Page:The Art of Helping People Out of Trouble (1924).pdf/225

 social worker who was instrumental in bringing this about subscribed to a creed that was different in many respects from that of her client, but she believed in the dynamic qualities of religion and therefore helped to strengthen him in those spiritual beliefs which seemed to make the greatest appeal to him. However religion expresses itself, it is the most vital thing in the life of the individual in whom it exists, the primary source of inspiration and anchorage, the influence that sustains and steadies him in every adjustment that he must make.

Wholly different in influence and character from religion was the dynamic utilized in arousing Margaret Seip, a woman of fifty, from the introspective state into which she had fallen. Miss Seip and her mother had been living together in two rooms with so little to do and such a barrenness of happenings that for lack of a better occupation they spent their days in telling each other about the miserable condition of their health. What they needed was a new subject for thought, something that would break the monotony with which they were surrounded. This was supplied when the daughter was placed at work in an arts and crafts shop. The comings and goings of the