,,spiritual ,,energies ,,in ,,daily     
,,life                                  
,illustration                           
,,the ,,macmillan ,,company             
,,new ,,york  ,,boston  ,,chicago       
,,dallas                                
,,atlanta  ,,san ,,francisco            
,,macmillan  ,,co41 ,,limited           
,,london  ,,bombay  ,,calcutta          
,,melbourne                        ,,the
 ,,macmillan ,,co4 ,,of ,,canada1 ,,ltd4
                                        
,,toronto                               
,,spiritual ,,energies                  
,,in ,,daily ,,life                     
,,by                        ,,rufus ,m4 
,,jones1 ,,litt4,d41 ,d4,d4             
,professor of ,philosophy in ,haverford 
,college           ,author of ,studies  
in ,mystical ,religion2 ,the ,inner     
,life2                          ,the    
,world ,within1 etc4                    
,new ,york                              
,,the ,,macmillan ,,company             
#aibb                              ,all 

rights reserved                         
,,copyright1 #aibb1                     
,,by ,,the ,,macmillan ,,company        
,set up and electrotyped4 ,published    
,september1 #aibb                       
,,printed ,,in ,,the ,,united ,,states  
,,of ,,america          ,,preface       
,i wish to thank the editor of ,the     
,atlantic ,monthly for his permission   
to print in this volume the chapter     
entitled 8,the ,mystic's ,experience of 
,god10 also the editors of ,the ,journal
 of ,religion for their permission  to  
use the article on 8,psychology and the 
,spiritual ,life40 ,some of  the shorter
 essays have been printed in ,the       
7,london7 ,friend and  in ,the          
,homiletic ,review4 ,kind permission has
 been granted for their  reproduction4  
,,introduction    ,,religion ,,as       
,,energy      ,religion is an experience
 which no definition exhausts4 ,one     
writer with  expert knowledge of        
anthropology tells us what it is1 and we
 know as  we read his account that1     

however true it may be as far as it     
goes1 it  yet leaves untouched much     
undiscovered territory4 ,we turn next to
 the  trained psychologist1 who leads us
 8down the labyrinthine ways of our  own
 mind0 and tells us why the human race  
has always been seeking ,god  and       
worshiping ,him4 ,we are thankful for   
his ,ariadne thread which guides  us    
within the maze1 but we feel convinced  
that there are doors which  he has not  
opened--8doors to which he had no key40 
,the theologian1 with  great assurance  
and without 8ifs and buts10 offers us   
the answer to all  mysteries and the    
solution of all problems1 but when we   
have gone 8up  the hill all the way to  
the very top0 with him1 we find it a    
8homesick  peak0--,heimwehfluh--and we  
still wonder over the real meaning of   
religion4    ,we are evidently dealing  
here with something like that drinking  
horn  which the ,norse ,god ,thor tried 
to drain4 ,he failed to do it because   
the horn which he assayed to empty      

debouched into the endless ocean1  and  
therefore to drain the horn meant       
drinking the ocean dry4 ,to probe       
religion down to the bottom means       
knowing 8what ,god and man is40 ,each   
one of us1 in his own tongue and in     
terms of his own field of knowledge1    
gives his partial word1 his tiny glimpse
 of insight4 ,but the returns are  never
 all in4 ,there is always more to say4  
8,man is incurably religious10  that    
fine scholar1 ,auguste ,sabatier1 said4 
,yes1 he is4 ,it is often wild  and     
erratic religion which we find1 no      
doubt1 but the hunger and thirst  of the
 human soul are an indubitable fact4 ,in
 different forms of speech  we can all  
say with ,st4 ,augustine of ,hippo3     
8,thou hast touched me and ,i  am on    
fire for thy peace40    ,in saying that 
religion is energy ,i am only seizing   
one aspect of this  great experience of 
the human heart4 ,it is1 however1 ,i    
believe1 an  essential aspect4 ,a       
religion that makes no difference to a  

person's life1  a religion that does    
nothing1 a religion that is utterly     
devoid of  power1 may for all practical 
purposes be treated as though it did not
  exist4 ,the great experts--those who  
know from the inside what religion      
is--always make much of its dynamic     
power1 its energizing and propulsive    
power4 ,power is a word often on the    
lips of ,jesus2 never used1 it  should  
be said1 in the sense of extrinsic      
authority or the right to  command and  
govern1 but always in reference to an   
intrinsic and interior  moral and       
spiritual energy of life4 ,the kingdom  
of ,god comes with power1  not because  
the ,messiah is supplied with ten       
legions of angels and can  sweep the    
,roman eagles back to the frontiers of  
the ,holy ,land1 but it  8comes with    
power0 because it is a divine and       
life-transforming energy1  working in   
the moral and spiritual nature of man1  
as the expanding  yeast works in the    
flour or as the forces of life push the 

seed into  germination and on into the  
successive stages toward the maturity of
 the  full-grown plant and grain4       
,the little fellowship of followers and 
witnesses who formed the nucleus  of the
 new-born ,church felt themselves       
8endued with power0 on the day of       
,pentecost4 ,something new and dynamic  
entered the consciousness of the  feeble
 band and left them no longer feeble4   
,there was an in-rushing1  up-welling   
sense of invasion4 ,they passed over    
from a visible ,leader  and ,master to  
an invisible and inward ,presence       
revealed to them as an  unwonted energy4
 ,ecstatic utterance1 which seems to    
have followed1  is not the all-important
 thing4 ,the important thing is         
heightened  moral quality1 intensified  
fellowship1 a fused and undying loyalty1
  an irresistible boldness in the face  
of danger and opposition1 a             
fortification of spirit which nothing   
could break4 ,this energy which came    
with their experience is what marks the 

event as an epoch4    ,st4 ,paul writes 
as though he were an expert in dynamics4
 8,dynamos10  the ,greek word for power1
 is one of his favorite words4 ,he seems
 to  have found out how to draw upon    
energies in the universe which nobody   
else had suspected were even there4 ,it 
is a fundamental feature of his         
8,aegean gospel0 that ,god is not       
self-contained but self-giving1 that ,he
  circulates1 as does the sun1 as does  
the sea1 and comes into us as an        
energy4 ,this incoming energy he calls  
by many names3 8,the ,spirit10 8holy    
,spirit10 8,christ10 8the ,spirit of    
,christ10 8,christ in you10 8,god that  
worketh in us40 ,whatever his word or   
term is1 he is always declaring1  and he
 bases his testimony on experience1 that
 ,god1 as ,christ reveals  ,him1 is an  
active energy working with us and in us 
for the complete  transformation of our 
fundamental nature and for a new        
creation in us4    ,all this perhaps    
sounds too grand and lofty1 too remote  

and far away1  to touch us with reality4
 ,we assume that it is for saints or    
apostles1  but not for common everyday  
people like ourselves4 ,well1 that is   
where  we are wrong4 ,the accounts which
 ,st4 ,paul gives of the energies of    
religion are not for his own sake1 or   
for persons who are bien n and          
naturally saintly4 ,they are for the    
rank and file of humans4 ,in fact his   
,corinthian fellowship was raised by    
these energies out of the lowest        
stratum of society4 ,the words which he 
uses to describe them are probably  not 
over strong3 8,be not deceived3 neither 
fornicators1 nor idolaters1  nor        
adulterers1 nor effeminate1 nor abusers 
of themselves with mankind1  nor        
thieves1 nor covetous1 nor drunkards1   
nor revilers1 nor extortioners  shall   
inherit the kingdom of ,god4 ,and such  
were some of you3 but ye are  washed1   
but ye are sanctified1 but ye are       
justified in the name i4e4 the  power of
 the ,lord ,jesus and by the ,spirit of 

our ,god40#a    ,it is to be noticed1   
further1 that ,st4 ,paul does not       
confine his list  of energies to those  
mighty spiritual forces which come down 
from above  and work upon us from the   
outside4 ,much more often our attention 
is  directed to energies which are      
potential within ourselves--even in the 
most ordinary of us--energies which work
 as silently as molecular forces  or as 
8the capillary oozing of water10 but    
which nevertheless are as               
reconstructive as the forces of         
springtime1 following the winter's      
havoc4  ,if the grace of ,god--the      
unlimited sacrificing love of ,god      
revealed in  ,christ--is for ,st4 ,paul 
the supreme spiritual energy of the     
universe1  hardly less important is the 
simple human energy which meets that    
centrifugal energy and makes it operate 
within the sphere of the moral  will4   
,that dynamic energy1 by which the man  
responds to ,god's upward pull  and     
which makes all the difference1 ,st4    

,paul calls faith4    ,we are so        
accustomed to the use of the word in a  
spurious sense that  we are slow to     
apprehend the immense significance of   
this human energy  which lies           
potentially within us4 ,unfortunately   
trained young folks and  scientifically 
minded people are apt to shy away from  
the word and put  themselves on the     
defensive1 as though they were about to 
be asked to  believe the impossible or  
the dubious or the unprovable4 ,faith in
 the  sense in which ,st4 ,paul uses it 
does not mean believing something4  ,it 
is a moral attitude and response of will
 to the character of ,god  as ,he has   
been revealed in ,christ4 ,it is like   
the act which closes  the electric      
circuit1 which act at once releases     
power4 ,the dynamic  effect which       
follows the act is the best possible    
verification of the  rationality of the 
act4 ,so1 too1 faith as a moral response
 is no blind  leap1 no wild venture2 it 
is an act which can be tested and       

verified by  moral and spiritual        
effects1 which are as real as the heat1 
light1 and  horse power of the dynamo4  
,faith has come to be recognized as an  
energy in many spheres of life4 ,we     
know what a stabilizer it is in the     
sphere of finance4 ,stocks and bonds    
and banks shift their values as faith in
 them rises or falls4 ,morale  is only  
another name for faith4 ,our human      
relationships1 our social  structures1  
our enjoyment of one another1 our       
satisfaction in books and  in lectures  
rest upon faith and when that energy    
fails1 collapses of the  most serious   
sort follow4 ,we might as well try to   
build a world without  cohesion as to   
maintain society without the energy of  
faith4    ,we have many illustrations of
 the important part which faith plays in
  the sphere of physical health4 ,the   
corpuscles of the blood and the         
molecules of the body are altered by it4
 ,the tension of the arteries and  the  
efficiency of the digestive tract are   

affected by it4 ,nerves are  in close   
sympathetic rapport with faith4 ,it is  
never safe to tell a  strong man that he
 is pale and that he looks ill4 ,if two 
or three persons  in succession give him
 a pessimistic account of his           
appearance1 he will  soon begin to have 
the condition which has been imagined4  
,dr4 ,william  ,mc,dougall gives the    
case of a boy who was being chased by a 
furious  animal and under the impulse of
 the emergency he leaped a fence which  
he  could never afterwards jump1 even   
after long athletic training4 ,the list 
of similar instances is a very long one4
 ,every reader knows a case as          
impressive as the one ,i have given4    
,the varieties of 8shell-shock0 have    
furnished volumes of illustrations of   
the energy of faith1 its dynamic        
influence upon health and life and      
efficiency4    ,faith in the sphere of  
religion works the greatest miracles of 
life  that are ever worked4 ,it makes   
the saint out of ,magdalene1 the heroic 

missionary and martyr out of ,paul1 the 
spiritual statesman of the ages  out of 
,carthaginian ,augustine1 the           
illuminated leader of men out of        
,francis of ,assisi1 the maker of a new 
world epoch out of the nervously        
unstable monk ,luther1 the creator of a 
new type of spiritual society out  of   
the untaught ,leicestershire weaver1    
,george ,fox4 ,why do we not all        
experience the miracle and find the rest
 of ourselves through faith8  ,the main 
trouble is that we live victims of      
limiting inhibitions4 ,we  hold         
intellectual theories which keep back or
 check the outflow of  the energy of    
faith4 ,we have a nice system of thought
 which accounts  for everything and     
explains everything and which leaves no 
place for  faith4 ,we know too much4 ,we
 say to ourselves that only the ignorant
 and  uncultured are led by faith4 ,and 
this same wise man1 who is too proud to 
have faith1 holds all his inhibitory    
theories on a basis of faith6 ,every    

one of them starts out on faith1 gathers
 standing ground by faith1 and  becomes 
a controlling force through faith6      
,there are many other spiritual         
energies1 some of which will be dealt   
with  specifically or implicitly in the 
later chapters of this book4 ,not often 
in the history of the modern world      
certainly have spiritual energies       
seemed more urgently needed than to-day4
 ,our troubles consist largely  now of  
failure to lay hold of moral and        
spiritual forces that lie near  at hand 
and to utilize powers that are within   
our easy reach4 ,our stock  of faith and
 hope and love has run low and we       
realize only feebly what  mighty        
energies they can be4    ,i hope that   
these short essays may help in some     
slight way to indicate  that the ancient
 realities by which men live still      
abide1 and that  the invisible energies 
of the spirit are real1 as they have    
always  been real4 ,we have had an      
impressive demonstration that a         

civilization  built on external force   
and measured in terms of economic       
achievements  cannot stand its ground   
and is unable to speak to the condition 
of  persons endowed and equipped as we  
are4 ,we are bound to build a higher    
civilization1 to create a greater       
culture1 and to form a truer kingdom  of
 life or we must write 8,mene0 on all   
human undertakings4 ,that is  our task  
now1 and it is a serious one for which  
we shall need all the  energies that the
 universe puts at our disposal4 ,i am   
told that when  the great ,hellgate     
bridge was being built over the ,east   
,river in ,new  ,york the engineers came
 upon an old derelict ship1 lying       
embedded in  the river mud1 just where  
one of the central piers of the bridge  
was to  go down through to its bedrock  
foundation4 ,no tug boat could be found 
that was able to start the derelict from
 its ancient bed in the ooze4  ,it would
 not move1 no matter what force was     
applied4 ,finally1 with a  sudden       

inspiration one of the workers hit upon 
this scheme4 ,he took a  large          
flat-boat1 which had been used to bring 
stone down the river1 and  he chained it
 to the old sunken ship when the tide   
was low4 ,then he  waited for the great 
tidal energies to do their work4 ,slowly
 the rising  tide1 with all the forces  
of the ocean behind it and the moon     
above it1  came up under the flat-boat1 
raising it inch by inch4 ,and as it came
 up1  lifted by irresistible power1 the 
derelict came up with it1 until it  was 
entirely out of the mud that had held   
it4 ,then the boat1 with its            
subterranean load1 was towed out to sea 
where the old waterlogged ship  was     
unchained and allowed to drop forever   
out of sight and reach4    ,there are   
greater forces than those tidal energies
 waiting for us to use  for our tasks4  
,they have always been there4 ,they are 
there now4 ,but they  do not work1 they 
do not operate1 until we lay hold of    
them and use  them for our present      

purposes4 ,we must be co-workers with   
,god4        ,haverford1 ,pennsylvania4 
,mid ,winter1 #aibb4          ,,contents
                                        
,,page             ,,introduction3      
,,religion ,,as ,,energy           vii  
,,chapter ,i                       ,,the
 ,,central ,,peace          ,i4 ,,peace 
,,that ,,passes ,,understanding         
#a         ,,ii4 ,,the ,,search ,,for ,a
 ,,refuge                      #e       
,,iii4 ,,what ,,we ,,want ,,most        
#aj                           ,,chapter 
,,ii                  ,,the ,,great     
,,energies ,,that ,,work          ,i4   
,,trying ,,the ,,better ,,way           
#ae         ,,ii4 ,,he ,,came ,,to      
,,himself                          #bc  
,,iii4 ,,some ,,new ,,reasons ,,for     
8,,loving ,,enemies0       #bi          
,,chapter ,,iii                  ,,the  
,,power ,,that ,,worketh ,,in ,,us      
,i4 ,,where ,,the ,,beyond ,,breaks     
,,through             #ce         ,,ii4 
,,conquering ,,by ,,an ,,inner ,,force  

#da        ,,iii4 ,,living ,,in ,,the   
,,presence ,,of ,,the ,,eternal         
#df                           ,,chapter 
,,iv                       ,,the ,,way  
,,of ,,vision          ,i4 ,,days ,,of  
,,greater ,,visibility                  
#ej         ,,ii4 ,,the ,,prophet ,,and 
,,his ,,tragedies               #ed     
,,iii4 ,a ,,long ,,distance ,,call      
#fj                           ,,chapter 
,v                     ,,the ,,way ,,of 
,,personality          ,i4 ,,another    
,,kind ,,of ,,hero                      
#fe         ,,ii4 ,,the ,,better        
,,possession                       #fi  
,,iii4 ,,the ,,greatest ,,rivalries ,,of
 ,,life              #gd                
,,chapter ,,vi                          
,,agencies ,,of ,,construction          
,i4 ,,the ,,church ,,of ,,the ,,living  
,,god                #gi         ,,ii4  
,,the ,,nursery ,,of ,,spiritual ,,life 
#hc        ,,iii4 ,,the ,,democracy ,,we
 ,,aim ,,at                     #hf     
,,iv4 ,,the ,,essential ,,truth ,,of    

,,christianity         #ia              
,,chapter ,,vii                         
,,the ,,near ,,and ,,the ,,far          
,i4 ,,things ,,present ,,and ,,things   
,,to ,,come           #ih         ,,ii4 
,,two ,,types ,,of ,,ministry           
#ajb        ,,iii4 ,,we ,,have ,,seen   
,,his ,,star                      #ajf  
,,chapter ,,viii                   ,,the
 ,,light-,,fringed ,,mystery            
,i4 ,,the ,,religious ,,significance    
,,of ,,death        #aaa         ,,ii4  
,,the ,,new ,,born ,,out ,,of ,,the     
,,old                #abg               
,,chapter ,,ix                 ,,the    
,,mystic',s ,,experience ,,of ,,god     
#acc                           ,,chapter
 ,x              ,,psychology ,,and     
,,the ,,spiritual ,,life         #afj   
,,spiritual ,,energies ,,in ,,daily     
,,life          ,,chapter ,i    ,,the   
,,central ,,peace      ,i    ,,peace    
,,that ,,passes ,,understanding    ,we  
are all familiar with the coming of a   
peace into our life at the  terminus of 

some great strain or after we have      
weathered a staggering  crisis4 ,when a 
long-continued pain which has racked our
 nerves passes  away and leaves us free1
 we suddenly come into a zone of peace4 
,when we  have been watching by a       
bedside where a life1 unspeakably       
precious to us1  has lain in the grip of
 some terrible disease and at length    
successfully  passes the crisis1 we walk
 out into the fields under the altered  
sky  and feel a peace settle down upon  
us1 which makes the whole world look    
different4 ,or1 again1 we have been     
facing some threatening catastrophe     
which seemed likely to break in on our  
life and perhaps end forever  the calm  
and even tenor of it1 and just when the 
hour of danger seemed  darkest and our  
fear was at its height1 some sudden turn
 of things has  brought a happy shift of
 events1 the danger has passed1 and a   
great peace  has come over us instead of
 the threatened trouble4 ,in all these  
cases  the peace which succeeds pain and

 strain and anxiety is a thoroughly     
natural1 reasonable peace1 a peace which
 comes in normal sequence and  is quite 
accessible to the understanding4 ,we    
should be surprised and  should need an 
explanation if we heard of an instance  
of a passing pain  or a yielding strain 
that was not followed by a corresponding
 sense of  peace4 ,one who has seen a   
child that was lost in a crowded city   
suddenly  find his mother and find      
safety in her dear arms has seen a good 
case of  this sequential peace1 this    
peace which the understanding can grasp 
and  comprehend4 ,we behold it and say1 
8,how otherwise60    ,there is1 ,st4    
,paul reminds us1 another kind of peace 
of quite a different  order4 ,it baffles
 the understanding and transcends its   
categories4 ,it is  a peace which comes1
 not after the pain is relieved1 not    
after the crisis  has passed1 not after 
the danger has disappeared2 but in the  
midst of the  pain1 while the crisis is 
still on1 and even in the imminent      

presence  of the danger4 ,it is a peace 
that is not banished or destroyed by the
  frustrations which beset our lives2   
rather it is in and through the         
frustrations that we first come upon it 
and enter into it1 as1 to use ,st4      
,paul's phrase1 into a garrison which   
guards our hearts and minds4    ,each   
tested soul has to meet its own peculiar
 frustrations4 ,all of us who  work for 
8causes0 or who take up any great piece 
of moral or spiritual  service in the   
world know more about defeats and       
disappointments than  we do about       
success and triumphs4 ,we have to learn 
to be patient and  long-suffering4 ,we  
must become accustomed to postponements 
and delays1  and sometimes we see the   
work of almost a lifetime suddenly fail 
of its  end4 ,some turn of events upsets
 all our noble plans and frustrates the 
result1 just when it appeared ready to  
arrive4 ,death falls like lightning  on 
a home that had always before seemed    
sheltered and protected1 and  instantly 

life is profoundly altered for those who
 are left behind4  ,nothing can make up 
for the loss4 ,there is no substitute   
for what  is gone4 ,the accounts will   
not balance2 frustration in another form
  confronts us4 ,or it may be a         
breakdown of physical or mental powers1 
or peradventure both together1 just when
 the emergencies of the world  called   
for added energy and increased range of 
power from us4 ,the need  is plain1 the 
harvest is ripe1 but the worker's hand  
fails and he must  contract when he     
would most expand4 ,frustration looks   
him straight in the  face4 ,well1 to    
achieve a peace under those             
circumstances is to have a  peace which 
does not follow a normal sequence4 ,it  
is not what the world  expects4 ,it does
 not accord with the ways of thought and
 reasoning4 ,it  passes all             
understanding4 ,it brings another kind  
of world into operation  and reveals a  
play of invisible forces upon which the 
understanding  had not reckoned4 ,in    

fact1 this strange                      
intellect-transcending peace1  in the   
very midst of storm and strain and      
trial1 is one of the surest  evidences  
there is of ,god4 ,one may in his own   
humble nerve-power succeed  in acquiring
 a stoic resignation so that he can say1
        8,in the fell clutch of         
circumstance        ,i have not winced  
nor cried aloud4      ,under the        
bludgeonings of chance        ,my head  
is bloody1 but unbowed40    ,he may1 by 
sheer force of will1 keep down the lid  
upon his emotions  and go on so nearly  
unmoved that his fellows can hear no    
groan and  will wonder at the way he    
stands the universe4 ,but peace in the  
soul  is another matter4 ,to have the   
whole heart and mind garrisoned with    
peace even in ,nero's dungeon1 when the 
imperial death sentence brings          
frustration to all plans and a terminus 
to all spiritual work1 calls for  some  
world-transcending assistance to the    
human spirit4 ,such peace is  explained 

only when we discover that it is 8the   
peace of ,god10 and that  it came       
because the soul broke through the      
ebbings and flowings of time  and space 
and allied itself with the ,eternal4    
,,ii    ,,the ,,search ,,for ,a ,,refuge
    ,few things are more impressive than
 the persistent search which men have   
made in all ages for a refuge against   
the dangers and the ills that  beset    
life4 ,the cave-men1 the cliff-dwellers1
 the primitive builders of  shelters in 
inaccessible tree tops1 are early       
examples of the search for  human       
defenses against fear4 ,civilization    
slowly perfected methods of  refuge and 
defense of elaborate types1 which1 in   
turn1 had to compete  with              
ever-increasing ingenuity of attack and 
assault4 ,but ,i am not  concerned here 
with these material strongholds of      
refuge and defense4 ,i  am thinking     
rather of the human search for shelter  
against other weapons  than those which 
kill the body4 ,we are all trying1 in   

one way or another1  to discover how to 
escape from 8the heavy and weary weight 
of all this  unintelligible world10 how 
to bear the slings and arrows of        
outrageous  fortune4 ,we are sensitively
 constructed1 with nerves exposed to    
easy  attack4 ,we are all shelterless at
 some point to the storms of the world4 
,even the most perfectly equipped and   
impervious heroes prove to be           
vulnerable at some one uncovered spot4  
,sooner or later our protections  fail1 
and the pitiless enemies of our         
happiness get through the defenses  and 
reach the quick and sensitive soul      
within us4 ,how to rebuild our  refuge1 
how to find real shelter1 is our        
problem4 ,what fortress is there  in    
which the soul is safe from fear and    
trouble8    ,the most common expedient  
is one which will drug the sensitive    
nerves  and produce an easy relief from 
strain and worry4 ,there is a magic in  
alcohol and kindred distillations1      
which1 like ,aladdin's genie1 builds a  

palace of joy and1 for the moment1      
banishes the enemy of all peace4 ,the   
refuge seems complete4 ,all fear is     
gone1 worry is a thing of the past4     
,the jargon of life is over1 the        
pitiless problem of good and evil drops 
out of consciousness4 ,the shelterless  
soul seems covered and housed4          
,intoxication is only one of the many   
quick expedients4 ,it is always         
possible to retreat from the edge of    
strenuous battle into some one of  the  
many natural instincts as a way of      
refuge4 ,the great instinctive  emotions
 are absorbing1 and tend to obliterate  
everything else4 ,they  occupy the      
entire stage of the inner drama1 and    
push all other actors  away from the    
footlights of consciousness1 so that    
here1 too1 the enemies  of peace and joy
 seem vanquished1 and the refuge appears
 to be found4    ,that multitudes accept
 these easy ways of defense against the 
ills of  life is only too obvious4 ,the 
medieval barons who could build         

themselves  castles of safety were few  
in number4 ,visible refuges in any case 
are  rare and scarce1 but the escape    
from the burdens and defeats of the     
world in drink and drug and thrilling   
instinctive emotion is1 without  much   
difficulty1 open to every man and within
 easy reach for rich and  poor alike1   
and many there be that seize upon this  
method4 ,the trouble  with it is that it
 is a very temporary refuge4 ,it works1 
if at all1 only  for a brief span4 ,it  
plays havoc in the future with those who
 resort  to it4 ,it rolls up new        
liabilities to the ills one would       
escape4 ,it  involves far too great a   
price for the tiny respite gained4 ,and1
 most  of all1 it discounts or fails to 
reckon with the inherent greatness of   
the human soul4 ,we are fashioned for   
stupendous issues4 ,our very sense  of  
failure and defeat comes from a touch of
 the infinite in our being4  ,we look   
before and after1 and sigh for that     
which is not1 just because  we can not  

be contented with finite fragments of   
time and space4 ,we are  meant for      
greater things than these trivial ones  
which so often get our  attention and   
absorb us2 but the moment the soul comes
 to itself1 its  reach goes beyond the  
grasp1 and it feels an indescribable    
discontent  and longing for that for    
which it was made4 ,to seek refuge1     
therefore1  in some narcotic joy1 to    
still the onward yearning of the soul by
  drowning consciousness1 to banish the 
pain of pursuit by a barbaric surge  of 
emotions1 is to strike against the      
noblest trait of our spiritual          
structure2 it means committing suicide  
of the soul4 ,it cannot be a real  man's
 way of relief4    ,in fact1 nothing    
short of finding the goal and object for
 which the soul1  the spiritual nature  
in us1 is fitted will ever do for beings
 like us4  ,st4 ,augustine1 in words of 
immortal beauty1 has said that ,god has 
made  us for himself1 and our hearts are
 restless until we rest in him4 ,it  is 

not a theory of poet or theologian4 ,it 
is a simple fact of life1 as  veritable 
as the human necessity for food4 ,there 
is no other shelter for  the soul1 no   
other refuge or fortress will ever do   
for us but ,god4 8,we  tremble and we   
burn4 ,we tremble1 knowing that we are  
unlike him4 ,we burn1  feeling that we  
are like him40    ,in hours of loss and 
sorrow1 when the spurious props fail us1
 we are  more apt to find our way back  
to the real refuge4 ,we are suddenly    
made  aware of our shelterless          
condition1 alone1 and in our own        
strength4 ,our  stoic armor and our     
brave defenses of pride become utterly  
inadequate4  ,we are thrown back on     
reality4 ,we have then our moments of   
sincerity and  insight4 ,we feel that we
 cannot live without resources from     
beyond our  own domain4 ,we must have   
,god4 ,it is then1 when one knows that  
nothing  else whatever will do1 that the
 great discovery is made4 ,again and    
again  the psalms announce this4 ,when  

the world has caved in2 when the last   
extremity has been reached2 when the    
billows and water-spouts of fortune     
have done their worst1 you hear the     
calm1 heroic voice of the lonely man    
saying3 8,god is our refuge and         
fortress1 therefore will not we fear    
though the earth be removed1 though the 
mountains be carried into the  midst of 
the sea40 ,that is great experience1 but
 it is not reserved for  psalmists and  
rare patriarchs like ,job4 ,it is a     
privilege for common  mortals like us   
who struggle and agonize and feel the   
thorn in the flesh1  and the bitter     
tragedy of life unhealed4 ,whether we   
make the discovery  or not1 ,god is     
there with us in the furnace4 ,only it  
makes all the  difference if we do find 
him as the one high tower where refuge  
is not  for the passing moment only1 but
 is an eternal attainment4      ,,iii   
,,what ,,we ,,want ,,most    ,there are 
many things which we want--things for   
which we struggle hard and  toil        

painfully4 ,like the little child with  
his printed list for ,santa  ,claus1 we 
have our list1 longer or shorter1 of    
precious things which  we hope to see   
brought within our reach before we are  
gathered to our  fathers4 ,the          
difference is that the child is         
satisfied if he gets one  thing which is
 on his list4 ,we want everything on    
ours4 ,the world is  full of hurry and  
rush1 push and scramble1 each man bent  
on winning some  one of his many goals4 
,but1 in spite of this excessive effort 
to secure  the tangible goods of the    
earth1 it is nevertheless true that deep
 down  in the heart most men want the   
peace of ,god4 ,if you have an          
opportunity  to work your way into that 
secret place where a man really lives1  
you  will find that he knows perfectly  
well that he is missing something4      
,this feeling of unrest and disquiet    
gets smothered for long periods in  the 
mass of other aims1 and some men hardly 
know that they have such a  thing as an 

immortal soul hidden away within4 ,but1 
even so1 it will not  remain quiet4 ,it 
cries out like the lost child who misses
 his home4 ,when  the hard games of life
 prove losing ones1 when the stupidity  
of striving  so fiercely for such       
bubbles comes over him1 when a hand from
 the dark  catches away the best earthly
 comfort he had1 when the genuine       
realities  of life assert themselves    
over sense1 he wakes up to find himself 
hungry  and thirsty for something which 
no one of his earthly pursuits has      
supplied or can supply4 ,he wants ,god4 
,he wants peace4 ,he wants to feel  his 
life founded on an absolute reality4 ,he
 wants to have the same sort  of peace  
and quiet steal over him which used to  
come when as a child he  ran to his     
mother and had all the ills of life     
banished from thought in  the warm love 
of her embrace4    ,but it is not only  
the driving1 pushing man1 ambitious for 
wealth and  position1 who misses the    
best thing there is to get--the peace of

