The Power of the Spirit

“The power of the spirit is invisible”, said Silver Birch. “It does not conform to any of the recognised standards of man. It has no length, it has no breadth, it has no height, it has no weight, it has no colour, it has no size, it has no taste, it has no smell. And so, by all the usual methods of calculation, it does not exist, according to those purblind materialists to whom reality can only be appreciated when it comes within the radius of their five poor scales. Love is unseen and unheard. Love is colourless, without taste or measurement, but love is real, as those who experience its deep emotions can testify. But great as is the power of love, so infinitely greater is the power of the spirit.

You live and move and breathe, you think and reflect, you decide and judge, you ponder and consider, because of the power of the spirit. You see and hear, you move and walk, you think and talk, because of the power of the spirit. All that you do, all that you are, is due to the power of the spirit, for your whole world of matter, and your body of matter, is dependent upon that vital, energising influx of spirit which gives it being, purpose, direction and life. Nowhere in the world of matter itself, is to be found the secret of consciousness. Nowhere through the labours of the scientist, or the chemist, or the physician, is to be discovered the motive power of life. It does not reside within matter, for matter is but its temporary dwelling.

The power of the spirit is the power that you call God, even though you do not understand what that term means, even though you have misinterpreted it and give it finite limitations. The power of the spirit is the power that breathed life into a world that was once all fire. The power of the spirit is the power that raised man up from the slime of the earth and endowed him with the qualities of divinity. The power of the spirit is the garment that the soul wears. The power of the spirit is the power which fashioned all life, which controls every motion and mutation of natural force, the power which regulates all the seasons and governs the growth of every seed, of every plant, of every flower, of every bush, of every tree, the power which is responsible for the whole scheme of evolution in all its intricate phases.”