The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-05-03

9TH PAPER.
Copyrighted. 1897. by II. b. 3D.


prayer the soul receives life directly from
the Infinite, and the effect upon the mind
Is even more immediats than upon tho
body. lt has been fully explained that
prayer Is not strenuous petition, but pas.
sive receptivity, II waiting on the Lord.
We do not read that Jesus ever suffered
from sickness, but we know that he was
accustomed to withdraw frequently into
tho hill region OF Judea for seasons OF
solitary communion with tho Father.
When most pressed by the multitude he
was apt suddenly to depart as II by an
irresistible impulse TO be alone. No
crowd, no clamor, not even the hot per-
secution that beset His last days ever
seemed TO ruflie His serenity or TO shake
His calm confidence that the Fathers
work was going on in strict accordance
with the Fathers will. And He made no
secret of the fact that 1t was by prayer
that His strength was fed, and by con-
slant communion with God that lie
learned the wisdom which lie impaired
70 His disciples.
There is, there is, a strength that
comes to us In solitude, from that
shadowy awful Presence that frivolous
crowds repel, says Hamerton. III Jesus
needed TO be alone TO receive this
strength, can we expect 10 do our best In
any line OF work while neglecting this
most important of all means of growth.
We often say wo cannot Ind moment I'd
be alone; we feel that wo are driven from
one thing to another and that all these
things are too important to De neglected
for such "a selfish purpose rs solitary med
itation. But let US compare our duties for
| one moment with those of Jesus. Is
anything that We have 10 do as important
as was His work of teaching His disciples
or even of healing the sick who
thronged Himy The true reason
why we do not take more time for prayer
\ l. that we have not tho faintest concep-
nt hA nj N hnf lA fn n
selves and TO Others. Zoo often our prayers
are "A mere form OF words, and we rise
| from praying no stronger and what Is
| worse, not expecting TO be any stronger
| than before. That is not the kind OF
| prayer that feeds both soul and body with
| break from Heaven.
We all expect "a poet or an artist to need
| time tor inspiration. But the most COM
Inonplace of daily duties can be exalted
to the level of poetry ii we can have the
same inspiration In It, III the work Is
purely mechanical the inspiration may
come in thoughts on other lines, taking
our minds from the dreary monotony of
our work and lifting us quite out of the
| treadmill existence that life becomes
when the whole mind Is absorbed with
one uncongenial thought But IL our
work involves the least degree OF respon-
| sibility or the least opportunity for
originality, an inspiration may be obtained
| from prayer that will tit us for the more
successful discharge OF its peculiar duties.
| This Is not mere sentiment, IL is scientific
| fact.
Take for example an ordinary business
| life. You go to your work in the morn
| ing with weight of anxiety upon you.
| You are careful and troubled about many
| things Something goes wrong In the
| course OF the day and you lose whatlittle
| serenity you had, you feel the wear and
| tear of friction on your whole physical
| being, and your mind refuses to respond
| promptly and confidently to the demands
/ made upon IL. Your work would not be
| hard If there were no sense of friction.
| Now let us consider what Is the CAUSE OF
| this friction and how IL can be remoyeu.
| You say your work Is complex and the
| business difficulties and dangers require
| constant vigilance as of "a man beset 10y
foes on every side, one of whom may
strike while he Is defending himself from
another. There is sense of confusion, Of
| nervousness then of fatigue. Are
not the operations OF your diges-
| tive organs complexg Is not the
| work of the blood complex, building
| up here, mending there, healing dis
order somewhere elseY Ii you had To at.
| tend to all the operations of your physi-
cal life aud direct them by your conscious
| mind, what confusing, worrisome busi-
ness 1t would be! But you leave that,
| you say, TO take care of itself. No, your
brain is attending TO 1t all, but your
| brain is fully equal To the task, calmly
| resting in tho consciousness of its own
| power, and directing all these diverse
interests within you as unerringly AS
| Napoleon directed the operations OF his
| army-more so, il you remain in health.
| Your sub-conscious mind has genius
for attending TO the wants of your body,
but genius Is simply "a capacity for in
| spiratlon on certain lines, and you can
| have a genius for business If you can
learn TO keep your objective faculties
| always in good working OF der, by allow
| ing the subjective their rightiul place
as co-workcrs. This is not saying that
| anyone can have "a genius for any Kind OF
| business but having chosen "a congenial
| pursuit, anyone can avoid that friction
| which incapacitates him Ivy re-eniorcing
| his executive powers in seasons OF calm,
tranquil out-rcaching after the strength
that comes through tho subjoctiye; that
| strength which Is the inspiration of
genius and which in some measure is
waiting to bestow itself on everyone who
| seeks il.
The same benefit may come to those
whose work is teaching. Here the appli-
cation seems even easier TO understand.
| In training other minds u most impor-
| tant qualification Is the power TO trace
the mcntal operations of the pupil, in
| order Co know how To guide the develop
| ment that one Is trying to stimulate.
| This can be done only by intuitive per-
ceptIon ana the tnUuttf0us arc never nc
| tive when the nerves are "all on edge ~
| A half hour every morning spent alone
| in the silence would be worth Iar more
than sleep To care-worn, weary teacher.
In purely intellectual pursuits the wis
| dom that comes in the silence of the soul
| is even more earnestly to Dc sought st.
James says, IF any man lack wisdom let
him ask of God, who giveth to all men
! literally. If this seems an extravagant
| claim, consider for "a moment that every
prophet since the world began has OBJ
tanned his wisdom from this same source.
| How do we know that right Is right and
| that wrong is hideousy How does the race
| consciousness of virtue advance from age
to agey Ii is not by reason; witness the
| decentralization wrought by atheism, which
is the complctost triumph of reason over
| intuition. Try the experiment yourself
| and you will be aware OF similar adj
vance i'm your own ideas Of right as the
| years 90 on. Your intuitions at first
coorcd more or less by cons ,ious habits of