f desire or necessity, in accordance with the Great Plan, but they
were not needed for carrying on the wonderful work of the creation and
preservation of the living forms. And they are not today. The tiny
infant, and the senseless idiot are not able to think intelligently,
but still their life functions go on regularly and according to law, in
spite of the absence of thinking brains. And the life work of the
plants, and of the lowly forms of animal life, is carried on likewise.
This wonderful thing that we call Instinct is but another name for the
manifestation of the Creative Will which flows from the One Life, or
the Absolute.

Even as far down the scale of life as the Monera, we may see the
Creative Will in action. The Monera are but tiny bits of slimy,
jelly-like substances--mere specks of glue without organs of any kind,
and yet they exercise the organic phenomena of life, such as nutrition,
reproduction, sensation and movement, all of which are usually
associated with an organized structure. These creatures are incapable
of thought in themselves, and the phenomenon is due to the action of
the Will through them. This Instinctive impulse and action is seen
everywhere, manifesting upon Higher and still higher lines, as higher
forms of organisms are built up.

Scientists have used the term, "Appetency," defining it as, "the
instinctive tendency of living organisms to perform certain actions;
the tendency of an unorganized body to seek that which satisfies the
wants of its organism." Now what is this tendency? It cannot be an
effort of reason, for the low form of life has nothing with which to
reason. And it is impossible to think of "purposive tendency" without
assuming the existence of mental power of some kind. And where can such
a power be located if not in the form itself? When we consider that the
Will is acting in and through all forms of Life, from highest to
lowest--from Moneron to Man--we can at once recognize the source of the
power and activity. It is the Great Life Principle--the Creative Will,
manifesting itself.

We can perhaps better form an idea of the Creative Will, by reference
to its outward and visible forms of activity. We cannot see the Will
itself--the Pressure and the Urge--but we can see its action through
living forms. Just as we cannot see a man behind a curtain, and yet may
practically see him by watching the movements of his form as he presses
up against the curtain, so may we see the W