Pause a little, and beware!

If he bid thee dwell apart,
Tending some ideal smart
In a sick and coward heart;

In self-worship wrapped alone,
Dreaming thy poor griefs are grown
More than other men have known;

Though his words seem true and wise,
Soul, I say to thee, Arise,
He is a Demon in disguise!"

It is a phase in which one feels his own peculiar sorrow as the most
unendurable of all. Perhaps it is--but one _must_ abandon that point of
view. "That way madness lies." His life may be desolate, but he must not
allow himself to meditate on that conviction. It is moral as well as
mental disaster, and as life is a divine responsibility, not to be
evaded because things in general go wrong, one has no right to live in
less than his best expression every day and hour. In darkness and
desolation, even, one may find a spiritual exaltation. Such a period in
life may be like that of the seed, isolated and buried in the
ground--that it may germinate and grow; that it may spring up in leaf
and flower and fruit, and reach out to life and light with multiplied
forces in the transfiguration of new power. A period that seems empty
and devoid of stimulus may be, after all, that of highest potency. When
nothing crystallizes into events, all the elements are plastic to the
impress of spiritual energy. "Cast thyself into the will of God." This
is the crucible from which is distilled the alembic of power. One may
stamp the image of noblest achievement upon this plastic period. It is
the time in which to create on the spiritual side.

To live in poise, and beauty, and harmony is the finest of all the fine
arts. It is, in itself, the occupation of life. "I am primarily engaged
to myself," said Emerson, "to be a public servant of the gods; to
demonstrate to all men that there is good will and intelligence at the
heart of things, and ever higher and yet higher leadings. These are my
engagements. If there be power in good intention, in fidelity, and in
toil, the north wind shall be purer, the stars in heaven shall glow with
a kindlier beam, that I have lived."

It is in the will of God that perfect serenity and joy shall be found.
"In His will is our peace," says Dante. The acceptance of this profound
truth is the absolute key to all harmony and happiness. When sorrow is
felt as a dark cloud, a crushing weight, the energies are paralyzed; but
when one can rise above this inertia and cease questioning that which he