9 i
MY
RELIGION
[ by
Helen Keller
~“T.
Copyright by
Toubleday, Doran & Co.
e
H ..a ean enjoy the sun and
flowers and music where there
5a is nothing except darkness and
. J sil>nce you have proved the
Mystic Sense—Helen Keller
WNU Service
— —————
(Continued from last week.)
CHAPTER VI
Religion has been defined as the
science of our relations to God and
to our fellow men. and what we owe
to. ourselves. Surely Christianity,
rightly understood, is the Science of
Love. When the Lord dwelt upon
earth visible to mortals, He declared
that on the two commandments, Love
of God and Love of the Neighbor,
“hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Who could know ‘the Scriptures, and
all human thought for that matter, as
profoundly as did the gentle Naza-
rene charged with His divine mission?
He emphasized the divine necessity
of love all through the Gospels. “God
is Love, God is Love, God is Love!”
was the invariable meaning of such
phrases as these, “If ye love me, keep
my commandments”; “This is Life
eternal, that they might know thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
whom thou has sent”; “Seek ye first
the Kingdom of God and his right-
eousness, and all these things (happi-
ness and material blessings) shall be
added unto you”; “I am the Way, the
Truth, and the Life.” He always
visualized hatred as the opposite of
God in every detail, great or small,
and His teaching about hell was not
as of punishment by God, but the in-
evitable law of evil recoiling upon
those who cast themselves into hate
and the burning lust and the cruel
miseries of wounded pride and
thwarted egoism. No matter from
‘what angle He started, He came back
to this fact, that He entrusted the re-
construction of the world, not to
wealth or caste or power or learn-
Jing, but to the better instincts of the
‘race—to the nobler ideals and senti-
ments of the people—to love, which
is the mover of the will and the dy-
namic force of action. He turned His
words every conceivable way and did
every possible work to convince the
{doubters that loxs—gnod or eyil—i
the life of their Tife, fe fuel of their
thoughts, the breath ry nostrils,
jr heaven or their destruction.
ere was no exception or modifica-
‘tion whatever in His holy, awful
supreme Gospel of love.
Yet for two thousand years, so-
called believers have repeated “God
is love” without sensing the universe
of truth contained in these three
momentous words or feeling their
stimulating power. As a matter of
fact, ever since men began seriously
to philosophize about life, there has
been a sinister silence on this noblest
of all subjects. In the history of
love as a doctrine is a revelation of
the tragedy of how God verily comes
to seek His own, and His own know
Him not. In the Fifth Century B. C.,
Empedocles, the Greek philosopher
who held the atomic theory, took to
himself the credit of being the first to
understand the nature of love and to
recognize its true place in human af-
fairs. He was trying to find out the
elements of which the world was com-
posed, and by what processes it was
held together. In his list of elements
he named fire, water, earth, air, and
then went on to say, “and love among
them, their equal in length and
breadth, her do thou fix in mental
vision, nor sit with dazed eyes. She
it is who is also thought to be im-
planted in the mortal members, mak-
ing them think kindly thoughts and
{de friendly deeds. They call her Joy
and Aphrodite. Her has no mortal
yet observed among the ‘element of
jthe world, &%
a A century afterward, in the most
prilliant period of philosophy in
,Greece, Plato’s soul was kindled to
generous indignation by Empedocles’
words, and with a burst of eloquence
he protested against the heartlessness
of the wisdom of his age: “What a
strange thing it is that whereas other
gods have poems and hymns made in
their honor, the great and glorious
god Love has no ecomiast! The wise
have descanted in prose on the virtues
of Hercules and other heroes, and
have even made the utility of salt the
‘theme of eloquent discourse, and only
to think that there should have been
an eager interest created about suck.
things, and yet to this day no one
has ever yet dared worthily to hymn
Love's praises, so entirely has this
great Deity been neglected.” 1 think
it was in his discourse on courage,
“Lachesis,” that he said that to injure
anyone, even the most despised slave,
was an affront to the holy bond which
united gods and men and things in
friendship. Then, except for the
Voice of Divine Love speaking its
message to the hate-dulled ears of
men, more than .twenty . centuries
passed with only -here.and there a
mind brave enough to: heed those
heavily ‘accents and attempt to tran-
slate them into ‘the ~harsh speech of
earth: St. Augustine, Thomas 'Aqui-
nas, ‘A Kempis (whose “Meditations”
:I have read with joy), Spinoza,
Jacob Boehme, and some other mys-
tics and Francis Bacon stood valiant
rel ARIE ASO AN,
we find the origin of creation.
