Let us take a look again into the house on the mountain.

Yesterday, they did not go out for a walk. They had too much to talk about in common, telling of their days spent apart. They went to bed early; but next morning he got up early and said he wanted to sing with the birds. He took his morning walk through the pines and the song of the birds again greeted him. He began to sing with them; and the birds seemed to remember for the more he sang the more they sang and what a morning that was for him as he fed them for their song. When he sat, he could not help but express himself: "Creation is beautiful, and it seems to be getting more beautiful as time goes on."

Yes, because his eyes are being opened more and more; his understanding is getting more advanced; his hearing is getting more keen for the Voice is with him always and everything he sees shows itself in beautiful mental pictures. As each picture comes forth, he seems to see its beauty more and see the principle of Creation in them that tells of the Circle of Life in everything that is upon the Earth.

As he sits and looks upon the trees once more, he wonders if the mystery of the tree can be revealed; and as he is wondering the tree seems to talk to him using that same small Silent Voice and it seems to whisper, "There is no mystery to me, listen, and I will tell you all. First, we came from a seed which had fallen from another tree of the same family. This seed fell upon the ground then was carried away by wind or rain until it found a place where it could bury itself or was buried by the moving soil. When left in peace, I began to decay. I had, within this shell of the Earth which was now going back to the Earth, a small speck called Life; and life in anything cannot be destroyed for it is the Creator's gift to all things that live - so when the decaying process was going on around me, I came forth to live once more. This time, a family tree, and not just one of the family. The season has lots to do with my life for life needs light and rain and warmth to encourage me to come forth and face the elements. Spring-time comes and I take courage and the process begins to make me into a family tree.

Since I am of nature and nature abhors a vacuum the sun becomes hotter and more powerful as it advances towards the summer time and as it draws my moisture from my mother, the Earth, she draws so hard that it pulls out the moisture at the top of every branch of me.

I go after that vacuum and try to fill it up so, really, it is vacuum that makes me grow - just as surely as it takes vacuum to cause movement in everything. I go on and upward. I also spread out wherever I find a vacuum. The summer comes and I spread myself with leaves to shade myself from the rays of the sun and also to catch the drops of rain and drink them in so my thirst will be quenched. Thus I live. The summer is here and I am at full maturity for this one season; and my mission then is to show how beautiful I can become that the Creator's Supreme Creation, the Humanity, can see my beauty. The sun seems to be trying to get away from me again and I notice, as the days pass on, instead of the warmth of the sun I feel the cold winds of the autumn; and soon I begin to know that my time is short in this life. Since I am of Creation and know the Truth of Creation, I know when we have lived this life we will live again next year; so to show we have no regret at the 'passing on' we change the color of our leaves so when the people look upon us as we are near the 'passing on' they seem to say that we are more beautiful in death than we were in life.

Do you know why? - I will let my leaves speak for themselves, and they speak thus: 'yes, in the spring, we came forth in the bud but as the spring rains fell we drank of it and the heat of the sun gave us encouragement to advance and as we did we formed into a beautiful leaf to fulfill our mission. The wind blew us, the rain poured upon us, the sun beat upon us, sometimes great storms tried to pull us from our duty; but we held on until we felt the sun's warmth was leaving us the cold winds blew upon us and our mother, the Earth, began to draw from us the life we had - our mission was coming to a close. It is then we change our color with a smile for we know we will soon have our liberty and freedom and as we shake ourselves loose, we will feel that feeling of falling, falling until we lay upon our mother, the Earth, once more. She will draw us within herself and take the life part of us into her keeping for she knows the winter is at hand and she wants us to hide from the storms until the spring comes once more. She will then send the life part of us up to her branches, yes, to the very top to show our life once more. Yes, the same life but not the same leaf - the leaf of last year went back from whence it came. It was of the Earth and back to the Earth it must go; but the life goes on forever.

So you see we live in a Circle just as does all other life - no matter whether it be man, beast or vegetation, the life goes on and on returning, yes, ever returning until the end of time.' "

"The tree knows so much, why does not man know this also?"

As he asks that question within himself, the Silent Voice answers him thus: "After all things of Creation has told you its story and there is no other Creation to speak that speaks truth, only then will the Voice of Wisdom reveal life, death and life after what we call death - and the truth shall be spoken unto thee for the Voice of Wisdom speaketh truth only. As you are now in touch with the Voice of Creation, listen, for many things that seemed deep and mysterious will open up for you and will see there is no mystery. No, not even in the Earth anywhere nor in the Heavens. The storehouse of the Earth will show you how everything man needs on the Earth was put there by Evolution and time to fulfill the Creator's Creation. What a wonderful creation!"

