And no one should be discouraged because he has failed to make steady and consistent progress in anything, whether physically, mentally, or spiritually. The path of human life usually lies in the canyons as well as upon the mountain peak and there are valleys of vision as well as mountains of vision as the Bible shows us. The man in the valley can see the stars even as the man on the mountain. This does not mean that we should be content with the narrower views of the valley; but it does show that even at the beginning of the course we have inspiration to endeavor for we have a star of vision from the very first step.

History and science concur in showing that progress, mental, physical and spiritual, comes through a process much like the rising of a tide. The waves roll in on the beach and recede, roll and recede; and the tide gains on the land almost imperceptibly. Yet each succeeding ambitious wave hurls itself forward a little farther than any that has gone before, and as hour follows hour the high point in the tide is finally reached. A study of botany reveals this process in the growth of plants. We are told that the plant shoots upwards for a way, then crouches down or draws back as though to conserve its strength. Afterward it repeats the process — ^and so it grows. Or take another illustration. On the battlefields the soldiers sometimes burst through the line and make great progress. Their ambition is to make a quick dash on the open fields and defeat the enemy; but this cannot be done. They must delay, one day, two days, a week. They must conserve