Agents of Wickedness

The faith in a personal devil and his agents of wickedness was to us a far safer belief than the careless assurance we have grown into, that thoughts and actions are merely the expression of our own uninfluenced individuality. If we remember the number of undeveloped, evil-minded, and malicious souls passing constantly from our midst into the beyond, what more natural field presents itself for the exercise of their wicked propensities than the injury of those here on a higher plane than themselves, and towards whom they seem to feel a peculiar hatred and jealousy? We may be sure that the exact condition of our inner life and spiritual atmosphere is as clear to their vision as are physical forms to our material senses, and that tendencies and moods are open avenues for the influence of these subtle workers to crowd in upon, and by their artful management of vacillating motives ofttimes to turn the wavering balance on the side of wrong and evil. How necessary, then, to keep the mind clear and the heart pure, that good angels may come in and help us to battle out every struggle for right. Presences, good and evil, are ever watching near us; it is for ourselves to determine which shall be the chosen guests of our inner sanctuary.

Excerpt from Light on the Hidden Way, Ticknor & Company, Boston, 1886

The prison of a soul!

Though God be good and free be heaven,

No force divine can love compel—

And though the song of sins forgiven

May sound through lowest hell,

The sweet persuasion of His voice

Respects thy sanctity of will.

He giveth day—thou hast thy choice

To walk in darkness still,

As one who, turning from the light,

Watches his own gray shadow fall,

Doubting, upon his path of night,

If there be day at all!

No word of doom may shut thee out,

No wind of wrath may downward whirl,

No swords of fire keep watch about

The open gates of pearl—

A tenderer light than moon or sun,

Than song of earth a sweeter hymn,

May shine and sound forever on,

And thou be deaf and dim.

Forever round the Mercy-seat

The guiding lights of Love shall burn—

But what if, habit-bound, thy feet

Shall lack the will to turn?

What if thine eye refuse to see,

Thine ear of heaven's free welcome fail,

And thou a willing captive be,

Thyself thy own dark jail?

O doom beyond the saddest guess,

As the long years of God unroll

To make thy dreary selfishness

The prison of a soul!

To doubt the love that fain would break

The fetters from thy self-bound limb,

And dream that God can thee forsake

As thou forsakest Him!

—John Greenleaf Whittier

Only with the soul's cry of Abba, Father!

Only with the soul's cry of Abba, Father! does growth begin.

Free Sanctity of Will

The soil and stain of sensual life lies all uncovered in the clear light of the heavenly atmosphere, and it is only through the cleansing touch of this purifying flame that the gathered dross may be consumed, and the spirit regain its Paradise. A free sanctity of will remains always and inviolably ours. Help and forgiveness are Heaven's free gifts, but no force divine can love compel, and step by step we fall or rise, as we will.

Light on the Hidden Way, Ticknor & Company, Boston, 1886

Light on the Hidden Way

We think that heaven will not shut for evermore

Without a knocker left upon the door,

Lest some belated wanderer should come,

Heart-broken, asking just to be at home;

So that the Father will at last forgive,

And looking on his face that soul shall live.

We think there will be watchmen through the night,

Lest any, far off, tun them to the light;

That he who loved us into life must be

A Father, infinitely fatherly;

And groping for him, all shall find their way

From outer dark, through twilight, into perfect day.

Light on the Hidden Way, Ticknor & Company, Boston, 1886

The Source of All True Living

Learn, through your soul's deep experience, that the indwelling Spirit is the source of all true living and high service.

When you feel yourself wavering

When you feel yourself wavering, pray at once with your whole soul for strength, and you will not ask in vain for the grace that renews and invigorates.

The Law of Growth

Use and improve, or abuse and lose.

Do you know it is not necessary to die to descend into hell?

Do you know it is not necessary to die to descend into hell and to feel its despair and misery? To look at life and the future as you do, is to descend step by step into torment. To use your reason is right and necessary; but you are now unreasonable, and rejecting the light. I warn you that if you persist in shutting it out, you will lose it.

Light on the Hidden Way, Ticknor & Company, Boston, 1886

God's laws are immutable

God's laws are immutable, and we only learn to adjust ourselves to them by life's solemn lessons.