Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1849-03-30
The True WorSEein

"oIuS, nut III TACT. ANA what now Is In
real service of god? 1t is living SERVICE
It's such service as the spirit, the life tina
IS IN man, prompts him TO render. Thu
does all nature serve him; not with states
and formal ceremonies, not with loud bu
hollow accIamatlons of praise, but by il
ceasless, and harmonious, benefcient oper
tons. Thus earth. and air, and wind AM
fire, and water serve him by fulfilling hi
laws by their agencies exerted in accordanc,
with his will He does not require that tn,
stars should pause in orbits and raise shou
OF homage. They truly serve him by mo.
wing on steadily and silently in their cours,
es. Thus the earth worships God by be.
lug arrayed IN her beauty, and ladened with
her fruit, and wreathed with her flowers
Thus the bird building lis nest and nurtur.
ing It's young, worships God by the exer.
else OF all the powers of action and enjoy
ment with which it is endowed. In like
manner, man serves God by living as man
is made to live, by the exercise of his reas.
on, by obedience 10 the sense of right. by
cultIvatng his powers and applying them to
daily, hourly business of life. Whatever
is innocent, be II ever so joyous. is part OF
the Divine Service-the service that is rem
dered in spirit and in truth. The child.
| when 1t leaps and laughs in the exuberance
OF It's harmless mirth, is worshiping God in
spirit and in truth, in comparison with which
the gorgeous ceremonies of old cathedrals
may be ialsehood and death. The child is
true to the spirit Of It's nature, TO the truth of
nature. Not formal, not restricted in time
and place is such worship OF childhood
1t exults IN the enjoyment of the Infinite
Love, and so 1t serves God spiritually and
truly. | tell you. friends, we are worship
ing and serving God in spirit and in truth.
often times, had almost said always. when
we least think of Serving him. Often times
the Church,; when without thinking of God,
we are breathing his spirit, the spirit of no.
illness and love, just as we breathe The air of
heaven, unconscious of what we are doing,
wonder whether we shall ever attain to
the simplicity of the Religion of Jesus
Although he did not condemn the formal
service of the Synagogue, vet he nowhere
utters single word enioining the observance
OF the Sabbath or attendance on public wor.
ship. How indignant was he when the
blgoted ruler OF the Synagogue condemned
his performance of work of mercy on the
Sabbath day? And how explicitly has he
declared that the Sabbath was made for
man, and not man for the Sabbath. He
lid non forbid public worship. He attend
cd IT. And it was obvious that it may be
used as means of preparing and strength
enIng man for that daily unconscious acty-
lty which is the true spiritual worship of
the Father. As such, but only as such, as
a means Of qualifying men TO serve God
spiritually, this form ofservico has its worth.
But. obvious as all this is, we are still
very far from having this simple way OF
thinking wroughtinto the habit olourminds.
Even the most enlightened must have their
religion, their service of God, apart, thing
by itself. 1t must make a show. it is
Notwithstanding to see at times how much
is said and how little is done, and one is
tempted TO say, "In Gods name, Just do
your duty quietly and say no more Let
these hlgh-sounding rolessions-ths relg-
lous phraseology-let II go, once for all,
and forever, and just be virluous, and so
have an end Talk no more of liberty,
and justice, and charity, but be free and help
others to be free; be just, and see to it that
all have justice; be charitable, and let not
the cry of the needy and the wronged any
longer ascend to heaven" But, as if we
were resolved to make our inconsistency as
glaring as possible, and show how dead our
so-called divine services are, we will have
our holy days and places, and cry Lord,
Lord. all the more vociierously for the neg.
lect of every plain office of duty and hui
mainly. This is all wrong. We have
got to learn that God is served spiritually
aud trul ", by putting forth all our energies
in action in daily conduct, putting them
forth every hour, without noise, but with
simplicity, JUST as our limbs move and our
lungs heave, as if it were the most natural
thing in the world. An individual whose
whole time and attention was devoted to the
care of his bodily health. once boosted to a
countryman that his system was in high or
der. The c0untryman remarked that for
his part he had 10 system. He was in
perlectheaIth and OF course was unconsc Gus
of l. The same is true in matters of relig-
ion. Some men make great talk about
religion and the services of God, while he
oitenlimes is the truly religious man, the
true worshiPer of the Father. who hardly
knows that he has any religion, or who, at
least, as wise man once said, has no re-
ligion-to speak OF.
The simplicity of the religious life, the
true, spiritual service, could we only fully
apprehend that. 1t were worth coming to
church for, every day in the week. The
worship of the Father, as Christ has dcs.
crlbed it verbally and practicaIIy-it is as
simple as the blowing OF the wind, the
opening of the light, the singing of the birds,
the falling of the rain. That we may learn
this truth and grow in it, and have it grow
in US, we may well pray with our whole
hearts. five fully apprehend it, and deep
ly felt the paternaI goodness of Him whom
we would serve, if our hearts were touched
to the centre by the thought of the infinite
love which watches over every atom ofcre>
alton, we could hardly help serving God as
he is served when he is served spiritually
and truly. We should feel insiinctively
that there is nothing else TO be done but TO
fly as on the wings of the wind TO do what
ever we know in our hearts 10 be divine
will. We could not possibly content our
selves with cold, barren. formal express