an
experience is enlarged by it.

But there is another aspect of this same thought. Just as truly as
activity must precede assimilation, so truly does assimilation follow
activity. It may be stated more simply in this way. Nothing can become a
part of the life until it has been acted upon; when it has been acted
upon it can not be taken out of the life. When digestion is finished and
the food is bone and muscle, it can not be withdrawn. When the idea has
been thought in or acted upon, it has by that process become a part of
the life, and though it may fade from memory its influence is abiding.

(3) Development or Increase of Power and Skill.

Every muscle exercised gains greater freedom. Every knotty problem
mastered means increased mental ability. Every victory means greater
power in resisting temptation. Whatever the action, whether good or bad,
helpful or harmful, greater skill and power in that direction follows
it.

This other very important fact needs to be clear, that no amount of
energy put forth for another will mean development for him. He must
exercise his own arm for strength and solve his own problem. Development
only comes through the effort of each individual for himself; hence the
best teacher is the one who can rouse the pupil to the greatest
endeavor.

(4) Habit Formation.

It is impossible to act, physically, mentally or spiritually, without
making it easier to repeat the action, and soon ease passes to tendency,
then tendency to compulsion, and life is in the grip of a habit. This is
the inevitable outcome of activity, until "nine-tenths of life is lived
in the mould of habit."

If it be true that habit is "ten times second nature," the importance of
directing activity toward the formation of right habits needs no
discussion.

IV. The Fourth Principle of unfolding life deals with its crises. "The
crucial points in development are those times when new possibilities
begin to unfold."

The life comes from God complete in its possibilities, but at the
beginning all is in germ. As life progresses, development of these
possibilities proceeds, but it is not uniform. The body acquires ability
to control the larger muscles before it can adjust the finer and more
complex ones, as instanced in the child's ability to walk before he can
thread a needle. The mind is able to imagine before it can reason
clearly. The feelings center on self before they reach out to the world
around. As every new possibi