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Speaker 1: The divine center. The secret of life, of abundant life,

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with its strength, its felicity, and its unbroken peace, is

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to find the divine center within oneself, and to live

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in and from that, instead of in that outer circumference

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of disturbances, the clamors, cravings, and argumentations which make up

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the animal and intellectual man. These selfish elements constitute the

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mere husks of life, and must be thrown away by

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him who would penetrate to the central heart of things,

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to life itself. Not to know that within you that

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is changeless and defiant of time and death, is not

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to know anything, but is to play vainly with the

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unsubstantial reflections in the mirror of time. Not to find

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within you those passionless principles which are not moved by

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the strifes and shows and vanities of the world. Is

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defined nothing but illusions, which vanish as they are grasped.

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He who resolves that he will not rest satisfied with appearances, shadows, illusions, shall,

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by the piercing light of that resolve, disperse every fleeting fantasy,

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and shall enter into the substance and reality of life.

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He shall learn how to live, and he shall live,

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he shall be the slave of no passion, the servant

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of no opinion, the votary of no fond error. Finding

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the divine center within his own heart, he will be

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pure and calm, and strong and wise, and will ceaselessly

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radiate the heavenly life in which he lives, which is himself,

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Having betaken himself to the divine refuge within and remaining there,

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a man is free from sin. All his yesterdays are

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as the tide washed and untrodden sands. No sin shall

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rise up against him, to torment and accuse him, and

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destroy his sacred peace. The fires of remorse cannot scorch him,

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nor can the storms of regret devastate his dwelling place.

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His tomorrows are as seeds which shall germinate, bursting into

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beauty and potency of life. And no doubt shall shake

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his trust, no uncertainty rob him of repose. The present

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is his only. In the immortal present does he live.

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And it is as the eternal vault of blue above,

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which looks down silently and calmly, yet radiant with purity

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and light upon the upturned and tear stained faces of

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the centuries. Men love their desires for gratification seem sweet

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to them, but its end is pain and vacuity. They

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love the argumentations of the intellect, for egotism seems most

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desirable to them, but the fruits thereof are humiliation and sorrow.

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When the soul has reached the end of gratification and

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reaped the bitter fruits of egotism, it is ready to

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receive the divine wisdom and to enter into the divine life.

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Only the crucified can be transfigured. Only by the death

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of self. Can the Lord of the heart rise again

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into the immortal life and stand radiant upon the olivet

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of wisdom? Do you have trials? Every outward trial is

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the replica of an inward imperfection. You shall grow wise

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by knowing this, and shall thereby transmute trial into active joy,

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finding the kingdom where trial cannot come. When will you

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learn your lessons, o, child of earth? All your sorrows

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cry out against you. Every pain is your just accuser,

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and your griefs are but the shadows of your unworthy

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and perishable self. The kingdom of Heaven is yours. How

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long will you reject it? Preferring the lurid atmosphere of hell,

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the hell of your self seeking self. There springs the

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healing streams, quenching all thirst. There bloom the immortal flowers,

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carpeting all the way with joy. There throng, swiftest and

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sweetest hours. The redeemed sons of God, the glorified in

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body and spirit, are bought with a price, And that

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price is the crucifixion of the personality, the death of self.

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And having put away that within which is the source

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of all discord, they have found the universal music, the

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abiding joy. Life is more than motion. It is music

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more than rest. It is peace more than work. It

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is duty more than labor. It is love more than enjoyment.

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It is blessedness more than acquiring money and position and reputation.

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It is knowledge, purpose, strong, and high resolve. Let the

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impure turn to purity, and they shall be pure. Let

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the weak resort to strength, and they shall be strong.

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Let the ignorant fly to knowledge, and they shall be wise.

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All things are man's, And he chooses that which he

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will have. To day, he chooses in ignorance. Tomorrow he

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shall choose in wisdom. He shall work out his own salvation,

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whether he believes it or not. For he cannot escape

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himself nor transfer to another the eternal responsibility of his

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own soul. By no theological subterfuge shall he trick the

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law of his being, which shall shatter all his selfish

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makeshifts and excuses for right thinking and right doing. Nor

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shall God do for him that which it is destined

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his soul shall accomplish for itself. What would you say

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of a man men, who, wanting to possess a mansion

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in which to dwell, peacefully purchased the sight, and then

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knelt down and ask God to build the house for him.

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Would you not say that such a man was foolish?

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And of another man, who, having purchased the land, set

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the architects and builders and carpenters at work to erect

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the edifice, would you not say that he was wise?

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And as it is in the building of a material house,

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even so it is in the building of a spiritual mansion,

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brick by brick, pure thought upon pure thought, good deed

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upon good deed. Must the habitation of a blameless life

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rise from its sure foundation, until at last it stands

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out in all the majesty of its faultless proportions. Not

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by caprice nor gift nor favor does a man obtain

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the spiritual realities. But by diligence, watchfulness, energy, and effort.

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Strong is the soul, and wise and beautiful. The seeds

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of godlike power are in us still. Gods are we bards, saints,

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heroes if we will. The spiritual heart of a man

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is the heart of the universe, and finding that heart

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man finds the strength to accomplish all things. He finds

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there also the wisdom to see things as they are.

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He finds there the peace that is divine at the

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center of man's being is the music which orders the stars,

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the eternal harmony. He who would find blessedness, let him

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find himself. Let him abandon every discordant desire, every inharmonious thought,

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every unlovely habit and deed, and he will find that

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grace and beauty and harmony which form the indestructible essence

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of his own being. Men fly from creed to creed

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and find unrest. They travel in many lands and discover disappointment.

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They build themselves beautiful mansions and plant pleasant gardens, and

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reap weariness, heaviness, and discomfort. Not until a man falls

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back upon the truth within himself does he find rest

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and satisfaction. Not until he builds the inward mansion of

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faultless conduct does he find the endless and incorruptible joy.

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And having obtained that, he will infuse it into all

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his outward doings and possessions. If a man would have peace,

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let him exercise the spirit of peace. If he would

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find love, let him dwell in the spirit of love.

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If he would escape suffering, let him cease to inflict it.

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If he would do noble things for humanity, let him

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cease to do ignoble things for himself. If he will

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but quarry the mind of his own soul, he shall

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find there all the materials for building whatever he will,

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And he shall find there also the central rock upon

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which to build in safety. Howsoever a man works to

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write the world, it will never be righted until he

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has put himself right. This may be written upon the

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heart as a mathematical axiom. It is not enough to

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preach purity. Men must cease from lust to exhort to love.

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They must abandon hatred to extol self sacrifice. They must

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yield up self to adorn with mere words the perfect life.

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They must be perfect when a man can no longer

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carry the weight of his many sins, let him fly

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to Christ, whose throne is the center of his own heart,

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and he shall become light hearted, entering the glad company

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of the immortals. When he can no longer bear the

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burden of his accumulated learning, Let a man leave his books,

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his science, his philosophy, and come back to himself, and

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he will find within that which he outwardly sought and found,

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not his own divinity. He ceases to argue about God,

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who has found God within. Relying upon that calm strength

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which is not the strength of self, he lives God

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manifesting in his daily life the highest goodness, which is

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eternal life.