“Surely thou art more than a Hebrew, for thy religion is noble! Deeply hast thou persuaded me!”
“Think no more of thyself as a man who is in subjection to evil; for it hath been truly written, that ‘as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.’ The thought of one concerning himself fills and shapes his inner life. Feel thyself to be a son of God, and such a conscious[pg 290]ness will renew and purify thy soul. Behold, the world knoweth not this law! The old self with its deeds will drop away, while the new man will be formed within, and his outward works will answer to the inner thought-ideal. Thus the visible expression will be the index of the pattern that is held in the heart!”
“I marvel at such a doctrine, and yet feel its truth. Hath any man yet filled to the full the divine measure of which thou hast spoken?”
“Yea, there hath been a Man of Nazareth, of Judea, born a Hebrew, who recognized the perfect human divinity. He is the Ideal, not only for his own nation, but for all the world, whether Greek, Roman, Jew, barbarian, or Scythian! He knew the inmost oneness of God and man, because he knew himself as he was.”
“Where is he now? How I would like to see him!”
“Because he was so large in his love, he was hated and crucified by his own people,—my people,—and passed into the unseen.”
In answer to many more questions, Serenus then gave Vivian a brief account of Jesus, the Christ, his mission, and the quality of his life. The twain, amid the hissing of the elements and the groaning of the pumps, stood in the thick darkness, with their arms affectionately around each other in brotherly communion.
“Thou hast touched me deeply,” said Vivian. “I love thy spirit, and rejoice that we have met! I thank thee that thou hast brought me a knowledge of the Ideal,—the Nazarene; so noble, so large, and so beyond race and outward condition! He will fill an uninterpreted longing of my whole life. I shall think of him even [pg 291]during our peril. Behold thou hast made me feel that there is something in us, of which the tempest, at its worst, cannot rob us. Would that I could have seen the Ideal!”
“Thou mayst do even more, for thou canst feel his spirit within thee!”
“I have it, and it shall possess me!”