Although the body was weak and not fitted to undergo the vicissitudes of
crossing the Atlantic, yet love assisted us, and we came here. At certain
times the spirit must assist the body. We cannot accomplish really great
things through physical force alone; the spirit must fortify our bodily
strength. For example, the body of man may be able to withstand the ordeal
of imprisonment for ten or fifteen years under temperate conditions of
climate and restful physical routine. During our imprisonment in Akka
means of comfort were lacking, troubles and persecutions of all kinds
surrounded us, yet notwithstanding such distressful conditions, we were
able to endure these trials for forty years. The climate was very bad,
necessities and conveniences of life were denied us, yet we endured this
narrow prison forty years. What was the reason? The spirit was
strengthening and resuscitating the body constantly. We lived through this
long, difficult period in the utmost love and heavenly servitude. The
spirit must assist the body under certain conditions which surround us,
because the body of itself cannot endure the extreme strain of such
hardships.
The human body is in reality very weak; there is no physical body more
delicately constituted. One mosquito will distress it; the smallest
quantity of poison will destroy it; if respiration ceases for a moment, it
will die. What instrument could be weaker and more delicate? A blade of
grass severed from the root may live an hour, whereas a human body
deprived of its forces may die in one minute. But in the proportion that
the human body is weak, the spirit of man is strong. It can control
natural phenomena; it is a supernatural power which transcends all
contingent beings. It has immortal life, which nothing can destroy or
pervert. If all the kingdoms of life arise against the immortal spirit of
man and seek its destruction, this immortal spirit, singly and alone, can
withstand their attacks in fearless firmness and resolution because it is
indestructible and empowered with supreme natural virtues. For this reason
we say that the spirit of man can penetrate and discover the realities of
all things, can solve the secrets and mysteries of all created objects.
While living upon the earth, it discovers the stars and their satellites;
it travels underground, finds the metals in their hidden depths and
unlocks the secrets of geological ages. It can cross the abysses of
interstellar space and discover the motion of inconceivably distant suns.
How wonderful it is! It can attain to the Kingdom of God. It can penetrate
the mysteries of the divine Kingdom and attain to everlasting life. It
receives illumination from the light of God and reflects it to the whole
universe. How wonderful it is! How powerful the spirit of man, while his
body is so weak! If the susceptibilities of the spirit control him, there
is no created being more heroic, more undaunted than man; but if physical
forces dominate, you cannot find a more cowardly or fearful object because
the body is so weak and incapable. Therefore, it is divinely intended that
the spiritual susceptibilities of man should gain precedence and overrule
his physical forces. In this way he becomes fitted to dominate the human
world by his nobility and stand forth fearless and free, endowed with the
attributes of eternal life.
17 August 1912
Talk at Green Acre
Eliot, Maine