The Higher Powers of Mind and Spirit by Ralph Waldo Trine online

XI SOME METHODS OF EXPRESSION

page 5 of 6 | page 1 | table of contents

Both poet and prophet is Edwin Markham when he says:

We men of earth have here the stuff
Of Paradise--we have enough!
We need no other stones to build
The stairs into the Unfulfilled--
No other ivory for the doors--
No other marble for the floors--
No other cedar for the beam
And dome of man's immortal dream.

Here on the paths of every day--
Here on the common human way,
Is all the stuff the gods would take
To build a Heaven; to mould and make
New Edens. Ours the stuff sublime
To build Eternity in time!

This putting of divinity into life and raising thereby an otherwise sordid life up to higher levels and thereby to greater enjoyments, is the power that is possessed equally by those of station and means, and by those in the more humble or even more lowly walks of life.

When your life is thus touched by the spirit of God, when it is ruled by this inner Kingdom, when your constant prayer, as the prayer of every truly religious man or woman will be--Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do? My one desire is that Thy will be my will, and therefore that Thy will be done in me and through me--then you are living the Divine life; you are a coworker with God. And whether your life according to accepted standards be noted or humble it makes no difference--you are fulfilling your Divine mission. You should be, you cannot help being fearless and happy. You are a part of the great creative force in the world.

You are doing a man's or a woman's work in the world, and in so doing you are not unimportant; you are essential. The joy of true accomplishment is yours. You can look forward always with sublime courage and expectancy. The life of the most humble can thus become an exalted life. Mother, watching over, cleaning, feeding, training, and educating your brood; seamstress, working, with a touch of the Divine in all you do--it must be done by some one--allow it to be done by none better than by you. Farmer, tilling your soil, gathering your crops, caring for your herds; you are helping feed the world. There is nothing more important.

"Who digs a well, or plants a seed,
A sacred pact he keeps with sun and sod;
With these he helps refresh and feed
The world, and enters partnership with God."

If you do not allow yourself to become a slave to your work, and if you cooperate within the house and the home so that your wife and your daughters do not become slaves or near-slaves, what an opportunity is yours of high thinking and noble living! The more intelligent you become, the better read, the greater the interest you take in community and public affairs, the more effectively you become what in reality and jointly you are--the backbone of this and of every nation. Teacher, poet, dramatist, carpenter, ironworker, clerk, college head, Mayor, Governor, President, Ruler--the effectiveness of your work and the satisfaction in your work will be determined by the way in which you relate your thought and your work to the Divine plan, and coordinate your every activity in reference to the highest welfare of the greater whole.

Next

self help sanctum is created and compiled by abracad - contact: info@twinisles.com