Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-03-18

the divine plan. We purpose but to COM
prehend 1t better SO that we may operate
in nearer unison Herewith. Lost to all
personal aims and emotions. the soul Is In
whose ineffable enchantnlent dulls every
other consideration. All the life or the IN
dividual Is dead and the things of the In
dividual life are ashes in comparison with
the effulgent life of union. harmony with
the divine
There is no longer interest In personal
petty passions and griefs, In the little VIC
tories and rejoicings, no wish respecting
pleasure and pain. One with the Infinite
we are in unison with that which inSti-
tutes both pleasure and pain. orders VIC
tory and defeat as cultures of the soul,
which employs each unstfnttngly, Impartial!
~ as the soul has need. knowing that each
is AN instrument for the perfectionment OF
the soul. We see both as one. the dual as
poets. the two sides of but one implement
in the education or drawing forth OF the
soul from its Imprisonment IN the personal
life into the boundless freedom of life in
union with the all through the divine
This Is our rising above both pleasure and
pain 1t is our passing into bliss, as we
say, THY way and mine are one, Lord
When We Put
Ourselves in another's place we touch the
pulse of the machine. We find the main
spring of his actions. We come into his
inner existence We feel his finest fiber. We
hear his heavenliest music. We pass be-
hind the veil and the affairs he has
erected In his penetralia. We see the tenn
pie he builds in his holy OF holies to the
Most High. We see the temples skywari
spires. We see it's luminous dome We
see 1t rising as he builds here little and
there little upward into the realization
OF his ideal.
We know this mans best intentions. We
know his finest ambitions. If we see short
comings we see them as we see our own
shortcomings, with all the reasons that
make him come short. If we see failure
we see the extenuating circumstances that
make for failure. If we see fall we see
the pressure Of adverse conditions and tenn
permanent that cause the fall. II we see
slip We see the sad efforts to rise after It.
We see his several weaknesses imbedded
in hundred inheritances. We see the ger
limitations of hundred undeveloped
strengths. the seeds of still forrnless accom-
plishments. The world sees what he has
done: but we see what he can do--that
greater thing ne has not done but which
he can do and IS going to do.
The world sees what he now is. We see
what he is going to be. the greater he. into
which the present he Is evolving. We Judge
him by his possibilities, In the acorn we
find the promise of the oak; in the seed
we find the guerdon Of the fruit in the
bud. the pledge of the blossom.
Look at another in this intimate under
standing way and we can only sympathize
with him. We oan only love him. We can
only yearn to promote the growth Of the
acorned oak. We can only invoke the sun
light to waken the splendid seeds OF that
unborn fruit to life We can only beseech
the storms to temper their oalamitous
wrath, lest they raTage the unfolding pet
ais and destroy the beautiful bud.
We can only enter Into his life to CON
tribute, 1t may be. to its strength and peace
BY no possibility can we feel any antago-
nism toward 1t. If we find ourselves out OF
sympathy with any one 1t is simply because
we do not understand them, because we do
not know them. because we separate our
selves from them When we identify our
selves with them and their interests and
cay ''ours" instead of yours and mine,
there Is only harmony, sympathy, Affection.
GRACE RILEY CLARKE.