blessed
with men of learning, men who are well versed in the comparative study of
religions. You realize the need of unity and know the great harm which
comes from prejudice and superstition. I ask you, Is not fellowship and
brotherhood preferable to enmity and hatred in society and community? The
answer is self-evident. Love and fellowship are absolutely needful to win
the good-pleasure of God which is the goal of all human attainment. We
must be united. We must love each other. We must ever praise each other.
We must bestow commendation upon all people, thus removing the discord and
hatred which have caused alienation amongst men. Otherwise the conditions
of the past will continue, praising ourselves and condemning others;
religious wars will have no end and religious prejudice, the prime cause
of this havoc and tribulation, will increase. This must be abandoned, and
the way to do it is to investigate the reality which underlies all the
religions. This underlying reality is the love of humanity. For God is one
and humanity is one, and the only creed of the prophets is love and unity.

THE QUICKENING SPIRIT

Today the human world is in need of a great power by which these glorious
principles and purposes may be executed. The cause of peace is a very
great cause; it is the cause of God, and all the forces of the world are
opposed to it. Governments for instance, consider militarism as the step
to human progress, that division among men and nations is the cause of
patriotism and honor, that if one nation attack and conquer another,
gaining wealth, territory and glory thereby, this warfare and conquest,
this bloodshed and cruelty are the cause of that victorious nation's
advancement and prosperity. This is an utter mistake. Compare the nations
of the world to the members of a family. A family is a nation in
miniature. Simply enlarge the circle of the household and you have the
nation. Enlarge the circle of nations and you have all humanity. The
conditions surrounding the family surround the nation. The happenings in
the family are the happenings in the life of the nation. Would it add to
the progress and advancement of a family if dissensions should arise among
its members, fighting, pillaging each other, jealous and revengeful of
injury, seeking selfish advantage? Nay, this would be the cause of the
effacement of progress and advancement. So it is in the great family of
nations, for nations are but an aggregate