There, on the other side, is my solitary soul

"For what is a man profited, if he shall gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?" Mt. 16:26 Here is my scale of profit and loss. I have a soul to be saved or lost. What then shall I give in exchange for my soul? What am I profited if I gain the whole world and lose my soul? This deep conviction of a soul to be saved or lost lies at the root of all our religion. Here, on one side, is the WORLD and all . . . its profits its pleasures, its charms, its smiles, its winning ways, its comforts, its luxuries, its honors, to gain which is the grand struggle of human life. There, on the other side, is my solitary SOUL, to live after death, forever and ever, when the world and all its pleasures and profits will sink under the wrath of the Almighty. And this dear soul of mine, my very self, my only self, my all, must be lost or saved.