There are few portions of any country which are entirely level. For this reason a journey from one place to another usually necessitates going uphill and down-hill; but in spite of these ups and downs the traveler is moving onward. So it is in the journey from sense to Soul. Few have demonstrated a continuously smooth course. Most of us find ourselves making our way over hills and through valleys. Few nations have gone to war, even on the right side, which have not met with some defeats as well as victories until the question was finally settled; hence the need of a goodly stock of courage and perseverance in the right.
It requires no stretch of the imagination to note that the task of overcoming all evil, of conquering all fleshly propensities in one's own consciousness, is a righteous course, and therefore it should be settled at the outset that whatever obstructions we may encounter we must fight the battle through, whether our success be continuous or intermittent, "be it slow or fast," to use our Leader's words in the prayer given for the "big children" (see Poems, p. 69).
It is always right to prophesy good and never evil, but it is also wise to be awake to the apparent uncertainty of affairs at this particular stage in human development, and thus guard against being surprised and overwhelmed when confronted with adversity. All are familiar with the interesting Bible story concerning the seven fat kine and the seven lean kine of Pharaoh's dream, and how the inhabitants of Egypt were saved from starvation by providing sufficient during seven years of plenty to supplement the shortage of seven years of famine. The common sense lesson which is taught in this story gives the impression that a whole livelihood includes not only enough to eat in the prosperous present, but also enough for the probable or possible dull season or day when human necessities draw with unusual heaviness upon the purse.
