Now, however, man sings the song of triumph in the free air, of enlarged space in the heavens, as surely as he sings the songs of conquest of speed on earth, on the sea, and under the sea. And it requires no great prophetic vision or daring of the imagination to foretell that in a few more years aeroplanes will be in common use throughout the world for an immense variety of practical uses. It is a wonderful conquest, far reaching in its possibilities, and one of which man may well be thankful-as well as proud.

In it thoughtful man finds a symbol. As he can now propel himself through the air at tremendous speed, so, ere long, he will be able to propel his mindforce, with the speed of thought, thus annihilating distance. Just as one may think from San Francisco to London, Rome, Paris, Petrograd in so many flashes of thought, he will ultimately be able to project force. How inconceivable to past ages are the giant guns, the telephone, the phonograph, the aeroplane of today. So, perhaps, today, it may appear inconceivable, to some, that man's mental, spiritual, force can be set in motion so as to influence minds and things thousands of miles away, yet I venture the prophecy that the time will come when that "inconceivable" thing will actually be accomplished, only to become a blessing it must be a purely spiritual, good, Divine power. It will ultimately become an axiomatic proposition to all men, what now is ac

cepted by but few, viz., "What man can conceive man can ultimately attain or accomplish."

Hence let us thank God for the aeroplane, and listen with joy to the new songs of achievement it sings to us, joining in them, with happy hearts, thus adding to our power to go Singing through Life with God.

CHAPTER XXXII

THE SONGS OF RADIANT ACQUIESCENCE

THERE is a discontent that is godly, and a content

that is but another name for indifference and laziness. Let us court the one and shun the other. All discontent with one's progress, one's fulfilment of duty, one's development of character, one's yielding to weakness, selfishness, or indifference to the rights, needs and legitimate calls of others, is godly and to be fostered and encouraged. Yet, combined with this and one with it, without any contradiction or inconsistency, there is a contentment, an acquiescence, an acceptance of things that is beneficial, helpful, and equally necessary for the development of character.

Pope once wrote: "Whatever is, is right," and Browning asserts: "God's in His heaven, all's right with the world." Dr. Julia Seton, in the "Affirmations" prepared for the reading of the people who worship in the "Church of the New Civilization" states in her own way much the same thing.

Jack London, in autographing a copy of The People of the Abyss, a book he had written descriptive of the woeful and distressing conditions of the poor of London, said, in reference to the Browning

quotation just given: "God's in His heaven, but all's not right with the world." And so many people, reading Pope and Julia Seton's "Affirmations" say the same thing.

Who shall decide? Certainly not I. But for myself I can see, I think, the truth of these apparent contradictions. Men need to be taught. They learn slowly. Having ears, they hear not; eyes, they see not. Only by "line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little," do they add to their knowledge. Man's arrogance and selfishness are not easily dethroned. Sometimes we need severe and painful lessons; often the best and kindest friend is the one who cuts the deepest. He is no true surgeon who covers a rotting ulcer with plaster, when he should remove it, and the best gardener is often the one who prunes the trees most rigorously. The truest teacher is not the one who unduly praises, but the one who constantly criticizes and points out where the student may improve.

Hence it may be that the straits I am now in may be the condition necessary for my development; the mean and contemptible, unjust and untruthful, people I am compelled to associate with may be the examples I need to teach me my own selfishness and untruth; the disease I am suffering from may be the needed whip to compel me to a healthful life; the distress of my poverty the only way to open my eyes to the wilfulness of my blindness that God is a God

of abundance, ready to bestow upon me all I need if I will but reach out and take it.

If, therefore, I can get it into my consciousness that God is all good in His dealings towards me, I shall, like Browning, be able to say:

I will be patient, and proud, and soberly acquiesce. Patient in learning the lesson I need; too proud to complain; and with soberness, with the best judgment I possess, agree to and accept the conditions. Thus shall I be able to assert: "All things work together for good," and I shall be able to "rejoice in the Lord always," to sing even in the dark days, knowing that all is well, that "whom He loveth He chasteneth," and that "our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding weight of glory."

There are those who are always impatient, always complaining and finding fault with their circumstances and conditions, always worrying, always discontented. What does their impatience, complaining, fault-finding, worry, discontent, gain for them? Any good? Did any one ever find good grow on such thorny shrubs? The only crop is thorns, and thorns prick and wound, hurt and poison. Those who load their thoughts with such evil burdens must expect to be weary at the close of the day; must expect the sun will cease shining for them; must learn that the rain never falls except on the days they desire to go out dressed in their "pretties;" that