In the ancient days of the angels, I refused to enter the forms of my own creation, except to play with them. There is a hint for you, if you like hints. He who is held by his own creations becomes a slave. That is one of the differences between me and men. What earthly father can escape his children? What earthly mother wishes to? But I! I can make a rose to bloom--then leave it for another to enjoy. My joy was in the making. It would be dull for me to stay with a rose until its petals fell. The artist who can forget his past creations may create greater and greater things. The joy is in the doing, not in the holding fast to that which is done. Oh, the magic of letting go! It is the magic of the gods. There are races of men to whom I have revealed myself. They worship me. You need not worship me, for I do not require worship. That would be to limit myself to my own creations, if I needed anything from the souls I have touched with my beauty. Oh, the magic of letting go! The magic of holding on? Yes, there is a magic in holding on to a thing until it is finished and perfect; But when a thing is finished, whether it be a poem, a love, or a child, let it go. In that way you are free again and may begin another. It is the secret of eternal youth. Never look back with regret; look back only to learn what is behind you. Look forward always; it is only when a man ceases to look forward to things that he begins to grow old. He settles down. I have said to live in the moment; that is the same thing seen from another side. The present and the future are playfellows; we do not play when we study the past. I am the great playfellow of men. LETTER XLVIII INVISIBLE GIFTS AT YULETIDE IT is not yet too late to wish you a merry Christmas. How do I know that it is Christmas Day? Because I have been looking in at houses which I used to frequent, and have seen trees laden with tinsel and gifts. Do you wonder that I could see them? If so, you forget that we light our own place. When we know how to look, we can see behind the veil. This is my first Christmas Day on this side. I cannot send you a material gift which you could wear or hang up in your room; but I can send you the good wishes of the season. The mothers who have left young children behind them in the world know well when Christmas is approaching. Sometimes they bring invisible gifts, which they have fashioned by their power of imagination and love out of the tenuous matter of this world. A certain grandmother all last evening, Christmas Eve, was scattering flowers around her dear ones. Their fragrance must have penetrated the atmosphere of the earth.