Page:The Parable of Creation.djvu/158

154 who have ever sought to do the right in the face of a temptation to do the wrong, know the nature of those contests which occur on the arena of the mind. All who have held mistaken views of things, and have afterwards come into the light of truth, know of the mental combats by which they are released from the one and gain conviction of the other.

Suppose a new truth is presented which conflicts with long cherished opinions. The earthly nature opposes it; the higher urges its acceptance. The natural mind bristles with opposition; the spiritual seeks to show its rationality. It is almost like a debate between different persons. The pros and cons are urged with force and effect on either side. Any one will observe this who will but take the trouble to think. Doing so, he cannot but conclude that the mind has two lines of thought—one spiritual, the other natural; one false, the other true; two impulses—one for the good, the other for the bad; one toward heaven, the other toward the world; two minds, as it were—the one for the contemplation of spiritual themes, for the understanding of spiritual truths, for the love and practice of a spiritual life, the other for the pursuit of worldly affairs, for the acquirement of worldly knowledge and for the delights which inhere in a worldly life. When one begins to strive for the higher way, these two elements come into conflict. On the mind's plane