Page:The Parable of Creation.djvu/84

80 general states of progress through which all have to pass from the merely natural to the higher spiritual.

Your minds were then directed to the truth concerning the particular ideas involved in the statements with reference to the first three days. I called your attention to the fact that the earth was, throughout the Scripture, a symbol of the mind of man. The condition in which it was previous to creation, its being without form and void, was a perfect illustration of the state of each one's mind previous to regeneration. As to religious ideas or purposes, it is without form and void. The darkness which was said to dwell, at that time, on the face of the deep, symbolized the great darkness as to spiritual things, which is the first condition of all, previous to their entrance upon the regeneration. Ignorance, as to this phase of knowledge, life and power, broods upon the face of their mental deeps.

If one is in ignorance, or in non-acknowledgment of the truth of any subject, the first step is to get light upon it, to gain information concerning it, and such information, and in such form, that he may be able to see and believe it. The first light on spiritual subjects is that whereby we acknowledge its primary principles, such as, that there is a God and that spiritual things are, in themselves, of a higher nature and of more importance than worldly things.