Then he, the boy, burst forth in a thankful prayer:

"THANKS, oh, thou Great Creator. Thou who didst create the Universe. I thank thee for thy wonderful Creation.

I thank thee for bringing man forth; and giving him dominion over the Earth which is part of thy Creation.

I thank thee for the free will thou gavest man.

I thank thee for putting good and evil upon the Earth that man might of his own free will be good or evil.

I thank thee that thou meant man when thou said 'man'; and not sheep as man appears in the eyes of men of the truth.

I thank thee for putting greatness and smallness upon the Earth so man may choose whether he shall be great or small, of his own free will.

I thank thee for filling the storehouse for man; and if this is not evenly distributed, it is not thy will, as thou gave the free will to man so man makes the unequality - not thee.

I thank thee for giving man a mind without limit as far as the knowledge of this Earth goes and the things his eyes can see. For thou gavest man a 'Path of Wisdom' to follow if he wants to and a promise that if he seeks wisdom all things shall be revealed unto him.

I thank thee that thou put love and hate, sorrow and gladness, sickness and health, advancement and failure, trust and mistrust, sunshine and rain, moonlight and darkness; I thank thee for all the things thou put in thy Creation that man may have the will of himself to choose the right or wrong, the lesser or the greater.

I thank thee that thou art great and good; and I know if I am punished this punishment is inflicted by myself and not thou.

Since you gave me the gift of manhood or free will, I will do all I can to fulfill thy trust and will find the 'Path of Wisdom' and will advance and advance until I have reached the goal thou Great Creator put there for man. I know thou wouldst not put a goal beyond the limit of thy Supreme Creation MAN.

Since thou made me man, I should not have to ask for help.

Since thou made me man, if I fail, I should not say "It was you or the environment in which I am placed." I should be true to thee and myself and say, "Thou made me man, since I failed to be a man, it is my fault - not thine - not anyone elses - but mine alone."

Would I as a man want to lay my burdens, my miseries, my shortcomings, my mistakes, my troubles and trials upon someone else; would I want to have someone else fight my battles for me? No, not me. Thou made me man and man I will be. Yes, even unto the point of despair. I will not ask for help. Rather than ask or solicit help even from my Great Creator or the Ideal which He gave to us to look up to by the Path of Wisdom; if I fail to keep my eyes upon Him and fall by my own neglect - then it is I - not Him - nor you - but me.

I want to be great in Wisdom not Position."

Just as he starts his Modern Prayer, his friend comes up behind him with pencil and pad in her hand. As he speaks the prayer aloud, not knowing that anyone is near, she takes it down in shorthand. As he finishes she marvels at such a prayer from so young a boy; then she lets him know she is near.

He turns toward her and says "Such a morning, first, with the birds with their song; then the tree tells me its story." He goes on and relates to her all the story of the tree and how the Voice answered his question and what a promise it had in store for him when he becomes big enough to hear and understand. She takes everything down he talks of and he brings in thought after thought and each one more beautiful than the other. He seems to be filled to overflowing; and she notices he talks of his Creator and uses the Word Creation and couples it with all Truth and tells her he will soon have the secrets of the entire Earth laid bare to him. He will write it for the benefit of the people. He tells her the Soul-mind of man is limitless for he sees mountain after mountain of Wisdom and as he grows older he will know more and more of life and life after death. He tells her he can see no death - only the portion that belongs to the Earth. "Let the Earth have its own," he declares, "when it gets too old or weak to sustain the Soul-mind." He sees if the tree dies then lives again why should not the great Creator's Supreme Creation live even as the tree or the Rose in the Garden. "Do they not make it easy to understand? I am beginning to see it in its Truth and I am sure the Path of Wisdom will lead me to this Light of Truth."

As he talks, she keeps on writing and soon he has told her many things that she never had heard or read before. She had come to tell him lunch was ready; but that had gone from her memory. As she took her watch out, she saw it was five o'clock. He had been talking five hours; and the food he had been receiving and giving to her had taken the place of the food for natural causes.

She smiles as she says to him, "I came to call you to lunch at twelve, now it is five so we will have to eat two meals in one."

