**The Unknown Meaning.** The man has learned that in an infinite universe, admitting of endless development, things may not be fully known. The very essence of things must forever be the goal, towards which intelligence strives. Nevertheless, man also knows that to approach by slow degrees, but steadily, the full knowledge which gives unmeasured power over natural forces, is the way of progress. So he is content to let each day speak one new word of the unknown meaning of the universe.
The universe is one. All things in it are parts of one whole. The dominating spirit of the vastness of space and of its contents is the dominating spirit of the least part of that which constitutes the whole. It matters not then, to what a man give himself. In everything and anything may the riddle of the universe be read, if the search be continued long enough. Modest in his possessions, yet courageous in his hope of ultimate conquest, he stands before the things of his life, small or great, knowing of a surety that in them lie the truths that overwhelm the universe.
"Flower in the crannied wall,
I pluck you out of the crannies,
I hold you here, root and all, in my hand,
Little flower—but if I could understand
What you are, root and all, and all in all,
I should know what God and man is."
Knowing all this, and the outline of his origin and destiny, man must be forever engaged in extending the philosophy, in accordance with which he orders and guides his life.
**The Earth-Law.** On earth the man dwells today. Great are the conceptions revealed to him concerning the constitution, progress and destiny of the universe. Marvelous to his understanding is the knowledge of his full and vital place in the scheme of things. Yet, encompassed by earth conditions, he strives to assemble all this vast, divine and wondrous knowledge, and out of it to draw some simple formula, in the language of man, that may be applied in the affairs of earth, and which shall be a simple guide to him in all that he may do.
Such a formula was sought and found by the first man, and has been used by the righteous of all ages. In the meridian of time, when Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, came upon earth to fulfil the central thought in the plan of salvation, he stated the formula in words that never have been surpassed. Thus runs the formula, and thus is worded the law of the earth: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind. Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hangeth the law and the prophets."
This, in short, is man's duty while he dwells in the flesh. His God, his fellowman and himself—the three concerns of his life. We say it is the earth-law, but like all other things of the earth, it stands for huge spiritual meanings, and is therefore an eternal law for all times and for all places.
**To Love God.** What does it mean, to love God with one's heart and soul and mind? Certainly, a love of the heart and the soul and the mind can not be given to a Being who is not known nor understood. Such love is more than a blind obedience. In such a love there must be a rational understanding of God's nature and of his place in the universe and of his relation to men. There must be in such a fulness of love an acceptance of God's superior knowledge, of his intelligent Plan for man and of his supreme and final authority. Such a love can not well be forgotten or survive, unless God is part of a universe, the orderly outlines of which can be fathomed by the human mind, That such knowledge may be possessed by man, and that a real unfeigned love for God may be developed, has been taught in the preceding pages. Neither can God be fully loved unless he is obeyed; and the first command is simple, "Multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it."
**To Love a Neighbor as Oneself.** To love oneself—that is easy. Instinctively, from the first day, we have reached out for our own greater good. Every personal philosophy makes the man the center. To love our neighbor equally well—"that's the rub." His will is not our will; his ways, not our ways. Yet, only by the progress of all, can each gain the greatest advancement. The fundamental conceptions of a universe filled with eternal matter and forces, and a host of individual intelligent beings, make it clear that only by complete harmony of all intelligent beings can the interests of each be served, in the work of subjugating, by intelligent conquest, the forces of universal nature.
To love one's neighbor, then, a man must first know fully his own origin and destiny and possible powers; then he may soon learn the need of loving his fellowman, if his love for himself shall grow great. This commandment is not inferior to the first.