LI, The second step is that of te prayer.
The Psalmist writes: unto the voice of my cry. voice shalt Thou hear in the morning. In the morning will direct my prayer unto The and will look up." We have already said that the depger of more meditation is that of living in an unreal world, ina world of thought alone; in, a never ending chain of thoughts which lead only to here thoughts, Meditation is never self, It should lead to if else. Its great need. is expression. And so if in the course of the night a new melody floats into the mind of the musician, his frst, act in the morning should be to com Pose it, to play it, to write it down. Or if in the mind of the artist new work, is conceived, he should) take the earliest opportunity of} transferring the conception to. canvas... Or if to the preacher the ideas fo, dwell bs int verse, coat mie
ora: And! between today Sve voled shale. Thou Hearn the Sold ttt hon beaten nell the, tay Hours i, the number and with the preceding psalm: It was the periods of consciousness be-toon retiring and rising, when the noises of life were stilled, when the control of the will was relaxed, when thoughts come unbidden and unhindered. The flow of memories 8 through the mind at such be compared to the siie~ cession of pictures on a cinema film except that they appear to have no logical connection the one with the other. Those of you who are familiar with modern psychology are aware of the great importance that is now attached to those Arowsy periods between sleeping and waking. These are the tim when you get some idea of what usually hidden in the deeper levels of the mind and when you can place fu that mysterious region ideas that will goon working without eohscious attention. They are also the times when one's view of life is _bften distorted—when things are Seen out of proportion, when ficulties, assume amazing dimensions. Yet, if we know how to use them, those seasons can be most fruitfully employed. eminently the time for m for letting the mind play pleasantly Around some healthy thought—held the centre of consciousness. too rigidly by the exercise of a strong will, but easily and hap Tt is-a time when works of art are conceived, when melodies are con posed, when the finest hymns are suggested and when the best mons form themselves. The saints Of every age have recognized the value of those moments.
But such seasons of relaxed thinking, like all good things, are not without their dangers. The! thoughts that are then encouraged may be evil as well as good, vile fas well as pure. And not only so, there is the danger of living too much in an unreal world, in a world Of phantasy.
There are some who create for themselves such a_vorld and they escape into it away from the grim realities of life. They become absent minded. They 32 es" all the gains of meditate! their ti wool-gathering. eae take. then can his ming retain its balance? How! can his feelings be relieved? How} fen. the tention be relaxed'? eve is the answer. "In the morning wilh will look up." That was the right. thing to do. It was not only the Poet scard Gar Socee a cee Pazehotogy, but he del in harmony with, latest discoveries of For. the is to repress them. That way lies madness. The only safe thing with them is to have them out, give them vent. Now it is in the nature of all ideas to seck expression And so the man whose! fears have surrounded him at night should bestir himself in the morning. He should mobilize his forces. He should look around for allies. But in the case of our Psalmist his foes are so menacing that it is obvious that they are not only too terrible for him to deal with atone, it is useless even to look around. He thinks of a more excellent way—he will look up. Hig fears shall not find expression, but that expre shall be in prayer. "In the morni will I direct my prayer unto The
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.