 ,god4  ,many persons who are directly  
seeking it miss it4 ,here is a man who  
hopes  to find it by solving all his    
difficult intellectual problems4 ,when  
he can answer the hard questions which  
life puts to him1 and read the  riddles 
which the ages have left unread1 he     
thinks his soul will feel the  peace of 
,god4 ,not so1 because each problem     
opens into a dozen more4 ,it is  a noble
 undertaking to help read the riddles of
 the universe1 but let no  one expect to
 enter into the peace of ,god by such a 
path4 ,here is another  person who      
devotes herself to nothing but to       
seeking the peace of ,god4  ,will she   
not find it8 ,not that way4 ,it is not  
found when it is sought for  its own    
sake4 ,he or she who is living to get   
the joy of divine peace1  who would     
8have no joy but calm10 will probably   
never have the peace  which passeth     
understanding4 ,like all the great      
blessings1 it comes as a  by-product    
when one is seeking something else4     

,christ's peace came to him  not because
 he sought it1 but because he accepted  
the divine will which  led to           
,gethsemane and ,calvary4 ,paul's peace 
did not flow over him while  he was in  
,arabia seeking it1 but while he was in 
,nero's prison1 whither  the path of his
 labors for helping men had led him4 ,he
 who forgets  himself in loving         
devotion1 he who turns aside from his   
self-seeking aims  to carry joy into any
 life1 he who sets about doing any task 
for the love  of ,god1 has found the    
only possible road to the permanent     
peace of ,god4    ,there are no doubt a 
great many persons working for the good 
of others  and for the betterment of the
 world who yet do not succeed in        
securing  the peace of ,god4 ,they are  
in a frequent state of nerves2 they are 
busy  here and there1 rushing about     
perplexed and weary1 fussy and          
irritable4  ,with all their efforts to  
promote good causes1 they do not quite  
attain  the poise and calm of interior  

peace4 ,they are like the tumultuous    
surface of the ocean with its combers   
and its spray1 and they seldom know  the
 deep quiet like that of the underlying1
 submerged waters far below  the        
surface4 ,the trouble with them is that 
they are carrying themselves  all the   
time4 ,they do not forget themselves in 
their aims of service4  ,they are like  
the ill person who is so eager to get   
well that he keeps  watching his tongue1
 feeling his pulse1 and getting his     
weight4 ,peace  does not come to one who
 is watching continually for the results
 of his  work1 or who is wondering what 
people are saying about it1 or who is   
envious and jealous of other persons    
working in the same field1 or who is    
touchy about 8honor0 or recognition4    
,those are just the attitudes which     
frustrate peace and make it stay away   
from one's inner self4    ,there is a   
higher level of work and service and    
ministry1 which1 thank  ,god1 men like  
us can reach4 ,it is attained when one  

swings out into a  way of life which is 
motived and controlled by genuine       
sincere love  and devotion1 when        
consecration obliterates self-seeking1  
when in some  measure1 like ,christ1 the
 worker can say without reservations1   
8,not my  will but thine be done40      
,,chapter ,,ii    ,,the ,,great         
,,energies ,,that ,,work      ,i        
,,trying ,,the ,,better ,,way    ,a very
 fresh and unusual type of book has     
recently appeared under  the title1 8,by
 ,an ,unknown ,disciple40 ,it tells in a
 simple1 direct1  impressive way1 after 
the manner of the ,gospels1 the story of
 ,christ's  life and works and message4 
,it professes to be written by one who  
was an  intimate disciple1 and who was  
therefore an eye-witness of everything  
told in the book4 ,it is a vivid        
narrative and leaves the reader deeply  
moved1 because it brings him closer than
 most interpretations do into  actual   
presence of and companionship with the  
great ,galilean4 ,the first  chapter is 

a re-interpretation of the scene on the 
eastern shore of  ,gennesaret1 where    
,jesus casts the demons out of the      
maniac of ,geresa4 ,a  man on the shore 
of the lake told ,jesus1 when he landed 
there with his  disciples in the early  
morning1 that it was not safe for any   
one to go  up the rugged hillside1      
because there were madmen hidden there  
among the  tombs3 8people possessed by  
demons1 who tear their flesh1 and who   
can be  heard screaming day and night40 
8,how do you know they are possessed by 
demons80 asked ,jesus4    8,what else   
could it be80 said the man4 8,there are 
none that can master  them4 ,they are   
too fierce to be tamed40    8,has any   
man tried to tame them80 asked ,jesus4  
8,yes1 ,rabbi1 they have been bound with
 chains and fetters4 ,there was one     
that ,i saw4 ,he plucked the fetters    
from him as a child might break a  chain
 of field flowers4 ,then he ran foaming 
into the wilderness1 and no  man dare   
pass by that way now44440    8,have men 

tried only this way to tame him80 ,jesus
 asked4    8,what other way is there1   
,rabbi80 asked the man4    8,there is   
,god's way10 said ,jesus4 8,come1 let us
 try it40    ,as ,jesus spoke1 8,his    
gaze went from man to man10 the writer  
continues1  8and then his eyes fell upon
 me4 ,it was as if a power passed from  
him to  me1 and immediately something   
inside me answered1 #8,lead1 and ,i     
follow4'0  ,the narrative proceeds to   
describe the encounter with the demoniac
 man  whose name was 8,legion40 8,he ran
 toward us1 shrieking and bounding in   
the  air4 ,he had two sharp stones in   
his hand1 and as he leaped he cut his   
flesh with them and the blood ran down  
his naked limbs4 ,the men behind us     
scattered and fled down the hillside2   
but ,jesus stood still and waited40     
,the effect of the calm1 undisturbed1   
unfrightened presence of ,jesus was     
astonishing4 ,it was as though a new    
force suddenly came into operation4     
,the jagged stones were thrown from his 

hands1 for he recognized at once  in    
,jesus a friendly presence and a helper 
with an understanding heart4  ,his fear 
and terror left the demoniac man and he 
became quiet1 composed  and like a      
normal person4 ,meantime some of the men
 who ran away in fear1  when the madman 
appeared1 frightened a herd of swine    
feeding near by1 and  in their          
uncontrolled terror they rushed wildly  
toward the headland of  the lake and    
pitched over the top into the water     
where they were drowned4  8,fear is a   
foul spirit10 said ,jesus1 and it seemed
 plain and obvious  that the ungoverned 
fear which played such havoc with the   
man had taken  possession also of the   
misguided swine4 ,it was the same       
8demon10 fear4 ,a  little later in the  
day when the companions of ,jesus found 
him they saw  the man who had called    
himself 8,legion0 sitting at ,jesus'    
feet1 clothed  and in his right mind--a 
quieted and restored person4    ,we now 
know that this disease1 called          

8possession10 which appears so  often in
 the ,new ,testament accounts1 is a very
 common present-day  trouble4 ,the name 
and description given to it in the      
,bible make it often  seem remote and   
unfamiliar to us1 but it is1 in fact1 as
 prevalent in the  world to-day as it   
was in the first century4 ,it is an     
extreme form of  hysteria1 a            
disorganization of normal functions1    
often causing delusions1  loss of       
memory1 the performance of automatic    
actions1 and sometimes  resulting in    
double1 or multiple1 personality1 a     
condition in which a  foreign self seems
 to usurp the control of the body and   
make it do many  strange and unwilled   
things4 ,this disease is known in very  
many cases to  be produced by frights1  
fear1 or terror1 sometimes fears long   
hidden away  and more or less           
suppressed4    ,the famous cases of     
,doris ,fischer and ,miss ,beauchamp    
were both of this  type4 ,they were only
 extreme instances of a fairly common   

form of  mental trouble1 generally due  
to fears1 and capable of being cured by 
wise1 skillful understanding and loving 
care1 applied by one who shows          
confidence and human interest and who   
knows how to use the powerful  influence
 of suggestion4 ,dr4 ,morton ,prince1   
who has reported these  two cases1 has  
achieved cures and restorations that    
read like miracles1  and his narratives 
tell of minds1 8jangling1 harsh1 and out
 of tune10  broken into dissociated     
selves1 which have been unified1        
organized1  harmonized and restored to  
normal life4 ,few restorations are more 
wonderful than that effected upon a     
,philadelphia girl under the direction  
of ,dr4 ,lightner ,witmer4 ,the girl was
 hopelessly incorrigible1 stubborn1     
sullen1 suspicious1 and stupid4 ,she    
screamed1 kicked1 and bit when she  was 
opposed1 and she utterly refused to obey
 anybody4 ,so unnatural and  dehumanized
 was she that she was generally called  
8,diabolical ,mary40 ,she  was examined 

by ,dr4 ,witmer1 underwent some simple  
surgical operations to  remove her      
obvious physical handicaps1 and then was
 put under the loving1  tender care of a
 wise1 attractive1 and understanding    
woman4 ,the girl  responded to the      
treatment at once and soon became       
profoundly changed1  and the process    
went on until the girl became a wholly  
transformed and  re-made person4    ,the
 so-called shell-shock cases which have 
bulked so large in the story  of the    
wastage of men in all armies during the 
,world ,war1 turn out to be  cases of   
mental disorganization1 occasioned for  
the most part by immense  emotional     
upheaval1 especially through suppressed 
fear4 ,the man affected  with the       
trouble has seemed to master his        
emotion4 ,he has not winced or  shown   
the slightest fear in the face of       
danger2 but the pent-up emotion1  the   
suppressed fear and terror1 insidiously 
throw the entire nervous  mechanism out 
of gear4 ,the successful treatment of   

such cases is1 again1  like that for    
hysteria1 one that brings confidence1   
calm1 liberation  of all strain and     
anxiety4 ,the poor victim needs a       
patient1 wise1  skillful1               
psychologically trained physician1 who  
has an understanding  mind1 a friendly1 
interested1 intimate way1 a spirit of   
love1 and who  can arouse expectation of
 recovery and can suggest thoughts of   
health  and the right emotional         
reactions4 ,this method of cure has     
often been  tried with striking effect  
upon the so-called criminal classes4    
,prisoners  almost always respond       
constructively to the personal          
manifestation of  confidence1 sympathy1 
and love4 ,elizabeth ,fry proved this   
principle in an  astonishing way with   
the almost brutalized prisoners in      
,newgate4 ,thomas  ,shillitoe's visit to
 the ,german prisoners at ,spandau1 who 
were believed  to be beyond all human   
appeals1 though not so well known and   
famous1 is  no less impressive and no   

less convincing4    ,there was perhaps  
never a time in the history of the world
 when an  application of this principle 
and method--,god's way--was so needed in
  the social sphere of life4 ,whole     
countries have the symptoms which       
appear in these nervous diseases4 ,it is
 not merely an individual case  here and
 there2 it takes on a corporate1 a mass1
 form4 ,the nerves are  overstrained1   
the emotional stress has been more than 
could be borne1  suppressed fears have  
produced disorganization4 ,there are    
signs of  social 8dissociation40 ,the   
remedy in such cases is not an          
application of  compelling force1 not a 
resort to chains and fetters1 not a     
screwing on  of the 8lid10 not a method 
of starving out the victims4 ,it is     
rather an  application of the principle 
which has always worked in individual   
cases  of 8dissociation0 or 8possession0
 or 8suppressed fear0--the principle  of
 sympathy1 love and suggestion--what    
,jesus1 in the book mentioned  above1   

calls 8,god's way40 ,the 8dissociation0 
of labor and employers in  the social   
group1 with its hysterical signs of     
strikes and lockouts1  upheaval and     
threats1 needs just now a very wise     
physician4 ,force1  restraint1          
compulsion1 fastening down the 8lid10   
imprisonment of leaders1  drastic laws  
against propaganda1 will not cure the   
disease1 any more  than chains cured the
 poor sufferer on the shores of         
,gennesaret4 ,the  situation must first 
of all be understood4 ,the inner        
attitude behind  the acts and deeds must
 be taken into account4 ,the social     
mental state  must be diagnosed4 ,the   
remedy1 to be a remedy1 must remove the 
causes  which produce the dissociation4 
,it can be accomplished only by one who 
has an understanding heart1 a good will1
 an unselfish purpose1 and a            
comprehending1 i4e41 a unifying1        
suggestion of coperation4    ,this way  
is no less urgent for the solution of   
the most acute  international           

situations4 ,it has been assumed too    
long and too often that  these          
situations can be best handled by       
unlimited methods of restraint1         
coercion1 and reduction to helplessness4
 ,some of the countries of ,europe  have
 been plainly suffering from            
neurasthenia1 dissociation1 and the     
kindred forms of emotional1 fear-caused 
diseases4 ,starvation always makes  for 
types of hysteria4 ,it will not do now  
to apply1 with cold1 precise  logic1 the
 old vindictive principle that when the 
sinner has been made  to suffer enough  
to 8cover0 the enormity of his sin he   
can then be  restored to respectable    
society4 ,it is not vindication of      
justice which  most concerns the world  
now2 it is a return of health1 a        
restoration of  normal functions1 a     
reconstruction of the social body4 ,that
 task calls  for the application of the 
deeper1 truer principles of life4 ,it   
calls for  a knowing heart1 an          
understanding method1 a healing plan1 a 

sympathetic  guide who can obliterate   
the fear-attitude and suggest confidence
 and  unity and trustful human          
relationships4 ,those great words1 used 
in the  ,epistle of ,london ,yearly     
,meeting of ,friends in #aiag1 need to  
be revived  and put to an experimental  
venture3 8,love knows no frontiers40    
,there is  no limit to its healing      
force1 there are no conditions it does  
not meet1  there is no terminus to its  
constructive operations4      ,,ii      
,,he ,,came ,,to ,,himself    ,was there
 ever such a short-story character      
sketch as this one of the  prodigal son6
 ,no realism of details1 no elaboration 
of his sins1 and  yet the immortal      
picture is burned forever into our      
imagination4 ,the  dbcle of his life is 
as clear and vivid as words can portray 
the  ruin4 ,yet the phrase which arrests
 us most as we read the compact         
narrative of his undoing is not the one 
which tells about 8riotous  living10 or 
the reckless squandering of his         

patrimony1 or his hunger for  swine     
husks1 or his unshod feet and the loss  
of his tunic2 it is rather  the one     
which says that when he was at the      
bottom of his fortune 8he came  to      
himself40    ,he had not been himself   
then1 before4 ,he was not finding       
himself in the  life of riotous         
indulgence4 ,that did not turn out after
 all to be the  life for which he was   
meant4 ,he missed himself more than he  
missed his  lost shoes and tunic4 ,that 
raises a nice question which is worth an
  answer3 ,when is a person his real    
self8 ,when can he properly say1 8,at   
last ,i have found myself2 ,i am what ,i
 want to be80 ,robert ,louis ,stevenson 
has given us in ,dr4 ,jekyll and ,mr4   
,hyde a fine parable of the actual      
double self in us all1 a higher and a   
lower self under our one hat4 ,but  ,i  
ask1 which is the real me8 ,is it       
,jekyll or is it ,hyde8 ,is it the best 
that we can be or is it this worse thing
 which we just now are8    ,most answers

 to the question would be1 ,i think1    
that the real self is  that ideal self  
of which in moments of rare visibility  
we sometimes  catch glimpses4           
8,all ,i could never be1      ,all1 men 
ignored in me1      ,this1 ,i was worth 
to ,god1 whose wheel the pitcher        
shaped40    8,dig deep enough into any  
man10 ,st4 ,augustine said1 8and you    
will find  something divine40 ,we       
supposed he believed in total depravity1
 and  he does in theory believe in it2  
but when it is a matter of actual       
experience1 he announces this deep fact 
which fits perfectly with his  other    
great utterance3 8,thou1 ,o ,god1 hast  
made us for thyself1 and we are         
restless 7dissatisfied7 until we find   
ourselves in thee40    ,too long we have
 assumed that ,adam1 the failure1 is the
 type of our  lives1 that he is the     
normal man1 that to err is human1 and   
that one  touch1 that is1 blight1 of    
nature makes all men kin4 ,what ,christ 
has  revealed to us is the fact that we 

always have higher and diviner          
possibilities in us4 ,he1 the overcomer1
 and not ,adam1 is the true type1  the  
normal person1 giving us at last the    
pattern of life which is life  indeed4  
,which is the real self1 then8 ,surely  
this higher possible self1 this one     
which we discover in our best moments4  
,the ,greeks always held that sin  was  
8missing the mark0--that is what the    
,greek word for sin means--failure  to  
arrive at1 to reach1 the real end toward
 which life aims4 ,sin is  defeat4 ,it  
is loss of the trail4 ,it is undoing4   
,the sinner has not found  himself1 he  
has not come to himself4 ,he has missed 
the real me4 ,he cannot  say1 8,i am40  
,if that is a fact1 and if the life of  
spiritual health and attainment is  the 
normal life1 we surely ought to do more 
than is done to help young  people to   
realize it and to assist them to find   
themselves4 ,we are much  more concerned
 to manufacture things than we are to   
make persons4 ,we do  one very well and 

we do the other very badly4 ,kipling's  
8,the ,ship that  ,found ,itself0 is a  
fine account of the care bestowed upon  
every rivet and  screw1 every valve and 
piston4 ,he pictures the ship in the    
stress and  strain of a great storm and 
each part of the ship from keel to      
funnel  describes what it has to bear   
and to do in the emergency and how it   
has  been prepared in advance for just  
this crisis4 ,nansen was asked how he   
felt when he found that the ,fram was   
caught in the awful jam of the  ,arctic 
ice-floe4 8,i felt perfectly calm10 he  
said4 8,i knew she could  stand it4 ,i  
had watched every stick of timber and   
every piece of steel  that went into her
 hull4 ,the result was that ,i could go 
to sleep and  let the ice do its worst40
 ,with even more care we build the      
airplane4  ,there must be no chance for 
capricious action4 ,the propeller blades
 must  be made of perfect wood4 ,there  
must be no defect in any piece of the   
structure4 ,the gasoline must be tested 

by all the methods of refinement4  ,the 
oil must be absolutely pure1 free of    
every suspicion of grit4    ,but when we
 turn from ships and airplanes to the   
provisions for training  young persons  
we are in a different world4 ,the       
element of chance now  bulks very large4
 ,we let the youth have pretty free     
opportunity to begin  his malformation  
before we begin seriously to construct  
him on right  lines4 ,we fail to note   
what an enormous fact 8disposition0 is1 
and we  take little pains to form it    
early and to form it in the best way4   
,we  are far too apt to assume that all 
the fundamentals come by the road  of   
heredity4 ,we overwork this theory as   
much as earlier theologians  overworked 
their dogma of original sin from poor   
old ,adam4    ,the fact is that         
temperament and disposition and the     
traits of character  which most         
definitely settle destiny are at least  
as much formed in those  early critical 
years of infancy as they are acquired by

 the strains of  heredity4 ,education1  
which is more essential to the greatness
 of any  country than even its          
manufactures1 is one of the most        
neglected branches  of life4 ,we take it
 as we find it--and lay its failures to 
,providence  as we do deaths from       
typhoid4 ,it must not always be so4 ,we 
must be as  greatly concerned to form   
virile character in our boys and girls  
and  to develop in them the capacity for
 moral and spiritual leadership in  this
 crisis as we are concerned over our    
coal supply or our industries4  ,there  
are ways of assisting the higher self to
 control and dominate the  life1 ways by
 which the ideal person can become the  
real person4 ,why not  consider         
seriously how to do that8    ,he that   
overcomes1 the prophet of ,patmos says1 
receives a white stone  with a new name 
written on it1 which no man knoweth save
 he that hath  it4 ,it is a symbolism   
which may mean many things4 ,it seems at
 least to  mean that he who subdues his 

lower self1 holds out in the strain of  
life1  and lives by the highest that he 
knows1 will as a consequence receive a  
distinct individuality1 a clearly       
defined self1 instead of being blurred  
in with the great level mass--a self    
with a name of its own4 ,and that self  
will not be the old familiar self that  
everybody knows by traits of past       
achievement and by the old tendencies of
 habit4 ,it will be the self  which only
 ,god and the person himself in his     
deepest and most intimate  moments knew 
was possible--and here at last it is    
found to be the real  self4 ,the man can
 say1 8,i am40 ,he has come to himself4 
,we ask1 at the end1 whether it may not 
be that the world will soon come  to    
itself and discover the way back to some
 of its missed ideals4 ,here on  a large
 scale we have the story of a desperate 
hunger1 squandered wealth1  lost shoes1 
lost tunics1 and even more precious     
things gone--a world that  has missed   
its way and is floundering about without

 sufficient vision  or adequate         
leadership4 ,if it could only come to   
itself1 discover what  its true mission 
is and where its real sources of power  
and its line of  progress lie1 it would 
still find that ,god and man together   
can rebuild  what man by his blunders   
has destroyed4      ,,iii    ,,some     
,,new ,,reasons ,,for 8,,loving         
,,enemies0    ,nobody ever amounts to   
anything who lives without conflict with
  obstacles4 ,it seems to be a law of   
the universe that nothing really good   
can be got or held by soft1 easy means4 
,the ,persians were so impressed with   
this stern condition of life that  they 
interpreted the universe as the scene of
 endless warfare between  hostile powers
 of the invisible world4 ,ormuzd1 the   
god of light1 and  ,ahriman1 the god of 
darkness1 were believed to be engaged in
 a continual  ,armageddon4 ,there could 
be no truce in the strife until one or  
the other  should win the victory by the
 annihilation of his opponent4 ,this    

,persian  dualism has touched all       
systems of thought and has left its     
influence  upon all the religions of the
 world4 ,the reasons why it has appealed
 so  powerfully to men of all           
generations are1 of course1 that there  
is so  much conflict involved in life   
and that no achievement of goodness is  
ever made without a hard battle for it  
against opposing forces4 ,but if  all   
this opposition and struggle is due to  
an 8enemy10 we certainly ought  to love 
this 8enemy10 because it turns out to be
 the greatest possible  blessing to us  
that we are forced to struggle with     
difficulties and to  wrestle for what we
 get4    8,count it all joy10 said the  
,apostle ,james in substance1 writing to
 his  friends of the ,dispersion1 8when 
you fall into manifold testings1 or     
trials1 knowing that the proving of your
 faith worketh steadfastness1  and let  
steadfastness have its perfect work1    
that ye may be perfect and  entire1     
lacking in nothing40 ,st4 ,paul thought 

once that his 8thorn in the  flesh0 was 
conferred upon him by ,satan and was the
 malicious messenger  of an enemy2 but  
in the slow process of experience he    
came to see that  the painful 8thorn0   
exercised a real ministry in his life1  
that through  his suffering and hardship
 he got a higher meaning of ,god's      
grace2 and he  discovered that divine   
power was thus made perfect through his 
weakness1  so that he learned to love   
the 8enemy0 that buffeted him4    ,the  
,psalmist who wrote our best loved      
psalm1 the twenty-third1 thought at     
first that ,god was his ,shepherd       
because he led him in green pastures and
  beside still waters where there was no
 struggle and no enemy to fear4 ,but  he
 learned at length that in the dark     
valleys of the shadow and on the  rough 
jagged hillsides ,god was no less a good
 ,shepherd than on the level  plains and
 in the lush grass2 and he found at last
 that even 8in the  presence of enemies0
 he could be fed with good things and   

have his table  spread4 ,the overflowing
 cup and the anointed head were not     
discovered  on the lower levels of ease 
and comfort2 they came out of the harder
  experiences when 8enemies0 of his     
peace were busy supplying obstacles  and
 perplexities for him to overcome4      
,it is no accident that the book of     
,revelation puts so much stress upon    
8overcoming40 ,the world seemed to the  
prophet on the volcanic island  of      
,patmos essentially a place of strife   
and conflict--an ,armageddon of         
opposing forces4 ,there are no          
beatitudes in this book promised to any 
except 8overcomers40        8,not to one
 church alone1 but seven      ,the voice
 prophetic spake from heaven2      ,and 
unto each the promise came1             
,diversified1 but still the same2       
,for him that overcometh are      ,the  
new name written on the stone1      ,the
 raiment white1 the crown1 the throne1  
,and ,i will give him the ,morning      
,star60    ,but the conflict that ends  

in such results can not be called       
misfortune1  any more than ,hercules'   
labors through which the legendary hero 
won his  immortality can be pronounced a
 misfortune for him4 ,once more1 then1  
the  saint who has overcome discovers1  
at least in retrospect1 that there is   
good ground for loving his 8enemies06   
,the farmer1 in his unceasing struggle  
with weeds1 with parasites1 with  pests 
visible and invisible1 with blight and  
rot and uncongenial  weather1 sometimes 
feels tempted to blaspheme against the  
hard conditions  under which he labors  
and to assume that an 8enemy0 has cursed
 the ground  which he tills and loaded  
the dice of nature against him4 ,the    
best cure  for his 8mood0 is to visit   
the land of the bread-fruit tree1 where 
nature  does everything and man does    
nothing but eat what is gratuitously    
given  him1 and to see there the kind of
 men you get under those kindly skies4  
,the virile fiber of muscle1 the strong 
manly frame1 the keen active mind  that 

meets each new 8pest0 with a successful 
invention1 the spirit of  conquest and  
courage that are revealed in the farmer 
at his best are no  accident4 ,they are 
the by-product of his battle with       
conditions1 which if  they seem to come 
from an 8enemy10 must come from one that
 ought to be  loved for what he         
accomplishes4    ,these critics of ours 
who harshly review the books we write1  
the  addresses we give1 the schemes of  
reform for which we work so             
strenuously--do they do nothing for us8 
,on the contrary1 they force  us to go  
deeper1 to write with more care1 to     
reconsider our hasty  generalizations1  
to recast our pet schemes1 to revise our
 crude  endeavors4 ,they may speak as   
8enemies10 and they may show a stern and
  hostile face2 but we do well to love  
them1 for they enable us to find  our   
better self and our deeper powers4 ,the 
hand may be the horny hand of  ,esau1   
but the voice is the kindly voice of    
,jacob4    ,all sorts of things 8work0  

