80 THE DIVINE SOIL 



reaped the benefit ? Will the moral order which has 

 been so slowly and painfully evolved, and which so 

 many souls have struggled to live up to, still go on ? 

 Where ? with whom ? I seem to see dimly that you 

 cannot bring the Infinite to book, that you cannot 

 ask, " What for ? " of the All, of that which has 

 neither beginning nor end, neither centre nor cir- 

 cumference, neither fulfillment nor design, which 

 knows neither failure nor success, neither loss nor 

 gain, and which is complete in and of itself. 



We are tied to the sphere, its laws shape our 

 minds, we cannot get away from it and see it in 

 perspective; away from it there is no direction; at 

 either pole on its surface there is the contradiction 

 of the sky being always overhead. We are tied to 

 the Infinite in the same way. We are part of it, but 

 may not measure it. Our boldest thought comes 

 back like a projectile fired into the heavens 

 the curve of the infinite sphere holds us. I know 

 I am trying to say the unsayable. I would fain 

 indicate how human and hopeless is our question, 

 " What for ? " when asked of the totality of things. 

 There is no totality of things. To say that there is, 

 does not express it. To say there is not, does not 

 express it. To say that the universe was created, 

 does not express the mystery; to say that it was 

 not created, but always existed, does not express 

 it any nearer. To say that the heavens are over- 

 head is only half the truth ; they are underfoot also. 



