“Within my earthly temple there’s a crowd;
There’s one of us that’s humble, one that’s proud.
There’s one that loves his neighbor as himself
And one that cares for naught but fame and pelf.
There’s one that’s broken-hearted for his sins
And one that unrepentant sits and grins.
From much corroding care I should be free
If once I could determine which is me.”
In seeking to determine which of this motley crowd is really you, one thing should be clear, your real self is what you are in your highest moments. Do not accept as yourself the one who cares for fame and pelf, but the one who loves his neighbor as himself; not the unrepentant one, but the one who is broken-hearted for his sins. Life really is what it looks to us to be when we are on the heights, not when we are in the valley. When belief in our own possibilities is greatest, that is the time when our vision is truest; for the first step in realizing those possibilities is to believe in them. The vision of our best selves, of our highest possibilities, which we had on the heights, must be carried down into the valleys, there to furnish us inspiration and impetus.
“But tasks in hours of insight willed