
are going to the churches1 singing      
themselves into ecstatic complacency and
 imaginary harmony with their ,god while
 their greed is crushing the hearts of  
the helpless and they are blinding      
themselves to the world's gloom and pain
 that unhindered they may enjoy         
spiritual delights4  ,things cannot be  
right in our relations to the ,father of

 spirits until they are made right in   
our relations with our brothers in the  
flesh4 ,in ,christianity social         
righteousness is basic to spiritual     
blessing4 ,the ideal kingdom waits for  
ideal conditions and relations amongst  
its subjects4  ,the way to the ,father  
lies through the brother4  ,if you would
 learn to love ,god--and how indefinite 
and idealistic that seems to most of    
us--the lesson is simple1 first learn to
 love ,his other children1 especially   
the helpless1 needy1 and wronged4       
,delights high and spiritual always will
 be remote until duties near at hand are
 done4  ,the revival we most of all need
 to-day is a revival of the social      
conscience1 the recognition of the fact 
that we can offer no gift acceptable1 in
 the temple of worship or the place of  
prayer1 until we have washed our hands  
from the blood of our fellows1 that we  
can pay nothing to ,god until we have in
 earnest set about paying our debts to  
men4  ,anxious1 perhaps1 to claim our   

rights as children of the ,father in    
heaven1 we have forgotten that that     
title is promised to the peacemakers4   
,what avail is it to pray1 ,thy kingdom 
come1 if we block its advent by         
cherishing enmity in our hearts8  ,what 
use is it to carry hearts torn with     
malice1 souls sunken in selfishness1 and
 spirits torn with pride and            
covetousness to the place that belongs  
to the meek and lowly8  ,many a man is  
going to church and coming away empty in
 heart2 perhaps he has given up any hope
 of finding solace in religion1 who     
would find1 as it were1 the windows of  
heaven opened up if he should give      
himself for an hour to making some other
 helpless lives happy1 to righting some 
wrong or bringing some joy to lives     
embittered and oppressed4  ,the pathway 
to ,god is a plain one1 strikingly      
lacking in romance1 with no attendant   
visible angelic choir4  ,it is the doing
 of whatever duty or kindness ,i owe to 
those near me1 the breaking down of     

walls of prejudice--spite fences built  
in ignorance and hatred--the learning to
 love and help1 the seeking of peace1   
good feeling1 and harmony with all men4 
,this does not mean that all must become
 professors of sociology2 the study of  
social theories often is a substitute   
for the practice of social duties2 but  
that we must seek out the good in men1  
we must set ourselves right with them1  
we must discharge all our               
responsibilities towards men before we  
can realize ,god4  ,the kingdom comes as
 we recognize the kingliness in all the 
sons of the kingdom1 as we express our  
faith in ,god by friendship for our     
fellows4    ,,faith ,,in ,,our ,,fellows
  ,poor ,peter has never been much of a 
favourite with the preachers2 he was so 
thoroughly unstable1 unideal4  ,but the 
people have always had a tender feeling 
for him1 partly because he was a        
fisherman1 partly because he was so much
 like the rest of us4  ,nothing is more 
striking in the life of ,jesus than ,his

 affection for ordinary men4  ,the      
cultured ,pharisees1 the philosophical  
,sadducees seem to have much less       
attraction to ,him than the rude        
fisherman and the toiler4  ,these men   
were often weak1 sometimes cowardly1    
obstinate1 dull1 mediocre2 yet ,he      
committed ,his kingdom to them2 ,he     
believed in them4  ,before they had     
faith in ,him ,he had faith in them2 and
 that ultimately made them men4  ,it    
sounded much like cruel sarcasm when ,he
 told that weak1 vacillating ,simon that
 he was a rock4  ,those who knew ,peter 
best must have smiled2 he was more like 
a jellyfish4  ,but ,jesus could see the 
best that was in a man4  ,he detected   
the hidden good even in ,peter4  ,he    
proves ,his own goodness by ,his faith  
in the good in every man4  ,somewhere in
 every man there is some good4          
,overlaid it may be by passion1 by      
habits1 by prejudice grown out of wrong 
and suffering perchance2 but still it is
 there4  ,faith in this and sympathy1   

these are the golden keys that unlock   
the doors to where the good lies buried4
  ,the saviours of society have always  
been those who looked for the best in   
it4  ,if you go through life seeking the
 beast in man1 you will find it1 and the
 chances are it will devour you2 if you 
look for the beauty that is from above  
you will find it1 and it will bless you4
  ,it is just as necessary to have faith
 in man as it is to have faith in ,god4 
,if men cannot become good1 then there  
is no ,god in the sense of a power that 
makes for goodness4  ,the optimist not  
only believes in the best1 he creates   
the better4  ,some there are who        
reluctantly admit that ,god is a little 
better than they are1 though that may be
 due to ,his circumstances1 but they    
have never imagined for an instant that 
any one else is at all good4 ,believe   
that men are wholly bad and they will   
not disappoint you4 ,every man somehow  
responds to the expectations of others4 
,you had better damn a man than despair 

of him4  ,neither a church nor an       
individual can help this world when they
 have more confidence in the power of   
evil to become all pervasive than in the
 power of the ,most ,high to make ,his  
purposes felt in every heart as truly as
 ,he makes ,his sun to shine on the just
 and the unjust4  ,the church first     
consigns men to perdition and then      
wonders why they are reluctant to walk  
with it the other way4  ,so long as you 
have faith in total depravity you will  
find some facts to substantiate it4     
,but there is a better way4  ,sympathy  
with men will do more for them than     
sermons on their sins4  ,look for the   
best in them and you will find things   
better than you expected4  ,there are   
flower beds as well as garbage heaps in 
every heart2 at least1 there are spots  
where seeds of the fairest flowers of   
heaven may be sown4  ,you do not have to
 be a fool to have faith in your        
fellows4  ,you do not need to take the  
padlocks off your house2 but you do need

 to take them off your heart4  ,there   
may be those whom it would be wrong to  
trust with your cash box2 but it is a   
greater wrong to withhold from them your
 kindness4  ,you can show them that you 
believe the best instead of the worst of
 them4  ,the great ,teacher told men    
that ,he came not to condemn but to give
 life4  ,his followers have too often   
occupied themselves wholly with         
condemnation and then wondered that     
their sentences saved none4  ,every soul
 knows its own sentence2 what it needs  
to feel is that ,god and all good men   
are with it1 helping it to shake off    
that sentence1 to arise and return to   
the ,father1 that1 instead of all things
 conspiring to keep a man down1 there is
 a cloud of witnesses cheering him on1 a
 mighty choir invisible inspiring his   
heart4  ,and there is nothing any man   
can do of greater worth to the world    
than to cheer on another by his faith in
 him1 his high expectation of him1 his  
wise blindness to some little faults1   

and his propagating approval of the     
least beginnings of any good4  ,men are 
the saviours of men by their faith in   
men4    ,,the ,,law ,,of ,,forgiveness  
,a silly interpretation often leads to  
the utter rejection of a law4           
,sentimentalists have caused men of     
sense to pronounce ,christ's law of     
forgiveness an impractical one4  ,yet we
 indorse it every time we utter the     
,lord's prayer1 and still we hope to be 
forgiven whether we find it possible to 
forgive or not4  ,if this law means the 
mental flabbiness that sends bouquets to
 bloody criminals and petitions the     
pardon of murderers and the release of  
the foes of humanity1 we must reject it 
as the utterance of one unacquainted    
with the rugged facts of life4  ,but    
forgiveness and pardon are two different
 things2 forgiveness is between man and 
man2 pardon is a matter of executive    
power4  ,you can forgive a child and    
still punish him4  ,the forgiveness that
 does away with consequences would make 

this an immoral world4  ,no greater     
wrong can be done to a man than to      
protect him from the deserts of his evil
 deeds4  ,this is as unjust as to       
withhold the rewards of the right4  ,the
 difference between the law of an eye   
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth and  
the law of the great ,teacher lies      
largely in the spirit of dealing with   
the offenses4  ,the old spirit was that 
of getting even with the wrongdoer4     
,his act was largely regarded from the  
personal standpoint2 a crime was        
individual and not social4  ,revenge    
followed wrongdoing4  ,but ,jesus says  
it is better to lift a man up than to   
get even with him4 ,it is better to help
 men to the right than to satisfy your  
desire for revenge4  ,forgiveness is    
more than saying1 ,go without           
punishment2 rather it says1 ,come learn 
a better way2 live without sin4         
,forgiveness takes malice from the mind 
of the offended2 it substitutes for it  
the motive of friendship for the        

offender4  ,revenge says1 ,i will make  
it worse for you than you have made it  
for me4  ,sentimentalism says3 ,let the 
poor victim of circumstances go2 send   
him a rosewater spray and an embroidered
 text and he won't do it again4  ,but   
love1 she of the clear eye and the      
steady hold1 takes him by the hand in   
silence1 lifts him up1 and leads him1   
perhaps by paths of pain1 to his better 
self4  ,love puts his sins behind her   
back and teaches him to face her way4   
,love lets the wrong teach its own      
lesson1 bear its own fruit4  ,and in her
 labour for him she forgets her own pain
 and loss caused by his offense4  ,the  
best way to forgive a burglar would not 
be to let him out of jail1 but to teach 
him the laws of property1 to train him  
in the self-respect that would lead to  
industry1 to make him a brother and a   
fellow worker among men instead of an   
outcast and a social parasite4  ,the    
test of any forgiveness is its          
helpfulness1 the manner in which it     

wipes out the enmity of the victim and  
turns the guilty into better ways4      
,many say1 ,i can forgive1 but ,i cannot
 forget4  ,no one asks you to forget2   
but you cannot fully forgive unless you 
will forego the feeling of enmity and   
the desire for revenge4  ,you cannot    
make any one forget that which he has   
once known2 but you can substitute      
helpfulness for hatred and restoration  
for revenge4  ,true love simply         
discounts the past as a ground for      
present action2 it refuses to determine 
its personal bearing and deeds in to-day
 by the other's ill deeds of yesterday4 
,all we are asked to do is to forgive as
 we are forgiven4  ,our hope is that    
when we have fallen our friends will not
 lose their faith in us nor entirely    
forsake us1 that they will give us      
another chance2 not that they will      
shield us from the fruitage of our      
follies and our falseness1 but that they
 will not shut us off forever from their
 faces4  ,so far from forgiveness being 

the weakness of the thoughtless1 it is  
the helpfulness of the strong and the   
wise4  ,to forgive a man will not mean  
to escape from the trouble of securing  
his punishment2 it will not mean the    
weak complaisance of indolent tolerance4
  ,it will mean thought for his         
weakness1 taking up his burden1 doing   
the brother's part for him1 the         
endeavour to do for him what we would   
like to have the ,father of us all do   
for us all4     ,,xiv  ,men and ,mammon 
,riches and ,righteousness   ,religion  
and ,business   ,the ,moral ,end of     
,money-,making   ,better a sweet failure
 than a sour success4  ,an itching palm 
causes a crook in the fingers4  ,many a 
moral squint comes from a money monocle4
  ,the fortunate people are those who   
believe they are4  ,we are always       
building bridges for things with wings4 
,the best way to wipe out a friendship  
is to sponge on it4  ,many a man thinks 
he is pious when he is only petrified4  
,a little plain honesty is worth untold 

professional holiness4  ,the religion   
that runs to fever usually evens up with
 chills4  ,nothing is easier than being 
benevolent with other people's money4   
,,xiv  ,,riches ,,and ,,righteousness   
,let no man take it1 that the statement 
on the inaccessibility of heaven to the 
rich involves the opposite1 how easily  
shall they that have nothing enter in4  
,the people who have lived pulseless    
lives are apt to point to their poverty 
as the proof of their piety4  ,but      
righteousness is neither a matter of    
riches nor of rags4  ,the great ,teacher
 glorifies neither4  ,the qualifications
 for citizenship in ,his kingdom strike 
deeper than that4  ,his words have      
nothing to do with the bitter envy of   
the demagogue who denounces those who   
have earned that for which he would not 
labour4  ,he measures men not by that   
they have but by that they are4  ,he    
looks through both the fine linen and   
the tattered rags to the man4  ,money   
interests ,him only as it affects       

