To be calm, to be serene

To be calm, to be serene! There is the calmness of the lake when

there is not a breath of wind; there is the calmness of a stagnant

ditch. So is it with us. Sometimes we are clarified and calmed

healthily, as we never were before in our lives, nat by an opiate,

but by some unconscious obedience to the all-just laws, so that we

become like a still lake of purest crystal and without an effort our

depths are revealed to ourselves. All the world goes by us and is

reflected in our deeps. Such clarity! obtained by such pure means!

by simple living, by honesty of purpose. We live and rejoice. I

awoke into a music which no one about me heard. Whom shall I

thank for it? The luxury of wisdom! The luxury of virtue! Are

there any intemperate in these things? I feel my Maker blessing

me. To the sane man the world is a musical instrument. The very

touch affords an exquisite pleasure.