ACCEPTING THE UNIVERSE 



would be their choice; it would pain them to do 

 otherwise. The comet rushes toward the sun with 

 joy; the music of the spheres is the expression of 

 their freedom and contentment. Can you help wink- 

 ing when the flashlight goes off, or when a missile 

 passes near your eyes? Our voluntary actions are 

 equally based upon physical laws. 



Balfour, in his "Foundation of Belief," talks 

 about the beauty of holiness, the beauty of sanctity, 

 but these things are beautiful only to a certain type 

 of mind. The time will come when they will not be 

 looked upon as beautiful or desirable. These con- 

 ceptions grew when men lived for another world, 

 when this world stood to them as the sum of evil. 

 Men then saw nothing holy or divine on earth ex- 

 cept the denying of earth. That state of mind has 

 largely passed. Holy men have had their day. We see 

 now that this world is a celestial body, and that all 

 our conceptions of heavenly abodes are untenable. 

 For my part the most lovable and admirable men 

 and women I have known had no savor of sanctity. 

 They were wise, kind, helpful, loving, living with 

 zest the life of every day, intent on making their 

 earthly lives square with what is generally accepted 

 as right conduct, and therefore comfortably indif- 

 ferent to what the theologians are so concerned 

 about — salvation after death, and the securing of 

 their "mansions in the skies." Martyrdom bravely 

 faced excites our admiration, all heroic acts are 



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