character4  ,the question of riches and 
poverty is not a matter of housing and  
eating1 but what a man does for himself 
and his world with that which he has4   
,riches of themselves do not bar a man  
from heaven2 but they full often eat    
into his heart1 become of absorbing     
interest1 and so effectually and forever
 blind the inner vision to the best     
things4  ,it is not that heaven has shut
 its gates1 but that the love of money1 
the selfishness1 born of cupidity1 has  
paralyzed those spiritual senses by     
which he might have found his way       
therein4  ,the possession of wealth is  
not a sin2 to some it has come almost   
without effort1 even against their      
wills2 but it does constitute one of the
 most severe tests that can be set      
before a soul4  ,it increases the       
difficulties of the right life1 because 
it enlarges so greatly the              
responsibilities4  ,the greater the     
wealth the greater the trust laid upon a
 man as the steward of the produce of   

the earth4  ,the principle holds of all 
possessions2 all are tests of character4
  ,a man can love gold just as ardently 
when he has but a grain as when he has  
possessions beyond computation4  ,a     
single dollar1 laid on the heart1 can   
shut out the light of heaven as         
effectually as can a million4  ,the     
relation between riches and             
righteousness is not determined by the  
balance in the bank1 but by the balance 
that a man succeeds in maintaining in   
his heart between his own interests and 
the trusteeship which possession places 
upon him4  ,money makes men as well as  
unmakes them4  ,the burdens1 the tests1 
the responsibilities it entails1 the    
temptations it presents1 all form part  
of life's great lesson4  ,out of the    
struggle between self and the service we
 owe the world1 out of the keen fighting
 against covetousness1 and the battle   
against the debasing tendencies of the  
love for gold and the greed for gain    
arise the giants--or fall the lost      

souls4  ,the rich young ruler came to   
,jesus and faced his test2 the demand   
that he should sell all and give to the 
poor simply put his heart on trial2 it  
set before him the great choices2 it    
decided as to the things which he held  
first4  ,to him the possession of things
 was more than the possibilities of     
using them in service2 before the great 
test he fell4  ,it is just as easy and  
often fully as dangerous to set your    
heart on the gold you haven't got as it 
is to fall into the snare of the miser4 
,everything depends on the place you    
give to riches in your life4  ,one man  
seeks them as a prize to be won and     
enjoyed for his own gratification1 his  
own glory and fame2 another seeks them  
only as larger avenues to usefulness1   
and to him riches come as tools1 as     
servants1 as possibilities of making his
 life count for more4  ,some men die    
with their houses full of tools unused2 
they have made the fatal mistake of     
setting their hearts on the tools       

instead of on the work4  ,others come to
 their accounting possessing as many    
tools1 but all of them shining from hard
 use1 and counting as their treasures   
not the tools but the things produced1  
the good accomplished4  ,wealth is for  
work and the work is for the making of  
the man4  ,they enter the kingdom who   
are kingly1 whether they learned the    
royal lesson and acquired the heavenly  
character through the school of poverty 
or that of riches4    ,,religion ,,and  
,,business  ,the question1 can a man be 
a ,christian and succeed in business1   
though old1 is still asked every day4   
,there are yet a great many who regard  
religion and business as conflicting    
pursuits1 and they attempt a compromise 
by the clear-cut division of time into  
business hours and church time4  ,others
 are answering this question in the     
negative4 ,look at me1 they say4  ,i    
have always been pious and honest1 and  
therefore ,i have failed to make money  
or achieve success2 religion does not   

pay4  ,if the question means1 can a man 
take out his backbone and succeed in    
business1 there need be no hesitancy as 
to the answer4  ,if becoming a          
,christian means the elimination of all 
virility from the character1 the        
substitution of soft soap and sawder for
 strength and diligence1 religion cannot
 be regarded as a help in business4     
,there are too many people who think    
that sloth is a sign of spirituality and
 that you cannot be a saint unless you  
have softening of the brain4  ,but it is
 simply whether you can keep your whole 
life1 in the market or out1 up to the   
level of a certain ideal1 whether you   
can be honest1 true1 fair-minded1       
unselfish1 merciful1 and kind and at the
 same time do the work and meet the     
exigencies of modern commercial and     
industrial strife4  ,it is whether you  
can measure steadily towards heaven's   
ideal while mastering earth's daily     
duties4  ,the question is either a      
reproach to religion or to business4    

,it is assumed by many1 with especial   
conviction by those who know business   
only by reputation1 that it demands the 
sacrifice constantly of honour1 truth1  
mercy1 and every other virtue4  ,the man
 who thinks that he is pious because he 
is pulseless1 draws a fancy picture of  
red-blooded men fighting1 intriguing1   
slaying1 like demons new from the pit2  
and that1 he thinks1 is modern business4
  ,strife is everywhere4  ,if religion  
means sequestration from temptation we  
need to pray to be delivered from it4   
,there is as much danger of a man's     
losing his character1 selling his soul1 
in the church as in the market4  ,the   
temptation to the merchant to           
misrepresent his goods for a larger     
profit is not greater than that which   
comes to the minister to magnify his    
abilities for an increase in fame4      
,things honourable are the same         
everywhere2 they are written deep within
 us1 and by them church and mart both   
are judged4  ,every man knows that the  

chief business of life1 whether through 
commerce1 toil1 study1 recreation1 or   
worship1 is to develop the best life1 to
 make of himself a true1 full grown man1
 who shall render to this world a full  
man's service4  ,business is a more     
effective school of character than any  
other we have4  ,if some of the         
standards of that school have been      
unworthy--and who shall say they have   
not8--it is our duty to revise them1 to 
make them higher2 not to abolish the    
school1 not to stay away from it because
 it is imperfect1 but to make it fit to 
serve its true purpose4  ,business      
always will be immoral as long as it is 
an end in itself4  ,the product is      
greater than the machine1 the making of 
character greater than the mechanism by 
which we make a living4  ,the serious   
danger comes when a man begins to lay   
his soul on the counter1 when he        
reverses the course in this school of   
character and makes the end serve the   
means1 when he sacrifices honour1 truth1

 and the soul that business may succeed4
  ,only failure lies that way4  ,no     
business ever became permanently great  
by making its people small4  ,success   
here is to be measured by the soul4  ,no
 matter what a man may be doing he must 
keep himself above his task4  ,the work 
must serve the worker4  ,the question is
 whether we are serving business or it  
is serving us4 ,if a man lives for his  
wage he will sacrifice everything to get
 it1 but if he works that he may find   
life1 then he will ever refuse to lose  
the things of which life is made in the 
pursuit of success4  ,he knows he does  
not have to make money1 but he does have
 to make manhood4  ,that is the end both
 of religion and of business4    ,,the  
,,moral ,,end ,,of ,,money-,,making     
,there are those who talk of money and  
business as though these were           
necessarily and intrinsically evil4  ,it
 is often supposed that capacity for    
goodness is established by incapacity   
for business1 while those to whom       

poverty seems inevitable find           
consolation in regarding it as evidence 
of piety4  ,large numbers of otherwise  
sensible people feel that there is some 
unavoidable conflict between the ideal  
and the real1 between what they call the
 sacred and the secular1 between the    
things they would like to do and to be  
and the things they actually have to do 
as part of their daily affairs and      
duties4  ,probably the greater number   
try to meet the difficulty by dividing  
their lives and interest into separate  
parts4  ,they say1 business is business2
 religion is another thing altogether2  
,i will work hard and honestly at my    
business and look forward to the        
comforts and pleasures of religion and  
ideal things4  ,so it happens that there
 are those who feel that to speak of    
religion on a week-day reveals a lack of
 the sense of the fitness of things1    
while other good people are quite sure  
that it is a wholly irreverent thing to 
speak of business on a ,sunday4  ,we    

tend to dwell alternately in two sets of
 apartments1 the practical and the      
pious4  ,even where there are no such   
sharp lines through the life we feel    
that manufacture and the market1        
money-making1 and trading tend to blunt 
the finer sensibilities and act as a    
hindrance to the realization of our     
ideals1 while1 on the other hand1 we are
 sure that the life of ideals is        
unfitted for business4  ,the result of  
this separation and apparent antagonism 
is that we cannot develop our lives     
symmetrically2 we are torn by           
conflicting purposes2 we fail to see any
 ideal ends in business or to find any  
practical values in religion4  ,religion
 without business tends to dreamy1      
purposeless moral enervation2 business  
without ideal ends and aims to grossness
 and materialism4  ,we need to          
spiritualize all our acts1 our whole    
lives1 our business1 our work1 our      
pleasures1 by giving them moral intent  
and value1 so as to unify the sacred and

 the secular1 the utilitarian1 and the  
ideal by making each serve the other4   
,it does not make so much difference    
whether a man is engaged in money-making
 or in writing poems and picturing the  
fair dreams of better things2 the       
question is this1 is the money-making   
for the sake of the money or for some   
high and worthy end8  ,what is the      
motive that impels either the dealer in 
dollars or the dealer in dreams8  ,our  
ideals1 visions1 aspirations1 and our   
religion become most damaging if they   
fail to find expression in conduct and  
work2 lacking the practical1 they result
 in a character that is satisfied with  
contemplating the good instead of       
realizing it4  ,the man who sinks his   
soul in dollars may personally be no    
worse than he who allows it to atrophy  
while he dreams4  ,here in religion are 
the dynamic and the motives that bear   
men on and buoy them up to do the toil1 
bear the burdens1 stand in the fight of 
daily living2 here are the visions that 

lift our eyes from the desk and the     
machine1 from profits and discounts1 and
 help us to see the worthy prizes of    
life4  ,no man could become a saint by  
separating himself from this world's    
turmoil and reading his ,bible alone2   
neither can any man find strength and   
stability for life's business and       
battle1 find satisfaction in its service
 and rewards1 unless he sees through its
 dollars and its dirt the moral ends of 
all this world's work4  ,this noisy mill
 of daily living may be the greatest    
blessing we know2 it is the opportunity 
for the expression of our highest       
ideals1 for the translation of religion 
into terms of daily living2 it is the   
place where character is molded by its  
stress1 its calls to the strong will1   
and its manifold opportunities for the  
service of all mankind by each man in   
his place4     ,,xv  ,the ,every-,day   
,heaven    ,the ,beauty of ,holiness    
,the ,gladness of ,goodness   ,the ,true
 ,paradise   ,self shrinks the soul4    

