she
thought they had come in the flesh, or in the spirit to her relief. However
this may be, she soon perceived that their images looked vile and black and
could not be the beautiful presence that shielded her from the fires of
God. She began to experiment with her inner vision, and found that when she
said to the presence 'I know you, I know you,' she perceived a light; but
when she said 'I don't know you,' the light went out.

"At last, she became aware that it was Jesus who was shielding her and
loving her, and the world grew bright, her troubled thoughts were banished,
and her heart was filled with praise and with love for all creatures.
'Lord, Lord,' she cried, 'I can love even de white folks.'"

The question will legitimately arise here, as to the authenticity of an
experience in which Jesus is said to be personally guiding and shielding
her, but it must be remembered that the mind is the medium through which
the spiritual realization must be _expressed_ and, as has been stated
previously, the description of the phenomenon of Illumination, particularly
when experienced in a sudden influx must partake of the character of the
mind of the illumined one.

William James, late professor of Psychology of Harvard University, in his
exhaustive book _The Varieties of Religious Experiences_, in the chapter on
"The Value of Saintliness," says:

"Now in the matter of intellectual standards, we must bear in mind that it
is unfair, where we find narrowness of mind, always to impute it as a vice
to the individual for in religious and theological matters, he probably
absorbs his narrowness from his generation. Moreover, we must not confound
the essentials of saintliness with its accidents, which are the special
determination of these passions at any historical moment. In these
determinations the saints will usually be loyal to the temporary idols of
their tribe."

Applying this explanation to the case of "Sojourner Truth," we may realize
that the literal conception of Jesus as her guide and shield, was a mental
image, inevitable with her, as Jesus was the motive power of her every
thought and act. And although at the moment of her Illumination, she
realized the "bigness" of God, later, in arranging and recording the
phenomenon, in her mental note-book, she tabulated it with all she knew of
God--the religious enthusiasm of her work of conversion to the religion of
Jesus.

Says James, commenting upon the question of conversion