One selfish desire, once hardening the heart against another’s need, one greedy, grasping longing or desire, and the palace beautiful crumbles into dust; and they who once rejoiced at our coming will turn away with the contempt with which all men greet unworthiness. There also is the palace of Prayer. No earthly dwelling is so beautiful as that which one builds for his soul through communion with God. Always situated upon the lofty heights, above the lowlands of sin and dusty ways of worldliness, it lifts its towers and pinnacles into a cloudless sky. The view is clear and unobstructed, so that one sees the affairs of life in their true relations to the great world of which they are a part. The struggles of their fellow men are in clear sight and therefore observed with sympathetic, understanding heart. The sky is close, and when the sun is set the stars peer through the shadowy canopy, and smile. The atmosphere is fresh and pure, made fragrant with the breath of heaven, and he who breathes it feels a power divine. Nothing is more beautiful than the palace of Prayer. Nevertheless, the palace may crumble and become a hopeless heap of dust. Where once stood a vision of spirituality one can see nothing but that which is of the earth earthy. A hidden sin within the heart, that slyly steals away one’s love for God; a subtle spirit of worldliness, that deadens the soul until it ceases to respond to things divine; a gnawing doubt that, like the white ants of India, honeycomb the timbers of the bravest, strongest souls--all these cause the crumbling of the palace. The palaces of the soul, however well established, require a watchful eye and careful guarding. The powers of evil are destroying elements that beat and pound upon the shelters of the soul with destructive fury. But even then, a well-built palace need not crumble. He who has the Carpenter of Nazareth as his daily Companion may build for eternity. Keeping the sayings of the Master means that the house is firmly fixed upon a strong foundation and that all its timbers are strongly knit together; so that when the floods come and the winds blow and beat upon it; when a legion of devils encamp about and lay siege upon the soul; when fires sweep, and earthquakes work their devastation to this planet, these palaces, not made with hands, and not constructed from earthly material, the palaces of Character, Benevolence, and Communion with God, shall not be moved. They shall shelter us here and be eternal in the heavens. XVI THE ECHO OF LIFE’S UNSUNG SONGS