Page:The Pathway of Roses, Larson (1913) image of page 190.jpg

190 When consciousness acts almost entirely in conditions of spiritual death, nearly every action is at variance with the true order of things; in consequence, confusion, darkness and the downfall of the person follows. We always go down when darkness becomes our only guide, and as the spiritual light is the only guiding light, we will continue to go down so long as the spirit is not awakened. When spiritual death begins, downfall begins, not only in the lives of individuals, but also in the lives of nations, races and systems of thought. Therefore, the overcoming of spiritual death is the great hope of the world. It is this alone that can lead us out of the Egypt of sin, sickness, adversity and pain, into the promised land of peace, wholeness, happiness, freedom, power and truth. It is the awakening of the spirit that will take men and nations out of the powers of darkness, and place the whole of mankind upon those sublime heights where we shall live a life that is befitting the Sons of God.

The spiritualization of the world means the real salvation of the world; not salvation for the future alone but also salvation from sin, sickness and adversity now. When spiritualization begins, the mind is given a light, and that light invariably leads upward and onward into better things. To spiritualize the mind, the soul must be awakened, and to awaken the soul is to overcome and eliminate the conditions of spiritual death. Then real life begins—the life of an