ly on the outskirts of their time and
gazed deeply into the vast, unknown
sea of feeling which rolls forever be-
neath the darkress of words not un-
derstood. They had penetrating in-
sight into the ways and works of love,
love of others and self-love. It was
Boehme who called the gnawing, burn-
ing appetites and desires of ‘the sel-
fish “the dark worm of hell”; of
which the Scripture says, “their worm
dieth not, and their fire is no*
quenched.”
But only when Swedenborg arose
out of the cold age of reason called
the Eighteenth Century, did love as
a doctrine again shine forth as the
center and life, the beauty and the
preserver of all things. With the
Bible for his authority, he developed
this doctrine to some extent in his
“Arcana ‘ Ceelestia” and more com-
pletely and systematically in nis
“Divine Love and Wisdom.” He in-
terpreted the whole world of human |
experience in terms of love—states of '
love—the activities, powers, and func-
tions of love, the constructive, pre-
ventive, and courage-stirring dic-
tates of love. Moreover, the seer dis-
covered that love in the eminent sense
is identical with the Divine itself,
“that the Lord flows into the spirits
of angels and men,” that the mate-
rial universe is God's Love wrought
into forms suitable to the uses of life,
and that the Word of God, rightly un-
derstood, reveals the fulness and the
wonder of His Love toward all the
children of men. Thus at last a faint
ray, traveling through infinity from
the Divine Soul, reached the mind of
deaf, blind humanity, and lo, the sec-
ond coming of the Lord was at hand.
Swedenborg’s teachings about life
can best be understood if we care-
fully differentiate between life and ,
existence. The Lord bestows exist-
ence upon each of us for the express
purpose of imparting life to us. His
infinite Love impels Him to be a
Creator, since love must have objects
to which it ean give its wealth of |
good-will and beneficence. In the |
Love which is the life of the Lord.
His
infinite want cannot be satisfied with
anything less than the existence of |
beings who can be finite recipients of
His own happiness. At the same time |
such beings must have freedom and
that rationality which accompanies
true freedom. That is, His gift of
life to men must be received volun-
tarily and thoughtfully by them if it
is to be their own. That is why
human beings pass through two dis-
tinct experiences—the birth into ex-
istence and the birth into life.
When we are born of the flesh, we
are utterly helpless and dependent,
while in the spiritual birth we are
active, and in a sense creators. We
have nothing 5 do with our birth
info existences; for we must exist be- |
fore we can make anything of our- |
selves. On the other hand, our birth
into life is a matte? of choice, we have
a very direct share in it; for no real
spiritual life can be thrust upon us
against our will. |
This is the meaning of the Lord's
constant, loving invitation through
His Word to all. of us, ‘0 come unto
Him and choose life, and be ever on
our guard against the evils which
would rob us of the chosen life; Only
by exercising our .powers of thought
and keeping our hearts always warm
and pure do we become: truly alive. '
But this beautiful work of re-creation
cometh not by observation, it is
wrought in the quiet depths of the | :
soul. For, as the Lord says, “The
wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but -
thou canst not tell whence it cometh
and whither it goeth; so is everyone
that is born of the spirit.”
Therefore we should not think of
conversion as the acceptance of a par- !
ticular creed, but as a change of
heart. It is the soul turning away
from the ignoble instincts which
tempt us to feel, think, speak, and
act for mere self-interest ‘and the
good opinion of the world, and find-
ing joy in the unselfish love of God
and a life of usefulness to others
above all things. Our choice of life
is this delight—this-sweet expansion
of mind and heart without which no
worth-while achievement is possible. |
But we are not born again all of a
sudden, as some people seer to think.
