The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1886-09-18

receive full reward" John 81
Economy is one of the lessons of
nature. In every natural law is writ
ten the prohibition of waste. Nature
makes the most of all her store. De
stroy one form of life and the material
is gathered into similar or other forms.
The flower which you crush in your
hand, or whose leaves you scatter,
seems to be destroyed. But nature is
on the lookout. Gathering up the frag-
ments and running them through her
loom, she weaves another web, if not
Of the old design, then new one. The
dover may bloom unseen, but it cannot
"waste its fragrance on the desert air."
The sunbeams that flooded the earth
before there was any man to be warmed
and frightened by them, were yet not
lost. They were stored up in vast coal
fields to run the machinery and warm
and brighten the homes of the future.
In the world Of humanity, on its
lower plane, we find very general and
diiigent practice of this virtue. Econ
omy is q chief factor in our material
civilization. Machinery is constructed
to avoid waste. Indeed, economy is
the inspiration of all invention. The
purpose is to save strength and time.
visited an immense saw mill the other
day, and 1 could but be impressed by
the economy everywhere. Only the
very poorest Of the timber was finally
cast out as refuse and this was sold
for fuel. The slabs were cut into laths.
Even the saw dust was made to feed
the great engine that runs the MILL
/ am told that great corporations look
well to all the avenues of expenditure.
Business men make oversight of the
expenses a chief concern. Most per-
sons give more or less attention to econ
omy in their worldly affairs. An i'm
portant question is, how to save. A
wise economy marks the we'll ordered
home. Wise parents teach their chill
dren to save.
But is this lesson as universally and
persistently cultivated upon the spirit
ual as the material plane of life ? Are
people usually as economical Of their
life as their goods? Do they put forth
as much effort to save in the realm of
happiness as in that of property? Is
the question as often asked, how can
store up happiness, as how can save
money! OF course, economy in the
material may be economy in the spirit
ual, because the material may contrib
ute DO the spiritual. Worldly goods
may bring happiness. But they may
also fail to bring happiness. They may
even substract from happiness. They
may be considered so exclusively as to
bring the life into the narrowest chan
nsi. They may be sought and used in
such a spirit as to wither the heart.
They may breed fretful disposition,
because they have been allowed to
bring an undue measure of anxiety and
care. In such case economy in the
material, is prodigality in the spiritual.
Perhaps it would not be difficult to find
illustrations Of the Saviour's precept,
Whosoever will save his life shall lose
it." There are those who save in one
realm to waste In another and a higher.
Now, everything in this world may be
made to contribute to mans best life.
Every material thing has its equivalent
in happiness. The hills that look
down upon us in majesty and grandeur,
the sky that bends in serene tranquility
above us, hold some measure of happi-
ness. The landscape that stretches in
beauty about us, if the soul be but open
to receive it, will impress beautiful
picture upon it. Every dollar may be
made to purchase certain measure Of
everlasting good. Every earthly good
may be made to sustain the soul and
feed the highest thought and life. The
church of the middle ages thought that
the bread and wine of the sacrament
were actually transformed into the
body and blood of Jesus. Gross as was
this belief, 1t suggests truth. There
is sense in which bread, and every
earthly possession may be transformed
Into the Divine spirit and life. 1t is
said that Sidney Smith called a good
dinner the perfection of civilization"
Sidney Smith did not mean a dinner
that merely satisfies the appetite and
nourishes the body. A finely prepared
dinner may do this and nothing more.
And however finely prepared, if it do
this and nothing more, instead of being
called the perfection Of civilization, it
ought to be called the perfection of an
imalism. 1t may contribute to the |
sweet communion Of hearts and fellow
ship with the highest thoughts. Thus
the material may be transformed into |
the spiritual. as the unattractive oil |
may be transformed into brightness or |
the rude stalk crowned with flower. !
And when the earthly bread is thus
transformed into the heavenly, econ |
omy in the material becomes economy
in the spiritual. All such economy
should have this end in view.