of the
Divine; if he can realize himself at all times as "standing before God,"
how this recognition transforms all the conditions and circumstances!
The drama of living is instantly lifted up to a higher plane. That which
was hard becomes easy; that which was sad, or dull, or unattractive,
becomes invested with interest. One is living, not unto himself, but
unto God. He is living within that marvellous, all-enfolding charm and
radiance. He is an actor in the great spiritual drama, and he feels the
stimulus of playing his part nobly and well.

And they who have gone behind the curtain come forth and minister to
him. He is aware of the courage of companionship.

"'Mortal,' they softly say,
'Peace to thy heart.
We, too, yes, mortal,
Have been as thou art.'"

Voices unheard by the outer ear speak to the soul; presences unseen by
the eye are yet felt, giving their sympathy and stimulus.

It is good to remember that it is not only after death that the soul
stands before God; that here and now is the heavenly test to which life
must be held amenable; here and now must one make his thought and his
acts those that know only the ideals of love and generosity and
sweetness and courage. One may thus call up all his higher forces to
meet misunderstandings with patience and with love: to meet adverse
fortune with courage and with stronger and more intense endeavor; to
live above the tide of jar or fret so as to dwell in perpetual radiance
and sunshine of spirit. This is to "stand before God" here and now,
through the days and the experiences of the life that is, as well as to
anticipate standing before His Presence in that which is to come.

* * * * *

[Sidenote: The Open Door.]

Visions and enthusiasms are the only true guides in life. To keep true
to the ideal dream that in some rare and exalted moment falls upon the
soul, is to set one's steps toward that success which lies in
fulfilment. Such dreams may be obscured by passing clouds; they may
become entangled with the transient and the trivial; but nothing that is
temporary holds over them any power to disintegrate or to destroy, for
they are made of heavenly revealings and illuminations.

The ideal that reveals itself in a sudden vision of the higher harmonies
and achievements possible to human life is but another name for the
Opportunity which Shakespeare defines,--the opportunity that, if one
fail to accept it, vanishes, t