Our destiny is that which is our God's, Who has so many ages gone before; The heights sublime whence he now smiling nods One day we all shall reach, though great the odds Now stretching out from hence to that bright shore; For time and space are nothing; the same laws That governed him, unfolding evermore Those sprang from him, still working without pause, Must lift us to his plane, as end doth follow cause. 14. Meantime, he will go on as we come up, Since our unfolding must depend on his; For we must drink from out the self-same cup, And at the self-same table we must sup; But he, gone on beyond to higher bliss, Will be our leader still, above all strife; We from his realm, as now we do in this, Like branches of the tree with sap grown rife, Draw elements of fruit, which sprout new shoots of life. 15. But, did our Heavenly Parents not progress, There would be no progression for us here; All stagnant would become, and motionless, With utter silence and obliviousness As infinite as Being's boundless sphere; Progress for one involves progress for all, As long as Love its mate delights to cheer; As long as Love responds to Love's sweet call, No cataclysmal force can Being's tide forestall. 16. But does it seem too much for mortal hope To dream of a career so far above And still advancing as conditions ope The way of endless progress? Who can cope With infinite progression, born of Love, And say where it shall end? Our destiny, With all eternity in which to rove, Must have unbounded possibility; Oh! glorious broadening ages that are yet to be! 17. We only have a glimpse, and yet behold How vast the scene stretched out before our eyes! We start from seeming nothingness of old; As we our dawning consciousness unfold, What strides we make! How vastly do we rise From knowing nought to science quick with sight To penetrate the earth and scan the skies, So eager is the soul in search of light, Full of its destiny to grasp the infinite! 18. Who cannot see eternal progress must Have infinite results, and no one can E'er be so far advanced beyond the dust That, progress ended, he will stop and rust Mid Evolution's ever-onward plan? If dreams of a progressive life are not A vain delusion, then must rising man Become more than the mind conceives of what Befits a God--beyond all reach of earthly thought. 19.