,the keen eye needs the kindly heart4   
,there's no argument equal to a happy   
smile4  ,imaginary evils have more than 
imaginary effects4  ,you never find     
truth by losing the temper4  ,menial    
work may be noblest service4  ,they who 
live off the flock are never willing to 
die for it4  ,the life that would be    
fruitful seeks showers as well as       
sunshine4  ,kindness makes all kin4     
,all we get from heaven we owe to earth4
  ,pain is a small price to pay for the 
joy of sacrifice4  ,he who gives on     
feeling generally begrudges in fact4    
,every loss met by love leads to gain4  
,the long look within ourselves will    
cure us of a lot of impatience with     
other folks4  ,the last person to enter 
heaven will be the one whose religion   
has all been in the first person        
singular4  ,we often talk a good deal   
about the salvation of souls in order to
 escape service for the salvation of    
society4  ,much that is called orthodoxy
 is scepticism at heart1 fear to examine

 the foundations lest there are none4   
,,xv  ,,the ,,beauty ,,of ,,holiness    
,religion ought to be the most natural1 
desirable1 and attractive thing to man1 
for it simply stands for the development
 of the best in us1 the coming into the 
full and rich heritage that is ours as  
spiritual beings1 and the realization of
 our highest possibilities of character 
and service4  ,he who ignores religion  
is cutting himself off from the best and
 most beautiful possibilities in his    
life4  ,some have talked of the         
necessity of making religion attractive4
  ,it does not have to be made          
attractive2 there is nothing more       
desirable than the peace1 the power1 and
 prosperity of the real life which it   
confers4  ,it is the imitation1 the     
false and prejudiced presentation of    
religion that men endeavour to dress up 
attractively4  ,in that they never      
succeed1 for cramping the soul and      
twisting the intellect ever are opposed 
by the best in us4  ,from the caricature

 of religion we turn with loathing4     
,mummeries and mockeries1 fads and forms
 leave us empty and impatient4  ,the    
heart of man goes out to things fair1   
lovely1 joyous1 and uplifting1 and they 
who find no ,god in the elaborate sermon
 or the service in the church somehow   
are thrilled with the feeling of the    
divine and inspiring in the woods and   
field and mountains4  ,all things good1 
all things attractive and lovely1       
uplifting and sublime have but one      
source4  ,they touch our hearts because 
they come from the heart of all being2  
they reach our spirits because they are 
spiritual4  ,deep calls unto deep when  
the divine in man answers to the divine 
in the world without1 in human          
affections1 in noble aspirations1 and in
 glorious deeds4  ,too long have we     
believed that only the unpleasant1 the  
gloomy1 and repellent could be right or 
religious4  ,there is a type of         
conscience that determines action by the
 rule that if a thing is pleasant or    

beautiful it must be sinful and wrong4  
,to such souls it is a sin to be sunny  
in disposition1 to delight in the       
,father's fair world1 with its glowing  
riches and bounty dropping daily from   
,his hand4  ,it would be safer to say   
that sin must be somewhere lurking      
wherever there is deformity1 pain1 or   
discord--that1 as a common phrase has   
it1 the bleak and barren is the evidence
 of that which is forsaken of ,god4     
,things desolate are not divine4        
,religion is not repression but         
development into a fullness and beauty  
far beyond our dreams4  ,it is a good   
thing to see the divine in all things   
fair and lovely2 to take them as        
evidences that the love that once       
pronounced this world good in its       
primeval glory still is working1 still  
is seeking to enrich our lives and lead 
them out in fullness of joy4  ,why      
should not we1 like the poets and       
preachers of ancient ,israel1 taste     
again of the gladness of living4        

,character may need for its full        
development the storms and wintry blasts
 of life1 but it needs just as truly and
 just as much the sunshine1 the days    
when the heart goes out and joins in the
 song of nature1 when something leaps   
within us at the gladness of being      
alive1 and we drink in of the infinite  
love that is over all4  ,just as the sun
 seems to call the flowers out of the   
dark earth and draw out their beauty1   
calls forth the buds and brings the     
blossom into perfect fruit1 so there is 
a spirit of divine life in our world    
calling us out to the best1 seeking to  
woo us to the things beautiful4  ,man   
needs not to repress his life1 but to   
learn to respond to every worthy        
impulse1 every high hope1 to find the   
life beautiful4  ,the beauty of holiness
 is the beauty of character4  ,it is the
 adjustment of life to nature and       
neighbour and heaven so that strength   
and harmony ensue1 so that duty becomes 
a delight1 labour a song of praise1 and 

out of life's burden and battle the     
beauties of godliness1 of love1 and     
tenderness1 joy and gratitude begin to  
bloom4  ,lay hold on everything good and
 true1 on all things glad and elevating2
 cherish every fair thought and         
aspiration2 learn to see the essentially
 religious in whatever lifts up life1 in
 whatever helps humanity1 and so make   
life rich in heavenly treasure and      
glowing with the glory of other worlds4 
,,the ,,gladness ,,of ,,goodness        
,life's poverty is due1 not to what we  
have had and lost1 not to what has been 
withheld or taken from us1 but to the   
good which we might have had which we   
carelessly have passed by4  ,no others  
despoil us as we despoil ourselves by   
our blindness and indifference to the   
wealth of our own lives and the beauty  
ever close at hand4  ,we who scurry over
 land and sea1 who dig1 and toil1 and   
fret to find happiness1 come back at    
last to learn that the sweet-faced guest
 has been waiting close by our door all 

the time4  ,he perishes in the pitiless 
snows who1 blind to the good and the    
glory in every valley and hillside1     
heeds only the impulse to climb and find
 the good in some remote height4        
,ambition and pride lift ever new peaks 
ahead only to mock him when at last1    
worn1 spent1 and empty in heart1 he     
falls by the way4  ,the old theology    
talked much of a heaven far away1 to be 
attained in the remote future2 the new  
theology often seems inclined to ignore 
any heaven1 but what the hearts of men  
need is the sense of the heaven that is 
all about them1 the ,god who ever is    
near1 and the blessedness even now      
attainable4  ,some live in the past1    
complacently contemplating the glories  
that once were theirs or their          
ancestors'2 some live in the future1    
dreaming of felicities yet to be2 but   
they are wise only who live to the full 
in the present1 who catch the richness  
and beauty1 all the wealth that the     
passing hour or the present opportunity 

may have4  ,he is truly godly who sees  
,god in all things1 in the affairs of   
this day1 in the faces of living men1 in
 the flowers and fields1 who sees all   
the divine wonder and beauty of life1   
and not he who sees the ,most ,high only
 in some legendary past or in a strange1
 imaginary future4  ,no man becomes     
strong by reminiscence of his breakfast 
or dreaming of his next meal alone2 each
 portion of time must have its own      
fitting food4  ,the soul of man never   
can find its fullness through either    
history or prophecy2 it needs the sense 
of the spiritual in this living1        
pulsating1 matter-of-fact present4      
,this world is slovenly1 sinful1 and    
evil because so many of us are content  
with the past or the future1 with myth  
or with imagination1 and fail to demand 
the development of the good that is our 
heritage to-day4 ,the better day comes  
not by dreams1 but by each man doing the
 best he can and securing all the good  
he can for his own day4  ,we need to    

give up the plan of saving the world by 
the piety of postponed pleasures and to 
find the fullness of life in the        
present1 to get below the surface of    
things and discover life's real riches1 
to interpret this daily toil and        
struggle1 and all this world of ours1 in
 terms of the divine and infinite4  ,how
 much it would mean to our lives if we  
might learn1 instead of sighing for the 
impossible1 to get all the sweetness and
 joy that is in the things we have1 how 
rich we would find the common lot to be1
 how many things that now seem dreary   
and empty would bloom into new beauty4  
,in a child's smile1 a wild flower's    
fragrance1 a glint of sunlight1 things  
possible to all1 we would find joys     
unspeakable and full of glory4  ,this   
does not mean dull content with things  
as they are2 it does mean the           
development of the faculties of         
appreciation1 the growth of the life in 
power to see1 the development of vision4
  ,it means the transformation of the   

dull earth with the glory of the ideal4 
,some day1 when we look back over our   
lives1 how keen will be our regret as we
 realize what we have missed1 how we    
have spurned the substance of life's    
lasting treasures1 human loves1         
friendships1 every-day beauties1 and    
happiness1 while chasing the shadows of 
imaginary joys4    ,,the ,,true         
,,paradise  ,the religion that has      
relations only to heaven and angels1 or 
only to a supreme being remote and      
detached from daily life and from our   
families and friends1 our business and  
affairs1 issues in personal selfishness 
and is one of the causes of social      
disorganization and need4  ,it postpones
 to that dim future the problems that   
ought to be solved in the present4  ,it 
promises those who are broken with the  
injustice and greed of their fellows a  
place where right would prevail and rest
 would be their portion in the future4  
,it shifts to an imaginary and ideal    
world all the perplexities and wrongs of

 the real present world4  ,that kind of 
teaching ingrained in generations       
accounts for the dull patience1 the     
stolid1 brute-like content of the       
peasant in ,europe2 he is born a bearer 
of burdens1 a tiller of the soil1 to    
walk bent and never look up2 it is all  
endurable because it is all so short2 he
 some day will be better off than kings 
and emperors are now4  ,but as the      
generations are born the inspiring      
vision of that future loses its force2  
the ideals are gone and the children    
come into the world with their fathers  
content with their present condition1   
but devoid of aspiration and also devoid
 of their father's faith in the         
compensations of the future4  ,then     
comes the reaction4  ,some daring       
spirits assert that if there is any     
good1 if there is equity and rights1 men
 ought to enter into and enjoy them here
 and now4  ,and some who catch the      
vision of a ,god of real love are       
unwilling to believe that ,he keeps from

 ,his children the present joys of ,his 
home2 they invite to a present heaven4  
,then how easy it is to fall into the   
error of seeking only a material        
present-day paradise1 to live as if the 
only things worth living for were food  
and clothes and pleasant circumstances4 
,better a worthy1 beautiful ideal afar  
off than an unworthy and debasing one   
already realized4  ,the heaven that so  
many are seeking will but bring all men 
to the level of the brute4  ,the danger 
is that we shall miss the real benefit  
of this great truth that whatever good  
is designed for man may be realized in  
large measure while he lives and shall  
make his good to consist only in goods4 
,better conditions of living easily     
become the foe of the best4  ,heaven is 
not meat and drink2 it is the better    
heart4  ,making houses and lands the    
supreme end of living is little better  
than looking forward to harps and       
crowns4  ,it is easy1 being freed from  
slavery to a superstition to relapse    

into slavery to our lower selves4 ,we   
are in danger of living for a living    
instead of for our lives4  ,we are on   
the make instead of being engaged in    
making manhood4  ,we are digging the    
lead of commercial advantage with the   
gold shovels of character4  ,we may be  
measured by our own measurements4  ,in  
sermons and orations we assure ourselves
 that we are a great people because we  
have here so many acres1 so many        
millions of bushels of corn and of      
wheat1 so high wages1 so vast financial 
resources4  ,we are living in the glut  
of things and setting these things as   
the end of living4  ,all this does not  
mean that prosperity is wrong2 it does  
not mean that misery or poverty is a    
virtue4  ,the danger is not in our many 
acres1 our high wages1 our millions of  
money2 the danger is that these are the 
ends instead of the means2 that we are  
existing for our living2 that we make   
the man the tool of his money instead of
 the money being the making of the man4 

,every man has in his breast the keys to
 his own heaven4  ,if he will he may    
find the riches of character2 he may    
enter into the paradise of a mind at    
peace2 he may taste of the divine joys  
of serving his fellows2 he may1 in      
thought1 commune with all the good and  
great2 he may hear the morning stars    
sing together4  ,the eternal crown of   
glory is the crown of character4  ,the  
streets paved with gold are the fair1   
clear ways of virtue4  ,the harps of    
whose music we never weary are the      
strings of sympathy and love and pain2  
these make the heavenly harmony4  ,the  
angels are in the faces we learn to     
love4  ,these make heaven when we see   
them in the light of the presence of    
eternal love4     ,,xvi  ,truth and     
,life    ,religion of a ,practical ,mind
   ,the ,head and the ,heart   ,new     
,truths for ,new ,days   ,a life is an  
empty lamp without the oil of love4     
,the only way to have happiness as a    
permanent guest is to keep your door    

open to the helpless4  ,self shrinks the
 soul4  ,it is much easier to get       
interested in art doilies for           
,hottentots than it is to be simply     
human to the washerwoman at home4       
,whoever helps us to think kindly of    
another aids the coming of the kingdom  
of heaven4  ,you are not likely to cheer
 the hearts of men by looking down in   
the mouth yourself4  ,no man climbs to  
the ,father by treading on his brother4 
,many things may keep you from the      
triumphs of life but only selfishness   
can keep you from the victories of love4
  ,the child of heaven always sees      
something of heaven in the child4       
,there are too many people trying to    
clean up the world by scalding their    
neighbours4   ,,xvi  ,,religion ,,of ,a 
,,practical ,,mind  ,is there a faith   
for the practically minded man and      
woman8  ,or is religion exclusively for 
the dreamers and those who are contented
 with sentiment and feeling8  ,these    
people of action1 who measure by        