for us1 then1 as ,st4 ,paul declared4   
,not only  does love 8work10 and faith  
and grace2 but tribulation 8works10 and 
affliction1 and the seemingly hostile   
forces which block and buffet and       
hamper us4 ,everything that drives us   
deeper1 that draws us closer to the     
great resources of life1 that puts vigor
 into our frame and character  into our 
souls1 is in the last resort a blessing 
to us1 even though it  seems on         
superficial examination to be the work  
of an 8enemy10 and we  shall be wise if 
we learn to love the 8enemies0 that give
 us the chance  to overcome and to      
attain our true destiny4 ,perhaps the   
dualism of the  universe is not quite as
 sharp as the old ,persians thought4    
,perhaps1 too1  the love of ,god reaches
 further under than we sometimes        
suppose4 ,perhaps  in fact all things   
8work together for good10 and even the  
enemy forces  are helping to achieve the
 ultimate good that shall be revealed   
8when ,god  hath made the pile          

complete40          ,,chapter ,,iii     
,,the ,,power ,,that ,,worketh ,,in ,,us
      ,i    ,,where ,,the ,,beyond      
,,breaks ,,through    ,if we sprinkle   
iron filings over a sheet of paper and  
move a magnet  beneath the paper1 the   
filings become active and combine and   
recombine  in a great variety of        
groupings and regroupings4 ,a beholder  
who knows  nothing of the magnet        
underneath gazes upon the whole affair  
with a sense  of awe and mystery1 though
 he feels all the time that there must  
be some  explanation of the action and  
that some hidden power behind is        
operating  as the cause of the groupings
 and regroupings of the iron particles4 
,something certainly that we do not see 
is revealing its presence and its       
power4    ,our everyday experience is   
full of another series of activities    
even  more mysterious than these        
movements of the iron4 ,whenever we open
 our  eyes we see objects and colors    
confronting us and located in spaces far

  and near4 ,what brings the object to  
us8 ,what operates to produce the       
contact8 ,how does the far-away thing   
hit our organ of vision8 ,this was to   
the ancient philosopher a most difficult
 problem1 a real mystery4 ,he made  many
 guesses at a solution1 but no guess    
which he could make satisfied  his      
judgment4 ,our answer is that an        
invisible and intangible substance      
which we call ether--luminiferous       
ether--fills all space1 even the space  
occupied by visible objects1 and that   
this ether which is capable of  amazing 
vibrations1 billions of them a second1  
is set vibrating at  different          
velocities by different objects4 ,these 
vibrations bombard the  minute rods and 
cones of the retina at the back of the  
eye and1 presto1  we see now one color  
and now another1 now one object and now 
another4  ,this ether would forever have
 remained unknown to us had not this    
marvelous structure of the retina given 
it a chance to break through and  reveal

 itself4 ,in many other ways1 too1 this 
ether breaks through into  revelation4  
,it is responsible apparently for all   
the immensely varied  phenomena of      
electricity1 probably1 too1 of cohesion 
and gravitation4  ,here1 again1 the     
revelations remained inadequate and     
without clear  interpretation until we  
succeeded in constructing proper        
instruments and  devices for it to break
 through into active operation4 ,the    
dynamo and  the other electrical        
mechanisms which we have invented do not
 make or  create electricity4 ,they     
merely let it come through1 showing     
itself now  as light1 now as heat1 now  
again as motive power4 ,but always it   
was there  before1 unnoted1 merely      
potential1 and yet a vast surrounding   
ocean of  energy there behind1 ready to 
break into active operation when the    
medium  was at hand for it4    ,life is 
another one of those strange mysteries  
that cannot be explained  until we      
realize that something more than we see 

is breaking through  matter and         
revealing itself4 ,the living thing is  
letting through some  greater power than
 itself1 something beyond and behind1   
which is needed  to account for what we 
see moving and acting with invention and
 purpose4  ,matter of itself is no      
explanation of life4 ,the same elemental
 stuff is  very different until it      
becomes the instrument of something not 
itself  which organizes it1 pushes it   
upward and onward1 and reveals itself   
through it4 ,something has at length    
come into view which is more than  force
 and mechanism4 ,here is intelligent    
purpose and forward-looking  activity   
and something capable of variation1     
novelty1 and surprise4  ,and when living
 substance has reached a certain stage  
of organization1  something higher still
 begins to break through--consciousness 
appears1  and on its higher levels      
consciousness begins to reveal truth and
 moral  goodness4 ,it is useless to try 
to explain consciousness--especially    

truth-bearing consciousness--as a       
function of the brain1 for it cannot be 
done4 ,that way of explanation no more  
explains mind than the ,ptolemaic       
theory explains the movements of the    
heavenly bodies4 ,once more1  something 
breaks through and reveals itself1 as   
surely as light breaks  through a prism 
and reveals itself in the band of       
spectral colors4 ,this  consciousness of
 ours1 as ,i have said1 is not merely   
awareness1 not only  intelligent        
response2 it lays hold of and           
apprehends1 i4e41 reveals1  truth and   
goodness4 ,what ,i think1 when ,i really
 think1 is not just  my private         
8opinion10 or 8guess10 or 8seeming02 it 
turns out to have  something universal  
and absolute about it4 ,my              
multiplication-table is  everybody's    
multiplication-table4 ,it is true for me
 and for beyond me4  ,and what is true  
of my mathematics is also true of other 
features of my  thinking4 ,when ,i      
properly organize my experience through 

rightly formed  concepts1 ,i express    
aspects that are real and true for      
everybody--,i attain  to something which
 can be called truth4 ,the same way in  
the field of  conduct3 ,i can discover  
not only what is subjectively right1 but
 ,i can  go farther and embody          
principles which are right not only for 
me but for  every good man4 ,something  
more than a petty1 tiny1 private        
consciousness  is expressing itself     
through my personality4 ,i am the organ 
of something  more than myself4         
,perhaps more wonderful still is the way
 in which beauty breaks through4  ,it   
breaks through not only at a few highly 
organized points1 it breaks  through    
almost everywhere4 ,even the minutest   
things reveal it as well  as do the     
sublimest things1 like the stars4       
,whatever one sees through  the         
microscope1 a bit of mould for example1 
is charged with beauty4  ,everything    
from a dewdrop to ,mount ,shasta is the 
bearer of beauty4 ,and  yet beauty has  

no function1 no utility4 ,its value is  
intrinsic1 not  extrinsic4 ,it is its   
own excuse for being4 ,it greases no    
wheels1 it bakes  no puddings4 ,it is a 
gift of sheer grace1 a gratuitous       
largess4 ,it must  imply behind things a
 ,spirit that enjoys beauty for its own 
sake and  that floods the world         
everywhere with it4 ,wherever it can    
break through  it does break through1   
and our joy in it shows that we are in  
some sense  kindred to the giver and    
revealer of it4    ,something higher and
 greater still breaks through and       
reveals a  deeper ,reality than any that
 we see and touch4 ,love comes          
through--not  everywhere like beauty1   
but only where rare organization has    
prepared an  organ for it4 ,some aspects
 of love appear very widely1 are1 at    
least1  as universal as truth and moral 
goodness4 ,but love in its full glory1  
love in its height of unselfishness and 
with its passion of self-giving  is a   
rare manifestation4 ,one person--the    

,galilean--has been a perfect  revealing
 organ of it4 ,in his life it broke     
through with the same perfect           
naturalness as the beam of light breaks 
through the prism of waterdrops  and    
reveals the rainbow4 ,love that         
understands1 sympathizes1 endures1      
inspires1 recreates1 and transforms1    
broke through and revealed itself so    
impressively that those who see it and  
feel it are convinced that here at  last
 the real nature of ,god has come       
through to us and stands revealed4  ,and
 ,st4 ,paul1 who was absolutely         
convinced of this1 went still further4  
,he held1 with a faith buttressed in    
experience1 that this same ,christ1  who
 had made this demonstration of love1   
became after his resurrection  an       
invisible presence1 a life-giving       
,spirit who could work and act as a     
resident power within receptive1        
responsive1 human spirits1 and could    
transform them into a likeness to       
himself and continue his revelation  of 

love wherever he should find such organs
 of revelation4 ,if that1 or  something 
like it1 is true it is a very great     
truth4 ,it was this that  good old      
,william ,dell meant when he said3 8,the
 believer is the only book  in which    
,god himself writes his ,new            
,testament40      ,,ii    ,,conquering  
,,by ,,an ,,inner ,,force    ,there are 
few texts that have been more dynamic in
 the history of  spiritual religion than
 the one which forms the keynote of the 
message of  the little book of          
,habakkuk3 8,the righteous man lives by 
faith0 7#b3d74 ,it  became the central  
feature of ,st4 ,paul's message4 ,it was
 the epoch-making  discovery in         
,luther's experience1 and it has always 
been the guiding  principle of          
,protestant ,christianity4    ,the      
profound significance of the words is   
often missed because the text  is so    
easily turned into a phrase that is     
supposed just of itself to work  a kind 
of magic spell1 and secondly because the

 meaning of 8faith0 is so  frequently   
misinterpreted4 ,when we go back to the 
original experience out  of which the   
famous text was born we can get fresh   
light upon the heart  of its meaning4   
,the little book begins with a searching
 analysis of the  conditions of the     
time4 ,with an almost unparalleled      
boldness the prophet  challenges ,god to
 explain why the times are so badly out 
of joint1 why  the social order is so   
topsy-turvy1 and why injustice is       
allowed to run a  long course unchecked4
 ,god seems unconcerned with            
affairs--the moral pilot  appears not to
 be steering things4    ,then comes a   
moment of mental relief4 ,the prophet   
hits upon the  conclusion1 arrived at by
 other prophets also1 that ,god is about
 to use  the ,chaldeans as a divine     
instrument to chastise the wicked       
element in  the nation1 to right the    
wrongs of the disordered world1 and to  
execute  judgment4 ,but as he begins to 
reflect he becomes more perplexed than  

ever4 ,how can ,god1 who is good1 use   
such a terrible instrument for moral    
purposes8 ,this people1 which is assumed
 to be an instrument of moral  judgment 
in a disordered world1 is itself        
unspeakably perverse4 ,it is  fierce and
 wolfish4 ,its only god is might4 ,it   
cares only for success4 ,it  catches    
men1 like fish1 in its great dragnet1   
and 8then he sacrificeth  unto his net  
and burneth incense unto his drag40 ,how
 can such a pitiless  and insolent      
people1 dominated by pride and love of  
conquest1 be used to  work out the ends 
of righteousness and to act for ,god who
 is too pure  even to look upon that    
which is evil and wrong8 ,here the      
prophet finds  himself suddenly up      
against the ancient problem of the moral
 government  of the universe and the    
deep mystery of evil in it4 ,he cannot  
untangle  the snarled threads of his    
skein4 ,no solution of the mystery lies 
at  hand4 ,he decides to climb up into  
his 8watch-tower0 and wait for an       

answer from ,god4 ,if it does not come  
at once1 he proposes to stay until  it  
does come--8if it tarry1 wait for it2 it
 will surely come40 ,at length  the     
vision comes1 so clear that a man       
running can read it4 ,it is just  this  
famous discovery of the great text that 
a man cannot hope to get the            
world-difficulties all straightened out 
to suit him1 he cannot in some  easy    
superficial way justify the ways of ,god
 in the course of history2  but1 at     
least1 he can live unswervingly and     
victoriously by his own  soul's insight1
 the insight of faith that ,god can be  
trusted to do the  right thing for the  
universe which he is steering4 ,it is   
beautifully  expressed in a well-known  
stanza of ,whittier's3        8,i know  
not where ,his islands lift      ,their 
fronded palms in air2      ,i only know 
,i cannot drift      ,beyond ,his love  
and care40    ,many things remain       
unexplained4 ,the mysteries are not all 
dissipated4  ,but ,i see enough light to

 enable me to hold a steady course      
onward1 and  ,i have an inner confidence
 in ,god which nothing in the outward   
world can  shatter4 ,this is the message
 from ,habakkuk's watch-tower3 ,there is
 a  faith which goes so far into the    
heart of things that a man can live by  
it and stand all the water-spouts which 
break upon him4    ,josiah ,royce once  
defined faith as an insight of the soul 
by which one  can stand everything that 
can happen to him1 and that is what this
 text  means4 ,you arrive at such a     
personal assurance of ,god's character  
that  you can face any event and not be 
swept off your feet4 ,if this is so1  it
 means that the most important          
achievement in a man's career is the    
attainment of just this inner vision1   
the acquisition of an interior          
spiritual confidence which itself is the
 victory4    ,william ,james used often 
to close his lecture courses at ,harvard
 with  what he called a 8,faith-ladder40
 ,round after round it went up from a   

mere  possibility of hope to an inner   
conviction strong enough to dominate    
action4 ,he would begin with some human 
faith which outstrips evidence and  he  
would say of it3 ,it is at least not    
absurd1 not self-contradictory1  and1   
therefore1 it might be true under       
certain conditions1 in some kind  of a  
world which we can conceive4 ,it may be 
true even in this world and  under      
existing conditions4 ,it is fit to be   
true2 it ought to be true4 ,the  soul in
 its moment of clearest insight feels   
that it must be true4 ,it  shall be     
true1 then1 at least for me1 for ,i     
propose to act upon it1 to  live by it1 
to stake my existence on it4    ,this   
watch-tower of ,habakkuk is a similar   
faith-ladder4 ,he sees no way  to       
explain why the good suffer1 or to      
account for the catastrophes of         
history1 but at least he has found a    
faith in ,god which holds him like      
adamant3 8,although the fig-tree shall  
not blossom1 neither shall fruit  be in 

the vines2 the labor of the olive shall 
fail1 and the fields shall  yield no    
meat2 the flock shall be cut off from   
the fold and there shall  be no herd in 
the stalls3 ,yet ,i will rejoice in the 
,lord1 ,i will joy  in the ,god of my   
salvation4444 ,he will make me to walk  
upon mine high  places40 ,faith like    
that is always contagious4 ,the unshaken
 soul kindles  another soul who believes
 in his belief1 and the torch goes from 
this man  on his watch-tower to ,st4    
,paul1 and from him on to the great     
reformer1  and then to an unnamed       
multitude1 who through their soul's     
insight can  stand everything that may  
happen6      ,,iii    ,,living ,,in     
,,the ,,presence ,,of ,,the ,,eternal   
,some time ago ,i received a letter from
 a young minister who was about to      
settle for religious work in a large    
manufacturing town4 ,he and ,i were     
strangers to each other in the flesh but
 friends through correspondence1  and   
because we were kindred spirits he wrote

 to me to say3 8,i have before  me the  
great work of living in the eternal ,god
 and in a humanity toiling  in factories
 and shops4 ,oh1 if ,i could only make  
the presence of the  ,eternal real to   
myself and to my people60 ,another      
minister1 laboring in  a large suburb of
 ,new ,york ,city1 also a stranger to me
 except through  correspondence1 wrote  
to say that he was glad for every voice 
which  holds up before men the reality  
of the invisible ,church and the idea of
  the universal priesthood of believers4
 ,these letters coming within a         
week--and they are samples of many      
similar ones--are signs of the times1   
and show clearly that thoughtful men all
 about us are done with the husk  of    
religion and are devoting themselves to 
the heart of the matter4 ,there  is a   
deep movement under way which touches   
all denominations and is  steadily      
preparing in our busy1 hurrying1        
materialistic ,america a true  seed of  
the vital1 spiritual religion that will 

later bear rich blossoms  and ripe      
harvest4    ,i want for the moment to   
return to the central desire of the     
young  minister1 in the hope that it may
 inspire some of us1 especially some of 
our young ministers who are facing their
 new spiritual tasks3 8,i have  before  
me the great work of living in the      
eternal ,god and in a humanity  toiling 
in factories and shops4 ,oh1 if ,i could
 only make the presence of  the ,eternal
 real to myself and to them60    ,it is 
perhaps a new idea to some that living  
in the eternal ,god is  8work40 ,we are 
so accustomed to the idea that all that 
is required of us  is a passive mind and
 a waiting spirit that we have never    
quite realized  this truth3 ,no person  
can live in the eternal ,god unless he  
is ready for  the most intense activity 
and for the most strenuous life4        
,gladstone1  in his old age1 surprised  
his readers with his impressive phrase1 
8the  work of worship40 ,the fact is1 no
 man ever yet found his way into the    

permanent enjoyment of ,god along paths 
of least resistance or by any lazy      
methods4 ,how many of us have been      
humiliated to discover1 in the silence  
or in the service1 that nothing         
spiritual was happening within us4 ,our 
mind1 unbent and passive enough1 was    
like a stagnant pool1 or1 if not        
stagnant1 was darting its feelers out   
and following in lazy fashion any  line 
of suggestion which pulled it4 ,instead 
of finding ourselves 8living  in the    
eternal ,god0 and in the high enjoyment 
of him1 we catch ourselves  wondering   
what the next strike will be1 or        
thinking about the mean and  shabby way 
some one spoke to us an hour ago6 ,there
 is no use blaming a  mind because it   
wanders--everybody's mind wanders--but  
the real achievement  is to make it     
wander in a region which ministers to   
our spiritual life2  and that can be    
done only by getting supremely          
interested in the things  of the        
,spirit4 ,that is where the 8work0 lies2

 that is where the effort  comes in4    
,attention is always determined by the  
fundamental interest4  ,what we love    
supremely we attend to4 ,it gets us1 it 
holds us4 ,one of the  colloquial       
phrases for being in love with a person 
is 8paying attention  to0 the person4   
,it is a true phrase and goes straight  
to reality4  ,if we are to discover and 
enjoy the eternal ,presence we must     
become  passionately earnest in spirit  
and glowing with love for the ,highest4 
,my friend brings two important things  
together3 ,he proposes to undertake  the
 work of living in the eternal ,god and 
in toiling humanity4 ,the two  things go
 together and cannot be safely          
separated4 ,it is in the actual  sharing
 of life through love and sympathy and  
sacrifice1 in going out of  self to feel
 the problems and difficulties and      
sufferings of others1 that  we find and 
form a life rich in higher interests and
 centered on matters  of eternal value4 
,a man who has traveled through the     

deeps of life with  a fellow man comes  
to his hour of worship with a mind      
focused on the  ,eternal and with a     
spirit girded for the inward wrestling1 
without which  blessings of the greater 
sort do not come4 ,and every time such a
 man  finds himself truly at home in the
 eternal ,god and fed from within1 he   
can go out1 with the strength of ten1 to
 the tasks of toiling humanity4  ,this  
is one of those spiritual circles which 
work both ways3 ,he that  dwells in ,god
 loves1 and he that loves finds ,god1   
,st4 ,john tells us4    ,it is fine to  
see a strong man1 trained in all his    
faculties1 going to  his work with the  
quiet prayer3 8,oh1 that ,i may make the
 presence of the  ,eternal real to      
myself and to my people40 ,it is a good 
prayer for all of  us4                  
,,chapter ,,iv    ,,the ,,way ,,of      
,,vision      ,i    ,,days ,,of         
,,greater ,,visibility    ,from the     
porch of my little summer cottage in    
,maine ,i can see1 across the  beautiful

 stretch of lake in the foreground1 the 
far-distant ,kennebago  ,mountains in   
their veil of purple4 ,but we see them  
only when all the  conditions of sky and
 air are absolutely right4 ,most of the 
time they  are wrapped in clouds or are 
lost in a dim haze4 ,our visitors admire
  the lake1 are charmed with the        
islands1 the picturesque shore and the  
surrounding hills1 but they do not      
suspect the existence of this added     
glory beyond the hills4 ,we often tell  
them of the mountains 8just over        
there10 which come out into full view   
when the sky clears all the way  to the 
horizon and the wind blows fine from the
 northwest4 ,they make a  casual remark 
about the sufficiency of what is already
 in sight1 and go  their way in         
satisfied ignorance of the 8beyond40    
,next day1 perhaps--,oh wonder6 ,the    
morning dawns with all the conditions   
favorable for our distant view4 ,the air
 is altogether right for far            
visibility4 ,the clouds are swept clean 

from the western rim1 the blue is       
utterly transparent--and there are the  
mountains6 ,we wish our skeptical       
visitors could be with us now4 ,we guess
 that they would not easily  talk of the
 sufficiency of the near beauty1 if they
 could once see the  overtopping glory  
of these mountains now fully unveiled   
and revealed4  ,something like that1 ,i 
feel sure1 is true of ,god and of other 
great  spiritual realities which are    
linked with his being4 ,most of the time
  we get on with the things that are    
near at hand2 the things we see and     
handle and are sure of4 ,the world is   
full of utility and we do well to       
appreciate what is there waiting to be  
used4 ,there is always something        
satisfying about beauty1 and nature is  
very rich and lavish with it4           
,friendship and love are heavenly gifts1
 and when these are added to the  other 
good things which the world gives us1 it
 would seem1 and it does  seem1 to many 
that we ought to be satisfied and not be

 homesick for the  glory which lies     
beyond the horizon-line of the senses4  
,i cannot help  it2 my soul will not    
stay satisfied with this near-at-hand   
supply4 ,a  discontent sweeps over me1  
an uncontrollable ,heimweh--homesickness
 of  soul--surges up within me and ,i   
should be compelled to call the whole   
scheme miserable failure1 if the near1  
visible skyline were the real  boundary 
of all that is4    ,sometimes--,oh joy6 
,when the inward weather is just right2 
when selfish  impulse has been hushed2  
when the clouds and shadows1 which sin  
makes1  are swept away and genuine love 
makes the whole inner atmosphere pure   
and  free from haze1 then ,i know that  
,i find a beyond which before was       
nowhere  in sight and might easily not  
have been suspected4 ,i cannot decide   
whether this extended range of sight is 
due to alterations in myself1  or       
whether it is due to some sudden        
increase of spiritual visibility in  the
 great reality itself4 ,i only know the 

fact4 ,before1 ,i was occupied  with    
things2 now1 ,i commune with ,god and am
 as sure of him as ,i am of the         
mountains beyond my lake1 which my      
skeptical visitor has not yet seen4     
,there can be no adequate world here for
 us without at least a faith in  the    
reality beyond the line of what we see  
with our common eyes4 ,we have  times   
when we cannot live by bread alone1 or  
by our increase of stocks2  when we lose
 our interest in cosmic forces and need 
something more  than the slow justice   
which history weighs out on its great   
judgment  days4 ,we want to feel a real 
heart beating somewhere through things2 
we  want to discover through the maze a 
loving will working out a purpose2  we  
want to know that our costly loyalties1 
our high endeavors1 and our  sacrifices 
which make the quivering flesh palpitate
 with pain1 really  matter to ,someone  
and fill up what is behind of his great 
suffering for  love's sake4 ,we can not 
get on here with substitutes2 we must   

have the  reality itself4 ,religion is  
an awful farce if it is only a          
play-scheme1 a  cinematograph-show1     
which makes one believe he is seeing    
reality when he  is1 in fact1 being     
fooled with a picture4 ,we must at all  
costs insist on  the real things4 ,it is
 ,god we want and not another1 the real 
,face and not  a picture4        8,we   
needs must love the highest when we see 
it2      ,not ,lancelot nor another40   
,he is surely there to be seen1 like my 
mountain4 ,days may pass when we  only  
hope and long and guess4 ,then the      
weather comes right1 the veil  thins    
away and we see6 ,it is1 however1 not a 
rare privilege reserved for  a tiny few4
 ,it is not a grudged miracle1 granted  
only to saints who have  killed out all 
self4 ,it belongs to the very nature of 
the soul to see  ,god4 ,it is what makes
 life really life4 ,it is as normal a   
function as  breathing or digestion4    
,only one must1 of all things1 intend to
 do it6      ,,ii    ,,the ,,prophet    

,,and ,,his ,,tragedies    ,there will  
always be in the world a vast number of 
persons who take the  most comfortable  
form of religion which their generation 
affords4 ,they  are not path-breakers2  
they have nothing in their nature which 
pushes  them into the fields of         
discovery--they are satisfied with the  
religion  which has come down to them   
from the past4 ,they accept what others 
have  won and tested1 and are thankful  
that they are saved the struggle and the
  fire which are involved in first-hand 
experience and in fresh discovery4      
,the prophet1 on the contrary1 in       
whatever age he comes1 can never take   
this easy course4 ,he cannot rest       
contented with the forms of religion    
which are accepted by others4 ,he cannot
 enjoy the comforts of the calm  and    
settled faith which those around him    
inherit and adopt4 ,his soul  forever   
hears the divine call to leave the old  
mountain and go forward1  to conquer new
 fields1 to fight new battles1 to       

restate his faith in  words that are    
fresh and vital1 in terms of the deepest
 life of his time4  ,we used to         
think--many people still think--that a  
prophet is a foreteller  of future      
events1 a kind of magical and miraculous
 person who speaks  as an oracle and who
 announces1 without knowing how or why1 
far-off1  coming occurrences that are   
communicated to him4 ,to think thus is  
to miss  the deeper truth of the        
prophet's mission4 ,he is primarily a   
religious  patriot1 a statesman with a  
moral and spiritual policy for the      
nation4  ,he is a person who sees what  
is involved in the eternal nature of    
things  and therefore what the outcome  
of a course of life is bound to be4 ,he 
possesses an unerring eye for curves of 
righteousness or unrighteousness1  as   
the great artist has for lines of beauty
 and harmony1 or as the great           
mathematician has for the completing    
lines of a curve1 involved in any  given
 arc of it4 ,he is different from       

others1 not in the fact that he  has    
ecstasies and lives in the realm of     
miracles1 but rather that he has  a     
clearer conviction of ,god than most men
 have4 ,he has found him as the  center 
of all reality4 ,he reads and interprets
 all history in the light  of the       
indubitable fact of ,god1 and he        
estimates life and deeds in  terms of   
moral and spiritual laws1 which are as  
inflexible as the laws  of chemical     
atoms or of electrical forces4 ,he looks
 for no capricious  results4 ,he sees   
that this is a universe of moral and    
spiritual order4    ,if he is an ,amos1 
he will refuse to fall in line with the 
easy worshipers  of his age1 who are    
satisfied with the old-time religion of 
8burnt  offerings0 and 8meat offerings0 
and 8peace offerings of fat beasts40    
,his  soul will cry out for a religion  
which makes a new moral and spiritual   
man1 8makes righteousness run down as a 
mighty stream10 and sets the  worshiper 
into new social relations with his      

fellows4 ,if he is an ,isaiah1  he will 
refuse 8to tramp the temple0 with the   
mass of easy worshipers2  he will have  
his own vision of 8the ,lord high and   
lifted up10 with his  glory filling not 
only the temple but the whole earth1 and
 he will  dedicate himself to the task  
of preparing a holy people and a holy   
city  for this ,god who has been        
revealed to him as a thrice-holy ,god4  
,if he is  a ,jeremiah1 he will not     
accept the view that the traditional    
religion of  ,jerusalem is adequate for 
the crisis of the times4 ,he will insist
 that  true religion must be inwardly   
experienced2 that the law of ,god must  
be  written in the heart1 and that the  
life of a man must be the living  fruit 
of his faith4 ,he will cry out against  
the idea that the moral  wounds and     
spiritual sores of the daughter of      
,jerusalem can be healed  with easy     
salves and cheap panaceas4    ,the      
supreme example of this refusal to go   
along the easy line of  contemporary    

religion is that of ,one who was more   
than a prophet4 ,his  people prided     
themselves on being the chosen people of
 the ,lord4 ,the  scribal leaders had   
succeeded in drawing up a complete and  
perfect  catalogue of religious         
performances4 ,they supplied minute     
directions for  one's religious duty in 
every detail1 real or imaginary1 of     
daily life1  and the world has never    
seen a more elaborate form of religion  
than this  of the ,pharisees4 ,but      
,christ refused to follow the path of   
custom2 he  could not and he would not  
do the things which the scribes         
prescribed4 ,he  broke a new path for   
the soul1 and called men away from      
legalism and the  dead routine of       
8performances0 to a life of individual  
faith and service1  which involves      
suffering and self-sacrifice1 but which 
brings the soul  into personal relation 
with the living ,god4    ,st4 ,paul1 a  
,pharisee of the ,pharisees1 a          
rabbinical scholar of the first  rank1 a

 man rising stage by stage to fame along
 the path marked out by  the traditions 
of his people1 came back from his       
eventful journey to  ,damascus to take  
up the work of a path-breaker and to set
 himself like  a flint against the      
old-time religion in which he was born  
and reared4  ,luther1 a devout monk1 an 
ambassador to the papal court1 a        
professor of  scholastic theology1      
discovered that he could not find peace 
to his soul  along the path of the      
prevailing traditional religion1 and he 
swung1  with all the fervor of his      
powerful nature1 into a fresh track     
which  has blessed all ages since4      
,these are some of the supreme leaders1 
but  every age has had its quota of     
minor prophets1 who have heard the call 
to  leave the old mountain and go       
forward and who have fearlessly entered 
the  perilous and untried path of fresh 
vision4 ,as we look back and see them   
in the perspective of their successful  
mission to the race1 we thank ,god  for 

their bravery and their valiant service1
 but we are apt to forget the  tragedies
 of their lives4    ,nobody can enter a 
fresh path1 or bring a new vision of the
 meaning of  life1 or reinterpret old   
truths--in short1 nobody can be a       
prophet--without  arousing the suspicion
 and1 sooner or later1 the bitter hatred
 of those  who are the keepers and      
guardians of the existing forms and     
traditions1  and the path-breaker must  
expect to see his old friends           
misunderstand  him1 turn against him1   
and reproach him4 ,he must endure the   
hard  experience of being called a      
destroyer of the very things he is      
giving  his life to build4 ,christ is1  
for example1 hurried to the cross as a  
blasphemer1 and each prophet1 in his    
degree1 has had to hear himself  charged
 with being the very opposite of what he
 really is in heart and  life4 ,to be a 
prophet at all he must be a sensitive   
soul1 and yet he must  live and work in 
a pitiless rain of misunderstanding and 

attack4 ,still  more tragic1 perhaps1 is
 the necessity which the prophet is     
under of  doing his hard tasks without  
living to see the triumphant results4   
,he is1  naturally1 ahead of his time--a
 path-breaker--and his contemporaries   
are  always slow to discover and to     
realize what he is doing4 ,even those   
who  love him and appreciate him only   
half see his true purpose1 and thus he  
feels alone and solitary1 though he may 
be in the thick of the throng4  ,it is  
only when he is long dead and the mists 
have cleared away that he  is called a  
prophet and comes to his true place4    
,while he lived he was  sure of only one
 ,friend who completely understood him  
and approved of his  course1 and that   
was his invisible and heavenly ,friend4 
,but in spite of  the tragedy and the   
pain and the hard road1 the prophet1    
8seeing him who  is invisible10 prefers 
to all other paths1 however easy and    
popular1 the  path of his vision and    
call4      ,,iii    ,a ,,long ,,distance

