"The same that I have tried to practise here"--I answered--"I shall
believe nothing of ill report--but only of good."
He bent his eyes upon me searchingly.
"Remember," he said--"what force there is in a storm of opinion! The
fiercest gale that ever blew down strong trees and made havoc of men's
dwellings is a mere whisper compared with the fury of human minds set
to destroy one heaven-aspiring soul! Think of the petty grudge borne by
the loveless against Love!--the spite of the restless and unhappy
against those who have won peace! All this you will have to bear,--for
the world is envious--and even a friend breaks down in the strength of
friendship when thwarted or rendered jealous by a greater and more
resistless power!" I sighed a little.
"I have few friends,"--I said--"Certainly none that have ever thought
it worth while to know my inner and truest self. Most of them are glad
to be my friends if I go THEIR way--but if I choose a way of my own
their 'friendship' becomes mere quarrel. But I talk of choosing a way!
How can I choose--yet? You say my ordeal is not over?"
"It will be over to-night,"--he answered--"And I have every hope that
you will pass through it unflinchingly. You have not heard from
Santoris?"
The question gave me a little thrill of surprise.
"Heard from him?--No"--I replied--"He never suggested writing to me."
Aselzion smiled.
"He is too closely in touch with you to need other correspondence,"--he
said--"But be satisfied that he is safe and well. No misadventure has
befallen him."
"Thank God!" I murmured. "And--if--"
"If he loves you no more,"--went on Aselzion--"If he has made an 'error
of selection' as the scientists would say, and is not even now sure of
his predestined helper and inspirer whose love will lift him to the
highest attainment--what then?"
"What then? Why, I must submit!" I answered, slowly--"I can wait, even
for another thousand years!"
There was a silence, during which I felt Aselzion's eyes upon me. Then
he spoke again in a lighter tone.
"Let us for the moment talk of what the world calls 'miracle'"--he
said--"I believe you are just now conscious of perfect health, and of a
certain joy in the mere fact of life. Is it not so?"
Smiling, I bent my head in acquiescence.
"Understand then"--he continued--"that while you control the
life-forces of which you are made, by the power of an all-commanding
spirit, this perfect health, this certain joy will continue. And more
than this--everything in Nature will serve you to this end. You have
but to ask your servants and they will obey. Ask of the sun its warmth
and radiance,--it will answer with a quick bestowal--ask of the storm
and wind and rain their powers of passion,--they will give you their
all,--ask of the rose its fragrance and colour, and the very essence of
it shall steal into your blood,--there is nothing you shall seek that
you will not find. Try your own powers now!"--and with the word he got
up and opened the window a little wider, then signed to me to step out
on the balcony--"Here are roses climbing up on their appointed
way--bend them to-wards you by a single effort of the will!"
I gazed at him in complete surprise and bewilderment. His answering
looks were imperative.
"By a single effort of the will!" he repeated.
I obeyed him. Raising my eyes to the roses where they clambered upwards
round the loggia, I inwardly commanded them to turn towards me. The
effect was instantaneous. As though blown by a light breeze they all
bent down with their burden of bright blossom--some of the flowers
touching my hands.
"That would be called 'miraculous' by the ignorant," said
Aselzion--"And it is nothing more than the physical force of the
magnetic light-rays within you, which, being focused in a single
effort, draw the roses down pliantly to your will. No more miracle is
there in this than that of the common magnet which has been vainly
trying to teach us lessons about ourselves these many years. Now, relax
your will!"
Again I obeyed, and the roses moved gently away and upward to their
former branching height.
"This is an object lesson for you,"--said Aselzion, smiling then--"You
must understand that you are now in a position to draw everything to
you as easily as you drew those roses! You can draw the germs of health
and life to mix and mingle with your blood--or--you can equally draw
the germs of disease and disintegration. The ACTION is with you. From
the sun you can draw fresh fuel for your brain and nerves--from the air
the sustenance you demand--from beautiful things their beauty, from
wise things their learning, from powerful things their force--NOTHING
can resist the radiating energy you possess if you only remember HOW to
employ it. In every action it must be focused on the given point--it
must not be disturbed or scattered. The more often it is used the more
powerful it becomes--the more all-conquering. But never forget that it
must work WITHIN the Creative Principle of Love--not outside it."