26 SKETCHES OF GREAT TRUTHS

suffering, if the law of rebirth is not to be
believed.

It is unthinkable that God should hold in his
hands two baskets, one full of prizes to give to
one whom He would favour, by giving him a
castle to live in, with every luxury, every care,
love surrounding him and every opportunity to
make him wise, lovable and true, and in the
other hand another basket with nothing
but poverty, starvation, to deal out, a slum to
live in, no beauty, no chance in life, ill-health,
possibly worse; and yet that that same God
should demand the same result from these two,
is, as I have said, unthinkable—one never seeing
evil, the other in the midst of crime.

Again another question comes up : " What
becomes of the spirit of the new-born babe
which only lives for a few hours ? Has it by that
short life had its experience ? " If the spirit is
specially created for that short-lived body, what
a waste of energy it seems to be to have created
it. Why is one cut off after a few days, one in
the prime of youth, and yet another allowed
to live long after remembrance and all facul-
ties have ceased to function ? I spent much
time, patience and energy in asking for
an explanation to these questions and the
Church only replied, " It is God's will; " and in