III
WORKING WITH THE LAW

 

“My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.”
--John 5:17

It is a truth as ancient as the ancient days that, though we cannot contract the Infinite, we can expand our own conception of it in such a way as to make the Infinite serve us whenever we draw upon it intelligently. This is only another way of saying that the object of true prayer is not for the purpose of bringing about a change in God, quite so much as it is for the purpose of bringing about a change in men. In order for us to work intelligently with any law we must first understand that law, whether it be that of mechanics, mathematics or metaphysics. One cannot work contrary to any law and accomplish desirable results, and it is for this reason that an intelligent comprehension of law is as necessary in the religious realm as in any other.

When it is better understood that the Law of God, like that of nature, is fixed and permanent, unalterable and unyielding, men will cease to pray for petty benefactions and will seek rather