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RETROSPECTION AND INTROSPECTION
It was the gospel of healing, on its divinely appointed human mission, bearing on its white wings, to my apprehension, “the beauty of holiness,” — even the possibilities of spiritual insight, knowledge, and being.
Early had I learned that whatever is loved materially, as mere corporeal personality, is eventually lost. “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it,” saith the Master. Exultant hope, if tinged with earthliness, is crushed as the moth.
What is termed mortal and material existence is graphically defined by Calderon, the famous Spanish poet, who wrote, —
| What is life? 'T is but a madness. |
| What is life? A mere illusion, |
| Fleeting pleasure, fond delusion, |
| Short-lived joy, that ends in sadness, |
| Whose most constant substance seems |
| But the dream of other dreams. |
