The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-03-17
CHRISTIAN GRATITUDE.

from him is to strive to bless others,
or to share the good with those who are
nearest us, or within reach of our min.
STEERING hand. If we have been blessed
with worldly competency, it is that we
may help the needy and suffering of
our brothers and sisters; and it is an
unaccepted return, an insult offered to
him whose disciples we profess to be,
when our thankfulness takes only the
form of words; or whenit does not send
us out to feed the hungry and clothe
the naked, or in some substantial way
to share with the poor and unfortunate
the temporal abundance that has been
bestowed upon US. Substantially the
same may be said in regard to any bless
ing, or any Glass of blessings. Said
Christ to Peter, "When thou art con-
verted, strengthen thy brethren" which
was as much as to say, Show your CRATE
full appreciation of what has been done
for you, of the new light that has been
shed upon your soul, of the casting out
of the demon of partialism from your
heart, by converting others, and bring
ing them into the liberty and joy of
the Gospel. These other words of
Christ have the same meaning: Feed
my lambs''-'Feed my sheep" That
is, let your love for me be shown, not
by what you now say, but by caring
for the flock as have cared for it-by
standing in my place the minister of
Gods truth and loving kindness to
those who are ignorant and in lost
ways.
Very like this is what Christ is say
ing to every disciple to-day. If. any
new light comes to him, any fresh rev.
elation of the divine love, any brighter
vision of heavenly things, any enlarge
ment Of faith, or deeper joy, or sweeter
comfort, he is to go home to his friends
and tell them what the Lord has done
for him; and to tell them, not in words
only, but in a practical way, showing
them how glad and grateful he is in
his earnest endeavors to possess them
of the blessedness that has come to his
own soul. His hunger having been fed,
he should at once set about feeding the
hunger of others with the same bread
that has satisfied him, and with that
which has comforted his heart in any
affection, and made him strong for the
endurance of any cross, he should seek
to comfort and strengthen sorrowful
and fainting hearts around him. By
no means is he to attempt to fly some
shadOwy realm, or seek to live in some
unreal world; nor is he to look away
off for sphere of labor, in which he
may testify his gratitude for the great
good that has come to him.
What, let me ask my readers, is the
debt of gratitude we owe, and what
the current coin in which it can be
paid ? 1t is our claim that we possess a
better religious faith than the older
communions around us-that our in
depreciation of Christianity is more
rational, and richer in love, joy and
consolation than any other. And it is
something in favor of the claim we
make, that it is sustained by every
prayer that ascends from a Christian
heart, and all Christians hope that the
great doctrine which our Interpretation
makes the gospel to teach may be true.
But we do more than merely claim
that our Interpretation of Christianity
far surpasses every other, not only in
breadth and liberality, but in the clear
and beautiful light it sheds upon the
character and ways of God, and in its
opening heaven to our sight as the ulti-
mate home of ALIVE go further, and
say that the teachings Of our faith not
only commend themselves to our rea-
son and best feelings of our hearts, but
we have tested their goodness in our
experience, and can testify with no
falter in our speech that they have SOL
aced dark hours, and have been pillow
of rest for the weary heart, and an an
Choir of the soul in stormy troubles, and
have soothed and consoled us when we
have bent over the coffins and graves
of our dead. And what is this but
affirming that in the possession and en-
joyment of this faith, so full of holy
and uplifting power, we are blest above
all who possess it not; that we have a
fountain of strength and comfort not
opened to them, and bread to eat they
know not of?
Now, to say in words that Universal
lism is true, and beautiful and good,
that we love it, that we are grateful for
the knowledge of it and for the com
fort it has brought to our souls, is all
very well-it claims from US this testi-
mony. At the same time a stronger
and more emphatic expression of our
appreciation of this good thing, and of
our thankfulness. for it is demanded of
us. We are to go home to our friends,
to our families, to our parishes, to the
communities in which we live-go
through the State and through the land
and make grateful return for the
great thing the Lord has done for us,
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