The Varieties of Religious Experience — William James

p. 472with such answers, and books are devoted to the subject/ but for us Miiller's case will suffice. A less sturdy beggar-like fashion of leading the prayerful life is followed by innumerable other Christians. Persistence in leaning on the Almighty for support and guidance will, such persons say, bring with it proofs, palpable but much more subtle, of his presence and active influence.

The following description of a ^ied ' life, by a German writer whom I have already quoted, would no doubt appear to countless Christians in every country as if transcribed from their own personal experience.

One finds in this guided sort of life, says Dr. Hilty, — " That books and_words^ (and sometimes people) come to one's cognizance just at the very moment in which one needs them ; that one glides over great dangers as if with shut eyes, remaining ignorant of what would have terrified one or led one astray, until the peril is past — this being especially the case with temptations to vanity and sensuality ; that paths on which one ought not to wander are, as it were, hedged off with thorns ; but that on the other side great obstacles are suddenly removed ; that when the time has come for something, one suddenly receives a courage that formerly failed, or perceives the root of a matter that until then was concealed, or discovers thoughts, talents, yea, even pieces of knowledge and insight, in one's self, of which it is impossible to say whence they come ; finally, that persons help us or decline to help us, favor us or refuse us, as if they had to do so against their will, so that often those indifferent or even unfriendly to us yield us the greatest service and furtherance. (Godtakes^ften^theirN worldly goods, from those whom he leads, at just the right y 1 As, for instance, In Answer to Prayer, by the Bishop of Ripon and others, London, 1898 ; Touching Incidents and Remarkable Answers to Prayer, Harrisburg, Pa., 1898 (?) ; H. L. Hastings : The Guiding Hand, or Providential Direction, illustrated by Authentic Instances, Boston, 1898 (?).

p. 473moment, when they threaten to impede the effort after higher interests.) -^yy^L, -^ ^tv^:AVt'« " Besides all this, oth^ noteworthy things come to pass, of which it is not easy to give account. There is no doubt whatever that now one walks continually through ' open doors ' and on the easiest roads, with as little care and trouble as it is possible to imagine.

" Furthermore one finds one's self settling one's affairs neither too early nor too late, whereas they were wont to be spoiled by untimeliness, even when the preparations had been well laid. In addition to this, one does them with perfect tranquillity of mind, almost as if they were matters of no consequence, like errands done by us for another person, in which case we usually act more calmly than when we act in our own concerns.

Again, one finds that one can wait for everything patiently, and that * is one of life's great arts. One finds also that each thing comes duly, one thing after the other, so that one gains time to make one's footing sure before advancing farther.

And then everything occurs to us at the right moment, just what we ought to do, etc., and often in a very striking way, just as if a third person were keeping watch over those things which we are in easy danger of forgetting. " Often, too, persons are sent to us at the right time, to offer or ask for what is needed, and what we should never have had the courage or resolution to undertake of our own accord.

" Through all these experiences one finds that one is kindly and tolerant of other people, even of such as are repulsive, negligent, or ill-willed, for they also are instruments of good in \ God's hand, and often most efficient ones. Without these thoughts it would be hard for even the best of us always to keep our equanimity.

But with the consciousness of divine guidance, one sees many a thing in life quite differently from wfeat would otherwise be possible. " All these are things that every human being knows., who has had experience of them ; and of which the most speaking examples could be brought forward. The highest resources of worldly wisdom are unable to attain that which, under divine leading, comes to us of its own accord." ^ 1 C. HiLTY : GlUck, Dritter Theil, 1900, pp. 92 S. ^

p. 474Such accounts as this shade away into others where the belief is, not that particular events are tempered more towardly to us by a superintending providence, as a reward for our reliance, but that by cultivating the continuous sense of our connection with the power that made things as they are, we are tempered more towardly \ for their reception.

The outward face of nature need not alter, but the expressions of meaning in it alter. It was dead and is alive again. It is like the difference between looking on a person without love, or upon the same person with love. In the latter case intercourse springs into new vitality.

So when one's affections keep in touch with the divinity of the world's authorship, fear and egotism fall away ; and in the equanimity that follows, one finds in the hours, as they succeed each other, a series of purely benignant opportunities. It is as if all doors were opened, and all paths freshly smoothed. We meet a new world when we meet the old world in the spirit which this kind of prayer infuses.

Such a spirit was that of Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus.^ It is that of mind-curers, of the transcendentalists, and of the so-called * liberal ' Christians. As an expres- ^ " Good Heaven ! " says Epictetus, " any one thing in the creation is sufficient to demonstrate a Providence, to a humble and grateful mind. The mere possibility of producing milk from grass, cheese from milk, and wool from skins ; who formed and planned it ?

Ought we not, whether we dig or plough or eat, to sing this hymn to God ? Great is God, who has supplied us with these instruments to till the ground ; great is God, who has given us bands and instruments of digestion ; who has given us to grow insensibly and to breathe in sleep. These things we ought forever to celebrate. . . .

But because the most of you are blind and insensible, there must be some one to fill this station, and lead, in behalf of all men, the hymn to God ; for what else can I do, a lame old man, but sing hymns to God ? Were I a nightingale, I would act the part of a nightingale ; were I a swan, the part of a swan. But since I am a reasonable creature, it is my duty to praise God . . . and I call on you to join the same song. Works, book i. ch. xvi., Carter-Higginson translation, abridged.