Chapter 53 - A Sort of Creed

To be observed today, or in part; to be changed tomorrow -- or abandoned -- if the light is better.

To Live to our highest in all things that pertain to us; To lend a hand as best we can to all others for this same end;

To aid in righting the wrongs that cross our path by pointing the wrong-doer to a better way, and thus aid him in becoming a power for good;

To remain in nature always sweet and simple and humble, and therefore strong; To open ourselves fully and to keep ourselves pure and clean as fit channels for the Divine Power to work through us; To turn toward and keep our faces always to the light; To do our own thinking, listening quietly to the opinions of others, and to be sufficiently men and women to act always upon our own convictions;

To do our duty as we see it, regardless of the opinions of others, seeming gain or loss, temporary blame or praise; To play the part of neither knave nor fool by attempting to judge another, but to give that same time to living more worthily ourselves;

To get up immediately when we stumble, face again to the light, and travel on without wasting even a moment in regret; To love all things and to stand in awe or fear of nothing save our own wrong-doing;

To recognize the good lying at the heart of all people, of all things, waiting for expression, all in its own good way and time; To love the fields and the wild flowers, the stars, the far-open sea, the soft, warm earth, and to live much with them alone, but to love struggling and weary men and women and every pulsing living creature better;

To strive always to do unto others as we would have them do unto us

In brief -- to be honest, to be fearless, to be just, to be kind. This will make our part in life's great and as yet not fully understood play truly glorious, and we need then stand in fear of nothing -- life nor death; for death is life.

Or, rather, it is the quick transition to life in another form; the putting off of the old coat and the putting on of a new; a passing not from light to darkness but from light to light, according as we have lived here; a taking up of life in another form just where we leave it off here; a part in life not to be shunned or dreaded or feared, but to be welcomed with a glad and ready smile when it comes in its own good way and time.