"I do not care if I do not eat for days, if I can be fed by the Silent Voice of Wisdom. I do not want to live to eat, I want to eat to live. How I want to live! Life never meant so much to me as it does at this moment. How wonderful! How great! How inspiring! Why can we not have words big enough to express ourselves?"

"Would you want to be able to express your feelings?"

He stood and looked at her, then said, "No, I am satisfied to feel the way I do. It is beyond words. All I can say is 'What a Creation!' "

As they go home to supper, he speaks not a word; and she being a person of common sense does not speak to him.

They eat their supper in silence. After supper, he takes his violin down for the first time since he came back and played. Yes, played as he never had played before. He seemed to be telling the story in song of the tree, of the wonderful things he had seen, of the wonderful things he felt even to the prayer and the swelling up in emotion. Such music! It seemed to come from the Soul for only the Soul could play as he played tonight.

As his friend looked upon, she too, felt as he felt. Her soul went out to him. When he finished, she put her arms around him and said "You beautiful Soul. I wonder who you are and who you were in other lives. You must have lived before, yes, many times for no one of your age could accomplish so much in the few years I have known you. You talk as no man ever talked. You show emotion such as man never showed before. You play your violin such as man never played before. Yes, you are different. I wonder what your mission can be. What a life! What a life you have given me! How will I ever repay you?"

He smiled upon her and said, "Do you want to repay me?"

She said, "Yes."

"Then listen to me because you 'want to,' and I will be well repaid for without you my talk would be only to the trees and the birds. You are the only person in the world who understands me. So you see you are really necessary in my life." He stands a while; and as he does he seems to be looking back into the past. He looks at her and says, "Yes, I know you now, even as I knew you then. You are the same to me as you were then only in a different position. You were not any nearer or dearer then than you are now."

She asked what he meant. He smiled and said "In my last life, you were my mother - both in flesh and Soul-mind; but you were taken from me and I promised I would find you again."

So this is why I love him so and him so young. Now I am proud of my love for him and not ashamed as I thought I should be. It is not the love I thought it was, it is more wonderful, more beautiful. It is real true soul-mind love from mother to son. Then she puts her arms around him and gives him a kiss of love.

He accepted it and returned it even as she had given it. What a revelation!

He retires for the night so he might get up early to sing again his song with the birds; but she sits and wonders and tries to look into the past as he had done. The vision would not come, so she got her writing and prepares his conversation of the afternoon for a publishing company. With it she sends a letter and says "This book must be published - no matter what they think of it. It would not be necessary to have it corrected - just print it as it is written."

In a few days she gets an answer and a contract to sign and another to fill in to promise to give them all the writings of the author. They were more than satisfied and would deem it a favor if they could secure the privilege of all publication of such an author; but why did not the author want his name put to it? The work was of the highest standard they had ever had. Would she state the price of the contract; but try not to make it too high for the first two books. They would have it published in every country possible for it is food for the world.

In a few days she hands him a letter and in it was a check. When he looked at it he turned to her and said, "What is the meaning of this?"

She said, "Read the letter, then you will see you are going to be a busy boy for a while."

"Yes, but this check. Is this all mine?"

She smiles and says, "Yes, that is all yours. The first fruit of your labor."

"May I endorse it and send it to my father? Poor fellow, he is, I know, disappointed in his son since I left him. Maybe this will help him over his disappointment."

"Yes, but do you not think you should send him half and keep the other half for yourself? We can, if we 'want to', travel; and you know, as you travel, the more you will see and the more of Creation will have a chance to talk to you. Do you not think that a good suggestion? One-half will keep your mother and dad until you receive your next check. You see every month you will have checks coming in; and in time there will be a great deal more than that one."

"I do not understand what I have said or done to receive money like this."

"No, you cannot; but I can, and every conversation we have from now on means money without limit."

"So my life is worthwhile after all - both from a material standpoint and the standpoint of Truth and Wisdom. Since I just have to listen and repeat to you what I hear, it seems the money should go to He who tells me these things."

She smiles once more upon him and says, "Well, some day, you will meet him in person; then you can give it to him."

He asks what she means.

She tells him he will meet many who are poor and many who are in need of help. Maybe many crippled children and many other cases who will need his help and if he helps those people he is giving the money to the persons who talks to him through the Silent Voice for they are the Creator's suffering children.

