"Yes," I said, "all that is true and good; it is the exclusive claim and
not the inclusive which one regrets. It is the voice which says, 'Accept
my exact faith, or you have no part in the inheritance,' which is wrong.
The real voice of religion is that which says, 'You are my brother and
my sister, though you know it not.' And if one says, 'We are all at
fault, we are all far from the truth, but we live as best we can,
looking for the larger hope and for the dawn of love,' that is the
secret. The sacrament of God is offered and eaten at many a social meal,
and the Spirit of Love finds utterance in quiet words from smiling lips.
One cannot teach by harsh precept, only by desirable example; and the
worst of the correct profession of religion is that it is often little
more than taking out a licence to disapprove."

"Yes," said Amroth, "you are very near a great truth. The mistake we
make is like the mistake so often made on earth in matters of human
government--the opposing of the individual to the State, as if the State
were something above and different to the individual--like the old
thought of the Spirit moving on the face of the waters. The individual
is the State; and it is the same with the soul and God. God is not above
the soul, seeing and judging, apart in isolation. The Spirit of God is
the spirit of humanity, the spirit of admiration, the spirit of love. It
matters little what the soul admires and loves, whether it be a flower
or a mountain, a face or a cause, a gem or a doctrine. It is that
wonderful power that the current of the soul has of setting towards
something that is beautiful: the need to admire, to worship, to love. A
regiment of soldiers in the street, a procession of priests to a
sanctuary, a march of disordered women clamouring for their rights--if
the idea thrills you, if it uplifts you, it matters nothing whether
other people dislike or despise or deride it--it is the voice of God for
you. We must advance from what is merely brilliant to what is true; and