Living in Hope

be felt, say, in Arabia and central Asia as far afield as Southern America and the Arctic. Such is the order of nature. In this world just as ease always follows hardship, so fruitful results come only from arduous, painstaking processes. This is the way nature works, and from it we can see how we should live on earth. We should be prepared for a period of hard struggle before we can expect to reap the results we desire. This is a law established by the Maker of the universe, and it is only by complying with it that we can advance towards our goal in life. If we want to accomplish things in an easier way, we should have to create another world, one in which cooling clouds— for instance—are not preceded by scorching winds. There is no doubting the fact that failure in life usually results from the quest for immediate success. The word “short-cut” may be applicable to the world of roads and footpaths, but there are no short-cuts in the struggles of life. Take the instance of a young man in the town of Surat, in Gujarat, who entered a jeweller’s shop, stole a piece of jewellery, then tried to make a quick exit. His line of retreat to the staircase being cut off by the suspicious shopkeeper, he made a dash for the nearest window and crashed his way–as he thought–to freedom. But