e fruit that shreds of pulp adhere to it when
forcibly removed, so also the spirit clings to the flesh in middle life
and a certain part of its material interest remain and bind it to earth
after death. On the other hand, when a life has been lived to the full,
when the spirit has had time to realize its ambitions or to find out their
futility, when the duties of life have been performed and satisfaction
rests upon the brow of an aged man or woman; or when the life has been
misspent and the pangs of conscience have worked upon the man and shown
him his mistakes; when, in fact, the spirit has learned the lessons of
life, as it must have to come to old age; then it may be likened to the
seed of the ripe fruit which falls out clean, without a vestige of flesh
clinging thereto, at the moment the encasing pulp is opened. Therefore we
say, as before, that though there is a brighter existence in store for
those who have lived well, it is nevertheless best to live a long life and
to live it to the fullest extent possible.

We also maintain, that no matter what may be the circumstances of a man's
death, it is not accidental; it has either been brought about by his own
neglect to embrace opportunities of growth, or else life has been lived to
the ultimate possible. There is one exception to that rule, and that is
due to man's exercise of his divine prerogative of interference. If we
lived according to schedule, if we all assimilated the experiences
designed for our growth by the Creative Powers, we should live to the
ultimate length, but _we ourselves_ usually shorten our lives by not
taking advantage of opportunities, and it also happens that _other men_
may shorten our lives and cut them off as suddenly as the so-called
accident whereby the divine rulers terminate our life here. In other
words, murder, or fatal accidents brought about _by human __
carelessness_, are in reality the only termination to life not planned by
invisible leaders of humanity. No one is ever compelled to do murder or
other evil, or there could not come to them a just retribution for their
acts. The Christ said that evil must come but _woe unto him by whom it
cometh_, and to harmonize that with the law of divine justice: "as a man
soweth, so shall he also reap," _there must at least be absolute free will
in respect to evil acts_.

There are also cases where a person lives such a full and good life of
such vast benefit to humanity and to himself, that his