"Speak to Him then, for He heareth,
and spirit with spirit may meet.
Closer is He than breathing,
And nearer than hands and feet."




XVI

A PLEA AND A PROMISE


The Plea is for a purer, more invigorating atmosphere for our girls to
breathe--the Promise, that when it is given to them they will respond,
their religious, as well as physical and mental life will be normal and
the vitality in it will express itself in action.

Inspiration is a part of a girl's religion and inspiration means
"inhaling--taking into the life that which creates high and lofty
emotions."

Memory takes me back to school days when with windows wide open,
shoulders squared and heads erect, the teacher's command bade us inhale
and we filled our lungs to the full with fresh, life-giving air. Then
came the command to exhale, and we emptied our lungs, that there might
be room for more of the clear invigorating air. In life's larger school
our girls of today are inhaling what? Is it the fresh, untainted,
life-giving air?