It is a change which comes over us
2s we hope and aspire and persevere
in the way of the Divine Command-
ments. For a long time we resolve
like angels, but drop back into the
old, matter-of-fact. way of life, and
do jest what we did before, like mor-
tals. We are already on the road to
success, however, when we see that
because we have always done some-
thing, and because everybody does it,
and because our grandfathers did it,
are not good reasons why we should !
do it. There is no plane of experi-
ence where, if we want to, we can-
not enlarge our lives by caring about
people outside ourselves, -and seeking
highest, most Lelpful ideas of Him
who is the “Way, the Truth, and the
Life.” : When .once : we make. up our
minds to do this, and set out fear-
lessly, all outward circumstances and
limitations give: way" before us... We
take up our cross daily with a strong-
er heart and a fairer prospect: of life
and happiness,
Swedenborg’s own mind extanded
slowly to the higher light; and with
deep suffering. The ‘theological sys-
tems ‘of his day were little more than
controversies, ar. so- full of long-
drawn-out hair-splittings that they
seemed like caverns jin. which one
would easily get lost and never find
one’s. way out again. Swedenborg had
to-define important keywords such as -
truth, soul, will, state, faith, and give
new meanings to many. other. words .
so that he might translate more of
spiritual thought" into - dommon lan-
SR cn ——
TERR
guage. For his doctrine of iove he
had:to find a syecial vocabulary; in-
and hearing their sentient life.
1 may illustrate the distinction be-
deed, it almost seemed as if he were tween love and its tokens, for which
himself learning. a different Jdanguage.
"He was baffled by habits of thought
it is so oftén mistaken. For, unless
we have a vivid sense of love’s reality,
which any man accustomed to depend we cannot reach it and change or
largely on his eyes would require
great courage to break, so firmly are
they entrenched in the sense. It was
one thing for him to perceive as
through a glass, darkly, the spiritual
forces that sustain life, and quite an-
deepen or purify it, so that our af-
fections may be higher, and our joy
increased. We simply go round and
round it in a vicious circle trying to
change our tendencies, reconstruct
ourselves and others, while love
other thing for him to trace them weeps at being left out—or if it be
clearly back to their beautiful origin
in the Heart of Love and communi-
* cate them to an age of cold reason,
disputing creeds and skeptical in-
quiry. Trying to “think the thoughts
of God after Him,” as Keplar said,
was a superhuman task. The only tempt to improve my voice by operat-.
way I know to give any idea of what
Swedenborg was up against is to sug-
evil, it scoffs at us and hugs itself
.complacently. From my own strug-
gle with imperfect speech.1 have this
example of a wrong, roundabout, in-
direct method of making over what
is marred. It would be zbsurd to at-
ing on the sounds it emits as they
float through the air. No, I must
gest the tremendous obstdcles a blind practise on my vocal organs, and that
man encounters when he wishes to
help others handicapped like himself.
He must spend his life trying more
or less successfully to make the see-
ing understand the particular needs
of the sightless, and the right method
to repair their broken
friendship, work, and happiness. [It
is amazing what profound ignorance
prevails even among fairly well-in-
formed persons regarding the blind,
their feelings and desires and capa-
bilities. The seeing are apt to con-
clude that the world of the blind—
and especially the deaf blind person
—is quite unlike the sunlit, bloom-
ing world they know, that his feel-
ings and sensations are essentially
different from their own, and that
his: mental consciousness is funda-
mentally affected by his infirmities.
They blunder still further, and imag-
ine that he is shut out from all
beauty of color, music, and shape.
They need to be told over and over
innumerable times that the elements
of beauty, order, form, and propor-
i tion, are tangible for the blind, and
that beauty and rhythm are the re-
sult of a spiritual law deeper than
sense. Yet how many people with
is of no use either until Iimprove my
inner, or mental, concepts of speech.
Voice is not essentially physical, it is
thought making itself audible. It is
literally shaped, tinted, and modu-
lated by the mind. My supreme ef-
lives with fort in practising is to get true im-
ages of sounds and words as it were
in my internal ear, since my bodily
ear is closed, and the nearer I ap-
proach the right use of mind as a
speech instrument the better 1 shall
be understood by others. This seems
a far cry from voice to love; but the
principle is exactly the same. Life,
with all its emotions, likes, dislikes,
and interests, flows, is moulded, col-.
ored, and ultimately its vicissitudes
are controlled, by the inmost love of
man. He should strive to form the
true mental concept of love as an ac-
tive, creating, and dictating power if
he wishes to acquire nobler feelings,
finer ideals, and satisfy his so pa-
thetic yearning for happiness.
