28 QUAKER ASPECTS OF TRUTH 



which is not mercenary. If every child had an education 

 worthy of the name — a training well designed to bring 

 out all that is best and noblest — and if every man and 

 woman had opportunity to live a full human life ; a life 

 in which each personality could find full expression; 

 then every craft would be an art ; every craftsman 

 would be an artist ; all work would be worship, and 

 all worship would be joyous praise and thanksgiving to 

 God. 



And now let me leave the firm ground of Science and 

 History, and let me wander for a moment into the realms 

 of pure speculation ♦ Probably all of us have at times 

 asked ourselves the question : ** What am I here for ? 

 What is the object of my life ? ** Even conventional 

 piety suggests that question ! But let us look far 

 further ahead and ask ourselves the question : ** What 

 is the ultimate object of life ? For what purpose was this 

 marvellous process of Evolution begun ? What is to be 

 its final goal ? ^^ To this great question it would indeed 

 be presumptuous to give a dogmatic answer ; but to me 

 it appears not unreasonable to suppose that the ultimate 

 object may be to evolve an intelligent human race which 

 shall be able to appreciate the Divine character ; to 

 co-operate with God in the fulfilment of His purposes ; 

 and to enjoy perfect communion with our Heavenly 

 Father, Moreover, when we remember that this world 

 is but a tiny planet circling round the sun, and that the 

 sun is but one of millions of suns, most of which probably 

 have planets circling round them — planets more or less 

 resembling our own — is it not conceivable that, on some 

 other world than ours, men may already be enjoying 

 this perfect fellowship with God in perfect harmony 

 with His creation ? But, however that may be, many 

 of us must have known those who seem to have come 

 very near to this ideal. Some have been taken from us 

 in old age, and we suspect that the ideal has been achieved 



