it carried on?"

Though the differences in human lives are countless, there are certain
great likenesses. All have life, needs, possibilities; they all grow and
develop in the same general way. From these common likenesses have been
formulated a few principles which are as helpful to a child gardener as
a knowledge of the laws of plant life to one who nurtures roses and
carnations. Their understanding is not dependent upon physical
parenthood. God will interpret the meaning to any one whom He calls into
fellowship with Himself in the matchless work of soul culture.

I. The First Principle deals with the nature of life--What is it? Some
answer must be given in order to arrive at an aim, a method, and an
inspiration for work. If a child is only a beautiful figure upon which
to display dainty garments, the mother has a plain pathway marked out
for her. If a boy is a capacity to be filled, or a machine to grind out
facts or dollars, the teacher's course of action is clear.

God's conception of life is surely greater than these, yet He never
gave a definition. Jesus said it is more than meat, that it is worth
more than all the world, that it does not consist in abundance of
things, that it is eternal, but He nowhere tells us what it is, for He
can not. It is a part of God. He can only make us understand it in any
wise by giving its characteristics and values. Perhaps these may come to
us more clearly through considering first what life is not.

1. Life is not merely "plastic clay" to be moulded, or a "block of
marble" to be hewn according to the will of the sculptor.

This poetic conception emphasizes rightly the tremendous power of