Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-03-11

iouhu any trace OF soul" 1t was con-
sidcred \ smart. convincing cpigram
fut YOU won't find the human soul in
tue appendix or the bladder. Its only
I physical manifestation is in the eyes
Ana II Is for the scientist of the future
TO locate il. analyzc il. follow it,
| have long formed my own view
OF the form the discovery viii take
futtinE all legend and allcgory on one
SIDE | am convinced that the universe
| Is permcatcd 10y an ocean OF vital
iorcc--lifc fuid-which is evcf flying
INTO and out of cat birth and dci,th)
every living thing - vivifyinG. mag
netXinE it. according TO its rcceptiv-
iiE. Let me explain: an Ethiopian
couple marry: there arrives the time
when the little pckaninny is quick
encd"-that is to say. when it's human
attriyt to itself the necessary vitalizing
huid TO give 1t life and being
Rut IL is coarse material. and very
little OF the force is caught sim. il
gives life" and it lasts till the mag
not gives out and then flies back un-
altered. to tho great sea. IL is never
lost, ana III that sense the soul Of the
mcancst living thing is immortal. 1t
is like taking a thimblcful OF water
from the ocean. keeping il for 4 time
ana then pouring it back. You couldn't
say IT was lost: but il could never he
found again. In this case have as
sumcd that the good little Niger boy
never did any real. conscious harm or
good in life: consequently his vital
iluid was neither Vitiatcd nor refined
Now take tho case OF a child higher
up IN the human scale. First Of ALL
II viii attract to itself and retain a
larger quantity of life nuid than did
the little blackamoor. aud then in
later years the ilud. or force. Will he
purified or dctcrioratcd by what the
Il;uddhists call the karma--thc good
or cHil influence of the life. and when
physical death comes il will now back
into what Dickens called the sea of
immortality which flows all round the
world"-a phrase which caught my
fancy as a very young man and set me
thinking.
| Well, far. YOU viii say. We are
Il long way off the auSl T. to our oucs-
ton. Wait Il moment. Up to the pres
/ cnt | have taken the cases Of two
types - both ordinary normal spcci-
] mems OF their class. In tho one low
I down IN the scale OF evolution have
assumed that the soul-whch is the
most convenient word--what there was
I of it, returns to it's source unaffected
in any way by its temporary sojourn
/ In tho other have regarded il as either
! refined Or degraded by the conscious
acts OF its posscSsor. And ii will be
/ seen that Oh this theory the great store
of life force is always tending towards
= higher or lower degree Of diviu-
lily. In other words. until all mankind
/ is exalted To Il true nobility Of char
aricr. We can never. in the hackncycd
I phrase OF tho churches enter the King
dom of God. IL am dealing now with
! the human race only: the animal
kinGdom>i is a separate and profoundly
/ interesting study.)
COMFORT FOR THOSE
WHO MOURN THEIR DEAD
But now / como to an aspect Of the
matter wherein there is comfort and
hope for all who have hccn berca we'd
by the war. So far I have spokcu of
the soul returning to it's source after
/ death, in the same. or q better or
worse, condition than that in which it
+. ontered~ the human body--Rnd I have
not suggested that once liberia ted il re-
tains any of it's individuality; It simply
goes back like the thimblcful Of water
leaving the sca unaffected or in a
minute way purifying or pollutinE it,
according 10 tho elements II has col
licctcd during its human habitation.
Fut since the Divine purpose Is ever
towards cNaltation. there is one thing.
and one thing only. which insurcs
conscious life after dcath-;he cnnohlc-
mcnt of the soul by love and sacrifice
Ia such degree that. once liberated
from ITS mortal prison. it is Of too high
/ quality TO blend with the common
ocean, and roamS about in search or
an affinity which ii finds in those who
were dearest TO il in life and for whom
primarily the love and sacrifice were
given. And IL is the bridging of tho
gulf which is the problem Of the sell
J "ntisis ia the Immediate future And
'ZtGJAaZZGEEElES @SNsgAZsszEN