Love should not be viewed as a de-
tached effect of the soul or an organ
or a faculty or a function. It in-
volves the whole body of conscious
thought, intention, purpose, endeavor,
motives, and impulses, often sup-
| eyes do take this truth to heart? How pressed, but always latent, ready at
many of them take the trouble to as-
certain for themselves the fact that
the deaf-blind inherit their brain
from a seeing and hearing race fitted
for five senses, and the spirit fills the
any moment to embody itself in act.
It takes on face, hands, and feet
' through the faculties and organs; it
‘ works and talks, and will not be
' checked by an external circumstance,
silent darkness with its own sunshine
and harmony?
Now Swedenborg had a multitude
of similar difficulties in conveying his
impressions as a seer to the matter-
clogged, mirage-filled senses of his |
generetion. Who knows—perhaps the |
limitations of the blind who have eyes
and the deaf who have ears may yet |
be a means of carrying God’s mes-
sages down into the darkest places of
man’s ignorance and insensibility.
presumptious, I ‘hope I may have
|
|
|
Without wishing to be the least bit |
_ bereavement and sorrow,
* after experiences of which he alone
when once it would move toward an
objective.
A very real regeneration comes
with the change which begins in a
‘man when he becomes conscious of
his spiritual faculties. Such a change
takes place not only after periods of
but often
may be aware. There comes a day
when his eyes are cleared, and he
sees himself, his present environment,
and the future in their true relations.
The scales of selfishness fall away,
some skill to use helpfully my experi- , 25d be Jooks zt his own life soberly.
ence of life in the dark, as Sweden. |
borg used the experiences of two
worlds which he said were granted
him to elucidate the hidden meanings
of the Old ani the New Testaments.” |
It is a peculiar happiness to me to
bear record of the potency. of God's
Love and its creature, man’s love,
which stand between me and utter is-
olation, and make r.y misfortunes a
medium ‘of help and good-will to
others. It is an ever-new sorrow to
me to realize the tragedy of Swe-
denborg’s opening words in the “Di.
vine Love and Wisdom”: “Man knows
that there -is such a thing as love;
but he does not know what love is |
himself any idea of thought about it,
he says either that it is not anything,
or that it is merely something flow-
| ing in from sight, hearing, touch, or
intercourse with others, and thus af-
fecting him. He is wholly unaware
that love is very life; not only the
common life of his whole body, and
the common life of all his thoughts,
but also the life of all their particu-:
lars. This a man of discernment can:
perceive when it is said; if you re-
move the affection which i is from love,
can you think anything or do any-
thing? Do not thought, speech, and
action grow cold in the measure in
which the affection which is from love
grows cold? And do they not grow
warm in the measure in which this
affection grows warm? But this a
man of discernment perceives only by
observing that such is the case, and
not from any knowledge that love is
the life of man.”
The trouble is, people mistake the
atterances, smiles, glances, and gentle
deeds of love for love itself. It is
just as if I should make the mistake
of supposing that the brain thinks
from its own power, or the body acts
of its own accord, or the voice ani
tongue cause their own vibrations, ov
my hand recognizes anything inde-
pendently of me, when really all these
parts of the body are acted upon by
the will and mind. Or as. if I mighi
place my hand on a beautiful lily and
inhale its fragrance, and insist that
the senses of touch and smell were
in the flower, when in reality the skin
by which ‘I feel produces these sen-
sations. That is the kind of appear-
ances that should be guarded against
when love, life, and mental activities
are discussed. The common idea of
love is that it is something outside
of man-—an entity floating about=a
vague. sentiment—one of the abstrac-
tions that cannot be talked about, be-
cause it cannot be ‘distinctly thought
about: But Swedenborg teaches that
love is” not an abstraction without
cause, subject, or form. It ‘does not
float through ‘thé soul ‘of’ come into
being at the touch or sight of an’ ob-
ject. Itis the inmost essence of man
out of which his spiritual organism |
is formed, and what we pereeive as
love ‘is: only a-sign-of that substance.