 ,,call    ,just when life seems        
peculiarly crowded with items of        
complexity and  importance1 the         
telephone rings a determined1           
significant kind of ring4  ,this is     
evidently no ordinary                   
passing-the-time-of-day affair4 ,i      
interrupt  my weighty concerns and take 
up the receiver with expectation4 ,i say
  8,hello60 but there is no answer1 no  
human recognition4 ,the wire hums and   
buzzes1 instruments click far away1     
plugs are pulled out and pushed in4     
,little tiny scraps of remote1 inane1   
unintelligible conversation between     
unknown mortals furnish the only        
evidence ,i get that there is any human 
purpose going forward in this strange   
world inside the telephone system  where
 ,i can see nothing happening4          
,suddenly a voice which is evidently    
hunting for me breaks in3 8,is this     
,mr4 ----80 8,yes40 8,hold the wire1    
please40 ,i am led on with increasing   
interest and confidence4 ,somebody      

somewhere miles away in this invisible  
world of electrical connections is      
seeking for me4 ,i forget the           
multitudinous problems that were        
besieging me when the telephone first   
rang1 and ,i listen with suppressed     
breath and strained muscles4 ,all ,i    
get1 however1 is an immense confusion4  
,there is no coherence or order to      
anything that reaches me4 ,faint and far
 away in some still remoter center  than
 at first ,i hear clicks and buzzes1    
vague unmeaning noises1 and the  dull   
thud of shifting plugs that connect the 
lines4 ,once more a kindly  voice breaks
 in on the confusion1 a voice seeking   
after me from some  distant city3 8,is  
this ,mr4 ----80 8,yes40 8,wait a       
minute40    ,i do wait a minute as      
patiently as ,i can4 ,i dimly feel that 
we are  plunging out into yet remoter   
space1 and that ,i am being connected up
  with the person who all the time has  
been seeking me4 ,a low hum of  the     
far-away wire is all ,i get to repay me 

for the long wait4 ,i grow  impatient4  
,i shout 8,hello60 8,is anybody there80 
8,do you want me80 ,not a  word comes   
back1 only endless1 empty murmurs of    
people who have found one  another and  
are talking so far off that the sense is
 lost in the mere  broth of sounds4     
,this dull world inside the telephone   
seems to be a mad  world of noise and   
confusion but no substance1 no real     
correspondence4 ,i  am on the verge of  
giving the whole business up and of     
returning to my  interrupted tasks1     
which at least were rational4           
,suddenly a voice breaks in1 this time a
 voice ,i know and recognize4 ,the      
person who had been seeking me all the  
time1 across these spaces and  over this
 network of interlaced wires1 calls me  
by name1 speaks words of  insight and   
intelligence1 and gives me a message    
which moves me deeply  and raises the   
whole tone of my spirit4 ,when finally  
,i 8hang up0 and  return to the things  
in hand1 ,i have renewed my strength and

 can work  with clearer head and faster 
pace4 ,the pause has been like a pause  
in  a piece of music4 ,it has been full 
of significance1 and it has helped      
toward a higher level4    ,something    
like this telephone experience happens  
in another and very  different sphere--a
 sphere where there are no wires4 ,in   
the hush and  silence1 when the         
conditions are right for it1 it often   
seems as  though some one were trying to
 communicate with us1 seeking for actual
  correspondence with us4 ,we turn from 
the din and turmoil of busy efforts  and
 listen for the voice4 ,we listen       
intently and we hear--our own heart     
beating4 ,we feel the strain of our     
muscles across the chest4 ,we push back 
a little deeper and try again4 ,we feel 
the tension of the skin over the        
forehead and we note that we are pulling
 the eyeballs up and inward for  more   
concentrated meditation4 ,all the       
muscles of the scalp are drawn  and we  
notice them perhaps for the first time4 

,strange little bits of  thought flit   
across the threshold of the mind4 ,we   
catch glimpses of dim  ideas knocking at
 the windows for admission to the inner 
domain where  we live4 ,then1 all of a  
sudden1 we succeed in pushing further   
back4 ,we  forget our strained muscles  
and are unconscious of the corporeal    
bulk of  ourselves4 ,we get in past the 
flitting thoughts and the procession of 
ideas contending for entrance4 ,the     
track seems open for the ,someone who   
is seeking us no less certainly than we 
are seeking him4 ,if we do not  hear our
 name called1 and do not hear distinctly
 a message in well-known  words1 we do  
at least feel that we have found a real 
,presence and have  received fresh vital
 energy from the creative center of life
 itself1 so  that we come back to       
action1 after our pause1 restored1      
refreshed1 and  8charged0 with new force
 to live by4    ,some time ago a long   
distance call came to my telephone and  
,i went  through all the stages of      

waiting and of confusion and finally    
heard the  clear voice calling me1 but  
,i could not get any answer back4 ,i    
heard  perfectly across the five hundred
 intervening miles1 but my correspondent
  never got a single clear word from me4
 ,we found that something was wrong     
with our transmitter4 ,the connection   
was good1 the line was pervious1 the    
seeking voice was at the other end1 but 
,i did not succeed in transmitting  what
 ought to have been said4 ,here is where
 most of us fail in this other          
sphere--this inner wireless sphere--we  
are poor transmitters4 ,we make the     
connection1 we receive the gift of      
grace1 we are flooded with the incomes  
of life and power and we freely take1   
but we do not give4 ,we absorb and      
accumulate what we can1 but we transmit 
little of all that comes to us4  ,our   
radius of out-giving influence is far   
too small4 ,we need1 on the one  hand1  
to listen deeper1 to get further in     
beyond the tensions and the  noises1 but

 on the other hand we need to be more   
radio-active1 better  transmitters of   
the grace of ,god4          ,,chapter ,v
    ,,the ,,way ,,of ,,personality      
,i    ,,another ,,kind ,,of ,,hero    ,a
 generation ago almost everybody read1  
at least once1 ,carlyle's great  book on
 heroes4 ,he gave us the hero as        
prophet1 as priest1 as poet1  as king1  
and he made us realize that these heroes
 have been the real  makers of human    
society4 ,i should like to add a chapter
 on another kind  of hero1 who has1     
perhaps1 not done much to build cities  
and states and  church systems1 but who 
has1 almost more than anybody else1     
shown us the  spiritual value of        
endurance--,i mean the hero as invalid4 
,it is the hardest kind of heroism there
 is to achieve4 ,most of us know  some  
man--too often it is oneself--who is a  
very fair ,christian when he is  in     
normal health and absorbed in           
interesting work1 who carries a smooth  
forehead and easily drops into a        

good-natured smile1 but who becomes     
8blue0 and irritable and a storm center 
in the family weather as soon  as the   
bodily apparatus is thrown out of gear4 
,most of us have had a  taste of        
humiliation as we have witnessed our own
 defeat in the presence  of some thorn  
in the flesh1 which stubbornly pricked  
us1 even though we  prayed to have it   
removed and urged the doctor to hurry up
 and remove it4    ,what a hero1 then1  
must he be1 who1 with a weak and broken 
body1 a  prey to pain and doomed to die 
daily1 learns how to live in calm faith 
that ,god is good and makes his life a  
center of cheer and sunshine6  ,the     
heroism of the battlefield and the      
man-of-war looks cheap and thin         
compared with this4 ,we could all rally 
to meet some glorious moment  when a    
trusted leader shouted to us1 8,your    
country expects you to do  your duty60  
,but to drag on through days and nights1
 through weeks and  months1 through     
recurring birthdays1 with vital energy  

low1 with sluggish  appetite1 with none 
of that ground-swell of superfluous     
vigor which makes  healthy life so good1
 and still to prove that life is good   
and to radiate  joy and triumph--that is
 the very flower and perfume of heroism4
 ,if we  are making up a bead-roll of   
heroes1 let us put at the top the names 
of  those quiet friends of ours who have
 played the man or revealed the woman   
through hard periods of invalidism and  
have exhibited to us the fine  glory of 
a courageous spirit4    ,one of the     
hardest and most difficult features to  
bear is the inability  to work at one's 
former pace and with the old-time       
constructive power4  ,the prayer of the 
,psalmist that his work1 the            
contribution of his life1  might be     
preserved is very touching3 8,establish 
thou the work of our  hands upon us1    
yea1 the work of our hands establish    
thou it40 ,what can be  more tragic than
 the cry of ,othello3 8,my occupation is
 gone60 ,so long as  the hand keeps its 

cunning and the mind remains clear and  
creative1 one  can stand physical       
handicap and pain1 but when the working 
power of mind  or body is threatened1   
then the test of faith and heroism      
indeed arrives4    ,a man whose life    
meant much to me and whose intimacy was 
very precious  to me made me see many   
years ago how wonderfully this test     
could be  met4 ,he was a great teacher1 
the head of a distinguished boys'       
school4  ,he was experiencing the full  
measure of success1 and his influence   
over  his boys was extraordinary4 ,he   
realized1 as his work went on1 that his 
hearing was becoming dull and was       
steadily failing4 ,he went to ,new ,york
  and consulted a famous specialist4    
,after making a careful examination the 
specialist said1 with perfect frankness3
 8,your case is hopeless4 ,nothing  can 
be done to check the disaster4 ,you are 
hard of hearing already1 but  in a very 
short time you will have no hearing at  
all40 ,without a quaver  the teacher    

said3 8,don't you think1 doctor1 that ,i
 shall hear ,gabriel's  trumpet when it 
blows60 ,he went back to his school1    
learned to read lips1  reorganized his  
life1 accepted without a murmur his loss
 of a major  sense1 and finished his    
splendid career of work in an undefeated
 spirit  and with a grace and joy which 
were envied by many persons in          
possession  of all their powers4    ,all
 my readers will think of some 8star    
player0 in this hard game of  patience  
and endurance1 and will have watched    
with awe and reverence the  glorious    
fight of some of those unrecorded heroes
 who won but got no  valor medal4 ,the  
only person who ranks higher in the     
scale of heroism  than the hero as      
invalid is possibly the person who      
patiently1 lovingly  nurses and cares   
for some invalid through years of       
decline and suffering4  ,generally1     
though not always1 it is a woman4 ,not  
seldom she is called  upon to consecrate
 her life to the task1 and often she    

gives what is much  more precious than  
life itself4 ,we build no monuments to  
daughters who  unmurmuringly forego the 
joy of married life1 who refuse the suit
 of  love in order to be free to ease   
the closing years of father or mother1  
grown helpless2 but where is there      
higher consecration or finer heroism8   
,men sometimes complain that the days of
 chivalry and heroism are past4 ,on  the
 contrary1 they are more truly dawning4 
,as ,christianity ripens love  grows    
richer and deeper1 and where love       
appears heroism is always close  at     
hand4 ,our best heroes are mothers and  
wives and daughters1 fathers and        
husbands and sons4      ,,ii    ,,the   
,,better ,,possession    ,during one of 
the intense persecutions by which an    
early ,roman emperor  harried the       
,christians of the first century1 some  
unknown writer 7,harnack  thinks ,it was
 a woman7 wrote an extraordinary little 
book to hearten  those who were         
undergoing the trial of their faith4 ,i 

mean1 of course1  the ,epistle to the   
,hebrews4 ,it is marked by rare genius  
and by undoubted  inspiration4 ,it is   
full of vital messages and it contains  
passages of  great power4 ,just before  
the most loved section of the little    
book--the  account of the               
faith-heroes--the author1 in a passage  
open to a variety  of translations1     
refers to the fact that those to whom he
 is writing  have suffered1 and have    
suffered joyfully1 the spoiling of their
  possessions1 8knowing10 he says1 8that
 you have your own selves for a  better 
possession0--you yourselves are a better
 possession than any of  those goods    
which you have lost for your faith4     
,i wonder if the readers fully realized 
the truth1 or if we should to-day       
realize it had we suffered a similar    
stripping4 ,we are very slow to take    
account of that type of stock4 ,we are  
very keen about our own assets1  but we 
often fail to prize this supreme        
ownership1 the possession of  ourselves4

 ,there is a story1 both sad and        
amusing1 of an insane man who  was seen 
wildly rushing about the house1 from    
room to room1 looking in  cupboards and 
clothes-presses1 crawling under beds1   
obviously searching  for something4     
,when questioned as to what he was so   
frantically looking  for1 he replied1   
8,i am trying to find my self60 ,it is  
not as mad as it  seems4 ,i am not sure 
but that we who are not trying to find  
ourselves are  after all more crazy     
still4    ,old ,burton1 who wrote ,the  
,anatomy of ,melancholy1 well said3     
8,men look to their tools2 a painter    
will wash his pencils2 a      smith will
 look to his hammer1 anvil1 and forge2 a
 husbandman      will mend his          
plow-irons and grind his hatchet1 if it 
be dull2      a musician will string and
 unstring his lute2 only scholars       
neglect that instrument1 their brains   
and spirits ,i mean1 which      they    
daily use40    ,not scholars only1 but  
all classes and conditions of men are   

guilty  of this strange insanity4 ,if   
the ,duke of ,westminster should offer  
to  transfer to us his estates1 we would
 rush with all conceivable speed to     
acquire our new potential possessions4  
,we would go as with wings of an        
aeroplane to get the transaction        
accomplished before anything could occur
  to keep us from entering into our     
fortune4 ,but here we are already within
  reach of a vastly better possession1  
of which we are strangely negligent4    
,if it came to a choice between himself 
and his outward possessions1 this  duke 
who owns so much would not hesitate a   
minute which to prefer4 ,if in  a crisis
 of illness he could save himself by    
surrender of his goods1 they  would     
instantly go4 8,give me health and a    
day10 ,emerson said1 8and ,i will  make 
the pomp of emperors ridiculous40       
,what we would do in a crisis we often  
fail to do when no crisis confronts  us1
 and it is a fact that too often we miss
 and even squander that  better         

possession1 ourselves4 ,the best way to 
win it and enjoy it is  to cultivate    
those inner experiences and endowments  
which make us  independent of external  
fortune4 ,all ,christ's beatitudes      
attach to some  inherent quality of life
 itself4 ,the meek1 the merciful1 the   
pure1 are  8happy10 not because the     
external world conforms to their wishes1
 but  because they have resources of    
life within themselves and have entered 
upon a way of life which continually    
opens out into more life and richer     
life4 ,they have found a kind of ,canaan
 that 8comes0 in continuous             
instalments4    ,one of the simplest    
ways to heighten the total value of life
 is to form  a habit of appreciating the
 world we have here and now4 ,it        
presents  occasional inconveniences1 no 
doubt1 but think of the amazing         
donations  which come to us3 the tilting
 of the earth's axis twenty-three and a 
half degrees to the ecliptic by which   
contrivance we have our seasons2  the   

fact that the proportion of earth and   
water is just right to give  us a fine  
balance of rain and sunshine2 the       
extraordinary way in which  the entire  
universe submits to our mathematics so  
that every movement of  matter and every
 vibration of ether conforms to laws    
which we formulate2  the accumulation   
and storage of fuel and motor power1    
with the prospect  of even greater      
resources of energy to be had from the  
unoccupied space  surrounding the earth4
 ,then1 again1 it cannot be a matter of 
unconcern  that there is such a wealth  
of beauty lavished upon us everywhere1  
waiting for us to enjoy it4 ,there is   
here a strange fit between the outer    
and the inner4 ,the more one draws upon 
the beauty of the world and enjoys  it1 
so much the more does he increase his   
capacity to discover and enjoy  beauty4 
,coal and oil may become exhausted1 but 
beauty is inexhaustible4  ,the only     
trouble is that we are so limited in our
 range of appreciation  of it4 ,we turn 

to cheaper values and miss so much of   
this free gift of  loveliness4          
,greater still should be our resources  
of love and friendship4 ,nothing  could 
be stranger or more wonderful than that 
in a world where struggle  for existence
 is the law this other trait should have
 emerged4 ,it is  easy to explain       
selfishness2 love is the mystery4 ,love 
forgets itself2  it scorns double-entry 
bookkeeping2 it gives1 it bestows1 it   
shares1 it  sacrifices without asking   
whether anything is coming back4 ,and it
 turns  out to be a fact that nothing   
else so enhances and increases the value
 of  this 8better possession which is   
ourselves40    ,even more wonderful1 if 
that is possible1 is the way we are     
formed  and contrived to have           
intercourse with the ,eternal4 ,with all
 our  material furnishings we strangely 
open out into the infinite and  partake 
of a spiritual nature4 ,god has set     
eternity in our hearts4 ,we  cannot win 
this better possession nor hold it      

permanently unless we  exercise these   
spiritual capacities1 which expand our  
being and add the  richest qualities of 
life4 8,thou hast made us for thyself10 
,augustine  acknowledged in his great   
prayer at the opening of the            
,confessions and  8we are restless until
 we find thee as our true rest40 ,it is 
as true now  as in the fourth century4  
,barns and houses1 lands and stocks1    
mortgages  and bonds1 do not constitute 
life unless one learns how to win and   
possess his soul and to keep that best  
of all possessions--himself4      ,,iii 
,,the ,,greatest ,,rivalries ,,of ,,life
    8,after experience had taught me    
that all things which are encountered in
  human life are vain and futile4444 ,i 
at length determined to inquire if      
there was anything which was a true     
good40 ,those are the words of a great  
philosopher who says that he found      
himself 8led by the hand up to the      
highest blessedness40    ,not everybody 
finds the choice of ends so easy as     

,spinoza did2 not all of  us are carried
 along into sustained and unmistakable  
blessedness4 ,life  is full of rivalries
 which tend to divide our interest and  
to dissipate  our attention4 ,we wake   
up1 perhaps1 with surprise to discover  
that we  are being carried1 by the hand 
or by the hair1 straight away from 8the 
highest blessedness40 ,not seldom the   
sternest tragedies of human life are    
occasioned by success4 ,failure         
overtaking one in his aim will often    
shake  him awake and make him see that  
he was pursuing an end in sharp rivalry 
with his highest good4 ,but success     
often dulls the vision for other  issues
 and gives one the specious confidence  
that he is on the right  track and      
8all's well40    ,christ has a vivid    
parable which touches upon the rivalries
 of life4 ,it  is the story of a great  
feast to which many guests are invited4 
,when  the critical moment for the      
dinner comes the other rivalries begin  
to  operate4 ,one man1 attracted by his 

possessions1 8begs off10 to use the     
graphic phrase of the original4         
,another1 occupied with the complex     
interests of business and busy with the 
affairs of trade1 prays to be  excused4 
,a third is immersed in the joys and    
responsibilities of married  life and he
 abruptly dispatches his 8regrets40 ,it 
was not that they were  unconcerned     
about the sumptuous feast1 but that they
 were carried along  by rival interests4
    ,the feast in this parable plainly  
stands for the 8true good10 the         
8highest blessedness0 of life4 ,it      
symbolizes the goal and crown of life1  
the full realization of our best human  
possibilities1 the attainment of  that  
for which we were made aspiring beings4 
,the invitation is a mark  of amazing   
grace and the recipient of it has the   
clearest evidence that  the feast would 
satisfy him4 ,but there are the other   
things with their  rival attractions6   
,possessions and business and domestic  
life pull us in  a contrary direction4  

,we send our cards of regret and beg off
 from the  great feast4    ,the real    
mistake lies in treating these things as
 rivals4 ,if we only  knew it1 an       
affirmative response to the great       
invitation of life would  prepare us for
 all the other things and would heighten
 the value of all  we own1 of all we do1
 and of all we love4 ,salvation is not  
some remote  and ghostly thing that has 
to do with another world4 ,it is the    
infusion  of new life and power into all
 the concerns and affairs of this       
present  world where we are4 ,it means1 
as ,christ said1 receiving 8a           
hundredfold  now in this time1 houses   
and brethren1 and sisters1 and mothers1 
and  children1 and lands1 with          
persecutions2 and in the world to come  
eternal  life40    ,nothing could be a  
more mistaken way than to regard human  
love as a  rival to the highest of all  
relations1 the love of the soul for     
,god4  ,one of the medieval saints said3
 8,god brooks no rival02 but that phrase

  shows that the saint was caught       
napping1 and in any case did not quite  
understand what love is4 ,the way up to 
the highest love is not to be  found by 
turning away from those experiences     
which give us training  and preparation 
for the highest2 but rather it is found 
in and through  the experience of loving
 some person who1 however imperfectly1  
is a  revelation of the beauty and      
divineness of love4 ,not by some sheer  
leap  from the earth does the soul      
arrive at its height of blessedness1 but
 by  steps and stages1 by processes     
which bring illumination and richness of
  life4 ,the man who has married a wife 
will do well to say when he answers  the
 great invitation3 8,i have just married
 a wife and therefore ,i am  peculiarly 
glad to come to thy feast1 since        
fellowship with thee will  make my love 
more real and true as that in turn will 
enable me to rise to  a more genuine    
appreciation of thy love40    ,the same 
is true of houses and lands1 of business

 and trade4 ,there is no  necessary     
rivalry here4 ,religion does not rob us 
of earthly interests1  it does not strip
 us of the good things of this world4   
,it only corrects  our perspective and  
enables us to see the true scale of     
values4 ,the  trivial and fragmentary   
things of the world no longer absorb us4
 ,we  refuse now to allow them to own us
 and drive us1 or drag us4 ,we see      
things steadily and we see them whole4  
,we discover through our higher         
contacts and inspirations how to flood  
light back upon our occupations  and    
upon the things we own1 and how to make 
these subordinate things  minister to   
the higher functions and attitudes of   
life4 ,we get not some  other world1 but
 this world here and now transmuted and 
raised a little  nearer to the ideal and
 perfect world of our hopes and dreams4 
,we get it  back item for item increased
 a hundredfold1 raised to a higher      
spiritual  level4 ,the wise owner of    
property and the intelligent man of     

affairs will  not beg off when the great
 invitation comes to him4 ,he will say3 
8,i have  just come into possession of a
 piece of land1 ,i have bought five yoke
  of oxen1 and therefore ,i want to come
 to thy divine feast so that ,i may     
learn how to turn all ,i possess into   
the channels of real service and to     
make these things which thou hast given 
me help me find the way to the  highest 
joy and blessedness of life40           
,,chapter ,,vi    ,,agencies ,,of       
,,construction      ,i    ,,the ,,church
 ,,of ,,the ,,living ,,god    ,we have  
all been asking1 8,what is the matter   
with the ,church8 ,why is it  so weak   
and ineffective8 ,why does it exercise  
such a feeble influence  in the world   
to-day8 ,why do men care so little for  
its message and its  mission80 ,there   
are no doubt many answers to these      
questions1 but one  answer concerns us  
here4 ,it is this3 ,we who compose the  
,church do not  sufficiently realize    
that ,god is a living ,god and that the 

,church is  intended to be the living   
body through which he works in the world
 and  through which he reveals himself4 
,we think of him as far away in space   
and remote in time1 a ,god who created  
once and who worked wonders in  ancient 
times long past1 but we do not1 as we   
should1 vividly think of  him as a      
living reality1 as near to us as the air
 is to the flying bird  or the water to 
the swimming fish4 ,we suppose that the 
,church is made  up of just people1 and 
is a human convenience for getting      
things done in  the world4 ,we do not   
see as we should that it is meant to be 
both divine  and human and that it never
 is properly a ,church unless ,god lives
 in it1  reveals himself by means of it 
and works his spiritual work in the     
world  through it4    ,this truth of the
 real ,presence breaks through many of  
,christ's great  sayings and was one of 
the most evident features of the        
experience of the  early ,church4       
8,wherever in all the world two or three

 shall gather in my  name there am ,i in
 the midst of them40 8,lo1 ,i am with   
you always1 even  unto the end of the   
world40 8,wherever there is one alone10 
according to  the newly found 8saying0  
of ,jesus1 8,i am with him4 ,raise the  
stone and  there thou shalt find me2    
cleave the wood and there am ,i40       
,not once alone was the early ,church   
invaded by a life and power from  beyond
 itself as at ,pentecost4 ,the          
consciousness which characterized this  
8upper room0 experience was repeated in 
some degree wherever a ,church  of the  
living ,god came into existence1 as 8a  
tiny island in a sea of  surrounding    
paganism40 ,to belong to the ,church    
meant to ,st4 ,paul to be  8joined to   
the ,lord in one spirit10 while the     
,church itself in his great  phrase is  
the body of ,christ and each individual 
a member in particular  of that body4   
,what a difference it would make if we  
could rise to the height of ,st4        
,paul's expectation and be actually     

