20 The Spiritual Life.
contentwith such a result? Years of labour,
years of thought, years of sacrifice, and see
everythingcrumbleintodust,andnothingremain?
If not,thenyouareworkingforself,andnot as
partofthe Divineactivity;and,howevergilded
overwithloveofothersyourschememayhave
been,itwasyourworkandnot God'swork,and
thereforeyouhavesufferedinthebreaking. For
ifitwerereallyHisandnotyours; ifitwerea
sacrificeandnotyourownpossession,youwould
knowthatall thatisgood init must inevitably
gointotheforcesofgoodintheworld,andthat
if Hedidnot want the form youbuilded you
would ratherit were broken,and the life that
cannotdiegointo other formswhich fitbetter
withthe Divineplan,and work into the great
schemeofevolution. (Applause.)
Letmeputitanotherway,andyouwillsee
exactly what I mean, less abstractly perhaps.
Take an army, an army awaiting attack from
someenemygreater, strongerthan itself. The
commander-in-chief maps out his scheme of
battle,placesoneregimentmone spotandone
regimentinanother,makes one great plan that
includes the whole, and the day of battle
dawns. From the side of the general goes a
galloping messenger, and he sends word to
some young captain in one part of the field,