results1 who have no life to waste on   
things not evidently useful2 these who  
feel so intensely the needs of humanity 
that they have no time to waste in      
anything other than work--is there a    
religion for them8  ,but religion is not
 a form of life nor a point of view for 
one kind of people alone2 it is the     
spirit of higher things coming into the 
lives of all kinds of people4  ,its     
expression will depend on the           
temperament of the individual4  ,it may 
lead some to sing hymns1 but it will    
certainly compel others to build houses 
and to care for the sick and needy4  ,in
 a world of men and affairs no man is   
actually religious unless his faith is  
finding some practical expression1 and  
the greatest need of our day is that our
 hard-headed men and women who do things
 shall become inspired with the spirit  
and ideas of religion and shall do those
 things which religion's spirit of love 
and service would indicate as needing to
 be done4  ,pious people are deluding   

themselves if they think that they are  
cultivating the religious life and      
meriting the rewards of faith by simply 
sitting in church and feeding themselves
 on beautiful sentiments and thrilling  
visions1 or even by vigorously attacking
 all those who dare to differ from them 
in matters of religious philosophy4     
,nor can religion find full expression  
in harking back over the centuries and  
elucidating the mysteries of ancient    
miracles or tracing the history of      
ancient peoples4  ,if as much brain and 
energy had been given to solving the    
problem of society and leading men into 
the way of right living to-day as have  
been given to digging into the          
historical and philological problems of 
,scripture this world would be a better 
world by far4  ,we must let the dead    
past bury its dead4  ,stay not weeping  
by the tomb of yesterday2 do the work of
 to-day4  ,there will be much more real 
religion in the intelligence1 care1 and 
sacrifice applied to the problem        

presented by the millions coming in at  
the gates of our country than in the    
most pains-taking study of the          
emigration of a horde of ,israelites    
millenniums ago4  ,this is what the     
practical man feels2 there is so much to
 be done1 why waste time in dreaming of 
how things once were done or in wishing 
for a world where no need or sorrow     
exists8  ,therefore1 he is apt to say1  
in the business of bringing things to   
pass religion has no place2 it is only  
for the dreamers4  ,yet no one needs    
religion more than the man who would do 
any worthy and lasting work in the      
world4  ,indeed1 the possibility of such
 a work will not dawn upon him unless   
some of the spirit of religion and the  
possession of desire to do great and    
worth while things is evidence of the   
heavenly flame within4  ,any work for   
the sake of humanity needs a wider      
vision than that of its own field4      
,courage fails and hope dies if we see  
only the dismal problem2 if we have only

 the practical outlook4  ,some vision of
 the ideal must enter into all great    
work2 one must learn to see humanity in 
the light of divinity4  ,it is a good   
thing to be able to see the ,divine in  
the commonplace1 the hand of ,providence
 in ,american history1 the work of the  
,most ,high as recorded in the daily    
papers1 as well as in the ,gospels2 to  
do our work whether it be laying        
railroad track1 selling dry goods1      
making or teaching or trading1 as part  
of the service necessary to bring in the
 better day4  ,here is the religion of  
the practical mind1 to express by the   
service of heart and brain and hand the 
belief that he has in the possibilities 
humanity1 the hope that he has of a     
fairer1 sweeter1 nobler age than this1  
to make real the world's best ideals4   
,so1 seeking to bring to earth the best 
that heaven has dreamed1 men have found 
themselves lifted into the light of     
infinite truth and love4    ,,the ,,head
 ,,and ,,the ,,heart  ,there are        

temperamental types which never reach   
any conclusion by pure reasoning2       
intuitions1 emotions1 and inspirations  
take the place of intellectual          
processes4  ,it would be the height of  
folly to attempt to make such natures   
reduce their religion to syllogisms1 or 
to ask them to bring to the bar of the  
head all the findings of the heart4     
,the emotional nature does not          
comprehend the manner in which the      
average mind must wait for its own      
light4  ,these souls that move by great 
tides often reach sublime heights4  ,the
 world would be poor1 indeed1 without   
their all-compelling enthusiasms1 their 
glorious visions1 and their dominant    
convictions4  ,but such ones must not   
forget that there is no royal road to   
truth2 that human nature is not cast in 
one single1 unvarying mold2 diversity is
 not necessarily heresy4  ,there are    
other natures1 not less necessary to the
 world1 not less glorious in their      
records of leaders1 martyrs1 and masters

 of men4 ,these are those that find     
truth by the slow steps of reasoning2   
that seek the way of right1 with hearts 
of reverence and feet of faith1 in the  
light of the faculties heaven has given 
them4  ,they do not feel1 they do not   
understand the winds that1 sighing round
 them1 convey such mighty meaning to    
other souls2 they cannot buy progress at
 the price of blindness4  ,they are the 
intellectual type4  ,the conclusion that
 the emotional type must1 after all1 be 
the right one is a common one4  ,this is
 because it makes the most noise and the
 most easily apprehended demonstration4 
,and1 therefore1 some tell us that the  
man who seeks to find the way of truth  
by the light of the intellect must1     
without fail1 wander into the pit of    
error2 that the only way to come to     
religious truth is to shut the eyes of  
the mind and yield to emotion4  ,the    
thinker constantly is being warned that 
he cannot apprehend ,god with his       
intellect2 that he cannot see the way to

 heaven with the eyes of reason4  ,he is
 urged to give up the use of his head   
that he may develop his heart4  ,he even
 is told that faith is incompatible with
 reason1 and love with logic4  ,so      
strong is the emphasis on this that he  
is led to suspect that indolence is     
seeking to deify ignorance1 and that men
 whose intellectual faculties have      
atrophied by their subjection to the    
emotional now are envious of those who  
retain the power to think clearly1 and  
would have them also deprived of these  
powers4  ,nothing could be more clearly 
opposed to the way of truth than the    
notion that religion can be bought only 
at the price of reason1 or that the     
consequence of using the intelligence is
 the losing of the power of affection   
for the divine1 the good1 and the       
true--of the warmth of heart and feeling
 that often determine character and     
conduct4  ,if the faculties are ,god    
given they are given for working        
purposes4  ,if man has a mind and yet   

may not think concerning the deepest and
 highest things of his own nature and   
destiny1 then the giving of that mind or
 the permitting it to develop is the    
most cruel mockery known to human       
history4  ,but the simple law of nature 
that every faculty has some purpose1    
that no power is without its duty1 is   
the answer to all this4  ,the mind is as
 sacred as the heart2 it is as much a   
sacred duty to think as it is to aspire4
  ,there is nothing too holy for men to 
think about1 to reason about4  ,the mind
 must serve the truth--must with        
reverence lead to larger truth4  ,no man
 is religious who represses any of his  
reasoning faculties4 ,every one of the  
higher powers must be brought to their  
greatest perfection4  ,not by dwarfing  
but by developing themselves do men     
glorify their ,creator4  ,just as the   
finest tree in the forest speaks most   
eloquently of the bounty and beauty of  
nature1 so does the gigantic intellect  
glorify the intelligence that ordered   

its being4  ,fear not to think of sacred
 things2 nothing is sacred because it is
 mysterious2 reverence does not dwell   
apart from reason4  ,faith does not     
reach its perfection in the fool2 it    
shines most glorious where wisdom       
dwells4  ,there still are the           
superstitious souls who confound        
darkness with divinity2 who cry aloud   
against the light of knowledge4  ,but   
they can no more stay the discovery of  
truth than the bats can hold back the   
dawn4    ,,new ,,truths ,,for ,,new     
,,days  ,there are many who think they  
must live without religion because they 
cannot be content with the views held by
 their fathers4  ,the facts on which the
 faith of the past was based have come  
into the light so that the modern man1  
examining them1 finds himself in all    
honesty compelled to question them and  
often ultimately to call them fables4   
,the attempt to answer the questions of 
the clear-eyed modern scientific mind by
 accusing it of inherent antagonism to  

religion is cheap and ineffectual4      
,there are honest doubters who at the   
same time are earnest seekers after     
truth1 who desire the best1 who are     
willing to pay any price for personal   
character and social righteousness4  ,it
 is because such men are honest that    
they refuse to be bound by creeds they  
cannot believe and to buttress beliefs  
they cannot indorse4 ,no greater loss   
could come to character than to insist  
that we shall act and speak a lie in    
order that the body of religious        
teaching shall remain undisturbed4  ,the
 heresy we most need to fear is that    
which blatantly declares one thing while
 at heart fearing that another is true4 
,the old generation in religion is      
accusing the new of treason to faith and
 the new is accusing the old of         
blindness to truth4  ,when the father   
says to the son1 ,believe this or be    
lost1 the son answers that he rather    
would be lost in company with truth and 
honesty of conscience than be saved at  

the cost of both4  ,but do these        
divergencies mean that the man of the   
modern mind must give up religion and   
that those who hold to the traditional  
views can find no fellowship with those 
who see new light8  ,this is more than  
an academic question2 it presses on     
every man who1 finding in him the       
universal thirst for religion1 finds    
also standing before the living waters  
him who says1 ,you can drink only out of
 this cup handed down from the fathers2 
you can approach only on speaking our   
shibboleth4  ,our fathers looked on     
religious truth as something complete   
and unchangeable1 once for all delivered
 to the saints4  ,but they forgot how   
different was the truth1 as they saw it1
 from its vision as given to their      
fathers4  ,every age tends to look upon 
itself as the final goal and on its     
views as the last possible statement of 
truth4  ,yet how clearly does the past  
teach us that our vision of truth is    
ever changing4  ,the science of to-day  

will be largely the folly of to-morrow4 
,truth1 in any realm1 is a country whose
 boundaries lie ever before us1 whose   
geography each age must write anew4     
,truth is a road1 not a terminus2 a     
process of search and not the thing     
discovered alone4  ,he only is religious
 really who opens heart and mind to the 
increasing vision of truth1 in whom     
religion is not a cut and dried1 fixed  
and unchanging philosophy1 but to whom  
it is a method and motive for living1 a 
process of adjusting himself to all his 
world in the full light of all the truth
 that can come to him4  ,there is a     
religion for the man who must deny many 
things that once seemed essential to    
religion2 for the man who feels         
compelled to doubt all things2 it is the
 religion of the honest1 open souled1   
unreserved search for truth and the     
translation of that truth as it is known
 into character1 and living4  ,if the   
setting of the face towards truth means 
breaking through ancient theology it    

also will mean bringing us face to face 
with the infinite4 ,it is a good thing  
to lose the symbol if we only will seek 
for the substance4  ,the heart of man   
cries out for the reality that lies back
 of all our words and for the           
realization of our doctrines in deeds4  
,when the test of trouble comes1 when   
earth is a desert and the heavens are   
brass1 we find our refreshing1 we find  
the real resources of religion not in   
doctrinal statements1 not in formal     
creeds1 but in that creed which         
experience has written on our hearts1 in
 the consciousness of an eternal love   
not demonstrated by logic1 in the sense 
of the unity of ourselves and our race  
with the infinite and divine4  ,every   
day must have its new creed1 its        
enlarging vision of truth1 but back of  
all lies truth itself1 the reality upon 
which our fathers leaned and the        
unfailing springs where they were       
refreshed and the glowing visions that  
led them on4  ,in that reality lies     

every man's religion4     ,,xvii  ,the  
,fruits of ,faith    ,root and ,fruit   
,the ,orthodox ,accent   ,the ,business 
of ,religion   ,killing hope is moral   
suicide4  ,sow happiness and reap       
heaven4  ,every man is made up of many  
men4  ,you cannot travel towards heaven 
with your back turned to honour4        
,earthly prudence is a large part of    
heavenly providence4  ,homes are often  
closest knit about some grave of        
separation4  ,your credit in heaven     
depends on earth's debts to you4  ,to   
attempt a great work is to become a     
great worker4  ,the practice of         
happiness does much for the power of    
holiness4  ,no man ever found this world
 a weary place who had a worthy work to 
do4  ,it's no use talking about the     
religion in your heart if it is not     
visible in your home4   ,,xvii  ,,root  
,,and ,,fruit  ,there is honest inquiry 
rather than querulous criticism in the  
question1 often asked1 ,why does not    
religion produce a higher and stronger  