"Then will you help me find them as you found the means for me?"

"It will be both a pleasure and a dream fulfilled, if I have that privilege. You know you have not seen much of the world and the masses; but soon you will see and whatever the Silent Voice tells you to do - do - and whatever it tells you to say - say - without fear. You will not only give money to the few, but you will give Wisdom to the many. The world needs Wisdom today more than ever it did. There - I have lectured you for once - how do you like it?"

"Oh, it sounds reasonable."

"We will go to the city today and have a bank to take care of your financial interest as we will be traveling soon. All money can be sent to your bank and put to your credit then we will not have to worry. We will then travel."

"Am I going to see the sea and the deserts of the West and the orange groves?"

"Yes, you are going to see everything you should - everything interesting or worthwhile in this wonderful country of ours. We will then travel to other countries and as you travel and see the things that have been mysteries since the time of man, you will reveal those mysteries so the people shall know our Creator put no mysteries here - they are man-made mysteries; and you are the man to solve those mysteries. What a Light you are going to be! How proud your parents are going to be of you! Do you know your mother saw all this in you when you were just a little bundle of mystery. It was she who understood and saved you from being another cog in the wheel of this industrious world. What a mother! But, what a son! What a Soul-mind son!"

"Yes, but what about my Soul-mind mother?"

"Yes, and I thank the Creator for the trust he put in me. I will never betray his trust. It seems when we get started to talk, we forget everything else. We must cease to talk and get ready for our trip to the city. You get ready, and I will soon be ready."

As they were descending down the mountain, it seemed to fill him with a new thought. He asked her this question "Since a mountain is a symbol of Wisdom, and when you are upon it you can see the clearness of Light and I have really never lived down the level with the masses, will it be possible for my vision to be limited as theirs? I feel sort of afraid. Will I have enough air to breathe? Will I be left alone with my thoughts, as I have been here? Will I be able to sit and feel my smallness in the Universe; and yet be filled with that same thing that seems to grip you and hold you in its influence until you feel tears streaming down your cheeks and realize how wonderful life is and how beautiful the world is? Will I be able to retain the power to talk of Wisdom, no matter where I am or how many people may be there? Will I be able to hear that quiet Silent Voice which means all to me - that has made me what I am today? Are you sure, I will be able to have the things I have been used to above the clamour and noises of the world? Are you sure the people I am going to meet will welcome and not be afraid of me? You say I am different from the others. If I am, will the world accept me and my writing? I feel just a little afraid. I will be lonesome when I have to mix with the people.

I seem to have such wonderful company, when I am alone. I am anxious to travel; yet, Oh, well, I must be big enough to meet anyone - no matter how big or how small. I will be equal to the situation."

"I am pleased to hear you say that; but remember, I will be with you, no matter where you go or who you may meet. I am your housekeeper, your stenographer, your business manager and that puts me with you at all times."

"I am surely glad."

"Well, here we are in the city. First, we will find a bank. I want you to do your own business. I will go with you but you must conduct your own affairs. Before you go; I want to tell you what to do as this is a new experience for you. You should put all this in checking so you can pay your bills in check. You can fill in one and send it to your parents. Won't they get a surprise? Then hold so much cash. Give instructions for the bank to endorse all checks made payable to you and have them added to your account. After a certain amount in your checking, have the surplus put into a private account."

"I will follow your instructions to the letter."

They enter a bank and go to the new account clerk. He hands him the check and says, "I want to open a checking account with your bank."

"Yes, Sir. How much of this do you want to put in checking?"

"All but so and so."

The clerk says, "Do you not think it would be better to divide this into two accounts? Say so much in checking and so much in private account?"

She waits for him to reply, to see just how he would receive this suggestion.

When, without looking at her, he says to the clerk, "I thought, I told you what I wanted."

"Well you did; but I thought."

"It is not what you think, it is what I want; so you just do as I tell you."

"Yes, Sir. Yes, Sir."

He does not give anymore advice but follows his instructions.

She had to touch his hand to let him know he had not failed her.

He gave his final instructions then they left.

How proud she was of him!

They went shopping and he bought what he wanted - still living in the life I want or I don't want, I know or I don't know. What a molding of a Master-mind that would not be told by anyone what he wanted!

They arrive home again and start to prepare for their journey ahead.

First, they will go to his home and live with his people for a week.

In every step of life he shows, unconsciously, in his natural way, his greatness.