8builded together for an habitation  of 
,god through the ,spirit60 ,we try      
plenty of other expedients4 ,we         
popularize our message2 we take up fads2
 we adjust as far as we can to  the     
tendencies of the time2 but only one    
thing really works after all and  that  
is having the ,church become the organ  
of the living ,god1 and having  it      
8charged0 with what ,paul so often calls
 the power of ,god--8the power  that    
worketh in us40    ,i saw a car wheel   
recently that had been running many     
miles with the  brake clamped tight     
against it4 ,it was white hot and it    
glowed with  heat and light until it    
seemed almost transparent in its        
extraordinary  luminosity4 ,those       
,christians in the upper room at        
,pentecost were baptized  with fire so  
that the whole personality of each of   
them was glowing with  heat and light1  
for the fire had gone all through them4 
,they suddenly  became conscious that   
their divine ,leader who was no longer  

visible  with them had become an        
invisible presence and a living power   
working  through them4 ,it is no wonder 
that all ,jerusalem and its             
multitudinous  sojourners were at once  
awakened to the fact that something     
novel had  happened4    ,our            
controversies which have divided us have
 been controversies about  things out at
 the periphery1 not about realities at  
the heart and center4  ,we disagree     
about baptism1 and we are at variance   
over problems of  organization1         
ministry1 and ordination1 but the thing 
that really matters  is the depth of    
conviction1 consciousness of ,god1      
certainty of communion  and fellowship  
with the ,spirit4 ,these experiences    
unite and never divide4    ,there is    
after all1 in spite of all our gaps and 
chasms1 only one ,church4  ,it is the   
,church of the living ,god4 ,we are     
named with many names4 ,we bear  the    
sign of a particular denomination1 but  
if we belong truly to the  ,church1 then

 we belong to the great ,church of the  
living ,god4 ,it is built  upon the     
foundation of the apostles and prophets1
 ,jesus ,christ himself  being the chief
 cornerstone1 in whom the building1     
fitly framed together1  grows into an   
holy temple in the ,lord4 ,this is 8the 
blessed community10  the living1        
expanding fellowship of vital faith1 and
 it has the promise  of the future1     
whether conferences on 8faith and order0
 succeed or not1  because it is the     
,church of the living ,god4      ,,ii   
,,the ,,nursery ,,of ,,spiritual ,,life 
,we are coming more and more to realize 
that religion attaches to the  simple1  
elemental aspects of our human life4 ,we
 shall not look for it in  a few rare1  
exalted1 and so-called 8sacred0 aspects 
of life1 separated  off from the rest of
 life and raised to a place apart4      
,religion to be  real and vital must be 
rooted in life itself and it must       
express itself  through the whole life4 
,it should begin1 where all effective   

education  must begin1 in the home1     
which should be the nursery of spiritual
 life4    ,the ,christian home is the   
highest product of civilization2 in fact
 there  is nothing that can be called   
civilization where the home is absent4  
,the  savage is on his way out of       
savagery as soon as he can create a home
 and  make family life at all sacred4   
,the real horror of the 8slums0 in our  
great cities is that there are no homes 
there1 but human beings crowded         
indiscriminately into one room4 ,it is  
the real trouble with the 8poor  whites0
 whether in the ,south or in the ,north 
that they have failed to  preserve the  
home as a sacred center of life4    ,one
 of the first services of the foreign   
missionary is to help to  establish     
homes among the people whom he hopes to 
,christianize4 ,in short1  the home is  
the true unit of society4 ,it determines
 what the individual  shall be2 it      
shapes the social life2 it makes the    
,church possible2 it is  the basis of   

the state and nation4 ,a society of mere
 individual units is  inconceivable4    
,men and women1 each for self1 and with 
no holy center for  family life1 could  
never compose either a ,church or a     
,state4    ,christianity has created the
 home as we know it1 and that is its    
highest  service to the world1 for the  
kingdom of heaven would be realized if  
the ,christian home were universal4 ,the
 mother's knee is still the  holiest    
place in the world2 and the home life   
determines more than all  influences    
combined what the destiny of the boy or 
girl shall be4 ,the  formation of       
disposition and early habits of thought 
and manner as well  as the fundamental  
emotions and sentiments do more to shape
 and fix the  permanent character than  
do any other forces in the world4    ,we
 may well rejoice in the power of the   
,sunday school1 the ,christian          
ministry1 the secular school1 the       
college1 the university2 but all        
together they do not measure up to the  

power of the homes which are  silently1 
gradually determining the future lives  
of those who will  compose the ,sunday  
school1 the ,church1 the school1 and the
 college4    ,the woman who is          
successful in making a true home1 where 
peace and love  dwell1 in which the     
children whom ,god gives her feel the   
sacredness and  holy meaning of life1   
where her husband renews his strength   
for the  struggles and activities of his
 life1 and in which all unite to promote
  the happiness and highest welfare of  
each other--that woman has won the  best
 crown there is in this life1 and she   
has served the world in a  very high    
degree4 ,the union of man and woman for 
the creation of a home  breathing an    
atmosphere of love is ,christ's best    
parable of the highest  possible        
spiritual union where the soul is the   
bride and he is the  ,eternal           
,bridegroom1 and they are one4    ,it   
seems strange that these vital matters  
are so little emphasized or  regarded4  

,few things in fact are more ominous    
than the signs of the  disintegration of
 the home as a nursery of spiritual     
life4 ,we can1  perhaps1 weather        
catastrophes which may break down many  
of our ancient  customs and even        
obliterate some of the institutions     
which now seem  essential to            
civilization2 but the home is a         
fundamental necessity for  true         
spiritual nurture and culture1 and if it
 does not perform its  function the     
world will drift on toward unspeakable  
moral disasters4      ,,iii    ,,the    
,,democracy ,,we ,,aim ,,at             
,democracy was in an earlier period only
 a political aim2 it has now  become a  
deep religious issue4 ,it must be       
discussed not only in caucuses  and     
conventions1 but in churches as well4   
,for a century and a quarter            
8democracy0 has been a great human      
battle word1 and battle words never     
have very exact definitions4 ,it has all
 the time been charged with  explosive  

forces1 and it has produced a kind of   
magic spell on men's  minds during this 
long transitional period4 ,but the word 
democracy has1  throughout this time1   
remained fluid and                      
ill-defined--sometimes expressing  the  
loftiest aspirations and sometimes      
serving the coarse demagogue in  his    
pursuit of selfish ends4    ,the goal or
 aim of the early struggle after        
democracy was the overthrow  of human   
inequalities4 ,men were thought of in   
terms of individual  units1 and the     
units were declared to be intrinsically 
equal4 ,the  contention was made that   
they all had1 or ought to have1 the same
 rights  and privileges4 ,this          
equality-note has1 too1 dominated the   
social and  economic struggles of the   
last seventy-five years4 ,the focus has 
been  centered upon rights and          
privileges4 ,men have been thought of1  
all along1  as individual units1 and the
 goal has been conceived in political   
and  economic terms4 ,democracy is still

 supposed1 in many quarters1 to be an   
organization of society in which the    
units have equal political rights4      
,much of the talk concerning democracy  
is still in terms of privileges4  ,it is
 a striving to secure opportunities and 
chances4 ,the aim is the  attainment of 
a social order in which guarantee is    
given to every  individual that he shall
 have his full economic and political   
rights4    ,i would not1 in the least1  
belittle the importance of these claims1
  or underestimate the human gains which
 have been made thus far in the         
direction of greater equality and larger
 freedom4 ,but these achievements1      
however valuable1 are not enough4 ,they 
can only form the base from which  to   
start the drive for a more genuine and  
adequate type of democracy4 ,at  its    
best this scheme of 8equality0 is       
abstract and superficial4 ,nobody  will 
ever be satisfied with an achievement of
 flat equality4 ,persons can  never be  
reduced to homogeneous units4 ,there are

 individual differences  woven into the 
very fiber of human life1 and no type of
 democracy can  ever satisfy men like us
 until it gets beyond this artificial   
scheme and  learns to deal with the     
problem in more adequate fashion4    ,a 
genuinely ,christian democracy such as  
the religious soul is after can  not be 
conceived in economic terms1 nor can it 
be content with social  units of        
equality or sameness4 ,we want a        
democracy that is vitally and           
spiritually conceived1 which recognizes 
and safeguards the irreducible          
uniqueness of every member of the social
 whole4 ,this means that we can  not    
deal with personal life in terms of     
external behavior4 ,we can not  think of
 society as an aggregation of units     
possessing individual rights  and       
privileges4 ,we shall no longer be      
satisfied to regard persons as  beings  
possessing utilitarian value or made for
 economic uses4 ,we shall  forever      
transcend the instrumental idea4 ,we    

shall begin rather with  the inalienable
 fact of spiritual worth as the central 
feature of the  personal life4 ,this    
would mean that every person1 however   
humble or  limited in scope or range1   
has divine possibilities to be realized2
 is  not a 8thing0 to be used and       
exploited1 but a spiritual creation to  
be  expanded until its true nature is   
revealed4 ,the democracy ,i want will   
treat every human person as a unique1   
sacred1 and indispensable member  of a  
spiritual whole1 a whole which remains  
imperfect if even one of  its 8little   
ones0 is missing2 and its fundamental   
axiom will be the  liberation and       
realization of the inner life which is  
potential in every  member of the human 
race4    ,on the economic and equality  
level we never reach the true conception
  of personal life4 ,men are thought of 
as units having desires1 needs1  and    
wants to be satisfied4 ,we are1 on this 
basis1 aiming to achieve a  condition in
 which the desires1 wants1 and needs are

 well met1 in which  each individual    
contributes his share of supplies to the
 common stock of  economic values1 and  
receives in turn his equitable amount4  
,i am dealing1  on the other hand1 with 
a way of life which begins and ends1 not
 with a  material value-concept at all1 
but rather with a central faith in the  
intrinsic worth and infinite spiritual  
possibilities of every person in  the   
social organism--a democracy of         
spiritual agents4    ,it is true1 no    
doubt1 as ,shylock said1 that we all    
have 8eyes1 hands1  organs1 dimensions1 
senses1 affections1 passions10 are      
8subject to  diseases10 and 8warmed and 
cooled by summer and winter40 8,if you  
prick  us we bleed1 if you tickle us we 
laugh1 if you poison us we die10 and so 
on4 ,we do surely have wants and needs4 
,we must consider values4 ,we must  have
 food and clothes and houses4 ,we must  
have some fair share of the  earth and  
its privileges4 ,but that is only the   
basement and foundation  of real living1

 and we want a democracy that is        
supremely concerned with  the           
development of personality and with the 
spiritual organization of  society4 ,we 
shall not make our estimates of persons 
on a basis of their  uses1 or on the    
ground of their behavior as animal      
beings2 we shall  live and work1 if we  
are ,christ's disciples1 in the faith   
that man is  essentially a spiritual    
being1 in a world which is essentially  
spiritual1  and that we are committed to
 the task of awakening a like faith in  
others  and of helping realize an       
organic solidarity of persons who       
practice  this faith4 ,our rule of life 
would be something like the following3  
to  act everywhere and always as though 
we knew that we are members of a        
spiritual community1 each one possessed 
of infinite worth1 of irreducible       
uniqueness1 and indispensable to the    
spiritual unity of the whole--a         
community that is being continually     
enlarged by the faith and action of     

those who now compose it1 and so in some
 measure being formed by our  human     
effort to achieve a divine ideal4       
,the most important service we can      
render our fellow men is to awaken  in  
them a real faith in their own spiritual
 nature and in their own  potential     
energies1 and to set them to the task of
 building the ideal  democracy in which 
personality is treated as sacred and    
held safe from  violation1 infringement1
 or exploitation1 and1 more than that1  
in which  we altogether respect the     
worth and the divine hopes inherent in  
our  being as men4      ,,iv    ,,the   
,,essential ,,truth ,,of ,,christianity 
,there are few questions more difficult 
to answer than the question1 ,what  is  
,christianity8 ,every attempt to answer 
it reveals the peculiar focus of        
interest in the mind of the writer1 but 
it leaves the main question still       
asking for a new answer4    8,always it 
asketh1 asketh10 and each answer1 to say
 the least1 is  inadequate4 ,harnack1   

,loisy1 and ,tolstoy have given three   
characteristic  answers to the great    
question4 ,their books are touched with 
genius and  will long continue to be    
read1 but1 like the other books1 they1  
too1  reveal the writers rather than    
solve the central problem4    ,one of   
the greatest difficulties about the     
whole matter is the difficulty  of      
deciding where to look for the essential
 traits of ,christianity4  ,are they to 
be found in the teaching of ,jesus8 ,are
 they revealed in  the message of ,st4  
,paul8 ,are they embodied in the        
,messianic hope8 ,are  they exhibited in
 the primitive apostolic ,church8 ,are  
they set forth  in the great creeds of  
orthodoxy8 ,are they expressed in the   
imperial  authoritative ,church8 ,are   
they to be discovered in the            
,protestantism  of the modern world8    
,this catalogue of preliminary questions
 shows how  complicated the subject     
really is4 ,to start in on any one of   
these lines  would be of necessity to   

arrive at a partial and one-sided       
answer4    ,nowhere can we find pure and
 unalloyed ,christianity2 always we have
  it mixed and combined with something  
else1 more or less foreign to  it4 ,the 
creeds contain a larger element of      
,greek philosophy than of  the pure     
original gospel4 ,the ,messianic hope is
 far more ,jewish than  it is           
8,christian40 ,the imperial             
authoritative ,church is ,christianity  
interpreted through the ,roman genius   
for organization and merged  and fused  
with the age-long faiths and customs of 
pagan peoples4  ,protestantism is an    
amazingly complex blend of ideas and    
ideals and  everywhere interwoven with  
the long processes of history4 ,even    
this did  not drop from the sky         
ready-made6 ,nor did ,st4 ,paul's       
message flash in  upon him with the     
,damascus vision1 as a pure             
heaven-presented truth4 ,it  proves to  
be a very difficult task to find one's  
way back to the pure1  unalloyed        

teaching of ,jesus1 and1 strangely      
enough1 the moment one  endeavors to    
constitute this by itself               
8,christianity10 and undertakes to  turn
 it into a set of commands and to make  
it a 8new law10 he ends with a  dry     
legalism and not a vital1 universal     
,christianity4    ,what1 then1 is       
,christianity8 ,in answering this       
question we can not  confine ourselves  
to the teaching and the work of ,jesus4 
,important as it  is to go 8back to     
,jesus0 that is not enough4 ,we can not 
fully comprehend  the meaning of        
,christianity until we take into account
 the fact that  the invisible1          
resurrected ,christ is the continuation 
through the ages  of the same revelation
 begun in the life and teaching of      
,jesus4 ,galilee  and ,judea mark only  
one stage of the gospel1 which is1 in   
its fullness1  an eternal gospel4 ,the  
,christian revelation which came to     
light first  in one ,life--its master   
interpretation and incarnation--has     

since been  going forward in a          
continuous and unbroken manifestation of
 ,christ  through many lives and through
 many groups and through the spiritual  
achievements of all those who have lived
 by him4 ,christianity is1 thus1  the   
revelation of ,god through personal     
life--,god humanly revealed4 ,st4  ,paul
 and the writer of the ,fourth ,gospel  
were the first to reach this  profound  
insight into its fuller meaning1 though 
it is plainly suggested  in some of the 
sayings of ,jesus and in the pentecostal
 experiences of the  first ,christians4 
,it is the very heart of the ,pauline   
and the ,johannine  ,christianity4      
,important as is the backward look to   
,jesus in both these  writers1 the      
central emphasis is unmistakably upon   
the inward experience  of the invisible1
 spiritual ,christ4 ,this is the        
expectation in the ,fourth  ,gospel3    
,greater things than these shall ye do  
when the ,spirit comes upon  you4 ,this 
is the mystery1 the secret of the       

gospel1 ,st4 ,paul says1 ,christ  in    
you4    ,if this is the right clew1     
,christianity is not a new law1 nor an  
institution1 nor a creed1 nor a body of 
doctrine1 nor a millennial  hope4 ,it is
 a type of life1 it is a way of living4 
,the most essential  thing about it is  
the fact of the incursion of ,god into  
human life1  the revelation of the      
eternal in the midst of time1 the new   
discovery  which it brought of ,god's   
nature and character4 ,we nowhere else  
come so  close to the essential truth of
 ,christianity as we do in the life and 
experience of ,jesus4 ,the life at every
 point floods over and transcends  the  
teaching4 ,he is the most complete and  
adequate exhibition of what ,i  have    
called the incursion of ,god into human 
life1 but even so he is the  beginning1 
not the end1 of the revelation of ,god  
through humanity--the                   
,christ-revelation of ,god--and this    
,christ-revelation of ,god is ,god1 so  
far as he is at all adequately known4   

,some persons talk as though ,god were a
 kind of composite ,being1 got by       
adding up the ,god of the natural order1
 the ,god of the ,old ,testament1  and  
the ,god as ,father about whom ,jesus   
taught4 ,he is1 according to this       
scheme1 in some way a compound aggregate
 of infinite power1 irresistible        
justice1 and eternal love4 ,sometimes   
one 8attribute0 is predominant1  and    
sometimes another1 while in some        
mysterious way all the dissonant        
attributes get 8reconciled40 ,this is   
surely boggy ground to build upon4      
,christianity is essentially1 ,i should 
say1 a unique revelation of ,god4  ,here
 for the first time the race discovers  
that ,god identifies himself  with      
humanity1 is in the stream of it1 is    
suffering with us1 is in  moral conflict
 with sin and evil1 is conquering       
through the travail  and tragedy of     
finite persons1 and is eternally1 in    
mind and heart and  will1 a ,god of     
triumphing ,love4 ,no texts adequately  

8prove0 this mighty  truth4 ,we cannot  
tie it down to 8sayings10 though there  
are 8sayings0  which declare it4 ,the   
life of ,jesus1 the supreme decisions   
through which  he expresses his purpose1
 the spirit which dominates him and     
guides his  decisive actions1 make the  
truth plain that ,god meant that to him 
and  that his way of life revealed that 
kind of ,god4    ,through all the       
fusions and confusions of history and   
through all the  vagaries of man's      
tortuous course since the ,church began 
to be built1  ,christ as eternal ,spirit
 has gone on revealing this truth about 
,god and  demonstrating the victorious  
power of this way of life4 ,the making  
of  a kingdom of ,god in the world1 the 
spread of the brother-spirit1 the       
expansion of the love-method1 the       
increase of coperation1 sympathy1  and  
service1 the continued incursion of the 
divine into the life of the  human1     
these are the things now and always     
which indicate the vitality  and        

progress of ,christianity1 and the      
uninterrupted revelation of ,god4       
,always1 in every period of history1 the
 essential truth of ,christianity  must 
be revealed and expressed in and through
 a medium not altogether  adapted to it4
 ,it is always living and working in a  
world more or less  alien to it4 ,it has
 at any stage only partially realized   
its ideal1 and  only achieved in a      
fragmentary way the goal toward which it
 is moving4  ,it means endless conquest 
and ever fresh winning of unwon         
victories4 ,it  must be for us all a    
vision and a venture1 it must be a thing
 of faith  and forecast4 ,at the same   
time it is1 in a very real sense1       
experience  and achievement4 ,god has   
entered into humanity4 ,love has        
revealed its  redeeming power4 ,grace is
 as much a reality as mountains are4    
,the kingdom  of ,god though not all in 
sight yet is1 ,i believe1 as sure as    
gravitation4  ,the invisible1 eternal   
,christ1 living in the soul of man1     

revealing  his will in moral and        
spiritual victories in personal lives1  
is1 ,i am  convinced1 as genuine a fact 
as electricity is4 ,but we shall see all
  that ,christianity means only when the
 living totality of the revelation  of  
,god through humanity is complete4      
,,chapter ,,vii    ,,the ,,near ,,and   
,,the ,,far      ,i    ,,things         
,,present ,,and ,,things ,,to ,,come    
,anaxagoras said twenty-five hundred    
years ago that men are always  cutting  
the world in two with a hatchet4        
,william ,james1 in one of his  living  
phrases1 says with the same import that 
everybody dichotomizes  the cosmos4 ,it 
is so4 ,we all incline to bisect life   
into alternative  possibilities4 ,we    
split realities into opposing halves4   
,we show a kind  of fascination for an  
8either-or0 selection4 ,we are prone to 
use the  principle of parsimony1 and to 
be content with one side of a dilemma4  
,history presents a multitude of        
dualistic pairs from which one was      

supposed to make his individual         
selection4 ,there was the choice between
  this world and the next world2 the    
here and the yonder2 the flesh and the  
spirit2 faith and reason2 the sacred and
 the secular2 the outward and  the      
inward1 and many more similar           
alternatives4 ,this 8either-or0 method  
always leaves its trail of leanness     
behind4 ,it makes life thin and narrow  
where it might be rich and broad1 for in
 almost every case it is just as        
possible to have a whole as to have a   
half1 to take both as to select an      
alternative4 ,st4 ,paul found his       
,corinthians bisecting their spiritual  
lives and narrowing their interests to  
one or two possibilities4 ,one of  them 
would choose ,paul as his representative
 of the truth and then see no  value in 
the interpretation which ,apollos had to
 give4 ,another attached  himself to    
,apollos and missed all the rich        
contributions of ,paul4 ,some of  the   
8saints0 of the ,church selected ,cephas

 as the only oracle1 and they  lost all 
the breadth which would have come to    
them had they been able  to make a      
synthesis of the opposing aspects4 ,st4 
,paul called them from  their divided   
half to a completed whole4 ,he told them
 that instead of  8either-or0 they could
 have both4 8,all things are yours2     
whether ,paul or  ,apollos1 or ,cephas1 
or the world1 or life1 or death1 or     
things present or  things to come1 all  
are yours2 and ye are ,christ's and     
,christ is ,god's40  ,this is the method
 of synthesis4 ,this is the substitution
 of wholes for  halves1 the proffer of  
both for an 8either-or0 alternative4    
,that last pair of alternatives is an   
interesting one1 and many persons  make 
their bisecting choice of life there4   
,one well-known type of person  focuses 
on the near1 the here and now1 the      
things present4 ,those who  belong to   
this class propose to make hay while the
 sun shines4 ,they glory  in being      
practical4 ,they have what doctors call 

myopia4 ,they see only the  near4 ,their
 lenses will not adjust for the remote4 
,they believe in quick  returns and bank
 upon practical results4 ,those of the  
other type have  presbyopia1 or         
far-sightedness4 ,they are dedicated to 
the far-away1 the  remote1 the yonder4  
,they are pursuing rainbows and distant 
ideals4 ,they  are so eager for the     
millennium that they forget the problem 
of their  street and of the present day4
 ,browning has given us a picture of    
both  these types3        8,that low man
 seeks a little thing to do1            
,sees it and does it3      ,this high   
man1 with a great thing to pursue1      
,dies ere he knows it4        ,that low 
man goes on adding one to one1          
,his hundred's soon hit3      ,this high
 man1 aiming at a million1              
,misses an unit40    ,browning's        
sympathies are plainly with the 8high   
man0 who misses the  unit1 but it is one
 more case of unnecessary dichotomy4    
,what we want is  the discovery of a way

 to unite into one synthesis things     
present and  things to come4 ,we need to
 learn how to seize this narrow isthmus 
of a  present and to enrich it with the 
momentous significance of past and      
future4 ,henry ,bergson has been telling
 us that all rich moments of life  are  
rich just because they roll up and      
accumulate the meaning of the past  and 
because they are crowded with           
anticipations of the future4 ,they are  
fused with memory and expectation1 and  
one of these two factors is as          
important as the other4 ,if either dies 
away the present becomes a useless      
half1 like the divided parts of the     
child which ,solomon proposed to  bisect
 for the two contending mothers4    ,we 
are at one of those momentous ridges of 
time at the present moment4  ,some are  
so busy with the near and immediately   
practical that they cannot  see the far 
vision of the world that is to be built4
 ,others are so  impressed with past    
issues that have become paramount1 with 

the glorious  memories of the blessed   
,monroe ,doctrine1 for instance1 that   
they have no  expectant eyes for the    
creation of an interrelated and unified 
world4  ,another group is so concerned  
with the social millennium that they    
discount the lessons of the past1 the   
message of history1 the wisdom of       
experience1 and fly to the useless task 
of constructing abstract human          
paradises and dreams of a world-kingdom 
which could exist only in a realm  where
 men had ceased to be men4    ,what we  
want is a synthesis of things present   
and things to come1 a union  of the     
practical1 tested experience of life and
 the inspired vision of  the prophet who
 sees unfolding the possibilities of    
human life raised to  its fuller glory  
in ,christ1 the incarnation of the way  
of love1 which  always has worked1 is   
working now1 and always will work4      
,,ii    ,,two ,,types ,,of ,,ministry   
,most people like to be told what they  
already think4 ,they enjoy hearing      

their own opinions and ideas            
promulgated1 and no amens are so hearty 
as  the ones which greet the            
reannouncement of views we have already 
held4    ,the natural result is that    
speakers are apt to give their hearers  
what  they want4 ,they take the line of 
least resistance and say what will      
arouse the enthusiasm of the people     
before them1 and they get their quick   
reward4 ,they are popular at once4      
,there is a high tide of emotion as they
  proceed to tell what everybody present
 already thinks1 and they soon find     
themselves in great demand4    ,the main
 trouble with such an easy ministry is  
that it isn't worth doing4  ,it         
accomplishes next to nothing4 ,it merely
 arouses a pleasurable emotion  and     
leaves lives where they were before4    
,and yet not quite where they  were     
either1 for the constant repetition of  
things we already believe  dulls the    
mind and deadens the will and weakens   
rather than strengthens  the power of   

life4 ,it is an easy ministry both for  
speakers and hearers1  but it is ominous
 for them both4    ,the prophet has a   
very different task4 ,he cannot give    
people what they  want4 ,he is under an 
unescapable compulsion to give them what
 his soul  believes to be true4 ,he     
cannot take lines of least resistance2  
he must  work straight up against the   
current4 ,he cannot work for quick      
effects2  he must slowly educate his    
people and compel them to see what they 
have  not seen before4 ,the amens are   
very slow to come to his words1 and he  
cannot look for emotional thrills4 ,he  
must risk all that is dear to  himself1 
except the truth1 as he sets himself to 
his task1 and he is  bound to tread     
lonely wine-presses before he can see of
 the travail of  his soul and be        
satisfied4    ,every age has these two  
types of ministry4 ,they are both       
ancient and  familiar4 ,there are always
 persons who are satisfied to give what 
is  wanted1 who are glad to cater to    

popular taste1 who like the quick       
returns4 ,but there are1 too1 always a  
few souls to be found who volunteer  for
 the harder task4 ,they forego the amens
 and patiently teach men to see  farther
 than they have seen before4 ,their     
first question is not1 ,what do  people 
want me to say8 but1 ,what is ,god's    
truth which to-day ought to be  heard   
through me8 and knowing that1 they      
speak4 ,they do not move their  hearers 
as the other type does2 they do not     
reach so many1 and they miss  the       
popular rewards--but they are compassed 
about by a great cloud of  witnesses as 
they fight their battles for the truth1 
and they have their  joy4    ,but this  
is not quite all there is to say4 ,it is
 not possible to teach  the new         
effectively without linking it up with  
the old4 ,the wholly new is  generally  
not true4 ,new1 fresh truth emerges out 
of ancient experience2  it does not drop
 like a shooting star from the distant  
skies4 ,the great  prophets in all ages 

have lived close to the people4 ,they   
have not had  their 8ear to the ground10
 to use a political phrase1 but they    
have  understood the human heart4 ,they 
have lived in the great currents of     
life4 ,they have heard the going in the 
mulberry trees1 and have felt the       
breaking forth of the dawning light just
 because of their double union  with men
 and ,god4    ,all sound pedagogy       
recognizes this principle4 ,the good    
teacher knits  the new material which he
 wishes learned on to the old and       
familiar4 ,he  takes his student forward
 by gradual stages1 not by leaps and    
bounds1 and  he binds the known and     
unknown together by rational synthesis1 
not by  some strange1 foreign1 magical  
glue4 ,the more we wish to belong to the
  prophet-class and to raise our hearers
 to new and greater levels of truth  and
 insight1 the more we shall strive to   
understand the truth that has  already  
been revealed1 to saturate ourselves    
with it1 to fuse and kindle  our lives  

with those immense realities by which   
men in past ages have  lived and        
conquered4 ,so1 and only so1 can we go  
forward and take others  forward with us
 to new experiences and to new          
discoveries of the light  that never was
 on sea or land4      ,,iii    8,,we    
,,have ,,seen ,,his ,,star0    ,every   
time the ,christmas anniversary returns1
 the heart renews its  youthful joy in  
the thrilling stories of the nativity4  
,we cannot be too  thankful for the     
inspiration and poetry and imagination  
which touch and  glorify every aspect of
 our religious faith4 ,some dull and    
leaden-minded  pedants appear to think  
that the 8real0 ,christ is the person we
 get when  we take1 for the construction
 of our figure1 only those facts about  
him  which can be rationalistically1    
historically1 and critically verified4  
,we  are thus reduced to a few religious
 ideas1 a little group of 8sayings10  a 
tiny body of events1 which explain none 
of the immense results that  followed4  