type of moral character8  ,enthusiasm   
for the teachings of ,christ often is   
cooled by contact with some             
flabby-willed1 narrow-minded professed  
follower of those teachings4  ,it is a  
common saying with business men that it 
is hard to find a man of absolute       
integrity1 one who even measures up to  
the standards of commercial honour among
 those who are religious1 either by     
vocation or avocation4  ,at any rate1 it
 is true that a certificate of religious
 affiliations by no means is equivalent 
to a guarantee of high moral worth4     
,yet it is easy to arrive at wrong      
conclusions when judging the effect of  
religion on personal character as tested
 by daily business and living4  ,one is 
in danger of judging from exceptions4   
,we may remember as a religious person  
the man who makes the loudest           
protestations of his piety and fail to  
recognize the religious sources of      
strength in the quieter one of whose    
sterling qualities we need no           

persuasion4  ,when religion has little  
root it often springs up with a rapid   
self-assertive growth2 but it withers   
even more quickly under the scorching   
sun of the market and business affairs4 
,it also would be the height of folly to
 conclude that religion contributed     
nothing to a man's moral worth1 because 
the morally worthless seek to hide their
 nakedness by wearing it as a cloak4    
,if we stop to think of the strong men  
and women we know1 of those whose       
integrity is undoubted1 whose character 
wealth constitutes the real reserve and 
bulwark of our business stability1 we   
shall find that they are controlled by  
religious ideals and principles1 that   
the strength and beauty which we admire 
in them in itself is religion4  ,they   
may have or may not have ecclesiastical 
affiliations2 these are but incidental4 
,they do have religion4  ,somehow we    
feel that their actions rise not from   
superficial wells of policy or custom   
but from deep springs that go back into 

the roots and rock of things4  ,they    
look out on life with eyes that see     
beyond questions of immediate and       
passing advantage2 they see visions and 
ideals2 they are drawn on by lofty      
aspirations4  ,the recognition which we 
accord to real worth1 to high1 and      
noble1 and strong manhood and womanhood1
 with the scorn we have for the canting 
weakling1 is but part of our            
discrimination between a living1 deep   
religion expressed in conduct and a mask
 or pretense adopted for profit or      
convenience4  ,still there are many good
 people1 sincere in their religious     
professions1 who practically are no good
 at all when they come to some strain on
 conscience1 or some real test in life4 
,is it not because in their minds       
religion never has been related to      
conduct8  ,they are grounded on the     
eschatology of ,christianity but not on 
its ethics4  ,it is possible to go      
through a full course of religious      
instruction in the regularly appointed  

agencies of many churches and to come   
out with clear-cut conceptions of heaven
 and angels1 but with the most misty and
 even misleading conceptions of right   
relations among men1 of honesty1 and    
justice1 and truth4  ,the schools teach 
us about the stars and the earth1 about 
men dead and beasts living2 the church  
teaches us of saints and seraphs1 and   
about an ancient literature2 but who    
shall teach us and our children the art 
of living1 the laws of human duties8    
,of what value is all our knowledge     
unless we get the wisdom of right       
living8  ,no man is saved until he is   
made strong1 sane1 useful1 and reliable4
 ,the most irreligious thing in this    
world is a religion that makes people   
think that an imputed or technical      
salvation absolves them from the        
necessity of practical salvation1 the   
working out of the best and noblest in  
their lives4  ,religion without morality
 is a mockery4  ,real religion is the   
secret and source of the highest1       

strongest1 cleanest character4  ,it     
furnishes the life with motives mightier
 than any considerations of advantage or
 profit2 it ties the soul up to eternal 
and spiritual verities2 it refreshes the
 heart as with living waters when life  
seems all desert2 it sets the heart in  
step with the ,infinite ,one who marches
 on through the ages4    ,,the          
,,orthodox ,,accent  ,perhaps the chief 
damage done by the confusion of tongues 
at ,babel was that it tended to a       
multiplicity of words4  ,whether it was 
so before that time or not1 it is       
certain that ever since there has been a
 constant likelihood of religion and    
every other good thing being drowned in 
floods of rhetoric4  ,where there are   
ten ways of saying a thing it is so much
 easier to use them all than to do the  
thing in the one way in which it may be 
done4  ,words become the chief enemies  
of works4  ,a volume containing all the 
words of the great ,teacher would look  
mighty insignificant beside the         

ponderous tomes of the modern exponents 
of ,his teachings4  ,that is because the
 minister has become the preacher4  ,the
 tendency also is for laymen to prove   
their piety by becoming teachers4  ,it  
is so in every direction4  ,reforms     
dissipate into theses2 it is always     
easier to make speeches on the city     
beautiful than it is to refrain from    
throwing the refuse in the street4  ,we 
are all talking about what ought to be  
done4  ,perhaps some leader will arise  
and institute the order of the          
practicers4  ,dreamers1 philosophers1   
thinkers1 writers have poured forth     
their floods upon a thirsty world4  ,but
 the only words that have been worth    
anything to mankind have been those that
 have grown out of the speaker's soul as
 it has been molded by his living and   
doing4  ,because talking is so easy to  
the knowing ones it is not strange that 
they should water their stock of        
superstitious prestige with the less    
knowing ones from their reservoir of    

words4  ,then it is the most natural    
thing for the glib man to set up the    
thing he can do most easily as the thing
 essential to salvation1 and thus a     
shibboleth becomes the saving sign4     
,but salvation does not depend on any   
shibboleth4  ,no man is going to fail of
 seeing the ,most ,high because he      
cannot render the precise name by which 
one race chose to call ,him1 nor will   
the sun cease to shine upon him should  
he seek the highest good in other ways  
than names4  ,the heart of the universe 
asks not that we be consistent with the 
syllogisms of the past1 but that we be  
true to the truth we know ourselves4    
,every man has some creed back of every 
deed2 but when he puts his creed up in  
front his deeds soon die4  ,where words 
reign they soon reign alone1 with       
nothing but words to serve them4        
,orthodoxy is so general1 because it is 
so easy and so meaningless4  ,catch the 
accent and you are orthodox4  ,but if   
heaven is to be won by an accent most   

honest men would rather pay board1      
somewhere else4  ,no life can be        
interpreted in language alone4  ,the    
church is but an obscuration on         
,christianity when it meets only to     
analyze the life of its ,lord and never 
to exemplify ,his deeds4  ,what must    
heaven think to see a thousand          
able-bodied men and women gather in a   
beautiful building to sing hymns of     
praise to their ,diety ,transcriber's   
note3 ,deity8 and to listen to arguments
 about ,his divinity while1 within block
 of them1 there are1 in sickness and    
squalor1 distress and sorrow1 the ones  
to whom ,he sent these people to        
minister8  ,the doctrines manufactured  
about ,him have hidden the directions   
given by ,him4  ,the trouble is not that
 we have too much doctrine so much as   
that we have the wrong kind4  ,the      
,master's great teaching was1 ,do the   
divine things1 and the divine truths    
will take care of themselves4  ,the     
kingdom will never come until ,his will 

is done4  ,half-tones of heaven will not
 keep people warm in winter2 it is half 
tons of coal they need4  ,the world will
 believe in any church that tries to do 
good4 ,but the church does not believe  
in itself yet2 half the people are      
strenuously endeavouring to fool        
themselves into what they call spiritual
 warmth4  ,what they need is plain      
,christian perspiration4  ,no man really
 credits his own religion until he      
converts it into reality4  ,but the man 
who prides himself on his heterodoxy is 
often equally guilty here4  ,he         
ridicules the old type of piety and     
thinks to improve on it with new sets of
 phrases4  ,all these critics have is   
new arrangements of words4  ,even the   
man who rejects all religion satisfies  
himself with the cant phrase of         
irreligion4  ,we need most of all to    
treat religion as sensibly as we do     
business1 to leave the science to those 
interested while we give ourselves to   
the practice of its art1 the doing of   

its deeds1 the living its life4    ,,the
 ,,business ,,of ,,religion  ,any       
religion that will not stand the strain 
of modern business may have been good   
for some other age2 but it is valueless 
in this one4  ,the test of your piety is
 not peace in the pews of the church1   
but power and direction in the stress of
 the market1 its adaptability to your   
activities as well as your meditations4 
,the problem of the reconciliation of   
business and religion is not nearly so  
complex as we would believe4  ,the      
people who are saying it is impossible  
to be upright and get on in the world   
mean that it is impossible to be honest 
and to gain all the questionable        
advantages on which they have set their 
hearts4  ,when a man says that religion 
and business will not work in harmony he
 either has a wrong brand of piety or a 
false conception of business4  ,religion
 is built for business4  ,the only creed
 that is worth a moment's thought is a  
working creed1 that is1 one that gets   

into action4  ,religion is not the mere 
acceptance of a speculative philosophy  
of this and other worlds4  ,it consists 
in principles1 ideals1 and motives which
 dominate conduct4  ,it is more         
concerned with the kind of a world you  
are making here than with the           
conceptions you may have of a world     
beyond4  ,religion is more than an      
institution2 it is a course of life4    
,it has to do with the church only in so
 far as the church serves its purposes4 
,it is more concerned with what a man   
pays his employees than with what he    
puts into the plate at the collection4  
,the man who can put all his piety into 
the prayer-meeting and the services of  
the church never has enough seriously to
 embarrass him under any circumstances4 
,if for your religion you have adopted  
principles of high living2 if you have  
set the worth of the soul above all     
other things2 if you have determined to 
frame your life according to the golden 
rule of the great ,teacher1 and1 with   

,him as hero and ideal1 are seeking to  
do good to others and make this world a 
better place for us all1 with less of   
sin and sorrow and more of joy and love1
 you will make your business as well as 
your praying the servant of these ends4 
,but if you have said that you wish to  
do these things1 that you wish to live  
the pure and beneficent life while in   
your heart your sole desire is to get   
riches1 to gain fame1 to secure power1  
then there is bound to be conflict      
between the religion you profess and the
 business that possesses you4           
,everything depends on the purposes of  
living1 on the things a man really and  
deep within himself sets first in his   
life2 he will follow those things no    
matter what other professions he may    
make4  ,business as a servant deserves  
our allegiance and devotion2 business as
 a master is the most evil and soul     
devastating thing in this universe4     
,there is the most perfect harmony2     
there is relatively easy settlement of  

problems and difficulties if but this   
principle be adopted2 that you have     
taken as your chief business in life the
 ends of true religion1 the development 
of character and the service of         
humanity1 and1 with this purpose1 the   
daily toil1 the opportunities and       
enginery of your trade or profession    
shall be made to serve these higher     
ends4  ,religion then becomes the motive
 in business and business the           
manifestation of religion4  ,a man      
serves the ,most ,high in his office    
with the same devotion and elevation of 
spirit as a priest at the altar4  ,he is
 doing a great work1 because the spirit 
is great4  ,in questions of conscience  
he can afford to lose everything except 
the great end2 he will not sacrifice the
 lesser to the greater4     ,,xviii     
,the ,force of ,faith    ,the ,victory  
that ,overcometh   ,fear and ,faith     
,faith for the ,future   ,some talk so  
hard about duty they have no strength   
left for deeds4  ,when a good man gets  

down in the dirt some one is sure to    
stumble over him4  ,many a man who would
 make a first-class lighthouse is       
wasting his life trying to be a         
fog-horn4  ,the mournful saint works a  
good deal more harm than the cheerful   
sinner4  ,the faith that shows up strong
 on the fence may fail altogether when  
it gets on the field4  ,it's not the man
 who says the loudest amen who makes the
 most impression on heaven4  ,there are 
too many folks trying to meet the       
world's hunger for love with essays on  
affection4  ,lots of people let their   
daily manna spoil while they pray for   
butter and sugar to spread on it4       
,people who lay their sins on the old   
,adam are not anxious to have their     
successes attributed to him4  ,many a   
man thinks his life is clouded over when
 the truth is he is burying his head in 
the steam of his own sighings4   ,,xviii
  ,,the ,,victory ,,that ,,overcometh   
,you cannot believe little things and do
 great ones2 you cannot believe in half 

