"There is abundance of hope in the world, but what we need is more faith." Everybody is hoping for better things; the poor hope to get rich; the sick hope to get well; the sad hope to gain happiness; the troubled hope to find peace; everybody is hoping for something, but few have faith to secure that something. "To live in hope is to die in despair," because hope remains stationary; it never gains what it hopes to gain. But when faith begins, we remain stationary no more. We press onward and upward and with the power of love we reach the goal; our hopes are soon realized; our desires granted; what we wished for is withheld no more. Through faith we have entered that world where every prayer is answered and every wish made true.

The soul that lives most perfectly in the present, creates most nobly for the future. Be yourself today, regardless of what happened yesterday. Be all you can be today and you will live in a fairer world tomorrow. Nature sings the everlasting of "Him who is closer than breathing, nearer than hands and feet," and every human countenance beams with the beautiful smile of God. The flowers declare the thoughts of the infinite; the forest chants the silent prelude worship, while the birds inspire the soul to ascend to the vast empyrean blue and the spirit within speaks from out of the fullness of the heart and sweetly proclaims in language divine - 'God's beautiful gift to me.'

"When you live in the presence of the Infinite you are constantly in touch with higher powers and superior guidance. You will therefore not only be able to accomplish far more in your chosen vocation, but you will be prevented from going astray. The very moment you are persuaded to take a misstep, the spirit from within interferes and you are again prompted to proceed on the true path. When you are on the verge of doing something that is not best, higher power appears; something unexpected happens to disappoint and upset all your hopes and proposed plans, and you are led to see from the light within that there is something better in store. When you are in doubt or in darkness, leave it to God; the right way will open and the very best will come to pass.

That the love of money is the root of all evil is true, providing we give the statement its true and full significance. When we speak of money we do not mean those things simply that pass for money, but we mean all external possessions. When the heart is in external things, we begin to live for things; the mind comes to the surface and consequently becomes shallow and material. The mind that lives on the surface is not in harmony with the deep things of life; is not conscious of the inner light of truth, and is therefore in darkness. To be in darkness is to go wrong, and to go wrong is to create evil."

"When we are illumined by the light of the spirit we will not go wrong, because we can see the right, and to see the right is the very thing we have desired, longed and prayed for. All mental light, even the light of reason, comes from within; therefore, when the mind is absorbed in outer things, it ignores completely the within and evils must necessarily follow. But when your treasure is in the spirit and you love the riches of the soul better than anything else, you will dwell in the very light of infinite wisdom.

To lay up treasures in heaven is not to prepare for a heaven in the future, but to accumulate greater spiritual riches here upon earth and learn to use them today for the glory of God and the emancipation of man. To become a strong soul, to attain mastery of the spirit, to become a living inspiration to all the world, to unfold all that is lofty, beautiful and sublime in the spiritual life, and draw nearer to the Christ state - that is the purpose of him who is laying up treasures in heaven. There is no truth in the belief that we must necessarily relinquish external possession the moment we begin to lay up treasures in heaven. The power that produces the riches of the spirit, can, and will produce abundance in the external world as well. So long as we seek only the treasures of earth we get but little, while we get abundance of suffering and pain of material existence. But when we begin to lay up treasures in heaven, we obtain peace, joy, contentment, health and happiness, strength and wisdom, the power of love and the life we so greatly desire.

"Make yourself a living example of the power of the spirit. Do not permit a single weakness to continue for a moment. Live the beautiful God-life so you become a living benediction to all who pass your way. Realize that not a single good deed can be lost; somewhere it will bless somebody. Learn to know that every good seed that you may sow in the garden of human life, will some day take root. You may not remain long enough to see the flowers bloom, but somebody will, and the fact that your hand planted the seed and bore its fruit, is pleasure enough for you. To feel that you have given pleasure to someone else is the greatest happiness of all. To let your light shine wherever you may go without ever looking back to see if there were results or not, is the mark of every great soul. Scatter everywhere seeds of love and leave the results to Him that faileth not.

