A thoughtful silence fell upon the group. The evening shadows grew deeper outside. The firelight cast long crimson shafts of light into the corners, and flickered fitfully over the faces and forms before the grate.
"I have been learning a lesson too." It was Kate who broke the silence. Her voice was reverential. Her eyes were bright with an inner light. "I have been holding strongly to the name—the name of Jesus Christ—and realizing what it means, and it has helped me more than anything."
"What does it mean, Kate? That is something which is still a little tainted with the old superstitious worship of a personality," said Grace.
"Beware, Grace; that is criticism. Put it away until you know," warned Mrs. Hayden.
"Thank you. Tell me every time," returned Grace humbly.
"Indeed, this contemplation of the name takes one farther from personality or the recognition of mere person than anything else," Kate went on earnestly. "Jesus Christ means God or Truth manifest. Holding the words with that thought, all sense of person, limitation, or time, disappears. Wisdom and power come to fill your consciousness, until the Christ life seems not only a possibility but a real demonstration." Kate paused. Perhaps she had said too much!
But there was no mistaking the vibration of a sympathetic thought, even if the pressure of friendly hands had not reassured her.
"It is wonderful how many ways there are of attaining the same end," mused Grace. "Now I can gain the same state of mind Kate speaks of, by holding to the idea of Law. To me everything is embodied in that, although of course, any great word understood as to its real meaning is an all-inclusive term. But we cannot always live in an ecstasy."
"We should not if we could," said Mrs. Hayden. "We must get beyond that if we ever attain the mental poise that will carry us through everything."
"But I am so weak," murmured Kate. "How shall I ever—"