The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1888-02-25
Special Contributors.
in THE DARK.
BY REV. A. G. BARRY, D. D.
lodi, Wis.,

lodi, Wis.,
There are great many, with Bibles
in their hands, to whom this mortal
sphere looks dark, a scene of widest
confusion, where life is an enigma, and
time tempestous sea on which we
voyage toward an unknown shore. In
no inspired moment have they seen
heaven opened, and Christian faith has
flashed no light upon the mystery that
hangs over the grave. To them these
intuitions which assert the reality of
an immortal life are based on shadows,
and deal only with shadows; and these
outreachings of the soul for invisible
good, for reunion with the loved and
lost, for new births and growths in per-
petual succession, are mOckeries and
cheats, giving no intimation, no assur-
ance, of a spiritual world in which all
of heart craving shall be satisfied, and
the full meaning of life and life's disci-
plln6 Do clearly reVedleu.
1t is to be admitted that there are
many things now hard to be understood,
and that even when the inner vision
IS clearest we "see through a glass
darkly.n There are mysteries every
where-to whatever extent they may
be explored, their curtained realm still
stretches out beyond. Life has its mys-
teries-they perplex and often bewilder
US. Why are we in a world like this,
conditioned as we are, our years so few,
is an old question repeated every day.
And we need scarcely wonder that, un-
der the loads of WEAKNESS they carry,
cropping amid mysteries they cannot
solve, their path lying oftenest where
dark shadows fall, they should cry out
with the prophet, " 1t is better for me
to die than to live - or with the psalm
ist, {" Oh, that 1 had wings like dove,
for then would l fly away and be at
rest ~
There are many who say that the ways
of Providence are not equal, or that
there is no kind and watchful provi-
dence, but that fate rules the world and
controls the destinies of men; and in
proof they point to the fact that the
hand of sorrOwful visitation is seen to
smite some hearts while it leaves others
untouched; that individuals and fami-
lies are crushed down by burdens never
lifted, sometimes growing heavier,
through long and weary years, while to
others they are unknown that there
are those who walk always under a
cloud, whose lives by the very circum-
stances which surround them are made
hard and bitter, while others, no better
than they, no more deserving in human
estimation, are walking amid sunshine
with scarcely a shadow upon their path.
Wealth that has no stores to hold its
fullness is but span from poverty that
has no inheritance but the grave. Lux
ury that sickens with its pomp, is with
in sight of destitution which grows
pale with famine. The merry peals of
enraptured laughter stir the same at
mosphere which sObs with the COM
plainings of the poor, which is thick
with the tears of the wretched."
There are quite good Christians who,
at the sight and hearing of these broad
contrasts and inequalities in lot and
condition, let go their hold upon the
hand of God, and murmuring and COM
plant take the place of calm and pa
tient waiting on divine providence.
Perhaps Of only a few can it be said in
truth, that they have an undoubting
faith that this life of ours, with all its
sorrows, interests, needs, and eternal
years, is in the hands of a being who
notes, in his watchful guardianship,
the sparrow's fall, and never for mo-
ment suspends his affectiOnate regard.
We all believe in the control and guar
dianship of GOd-we must believe in
them-and yet, often, there is only a
dim perception of their fullnegs Of
meaning. E pecially in times of indi-
Vidual or public calamity, of sad and
soITOwful bereavement, of weary hours
of sickness and pain, of desolate mo-
ments, do we feel uncertain of cher
ished convictions, and our faith may be
is in darkest eclipse.
If, as we believe, God has truly re-
vealed himself in him who said, - He
that hath seen me hath seen the Faith
err" if, as an apostle has declared, love
the soul of the divine attributes, the