Mere inactivity is not rest. Rest ceases to be restful when the balance is lost and the activity is not in proportion. There must be this balance - this poise. Nature resents every excess. If at one time we do two days' work in one day we will presently have to take two days to do one day's work. As we work steadily and earnestly, doing each thing that comes to hand according to our best light at the moment, we find a corresponding increase of power. The greatest development comes through the well-doing of each duty, however apparently insignificant. The thing we know best how to do is usually the thing that needs to be done by us. We should strive to get a good perspective in our work - to take a broad and all-around view of life. As we, one by one, dispense with the useless, superficial things of our day-by-day life - as the needless tension and strain relaxes, when we begin to live simply, earnestly, naturally - we will find our power increased tenfold. We can accomplish, then, many times what we formerly could; we can dispatch things with greater speed and yet without hurry. When the mind is poised and the purpose kept constantly and clearly in view, action follows action in orderly sequence; there is no haste, yet no wasted effort or time. One may run, you know, with poise and even quietness, when another, walking, may be in haste and turmoil of spirit. Notice in playing the piano - there must be rapid movement, but it must also be orderly, measured, purposeful. To the purposeless mind, the presentation of two or three things to be done at one time produces confusion. In the purposeful mind there is no reason for confusion. Each new thing falls naturally into its place, and there is neither waste nor haste. If one lives out his own life sincerely there is always a place for him in the world - he can not be superfluous. The world needs each of us, else we would not be here. Each has a natural, individual message. Of a dozen singers, for instance, there are no two just alike, though all, perhaps, may have the same register. Wherever there is life there is diversity of expression. Just as there are no two leaves alike among all the leaves on all the trees the world over, so there is never repetition in unfolding life. So, too, in our work, in so far as we give ourselves to it, it lives and is of service. We weave ourselves, our very souls, into whatever work we do sincerely. Now, in imitation it is different. No matter how perfect a copy is, it can never carry any special message. It does not live. It is well to learn of others, but only to the end that we the more completely express ourselves. Work often comes to us to be done. It seems to stand before us, directly in our way when we would go elsewhere and do other things. Now when this happens it is well to do the thing that presents itself - do it well, the best we can. We may not want to go on doing it forever, but the quickest way to get rid of it - to grow out of it into the way of our desires - is to face it and give it our best effort until the especial lesson that it holds for us is learned. We can never shirk or pass over things - however difficult or unwelcome they may seem. And often enough they prove angels in disguise. The clearer we keep our minds and the healthier our bodies are, the better work we will do in whatever line we may choose. We owe this to ourselves, to our fellow men, to God. This is our reasonable service - to "present our bodies whole and acceptable unto God." It is so much easier to be healthy and wholesome-minded and happy than the reverse, if only we would think so. It is the natural way. Heretofore we have thought so much of our weaknesses and failures, we have dwelt at such length on our discouragements and difficulties; and of course the result was, more difficulty and more failure. Now let us try the other way. Let us try a complete reversal of action. Let us remember that the power that is in us, working through us, is all - health and all - strength and all - happiness. There is no obstacle or hindrance to the full, free expression of this power except our own wills - our own desires or lack of desire. Remember, nothing presents itself to us to be done that is too difficult for us to accomplish. No desire can come to us that is too high or too great for fulfilment. If anything comes to us that does not really belong to us, it will not stay - whether it be possessions or experience or whatever it may be. But we must work, nevertheless, for the keeping of even our own. A healer may give his very life to a patient, but if the patient puts forth no effort of his own, it will be of no permanent good. We must do our own work, live our own lives, make our own decisions. No other man or any number of men - not God himself - will do this for us. Work, in its broadest, its true sense is the most essential thing in life. Take work out of life and there is in reality nothing left: no interest, no purpose, no joy. All work should be the expression of one's real self. The kingdom of God can come on earth only as each individual finds his own salvation through work and brings it in this way. There is no soul exempt from this responsibility. The question comes to each of us now: Am I consciously endeavoring to unfold to the plan of life which God has written into my soul - to be true to the purest, the holiest, the highest instincts of my being? Am I trying to help others to be true to themselves? Do I desire happiness for others as earnestly as I desire it for myself? For it is only in this way that I must eventually work out my own salvation, and in so doing, help to bring the kingdom of God on earth.