fighting against these obstacles of matter, life realizes its own supremacy and dignity. But all these obstacles come to animals with the accompaniment of the sensation of pain.
But with human beings there is another source of suffering still deeper. We also have to seek our livelihood and hold out against all the enmities of nature and man. But that is not all.—The wonder of it is that man, being born in the same world as the animals, and having the same vital questions to deal with, still has something else for which he struggles and cares, though it is not quite definitely realized. It comes to us in glimpses, and when we are in wealth, wallowing in prosperity, or luxury or ease,—when we are surrounded by all the things of the world,—still men feel that these things are not sufficient, and there rings out the prayer, not to the natural forces of the earth,—such as air, fire,—but to some being whom man has not fully realized or known. The prayer rings out: "Save me"—"O do not smite me with death."
We do not mean physical death, because we all know that we must die, and so the prayer to our Father is not for our physical immortality. Man has felt in himself instinctively that this life is not final,—that he must strive for the higher life.
