Be Perfectly Natural and Perfectly Relaxed

It has been my observation that all great praying people are simple, relaxed people. Mrs. Thomas A. Edison once said to me, “Mr. Edison’s methods are just like yours. He is always perfectly natural and always perfectly relaxed. He feels that all of his discoveries have ‘come through him,’ that he is but a channel for forces greater than himself.” Always natural, and always relaxed! I do not like to see people work too hard at their prayers. Beware lest the zeal of thy house shall eat thee up. When one strains and labors over his dream he is too often carving ivory and not polishing horn. Don’t cut too deeply, don’t carve too hard, don’t paint the picture too much yourself. Get still awhile, and let God paint it through you. Wrote Gutzon Borglum, “When I carve a statue, it is very simple. I merely cut away the pieces that don’t belong there and the statue itself presently comes into view. It was there all the time.”

–Glenn Clark, I Will Lift Up Mine Eyes