Page:The Pathway of Roses, Larson (1913) image of page 32.jpg

32 valley has upon the whole of life, and what effect life on the heights has upon the whole of life.

To live in the valley alone, ignoring everything that may come from lofty realms, is to live in darkness, trouble and pain. This we know. To him who secludes himself in the lower regions of existence, nothing seems to be wholly well; there is usually something wrong or defective with everything with which he may come in contact, and life at best has but little to give.

How different, however, everything becomes when we begin to live on the heights. We not only find that all is well in these upper regions but all things become well in the lower realms the moment we begin to live in the upper. We must therefore conclude that all is well when we are well, but that we are not well unless we live on the heights.

We also conclude that the vision of the soul is true, that the ideal alone is real, and that man can see all things as they are only when entering sublime existence. And as all is well from the viewpoint of sublime existence, to think the truth man must always think that all is well.

To live in the lower realms is to live in pain; to live in the upper realms is to live in peace, freedom and joy. Then why should we continue to live in the lower, while wholly ignoring the upper? Why should we declare that the lower alone is real, and that the