to understand these transitions and align ourselves with the keynote and ideals of the Era that is dawning.

The age that is passing has been marked by the desire of men for power, either for themselves or for their own particular group, party or nation. Man sought to increase the wealth and power of his own business, industry or country, and often at the expense of others. He has sought, by means of aggression and acquisition, to force other men to serve his personal ends. He has not realized that if he took from others without just exchange, he would finally impoverish himself.

In this New Era man's highest motive will be that of serving the interests of all men. Whether in family, community, group or nation, the New Era individual will seek the highest good of all. His desire and ideal will be to bring happiness and well-being to humanity as a whole. Therefore, his own happiness and well-being will be assured.

A number of organizations and groups, both industrial and humanitarian, are already fulfilling this ideal. And increasing numbers will accept and apply the keynotes of the New Era as they see the limitations of the old methods, and realize that only

through the practice of the Law of Good Will, will good result for all. In the hearts of many is a growing desire for an age benevolence and righteousness amongst men, and a way of life that will insure this for all the

people of the earth.

of

Jesus spoke of a kingdom of heaven, on earth, and told his disciples to pray that this kingdom might come. He named the Law which would fulfill this prayer: "To Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, . and thy brother as thyself." If this Law were put into operation by all the nations of the earth, it would bring about that United World which men are seeking. Only in such a world could all men be free, and enjoy their inalienable right to the "pursuit of happiness."

It was prophesied that "the meek shall inherit the earth." We have interpreted this as meaning the outcast and the poor, but rather, it means those who "walk with God" and seek to fulfill His Will of Love. Such individuals may be found in places and positions of wide influence, or in obscure outposts where they are unknown. They may be met anywhere in an elevator, behind a counter, in an office, or in some factory or concert hall. We will know them no matter what the occupation in which they are en

gaged, for they will reveal the ideals of the New Era by their deeds and actions.

The Life within all men is One. All are joint-heirs in the Kingdom of God, and their true inheritance has been waiting from the beginning of time. Those who are awakening in the light of the New Era desire this inheritance for all men, and they seek ways and means of sharing the benefits of earth. In this Age knowledge will be used with a spiritual motive, and not for personal gain. Men will find ways of employing their wealth, talent and skills to increase the standard of living over the whole earth. In this beneficent way of life all will gain, both individuals and nations.

Man will finally realize that he cannot enjoy the manifold benefits of earth unless he allows all men to participate in their use. He has been able to keep and harness many things for his personal use, loaning them out with interest, etc. But he is beginning to realize that it will be impossible to monopolize atomic energy or other great powers and elemental forces whose discovery is on the horizon. As soon as he starts to use atomic energy as fuel or heat, or to light his citiesthe whole world will have it! Ways will also be found of producing it at a minimum of cost,

and in time it may be as free as the air we breathe.

Man has never been able to monopolize the air. He cannot confine or hold it, save temporarily. He cannot even hold his own breath indefinitely, but must breathe out in order to breathe again. This is the secret of the Law of Life-that we must give in order to receive; but alsothat we may re-give. Life itself is an eternal and free Gift to man.

Jesus said, "Come and drink freely of these waters!" He gave without price to all men and asked not even if they were worthy. The "special privilege" of wealth, social distinction, race or color, received no consideration in his thought. He recognized all men as brothers and sons of the one Father. This is the Consciousness of the Era we are facing.

All may embody this Consciousness and live in the New Era

now-by fulfilling its Law of Love. Thus man will come into his rightful inheritance on earth. All will partake freely of the benefits of earth and enjoy the fruits of their labours, as they dwell in peace and good will with their fellowmen.

The Era that is dawning is an Age of Wholeness, of Oneness in concept-One Life, One Human

42

THERE IS A mysterious element in browsing, perhaps a curious Providence which brings us face to face with a certain book—or a single page of a book-at precisely that juncture in our lives when it will have special meaning for us. Emerson's closest friend, Bronson Alcott ("the father of Little Women") was not primarily a book-man. Rather, he was the original from which Emerson drew the "American Scholar" in his famous essay: he was a Man Thinking. And of Bronson Alcott,

Emerson once said that he was the only man he ever knew who could go into a library (whether familiar to him or not) and put his hand immediately on the book he most needed to read at the mo

ment, no matter what language it was written in-and Alcott knew no language but his own!

This is remarkable, but surely not miraculous. Why should there not be an attraction between ourselves and our "book-of-the-moment"? Have we not encountered new acquaintances at propitious times? Why not also, then, new authors or familiar writers seen in an unusual light? Anciently, people practised a simple form of

Eileen Margaret Walker

divination known as "searching the Scriptures"-a practice which has never quite gone out of fashion. The marked success of many such searchings is not easy to account for, unless it is that the very act of seeking light from a revered source betokens an open mind, into which seeds of wisdom can more easily fall.

is

Admittedly, the process somewhat mysterious, when closely examined-but what process, closely examined, is not? Life, too, taken by and large, is mysterious, but we must take it, nonetheless. So with musing: it is a richly rewarding pastime, if alertly pursued. But it may also be debilitating, if it is purposeless, if it revolves around exclusively personal concerns, if it is not a quest for understanding.

John P. Marquand's Point of No Return might be said to be one long musing, for the story unfolds through the reflections and reminiscences of the chief

character, as he picks up threads of thought and emotion from the present and traces their pattern of interweaving back into the past. Point of No Return impres

ses one as being a book written thoroughly. Its details are full, but fastidiously chosen-just enough to ground the reader firmly in the time and space of Charles Gray, a New York banker, and Charley Gray of Clyde, Mass.

It may have been this faculty of "pin-point illumination" which makes one remark stand out midway of Mr. Marquand's narrative. Charles and his father, John Gray, are speaking of a chronic researcher and explorer, a man with small sense of delicacy and almost no appreciation of how not to intrude or pry, an intellectual whose forte is reducing both civilized and aboriginal communities to neat charts and snug categories. John Gray's mercurial temperament makes it impossible to remain quietly in any category, or social level, and his comment on the "pigeon-holing" explorer is:

"He has some interesting ideas, but I'm afraid he has the unselective curiosity that goes with a closed mind. I don't know why people who know too much already are the only ones who keep trying to learn more."

Musing over this remark, one wonders what is the distinction between curiosity and inquiry, between inquisitiveness (or prying) and the genuine search for truth or knowledge. Curiosity

originally meant taking care, taking pains, showing nicety of judgment. Today it more often implies meddlesomeness, just as inquisitiveness-which once betokened an admirable interest in examining and investigating-has come to represent an improper concern with matters that are none of our business.

But why unbridled curiosity should be bracketed with a closed mind, is worth pondering: does this suggest that if we were truly seeking understanding, our questions would not obtrude upon another's private reserves?

Epitomizing much of the meaning of Point of No Return is an epigram quoted from Jonathan Swift: "Ambition often puts men upon doing the meanest offices: so climbing is performed in the same posture with creeping." For how many of the other "pairs of opposites," as we call them, may this not hold true? How often does the same outward action belong to diametrically different programs?

There is an old saying: "It's all in the way you look at things," and parents, teachers, and grownups in general-particularly those who happen at the moment to be exasperated by the behavior of a child or children-can test the