The children of a
great captain, themselves to be soldiers, must endure hardness like
good soldiers. And man is to fight his way to a throne.
But his powers are still in their infancy and the goal far above
him. What he is to become you and I can hardly appreciate. First of
all, the body will become finer, fitted for nobler ends. It will not
be allowed to degenerate. It may become less fitted for the rough
work, which can be done by machinery; it will be all the better for
higher uses. It is to be transformed, transfigured. The eye may not
see so far, it will be better fitted for perceiving all the beauties
of art and nature. It will become a better means of expressing
personality, as our personality becomes more "fit to be seen." It is
continually gaining a speech of its own. And will not the ear become
more delicate, a better instrument for responding to the finest
harmonies, and better gateway to our highest feelings? We may not
have so many molar teeth for chewing food, but may not our mouths
become ever finer instruments for speech and song? In other words,
the body is to be transfigured by the mind and become its worthy
servant and representative.
As we learn to live for something better than food and clothes, and
cease to pamper the body, it will become better and healthier.
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