THE ROLE OF PRAYER: Page 129

gry stomach, a parched throat and a feverish brain? Why should you so persistently talk evil behind the scenes of the very man whom you just now flattered face to face ? Why should you consider the whole world selfish and feel yourself bound to blacken your soul through selfishness and deception? Take your mirror in hand and now just study your face. You are already on the hunt for that which will help you to gratify these cravings that the face portrays and that something is money. You are already a worshipper of the Golden Calf. You are praying to Plutus-the god of gold. This is pecuniomania. This thirst for gold to gratify the demands of your animal soul is a madness that dulls the eyes, stupifies the senses, coarsens the features and dwarfs the intellects of the young and the middle-aged as well as the old; women as well as men. Well may such as these feel utterly taken aback when there comes among them a man who, although young, opens his lips only to utter words of wisdom; opens his eyes only to look the living embodiment of perfect chastity and good will; seems utterly innocent of self-seeking, self-glorification, self-righteousness and self-importance. Did you ever see a man whose earnest enthusiasm and noble aims, shine in his eyes, dwell in the ring of his voice, seem to have entered his hands and feet and compel his entire being? These are true devotees of the Supreme Intelligence. Such alone can pray. Prayer is the sincere lifting of the soul to the source of All-power. Prayer is the burn-