THE PATH OF VISION
standing of the spiritual and intellectual chaos of our time. The true essence of the flame is still there; the eternal sources of it are still there; and the means of communication are by no means cut off. We still have stokers, although they are not called prophets and priests, who go direct to the sun and soil for their fuel. They can not, to be sure, exclude, like the prophets of old, the wet and green logs from the fire. In a democratic state and a universal state of education, every one has the right to bring his little armful to the pile; but only the good wood in the end will prevail, will dominate with its pure glow and warmth, with its steady flame, the burning mass.
To drop the metaphor, the truth, which rests on the eternal verities of existence, will always prevail. Like the seasons of the year, like history, truth also repeats itself. But we seldom recognize it, when great poets or true artists—the prophets and the priests of our day—present it to us in garments spick and span, following the
[60]
