"Nothing with God is accidental." We recently read that accidents in this country alone claim the lives of 4,000,000 people a year. According to this report automobile accidents account for the greatest number of fatalities; then come deaths due to accidents in homes. It is not the statistics, however, that amaze us. It is the fact that mature people, well educated and intelligent, should believe in accidents. For the general idea seems to be that all those who do not die in bed of old age are victims of accidents. Such a phenomenon as an accident has never happened, and can never happen because the universe is governed by laws that are immutable. Its equilibrium is more delicately balanced and more accurately adjusted than a chronometer and regulated by the Master Hand. If accidents were possible, the most trivial, imaginable and unpredicted one which interfered with the established order of things would result in universal chaos and destruction. But ah! What a difference when the moral law is encountered! There is no such thing as spiritual bankruptcy; this, the moral law exacts payment in full for all debts whether contracted on earth or elsewhere. All obligations must be fulfilled, all debts paid, all liabilities discharged before the soul can progress and have any happiness or peace. It is because natural laws are intrinsically and organically perfect that astronomers can predict the position of suns and planets many years hence. They know that there never has been, and never will be any intervention in the operation of these laws. They dismiss all ideas of chance or accident and rely solely on the fixed and constant operation of law; thus they can make unerring calculations. Students of natural laws have observed that nature never excuses any particle of matter or spirit from obedience to her laws. They know that every cause is followed by its invariable effect, which is first registered in the mental world, later materializing Who cannot recall the accidental meetings with strangers which turned the tide of destiny? Who does not remember the peculiar times and places they have met people who were instrumental in altering their course? In this way some met their life partner; others met those who promoted their material success; or brought them into a different understanding of Truth. Such meetings appear accidental, but they are in complete accordance with law. For whenever one life touches another, it is always for a definite purpose, a part of the universal plan. "Chaos, complete and utter chaos has engulfed the world," lament the apostles of gloom. Chaos is impossible in a world of universal law and order, and what man calls chaos is but harmony misunderstood. Many believe that war is discord, but it is no more discord than the clashing cymbals in an orchestra which are as much a part of the score as the violins and the wood-winds. Life is governed by immutable law and order even in war; it has a purpose Many individuals wail and whine that they never had a "break." They say that lack of education, opportunity or influence prevented them from getting ahead. Yet nearly always their only real lack has been that of character. With the same materials different individuals construct totally different destinies. It is no "accident" that handicaps often are a spur to achievement and success rather than deterrents. History and literature afford innumerable illustrations of those who triumphed over seemingly insurmountable obstacles. Life is not a calamity to be endured, but a challenge to be met. Some allege that the existence of immutable laws eliminates all exercise of free will. They argue that men are helpless pawns in the clutch of cosmic forces and are controlled by invisible laws that compel them to act contrary to their will. God's laws always work with men, and never against them. Without these laws men would have no volition at all. Men are free without being free from these beneficent laws. Life is no puppet show. Life is an eternal drama enacted by immortal actors who are free not only to choose their roles, but also free to interpret them. In our eternal career we are scheduled to appear in many parts.ACCIDENTS
—LONGFELLOW.
