Page:Medicine and the church.djvu/244

 fatalist philosopher. It is only the evil that man deliberately assimilates which defiles him. 'There is nothing from without a man that entering into him can defile him'—a parabolic saying which has a deep meaning. As it is with sin, so it is with disease. Wilful sin is lawlessness in the spiritual being; disease is disorder in the material being. Much remains yet to be done, which lies well within the range of the free human will, to combat this lawless disorder in the life of body and soul. We believe that the spirit can impose its own order and law and harmony upon the material elements of our bodily frame. This creed may be an ideal, but it is the only really inspiring ideal; for beyond it lies the hope of final perfection. Therefore, with faith and courage, let us press forward.

Neither mourn if human creeds be lower than the heart's desire! Thro' the gates that bar the distance comes a gleam of what is higher.