"When you realize that you are an entity through which God is expressed, and that your mind should be so transparent that the highest divine light may shine through and illumine the outer world, you have found your true place. The divine power will flow through your being, radiating in every direction, giving the spirit of truth to everything you may think, say or do.

You thus become a personal expression of the word and your life will be a message of truth to the race.

"God is Love," power - wisdom - life. Love, the principle upon which spiritual healing is based, may be found that "man is created in the image and likeness of God." The spiritualman is as God made him - eternally perfect.

"Faith awakens the new life, the healing life, the purifying and regenerating life of power to attain complete emancipation from all the ills of life." To know this truth is to know the truth that makes man free, and this truth can be known by every mind that will enter into the conscious realization of the spirit of truth; to know the truth, the spiritual understanding becomes necessary. The intellectual understanding looks upon truth from without and thus learns to comprehend the outer form of truth. There is a world of eternal truth where everything is as wonderful, and perfect as truth itself; and there is a world of mere appearance where everything is passing and nothing is real. In the world of appearance we find pain, sickness, evil and death. To pass through the world of appearance and darkness is to continue in suffering.

"Ignorance of truth is the cause of all misery." Man works in opposition to natural law - drifts to where destruction awaits him.

"Nations are today plunged in the most disastrous war the world has known. Our hearts bleed as we gaze upon monarchs clutching at each other's throats, while innocent millions are thrown into the malestrom of national strife, giving their lives to satisfy the ambition of Kings and obey the rules of the land. Famine and destitution follow in the wake of greed brought to issue in this raging conflict of jealousy between the nations calling themselves civilized.

"Pestilence sweeps over the countries formerly glowing with nature's riches and domestic contentment, and the innocent are sacrificed for an earthly kingdom. Man never was given dominion over man. Who then, gave the crowned heads of this world, the authority to compel millions to break the commandment?

"Thou shalt not kill."

"Multitudes of christian men are ushered by tyrant kings upon battle fields, forced to destroy human lives, unconsciously and ignorantly committing murder in the first degree."

In this enlightened age, psychology has made great progress in brain building, and has modified intellectual life, but - has failed to change the heart of man, just as christians have failed to embody the Christ Ideal.

"The voice of the awakened soul assures man of the undeniable existence of a great intelligence which will bring order out of chaos. 'Sin must eventually slay itself - leaving room for only good.'"

The intelligent minds are now asking the vital question -? "Will war ever cease to exist -?"

"When man has slain ignorance, 'the greatest enemy of man,' then there will be no more war.

Having become at peace with himself there will be none to fight. All material and physical passions have been crucified - death has come to the sense man, the soul has been transmuted to a spiritual plane and the day of resurrection has come.

"What does resurrection mean -?" "When man passes through the change called death and awakes in that life beyond the grave -?" "No, dear friends - It means only this:" When the soul of man awakens while still in the physical body, and rises from out of "darkness - into Light - ."

"From ignorance and blind faith into knowledge and wisdom, from hate and revenge into love and forgiveness, from selfishness and greed into sympathy and benevolence - that is Resurrection Day.

When man rises from anger and sensuality into self control and refinement; from sorrow and despair into hope and joy; from strife and conquest into calmness and peace, from slave to master; from Adam to - Christ - that is the glorious Resurrection Day.

"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth passed away."

"The spirit of God has triumphed."

"The Redeemer of the human race has come."

"God in man - Angel in woman have arisen into a Spiritual realm - here upon earth, where they reign as King and Queen of their own created world - illumined by the light and "A VISION OF TRUTH."

"Truth is life's factor and determinant, And we are workers in Truth's noble cause. We yearn for Truth, we need its light; and truth Enters our Soul; it takes abode in us, And consecrates our lives to higher service, Not we own Truth, 't is Truth that owneth us.

Search for the Truth! Truth's problems are not vain. Love thou the Truth! trust Truth, and live the Truth! Walk on Truth's path and Truth will guide thee right."

* * As I sat in the silence, meditating upon an original symbol for my book, this chain of human hearts linked together with sympathy, fraternity, faith, hope and charity, was shown to me from the world invisible. I realized its spiritual significance: That God's work can only be accomplished through the "Power of Love."