all conditioned manifestation, so that in the
true worship our consciousness is removed from the outer sphere of
existence to the innermost center of unconditioned being. There we find the
Eternal Being of God pure and simple, and we stand reverently in this
Supreme Presence knowing that it is the Source of our own being, and wrapt
in the contemplation of This, the conditioned is seen to flow out from It.
Perceiving this the conditioned passes out of our consideration, for it is
seen not to be the Eternal Reality--we have reached that level of
consciousness where Time and Space remain no longer. Yet the reverence
which the vision of this Supreme Center of all Being cannot fail to inspire
is coupled with a sense of feeling quite at home with It. This is because
as the Center of _all_ Being it is the center of our own being also. It is
one-with-ourselves. It is recognizing Itself from our own center of
consciousness; so that here we have got back to that Self-contemplation of
Spirit which is the first movement of the Creating Power, only now this
Self-contemplation is the action of the All-Originating Spirit upon Itself
from the center of our own consciousness. So this worship in the Temple of
the Innermost is at once reverent adoration and familiar intercourse--not
the familiarity that breeds contempt, but a familiarity producing Love,
because as it increases we see more clearly the true Life of the Spirit as
the continual interaction of Love and Beauty, and the Spirit's recognition
of ourselves as an integral portion of Its own Life. This is not an
unpractical dreamy speculation but has a very practical bearing. Death will
some day cease to be, for the simple reason that Life alone can be the
enduring principle; but we have not yet reached this point in our
evolution. Whether any in this generation will reach it I cannot say; but
for the rank and file of us the death of the body seems to be by far the
more probable event. Now what must this passing out of the body mean to us?
It must mean that we find ourselves without the physical vehicle which is
the instrument through which our consciousness comes in touch with the
external world and all the interests of our present daily life. But the
mere putting off of the body does not of itself change the mental attitude;
and so if our mind is entirely centered upon these passing interests and
external conditions the loss of the instrument by which we held touch with
them must invo