"'It is necessary to conquer, not only our instincts,' he continued,
'but our intellectual and our spiritual passions as well. To force our
will in the obedience of a higher will, to leave behind all our
mundane desires in the pursuit of the one great desire, herein lies
the essence of true virtue. St. Anthony would snatch his hours of
devotion from the Devil. Even prayer to him was a struggle, an effort
not to feel the joy of it. Yes, we must always disobey our impulses,
and resist the tyranny of our desires. When I have a strong desire to
pray, I go out into the vineyard and work. When I begin to enjoy my
work in the vineyard, I cease to do it well. Therefore, I take up my
breviary. Do that which you must not do, when you are suffering, and
you will not want to do it again, when you are happy. The other day,
one who visited the Hermitage, spoke to me of you, O Khalid. He said
you were what is called an anarchist. And after explaining to me what
is meant by this--I never heard of such a religion before--I
discovered to my surprise that I, too, am an anarchist. But there is
this difference between us: I obey only God and the authority of God,
and you obey your instincts and what is called the authority of
reason. Yours, O Khalid, is a narrow conception of anarchy. In truth,
you should try to be an anarchist like me: subordinate your
personality, your will and mind and soul, to a higher will and
intelligence, and resist with all your power everything else. Why do
you not come to the Hermitage for a few days and make me your
confessor?'

"'I do not confess in private, and I can not sleep within doors.'

"'You do not have to do so; the booth under the almond tree is at your
disposal. Come for a spiritual exercise of one week only.'

"'I have been going through such an exercise for a year, and soon I
shall leave my cloister in the pines.'

"'What say you? You are leaving our neighbourhood? No, no; remain
here, O Khalid. Come, live with me in the Hermitage. Come back to
Mother Church; return not to the wicked world. O Khalid, we must
inherit the Kingdom of Allah, and we can not do so by being anarchist
like the prowlers of the forest. Meditate on the insignificance and
evanescence of human life.'

"'But it lies within us, O my Brother, to make it significant and
eternal.'

"'Yes, truly, in the bosom of Mother Church. Come back to your
Mother--come to the Hermitage--let us pass this life together.'

"'And what will