Love actually keeps - his- faculties
alive, as the atmosphere gives the
senses of touch, smell, taste, sight,
It is amazing how prodigiously men
nave written and talked about regen-
eration, and yet how little they have
aid to the purpose. Self-culture has
n loudly and boastfully proclaimed
as sufficient for all our ideals of per-
fection. But if we listen to the best
men and women everywhere, they will
answer with a decided negative. Some
of them have amassed vast treasures
of knowledge, and they will say that
science may have found a cure for
most evils; but it has found no rem-
edy for the worst of them all—the
apathy of human beings. It is
pointed out, and Swedenborg says the
same thing, that man, unschooled in
. + « And because one is unable, | Jove and pity, is worse than a beast.
when he reflects upon it, to form to | He is a hornless, tailless animal; he
does not eat grass; but he wantonly
destroys with his recklees power of
thought. - He invents more and more
1 his |,
horrible weapons to kill and mar his ori aicthar to discover ‘the
brother man in war; he mutilates
helpless animals for the changing |
sport of fashion; and he has a pas-
sion for fault-finding and scandal
which rises beyond his control. Many
other evils are no doubt traceable to
his ignorance, but certainly not these
pernicious tendencies. His deliver-
ance is not going to be through self-
culture unaided by right desires.
There is another large group ox
well-meaning people who hold that
man ‘can be reformed largely by a | charms of faith, cause what is true
¢ to be called true; for joys and charms
change of environment; and there is
enough truth in this to render it
plausible and attractive. But it 1s
over-emphasized and often wrongly
applied. It is not environment that
alters a human being, buf forces
within him. The blind, the deaf, the
prisoner for conscience’ sake, even’
the poorest men with sound ideals,
have all proved that they can shape
life nearer to their desires, no mat-
ter what the outward circumstance.
Because there is a good deal of the
child in us, we grow impatient easily
and say to ourselves, “Oh, if we could
stand in the lot of our more fortun-
ate neighbors, we could live better,
happier, and more useful lives.” How
often we hear ‘a young man say, “If
i had the opportunity of my boss’s
son, I ‘could achieve great success.”
“If I didn't have to associate with
such vulgar folk, I could become mor-
ally strong,” says another, and a
third laments, “If I only had the
money of my. wealthy friend, I should
gladly do my part in the uplift of
the. world.”..
Now I am _ as. ah up in arms
against needless poverty and degrad-
ing influences. as anyone else, but, at
the same time, I believe human ex-
perience teaches, that. if we cannot
succeed in our present position, . we
could not succeed in: any other. Un-
less, like the lily, we can rise pure
and strong above sordid surround-
ings, we would probably be moral
weaklings in any situation.
we can help the world where we are,
we could not help it'if we were some-
where else, The most important ques-
tion is not the sort of énvironment
we have, but the kind of thoughts we
Unless
. think every duy, the kind of ideals :
we are following, in a word, the kind
of men and women we really are. The
Arab proverb is ‘admirably true:
“That is thy world wherein thou find-
ost thyself.”
Swedenborg has all these different
theories in mind when he makes it
clear that human beings cannot be
regenerated suddenly without doing
terrible violence to their minds and
their self-esteem. They must advance
step by step, accustoming their inner
eyes to a keener light before they
can endure the dazzle of new truths,
and they cannot be turned toward a
good life except by their delight. For
it is these delights that keep them
free and at last give them power to
choose. Co-operation with the Lord
and confidence in His unwearying
help, learning to understand more
truths in the Word and living accord-
ing to them and doing good for its
own sake—these are the only whole-
some ways for mortals to rise out of |
their old selves and rebuild their
world. They are greatly to be pitied '
if they wish to steal the merits of |
Christ or demand heaven as a “re-
ward.” It is much nobler for them
to look into their own hearts and
drive out the dragon of selfishness; |
this repentance they can accomplish :
quickly, but they must grow slowly !
and as cheerfully as possible, or they
will never acquire any abiding |
strength of character. In fact, they .
will never stop regenerating in this |
life or the next, since they will for-
ever find more to love, more to know.
more to achieve.
