If a child and an ape
are born on the same day, the last will be in full possession of its
faculties and doing the active work of life before the child has left
its cradle. Life is the cradle of eternity. As the man is to the
animal in the slowness of his evolution, so is the spiritual man to
the natural man. Foundations which have to bear the weight of an
eternal life must be surely laid. Character is to wear forever; who
will wonder or grudge that it cannot be developed in a day?
To await the growing of a soul, nevertheless, is an almost Divine act
of faith. How pardonable, surely, the impatience of deformity with
itself, of a consciously despicable character standing before Christ,
wondering, yearning, hungering to be like that! Yet must one trust the
process fearlessly and without misgiving. "The Lord the Spirit" will
do His part. The tempting expedient is, in haste for abrupt or visible
progress, to try some method less spiritual, or to defeat the end by
watching for effects instead of keeping the eye on the Cause.
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