the fruition of your labors, and with laudable ambition are about to chant hymns of victory for triumphs.
The doors that this animal element flings open are those of rivalry, jealousy, envy, revenge. It is the self-asserting mortal will-power that you must guard against But I find also another mental condition of yours that fills me with joy. I learned long ago that the world could neither deprive me of something nor give me anything, and I have now one ambition and one joy. But if one cherishes ambition unwisely, one will be chastened for it.
Admiral Coligny, in the time of the French Huguenots, was converted to Protestantism through a stray copy of the Scriptures that fell into his hands. He replied to his wife, who urged him to come out and confess his faith, “It is wise to count the cost of becoming a true Christian.” She answered him, “It is wiser to count the cost of not becoming a true Christian.” So, whatever we meet that is hard in the Christian warfare we must count as nothing, and must think instead, of our poverty and helplessness without this understanding, and count ourselves always as debtors to Christ, Truth.
Among the gifts of my students, this of yours is one of the most beautiful and the most costly, because you have signed your names. I felt the weight of this yesterday, but it came to me more clearly this morning when I realized what a responsibility you assume when subscribing to Christian Science. But, whatever may come to you, remember the words of Solomon, “Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not go unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.”
You will need, in future, practice more than theory.
