tation unless the mind correspondingly advances. No matter how much
man may acquire material virtues, he will not be able to realize and
express the highest possibilities of life without spiritual graces. God
has created all earthly things under a law of progression in material
degrees, but He has created man and endowed him with powers of advancement
toward spiritual and transcendental kingdoms. He has not created material
phenomena after His own image and likeness, but He has created man after
that image and with potential power to attain that likeness. He has
distinguished man above all other created things. All created things
except man are captives of nature and the sense world, but in man there
has been created an ideal power by which he may perceive intellectual or
spiritual realities. He has brought forth everything necessary for the
life of this world, but man is a creation intended for the reflection of
divine virtues. Consider that the highest type of creation below man is
the animal, which is superior to all degrees of life except man.
Manifestly, the animal has been created for the life of this world. Its
highest virtue is to express excellence in the material plane of
existence. The animal is perfect when its body is healthy and its physical
senses are whole. When it is characterized by the attributes of physical
health, when its physical forces are in working order, when food and
surrounding conditions minister to its needs, it has attained the ultimate
perfection of its kingdom. But man does not depend upon these things for
his virtues. No matter how perfect his health and physical powers, if that
is all, he has not yet risen above the degree of a perfect animal. Beyond
and above this, God has opened the doors of ideal virtues and attainments
before the face of man. He has created in his being the mysteries of the
divine Kingdom. He has bestowed upon him the power of intellect so that
through the attribute of reason, when fortified by the Holy Spirit, he may
penetrate and discover ideal realities and become informed of the
mysteries of the world of significances. As this power to penetrate the
ideal knowledges is superhuman, supernatural, man becomes the collective
center of spiritual as well as material forces so that the divine spirit
may manifest itself in his being, the effulgences of the Kingdom shine
within the sanctuary of his heart, the signs of the attributes and
perfections of God reveal themselve