terial things. Now, when viewed in the light of absolute truth,
material things are of simply no consequence at all. They do not belong
to the category of realities. Money, possessions,--the mere goods and
chattels of life,--are, even at their best appraisal, a mere temporary
convenience. As a convenience they fill a place and are all very well.
As anything beyond that they have no place at all in one's
consciousness. Whatever luxury they can offer is simply in using them to
the best advantage, and human nature is so constituted that this best
advantage is usually more closely connected with those who are dear to
one than it is with himself. For himself alone, what does he want that
money, mere money, can buy? He wants and needs the average conditions of
life, in the "food, clothing, and shelter" line; he needs and requires
certain conditions of beauty, of harmony, of gratification of tastes and
enlargement of opportunities,--all these are legitimate needs, and are
part of the working conditions of life; of the right development and
progress which one is in duty bound to make, both for his own personal
progress and as the vantage ground of his efforts for usefulness. Beyond
that, the luxury of life lies in doing what the heart prompts. The one
heavenly joy of life is in the enlargement of social sympathies; it is
in the offering of whatever appreciation and devotion it is possible to
offer to those whose noble and beautiful lives inspire this devotion. To
have this accepted--not because it is of intrinsic value, not because it
is of any particular importance _per se_, but because it is the visible
representation of the spiritual gift of reverence, appreciation, and
devotion--is the purest happiness one may experience, and that which
inspires him anew to all endeavor and achievement. To have it refused or
denied is to have the golden portals close before one and shut him out
in the darkness. Why, the heavenly privilege, the infinite obligation,
is on the part of him who is permitted to offer his tribute of love and
devotion, expressed, if it so chances, in any material way,--and he is
denied his sweetest joy if this privilege be denied him. There are gifts
that are priceless, but they are not of the visible and tangible world.
They are the gifts of sympathy, of intuitive comprehension, of helpful
regard; and, curiously, these--the priceless and precious--are never
regarded as too valuable for acceptance, while regarding the