'
"Remember, God is the Soul. Each of you has a soul, a spark of the
Divinity.
"I can best support my argument by a story--a true one.
"I once knew a young man whom we will call Richard. He had a well-to-
do father and was sent to college. When he graduated, his father, a
pious man, wished him to study for the ministry. He objected, saying
his health was poor. He wished to go into the mountains, he lived in
the West, and his father consented.
"He drifted into a mining camp and whatever regard he may have had
for religion, soon disappeared. He was not a fool, but, in his heart,
he said there was no God.
"With another young man, whom we will call Thomas, he formed a
partnership, and they went prospecting for gold,--gold that the God
whom they would not acknowledge had placed in the earth.
"They were attacked by Indians and Thomas was killed. Richard was
obliged to flee for his life. His food was soon exhausted, he had no
water, he had no God to whom he could pray for help.
"He came to a hole in the ground, near a foothill. He got upon his
knees and looked down--yes, there was water--not much, but enough for
his needs--but it was beyond his reach. He leaned over the edge to
gaze upon the life-giving fluid that God has given us, and his hat
fell into the well. In his hat was his gold-dust--his fortune--so
useless to him then.
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