[Dr. Roy Campbell, as quoted in the Union, San Diego, California]

It makes a great difference in final results when we take our sense of disappointment, fear, or failure, into some upper mental room that looks away from the material picture and turns thought toward contemplation of God as the great power. In this upper room we find that we can rise above our difficulties and grow into strength of true character.

Jesus needed an "upper room" in which to have his last supper with his students. Down on the dusty street, jealousy, hatred, ignorance, and lust of power sought to destroy him. In the upper room he saw a way to turn what his enemies might seek to do to him into a great purpose. He would prove that divine Love could redeem all who relied upon it, and practiced it, from hate, or any form of evil.

And so today — failure, physical suffering, or disaster can be taken into an upper room and exchanged for the triumph that always follows a better understanding of God, the Father, creator, and protector of us all.

[Rev. A. C. Norris, in the Hull Daily Mail, Yorkshire, England]

We are all creatures of views, of thoughts and ideas, and of values. No man is without views of some kind or other — views of life, of things that pass of endure; views of the universe, of time and eternity. Not least, man has views of himself and other people, including his own kith and kin.

Secondly — and this, too, will be readily admitted — man is no more and no less, in the main, than the sum and substance of his views and thoughts, for, as the ancient proverb truly says: As a man "thinketh in his heart, so is he." Is a man depressed in spirit? Then it is because some particular view is dominating his mind. Is he calm and peaceful midst trying circumstances? Then some different view is exercising its helpful influence upon his own inner life.

The views a man cherishes — the thoughts and ideas by which his life is directed in and through all the changing scenes of this world — this it is which, apart from his social position, gives him whatever value his own inner personal being possesses.

[From the Colonist, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada]

The desire for progress need not be inconsistent with contentment, for that progress, if it is to approach its highest form, is to be found in the development of an inner harmony of life with moral and spiritual realities. It is those who are discontented with themselves and seek betterment in their view of life who are able to develop something that is very fine in their nature, because they can be led on by discipline and faith towards an ideal, no matter how far it may be removed from their present attainments. The sense of discontent with failures, of individual insufficiency, can be made the foundation of true contentment. This is so, the more particularly, on the plane of spiritual advancement, because it is the paradox of that contentment that it indues the individual with content "in desiring more because it already enjoys much of the harmony of life, and, like a skilled musician who adds to the grandeur of what is already a pure and worthy melody, the contented mind attains a fuller experience of the joyous anthem of conscious spiritual progress."

Often in a world of discontent with material conditions, the short view is taken; it requires equanimity in outlook to range to the horizons of knowledge and to express the faith that lies beyond, for it is in such an outlook that life is surveyed as a whole. It has a satisfaction that supersedes all other satisfactions, an assurance that however life may be buffeted, however material fortunes may change, there is that inner knowledge that nothing can rob one of the contentment inspired by confidence in present possession of happiness and the hope of larger attainments. . . .

Ovid likened the faith of true friendship seen in adversity to "yellow gold tried in fire." That simile might be used for the contentment that is not of time but of eternity. There is even contentment in the knowledge that the highest moral level to which man can aspire with all his agonizing efforts is but a pitiful installment of the ideal to which the best that is in him bids him aspire. It is all a matter of rising above or seeking beyond the cares and claims of a transitory life, of seeing things sub specie aeternitatis. That means a widened field of view, by . . . which the temporal things are weighed in the scales of the eternal. It is this appraisement of the fortunes and affairs of life which is possible to the quiet mind that has won contentment through the broader outlook inspired by a faith that knows no boundaries by things of earth, that gives to the believer what has been called the appreciation "not that nothing matters much or that all things matter equally, but that the central hope to which he clings does matter supremely, and corrects his vision of all besides."