successes and accomplish whole ones4  ,a
 man's faith sets the boundaries of his 
work4  ,he will do what he believes and 
accomplish what he believes can be      
accomplished4  ,mountains are not       
subdued by men who stand discouraged at 
a mole-hill4  ,a man must conquer the   
fatigues of the way in his own heart or 
he will never set out on the road4      
,back of all free action lies some      
creed1 some conviction4  ,all great     
battles have been fought and either lost
 or won in the heart4  ,the simple or   
stubborn confidence that leads to       
all-conquering effort1 this is faith1   
the vision that vitalizes4  ,the eye of 
faith sees the prize at the end long    
before it is reached2 the eye of fear   
looks so closely at the difficulties and
 dangers of the course that the prize is
 not seen at all4  ,there is a good deal
 of fatalism seeking to pass as faith4  
,people say we must have faith in ,god2 
let things take their course and they   
will come out all right4  ,the church   

long commended the slothful who let     
things drift1 and called their laziness 
resignation4  ,but faith feels the      
certitude of a harvest because it has   
first diligently plowed and sown and    
because of the goodness that has ever   
brought the seed-time and the harvest4  
,superstitious credulity is not faith4  
,it is more than the foresight that     
feeds on visions of a future heaven2 it 
is the clear eye that looks keenly at   
the things of to-day4  ,no truth is the 
better for being taken on trust2 it     
cannot be possessed until it is known1  
not on the authority of another but on  
your own experience4  ,no man ever      
became a martyr for a truth he received 
at second hand4  ,only a first hand     
faith is a force in the world4  ,it is  
born of life2 it determines life4  ,your
 faith forms you4  ,if you do not       
believe men1 how can you be a man8  ,if 
you do not believe in things better1    
nobler1 purer1 how can you move towards 
them8  ,if at bottom your faith is in   

things mean1 sordid1 sensual1 base1 then
 thither turns your life1 and no        
extraneous efforts1 no badges1 buttons1 
or creeds can change its course4  ,you  
can measure a man's weight in this      
world1 by the strength and clearness of 
his convictions4  ,poor you may be1     
friendless1 alone1 weak1 unlearned2 but 
all this can be overcome if bright in   
the heart there burns the unquenchable  
flame of some great passion1 some high  
faith4  ,given this fire within them1   
all the tools shall be found1 but       
without it the finest endowment of brain
 and body is valueless4  ,given but some
 great principle1 some purpose that     
becomes a holy passion1 something that  
leads you1 like one of long ago who     
steadfastly set ,his face to go up to   
,jerusalem1 then all power is yours4    
,the man who has faith to remove        
mountains always finds the picks and the
 steam shovels somewhere4  ,he takes the
 tools he has1 though they may seem but 
toys beside his task1 and lo6 some      

morning when the dreamers awake the     
mountain is no longer there4  ,faith has
 had her perfect work4  ,it is faith    
that gives fortitude1 faith that gives  
force4  ,the dreamers of dreams have    
ever been1 after all1 the doers of the  
great deeds4 ,seeing the things that are
 not seen is the secret of doing the    
things that remain to be seen4  ,no     
worthier word was ever said of the      
divine ,man than that which spoke of    
,him as the leader and completer of     
faith4  ,so great a work was possible   
only with sublime confidence in the     
glorious possibilities of mankind1 only 
with unshakable assurance that all that 
was good and true in the universe was   
working with ,him for the good of all4  
,with ,him faith was an eye that saw    
man's hidden good1 a hand that grasped  
the infinite might moving for the best4 
,,fear ,,and ,,faith  ,to many faith    
simply means denying the reason and     
relying on emotion4 ,they have what is  
called saving faith and are able to feel

 that the ,almighty forgives their      
wrong-doings1 ceasing to be angry with  
them2 their faith being perfect when it 
takes away fear of punishment4  ,to     
these faith is that which they pay in   
the form of credence to whatever is     
ecclesiastically asserted in exchange   
for the complaisance of diety           
,transcriber's note3 deity84  ,those who
 deny all religion assert that it is    
founded on fear4  ,there is enough in   
that assertion to give it the colour of 
truth4  ,yet fear of the unseen is but  
the survival of savagery4  ,faith       
founded on fear becomes servile1        
debasing1 superstitious4  ,if religion  
has no higher motive than that of fear1 
the trembling and dread before some     
great omnipotent unknown1 it can give   
the world neither help nor uplift4      
,what is there in ,god to fear8  ,is the
 ,lord of life also the foe of our      
lives8  ,is the author of a world so    
fair and lovely1 inviting us to joy and 
inspiring with feelings of pleasure1 the

 foe of happiness8  ,has ,he made the   
world a paradise and planted in man's   
breast the seeds of kindness1 gentleness
 and sweet thoughts only to glower over 
,his world in hatred and to damn it with
 dread of ,himself8  ,all things that   
can be known argue the goodness of the  
unknown4  ,as soon as a man learns to   
live with nature he loses his fear of   
forest1 beast1 and sea4  ,familiarity   
breeds confidence1 affection and        
reverence4  ,only the remote and        
unfamiliar fill us with dread4  ,the    
city bred tremble in the woods at night1
 where the native feels himself amongst 
well loved friends4  ,in the same manner
 the fear of the divine1 born of        
unfamiliarity1 instead of being an      
evidence of reverence or of religion1   
becomes the mark of ignorance and       
cowardice4  ,rectitude of conduct1      
resulting wholly from regulating oneself
 as under an all-seeing critical eye and
 in dread of a far-reaching devastating 
hand1 cannot produce enrichment of      

character4  ,hatred never gave birth to 
holiness4  ,the souls that in all ages  
have lived nearest to things spiritual1 
that have most enriched the world with  
thoughts1 whose inner visions pierced   
our outer clouds1 seeing something of   
the glory of the infinite1 brought back 
no pictures of a face austere1 of a     
cruel despot1 or of aught for love or   
truth to fear4  ,true faith instead of  
being a compromise to allay our fears of
 unknown ills and calamities1 ever has  
been the fearless1 reverent search for  
the face of the infinite4  ,it does not 
say3 ,i believe that ,god will let me   
alone because ,i did those prescribed   
things2 rather it says3 ,i cannot be    
satisfied alone and apart from ,him1 the
 source and sole satisfaction of all    
life4  ,science with its passion for    
truth1 art with its passion for beauty1 
ethics with its passion for rightness1  
are all but parts of true religion1 the 
soul's passion for the infinite heart   
and mind in which all ideas of truth and

 beauty take their rise and find their  
full realization4  ,the soul of man     
never has ceased to cry out for the     
living ,god2 the religion of fear has   
given it no satisfaction4  ,its         
followers have been too busy building   
themselves shelters from the heaven they
 dread1 shelters that become as leaden  
shields shutting out the eternal        
tenderness and beneficence4  ,no man    
ever found the celestial city or its    
glorious king so long as he regarded his
 religion as a cyclone cellar4  ,to     
those who1 with eyes of reverence1 seek 
to find the good in all things here1    
believing that love is better and       
mightier than hate1 that whatever is    
good1 kindly1 tender1 pure1 and         
ennobling in us1 is but the reflection  
from the glory of the infinite1 traces  
in our dust by which we find our way to 
,him who inhabits eternity1 these1      
through eyes of faith1 have found a     
presence beyond description or          
definition4  ,fear sets afar off a      

mighty monarch2 faith finds near at hand
 one whom it calls ,father4  ,fear      
shrinks from the impending wrath1 love  
rests in the unchanging goodness4  ,fear
 imagines a throne and flaming sword2   
faith has confidence in a better day    
ever dawning1 in the triumph at last of 
right1 in the reality of an             
incomprehensible love that sings in its 
joy1 soothes in its sorrow1 strengthens 
in its discipline1 a life and love      
nearer and more real than any of the    
other facts of living4    ,,faith ,,for 
,,the ,,future  ,you cannot tell much   
about a man's faith by his willingness  
to deal in futures without any          
foundation in fact4  ,and yet no man is 
ready to face the future unless his     
heart is nerved by a high and worthy    
faith4 ,this alone can give strength to 
look down the coming days and to take up
 their tasks4  ,none of us can know what
 these new days hold for us2 fear       
readily conjures up pictures of         
disaster4  ,but because of certain      

sublime confidences we hold we banish   
our fears1 shake off our sloth1 and     
gladly step out into the unknown and    
untrodden country of to-morrow4  ,faith 
is the force of all the ages4  ,it      
accounts for the past2 it enters and    
determines the future4  ,because certain
 men in days gone by believed certain   
things intensely2 because they were     
thrilled by great visions1 by glorious  
ideals1 history was wrought out in the  
forge of their convictions1 under the   
hammer of their wills4  ,no great things
 are done except by the power of faith1 
under glowing hopes and compelling      
convictions4  ,it is her faith in her   
boy's future that makes the mother      
willing to suffer1 keeps her patient1   
that buoys up the father in the strife  
and weariness of life4  ,no man or woman
 is doing anything that makes the world 
richer for mere bread and butter2 some  
purpose and vision is behind the worthy 
work4  ,it is because somehow we        
believe1 no matter how we may phrase the

 belief1 that destiny is behind this    
strange weaving we call life that we are
 content to seem to be the shuttles     
jerked hither and thither4 ,we bear the 
ills of to-day because we dimly see the 
glorious goal of the good of all4  ,we  
do a full day's work only as we see     
somehow an eternal wage4  ,it makes     
little difference what creed a man may  
hold1 for that has become almost wholly 
a matter of philosophical speculation   
regarding things unknown and often      
unimportant1 but it makes all the       
difference what measure and quality of  
faith he has1 whether he feels the force
 of great aspirations and is controlled 
by eternal principles4  ,it may belong  
to few of us to be heralded as heroes1  
and the judgment of history may confer  
on none the martyr's crown1 but the     
hero's joy and the martyr's glory are in
 the heart of every one who boldly      
reaches up to and lives out the highest 
he conceives1 for he will not do that   
without sacrifice and pain on his side  

nor without enriching for mankind on the
 other4  ,the largest faith may be      
manifest in the lowliest places4  ,when 
all the work of the ages appears1 when  
the weaving of the centuries is turned  
with its finished side towards us1 we   
may see that the man who has laid the   
brick or fed the furnace or the woman   
who has washed and cooked in the home   
and tended the little ones1 doing these 
things for love1 has shot the most      
glowing colours into the great fabric4  
,it is not the thing you do so much as  
the spirit in which you do it that makes
 it great or small4  ,faith determines  
this spirit1 for faith is that which    
fashions the ideal of the one we love1  
the ideal we serve and for which we     
joyfully suffer4  ,the prophet whose    
burning words cannot forget lives by the
 faith in a vision broad and sweeping2  
but not less is the faith of the humble 
toiler who lives each day by the vision 
of his home and fireside4  ,nor is this 
all4  ,it is faith that draws on life's 

invisible sources of power and          
refreshing2 it is faith that finds inner
 contact with the invisible4  ,how empty
 is life if it hold nothing but things2 
how hungry grows the heart fed only on  
cold facts4  ,for each day as it comes  
we need to be able to draw on the deep  
springs of the water of life1 the       
springs from which our fathers drank and
 found strength to lay the foundations  
of our day4  ,faith is not the blind    
confidence that1 somehow1 ,providence   
will send us daily bread4  ,it is the   
faculty by which the heart eats of the  
bread of heaven1 by which it comes into 
fellowship with the great and immortal  
of all ages1 by which it walks with     
,jesus of ,nazareth and every spirit    
like ,his and learns to read life as    
love law and see it as leading to       
eternal good4     ,,xix  ,hindrances and
 ,helps from ,within    ,worry   ,a     
,cure for the ,blues   ,the ,gospel of  
,song   ,airing our aches will never    
heal them4  ,this would be a sad world  

