The voice of the guardian angel

All men are mediums; all have a Spirit who directs them toward the good, when they know how to listen to it. It matters little that some communicate with it directly through a particular mediumship, and that others hear it only through the voice of the heart and of the intelligence; it will be no less their familiar Spirit who counsels them. Call it Spirit, reason, intelligence: it is always a voice that answers your soul and dictates good words to you; only you do not always understand them. Not all know how to act according to the counsels of that reason — not the reason that crawls instead of marching, that reason which loses itself amid material and gross interests, but the reason that raises man above himself, that transports him into unknown regions; sacred flame that inspires the artist and the poet, divine thought that uplifts the philosopher, impulse that sweeps along individuals and peoples, reason that the common crowd cannot understand, but that brings man closer to the divinity than any other creature; understanding that knows how to lead him from the known to the unknown, causing him to execute the most sublime acts. Hearken, then, to that inner voice, that good genius that speaks to you without cease, and you will progressively come to hear your guardian angel, who from the height of heaven extends his hands to you. Channing. n [1]

[v. William Ellery Channing.]