pure in heart for they shall see God. In other words, blessed are they
who in all the universe recognize only God, for by such God shall be
seen.

Said the great Hindu sage, Manu, He who in his own soul perceives the
Supreme Soul in all beings, and acquires equanimity toward them all,
attains the highest bliss. It was Athanasius who said, Even we may
become Gods walking about in the flesh. The same great truth we are
considering is the one that runs through the life and the teachings of
Gautama, he who became the Buddha. People are in bondage, said he,
because they have not yet removed the idea of _I_. To do away with all
sense of separateness, and to recognize the oneness of the self with
the Infinite, is the spirit that breathes through all his teachings.
Running through the lives of all the mediaeval mystics was this same
great truth,--union with God.

Then, coming nearer to our own time, we find the highly illumined seer,
Emanuel Swedenborg, pointing out the great laws in connection with what
he termed, the divine influx, and how we may open ourselves more fully
to its operations. The great central fact in the religion and worship
of the Friends is, the inner light,--God in the soul of man speaking
directly in just the degree that the soul is opened to Him. The
inspired one, the seer who when with us lived at Concord, recognized
the same great truth when he said, We are all inlets to the great sea
of life. And it was by opening himself so fully to its inflow that he
became one inspired.

All through the world's history we find that the men and the women who
have entered into the realm of true wisdom and power, and hence into
the realm of true peace and joy, have lived in harmony with this Higher
Power. David was strong and powerful and his soul burst forth in
praise and adoration in just the degree that he listened to the voice
of God and lived in accordance with his higher promptings. Whenever he
failed to do this we hear his soul crying out in anguish and
lamentation. The same is true of every nation or people. When the
Israelites acknowledged God and followed according to His leadings they
were prosperous, contented, and powerful, and nothing could prevail
against them. When they depended upon their own strength alone and
failed to recognize God as the source of their strength, we find them
overcome, in bondage, or despair.

A great immutable law underlies the truth, Blessed are they that hear