but for our sorrows4  ,a merry heart    
kills more microbes than any medicine4  
,it is always a pleasure to boost       
another sinner down4  ,we make mistakes2
 other people commit sins4  ,nothing    
worries worry worse than work4  ,a      
little modesty often hides a lot of     
vanity4  ,he whose life leads nowhere is
 never late in getting there4  ,love    
runs over but it never gives over4      
,never put off to-morrow the meanness   
you can put off to-day4  ,happiness     
rests on thoughts and not on things4    
,he who has friends only to use them has
 them only to lose them4  ,to-morrow's  
burden is the only one that breaks the  
back of to-day4   ,,xix  ,,worry  ,worry
 is wicked because it causes weakness4  
,it robs the life of its powers2 it     
thwarts our possibilities4  ,anxiety is 
wrong1 not because it indicates         
infidelity as to the wise and loving    
providence overruling life1 but because 
it is a criminal waste of life's forces1
 it prevents our doing our own work1 and

 it irritates and hinders others4  ,what
 a great cloud would be lifted from our 
world if all the needless fears and     
frowns were chased away4  ,one scowling 
man1 going to his work worrying over it1
 will spread the contagion of           
apprehension and cowardly fretfulness   
through almost every group with which he
 mingles4 ,our mental health has as much
 to do with our success and happiness as
 any other thing4  ,the fog that bothers
 us most of all is that we carry on our 
faces1 that which rises from our heart  
fears4  ,once savage man lived in       
perpetual fear of innumerable malignant 
spirits2 civilized man lives in fear of 
invisible and imaginary accidents4  ,for
 every real foe that has to be faced we 
fight out hypothetical battles with a   
dozen shadows4  ,worry is a matter of   
outlook and habit4  ,it depends1 first  
of all1 on whether you are going to take
 all the facts into account and look on 
life as a whole1 or see only the dismal 
possibilities4  ,then it depends on     

whether you will yield continually to   
the blue moods that may arise from      
apprehension or from indigestion until  
you have become colour blind to all but 
the blue things4  ,how trivial are the  
things over which we worry1 by means of 
which we cultivate the enslaving habit  
of worry1 whether we will catch the     
approaching car or the one that will    
come two minutes later1 whether it will 
rain when we want it to shine1 or shine 
when we want it to rain4  ,how          
ineffective it all is4  ,whoever by     
worrying all night succeeded in bringing
 about the kind of weather he wanted8   
,more than that1 it is fatal to         
successfully accomplishing those things 
that do lie within our power4  ,the     
worry over catching a train or doing a  
piece of work so agitates the mind and  
unsettles the will that it reduces the  
chances of efficiency4  ,but there are  
larger causes of worry than these1      
sickness1 loss1 impending disasters4    
,yet how futile to help and how potent  

to increase these ills is worry4  ,the  
darkest days and the deepest sorrows    
need that we should be at our best to   
meet them4  ,to yield to fear and       
fretting is to turn the powers of heart 
and brain from allies to enemies4  ,no  
occasion is so great or so small that we
 can afford to meet it either with fear 
or without forethought4  ,the imperative
 obligation to make the most of our     
lives is not met by apprehending the    
worst1 but by doing the best we can4    
,we have no right to give to forebodings
 the time and force we need for         
preparing for and actually meeting our  
duties4  ,the best cure for worry is    
work4  ,in the larger number of         
instances if we but do our work well we 
shall have no need to worry over the    
results4  ,much of our fearful fretting 
is but a confession of work illy done   
and the apprehension of deserved        
consequences4  ,then faithful work by   
absorbing the thought and energies cures
 the habit of worry4  ,it is the empty  

mind that falls first prey to           
foreboding1 and is most easily filled   
with the spectres of woe4  ,do your work
 with all your might2 let it go at that1
 knowing that no amount of further      
thought can affect the issue of it4  ,no
 matter how dark the way1 how empty the 
scrip1 the cheerful heart has sunshine  
and feasting4  ,and this not by a blind 
indifference1 a childish optimism1 but  
by the blessed faculty of finding the   
riches that are by every wayside1 of    
catching at all the good there is in    
living4  ,if you would dispel your gloom
 and depreciate your burdens1 begin to  
appreciate your blessings4  ,do your    
best1 seek out the best1 believe in the 
best1 and the best shall be4    ,a      
,,cure ,,for ,,the ,,blues  ,there is an
 honest confession1 and one that proved 
to be good for the soul of the man who  
made it1 in the ,seventy-seventh ,psalm4
  ,asaph1 the singer of that song1 had  
had a bad spell of the blues4  ,he was  
nervous1 sleepless1 fretful1 full of    

vague regrets and querulous             
complainings4 ,he had reviewed the whole
 troop of his imaginary miseries1 and   
wound up by wondering whether ,god      
really cared anything about him4  ,one  
might well believe that he had been     
taking in altogether too many social    
functions4  ,whatever the cause1 he had 
come to an exceedingly disagreeable     
condition4  ,despite the fact that many 
suppose that saintliness is never fully 
achieved unless the whole nature be     
soured1 it still remains true that of   
all the blights upon this earth1 few are
 more contrary to the will of a ,god of 
love and sunshine than the disposition  
that abides in the chronic blues4  ,it  
lives on regrets for the good things    
that might have been and dreadings of   
the evil things that yet may be4  ,it is
 either complaining or criticising4     
,their gall enters the hearts of such   
people4  ,they who look within and see  
nothing but bitterness1 when they look  
without find a film over their eyes that

 colours their whole world1 until they  
lose faith in ,god and hope for man4    
,then they lay the blame on their       
circumstances1 or1 worse yet1 on what   
they call an ,all ,wise ,providence1    
whom they imagine to be as bitter       
against them as they are against the    
world4  ,this attitude soon becomes     
fixed4  ,unconsciously it is cultivated4
 ,then friends and members of the family
 turn with loathing from the atmosphere 
of chronic pessimism2 the habitu has    
become a cuttlefish among his fellows1  
only emanating floods of inky misery4   
,he wonders why things do not come his  
way2 why business associates desert him 
and troubles assail him more and more4  
,the truth is that imaginary troubles   
tend to become real1 and fortune never  
smiles on a man who turns a sour face   
towards her4  ,character is contagious4 
,even if we had the right to enjoy our  
own misery we have no right to infect   
our neighbours with it4  ,you are bound 
by social obligations as well as by     

selfish reasons to cure the blues every 
time you have them4  ,and there is a    
remedy4  ,asaph began to cure himself   
when1 instead of saying1 ,all things are
 against me1 he said1 ,this is my       
infirmity1 my fault2 ,i am enough to    
turn a beehive sour4  ,his cure was     
almost perfect when he said1 ,i will    
remember the years of the right hand of 
the ,most ,high4  ,the cure for the     
blues is simple1 then4  ,first1 own up  
to it that the largest part of your     
miseries comes out of your own mind1 out
 of your distorted views of things4     
,then begin to thank ,god for ,his      
goodness1 call to mind the many things  
for which you should be grateful4  ,to  
remember our mercies is to bury our     
miseries4  ,there is a lot of good in   
this old world and they get it who go   
for it4  ,there is something good in    
every man2 the best people find the best
 in people4 ,after all1 our lives are   
determined not by the things about us   
but by the things we invite into us4    

,it is impossible to keep that man blue 
who persistently looks for the bright   
side of things1 or to keep him poor or  
sad who is affording a welcome to every 
good thing1 every happy1 cheering       
thought4  ,soon the man who lives like  
that gets so busy keeping track of his  
own and other people's happiness that he
 forgets to think whether he is happy or
 not1 just as a healthy man forgets to  
count his pulse or his respirations4    
,so1 if you are tempted to feel blue1   
remember it is a sin to nurse your      
sadness2 it is a duty to cultivate      
happiness4    ,,the ,,gospel ,,of ,,song
  ,singing cures sighing4  ,lift up a   
note of praise and you can raise the    
heaviest off and roll it clean off the  
heart4  ,christianity is a religion of  
song4  ,its forerunner1 ,judaism1 left  
the ages the rich legacy of the ,psalms4
  ,its founder1 when he knew that death 
was imminent1 sang one of those ancient 
songs with his friends4  ,his followers 
early gathered for worship in song4     

,peter beguiled prison hours with hymns4
  ,meeting in the catacombs1 the early  
,christians made the galleries echo with
 their praise4  ,to-day every revival is
 but a wave of song4  ,the successful   
churches know the inspirational and the 
ethical power of good hymns4  ,the      
decline of many a church may be traced  
to the exclusion of the people from     
their share in the worship1 to the      
attempt to praise ,god by proxy1 or to  
substitute an artistic exhibition for an
 act of exaltation4  ,not only in public
 worship1 but in private life1 hymns and
 songs have a significant influence4    
,it is always easy to remember rhymed   
forms of truth2 happy the heart with a  
store of good hymns2 it is provisioned  
for many a long voyage4  ,when the light
 burns low the heart is illumined by the
 memory of choice thoughts expressed in 
poetry1 by songs sung long ago4  ,when  
the burden seems all too heavy1 and the 
traveller would fain lie down in        
despair1 he remembers some word of      

cheer1 some stanza from another         
pilgrim's song1 and he is strengthened  
for the road4  ,christianity is a       
singing religion1 because it is a happy 
religion4  ,it came to end the gloom of 
this world4  ,the song must take the    
place of the sigh4  ,happiness must rule
 the utterance4  ,even a hearty whistle 
may be a wonderful means of grace4      
,every natural expression of happiness  
becomes a religious act4  ,the flowers  
praise the gardener by being beautiful  
and fragrant1 and men praise ,god by    
being happy4  ,song is a creator of     
happiness4  ,you cannot sing songs of   
joy and nourish jealousy or hatred4  ,a 
song of gratitude for things you have   
will often chase away the clouds of     
gloom over those you dread4  ,it is a   
sin to be sad when you might as well be 
glad1 and it is a sin to be silent when 
you might as well be singing4  ,one song
 may surpass many a sermon in its power 
over a life4  ,great songs have sung men
 into battle and stiffened their melting

 hearts4 ,great songs have touched our  
clay and thrilled it to the divinely    
heroic4  ,songs sung in the stillness of
 the evening over the baby's cradle have
 ever been the mother's consecration for
 all her sacrifice4 ,hymns bring back   
hallowed memories2 a strain of song will
 touch a chord no syllogism could sound2
 the simple words of an old hymn bring  
comfort and new hope to hearts broken   
and crushed4  ,we may not all make      
sermons1 but we can all sing songs4  ,to
 make the good singer there is needed   
not the artist but the heart4  ,sing    
away the gloom2 sing in the gratitude1  
the joy1 and love1 and strength2 sing in
 the courage1 the aspiration and hope4  
,men may reject our sermons1 but they   
will rejoice in our songs1 for they are 
theirs also4  ,the creeds change1 but   
the old hymns stand4  ,store your memory
 with the songs that time has tried4    
,the thoughts that were meat and        
strength to others shall be your bread  
in desert days1 your light in darkness4 

