CHARLES. It is in the Supernatural.
MR. ALCOTT. You said at first that there was something in outward
Nature which we should worship.
CHARLES. No; I don't think we should worship anything but the Invisible.
MR. ALCOTT. What is the Invisible?
CHARLES. It is the Supernatural.
JOHN B. It is the Inward--the Spiritual. But I don't see why we should
not worship the sun a little as well--
MR. ALCOTT. As well as the Sun-maker? But there are sun-worshippers.
JOHN B. Yes; a little; for the sun gives us light and heat.
MR. ALCOTT. What is the difference between your feeling when you think
of the sun, or the ocean (_he described some grand scenes_), and
when you think of Conscience acting in such cases as--(_he gave some
striking instances of moral power_). Is there not a difference?
(_They raised their hands._)
What is the name of the feeling with which you look at Nature?
SEVERAL. Admiration.
MR. ALCOTT. But when Conscience governs our weak body, is it not a
Supernatural Force? Do you not feel the awe of the inferior before a
superior nature? And is not that worship? The sun cannot produce it.
JOSIAH. Spirit worships Spirit. Clay worships Clay.
MR. ALCOTT. Wait a moment, Josiah. I wish first to talk with the
others; let me ask them this question: Do you feel that Conscience is
stronger than the mountain, deeper and more powerful than the ocean?
Can you say to yourself, I can remove this mountain?
JOSIAH (_burst out_). Yes, Mr. Alcott! I do not mean that with my body
I can lift up a mountain--with my hand; but I can feel; and I know that
my Conscience is greater than the mountain, for it can feel and do; and
the mountain cannot. There is the mountain, there! It was made, and
that is all. But my Conscience can grow. It is the same kind of Spirit
as made the mountain be, in the first place. I do not know what it may
be and do. The Body is a mountain, and the Spirit says, be moved, and
it is moved into another place.
Mr. Alcott, we think too much about clay. We should think of Spirit.
I think we should love Spirit, not Clay. I should think a mother now
would love her baby's Spirit; and suppose it should die, that is only
the Spirit bursting away out of the Body. It is alive; it is perfectly
happy. I really do not know why people mourn when their friends die.
I should think it would be matter of rejoicing. For instance: now, if
we should go out into the street and find a box--an old dusty box--and
should put into it some very fine pearls, and by and by the box should
grow old and break, why, we should not even think about the box; but if
the pearls were safe, we should think of them and nothing else. So it
is with the Soul and Body. I cannot see why people mourn for bodies.
MR. ALCOTT. Yes, Josiah; that is all true, and we are glad to hear it.
Shall some one else now speak besides you?
JOSIAH. Oh, Mr. Alcott! then I will stay in the recess and talk.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account