intense human love. It is only by passing through human loves and human
sufferings that Divine Love is reached and realized.

All human loves are perishable like the forms to which they cling; but
there is a Love that is imperishable, and that does not cling to
appearances.

All human loves are counterbalanced by human hates; but there is a Love
that admits of no opposite or reaction; divine and free from all taint of
self, that sheds its fragrance on all alike.

Human loves are reflections of the Divine Love, and draw the soul nearer to
the reality, the Love that knows neither sorrow nor change.

It is well that the mother, clinging with passionate tenderness to the
little helpless form of flesh that lies on her bosom, should be overwhelmed
with the dark waters of sorrow when she sees it laid in the cold earth. It
is well that her tears should flow and her heart ache, for only thus can
she be reminded of the evanescent nature of the joys and objects of sense,
and be drawn nearer to the eternal and imperishable Reality.

It is well that lover, brother, sister, husband, wife should suffer deep
anguish, and be enveloped in gloom when the visible object of their
affections is torn from them, so that they may learn to turn their
affections toward the invisible Source of all, where alone abiding
satisfaction is to be found.

It is well that the proud, the ambitious, the self-seeking, should suffer
defeat, humiliation, and misfortune; that they should pass through the
scorching fires of affliction; for only thus can the wayward soul be