,the real ,christ1 on the contrary1 is  
this rich1 wonderful1  mysterious1      
baffling person whose life was vastly   
greater even than his  deeds or his     
words1 who aroused the wonder and       
imagination of all who  came in contact 
with him1 who touched everything with   
emotion1 and fused  religion forever    
with poetry and feeling4 ,he1 in a very 
true sense1        8 444 touches all    
things common1      ,till they rise to  
touch the spheres40    ,not only over   
the manger1 but over the entire story of
 his life1 hovers  the glory of the     
star4 ,it is a life that will not stay  
down on the dull  earth of mere fact2 it
 always rises into the region of        
idealism and  beauty4 ,it always        
transcends the things of sight and      
touch4 ,we have a  religion which cannot
 be confined in a system of doctrine or 
a code of  ethics2 it partakes too      
intimately of life for that4 ,it is1    
like its  ,founder1 a full rounded      
reality1 rich in inspiration and emotion

 and  wonder1 as well as in intellectual
 ideas and truth4 ,when the star wanes  
and imagination falls away1 and we hold 
in our thin hands only the husks  of a  
dead system1 the power of religion is   
over4    ,the same thing is true of the 
cross4 ,its power lies in the fullness  
and  richness of the reality4 ,we do not
 want to reduce it1 but to raise it  to 
its full meaning and glory as a way of  
complete life4 ,the direction  of       
present-day ,christianity is certainly  
not away from ,calvary1 but  quite the  
opposite4 ,the men who are in these days
 trying to deliver our  religion from   
formalism and tradition find not less   
meaning in the cross  than a former     
generation did1 but vastly more4 ,the   
atonement remains at  the center1 as it 
has always done1 in vital ,christianity4
 ,all attempts to  reduce ,christianity 
to a dry and bloodless system of        
philosophy1 with  the appeal of the     
heart left out1 fail now as they have   
always failed4  ,it is a ,savior that   

men1 tangled in their sins and their    
sorrows1 still  want--not merely a great
 thinker or a great teacher4    ,the    
,church has1 no doubt1 far too much     
neglected the idea of the kingdom  of   
,god as ,christ expounded it in sermon  
and parable1 and hosts of  prominent    
,christians do not at all understand    
what this great1 central  teaching of   
the ,master meant then and means now4   
,his transforming  revelation of the    
nature of ,god has1 too1 been missed by 
multitudes1 who  still hold ,jewish     
rather than ,christian conceptions of   
,god4 ,but patient  study of the gospel 
is slowly forcing these ideas into the  
thought of  men everywhere1 and books   
abound now which make his teaching clear
 and  luminous4    ,what is needed above
 everything else now is that we shall   
not lose any  of our vision of ,christ  
as ,savior1 and that we shall live our  
lives  in his presence4 ,it is through  
the cross that we touch closest to the  
,savior-heart1 and it is here that we   

feel our lives most powerfully moved  by
 the certainty of his divine nature4    
,arguments may fail1 but one who  looks 
steadily at this voluntary ,sufferer1   
giving himself for us1 will  cry out1   
with one of old1 8,my ,lord and my      
,god40    ,nothing short of that will   
do1 ,i believe1 if ,christianity is to  
remain  a saving religion4 ,good men    
have died in all ages2 great teachers   
have  again and again gone to their     
deaths in behalf of their truth or out  
of love for their disciples4 ,it touches
 us as we read of their bravery  and    
their loyalty1 but we do not and we     
cannot build a world-saving  religion   
upon them4 ,christ is different6 ,we    
feel that in him the veil is  lifted and
 we are face to face with ,god4 ,when we
 hear with our hearts  the words1 8,in  
the world ye shall have tribulation2 but
 fear not1 for ,i  have overcome the    
world10 we feel that we are hearing the 
triumph of ,god  in the midst of        
suffering--we are hearing of an eternal 

triumph4 ,christ  can not be for us less
 than ,god manifested here in a world of
 time and  space and finiteness1 doing  
in time what ,god does in               
eternity--suffering  over sin1 entering 
vicariously into the tragedy of evil1   
and triumphing  while he treads the     
winepress4 ,no one has fathomed the     
awfulness of sin1  until1 in some sense1
 he feels that his sin makes ,god       
suffer1 that it  crucifies him afresh4  
,if ,christ is ,god revealed in         
time--made visible and  vocal to        
men--then1 through the cross1 we shall  
discover that we are not  to think of   
,god henceforth as ,sovereign--not a    
,being yonder1 enjoying his  royal      
splendor4 ,we must think of him all the 
time in terms of ,christ4 ,he  is an    
eternal ,lover of our hearts4 ,we pierce
 him with our sins2 we wound  him with  
our wickedness4 ,he suffers1 as mothers 
who love suffer1 and he  enters         
vicariously into all the tragic deeps of
 our lives1 striving to  bring us home  

to him4 ,jan ,ruysbroeck says3          
8,you must love the ,love which loves   
you everlastingly1 and if      you hold 
fast by his love1 he remakes you by his 
,spirit1 and      then joy is yours4    
,the ,spirit of ,god breathes into you1 
and you      breathe it out in rest and 
joy and love4 ,this is eternal life1    
just as in our mortal life we breathe   
out the air that is in us      and      
breathe in fresh air40                  
,,chapter ,,viii    ,,the               
,,light-,,fringed ,,mystery      ,i     
,,the ,,religious ,,significance ,,of   
,,death    ,the ,greeks had their story 
of ,tithonus1 a deeply significant myth 
of a  man who could not die1 but who    
grew ever older and more decrepit until 
the tragedy became unendurable and he   
envied those 8happy men that have  the  
power to die40 ,methuselah's biography  
is brief and compact1 but it  is full of
 pathos3 8,he lived nine hundred and    
sixty-nine years and he  died40 ,there  
was nothing more to add4 ,somebody has  

invented a radium  motor which strikes a
 little bell every second and is        
warranted to go  on doing that for      
thirty thousand years4 ,the ,methuselah 
monotony and  tedium seem much like that
 thin seriatim row of items4 ,it just   
goes on  with no novelty and no         
cumulation1 and finally the one         
relieving novelty  is introduced--8he   
died40 ,what a happy fact it was6 ,the  
wandering ,jew  stands out in           
imaginative fiction as one of the       
saddest of all men--a  being who        
endlessly goes on4 ,the angel of death  
seems a gentle1 gracious  messenger when
 one thinks of the prospect of unending 
life1 going on  in a one-dimensional    
series1 with no new values and no fresh 
powers of  expansion4 ,to many persons  
the idea of heaven is simply an expanded
  ,methuselah biography4    ,biologists 
have completely reversed the theory that
 death is an enemy4  ,it has long ago   
taken its place in the system of        
teleology1 among 8the  things that are  

for us40 ,death has1 beyond question1   
and has had1 8a  natural utility40 ,it  
has played an important rle in raising  
life from  the low unicellular type to  
the rich complex forms of higher        
organisms1  from 8the amba that never   
dies of old age0 to the new dynasty of  
beings  that have greater range and     
scope1 but which nevertheless do die4   
,edwin  ,arnold in his striking essay on
 ,death says3 8,the lowest living thing1
  the ,protamba1 has obviously never    
died6 ,it is a formless film of         
protoplasm1 which multiplies by simple  
division2 and the specimen under  any   
microscope derives1 and must derive1 in 
unbroken existence from the  amba which 
moved and fed forty ons ago4 ,the slime 
of our nearest puddle  lived before the 
,alps were made60 ,methuselah was a mere
 child in a  perambulator compared to an
 amba4    ,in cases where the continued 
process of cell-division produced a     
lowered  and weakened type of amba a    
rudimentary form of union of cells took 

place1 which resulted in raising the    
entire level of life and eventually     
carried the biological order up to      
wholly new possibilities4 ,so that  the 
threatened approach of death was met    
with an increase of life4 8,it  is more 
probable that death is a consequence of 
life10 says the famous  biologist1      
,edward ,cope1 8rather than that the    
living is a product of the              
non-living40#b    ,but in any case the  
testimony of biology can give us little 
help4 ,even if  death has had a function
 in the process of evolution1 as seems  
likely1  that in no way eases the       
situation when the staggering blow falls
 into  our precious circle and removes  
from it an intimate personal life that  
was indispensable to us4 ,it is poor1   
cold comfort to be told that death  has 
assisted through the long ons in the    
slow process of heightening  the entire 
scale of life1 if there is nothing more 
to say regarding the  future of this    
dear one whose frail bark has now gone  

to wreck4 ,we must  somehow rise above  
the level of brute facts and discover   
some spiritual  significance which death
 has revealed1 before we can arrive at  
any source  of comfort4 ,we are all     
agreed with ,shakespeare's ,claudio that
 8'tis too  horrible0 to think of death 
as a sheer terminus3        8 444 to die
 and go we know not where2      ,to lie 
in cold obstruction1 and to rot2        
,this sensible warm motion to become    
,a kneaded clod2 and the delighted      
spirit      ,to bathe in fiery floods1  
or to reside      ,in thrilling regions 
of rock-ribbed ice2      ,to be         
imprisoned in the viewless winds1       
,and blown with restless violence round 
about      ,the pendent world40         
,death has undoubtedly brought to       
consciousness1 as has perhaps no other  
experience1 the deeper meaning and      
significance of personal life4 ,this    
and not its biological function is what 
concerns us now4 ,it has been  said that
 8freedom10 so far as it is achieved1   

8is the main achievement  of man in the 
past40#c ,i should be inclined rather to
 hold that man's  main achievement on   
the planet so far has been to discover  
that personal  life reveals within      
itself an absolute value and possesses  
unmistakable  capacity to transcend the 
finite and temporal1 an experience which
  makes freedom possible4 ,i believe    
death has ministered more than any      
other single fact that confronts us in  
bringing those truths to clear          
consciousness4 ,we cannot1 of course1   
dissociate death and separate it  from  
pain1 suffering1 struggle and danger1   
which are essentially bound up  with it4
 ,if the world were to be freed         
completely from death it would at  once 
ipso facto be freed from the danger of  
it and by the same altered  condition   
struggle would to a large degree be     
eliminated1 and likewise  those other   
great tests of life--pain and suffering1
 which culminate in  death4 ,these      
things are all 8perilous incidents0 of  

finiteness1 but of  a finiteness which  
transcends itself and is allied to      
something beyond  itself4 ,to eliminate 
these things would be to miss the       
discovery of this  strange              
finite-infinite nature of ours which    
makes life such a venture  and so full  
of mystery and wonder4 ,if we had been  
only naturalistic  beings1 curious bits 
of the earth's crust merely capable of  
recording the  empirical facts as they  
occurred1 death would have taken an     
unimportant  place as one more event in 
a successive series of phenomena4 ,built
 as we  are1 however1 with a beyond     
within ourselves1 the fact of mutability
 and  mortality has occasioned a        
transformation of our entire estimate of
 life  and has led us by the hand to a  
,pisgah view which we should never have 
got if there had been no invasion of    
death into our world4    8,it is a      
venerable commonplace10 as ,professor   
,schiller of ,oxford has  said1 8that   
among the melancholy prerogatives which 

distinguish man  from the other animals 
and bestow a deeper significance on     
human life  is the fact that man alone  
is aware of the doom that terminates his
  earthly existence1 and on this account
 lives a more spiritual life1 in  the   
ineffable consciousness of the #8sword  
of ,damocles' which overshadows  him and
 weights his lightest action with       
gigantic import4 ,nay1 more2  stimulated
 by the ineluctable necessity of facing 
death1 and of living so  as to face it  
with fortitude1 man has not abandoned   
himself to nerveless  inaction1 to      
pusillanimous despair2 he has conceived 
the thought1 he  has cherished the hope1
 he has embraced the belief1 of a life  
beyond  the grave1 and opened his soul  
to the religions which baulk the king of
  terrors of his victims and defraud him
 of his victory4 ,thus1 the fear  of    
death has been redeemed1 and ennobled by
 the consoling belief in  immortality1 a
 belief from which none are base enough 
to withhold their  moral homage1 even   

though the debility of mortal knowledge 
may debar a  few from a full acceptance 
of its promise40#d    ,the early        
animistic views of survival1 which were 
the first forecasts of  a life beyond1  
were due not so much to the             
consciousness of the moral  grandeur of 
life as to actual experiences which gave
 to primitive  man a confident assurance
 of some form of life after the death of
 the  body4 ,dreams had an important    
part in leading man to this nave and yet
  momentous discovery4 ,in a world which
 had no established criterion of        
8reality10 the experiences of vivid     
dreams were taken to be as real as  any 
other experiences1 and in these dreams  
the dreamer often found his  dead       
ancestors and friends and tribesmen once
 more present with him1  active in the  
chase or the fight and as real as ever  
they were in life4  ,trance1            
hallucination1 telepathy1 mediumship1   
possession1 are not new  phenomena2 they
 are very primitive and ancient4 ,these 

things are as old  as smiling and       
weeping4 ,these psychic experiences had 
their part to  play also in giving the  
early races their belief that the dead  
person  still existed though in an      
altered and attenuated form as an animus
 or  8spirit0 or 8shade40 ,this         
empirical view of survival1 built on    
actual  experiences1 was more or less   
incapable of advance4 ,no further       
knowledge  could be acquired and the    
constructions fashioned by imagination1 
in  reference to 8the scenery and       
circumstance0 of the departed soul1     
could  satisfy only an uncritical mind4 
,these constructions were1 too1 often   
crude and bizarre1 and tended1 in the   
hands of priests1 to hamper man's  moral
 development rather than to further it4 
,but in any case man had made  the      
momentous guess that death did not      
utterly end him or his career4  ,poor   
and thin as this dimly conceived future 
world of primitive man's  hope may have 
been1 the psychological effect of the   

hope was by no means  negligible4       
,professor ,shaler of ,harvard was      
probably speaking truly when  he wrote3 
8,if we should seek some one mark1 which
 in the intellectual advance from  the  
brutes to man1 might denote the passage 
to the human side1 we might  well find  
it in the moment when it dawned upon the
 nascent man that death  was a mystery  
which he had in his turn to meet4 ,from 
the time when man  began to face death  
to the present stage of his development 
there has  been a continuous struggle   
between the motives of personal fear on 
the  one hand1 and valor on the other4  
,that of fear has been constantly aided 
by the work of the imagination4 ,for one
 fact of danger there have been  scores 
of fancied risks to come from the unseen
 world4 ,against this great  host of    
imaginary ills1 which tended utterly to 
bear men down1 they had  but one        
helper--their spirit of valiant         
self-sacrifice for the good of  their   
family1 their clan1 their state1 their  

race1 or1 in the climax1 for  the       
,infinite above40#e    ,it marked a     
still greater intellectual advance when 
primitive man came to  the immense      
conclusion not only that death was a    
mystery which he in turn  must meet1 but
 that he was a being that would survive 
death4    ,it is1 however1 in another   
field that we must look for the most    
important  spiritual results from the   
contemplation of death1 that is in what 
we  may call the field of spiritual     
values4 ,i have already contended that  
man's greatest discovery was his        
discovery of the absolute value of moral
  personality4 ,of course1 it came      
fairly late in the development of the   
race and by no means has everybody made 
it yet6 ,but at any rate there  came a  
time somewhere in the process of history
 when man did discover a  beyond within 
himself1 a greater inclusive self       
present within his own  fragmentary1    
finite spirit1 revealed as a passion for
 perfection not yet  attained or        

experienced1 a prophesying consciousness
 of eternity within  his often baffled  
and defeated temporal life4 ,no one has 
expressed the  fact of this inner beyond
 within us better than old ,sir ,thomas 
,browne  did in the seventeenth century3
 8,we are men and we know not how2 there
  is something in us that can be without
 us and will be after us1 though  it is 
strange that it hath no history of what 
it was before us1 nor can  tell how it  
entered in us4444 ,there is surely a    
piece of ,divinity in us1  something    
that was before the elements and owes   
not homage unto the ,sun40    ,the      
sublimity and grandeur revealed in      
nature1 the majesty of mountains1  the  
might of seas1 the mystery of the ocean1
 the glory of the sun and  stars1 the   
awe inspired by the thunderstorm1       
awakened man's own spirit  and made him 
dimly conscious of a kindred grandeur in
 his own answering  soul4 ,the greatest 
step of all was taken when man awoke to 
the meaning  and value of love4 ,in some

 dim sense love preceded the emergence  
of man4  ,the evolution of a mother and 
of a father1 as ,drummond showed1 began 
far  back in forms of life below man4   
,but the type of love which transcends  
instinct1 which is raised above         
sex-assertion1 and is transmuted into an
  unselfish appreciation of the beauty  
and worth of personal character--that   
type of love is one of the most         
wonderful flowers that has yet blossomed
  on our ,igdrasil tree of life and it  
was late and slow to come1 like  flowers
 on the century-plant4    ,when death   
broke in and separated those who loved  
in this great fashion  the whole problem
 of death at once became an urgent one4 
,in fact death  received attention in   
proportion as the higher values of life 
began to  be realized4 ,walt ,whitman's 
fiery outburst reveals clearly his      
estimate  of the worth of personality4  
8,if rats and maggots end us1 then      
alarum6  for we are betrayed0--he might 
have said 8if microbes end us40         

,emerson's  poignant outcry of soul is  
found in his greatest poem--8,threnody03
        8,there's not a sparrow or a    
wren1      ,there's not a blade of      
autumn grain1      ,which the four      
seasons do not tend      ,and tides of  
life and increase lend2      ,and every 
chick of every bird1      ,and weed and 
rock-moss is preferred4      ,o         
ostrich-like forgetfulness6      ,o loss
 of larger in the less6      ,was there 
no star that could be sent1      ,no    
watcher in the firmament1      ,no angel
 from the countless host      ,that     
loiters round the crystal coast1        
,could stoop to heal that only child1   
,nature's sweet marvel undefiled1       
,and keep the blossom of the earth1     
,which all her harvests were not worth80
    ,no such high revolt of spirit was  
occasioned so long as death was a mere  
biological event1 terminating one life  
to give room for another4 ,this  cry of 
soul means the discovery of the infinite
 preciousness of personal  life4 ,the   

mind now turns in on itself and takes a 
new account of its  stock1 and as a     
result man began to solve the problem of
 death in an  enlarged way4 ,he was no  
longer satisfied with a form of survival
 based  upon his experiences in dreams1 
trance and hallucination2 he came to    
feel  that he must have a destiny which 
fitted his spiritual worth as a man4 ,he
  finds within himself intimation of    
powers and possibilities beyond those   
required for the struggle of life here4 
,he feels by that same insight  which   
carries him out beyond the seen to a    
rational faith in the unseen  that is   
necessary to complete it1 that this     
little arc of earthly life  with its    
revelations of spiritual value and its  
transcendent prophecies  of more must   
find fulfillment somewhere in a form of 
life that rounds it  out full circle4   
,the argument does not build on a       
passion of desire1 as some doubters have
  said4 ,we do not assume immortality   
just because we want it4 ,it rests upon 

the moral consistency of the universe1  
upon the trustworthy character  of the  
eternal nature of things4 ,the moral    
values which are revealed in  fully     
developed personality are certainly as  
real1 as much a fact of  the universe1  
as are the tides or the orbits of       
planets4 ,if we can count  upon the     
continuity of these occurrences and upon
 our predictions of  them1 just as      
surely can we count on the consistency  
of the universe in  reference to        
spiritual values4 ,if there is          
conservation of matter there  is at     
least as good ground for affirming      
conservation of moral values4  ,if      
biological life can pass over the       
slender bridge of a microscopic         
germ-plasm and can carry with itself    
over that feeble bridge the traces  of  
habit and feature1 the curve of nose and
 the emotional tone of some  far-off    
dead ancestor1 and all the heredity     
gains of the past1 may we not  count    
upon the permanence of that in us which 

allies us to that infinite  ,spirit who 
is even now the invisible environment of
 all we see and touch8    ,it is not a  
matter of reward or of 8wages0 that     
concerns us4 ,it is not  8happy isles0  
or care-free 8,edens0 that we seek1 not 
8golden streets0  and endless comfort to
 make up for the stress and toil of the 
lean years  here below4 ,we want to find
 the whole of ourselves1 we ask the     
privilege  of seeing this fragmentary   
being of ours unfold into the full      
expression  of its gifts and powers4    
,the new period may be even more        
strenuous and  hazardous than this one  
has been--still we want the venture4 ,we
 ask for  the culminating acts that will
 complete the drama1 so far only fairly 
begun4 ,it must be not a mere serial1 or
 straight line1 existence2 it  must be  
the opening out and expansion of the    
possibilities which we feel  within     
ourselves--new dimensions1 please ,god4 
,i am not wrong1 ,i am sure1 in claiming
 that this postulate1 this rational     

faith in the conservation of values1 is 
an asset which death has revealed  to   
the race4 ,the shock of death has always
 made love appear a greater  thing than 
we knew before the baffling crisis came 
upon us4 ,it has1 too1  by the same     
shock of contrast1 awakened man to the  
full comprehension  of the moral        
sublimity of the good life4 ,kant       
maintained that the sense  of the       
sublime is due to the fact that when we 
are confronted with the  supreme powers 
of nature we then become aware of       
something unfathomable  in ourselves1   
and feel that we are superior to the    
might of the storm1  or the mountain or 
the cataract4 ,nowhere is this truer    
than when man--man  in his full1 rich   
powers--is confronted by death4 ,instead
 of cringing in  fear1 he rises to an   
unaccustomed height of greatness and is 
utterly  superior to death and aware of 
some quality of being in himself which  
death cannot touch4 ,it is just then in 
that moment of seeming disaster  and    

dissolution that a brave1 good man is   
most triumphant and ready to  burn all  
bridges behind him in his great         
adventure4 ,mrs4 ,browning1 all  her    
life an invalid1 says about this        
so-called gigantic enemy3 8,i cannot    
look on the earthside of death4 ,when ,i
 look deathwards ,i look over death  and
 upwards40 ,her husband1 who was 8ever a
 fighter10 has this way of  announcing  
the triumph3        8,and then as1 'mid 
the dark1 a gleam      ,of yet another  
morning breaks1        ,and like the    
hand which ends a dream1      ,death1   
with the might of his sunbeam1          
,touches the flesh and the soul         
awakes40#f    ,here is the testimony of 
a ,french soldier who writes at a moment
 when  death is close beside him3 8,i   
had often known the joy of seeing a     
spring  come like this1 but never before
 had ,i been given the power of living  
in  every instant4 ,so it is that one   
wins1 without the help of any science1 a
  vague but indisputable intuition of   

the ,absolute4444 ,these are hours of   
such beauty that he who embraces them   
knows not what death means40    ,having 
come upon the higher values of personal 
life which death has  forced upon us we 
can never again1 as men1 be satisfied   
with such  facts of survival as may come
 to light through dreams1               
hallucinations1  telepathy and mediums1 
or in fact through any empirical        
experiences4 ,even  if the evidence were
 vastly greater than it is for some form
 of animistic  survival1 it would fall  
far short of our moral and spiritual    
demands4 ,we  already have some         
intimations in us of 8the power of an   
endless life10  and we seek for a chance
 to bring it full into play1 for the    
8heavenly  period0 to 8perfect the      
earthen10 for an ampler life that will  
reveal  what we have all the time meant 
life to be4    ,winifred ,kirkland in   
,the ,new ,death well says3 8,the ,new  
,death1 i4e41  the new view of death1 is
 the perception of our mortal end as the

 mere  portal of an eternal progression 
and the immediate result is the         
consecration of all living4444 ,it is a 
new illumination1 a ,new ,death1  when  
dying can be the greatest inspiration of
 our everyday energy1 the  strongest    
impulse toward daily joy40      ,,ii    
,,the ,,new ,,born ,,out ,,of ,,the     
,,old    ,walking across the fields in  
the spring ,i found the empty shell of a
  bird's egg4 ,the tiny bird that once  
was in it was lying still and happy     
under its mother's wings1 or was        
chirping its new-born song from the limb
  of a nearby tree1 or was trying its   
new-found wings on the buoyant air4     
,the empty shell was utterly worthless1 
a mere plaything for the wind4  ,the    
miracle of life that had stirred within 
it and had used it for its  shelter had 
gone on and left it deserted4 ,there is 
a fine proverb which  says1 8,god       
empties the nest by hatching out the    
eggs10 and the world  is full of this   
gentle1 silent1 divine method of        

abolishing the old by  setting free to  
higher ends all that was true and living
 in it4        8,to-day ,i saw the      
dragon-fly      ,come from the wells    
where he did lie4      ,an inner impulse
 rent the veil      ,of his old husk3   
from head to tail      ,came out clear  
plates of sapphire mail4      ,he dried 
his wings3 like gauze they grew2        
,through crofts and pastures wet with   
dew      ,a living flash of light he    
flew40    ,in the water below1 the 8old 
husk0 lay empty and useless1 while the  
bright-colored living thing found its   
freedom in the invisible air4 ,i  never 
go to a funeral without thinking of this
 miracle of transformation  which brings
 the bird out of the egg1 the flower out
 of the seed1 the  dragon-fly out of its
 water-larva4 ,in his own mysterious way
 ,god has  emptied the nest by the      
hatching method1 and all that was       
excellent1  lovable1 and permanent in   
the one we loved has found itself in the
 realm  for which it was fitted4 ,the   

body is only the empty shell1 the       
shattered  seed1 the old husk1 which the
 silent forces of nature will slowly    
turn  back again into its original      
elements1 to use over again for its     
myriad  processes of building3          
8,and from his ashes may be made        
,the violet of his native land40        
,those who treasure up the outworn dust 
and ashes1 who make their thoughts      
center about the empty shell1 are       
failing to read aright the deeper  fact1
 which life everywhere is trying to     
utter1 that that which belongs  in the  
higher sphere cannot be pent up in the  
lower4    ,this divine hatching method  
may be seen1 too1 in the progress of    
truth1  as it unfolds from stage to     
stage4 ,nothing is more common than to  
see a  person holding on to a shell in  
which truth has dwelt1 without realizing
  that the precious thing he wants has  
gone on and rembodied itself in  new and
 living ways which he fails to follow   
and comprehend4 ,while he is  saying in 

melancholy tones1 8,they have taken away
 my ,lord and ,i know not  where they   
have laid him10 the living ,lord is     
saying1 8,have ,i been so  long time    
with thee and yet dost thou not know    
me80    ,truth can no more keep a fixed 
and permanent form than life can4 ,it   
lives  only by hatching out into higher 
and ever more adequate expressions of   
itself1 and the old forms in which it   
lived1 the old words through which  it  
uttered itself1 become empty and hollow 
because the warm breath of ,god  has    
raised the inner life1 the spiritual    
reality1 to a higher form of            
expression4    ,the writer of the       
,epistle to the ,hebrews was very much  
impressed with  this crumbling of old   
forms and expressions to give place to  
the new4  ,god spoke1 he says1 to our   
fathers in sundered portions and in a   
variety  of manners1 but he is speaking 
to us now by his ,son4 ,the things that 
can  be shaken1 he writes1 are being    
removed that the things which cannot be 

shaken may remain4 ,luther must have    
felt this shaking process in his day2   
and when he saw the old forms of        
religion crumbling1 he wrote that great 
hymn of the ,reformation1 8,a ,mighty   
,fortress is ,our ,god40 ,he had found  
something that could not be shaken4 ,he 
could stand his ground and face  the    
seen and unseen world in faith1 because 
he knew that the hatching was  going on1
 and the new was being born in higher1  
truer1 and more adequate  forms as the  
old was vanishing4    ,let us hope that 
this ancient divine method may still    
operate in this  momentous hour of human
 history4 ,never1 perhaps1 since the    
fall of ,rome1  has there been such a   
world-shaking process affecting every   
country and  all peoples4 ,immense      
changes are under way4 ,nothing will    
ever be quite  the same again4 ,the old 
is vanishing before our eyes and the new
 is  being born4 ,so much was wrong and 
outworn1 and unjust and inhuman1 that   
the changes must go very far1 and they  

will necessarily involve some  breakage4
 ,but even now1 in this most dynamic    
period of modern history1  that which is
 to mark permanent progress will come   
forth1 not by a  smashing process1 but  
by the hatching of the eggs1 by the     
emergence of  the underlying forces of  
life and the realization of those human 
hopes  and aspirations that have long   
been held in and suppressed4    ,there  
is always the gravest danger from blind 
rage and sullen wrath4 ,the  passionate 
resentment for the suffering of         
immemorial wrongs1 when once  it breaks 
through the dams of restraint1 is an    
almost irresistible force2  but sooner  
or later the sound1 serious sense of the
 intelligent human  race comes into play
 and brings the world back to order and 
system4 ,the  real gains in these crises
 are made not by the smashings and the  
blind  iconoclastic blows1 but by the   
wise1 clear-sighted fulfillment of the  
slowly formed ideals which have been the
 inspiration of many lives before  the  

