thing life can give.




XVIII

THE GLORY OF THE CLIMAX


So many miss it. It is more than duty but the path that leads to the
glory of it often begins with the plain, insistent, _ought_ of duty. It
is more than obedience, though without obedience none ever find it. How
many girls there are who are disappointed, dissatisfied, suffering
perhaps in body and soul because they never learned to obey! It is a
great thing to be able to hear "you ought" and then at whatever cost to
_obey_ it. But the climax is not found in these things great as they
are.

Faithful servants of a religion whose law is duty one finds among girls
and honors them. Good and faithful servants of a religion whose law is
obedience there are among girls. But neither of these have found the
glory of the climax. The climax is Love. The supreme command of the
Founder of true religion is--Thou shalt Love.

The religion of love is a girl's religion and she can never be
satisfied with any other. If those who have tried to teach her religion
have failed to show her this, then they have succeeded in giving her
only a set of laws to be obeyed or a list of things she should not do.
Love gives to Thou Shalt and Thou Shalt Not _power_ without which they