SOUNDINGS 



beneficence is seen in the slow amelioration of mete- 

 oric conditions through countless ceons, till the cloud 

 and the bow appeared, and with them conditions 

 favorable to life. The impartial rains are oblivious 

 to our human needs, but, as I so often say, they are 

 on the side of life. They are on the side of develop- 

 ment. They made the sublime drama of evolution 

 possible. 



The weather favored us seons before we were born, 

 because it favored life. Therefore, when we say that 

 the Eternal is neither for us nor against us, we 

 mean in our special human sense. He is on the side 

 of the righteous only when the righteous live ac- 

 cording to the rule of Nature or Tightness, or in 

 harmony with the eternal order. And he is against 

 the unrighteous when they transgress this order. In 

 vain do we pray for victory on the eve of battle, 

 except in so far as prayer puts courage into our 

 hearts. Victory is for him who marshals the physical 

 and moral forces the most skillfully. The victory is 

 from the Eternal whoever wins, because it is the 

 fruit of the order which It established, or, rather, 

 which It is. 



As we cannot get away from Nature, we cannot 

 get away from the Eternal. He sticketh closer than 

 a brother, closer than the blood in our own hearts, 

 not always to bless and to cheer, often to hinder and 

 depress. Not all ease and joy is life; it is as often 

 struggle, tears, defeat. 



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