George R. Farnum in Living Tissue Boston, Massachusetts

What would life signify for most people without a definite belief or a sustaining hope in immortality? Deprive humanity of this transcendent aspiration and what becomes of its consolation this side of the grave? Without this hope where could man find the foundation for that heroism and fortitude without which life would be as unendurable as meaningless?

How to explain the somber and dreary chronicle of man's earthly days—the shocking inequalities, the senseless suffering, the unrequited toil, the quest for justice that has proved so elusive—if life be but an aimless pilgrimage from birth to extinction! How to endure the sharp anguish of separation and the dull and lingering pain of loneliness, the hopes that have been shattered and the dreams unfulfilled, the enthusiasms that have died and the affections that have withered, if time marks the utmost measure of all things!

If the anodyne of death be the final answer to the riddle and the sole escape from life's toil and tribulations, then the idea of God is a cruel myth and from men has been taken the principle incentive for living. From such an answer to the cosmic enigma the mind re coils; at such a tragic impasse reason rebels.

In its faith in immortality alone can humanity discover a rational and satisfying answer to the otherwise bewildering and futile pageant of existence—can the individual find a tolerable solution to the importuante and tormenting query as to the meaning and purpose of his sojourn on earth.

"That man," declared Goethe, "is dead even in this life who has no belief in another." A distinguished English scholar asserted, "If in denial of any survival of life beyond the grave we do not virtually deny all life's present values, I know not where to find a more resolute denial of them," adding—by way of quotation from the historian Buckle—"If immortality be untrue it matters little whether anything else be true or not." . . .

In those hours when the burden of moral fatigue weighs crushingly upon us, and a sense of futility steals over our spirits, . . . let us seek renewed courage, strength and solace in the thought that God exists and that He has a plan which is infinite in its wisdom and divine in its goodness and justice. In that thought let us have confidence that the evils of today and the troubles that afflict man will be resolved and all things will be reconciled in the endless span of tomorrow and to morrow. . . . Let us yield now and then to the mystic spell, to that ardent emotion, as Alfred Noyes, the poet, described it —

And yet I would "cast aside" none of the hours of time for they are woven inextricably into the fabric of the endless days; for are we not now living in eternity?

Rev. J. Allan Catalin in the Cincinnati Times-Star Cincinnati, Ohio

The question that faces so many of us in the vicissitudes of life is, "Does God really guide us?" Many persons are asking this question. The fact is, it is so vital to Christian experience and life that it deserves a larger place in our thinking. . . . So many are coming to think of God's guidance in a general way. Of course, God guides the race and . . . smaller groups of people such as the church or the nation, but to them He is not a personal guide.

God's guidance may be wholly unconscious. In the life of Paul we have this truth borne out: "The things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel."

But can we go a step further and be conscious of the definite leadership of God's spirit? Can we be certain that God is guiding us day by day in our decisions, our ventures, our tasks? The Holy Scriptures give us a note of certainty on this point. "Commit thy way unto the Lord," and not maybe or perhaps, but "he shall direct thy paths." The great characters of the Bible acted boldly upon this certainty. . . .

Does God guide us in suffering? "My grace is sufficient for thee."

Are you facing some tragic sorrow alone? "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

Are there enemies without and within? "The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him. . . ."

Are we sinking under some great burden of sin or sorrow? "Underneath are the everlasting arms."

Are you facing eternity without God, without hope in the world? "He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.

"Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory."

Rev. Alan Walker in the Sunday Telegraph Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

There are only two ways to live. One is to go it alone. The other is to place our trust in God. Every one of us falls into one or the other group. . . . Many . . . of us say we believe in God, but live as though there were no God. . . . Jesus called God "Father," and so can we. He does care for all of us and He can be trusted.