There is need of the tiniest candle As well as the garish sun; And the humblest deed is ennobled When it is worthily done. We may never be called on to brighten Those darkened regions afar, So let us fulfill our mission By shining just where we are.” Chapter XIX THE LOCK OF UPLIFTMENT Have you ever seen how ships going up a canal or river are lifted from one level to another? It is a very interesting and instructive process. First the ship is floated into a small enclosure where the water level is the same as that of the lower part of the river where the ship has previously been sailing. Then the gates of the enclosure are shut and the ship is cut off from the outside world by the high walls of the lock. It cannot go back to the river without; even the light is dimmed around it, but _above_ the moving clouds or the bright sunshine are seen beckoning. The ship cannot rise without assistance, and the law of gravitation makes it impossible for the water in that part of the river where the ship has been sailing to float it to a higher level, hence no help may be looked for from that source. There are also gates in the upper part of the lock which prevent the waters on the higher levels from rushing into the lock from above, otherwise the inrushing water would flood the lock in a moment and crush the ship lying at the bottom level because acting in conformity with that same law of gravitation. It is from _above_, nevertheless, that the power must come if the ship is ever to be lifted to the higher level of the river, and so to do this safely a _small stream_ is conducted to the bottom of the lock, which lifts the ship _very slowly and gradually but safely_ to the level of the river above. When that level has been reached, the upper gates may be opened without danger to the ship, and it may sail forth upon the expansive bosom of the higher waterway. Then the lock is _slowly_ emptied and the water it contained added to the water at the lower level, which is thereby raised even if but slightly. The lock is then ready to raise another vessel. This is, as said in the beginning, a very interesting and instructive physical operation, showing how human skill and ingenuity overcome great obstacles by the use of nature’s forces. But it is a source of still greater enlightenment in a spiritual matter of vital importance to all who aspire and endeavor to live the higher life, for it illustrates the only safe method whereby man can rise from the temporal to the spiritual world, and it confutes those false teachers who for personal gain play upon the too ardent desires of the unripe, and who profess ability to unlock the gates of the unseen worlds for the consideration of an initiation fee. Our illustration shows that this is impossible, because the immutable laws of nature forbid.