crisis came4 ,may it be so now6 ,it must
 not be1 it cannot be1 that  these      
millions of men shall have unavailingly 
faced death and mutilation4  ,it was not
 wreckage and chaos they sought in their
 brave adventure with  death4 ,they went
 out to build a new world and to        
destroy1 only that a new  re-creation   
might begin4 ,this is the time of       
incubation and birth1 for  ripening into
 reality those mighty hopes that make us
 men4    ,it means at once that we must 
deepen down our lives into the life of  
,god1  that we must suppress our petty  
individual passions and feel the sweep  
of  ,god's purposes for the new age4 ,in
 a multitude of ways the world moves    
on1 and as it moves the ,spirit of ,god 
ends old forms and methods and  brings  
fresh and living ways to light4 ,may we 
have eyes to see what is of  his divine 
hatching and what is empty shell6       
,,chapter ,,ix    ,,the ,,mystic',s     
,,experience ,,of ,,god      ,i    ,the 
revival of mysticism which has been one 

of the noteworthy features  in the      
,christianity of our time has presented 
us with a number of  interesting and    
important questions4 ,we want to know1  
first of all1 what  mysticism really is4
 ,secondly1 we want to know whether it  
is a normal or  abnormal experience4    
,and omitting many other questions which
 must wait  their turn1 we want to know 
whether mystical experiences actually   
enlarge  our sphere of knowledge1 i4e41 
whether they are trustworthy sources of 
authentic information and authoritative 
truth concerning realities which  lie   
beyond the range of human senses4       
,the answer to the first question       
appears to be as difficult to accomplish
  as the return of ,ulysses was4 ,the   
secret is kept in book after book4  ,one
 can marshall a formidable array of     
definitions1 but they oppose and        
challenge one another1 like the men     
sprung from the dragon's teeth4  ,for   
the purposes of the present             
consideration we can eliminate what is  

usually included under psychical        
phenomena1 that is1 the phenomena of    
dreams1 visions and trances1 hysteria   
and dissociation and esoteric  and      
occult phenomena4 ,thirty years ago     
,professor ,royce said3 8,in the        
,father's house are many mansions1 and  
their furniture is extremely  manifold4 
,astral bodies and palmistry1 trances   
and mental healing1  communications from
 the dead and #8phantasms of the        
living'--such things  are for some      
people to-day the sole quite            
unmistakable evidences of the  supremacy
 of the spiritual world40 ,these        
phenomena are worthy of careful         
painstaking study and attention1 for    
they will eventually throw much  light  
upon the deep and complex nature of     
human personality1 are in fact  already 
throwing much light upon it4 ,but they  
furnish us slender data  for            
understanding what is properly meant by 
mystical experience and its  religious  
and spiritual bearing4    ,we can1 too1 

leave on one side the metaphysical      
doctrines which fill a  large amount of 
space in the books of the great mystics4
 ,these doctrines  had a long historical
 development and they would have taken  
essentially  the same form if the       
exponents of them had not been mystics4 
,mystical  experience is confined to no 
one form of philosophy1 though some ways
 of  thinking no doubt favor and other  
ways retard the experience1 as they     
also often do in the case of religious  
faith in general4 ,mystical  experience1
 furthermore1 must not be confused with 
what technical expert  writers call 8the
 mystic way40 ,there are as many        
mystical 8ways0 as there  are gates to  
the ,new ,jerusalem3 8,on the east three
 gates1 on the north  three gates1 on   
the south three gates1 and on the west  
three gates40 ,one  might as well try to
 describe the way of making love1 or the
 way of  appreciating the grand canyon  
as to describe the way to the discovery 
of ,god1 as though there were only one  

way4    ,i am not interested in         
mysticism as an ism4 ,it turns out in   
most  accounts to be a dry and abstract 
thing1 hardly more like the warm and    
intimate experience than the color of a 
map is like the country for which  it   
stands4 8,canada is very pink10 seems   
quite an inadequate description  of the 
noble country north of our border4 ,it  
is mystical experience and  not         
mysticism that is worthy of our study4  
,we are concerned with the  experience  
itself1 not with second-hand            
formulations of it4 8,the mystic10  says
 ,professor ,royce1 8is a thorough-going
 empiricist20 8,god ceases to  be an    
object and becomes an experience10 says 
,professor ,pringle-,pattison4  ,if it  
is an experience we want to find out    
what happens to the mystic  himself     
inside where he lives4 ,according to    
those who have been there  the          
experience which we call mystical is    
charged with the conviction of  real1   
direct contact and commerce with ,god4  

,it is the almost universal  testimony  
of those who are mystics that they find 
,god through their  experience4 ,john   
,tauler says that in his best moments of
 8devout prayer  and the uplifting of   
the mind to ,god10 he experiences 8the  
pure presence  of ,god in his own soul10
 but he adds that all he can tell others
 about  the experience is 8as poor and  
unlike it as the point of a needle is   
to the heavens above us40 8,i have met  
with my ,god2 ,i have met with  my      
,savior4 ,i have felt the healings drop 
upon my soul from under ,his  wings10   
says ,isaac ,penington in the joy of his
 first mystical experience4  ,without   
needlessly multiplying such testimonies 
for data1 we can say  with considerable 
assurance that mystical experience is   
consciousness of  direct and immediate  
relationship with some transcendent     
reality which in  the moment of         
experience is believed to be ,god4      
8,this is ,he1 this is ,he10  exclaims  
,isaac ,penington1 8there is no other3  

,this is ,he whom ,i have  waited for   
and sought after from my childhood40    
,angela of ,foligno says  that she      
experienced ,god1 and saw that the whole
 world was full of ,god4      ,,ii      
,there are many different degrees of    
intensity1 concentration and  conviction
 in the experiences of different        
individual mystics1 and also  in the    
various experiences of the same         
individual from time to time4  ,there   
has been a tendency in most studies of  
mysticism to regard the  state of       
ecstasy as par excellence mystical      
experience4 ,that is1  however1 a grave 
mistake4 ,the calmer1 more meditative1  
less emotional1  less ecstatic          
experiences of ,god are not less        
convincing and possess  greater         
constructive value for life and         
character than do ecstatic  experiences 
which presuppose a peculiar psychical   
frame and disposition4  ,the seasoned   
,quaker in the corporate hush and       
stillness of a silent  meeting is far   

removed from ecstasy1 but he is not the 
less convinced  that he is meeting with 
,god4 ,for the essentia of mysticism we 
do not  need to insist upon a certain   
8sacred0 mystic way nor upon ecstasy1   
nor upon any peculiar type of rare      
psychic upheavals4 ,we do need to       
insist1 however1 upon a consciousness of
 commerce with ,god amounting to        
conviction of his presence4             
8,where one heard noise      ,and one   
saw flame1      ,i only knew ,he named  
my name40    ,jacob ,boehme calls the   
experience which came to him1 8breaking 
through  the gate10 into 8a new birth or
 resurrection from the dead10 so that1  
he  says1 8,i knew ,god40 8,i am        
certain10 says ,eckhart1 8as certain as 
that ,i  live1 that nothing is so near  
to me as ,god4 ,god is nearer to me than
 ,i  am to myself40 ,one of these       
experiences--the first one--was an      
ecstasy1  and the other1 so far as we   
can tell1 was not4 ,it was the flooding 
in of  a moment of ,god-consciousness in

 the act of preaching a sermon to the   
common people of ,cologne4 ,the         
experience of ,penington1 again1 was not
  an ecstasy2 it was the vital surge of 
fresh life on the first occasion  of    
hearing ,george ,fox preach after a long
 period of waiting silence4 ,a  simple  
normal case of a mild type is given in a
 little book of recent  date1 reprinted 
from the ,atlantic ,monthly3 8,after a  
long time of  jangling conflict and     
inner misery1 ,i one day1 quite quietly 
and with  no conscious effort1 stopped  
doing the dis-ingenuous thing ,i had    
been  doing4 ,then the marvel happened4 
,it was as if a great rubber band which 
had been stretched almost to the        
breaking point were suddenly released   
and snapped back to its normal          
condition4 ,heaven and earth were       
changed  for me4 ,everything was        
glorious because of its relation to some
 great  central life--nothing seemed to 
matter but that life40 ,brother         
,lawrence1  a barefooted lay-brother of 

the seventeenth century1 according to   
the  testimony of the brotherhood1      
attained 8an unbroken and undisturbed   
sense  of the ,presence of ,god40 ,he   
was not an ecstatic2 he was a quiet1    
faithful  man who did his ordinary daily
 tasks with what seemed to his friends  
8an unclouded vision1 an illuminated    
love and an uninterrupted joy40  ,simple
 and humble though he was1 he           
nevertheless acquired1 through his      
experience of ,god1 8an extraordinary   
spaciousness of mind40    ,the more     
normal1 expansive mystical experiences  
come apparently when the  personal self 
is at its best4 ,its powers and         
capacities are raised to an  unusual    
unity and fused together4 ,the whole    
being1 with its accumulated  submerged  
life1 finds itself4 ,the process of     
preparing for any high  achievement is a
 severe and laborious one1 but nothing  
seems easier in  the moment of success  
than is the accomplishment for which the
 life  has been prepared4 ,there comes  

to be formed within the person what     
,aristotle called 8a dexterity of soul10
 so that the person does with ease  what
 he has become skilled to do4 ,clement  
of ,alexandria called a fully  organized
 and spiritualized person 8a harmonized 
man10 that is1 adjusted1  organized and 
ready to be a transmissive organ for the
 revelation of  ,god4 ,brother          
,lawrence1 who was thus 8harmonized10   
finely says1 8,the most  excellent      
method which ,i found of going to ,god  
was that of doing my  common business1  
purely for the love of ,god40 ,an       
earlier mystic of the  fourteenth       
century stated the same principle in    
these words3 8,it is my  aim to be to   
the ,eternal ,god what a man's hand is  
to a man40    ,there are many human     
experiences which carry a man up to     
levels where  he has not usually been   
before and where he finds himself       
possessed of  insight and energies he   
had hardly suspected were his until that
 moment4  ,one leaps to his full height 

when the right inner spring is reached4 
,we  are quite familiar with the way in 
which instinctive tendencies in us  and 
emotions both egoistic and social1      
become organized under a group  of ideas
 and ideals into a single system which  
we call a sentiment1  such as love1 or  
patriotism1 or devotion to truth4 ,it   
forms slowly and  one hardly realizes   
that it has formed until some occasion  
unexpectedly  brings it into full       
operation1 and we find ourselves able   
with perfect  ease to overcome the most 
powerful inhibitory and opposing        
instincts  and habits1 which1 until     
then1 had usually controlled us4 ,we are
  familiar1 too1 with the way in which a
 well-trained and disciplined mind1     
confronted by a concrete situation1 will
 sometimes--alas not always--in a       
sudden flash of imaginative insight1    
discover a universal law revealed  there
 and then in the single phenomenon1 as  
,sir ,isaac ,newton did and  as1 in a no
 less striking way1 ,sir ,william ,rowan

 ,hamilton did in his  discovery of     
,quaternions4 ,literary and artistic    
geniuses supply us with  many instances 
in which1 in a sudden flash1 the crude  
material at hand is  shot through with  
vision1 and the complicated plot of a   
drama1 the full  significance of a      
character1 or the complete glory of a   
statue stands  revealed1 as though1 to  
use ,r4 ,l4 ,stevenson's illustration1 a
 genie  had brought it on a golden tray 
as a gift from another world4 ,abraham  
,lincoln1 striking off in a few intense 
minutes his ,gettysburg address1 as     
beautiful in style and perfect in form  
as anything in human literature1  is as 
good an illustration as we need of the  
way in which a highly  organized person1
 by a kindling flash1 has at his hand   
all the moral and  spiritual gains of a 
life time4    ,there is a famous account
 of the flash of inspiration given by   
,philo1  which can hardly be improved4  
,it is as follows3 8,i am not ashamed to
  recount my own experience4 ,at times1 

when ,i have proposed to enter upon  my 
wonted task of writing on philosophical 
doctrines1 with an exact  knowledge of  
the materials which were to be put      
together1 ,i have had  to leave off     
without any work accomplished1 finding  
my mind barren and  fruitless1 and      
upbraiding it for its self-complacency1 
while startled at  the might of the     
,existent ,one1 in whose power it lies  
to open and close  the wombs of the     
soul4 ,but at other times1 when ,i had  
come empty1 all of  a sudden ,i have    
been filled with thoughts1 showered down
 and sown upon  me unseen from above1 so
 that by ,divine possession ,i have     
fallen into  a rapture and become       
ignorant of everything1 the place1 those
 present1  myself1 what was spoken or   
written4 ,for ,i have received a stream 
of  interpretation1 a fruition of light1
 the most clear-cut sharpness of        
vision1 the most vividly distinct view  
of the matter before me1 such as  might 
be received through the eyes from the   

most luminous presentation40    ,the    
most important mystical experiences are 
something like that4 ,they  occur       
usually not at the beginning of the     
religious life but rather in  the ripe  
and developed stage of it4 ,they are the
 fruit of long-maturing  processes4     
,clement's 8the harmonized man0 is      
always a person who has  brought his    
soul into parallelism with divine       
currents1 has habitually  practiced his 
religious insights and has finally      
formed a unified  central self1 subtly  
sensitive1 acutely responsive to the    
,beyond within  him4 ,in such           
experiences which may come suddenly or  
may come as a more  gradual process1 the
 whole self operates and masses all the 
cumulations  of a lifetime4 ,they are no
 more emotional than they are rational  
and  volitional4 ,we have a total       
personality1 awake1 active1 and 8aware  
of his  life's flow40 ,instead of seeing
 in a flash a law of gravitation1 or the
  plot and character of ,hamlet1 or the 

uncarven form of ,moses the ,law-giver  
in a block of marble1 one sees at such  
times the moral demonstrations  of a    
lifetime and vividly feels the          
implications that are essentially       
involved in a spiritual life4 ,in the   
high moment ,god is seen to be as  sure 
as the soul is4        8,i stood at     
,naples once1 a night so dark      ,i   
could have scarce conjectured there was 
earth      ,anywhere1 sky or sea or     
world at all3      ,but the night's     
black was burst through by a blaze--    
,thunder struck blow on blow1 earth     
groaned and bore1      ,through her     
whole length of mountain visible3       
,there lay the city thick and plain with
 spires1      ,and1 like a ghost        
disshrouded1 white the sea4      ,so may
 the truth be flashed out by one blow40 
,to some the truth of ,god never comes  
closer than a logical conclusion4 ,he   
is held to be as a living item in a     
creed4 ,to the mystic he becomes real   
in the same sense that experienced      

beauty is real1 or the feel of spring   
is real1 or that summer sunlight is     
real--he has been found1 he has been    
met1 he is present4    ,before          
discussing the crucial question whether 
these experiences are  evidential and   
are worthy of consideration as an       
addition to the world's  stock of truth 
and knowledge ,i must say a few words   
about the normality  or abnormality of  
them4 ,nothing of any value can be said 
on this point  of mystical experience in
 the abstract4 ,one must first catch his
  concrete case4 ,some instances are    
normal and some are undoubtedly         
abnormal4 ,trance1 ecstasy and rapture  
are unusual experiences and in  that    
sense not normal occurrences4 ,they     
usually indicate1 furthermore1 a        
pathological condition of personality   
and are thus abnormal in the more       
technical sense4 ,there is1 however1    
something more to be said on this       
point4 ,it seems pretty well established
 that some persons--and they have  often

 been creative leaders and religious    
geniuses--have succeeded in  organizing 
their lives1 in finding their trail1 in 
charging their whole  personality with  
power1 in attaining a moral dynamic and 
in tapping vast  reservoirs of energy by
 means of states which1 if occurring in 
other  persons1 would no doubt be called
 pathological4 ,the real test here is  a
 pragmatic one4 ,it seems hardly sound  
to call a state abnormal if it  has     
raised the experiencer1 as a mystic     
experience often does1 into a  hundred  
horse-power man and through his         
influence has turned multitudes  of     
other men and women into more joyous1   
hopeful and efficient persons4  ,this   
question of abnormality and reality is  
thus not one to be settled  off-hand by 
a superficial diagnosis4    ,an         
experience which brings spaciousness of 
mind1 new interior dimensions1  ability 
to stand the universe--and the people in
 it--and capacity to  work at human     
tasks with patience1 endurance and      

wisdom may quite  intelligently be      
called normal1 though to an external    
beholder it  may look like what he      
usually calls a trance of hysteria1 a   
state of  dissociation1 or hypnosis by  
auto-suggestion4 ,it should be added1   
however1 as ,i have already said1 that  
mystical experience is not  confined to 
these extremer types4 ,they may or may  
not be pathological4  ,the calmer and   
more restrained stages of mysticism are 
more important and  significant and are 
no more marked with the stigma of       
hysteria than is  love-making1 enjoyment
 of music1 devotion to altruistic       
causes1 risking  one's life for country1
 or any lofty experience of value4      
,,iii    ,we come at length to the      
central question of our consideration3  
,do  mystical experiences settle        
anything8 ,are they purely subjective   
and  one-sided1 or do they prove to have
 objective reference and so to be       
two-sided8 ,do they take the experiencer
 across the chasm that separates  8self0

 from 8,other08 ,mystical experience    
undoubtedly feels as though it  had     
objective reference4 ,it comes to the   
individual with indubitable  authority4 
,he is certain that he has found some   
thing other than himself4  ,he has an   
unescapable conviction that he is in    
contact and commerce with  reality      
beyond the margins of his personal self4
 8,a tremendous muchness  is suddenly   
revealed10 as ,william ,james once put  
it4    ,we do not get very far when we  
undertake to reduce knowledge to an     
affair of sense-experience4 8,they      
reckon ill who leave me out10 can be    
said by the organized1 personal1        
creative mind as truly as by ,brahma4   
,there are many forms of human          
experience in which the data of the     
senses are so vastly transcended that   
they fail to furnish any real           
explanation of what occurs in           
consciousness4 ,this is true of all our 
experiences of value1 which apparently  
spring out of synthetic or  synoptic    

activities of the mind1 i4e41 activities
 in which the mind is  unified and      
creative4 ,the vibrations of ether which
 bombard the rods and  cones of the     
retina may be the occasion for the      
appreciation of beauty  in sky or sea or
 flower1 but they are surely not the    
cause of it4 ,the  concrete event which 
confronts me is very likely the occasion
 for the  august pronouncement of moral 
issues which my conscience makes1 but it
  can not be said that the concrete     
event in any proper sense causes this   
consciousness of moral obligation4 ,the 
famous answer of ,leibnitz to the  crude
 sense-philosophy of his time is still  
cogent4 ,to the phrase3 8,there  is     
nothing in the mind that has not come   
through the senses10 ,leibnitz  added1  
8except the mind itself40 ,that means   
that the creative activity  of the mind 
is always an important factor in        
experience and one that can  not be     
ignored in any of the processes of      
knowledge4 ,unfortunately we  have done 

very little yet in the direction of     
comprehending the interior  depth of the
 personal mind or of estimating         
adequately the part which  mind itself  
in its creative capacity plays in all   
knowledge functions4 ,it  will only be  
when we have succeeded in getting beyond
 what ,plato called  the bird-cage      
theory of knowledge to a sound theory of
 knowledge and  to a solid basis for    
spiritual values that we shall be able  
to discuss  intelligently the 8findings0
 of the mystic4    ,the world at the    
present moment is pitiably 8short0 in   
its stock of  sound theories of         
knowledge4 ,the prevailing psychologies 
do not explain  knowledge at all4 ,the  
behaviorists do not try to explain it   
any more  than the astronomer or the    
physicist does4 ,the psychologist who   
reduces  mind to an aggregation of      
describable 8mind-states0 has started   
out on  a course which makes an         
explanation forever impossible1 since   
knowledge  can be explained only through

 unity and integral wholeness1 never    
through  an aggregation of parts1 as    
though it were a mental 8shower of      
shot40 ,if  we expect to talk about     
knowledge and seriously propose to use  
that  great word truth1 we must at least
 begin with the assumption of an        
intelligent1 creative1 organizing center
 of self-consciousness which can        
transcend itself and can know what is   
beyond and other than itself4 ,in       
short1 the talk about a 8chasm0 between 
subject and object--knower and  thing   
known--is as absurd as it would be to   
talk of a chasm between the  convex and 
the concave sides of a curve4 ,knowledge
 is always knowledge  of an object and  
mystical experience has all the         
essential marks of  objective reference1
 as certainly as other forms of         
experience have4    ,professor ,j4 ,m4  
,baldwin very well says that there is a 
form of  contemplation in which1 as in  
sthetic experience1 the strands of  the 
mind's diverging dualisms are 8merged   

and fused40 ,he adds3 8,in  this        
experience of a fusion which is not a   
mixture but which issues  in a meaning  
of its own sort and kind1 an experience 
whose essential  character is just this 
unity of comprehension1 consciousness   
attains its  completest1 its most       
direct1 and its final apprehension of   
what ,reality  is and means40 ,it really
 comes round to the question whether the
 mind of  a self-conscious person has   
any way of approach1 except by way of   
the  senses1 to any kind of reality4    
,there is no a priori answer to that    
question4 ,it can only be settled by    
experience4 ,it is1 therefore1 pure     
dogmatism to say1 as ,professor ,dunlap 
in his recent attack on mysticism  does1
 that all conscious processes are based 
on sense-stimulation and  all thought as
 well as perception depends on reaction 
to sense-stimulus4  ,it is no doubt true
 that behavior psychology must resort to
 some such  formula1 but that only means
 that such psychology is always dealing 

with greatly transformed and reduced    
beings1 when it attempts to deal  with  
persons like us who1 in the richness of 
our concrete lives1 are  never reduced  
to 8behavior-beings40 ,we have interior 
dimensions and that  is the end on't6   
,some persons--and they are by no means 
feeble-minded  individuals--are as      
certain that they have commerce with a  
world within  as they are that they have
 experiences of a world outside in      
space4  ,thomas ,aquinas1 who neither in
 method nor in doctrine leaned toward   
mysticism1 though he was most certainly 
8a harmonized man10 and who in  theory  
postponed the vision of ,god to a realm 
beyond death1 nevertheless  had an      
experience two years before he died     
which made him put his pen  and inkhorn 
on the shelf and never write another    
word of his ,summa  ,theologiae4 ,when  
he was reminded of the incomplete state 
of his great  work and was urged to go  
on with it1 he only replied1 8,i have   
seen that  which makes all that ,i have 

written look small to me40    ,it may be
 just possible that there is a universe 
of spiritual reality  upon which our    
finite spirits open inward as inlets    
open into the sea4        8,like the    
tides on the crescent sea-beach         
,when the moon is new and thin          
,into our hearts high yearnings         
,come welling and surging in2      ,come
 from that mystic ocean      ,whose rim 
no foot has trod4      ,some call it    
longing      ,but others call it ,god40 
,such a view is perfectly sane and      
tenable2 it conflicts with no proved    
and demonstrated facts either in the    
nature of the universe or of  mind4 ,it 
seems anyway to the mystic that there is
 such a world1 that  he has found it as 
surely as ,columbus found ,san          
,salvador1 and that his  experience is a
 truth-telling experience4      ,,iv    
,but granting that it is truth-telling  
and has objective reference1 is the     
mystic justified in claiming that he has
 found and knows ,god8 ,one does  not   

need to be a very wide and extensive    
student of mystical experience  to      
discover what a meager stock of         
knowledge the genuine mystic reports4   
,william ,james' remarkable experience  
in the ,adirondack woods very well      
illustrates the type4 ,it had1 he says1 
8an intense significance of some  sort1 
if one could only tell the              
significance4444 ,in point of fact1 ,i  
can't find a single word for all that   
significance and don't know what it  was
 significant of1 so that it remains a   
mere boulder of impression40#g  ,at a   
later date ,james refers to that        
8extraordinary vivacity of man's        
psychological commerce with something   
,ideal that feels as if it were  also   
actual40#h ,the greatest of all the     
fourteenth century mystics1  ,meister   
,eckhart1 could not put his impression  
into words or ideas4 ,what  he found was
 a 8wilderness of the ,godhead where no 
one is at home10 i4e41  an ,object with 
no particular differentiated1 concrete  

characteristics4  ,it was not an        
accident that so many of the mystics hit
 upon the via  negativa1 the way of     
negation1 or that they called their     
discovery 8the  divine ,dark40          
8,whatever your mind comes at      ,i   
tell you flat      ,god is not that40   
,mystical experience does not supply    
concrete information4 ,it does not      
bring new finite facts1 new items that  
can be used in a description of  8the   
scenery and circumstance0 of the realm  
beyond our sense horizons4  ,it is the  
awareness of a ,presence1 the           
consciousness of a ,beyond1 the         
discovery1 as ,james puts it1 that 8we  
are continuous with a ,more of the  same
 quality1 which is operative in us and  
in touch with us40    ,the most striking
 effect of such experience is not new   
fact-knowledge1  not new items of       
empirical information1 but new moral    
energy1 heightened  conviction1         
increased caloric quality1 enlarged     
spiritual vision1 an  unusual radiant   

power of life4 ,in short1 the whole     
personality1 in the  case of the        
constructive mystics1 appears to be     
raised to a new level of  life and to   
have gained from somewhere many calories
 of life-feeding1  spiritual substance4 
,we are quite familiar with the way in  
which  adrenalin suddenly flushes into  
the physical system and adds a new and  
incalculable power to brain and muscle4 
,under its stimulus a man can  carry out
 a piano when the house is on fire4 ,may
 not1 perhaps1 some  energy from some   
,source with which our spirits are      
allied flush our inner  being with      
forces and powers by which we can be    
fortified to stand the  universe and    
more than stand it6 8,we are more than  
conquerors through  ,him that loved us10
 is the way one of the world's greatest 
mystics felt4    ,mystical              
experience--and we must remember as     
,santayana has said1 that  8experience  
is like a shrapnel shell and bursts into
 a thousand  meanings0--does at least   

one thing4 ,it makes ,god sure to the   
person who  has had the experience4 ,it 
raises faith and conviction to the nth  
power4  8,the ,god who said1 #8,let     
light shine out of darkness1' has shined
 into my  heart to give the light of the
 knowledge of the glory of ,god10 is    
,st4  ,paul's testimony4 8,i knew ,god  
by revelation10 declares ,george ,fox4  
8,i was  as one who hath the key and    
doth open40 8,the man who has attained  
this  felicity10 ,plotinus says1 8meets 
some turn of fortune that he would not  
have chosen1 but there is not the       
slightest lessening of his happiness    
for that0 7,en4 ,i3 iv4 #g74 ,but this  
experience1 with its overwhelming       
conviction and its dynamic effect1 can  
not be put into the common coin of      
speech4 ,frederic ,myers has well       
expressed the difficulty3        8,oh   
could ,i tell ye surely would believe   
it6        ,oh could ,i only say what ,i
 have seen6      ,how should ,i tell or 
how can ye receive it1        ,how1 till

