I just reread "Higher Laws" in Walden. What a wonderful chapter and how beautifully Thoreau uses the English language. He deals first with the thought that man has two natures, a higher and a lower. He discusses hunting in this regard, but we'll skip over that part to
"the true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning or evening. It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched."
He ends the chapter with the story of John Farmer who sat at his door one September evening. He heard a flute and 'the sound harmonized with his mood.' Henry describes a moment in which the sound of the flute triggers an inner voice in John,
"Why do you stay here and live this mean moiling life, when a glorious existence is possible for you?" said the voice.
He ends the chapter with John Farmer's thought and it seems to me that this is the thought of all who yearn:
"All that he could think of was to practise some new austerity, to let his mind descend into his body and redeem it, and treat himself with ever increasing respect."
What a glorious sentence! Higher laws is well worth a reread, I think. We talk so much about how we see the spirit, the higher law, or whatever one wants to call it, but what Henry is saying, is something I learned in 1st grade Sunday School. "Open up your heart and let the sun shine in." Is it really that simple?