CHAPTER VII
Swedenborg’s sayings about delight
and happiness seem as numberless as
the flowers and leaves of a fruit tree
in full bloom; and that is not sur-
prising when he declares that the life |
of man is in the delight of what he
loves. ° There is no interest where the
heart is cold, and where there is no
interest, there is no delight. Human
happiness is composed of countless
small joys, just as time is made up
of minutes and seconds; but few peo-
ple with all their senses stop to think
of this, and still fewer sit down to
count their blessings. If they did,
they would be kept so busy that the
"next harsh call to duty would seer
music to their enchanted ears.
I do not refer to hedonism, which is
seeking happiness as an end, and not
usefulness. So I hope my words will
not seem light to any earnest person
when I speak ¢f the universe as a
table spread by Divine beneficence
with a feast to the soul. Every fac-
ulty of the mind and every appetite
of the body have their delights, which
' are the means of renewal and’ up-
building. Every single power in man's
nature, physical and mental, should
have a chance to choose and appro-
priate to itself what is congenial and
satisfying. It is not necessary, as is
very often supposed, to give up nat-
ural pleasures before we can gain |
spiritual ones. On the contrary, we
enjoy them ulore exquisitely as we
rise in the inner life. How wonderful
is a bunch of grapes sent by a dear
friend—its rounded beauty and color
anu its delicious fragrance, with love,
imagination, and poetry over and
above!
flowers in fragrant delights that
quicken the brain and open our heart-
blossoms! How endlessly the changes
of sky and water and earth charm us
and keep before us a lovely mirror of
the higher world upon which our
faith and our dreams are centred!
This world is so full of care ana
sorrow that it is a gracious debt we
bright crystals of delight hidden in
sombre circumstances and irksome
tasks. Swedenborg, whose labors were
a giant's, saw inexhaustible stores of
joy in the midst of exacting routine.
Out of his heart and out of heaven's
heart he wrote in the “True Christian
Religion”:
“The joys of love, which are alsu
the joys of charity, cause what is
good to be called good; and the
charms of wisdom, which are also the
of various kinds make their life, and
without life from these, goods and
truths are like inanimate things, and
re also unfruitful.”
“The love whose joy is essentially
good is like the heat of the sun, frue-
tifying, vivifying, and operating on a
fertile soil, on fruit trees and fields
of corn, and where it operates there
is produced, as it were, a paradise, a
garden of Jehovah, and a land of
Canaan; and the charm of its truth
is as the light of the sun in the time
of spring, and as light flowing into a
crystal vessel in ‘which are beautiful
flowers, from which as they’ open
breathes forth a fragrant perfume.”
As selfishness and complaint per-
vert and cloud the mind, so love with
its joy clears and sharpens the vision.
It gives the delicacy of perception to
see wonders in what before seemed
dull and trivial. ‘It replenishes the
springs of inspiration, rand" its joy
sends a new river of life like blood
through the matter-clogged faculties.
There is a growing: sentiment
among thoughtful people that delight
is essential to growth -and. self-im-
provement and the acquisition of
nobler + instinets: .- What induces . a:
child to learn but his.delight in know-
ing? Do, not. the pleasures of taste
enable . the body to assimilate . food?
What mind that thinks at all does not
choose the ideas which please it and,
let all others go unheeded? What
does a man do with his secret inner
will but fix it upon some Eldorado
which allures him, and wait until he
can realize his dream? What is it
but dreaming the delight that leads
the brave and adventurous on to fresh
How rich and varied we find
discoveries and the increase of man’s
natural resources? Why does the sci-
entist often endure mental travail
and repulsive tasks, if not for the de-
lights he feels in understanding new
truths or rendering a new service to
others? A wise teacher or friend or
true reformer does not attempt to
drag a wrong-doer into the right way
by force. He skilfully combines dis-
cipline with pleasant influences that
may soften the stubborn will and
charm the sullen mind into right
thinking. Anyone who, out of good-
. ness of his heart, speaks a helpful
i word, gives a cheering smile,
or
smooths over a rough place in an-
' other’s path, knows that the delight
|
|
i
|
i
he feels is so intimate a part of him-
self that he lives by it. The joy of
surmourting obstacles which once
seemed unremovable, and pushing the
frontier of accomplishment further—
what joy is there like unto it? If
those who seek happiness would only
| stop one little minute and think, they
, would see that the delights they really
| experience are as countless as the
grasses at their feet or the dewdrops:
sparkling upon the morning flowers.
