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 PRAYER.

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poor. Such a motive hallows and dignifies the com- monest pursuit. It is strange that laboring men do not think more of the vast usefulness of their toils, and take a benevolent pleasure in them on this ac- count. ..

" Be a man's vocation what it may, his rule should be to do its duties perfectly, to do the best he can, and thus to make perpetual progress in his art. In other words, Perfection should be proposed ; and this I urge not only for its usefulness to society, nor for the sincere pleasure which a man takes in seeing a work well done. This is an important means of self-culture. In this way the idea of Perfection takes root in the mind, and spreads far beyond the man's trade. He gets a tendency towards completeness in whatever he undertakes." {Works, Vol. II., pp. 384/5.)

XXXI.

PRAYER.

ACCORDING to Swedenborg, the essential thing in prayer is the heart's sincere desire ; and what a man desires above all else, is what he really prays for. He may from habit, or from the established ritual in the denomination to which he belongs, re- peat words which do not express his heart's desire. In such case the words of prayer are but empty and