THE past year has been a most eventful one from every point of view, and marked by advancing recognition of the spiritual idea,—the demand for universal freedom,—which is finding expression in religion, education, Politics, and social life. If we attempt to measure human progress by what seems to prevail, we might not observe any great advance over former conditions, but when we look below the surface we find unmistakable evidence of the divine energy at work in many channels which at one time seemed closed to the demand for righteousness, and because of this we may rest assured that right will triumph more and more as doubt gives place to faith in the supremacy of good in all human experience, individual and collective.
That progress in the past has been so slow, over the entire civilized world, is undoubtedly due to a lack of faith in the Scripture teaching that all good is possible, and to the widely prevailing belief in the power of evil, also the easy unconcern with which this lack of faith is accepted on the part of so many professed Christians. It is astonishing but true that many of these are almost apologetic when it comes to the matter of faith, as if faith were indicative of a feeble mentality, yet we read in the epistle to the Hebrews that "without faith it is impossible to please him [God];" while a modern writer who is also a profound thinker says that "incredulity is the surest sign of a weak head and a corrupt heart,"—a scathing arraignment surely of the vaunting of doubt as to spiritual realities!
People in general seem to forget that faith can never rest upon material evidence, that it deals entirely with that which is unseen, unrealized, and this is true even in respect to ordinary human affairs. Every great undertaking must begin in faith, though in most cases this is merely faith in oneself or in others, and is apt to be limited to materiality, as for instance the building of a house, a steamship, or a railway. Even in such enterprises the faith which rises above the material and seeks the aid of the divine Mind, and works for the good of humanity, brings out the only results which are truly satisfying.