 ,he bringeth you where ,i have been80  
,there is no concrete 8information0     
which can be shared with others4        
,when ,columbus found ,san ,salvador he 
was able to describe it to those who    
did not sail with him in the ,santa     
,maria1 but when the mystic finds ,god  
he can not give us any 8knowledge0 in   
plain words of everyday speech4 ,he  can
 only refer to his boulder1 or his      
,gibraltar1 of impression ,that         
situation is what we should expect4 ,we 
can not1 either1 describe any of  our   
great emotions4 ,we can not impart what 
flushes into our consciousness  in      
moments of lofty intuition4 ,we have a  
submerged life within us which  is      
certainly no less real than our hand or 
foot4 ,it influences all that  we do or 
say1 but we do not find it easy to utter
 it4 ,in the presence of  the sublime we
 have nothing to say--or if we do say   
anything it is a great  mistake6        
,language is forged to deal with        
experiences which are common  to many   

persons1 i4e41 to experiences which     
refer to objects in space4  ,we have no 
vocabulary for the subtle1 elusive      
flashes of vision which  are unique1    
individual and unsharable1 as for       
instance is our personal  sense of 8the 
tender grace of a day that is dead40 ,we
 are forced in all  these matters to    
resort to symbolic suggestion and to    
artistic devices4  ,coventry ,patmore   
said with much insight3        8,in     
divinity and love      ,what's best     
worth saying can't be said40    ,i      
believe that mystical experiences do in 
the long run expand our  knowledge of   
,god and do succeed in verifying        
themselves4 ,mysticism is a  sort of    
spiritual protoplasm that underlies1 as 
a basic substance1 much  that is best in
 religion1 in ethics and in life itself4
 ,it has generally  been the mystic1 the
 prophet1 the seer that has spotted out 
new ways  forward in the jungle of our  
world1 or lifted our race to new        
spiritual  levels4 ,their experiences   

have in some way equipped them for      
unusual  tasks1 have given supplies of  
energy to them which their neighbors did
  not have1 and have apparently brought 
them into vital correspondence with     
dimensions and regions of reality that  
others miss4 ,the proof that they  have 
found ,god1 or at least a domain of     
spiritual reality1 does not lie  in some
 new stock of knowledge1 not in some    
gnostic secret1 which they  bring back2 
it is to be seen rather in the moral and
 spiritual fruits  which test out and   
verify the experience4    ,consciousness
 of beauty or of truth or of goodness   
baffles analysis  as much as            
consciousness of ,god does4 ,these      
values have no objective  standing      
ground in current psychology4 ,they are 
not things in the world  of space4 ,they
 submit to no adequate casual           
explanation4 ,they have their  ground of
 being in some other kind of world than 
that of the mechanical  order1 a world  
composed of quantitative masses of      

matter in motion4 ,these  experiences of
 value1 which are as real for           
consciousness as stone walls  are1 make 
very clear the fact that there are      
depths and capacities in  the nature of 
the normal human mind which we do not   
usually recognize  and of which we have 
scant and imperfect accounts in our     
text-books4  ,our minds taken in their  
full range1 in other words1 have some   
sort of  contact and relationship with  
an eternal nature of things far deeper  
than  atoms and molecules4 ,only very   
slowly and gradually has the race       
learned  through finite symbols and     
temporal forms to interpret beauty and  
truth  and goodness which in their      
essence are as ineffable and            
indescribable  as the mystic's          
experience of ,god is4 ,plato often     
speaks as though he  had high moments of
 experience when he rose to the naked   
vision of  beauty--beauty 8alone1       
separate and eternal10 as he says1 and  
his myths  are very likely told1 as ,j4 

,a4 ,stewart believes1 to assist others 
to  experience this same vision--a      
beauty which 8does not grow nor perish1 
is without increase or diminution and   
endures for everlasting40 ,but as  a    
matter of fact1 however exalted heavenly
 and enduring beauty may be  in its     
essence we know what it is only as it   
appears in fair forms of  objects1 of   
body1 of soul1 of actions2 in harmonious
 blending of sounds  or colors2 in      
well-ordered or happily-combined        
groupings of many aspects  in one unity 
which is as it ought to be4 ,truth and  
moral goodness always  transcend our    
attainments and we sometimes feel that  
the very end and  goal of life is the   
pursuit of that truth or that goodness  
which eye  hath not seen nor ear heard4 
,but whatever truth we do attain or     
whatever  goodness we do achieve is     
always concrete4 ,truth is just this one
 more  added fact that resists all      
attempts to doubt it4 ,goodness is just 
this  simple everyday deed that reveals 

a heroic spirit and a brave venture of  
faith in the midst of difficulties4 ,so1
 too1 the mystic knowledge of ,god  is  
not some esoteric communication1        
supplied through trance or ecstasy2  it 
is an intuitive personal touch with     
,god1 felt to be the essentially  real1 
the bursting forth of an intense love   
for him which heightens all  the        
capacities and activities of life1      
followed by the slow laboratory  results
 which verify it4 8,all ,i could never  
be0 now is4 ,it seems possible  to stand
 the universe--even to do something     
toward the transformation  of it4 ,the  
bans are read for that most difficult of
 all marriages1 the  marriage of the    
possible with the actual1 the ideal with
 the real4 ,and  if the experience does 
not prove that the soul has found ,god1 
it at  least does this3 it makes the    
soul feel that proofs of ,god are wholly
  unnecessary4          ,,chapter ,x    
,,psychology ,,and ,,the ,,spiritual    
,,life      ,i    ,twenty years ago in  

,a ,dynamic ,faith1 after reviewing the 
new questions  which the great sciences 
had raised for religion1 ,i said3       
8,there are  still harder problems than 
any of these4 ,psychology has opened a  
series  of questions which make the     
boldest tremble for his faith in an     
endless  life or in any spiritual       
reality40 ,the twenty years that have   
intervened  have made my point much more
 clear4 ,it is now pretty generally     
recognized  that the deepest issues of  
the faith are to be settled in this     
field4  ,the problem of the real nature 
of the human soul is at the present     
moment probably the most important      
religious question before us1 for  upon 
the answer to it all our vital spiritual
 interests depend4 ,if man  has no      
unique interior domain1 if he is only a 
tiny bit of that vast  system of        
naturalism in which every curve of      
process and development is  rigidly     
determined by antecedent causes1 then   
8spiritual0 is only a  high-sounding    

word with a metaphorical significance1  
but with no basis  of reality in the    
nature of things4 ,there is certainly no
 8place0 in the  external world of space
 where we can expect to find spiritual  
realities4  ,they are not to be found by
 going 8somewhere40 ,olympus has been   
climbed1  and it was as naturalistic as 
any other mountain peak4 ,eden is only a
  defined area of ,mesopotamia1 and that
 blessed word can work no miracles  for 
us now4 ,the dome of the sky is only an 
optical illusion4 ,it is no             
supersensuous realm on which we can     
build our hopes4 ,the beyond as a       
spiritual reality is within1 or it is   
nowhere4 ,psychology1 however1 has  not 
been very encouraging in promises of    
hope4 ,it has gone the way of the  other
 sciences and has taken an ever         
increasing slant toward naturalism4     
,the result is that most so-called      
8psychologies of religion0 reduce       
religion either to a naturalistic or to 
a subjective basis1 which means  in     

either case that religion as a way to   
some objective spiritual reality  has   
eluded us and has disappeared as a      
constructive power4 ,many a modern      
psychologist can say with ,browning's   
,cleon3        8,and ,i have written    
three books on the soul1      ,proving  
absurd all written hitherto1      ,and  
putting us to ignorance again40    ,two 
of the main tendencies in what is       
usually called scientific  psychology   
are 7#a7 the 8behaviorist0 tendency and 
7#b7 the tendency to  reduce the inner  
life to a series of 8mind states40 ,let 
us consider  behaviorism first4 ,this   
turns psychology into 8a purely         
objective  experimental branch of       
natural science40#i ,it aims at 8the    
prediction  and control of behavior40   
8,introspection forms no essential part 
of  its method40 ,one is not concerned  
with 8interpretation in terms of        
consciousness10 one is interested only  
in reactions1 responses--in short1  in  
behavior in the presence of stimuli     

which produce movements4 ,the  body is a
 complicated organ and 8mind0 is merely 
a convenient term to  express its       
8activities40#aj ,the behaviorist       
8recognizes no dividing  line between   
man and brute40 ,psychology becomes 8the
 science of  behavior10#aa the study of 
8the activity of man or animal as it can
 be  observed from the outside1 either  
with or without attempting to determine 
the mental states by inference from     
these acts40 ,emotions become reduced   
forthwith to 8the bodily resonance0 set 
up in the muscular and visceral  systems
 by instinctive movements in the        
presence of objects1 these  curious     
movements being due entirely to the     
inheritance of physiological  structure 
adapted at least in the early stages to 
aid survival4 ,there is  no way by which
 behaviorist psychology can give any    
standing to religion  or to any type of 
spiritual values4 8sthetics is the study
 of the  useless10 as ,william ,james   
baldly states the case4 ,conscience     

disappears  or becomes another name for 
the inheritance or acquisition of       
certain  types of social behavior4      
,everything which we call ethics or     
morality  changes into well-defined and 
rigidly determined behavior4 ,there is  
nothing more 8spiritual0 about it than  
there is in the fall of a raindrop  or  
in the luminous trail of a meteor1 or in
 any form of what has happily  been     
called 8cosmic weather40    ,this       
reduction of personality to a center of 
activity is a reaction from  the        
dualistic sundering of mind and body    
inherited from ,descartes4 ,the  theory 
of psycho-physical parallelism is       
utterly bankrupt4 ,idealism1  which is  
an attempt to get round the impasse of  
dualism by treating  mind as the only   
reality1 is abhorrent to scientists and 
unpopular  with young philosophers1     
especially in ,america4 ,some other     
solution  is therefore urgent4 ,the     
easiest one at hand1 though it is       
obviously  temporary and superficial1 is

 to cut across the mind loop1 ignore its
  unique1 originative1 creative capacity
 and its interior depth1 to deal  only  
with body plus body's activities1 and to
 call that 8psychology40    ,the        
8mind-state0 psychology takes us little 
farther on4 ,it also is a  form of      
naturalism4 8,mind-state0 psychology    
makes more of introspection  than       
behaviorist psychology does1 and it     
works more than the latter  does in     
terms of consciousness1 which for the   
behaviorist can be almost  ignored or   
questioned as an existing reality4      
,according to this view1  mind or       
consciousness is composed of a vast     
number of 8elemental units10  and the   
business of psychology is to analyze and
 describe these units  or states and to 
discover the laws of their arrangement  
or succession4  ,mind1 on this theory1  
is an aggregate or sum total of         
8states40 ,professor  ,james1 who gives 
great place to 8mind states10 will1     
however1 not admit  that they are       

permanent and repeatable 8units10       
passing and returning  unaltered4 ,in   
his usual vivid way he says that 8a     
permanently existing  #8idea' i4e41     
mental unit which makes its appearance  
before the  footlights of consciousness 
at periodical intervals is as           
mythological  an entity as the ,jack of 
,spades40#ab ,and yet he continues to   
deal with  mind as a vast series of more
 or less describable states4 ,some      
states are  8substantive10 such as our  
8perceptions10 our 8memories10 or our   
definite  8images10 when the mind       
perches and rests upon some clear and   
describable  thought1 and on the other  
hand there are 8transitive states0 which
 are  vague1 hard to catch or hold or   
express1 and which reveal the mind in   
flight1 in passage1 on the way from one 
substantive state to another4    ,when  
we ask the 8mind-state0 psychologist to 
tell us about the soul or to  supply us 
with a working substitute for it1 he    
relegates it to the scrap  heap where   

lie the collected rubbish and the       
antiquated mental furniture  of the     
medieval centuries4 ,we have no need of 
it4 ,it is only a word  anyhow4 ,it has 
always been an expensive luxury and a   
continual bother4 ,we  are better off   
with it gone4 ,when we look about for a 
8self as knower10  or for a guardian of 
our identity1 we find all that we need  
in these same  8passing states of       
consciousness40 ,they not only know     
things and facts1  but they also know   
themselves1 and successively inherit and
 adapt all the  preceding 8states0 have 
gained and acquired4 ,the state of the  
present  moment owns the thoughts and   
experiences which preceded it1 for 8what
  possesses the possessor possesses the 
possessed40 8,in our waking hours10     
,professor ,james says1 8though each    
pulse of consciousness dies away and  is
 replaced by another1 yet that other1   
among the things it knows1 knows  its   
own predecessor and finding it #8warm1' 
greets it saying1 #8,thou art  mine and 

part of the same self with me4'0 ,it    
seems1 then1 this famous  writer        
concludes1 that 8states of consciousness
 are all that psychology  needs to do   
her work with4 ,metaphysics or theology 
may prove the soul to  exist2 but for   
psychology the hypothesis of such a     
substantial principle  of unity is      
superfluous40#ac ,we are certainly hard 
up if we must depend  on proofs which   
theology can give us6    ,we are thus   
once more reduced to a condition of     
sheer naturalism4 ,our  stream of       
consciousness is only a rapid succession
 of passing states1  each 8state0       
causally attached to a molecular process
 in the brain4  8,every psychosis is the
 result of a neurosis40 ,there is no    
soul1  there is no creative spiritual   
pilot of the stream1 there is no        
freedom1  there are no moral values1    
there is nothing but passing 8cosmic    
weather10  sometimes peeps of sunshine1 
sometimes moonshine1 sometimes drizzle  
or  blizzard1 and sometimes cyclone or  

waterspout6 ,to meet the appalling      
thinness of this 8cinema0 of mind       
states1 we are given the comfort of     
believing that there is an              
under-threshold world within1 possibly  
more  real and surely more important    
than this little rivulet of states which
  make up our conscious life4 ,there is 
a 8fringe0 to consciousness more        
wonderful than that which adorned the   
robe of the high priest4 ,this  8fringe0
 defies description and baffles all     
analysis4 ,it is a halo or  penumbra    
which surrounds every 8state0 and holds 
all the states vitally  together1 so    
that 8states0 turn out to be unsundered 
in some deeper  mysterious currents of  
being4 ,others would call this same     
underlying1  mysterious part of us the  
subliminal 8self10 i4e41 under-threshold
  8self40 ,it is a kind of              
semi-spiritual matrix where the states  
of  consciousness are formed and        
gestated4 ,it is the source to which we 
may trace everything that can not be    

explained by the avenues of the  senses4
 ,demons and divinities knock at its    
doors and visitants from                
superterrestrial shores peep in at its  
windows4 ,it is often treated1          
especially of course by ,frederic       
,myers1 as a deeper 8self10 more or less
  discontinuous with our conscious upper
 self1 the self of mind states4  ,all   
work of genius is due to 8subliminal    
uprushes10 8an emergence into  the      
current of ideas which the man is       
consciously manipulating of other  ideas
 which he has not consciously           
originated1 but which have shaped       
themselves beyond his will in profounder
 regions of his being40 ,as is  well    
known1 ,professor ,james resorts to     
these 8subliminal uprushes0 for  his    
explanation of all the deeper religious 
experiences and he has done  much to    
give credit to these 8profounder regions
 of our being0 and to  make the         
subliminal theory popular4 ,he does not1
 however1 as ,myers does1  treat it as  

another 8self10 an intermediary between 
earth and heaven1 a  messenger and a    
mediator of all those higher and diviner
 aspects of life  which transcend the   
sphere of sense and of the empirical    
world4      ,,ii    ,no theory certainly
 is sound which begins by cutting the   
subconscious  and the conscious life    
apart into two more or less dissociated 
selves4  ,there is every indication and 
evidence of continuity and correlation  
between what is above and what is below 
the threshold which in any case  is as  
relative and artificial a line as is the
 horizon4 ,the so-called  8uprushes0 of 
the genius are finely correlated with   
his normal experience  into which they  
8uprush40 ,the 8uprushes0 which convey  
truth to ,socrates  beautifully fit1    
first1 the character of the man and1    
secondly1 the  demands of the temporal  
environment4 ,dante's 8uprushes0        
correspond to  the psychological climate
 of the medieval world1 and             
,shakespeare's  8uprushes0 are well     

suited to the later period of the       
,renaissance4 ,all  subliminal          
communications are congruent and        
consonant with the experience  of the   
person who receives them4 ,the visions  
of apocalyptic seers are  all couched in
 the imagery of the apocalyptic schools1
 and so1 too1 the  reports of mediums   
are all in terms of spiritualistic      
beliefs4 ,we shall  never find the      
solution of our religious problems by   
dividing the inner  life of man into two
 unrelated selves1 by whatever name we  
call them1  for any religion that is to 
be real must go all the way through us1 
must  unify all our powers1 and must    
furnish a spring and power by which we  
live here and now in the sphere of our  
consciousness1 our character1 and  our  
will4    ,it proves to be just as       
impossible to cut consciousness up into 
the  fragmentary bits or units called   
mind states1 or to sunder it into  a    
so-called 8self as knower0 and 8self as 
known40 ,consciousness is  never a      

shower of shot--a series of             
discontinuous units4 ,it is the most    
completely integral unity known to us   
anywhere in the universe4 ,there  are no
 8parts0 to it2 it is without breaks or 
gaps4 ,it is one undivided  whole4 ,the 
only unit we can properly talk about is 
our unique persisting  personal self in 
conscious relation to an environment4   
,we can1 of course1  treat consciousness
 in the abstract as an aggregate of     
states and we can  formulate a          
scientific account of this constructed  
entity as we can of  any other          
abstracted section of reality4 ,but this
 abstracted entity is  forever totally  
different from the warm and intimate    
inner life within  us1 as we actually   
live it and feel its flow4 ,any state or
 process which  we may talk about is    
only an artificial fragment of a larger1
 deeper  reality which gives the        
8fragment0 its peculiar being and makes 
it what  it is4 ,underneath all that    
appears and happens in the conscious    

flow is  the personal self for whom the 
appearances occur4 ,any psychologist who
  explicitly leaves this out of his     
account always implicitly smuggles it   
in again4    ,the most striking fact of 
experience is knowing that we know4 ,the
  same consciousness which knows any    
given object in the same pulse of       
consciousness knows itself as knowing   
it4 ,self-consciousness is present  in  
all consciousness of objects4 ,the      
thinker that thinks is involved in  and 
is bound up with all knowledge1 even of 
the simplest sort4 ,every  idea1 every  
feeling1 and every act of will is what  
it is because it  is in living unity    
with our entire personal self4 ,if any  
such 8state0  got dissociated1 slipped  
away and undertook to do business on its
 own  hook1 it would be as unknown to us
 as our guardian angel is4 ,the mind    
that knows can never be separated from  
the world that is known4 ,one can  think
 in abstraction of a mind apart by      
itself and of a world equally           

isolated--but no such mind and no such  
world actually exist4 ,to be a  real    
mind1 a real self1 is to be in active   
commerce with a real world  given in    
experience4 ,one thinks his object in   
the same unified pulse  of consciousness
 in which he thinks himself and vice    
versa4 ,there is  no self-consciousness 
without object-consciousness1 and there 
is no  object-consciousness without     
self-consciousness4 ,outer and inner1   
knower  and known1 are not two but      
forever one4 ,the 8soul10 therefore1 is 
not  something hidden away in behind or 
above and beyond our ideas and  feelings
 and will activities4 ,it is the active 
living unity of personal                
consciousness--the one psychic integer  
and unit for a true psychology4 ,it     
binds all the items of experience into  
one indivisible unity1 one organic      
whole through which our personal type of
 life is made possible4 ,at every       
moment of waking1 intelligent life we   
look out upon each fact1 each  event1   

each experience from a wider self which 
organizes the new fact in  with its     
former experiences1 weaves it into the  
web of its memories and  emotions and   
purposes1 makes the new fact a part of  
itself1 and yet at  the same time knows 
itself as transcending and outliving the
 momentary  fact4    ,when we study the 
personal self deeply enough1 not as cut 
up into  artificial units1 but as the   
living1 undivided whole1 which is       
implied in  all coherent experience1 we 
find at once a basis for those ideal    
values  that are rightly called         
spiritual and for 8those mighty hopes   
that make  us men40 ,the first step     
toward a genuine basis of spiritual life
 is to  be found in the restoration of  
the personal self to its true place as  
the ultimate fact1 or datum1 of         
self-conscious experience4 ,as soon as  
we come back to this central reality1   
our unified1 unique1 self-active        
personality1 we find ourselves in       
possession of material enough2 as       

,browning would say1              8,for 
fifty hopes and fears      ,as old and  
new at once as nature's self1      ,to  
rap and knock and enter in our soul1    
,take hands and dance there1 a fantastic
 ring1      ,round the ancient idol1 on 
his base again1--      ,the grand       
,perhaps60    ,what we find at once1    
even without a resort to a subliminal   
self1 or to  8uprushes10 is that our    
normal1 personal self-consciousness is a
 unique1  living1 self-active1 creative 
center of energies1 dealing not only    
with  space and time and tangible       
things1 but dealing as well with        
realities  which are space- and         
time-transcending4 8,the things that are
 not0 prove  to be immense factors in   
our lives and constantly 8bring to      
naught the  things that are40 ,the      
greatest events of history have not been
 due to  physical forces2 they have been
 due to plans and ideals which were real
  only in the viewless minds of men4    
,what was not yet brought about what    

was to be4 ,alexander the ,great with   
his physical forces1 sweeping across    
the ancient world like a cataclysm of   
nature1 was certainly no more truly  a  
world-builder than was ,jesus1 who had  
no armies1 who used no tangible  forces1
 but merely put into operation those    
8things that were not10 i4e41  his ideas
 of what ought to be and his conviction 
that love is stronger  than ,roman      
legions4 ,the simplest and humblest of  
us1 like the ,psalmist1  find the       
,meshech where we sojourn too straitened
 and narrow for us4 ,we  have all cried1
 8,woe is me that ,i sojourn in         
,meshech60 ,the reason that  we discover
 the limits and bounds of our poor      
,meshech is that we are all  the time   
going beyond the hampering ,meshech that
 tries to contain and  imprison us4     
,the thing which spoils all our finite  
camping places is our unstilled         
consciousness that we are made for      
something more than we have yet         
realized or attained4 ,our ideals are an

 unmistakable intimation of our         
time-transcending nature4 ,we can no    
more stop with that which is than       
,niagara can stop at the fringe of the  
fall4 ,all consciousness of the  higher 
rational type is continually carried    
forward toward the larger  whole that   
would complete and fulfill its present  
experience4 ,we are  aware of the limit 
only because we are already beyond it4  
,the present is  a pledge of more2 the  
little arc which we have gives us a     
ground of faith  in the full circle     
which we seek4 ,a study of man's life   
which does not  deal with this inherent 
idealizing tendency is like ,hamlet with
 ,hamlet  left out4 ,martineau declared3
        8,amid all the sickly talk about
 #8ideals' which has become the         
commonplace of our age1 it is well to   
remember that so long      as they are  
dreams of future possibility and not    
faiths in      present realities1 so    
long as they are a mere self-painting   
of the yearning spirit and not its      

personal surrender to      immediate    
communion with an infinite ,perfection1 
they have no      more solidity or      
steadiness than floating air-bubbles1   
gay in      the sunshine and broken by  
the passing wind4444 ,the very gate     
of entrance to religion1 the moment of  
its new birth1 is the      discovery    
that your ideal is the everlasting      
,real1 no transient      brush of a     
fancied angel wing1 but the abiding     
presence and      persuasion of the     
,soul of souls40#ad    ,in the same vein
 ,pringle-,pattison1 one of the wisest  
of our living  teachers1 has said3      
8,consciousness of imperfection1 the    
capacity for progress1      and the     
pursuit of perfection1 are alike        
possible to man only      through the   
universal life of thought and goodness  
in which      he shares and which1 at   
once an indwelling presence and an      
unattainable ideal1 draws him #8on and  
always on4'0#ae    ,it is here in these 
experiences of ours which spring out of 

our real  nature1 but which always carry
 us beyond what is and which make it    
impossible for us to live in a world    
composed of 8things10 no matter  how    
golden they are1 that we have the source
 of our spiritual values4  ,when we talk
 about values we may use the word in two
 senses4 ,in the  ordinary sense we mean
 something extrinsic1 utilitarian4 ,we  
mean that  we possess something which   
can be exchanged for something else4 ,it
 is  precious because we can sell it or 
swap it or use it to keep life going4   
,in the other sense we see value in     
reference to something which ought  to  
be1 whether it now is or not4 ,it is fit
 to be1 it would justify  its being in  
relation to the whole reality4 ,when we 
speak of ethical or  spiritual values we
 are thinking of something that will    
minister to the  highest good of persons
 or of a society of persons4 ,value in  
this loftier  meaning always has to do  
with ideals4 ,a being without any       
conscious  end or goal1 i4e41 without an

 ideal1 would have no sense of worth1 no
  spiritual values4 ,it does not appear 
on the level of instinct4 ,it arises  as
 an appreciation of what ought to be    
realized in order to complete and       
fulfill any life which is to be called  
good4 ,obviously a person with  rich and
 complex interests will have many scales
 of value1 but lower and  lesser ones   
will fall into place under wider and    
higher ones1 so that one  forms a kind  
of hierarchical system of values with   
some overtopping end  of supreme worth  
dominating the will4    ,it becomes one 
of the deepest questions in the world   
what connection  there is between man's 
spiritual values or ideals and the      
eternal nature  of things in the        
universe4 ,are these ideals of ours1    
these values which  seem to raise us    
from the naturalistic to the spiritual  
level1 just  our subjective creations1  
or are they expressions of a coperating 
and  rational power beyond us and yet in
 us1 giving us intimations of what  is  

true and best in a world more real than 
that of matter and motion8  ,these ideal
 values1 such as our appreciation of    
beauty1 our confidence  in truth1 our   
dedication to moral causes1 our love for
 worthy persons1  our loyalty to the    
,kingdom of ,god1 are not born of       
selfish preference  or individual       
desire4 ,they are not capricious like   
dreams and visions4  ,they attach to    
something deeper than our personal      
wishes1 in fact our  faith in them and  
our devotion to them often cause us to  
take lines of  action straight against  
our personal wishes and our individual  
desires4  ,they stand the test of stress
 and strain1 they weather the storms of 
time  which submerge most things1 they  
survive all shock and mutations and only
  increase in worth with the wastage of 
secondary goods4 ,they rest on no  mere 
temporary impulse or sporadic whim4     
,they have their roots deep in  the life
 of the race4 ,they have lasted better  
than ,andes or ,ararat1 and  they are   

based upon common1 universal aspects of 
rational life4 ,they are  at least as   
sure and prophetic as are laws of       
triangles and relations of  space4 ,if  
we can count on the permanence of the   
multiplication table and  on the        
continuity of nature1 no less can we    
count on the conservation of  values and
 the continued significance of life4    
,they seem thus to belong to the system 
of the universe and to have the         
guardianship of some invisible ,pilot of
 the cosmic ship4 ,the streams  of moral
 power and the spiritual energies that  
have their rise in good  persons are as 
much to be respected facts of the       
universe as are the  rivers that carry  
ships of commerce4 ,moral goodness is a 
factor in the  constitution of the      
world1 and the eternal nature of the    
universe backs  it as surely as it backs
 the laws of hydrogen4 ,it does not back
 every  ideal1 for some ideals are unfit
 and do not minister to a coherent and  
rationally ordered scheme of life4      

,those ideals only have the august      
sanction and right of way which are born
 out of the age-long spiritual  travail 
of the race and which tend to organize  
men for better team  efforts1 i4e41     
which promote the social community life1
 the organism of  the ,spirit4 ,through 
these spiritual forces1 revealed in     
normal ethical  persons1 we are1 ,i     
believe1 nearer to the life of ,god and 
closer to  the revealing centers of the 
universe than we are when we turn to the
  subliminal selves of hysterics4 ,the  
normal interior life of man is          
boundless and bottomless4 ,it is not a  
physical reality1 to be measured by     
foot rules or yardsticks4 ,it is a      
reality of a wholly different order4    
,it is essentially spiritual1 i4e41 of  
spirit4 ,in its organized and           
differentiated life this personal self  
of ours is often weak and erratic4  ,we 
feel the urge which belongs to the very 
nature of spirit1 but we  blunder in our
 direction1 we bungle our aims and      

purposes1 we fail to  discover what it  
is that we really want4 ,but we are     
never insulated from  the wider         
spiritual environment which constitutes 
the true inner world  from which we have
 come and to which we belong4 ,there are
 many ways of  correspondence with this 
environment4 ,no way1 however1 is more  
vital1  more life-giving than this way  
of dedication to the advancement of the 
moral ideals of the world4              
,,footnotes      #a #a ,cor4 ,,vi4      
#i-aa4    #b ,primary ,factors of       
,organic ,evolution1 p4 #dhc4    #c     
,bosanquet1 ,value and ,destiny of the  
,individual1 p4 #cbj4    #d ,f4 ,c4 ,s4 
,schiller1 ,humanism1 pp4 #bbh-i4    #e 
,shaler1 ,the ,individual1 p4 #aid4     
#f 8,the ,flight of the ,duchess40    #g
 ,letters of ,william ,james1 ,vol4     
,,ii4 p4 #gf4    #h ,ibid41 ,vol4 ,,ii4 
p4 #bfi4    #i ,watson1 ,behavior1 p4   
#a4    #aj ,see ,ralph ,barton ,perry's 
article 8,a ,behavioristic ,view of     
,purpose0  in the ,journal of           

,philosophy1 ,february #ag1 #aiba4      
#aa ,pillsbury1 ,fundamentals of        
,psychology1 p4 #d4    #ab ,psychology  
7,briefer ,course71 p4 #aig4    #ac     
,ibid41 p4 #bjc4    #ad ,martineau1 ,a  
,study of ,religion 7#b;d ed471 ,i1 #ab4
    #ae ,the ,philosophical ,radicals1  
pp4 #ig-ih4