e are silent depths in the ocean which the fiercest storm cannot
reach, so there are silent, holy depths in the heart of man which the
storms of sin and sorrow can never disturb. To reach this silence and to
live consciously in it is peace.

Discord is rife in the outward world, but unbroken harmony holds sway at
the heart of the universe. The human soul, torn by discordant passion and
grief, reaches blindly toward the harmony of the sinless state, and to
reach this state and to live consciously in it is peace.

Hatred severs human lives, fosters persecution, and hurls nations into
ruthless war, yet men, though they do not understand why, retain some
measure of faith in the overshadowing of a Perfect Love; and to reach this
Love and to live consciously in it is peace.

And this inward peace, this silence, this harmony, this Love, is the
Kingdom of Heaven, which is so difficult to reach because few are willing
to give up themselves and to become as little children.

"Heaven's gate is very narrow and minute,
It cannot be perceived by foolish men
Blinded by vain illusions of the world;
E'en the clear-sighted who discern the way,
And seek to enter, find the portal barred,
And hard to be unlocked. Its massive bolts
Are pride and passion, avarice and lust."

Men cry peace! peace! where there is no peace, but on the contrary,
discord, disquietude and strife. Apart from that Wisdom which is
inseparable from self-renunciation, there can be no real and abiding peace.

The peace which results from social comfort, passing gratification, or
worldly victory is transitory in its nature, and is burnt up in the heat of
fiery trial. Only the Peace of Heaven endures through all trial, and only
the selfless heart can know the Peace of Heaven.

Holiness alone is undying peace. Self-control leads to it, and the
ever-increasing Light of Wisdom guides the pilgrim on his way. It is
partaken of in a measure as soon as the path of virtue is entered upon, but
it is only realized in its fullness when self disappears in the
consummation of a stainless life.

"This is peace,
To conquer love of self and lust of life,
To tear deep-rooted passion from the heart
To still the inward strife."

If, O reader! you would realize the Light that never fades, the Joy that
never ends, and the tranquillity that cannot be disturbed; if you would
leave behind for ever your sins, your sorrows,