ACCEPTING THE UNIVERSE 



and never reach it, and that the sun falls forever 

 toward some other sun or system and never reaches 

 it. The laws of force and matter as we contend 

 with them in our experiences are inoperative in 

 sidereal space; there is motion without friction, 

 energy without waste, dissipation without exhaus- 

 tion. Neither upper nor under, neither falling nor 

 rising, neither end nor beginning. Cause and effect, 

 rest and motion, are one. The self-activity of the 

 universe quite transcends our experiences; the self- 

 maintenance of living bodies is far beyond our 

 reach; any end to the chain of causal sequence is 

 quite unthinkable to us. Our minds are made in 

 that way. They are fashioned in the school of cause 

 and effect. 



Nothing can get out of the universe because there 

 is no out to the universe. Can that which has no 

 ending have a beginning? Can that which has no 

 circumference have a center? Can we think of any- 

 thing so hot that it could not be hotter? Or so small 

 that it could not be smaller? Or so big that it could 

 not be bigger? No, because our minds have been 

 schooled in this comparative method. Our sense 

 shows us a world of degrees. We can think of abso- 

 lute darkness, but not of absolute light. In the 

 Mammoth Cave you may realize absolute darkness; 

 but even on the sun itself would you experience ab- 

 solute light? We seem to be able to find an end to 

 the negative, but not to the positive. We can think 



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