Chapter 2. Held Out His Morsel

p. 94

CHAPTER 2

HELD OUT HIS MORSEL

And it came to pass that Athlyi sat in the sanctuary of the House of Athlyi with his left hand under his chin and the morsel in his right hand, apparently he was present in person but in the spirit he was not.

His mind went afar and entered the characteristic of the human tie. Suddenly he stretched forth his morsel and uttered saying, "Sons of Athlyi, arise! Lift your heads and take heed. Let the sublimity of my words reign in your hearts and in the hearts of your offsprings forever.

"Verily, Verily, I say unto you, poverty is of the devil but it is better that ye choose to be poor than to live in the richness of the richest with a woman whose heart is contrary to thine.

"The deeds of a contrary couple are destructive and their destiny is Hell everlasting.

I plead a divorce, my beloved, because I leadeth thee south but thou goeth north. I point east but thy desire is west. Depart therefore that ye find a man who seeth and goeth in thy own direction that it be well with thee; for a tug-o-war in the mind of horror to the soul. Moreover the p. 95 treasury of the richest is not sufficient to supply the consumption of the contrary spirit.

"For a man no height is two high to achieve in me. No obstacle is too great for him to remove when conscious that this woman is with him indeed. Blessed is the household where the couple can map out the future with patience, peace and understanding, but a quarrelsome woman is a road to hell. Let so be said even of the man."

And Athlyi reached out the morsel again and said, "Hear ye, O daughters of Athlyi! Verily I say unto you, the hopes and salvation of a woman is in the man, whose trust is in the Lord, our God, in me.

"But he that is not in me is far from God and has nothing of consequence for a brag.

"For I am the rock, the spring and power grounded in God. Dwell in me, with love and righteousness in faith, patience, cleanness and constructiveness. My spirit in thee shall never die.

"Verily I say unto all nations, the Athlyians are not too proud to sacrifice whatever is necessary to obtain justice and to establish peace on earth, for when righteousness is lacking there is no tranquility.

"Our motto is peace. Our standard is Right. Our hopes are salvation."