[J. L. Newland, in the Frederick Leader, Oklahoma]

What we as individuals need to understand is that any truthful purpose we may have, any worthy motive we may try to advance, is never defeated because we are temporarily scorned and put to loss and shame. We never really lose so long as we cling to the truth as we understand it to be. One loses only when he surrenders his honest convictions and takes the side of what he knows to be error. If he does this he may profit outwardly for a while, but inwardly the monitor of his conscience will keep him miserable — for truth "will rise again." . . . If a man would follow truth he must make up his mind to endure martyrdom of some kind. He must give up some things which are dear to him. He will be disliked by some apparently desirable companions. But the compensation he receives, in the knowledge and the witnessing of truth, far outweighs these losses.

The thing for us to be most deeply concerned about is as to our inward cleanliness of thought, and the quality of our courage to follow the spiritual light which shines across our path. It is within ourselves that we conquer or surrender.

"There is no defeat except from within," said Emerson. "There is really no insurmountable barrier save your own inherent weakness of purpose."

Hold fast to truth and it will hold fast to you.

[Jepson Jepson, in the South Molton Gazette, Devonshire, England]

I went visiting the other day and called upon one of my comrades, an old fisherman, who had spent fifty-three years of his life at sea. As I looked at his tanned skin and his beaming face, I questioned him about his life and all the hardships a fisherman must have to bear. He replied by telling me that on many occasions he had been almost shipwrecked; he had been out at sea when the waves had swamped the boat; he had despaired of his life very often, and yet, he said, "I always felt that underneath were the everlasting arms."

How grand it will be for you and me, if, at the end of our life, we can say that in spite of all shipwrecks, in spite of all difficulties and problems of life, "underneath were the everlasting arms." If we can truly say that, we have felt that He would never fail. I do strive daily to trust Him with the many problems of life, and He has never failed. In recent sorrows, in recent troubles, when I have felt that it was almost hopeless, underneath have been the everlasting arms.

May you feel the same — trust Him — He never fails.

[Delmar L. Dyreson, in a broadcast from Radio Station KFSD, San Diego, California]

Paul was no disillusionist, else you and I might not have known Christianity as we know it today. He said to Timothy, Timothy, take your share of the hardship as a soldier of Jesus Christ. With such encouragement from such a character, Timothy, instead of becoming discouraged, became one of Christianity's strongest characters.

How would you like to get a letter like that? The letter is there for you too. "I do not think one should have to struggle for happiness," answers a young lady. But what makes genuine value, anyway? Is it not struggle? We should not forget the joy of the hard way. I know, someone is always saying, "It can't be done," but often while he is saying it, someone comes along and does it. . . .

Christian zeal and Christian courage are excellent teammates, but there is a third factor not to be overlooked in the making of a good soldier of the cross. That factor is tolerance. . . . Tolerance implies love.

[O. Tevis Martin, in the Christian Advocate, Cincinnati, Ohio]

In this noisy world, which seems to be always hammering at the door, shoving, pushing all about us, we need time to go apart and be quiet to know God. What this world needs most now in its mad quest for the solution of vexing problems, is not treaties of peace or compromises and agreements between labor and capital, but God. If we would find God, we could find the solution to all problems.

Jesus found God; . . . he sought seclusion and silence, and under the cover of night went out to be alone and speak with his Father. We all need a place to be alone alone with God in quietness and stillness, where the muddy waters will settle, where sediment will sink to the bottom, where disgust and misunderstanding, hate and envy, will pass away, and the calm, clear waters of love and faith, hope and peace, will refresh and sustain us. This is really to know our God.

[From the Globe and Mail, Toronto, Ontario, Canada]

The old cry of the Psalmist is a universal instinct, "I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help."

Man does not mind the sweat and the ache of daily toil if hope shines before him. Bulwer-Lytton once said, "While the world lasts the sun will gild the mountain tops before it shines upon the plain." . . .

Religion is the greatest of all horizons. For religion widens the imagination and the faith of all who believe in the spiritual world. There is one anchor which holds in wind and storm, one picture which never fades. Religion alone reveals the great ends of existence which lift man to a new plane of more inspired effort. It can make him cry: