Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-05-30
THE oNE.s1DED P1ETY OF TO-DAY.

IcESOudA E0nSlOus uOIu10Aly CuAtlNoo@
ed and developed, would be symmet-
rical and round, presenting in due pro-
portions elements of action and contem-
The "perfect man." in the
sense, would have a gaze at
once interpretive and circumspective,
engaged with his inward state and his
outward duties. He would be equally
concerned for the health of his soul and
the useful employment of his hands
his conscious communion with God
unbroken, and his helpful min
istry to man know no intermission of
and reluctance. He would be
devout and b%eneficent, "fervent in
and "diligent in business.
Even the ardors and raptures of o soul
fire with Divine love would prove
perfectly consistent with an earnest and
practical attention to the outward du-
ties of the daily round and common lot.
Beyond a peradventure, this is the style
of personal piety which constitutes the
ideal of the New Testament.
It is pitiful to observe how much
given we are to divorcing these active
and contemplative elements, and culti-
waiting one to the exclusion or neglect
of the other. A distorted spiritual de-
velopment and a crippled spiritual eff
cheney are the inevitable result. Diff
ferent centuries and generations have,
from the beginning, taken on this. or
that distinctive characteristic, and run
into absurd and hurtful extremes in
this or that direction. Now, and most
commonly it has been the contemplat-
i've disposition which has prevailed, and
we have seen its outcome of extrava-
gance in the useless austerities of the
Ascetics, in the dreams and rhapsodies
of the Mystics and Quietists, in the
struggles and self-denying ordinances
of the Puritans. In its more restrained
development this style Of piety is liable
to become morbid. Habitual %introver-
sion of the spiritual eye, with a lack of
robust exercise in the effort to bless 9TH
ers, almost invariably disorders the
soul and gives an unhealthy action to
the moral powers. Such sanity me-
as Bunyau, Edwards and Payson
showed in their experience the painful
effects of excessive converse with their
own hearts and consciences. When
Cecil said: Solitude is my chief ordi-
nance" he betrayed the secret of his
peril as well as of his safety and
strength. In a world so sad and earnest
as this the time given to solitude and
silence must not be large.
We are now in a state of decided re-
action against the prevailing piety of
two generations ago. Self~-inquisitions,
the Hastings, the humiliations, the days
Of retirement from the world and of
formal devotion, the inward wrestlings
with the powers of evil, which charac-
terized our fathers-all this has given
place to a much more cheerful mode of
serving God. Our religion, taking it's
type from the spirit of the age, has be-
come active, buoyant, enterprising.
The Christian, instead of questioning
himself and dwelling upon his personal
relation to God, questions everything
about him, and sets himself to reform
all abuses and put in order all the dis
turbed relations of his fellow-creatures,
Instead of allowing himself much .'anx-
ious thought whether he is the Lords
or no." he goes out in ceaseless and
practical efforts to relieve the suffering,
educate the ignorant, and give the
Bible to the world. His motto is "Do
good unto all men, and his Gospel is
emphatically the Gospel of ..work,"
And now again our religion has become
one-sided. If, indeed, we must choose
between extremes, we own that we pre-
fer the extreme of our time to that of the
days forever gone. But then is in an
extreme; not perhaps in asking us to
90 10 m~ch, but in allowing US to reflect
700 htle-not in causing us to be '
much concerned about our neighbours
spiritual affairs, but in encouraging us
to neglect our W soul-garden. The
representative preacher Of to-day piles
whip and goad to keep his congrega-
ton under a perpetual strain of doing
and giving. The cry is work, worE'
until earnest Christians, who feel that
they w some duties to their own
souls, have an uncomfortable suspicion
that there is no room for them in the
church.
Now it will be everlastinglv tr,e That
q mans first obligation in this world Is
70 work out his own sa%lvation;" and
IN doing this he must be allowed some
liberty OF choice as to the means which
ne finds most efectual. Granting that
work for others":; may be a good
means, perhaps the best, it is far from
being q sovereign prescription for the
cure Of souls, and applicable to all
cases. We venture to put in a humble
plea OF merciful consideration for the
large class of modest, quiet disciples
VINO honestly feel that they serve God
best, If not by standing and WAITING"
1t least by treading rather secluded
walks. Let them not virtually he rood
out OF the church by sharp criticisms
and by r%eproachful Comparisons With
their talkative and dogmatical brethren
=. saoulo not be forgotten that there
ale ulversltles OF characters and tenn.
"a wall oo ~ va.