Yet how few persons I meet realize:
, this wealth of joy! It is a marvel and:
a sorrow to me to observe how far
afield they go in pursuit of happiness.’
They look for it in the strangest of
places. They visit kings and queens
and bow to them; they seek happiness
in travel and: excitement; they dig for
i it into the depths of the earth, think-
"ing that it lies in hidden treasure.
. Many others rob themselves of joy
| by superstitiously fettering their in-
|
|
!
tellect for the sake of religion or con-
vention or party policy. Most piti-
| ably. are they blinded, deafened, and’
| starved when all the time there is:
within them a world of sweet wealth:
ready to bless their hearts and minds.
It is God’s good gift to them out of”
His Happiness, and they know it not.
To help a man to find himself is:
often to surprise him with new-found
joy. For delight serves as a means:
of self-knowledge. Swedenborg says,.
if a man will examine his own de-
lights, he will often realize that he is:
self-centred because most of his ener--
gies are directed to shaping his own:
life or acquiring knowledge for his
private ends; but it turns out that his-
more enduring joys are born of an
unselfish purpose to serve others and:
create new life in the world, These-
selfless delights will whisper approval!
to him, and he will rise thrice a man«
because he is conscious of new powers:
and new self insights. Only when you:
trace the footsteps of your spirit to-
the home of its delights shall you be-
hold your own form and face and rea”
vour fate in the Book of Life.
(Continued next week.)
OVER THE ALPS
GOES THE BELL TEL.
Transatlantic telephone messages.
are now crossing the Alps for the.
first time.
The hours of service will be: the-
same as it is for other overseas.
points, or, from 6:30 A. M. to 10:00:
P. M. eastern daylight savings time.
Calls from America to Milan. Italy,.
are routed through New York City
to one of the Bell system: radio
transmitting stations across the At--
:lantic to a receiving station in Bri-
tain then by wire to London. From
London telephone wires .carry the:
calls to a submarine cable under the-
English channel.
From the channel telephone wires:
carry the calls across France and’
Switzerland. From then on the mes-
sages travel over a circuit of ap--
proximately 4400 miles.
Milan has nearly 60,000 telephones-
and a population of approximately"
836,000.
This extension puts the American:
telephone user in communication with:
21 foreign countries.
With the recent opening of the:
new short wave radio transmitting-
station at Lawrenceville, New Jer: .
sey, the Atlantic is now bridged with:
three telephone circuits, two short.
waves and one long wave.
It is planned to add three short:
wave circuits later in the year.
The rate of telephone conversation:
between Bellefonte and Milan is:
$51.00 for the first three minutes and’
$17.00 for each additional minute,
: :
ALL MAIMED VETERANS 7
PREPARING TO ORGANIZE:
Thousands of Canadian, American:
and other allied soldiers who lost.
arms or legs on the battlefields of:
France, have begun, through repre-:
sentatives at the Veterans of Foreign:
Wars’ annual convention at St. Paul, .
Minn., movements toward formation :
of an internatioal “amputation” club..
Robert Burns of Winnipeg, who"
lost his right arm in the World War
and who is the head of a Canadian:
“Ampy” Club of more than 1,000"
members, declared that such an or-
ganization “might prevent the world:
from forgetting us.”
“We want every Canadian, Ameri--
can, English, French and other al-
lied soldier who lost an arm, leg"
or eye ‘over there’ to unite under-
the banner,” Burns said, “and join in
the fight now so we won't be forgot--
ten.”
The delegates and visitors to the-
veterans’ third annual convention:
continued discussions on natiénal 'is-
sues, discussed nominees for elec-
tions, and prepared to name the 1930"
convention city.
H. N. Duff, Lansing, Mich., present"
senior vice commander, and’ Admir-
al © Robert HE. Coontz, Washington,
were mentioned forthe national com-
mander’s - post. ' Baltimore, Buffalo
and St. Petersburg were among the
cities which are seeking next year's
convention.
SR
Sprinkle a little flour on potatoes
before frying, to give them a golden:
brown.