activity of the Will, is shown to be absolutely necessary in order that
life may not sink into the level of the mere physical object on the one
hand, and into mere subjectivity and momentary changes of consciousness
on the other hand. It is a decision at this point which constitutes the
great turn to a life of the spirit and to the granting to it of a
_self-subsistence_ as real as objects in the external world; it is a
turn which includes, further, a new beginning of a remove from the
content of the moment and from the impinging of the environment upon the
subject; it is a realisation by the mind and [p.98] soul that its own
content is now on a path which has to be carved out, step by step, by
its own spiritual potency. It is in the light of what is attempted and
accomplished in this respect that the external world and all its
ramifications into the soul are in the last resort to be interpreted.
When the foundation of life is thus placed upon a spiritual content of
meaning and value, norm and end, the _first impressions_ of things are
seen as nothing more than preparatory stages and conditions to a life
beyond themselves. To come to a decision, insisted on again and again,
in regard to the reality of life and its content is not possible without
the deepest act of the whole of the soul. Such a conviction concerning
the spiritual kernel of our being is not a mere matter either of thought
or feeling or will. The three make their contribution towards the great
affirmation which takes place, but they are united at a depth in
consciousness which has no psychological name; they come to a kind of
focus within the blending of the over-individual norms and the need and
capacity of the soul for such norms. When this happens, the individual
has created a cleft in his own nature which renders it forever
impossible for him to be satisfied with the mere external aspect
produced by the first impressions of things. An inverted order of things
has come about: the sensuous world is relegated to the circumference,
and a spiritual world [p.99] dawns within the content of the soul. This