times better, easier and more productive of comfort and
contentment. The animal is nobler, more serene and confident because each
hour is free from anxiety and worriment; but man, restless and
dissatisfied, runs from morn till eve, sailing the seas, diving beneath
them in submarines, flying aloft in airplanes, delving into the lowest
strata of the earth to obtain his livelihood--all with the greatest
difficulty, anxiety and unrest. Therefore, in this respect the animal is
nobler, more serene, poised and confident. Consider the birds in the
forest and jungle: how they build their nests high in the swaying
treetops, build them with the utmost skill and beauty--swinging, rocking in
the morning breezes, drinking the pure, sweet water, enjoying the most
enchanting views as they fly here and there high overhead, singing
joyously--all without labor, free from worry, care and forebodings. If
man's life be confined to the elemental, physical world of enjoyment, one
lark is nobler, more admirable than all humanity because its livelihood is
prepared, its condition complete, its accomplishment perfect and natural.

But the life of man is not so restricted; it is divine, eternal, not
mortal and sensual. For him a spiritual existence and livelihood is
prepared and ordained in the divine creative plan. His life is intended to
be a life of spiritual enjoyment to which the animal can never attain.
This enjoyment depends upon the acquisition of heavenly virtues. The
sublimity of man is his attainment of the knowledge of God. The bliss of
man is the acquiring of heavenly bestowals, which descend upon him in the
outflow of the bounty of God. The happiness of man is in the fragrance of
the love of God. This is the highest pinnacle of attainment in the human
world. How preferable to the animal and its hopeless kingdom!

Therefore, consider how base a nature it reveals in man that,
notwithstanding the favors showered upon him by God, he should lower
himself into the animal sphere, be wholly occupied with material needs,
attached to this mortal realm, imagining that the greatest happiness is to
attain wealth in this world. How purposeless! How debased is such a
nature! God has created man in order that he may be a dove of the Kingdom,
a heavenly candle, a recipient of eternal life. God has created man in
order that he may be resuscitated through the breaths of the Holy Spirit
and become the light of the world. How debased the soul which can fin