But often the state that overshadows the whole will usurp the thought of form and surroundings, and in the absorbing light of the loved ones' eyes, in the glory of their presence, in the thoughts that flow to and fro, there will be such forgetfulness of form and time that you will not miss the waving branches of the elm tree, nor the walls that creaked in response to the winds of winter, but only remember, that in the Father's dwelling there is no more parting nor absence, no more change and death.

This conies to those who love and to those who are beloved. But what of the thousands of wandering waifs? What of the populous crowds that go out unloved and loveless from the world? What of the denizens of the haunts of crime, and lives who know not the sound of the mother's voice, nor the sweet, pleasant places of home-life on earth? But remember, these have been beloved. Some darling, was every child of sin that walks the earth, and somewhere in the heavenly or earthly state there is still a light of love that links them unto loving ones.

But it is the worst condition of life where loveless children come into being, and are hurried out into the world of souls by the hand of violence or crime. Even these do not enter the condition of spirit life conscious of being deserted. Smiling faces and loving eyes are ready to receive them; hearts appointed to watch over and guard them; mothers souls whose own lives are filled with consciousness of loving light - these are appointed to take charge of them, and from the time they leave the earth, children are not aware of being orphans. It is only in your secure and safely guarded homes the children point to others on the street wearing the badge of orphanage. 'Tis only in Christian lands on earth that proud millionaires can revel in palaces of luxury, and pay their way into the Kingdom of Heaven through orphan asylums. It is only in the midst of selfishness, of pomp, and pride, which makes homeless the walls inhabited by the proud and great of earth, and makes orphans of those who have not wealth, and do not know the meaning of love.

The city of London became aware that the orphan asylums were in need of some element which they did not receive. A lady of rank and gentle disposition was appointed to find out what was the matter with the orphan asylums - why the children did not thrive. She approached a little girl three years old, and said: "My dear, will you kiss me?" The child did not know the meaning of the word; she had never received a kiss. Straightway the lady came to the council and said: " Your children need mothers, not simply food, clothing, and shelter; they need to be loved." And the great secret of municipal charity and endowed institutions is that they need mothers; they need love, and something that shall distinguish them from the labored mechanism of a superficial charity.

In the kingdom of the spirit no waif is thus neglected, nor thrust into an endowed institution to be fed and clothed, that others may live at their ease without the trouble and the responsibility of life.

Perhaps you may say that these institutions are better than starvation. But Jesus said: " Whether it is better to clothe the body and starve the spirit." Certainly of the two, the child that may win a smile from the stranger, or a tender glance from the mother's heart while seeking for alms upon the street, may see more of human kindness than the orphan herded with others in an asylum under the dominion of charity without love. See to it, therefore, if the kingdom of spiritual life is to come on earth as it is in the spiritual state, that you have none who can feel that they are orphans.

We have known children to be adopted into one household with others who knew no line between their own lives and those who are born to the household. We have known others to be adopted who were all the time made to feel that they were orphans, dependent upon the niggardly charity (so miscalled) of those who sheltered them.

The spiritual world is a world for love; all spirits are cared for; and if your child passing out from your home is thus tenderly guarded, watched over by angel mothers, does it not behoove you to see to it, ye mothers of earth who weep useless tears because your darlings are dead, that you minister to some child here whose mother is also there? Does it not behoove you, instead of throwing upon the soil the bitter salt tears of selfish grief, that you find comfort in assuaging the pain that is all around you, and lead some child into the spirit chambers of love, that elsewise would be neglected? Try this balm, which is the best solace for grief that I have known, for it brings to human hearthstones the light of an added joy, since it invites the presence of your spirit children, when you, through love, have other children near.

The laws of human association are, upon the surface, the laws of necessity. Herded for common protection against the elements, the material side of life erects for commerce, warehouses, and cities for convenience; governments, for the protection of life and property, enact a system of laws. If this were all, the mechanism of human government could very soon be provided for, for its own well being can be easily attained to; and sanitary measures, where pride and ambition and selfishness do not come in, can be readily adjusted. But it is the great moral force of association that longs for the highest and best expression, and will not have it that there shall be a depraved class and an exalted class; will not have it that in the end there shall be distinction between man and man, and this is why governments are never stable; this is why your associations are all the time in such agitation. But let the law of love prevail, let it be impossible to have homes, or cities, or governments, without love and justice, and the whole realm changes. As the master hand from the dominant note carries forward the grand chain of harmony, so the key note of the soul is love, which is harmony.