,praise ,god by a life of happy praise4 
,,xx  ,does ,he ,care8    ,the ,one at  
,the ,helm   ,the ,shepherd and ,the    
,sheep   ,the ,father's ,care   ,faith's
 fervour is more than effervescence4    
,the lights of the world are not        
advertising signs4  ,sow the sand and   
you reap only cinders in your eyes4  ,no
 man ever broke his back under his      
brother's burden4  ,the fear of         
reputation is often taken for the love  
of righteousness4  ,you cannot cure your
 sorrows by taking them out in a wheel  
chair4  ,a niggardly purse in the pocket
 becomes a thorn in the side4  ,tears   
over yesterday's broken toys blind us to
 today's treasures4  ,things do not     
prove themselves sacred by segregating  
themselves from secular concerns4       
,heaven intrusts no great cargo to the  
vessel that spreads its sails to every  
wind that blows4  ,when a man is getting
 fat out of the fall of others he is    
sure to be a warm advocate of their     
right to be free to fall4  ,many a man  

will be surprised when he gets to heaven
 to find how large a place his little   
kindly deeds occupy in its history4     
,,xx  ,,the ,,one ,,at ,,the ,,helm     
,danger tears away our disguises4  ,in  
hours of peril the true man appears1 and
 at such times1 if ever1 the man speaks 
the truth4  ,fearing the boat was       
sinking1 the disciples had little       
thought of the dignity or the divinity  
of the one who lay asleep in the        
helmsman's place4 ,rudely they awaken   
,him with their indignant cries1        
wondering why one who had spoken such   
wondrous words before seems indifferent 
now to their danger4  ,carest ,thou not 
that we perish8 they cry4  ,every man   
who has been accustomed to take ,god for
 granted has used almost the same words 
at some time in his life4  ,the hour of 
tempest1 when the uncontrollable waves  
of trouble and winds of adversity seemed
 ready to overwhelm him1 when he had    
done all that mortal might do1 then it  
seemed as though this ,god to whom he   

had prayed so often1 of whom he had     
learned to think as part of his life1   
was absent or indifferent4  ,it is the  
question of every soul in sorrow or     
testing1 ,does ,god care anything about 
me8  ,it is more than a speculative     
inquiry then4 ,theologians may have     
drawn up their specifications of the    
,most ,high1 and1 in the peaceful ways  
of their lives1 they may be satisfied   
with their handiwork4  ,but when1 even  
into their cloistered walks1 some great 
sorrow or grim death has come stalking1 
then1 with dry lips and moist brow they 
cry1 ,master1 are you asleep8  ,do you  
not care8  ,what is there at the helm of
 this great ship of life8  ,is there any
 one or is it steered automatically1    
blindly holding its way and heeding     
neither waves nor rocks nor other craft8
  ,has this universe a heart or only an 
engine at its centre8  ,the inquiry     
becomes pressing and pertinent1 indeed1 
when inexplicable distress and anguish  
that seem all unnecessary break down all

 the man's strength and courage4  ,a man
 can no more content himself with a far 
off being1 sitting in the heavens in    
royal state1 winning reverence by       
remoteness1 than his own children would 
be satisfied to know him only as a      
sovereign4  ,he craves the friendship of
 that one2 he longs for compassion1     
sympathy1 assistance such as friend     
gives to friend2 in a word1 he looks for
 love4  ,you cannot love an absentee    
,god any more than you can love an      
abstraction or a theory4  ,but the need 
of one who will come close into our     
lives1 who aids in the hour of          
extremity1 does not meet itself4  ,the  
fact remains that often we seem to be   
left to the mercy of the tempest2 the   
elements do their worst and no hand is  
lifted and no voice is heard that still 
the waves4 ,full often the storm seems  
to finish its work and only clinging to 
the wreckage or swept on the waves do we
 come into port4  ,is there any answer  
to the great question1 ,does any greater

 one care for our lives8  ,if we are    
looking for an answer as susceptible to 
demonstration as a mathematical         
proposition we are doomed to            
disappointment4  ,it is possible to     
believe in providence without being able
 either to prove or fully comprehend it4
  ,the child must become the parent     
before he can understand the ways of the
 father or mother with him2 yet he can  
know their love before he can comprehend
 their ways4  ,nothing could do more    
harm than to have the absolute assurance
 that an almighty friend would fly to   
our aid and protection in every time of 
danger or need4  ,a friend whose power  
relieved us from the necessity of       
prudence or courage or endeavour would  
be a foe indeed4  ,the ,all ,wise loves 
man too well and too wisely to make     
plain always ,his ways of caring for him
 and ,his purposes of protection4  ,the 
furrowed faces and whitened heads of men
 may be the will of love as truly as the
 smooth ways of ease and complacency4   

,there is one at the helm1 but ,his     
concern is more for the making of strong
 sailors than for the securing of smooth
 sailing4  ,the best evidence of the    
care of the ,most ,high for all the sons
 of men is not in the immediate unbaring
 of ,his arm for their protection1 but  
rather in the manner in which ,he causes
 the wind and the waves1 the struggle   
with the tempest1 the need for the      
nerving of the soul in the hour of peril
 all to work out ,his will1 the will of 
great love1 the bringing of the mariner 
to ,his likeness in character and soul4 
,,the ,,shepherd ,,and ,,the ,,sheep    
,millions have lived and died in faith  
in that word1 ,the ,lord is my          
,shepherd2 nations have sung its strain 
into the strength of their being4  ,the 
picture of the one who leads ,his flock1
 who carries the lambs in ,his arms1    
appeals to all2 yet who has not some    
time1 perhaps often1 questioned3 ,after 
all1 is there any one who cares2 is     
there any eye to see or heart to heed if

 ,i--or1 indeed1 all men--should faint  
or fall by the way8  ,perhaps there are 
some who no longer find aught beyond an 
imagery of poetic beauty in the old     
strain1 who even feel that it would be  
retreating intellectually to conceive of
 an infinite heart that broods over men 
or a hand that helps4  ,they tell us    
that science has wiped out the          
possibility of such an one as this great
 ,shepherd of the flock of humanity4    
,yet even they are not dead to this     
great thought that so long stirred men's
 souls and made them brave1 ready to    
sacrifice1 to die4  ,the truth is1 the  
singer of long ago was but giving       
expression1 in figures familiar to him1 
of a truth we all apprehend with greater
 or less clearness1 one that alone gives
 strength1 hope1 and faith to our       
hearts1 the conviction that back of all 
the warring purposes and jangling       
discords of our lives and our world     
there is reason1 and order1 and         
beneficence4  ,the science that seemed  

to wipe out the conception of a mighty  
,creator who fashioned the first man    
with ,his fingers1 but emphasizes with a
 stress that grows from day to day the  
fact that this universe is not without  
order1 its forces as sheep without a    
shepherd2 that the stars are not        
wandering1 nor the least atom without   
guidance2 that1 as one put it long ago1 
all things work together for good4  ,if 
the remotest particle of matter is bound
 up with the mighty laws of the         
universe1 guided1 governed1 led to its  
appointed end1 bound to serve its       
purpose1 shall we not have faith that   
the law that guides the atom and holds  
the planet1 pervades all the universe   
and takes us in its mighty grasp8  ,not 
with doubt but with larger meaning and  
deeper assurance may ,i sing1 ,the ,lord
 is my shepherd1 thinking not only of   
one who takes up my little life and     
carries it1 but of the great fact of all
 life under law1 law divine1 all        
pervading1 moving in majesty on to the  

completion of its purposes4  ,i may not 
know what the ,shepherd looks like2 ,i  
may have lost my old simple pictures of 
personality and appearance2 the larger  
fact grows too great for fixed words4   
,this is to see the guidance of the     
,shepherd in the great things of our    
world as well as in the little4  ,it is 
a strange1 a poor religion that believes
 that providence will send a man his    
dinner but never gives a thought to the 
great purposes working out through all  
the strife of our common life1 through  
our industrial1 social1 and political   
problems1 nor remembers that life is    
more than meals or millinery4  ,there is
 the large faith which we need for all  
times1 to believe that a plan is being  
wrought out behind all the seeming      
chaos1 that there is a purpose even     
though we cannot yet trace its lines1 to
 be willing to go on doing our work1    
laying down our lives1 because the great
 world needs us2 the ,shepherd cannot   
bring ,his flock to the green pastures  

and the still waters unless we live and 
labour and die4  ,there is only one     
solution to all the mystery of our      
lives1 the riddle of history and the    
universe2 it is the spirit solution1    
that we are but the offspring1 as all   
things are but the creation of          
,spiritual forces2 that we are working  
out spiritual destinies1 the green      
pastures and the still waters are but   
emblems of felicities and beauties      
beyond our tongue1 the full orbed glory 
of the soul to which the ,shepherd leads
 by toilsome mountain ways or dreary    
desert trails2 but at last we come to   
the house of the ,lord1 where we may    
dwell forever4    ,,the ,,father',s     
,,care  ,formal creeds have little to   
say of the belief in the overruling care
 of the ,all ,father4  ,perhaps the     
belief is so nearly universal as to be  
without the range of debate so dear to  
creed makers4  ,yet at all times1 in all
 lands1 man1 whether the savage1 the    
oriental mystic1 or the cool-headed     

,christian1 in various ways and with    
different phrases1 has recognized the   
hand that1 from behind the scenes1      
touched his affairs and often seemed to 
order his life4  ,whether it be the hand
 of force or of friend1 the fact has    
been felt4  ,true1 the laziest man is   
apt to have the readiest sense of the   
intention of ,providence to care for    
him1 to send him bread well buttered2   
the foolish and thoughtless depend on   
heaven to do their thinking1 and many   
court bankruptcy while praying for      
solvency4  ,but the improvidence of man 
does not disprove the providence of     
,god4  ,so far from encouraging sloth   
and recklessness this truth provokes to 
progress by the assurance of the        
coperation of infinite powers with our  
best endeavours4  ,it is a thought we   
cannot escape2 the all wise must be the 
all loving4 ,the spirit at the centre of
 all must embrace all within the circle 
of his love2 and that love will not lie 
quiescent1 helpless when its objects are

 in distress1 in perplexity1 or need1   
when it might succour1 save1 or suggest 
the way of success4  ,if there is a     
heart of love there is a hand of help4  
,yet it seems too great a thought4      
,what are we but dust on the wheels of  
the universe8  ,often do our fainting   
hearts question whether there be any1   
outside our own little circle1 who care 
whether we suffer1 whether we succeed4  
,can it be that the petty affairs of a  
life that passes like the hoar frost    
before the morning sun can even         
interest1 still less call forth the aid1
 of the one in whom we all live and move
 and have our being8  ,despite all      
questionings men will ever go on praying
 to that one2 they will turn to an ear  
that hears1 they will seek a heart that 
feels1 and look for hands reached out in
 hours of necessity4  ,experience       
indorses their faith4  ,nearly all can  
look back and see where destiny has     
seemed to breathe upon them2 their old  
plans wilted1 and new ones1 and new ways

 sprung up1 bearing other and fairer    
flowers than they had ever dreamed2 a   
mighty1 mysterious power had intervened4
  ,what does it all mean8  ,that we are 
but puppets in these strange unseen     
hands2 that we can neither will nor work
 for ourselves8  ,no2 it but means what 
poets sang long ago when1 seeking after 
that which far transcends all thought   
and all imagery1 they cried1 ,surely    
,thou art our ,father4  ,that which was 
best in them1 the holy fire of          
fatherhood1 became a mirror in which    
they saw the infinite4  ,from the source
 of all life1 humanity has learned the  
great lessons of family care and        
provision4  ,all that is good in our    
families is true of this great family of
 all mankind4  ,the great purpose of    
this family1 as of all families1 is the 
development of the highest1 fullest life
 in its members4  ,fatherhood regards   
the provision of food1 clothing1 and    
shelter but as incidental to the great  
purpose of training the children4  ,this

 is the purpose of the ,father of us    
all1 to develop the best in us4 ,when   
our weak hearts cry for ease1 for rest1 
for pleasures1 ,he sends the task1 the  
sorrow1 the loss4  ,when we think all   
life's lessons well learned ,he sends us
 up to higher grades with harder tasks4 
,yet ever over all is the pitying1      
compassionate yearning of a father's    
heart that never forgets the weakness of
 the child4  ,wisely the father's love  
seems to hide its working4  ,like all   
things deep and sublime it passes       
comprehension2 it may often seem like   
indifference4  ,all the child can do is 
to bend every effort to do his best1 to 
work out the father's plan so far as he 
knows it1 to know1 through all1 that    
,god is good4  ,then1 when the child    
grows to the man1 the man towards the   
divine1 the things that seemed strange  
are made plain in the light of the      
,father's face4