Endowments

[CONTENTS] The external and internal endowments of human nature give us clearly to understand that the highest object of their creation is the love and worship of God.

True happiness which is generally admitted to be the goal of life, is not attainable throught the diverse persuits which men follow, but only throught the Divine Being. Not all the felicities of this world can afford relief from the gnawing grief which attend a man's last moments upon this earth. The greatest king, the wisest philosopher, the highest official or the richest merchant does not posses contentment of mind, and departs from this world a prey to poignent regret. His heart upbraids him for his absorption in worldly cares and his conscience judges him guilty of the employment of unfair means to attain success in his worldly affairs.

Let us consider the question in another light. In the case of the lower animals, we see that their faculties are so made as to render them unable to serve a purpose higher than a particular one and they cannot go beyond a certain limit. This leads us to the conclusion that the highest limit which the faculties of a particular animal can reach is also the highest aim of his creation.

A bullock for instance, may be used to furrow the land or draw water or for loading, but with its present faculties it can serve no higher purpose. This is, therefore, also the aim of its existence.

Judging man in the same manner, we find that, of all the faculties which nature has bestowed upon him, the highest is that which awakens him to a search for God and encourages him to noble aspiration of losing his own self in the love of the Beneficent and completely submitting himself to His will. In the requirements of his physical nature, the lower animals are on a level with him. In art, some animals display more skill than human beings. The bee producec honey from the juice of many flowers with such exquisite skill that man has failed to achieve any thing like it. The perfection of man, therefore does not consist in these matters but in someting else. It consists in the excellence of his spirituality, in his union with God. The true object of his life in this world is that the window of his heart should be opened towards the Creator.

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