of security from the laws of man. And far away in
the distance were the scenes of John the Baptist's ministry, where He
could see in imagination the multitude discussing the advent of the
strange Master, who had been vouched for by the Voice, but who had
stolen swiftly away from the scene, and had fled the crowds who would
have gladly worshipped Him as a Master and have obeyed His slightest
command.

Then as the darkness of the succeeding nights fell upon Him, He would
sleep on some wild mountain cliff, on the edge of some mighty
precipice, the sides of which dropped down a thousand feet or more.
But these things disturbed Him not. On and on He pressed at the
appearance of each dawn. Without food He boldly moved forward to the
Heart of the Hills, where the Spirit guided Him to the scene of some
great spiritual struggle which he intuitively knew lay before Him.

The Words of the Voice haunted Him still, though He lacked a full
understanding of them, for He had not yet unfolded the utmost recesses
of His Spiritual Mind. "This is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased"--what meant these words? And still, no answer came to that
cry of His soul which sought in vain for a freeing of that riddle.

And still on and on He pressed, until at last He mounted the steep
sides of the barren forbidding mountain of Quarantana, beyond which He
felt that His struggle was to begin. No food was to be found--He must
fight the battle unaided by the material sustenance that ordinary men
find necessary for life and strength. And still He had not received
the answer to the cry of His soul. The rocks beneath His feet--the
blue sky above His head--the lofty peaks of Moab and Gilead in the
distance--gave no answer to the fierce insistent desire for the answer
to the Riddle of the Voice. The answer must come from Within, and from
Himself only. And in the Heart of the Wilderness He must remain,
without food, without shelter, without human companionship, until the
Answer came. And as it was with the Master, so is it with the
follower--all who attain the point of unfoldment at which the Answer
is alone possible, must experience that awful feeling of "aloneness"
and spiritual hunger, and frightful remoteness from all that the world
values, before the Answer comes from Within--from the Holy of Holies
of the Spirit.

* * * * *

To realize the nature of the spiritual struggle that awaited Jesus in
the Wilderness--tha