The Inner Life

From the moment I rose to the moment I arrived at my destination, I kept praying, “Father, I thank Thee, that Thou hast found me worthy to serve Thee.” I went away at terrific speed. I was in such a hurry that I rushed through my rooms and out through the closed window in a horizontal position and straightened up as I left the city behind. I went so fast—and I was conscious every second—that the air felt like an icy rush of water against me; although I felt the cold, it did not affect me. Once something hit me, but the thought of being about My Father’s business kept me going. Then I felt the change in the atmosphere and I knew I was entering a warm climate. The speed kept up and I came to the top of a hill. Somehow I knew that if I turned my head I would see Jerusalem at the foot of the hill. But my Father needed me, and needed me quickly.

At the same speed I entered a beautiful garden, and in the midst of it a long, low but wide mansion, evidently that of a very rich man. I got a glimpse of gorgeous flowers, palms, blooming trees and shrubberies. I entered the house through an open glass door, went down a long wide corridor, looked through open doors into rooms with magnificent furnishings of both modern and oriental styles, and finally came to a sudden halt in a room at the end of the corridor.

In it there were eight or ten gilded cages with all sorts of oriental birds in them. There was a dim light, but I could see lovely things in the large long room and in the middle of the room at one end was a wide low couch covered with embroidered linen and pillows.

On the couch was a form stretched out, but covered up. A boy ten years old was perched near the form, his hands over his face, weeping bitterly. The face of the