The Washington herald., 1914-09-06
By DIR. w. ". BAKER.

By DIR. w. ". BAKER.
Have we not often wondered why We
suffer the pangs and ills Of our short ex-
istence, and endeavored. without avail. to
solve the riddle of ufe-why one is poor
and another rich; one healthy and strong
and another weak and sickly; one born
in a good family and another among
criminals; one leading a pleasant and
happy life md another unhappy and sur
rounded by unpleasant conditions: one
with great opportunities for doing good
and another with few; one successful
and another unsuccessful. no matter
what effort may be made: one leading
life Of toll and another Of ease.
In approaching these questions. so near
to the mind and heart Of every living and
thinking person. and in glancing over
the field OF humanity We are struck with
the infinite variety OF conditions and the
Kaleidoscope changes that are constantly
going on around US. Changes in national
life, and in thought-changes in our en-
vironment and the trend Of public opin-
ion. Changes in the individual. in his life,
his Misunderstanding new thought and
accepting new theories OF the problems
Of life. One Is more and more struck
with the fact that old lines Of thought
are giving way to new-thet dogmatic as
sertion is giving away to reason, and that
the stock reply of all things are possible
with Cod must be RELOCATED to the theo-
logical trash pile as insufficient and IN
worthy. People are beginning to demand
sensible repl!es-not based on ignorance
or fear to exercise the reasoning faculty.
Unfortunately IN the past, and the pres
emit for that matter (although We call
ourselves a highly civilized people,, we
have endeavored to explain the unhap-
piness and misfortune OF ourselves and
others as the 'dispensation OF Provi-
dence" Why the dispensation no one
has explained Misfortune Of every kind
is laid at the door OF an all-wise Creator.
We never think Of blaming ourselves and
looking for the explanation in a very
simple law. a law the effect of which We
see every day-a law that is often being
brought home to US in a very forceful
way-the law Of cause and effect.
Realm OF Law.
We acknowledge that we live in
realm Of law. Turning to this, the physi-
cal plane. we find that on the invariabil-
itv Of law is based all our conclusions.
We say that by doing this, thus and
thus Will be the result. The chemist in
his ANALYSIS for poison uses a certain
formula and the presence Of the particu-
lar poison for which he is searching will
be shown II in the tissue. Without this
invariability OF law in the physical world
all would be uncertainty and chaos. We
know this as an absolute fact. Now II
this be true Of the physical plane. why
not Of other planes-the emotional. the
mental. the spiritual? You feel. no doubt.
that a certain sense of helplessness will
be encountered II a hard and fast rule
exists in the mental and moral world as
in the physical. As II you would be in
the grip of an iron hand. of some mighty
power that would whirl US whittier, We
know not where. The reverse Of this is
true. for the Power that has instituted
the laws has given It to man that he
shall understand thesas laws and bend
them TO his own use. On the physical
plane man has by the very knowledge
he has Of law and its invariabilitv bent
forces to his use. We are living in an
age of discovery-in an age where the
forces Of nature are made to lend a hand
in the development OF our resources and
contribute to our needs and our pleas
ures Witness the uses OF steam and Of
electricity and OF photography. Who Of
US even within the short space Of ten
years ago would have believed It posi-
bic that wireless telegraphy would be
used IN the transmission Of important
messages between moving bodies on the