Wisdom of the Ages, by George A. Fuller, [1916], at sacred-texts.com
Wisdom of the Ages, by George A. Fuller, [1916], at sacred-texts.com
Rest, oh, my soul, not in the slumbers of the night,
Nor in the idleness that far too often accompanies the day,
But in the ceaseless doing of that which is right and good!
Out of turmoil and strife, thou shalt arise, oh, my soul;
And new courage and strength shall be given thee.
Fear not to trust that power within that with ceaseless urge presses thee ever onward!
Rest and peace can only come to thee, oh, soul, through ceaseless effort.
Sayst thou, the way is dark before thee, oh, soul, and thy feet have lost the way?
Nay, there are no lost trails, the path, though rough and strewn with obstacles, was thine own. The expression of thy life would have been incomplete without the discipline.
If thou wilt only learn the lesson these experiences hold thou wilt find rest even in the midst of the trials that beset thee.
Turmoil and strife about thee! Thy soul engulfed with waves of discord and inharmony. Complain, if thou must, until the soul perceives that divine wisdom underlies every experience of life.
I find no fault with thee because thou dost complain, for even this is required by the soul as it pursues its endless journey.
Rest may come in the midst of all this turmoil and strife, for peace shall abide with the soul when the meaning of all is made clear.
Art thou bereft of friends and loved ones?
[paragraph continues] Doth sorrow rest heavily its hand upon thine aching head? And seeketh in vain thy tired spirit for rest?
Thou art not left alone! Thy friends and loved ones were never so near thee as now. All fetters broken, thy friends can draw nearer to thee than e’er before!
The sweet communion of spirit with spirit shall cool thy fevered and aching brow, and assuage thy sorrow. Thy heart bowed down shall beat again in ecstasy and love.
Rest shalt thou find, oh, soul, in the midst of that sorrow that produces the divinest of communion between spirit and spirit.
What more exalting and uplifting than the communion of spirit? Not with outward words of expression, but in the inward sense of things. No word is spoken. Thought leaps forth unexpressed save in the universal language of spirit.
What ecstasy more divine than when soul touches soul, and spirit reaches spirit through the limitless expanses of ether?
What a thrill of joy that is not born of the flesh pulsates through the interior consciousness!
Then thou art uplifted indeed! Thou hast scaled the spiritual Alps, and caught glimpses of things unspeakable and untranslatable into the language of the world.
Thou hast then, oh, soul, realized as ne’er before thy relationship with the One Eternal Omn!
Through all thy being waves of a new light have found their way, and rest, more perfect, more peaceful, than the soul has ever known before has come to thee.
Then, oh, soul, rest not in the slumbers of the night,
Nor in the idleness that far too often accompanies the day,
But in the all-pervading peace that cometh from the doing of that which is right and good,
Thou shalt fold thy wings in perfect rest.