Your aspirations may be lofty and wonderful; you may have begun to dream the great dream; you may feel tempted to wish for everything conceivable; you may feel an irresistible desire to pray for the very highest that the soul can discern. And if so, you have seen the vision. You are no longer living with mere man. You have become a friend and companion of the gods.

This you know; but what of the future? Will your prayers be answered? Will your innumerable wishes come true? Or, will your only reward be in this, that you have had your dream. Sometimes you may think that this is all; but during your lofty and inspired moments you think differently. Something seems to speak to the soul at such moments; and in answer to your questioning mind, the Voice seems to say, "When God So Wills."

You may not be able, however, to find the secret interpretation of that wonderful statement, and therefore may continue to hover between faith and doubt as to your realization for the future. But you cannot give up your lofty aspirations. Regardless of adversity or fate, you will continue to cling to the clouds; you will continue to reach out, in every conceivable mode and manner, for that invisible sublime something that you feel you must have - that alone can satisfy. You have taken the upper pathway, and you cannot, would not, return - not for everything that the world might offer or contain.

These are your convictions; and yet you feel that you should receive everything that the world can give; you almost feel it is your privilege to wish for everything - everything in the visible life and everything in the spiritual life. And indeed, why not? That all is not too much for those who have become companions of the gods. Surely there can be neither restrictions nor limitations upon the upper pathway.

In your personal effort to live life as it should be lived, you meet many things that seem necessary, not only among higher things, but also among material things; and when obstacles intervene so that these things seem to pass out of your world forever, you may think that you have wished for that which was not best; and although the passing of these ideals may cause your life, for a time, to be nothing more than a desert of distressing emotions, nevertheless you decide, sooner or later, that you will leave it all to God.

You are on the upper pathway and cannot become wholly disheartened. Even when the clouds on every hand are black and heavy, you know that the light is shining above. You have seen the vision. You still have your wonderful dream.

There is much pleasure in this fact; more than that, it is a rare privilege; but your mind will question again and again if dreams were not made to come true. Therefore, when you see passing out of your world those very things that you wanted more than all else, should you give up hope? Could it be possible that God might will to bring all those things back to you at another and a better time.

You know that nothing is impossible; nevertheless, what assurance do you have that the future will smile sweetly upon your every wish and desire. When things are gone, they seem to be gone forever; when you cannot, at present, have what you want, you can only try to be strong, and send up to the heavens some other prayer. When obstacles intervene that seem to be insurmountable, what are you to do but try to find peace and joy and love some other way?

These may be your thoughts; but are you wholly right in this regard? Is it not true that everything you have wished for shall come to you when God so wills? And might it not be possible that God is waiting to will you everything, provided you will prove that you merit everything.

Again, is it not true that you can, through your own faith and life, cause the Supreme to come on your side - not on your side against someone else, but on your side for everything that you have wished for and prayed for. And when the Supreme is on your side, is there anything that can prevent your dream from coming true?

When God declares that "this" shall come to pass, then the great Word will be spoken; and when the limitless power of the Word comes forth, is there anything that can stand in the way? Indeed, difficulties, confusions, misunderstandings, complexities and unthinkable obstacles may seem to intervene, but what are these before the invincible onrush of Higher Power?

We imagine that we may as well cease our prayer when all hope seems to be gone; but why judge according to the seeming? It is not a matter of whether there is much hope or no hope. Your prayer will be answered when God so wills; and God is waiting for you to be worthy of your prayer.

The very thing that you desire may be on the other side of the earth; but the Supreme is everywhere. Higher Power can, at any time, bring about a series of events that will cause you and that which you desire to meet face to face. The hand of God may work mysteriously, but when it is decreed that certain things shall come to pass, they will come to pass, regardless of circumstances or fate.

Your dream may seem impossible to-day; but to-morrow everything may be changed in your favor. Your own deeds, your own thoughts or your own life may have wrought those changes, and because you were true to your prayer; you continued in the faith; you paid heed to the guidance of the Voice; you placed yourself in accord with Higher Power; you were prepared to act when God so wills.

But it is not the Supreme that decides what God is to will for you; it is you, yourself, that decides all these things. It is your own soul that writes upon the book of destiny, and decrees therein what shall come to pass; and when you have proven that you are worthy of that which was written, then your prayer will be answered. The Great Word will be spoken for you. Higher Power will appear upon the scene and utterly banish every obstacle or adversary. Then what you wanted will become your own, and what you saw in the heavens will come to dwell upon earth.

There is no longer occasion, therefore, to hover between faith and doubt, or to think that you have prayed for that which was not best. If you feel in your own soul that your dearest wish was inspired, and that it should be realized, then live in the faith. God will find a way. God can do everything, even to change the minds of every entity upon earth. God will answer your prayer, if you really want the answer, and prove that you are worthy of that prayer.

God is your God, and will serve you in every conceivable manner; but you must decide what you wish to have done; and you must, without fail, be as great, as good and as wonderful as your wish. Continue therefore to dream the great dream - to wish for everything conceivable - to pray for the very highest that the soul can know.

When God so wills, then everything shall come to pass; and God wills everything to those who make themselves worthy of everything. This is the principle and the law; but we need not wait for the distant future to fulfill this extraordinary law; for indeed, the soul, being limitless in power and possibility, can so live in the great eternal now that personal existence may deserve and merit everything now. What the vision may reveal in the present, that very thing our own inherent power, working with God, can make real in the present. Therefore, we all may rejoice with infinite joy; we are on the upper pathway, and may, at any time, find that greatest something which we have longed for, prayed for, lived for - when God so wills. And God does not live in the future, but in the never-ending present.