206
est happiness, our surest salvation. The whole universe, as one organic and articulated system, joins with us, as we thus humble ourselves in spirit before Him, the Supreme Spirit. Not there, not here, not then, not now, but everywhere and always, truly this universe is a sacred shrine where the Lord's worshippers and adorers offer united and unbroken worship unto Him, the only Lord. Shall we not rejoice with all the ecstatic bliss of the heart and the soul that, while in no way fenced off from the rest of the world, we are yet in the sacred presence of our God, in the sweet embrace of our beloved Parent? Let us be filled, let us be through and through thrilled and pulsated, with the felt presence of our own dear God. How the heart yearns and longs for Him! Oh, the terrific recollection of separation—how it harrows us as it recalls the pang, the torture, that we suffer when we are separated from Him! But as this blessed opportunity is mercifully granted, shall we not, in complete self-forgetfulness, in utter self-abnegation,
