I have learned, O God, that it is not possible among imperfect men to escape all suffering, even by religion. We are not to be in the lion's den and yet never feel the lion's fang or paw; nor in the furnace and know no sense of burning. We are to rejoice always, in spite of the pains we feel, and morally and spiritually triumph, though defeated, in the light of all merely earthly standards. We rejoice in thee when there is nothing else for us to rejoice in. This joy no man can take from us, and it may be ultimately augmented by all the pains we are called to bear. Thy grace can secure this, and this I implore. Let me ever keep my eye on the unseen and eternal, and taste its power and glory, even while I am oppressed by the visible and temporal.
I am happy to learn that thou, O God, art not the Creator of substances and forces which are contrary and antagonistic to thy spiritual nature; and that matter, with all its imagined power for evil, is merely an illusion of the human mind, of temporary duration, and subject to the Power Mind. Let me in my entire being and mental action, rise to the level of this great truth, and then, to me there is nought but thee. I am lost in thy infinite perfection, and thy blessedness, without alloy, is mine; and it is the bliss of harmonious Intelligence, Love and Power. I find my own individual perfection by losing myself in thy infinite excellence.
