St. Paul daily globe., 1888-02-06


back, and was the victim of showers of
stones hurled from cruel hands. AT
war with Roman, Greek and Jew, he
was out of joint with his times. Lack
ing the natural temper of saint, he
was also given the superb courage that
bade him fling down his gauntlet in the
presence of the nations. EnclOuded by
hate, confronted with obstacles, beset,
by dangers, with the gloom of possibleI
failure about him, out against the dark!
Sky of despair Paul flung the banner of!
wide reaching hope, while he exclaims:I
"All things work together fort
good to them that love God.''I
If we can learn this mans secret SHALL
we not find some help in the problem of
life? For are not the conditions of life
essentially the same despite the flow of
centuries, and do not the human heart
and brain find themselves tested by the
same grim questions? To the Christian
man the world is illuminated BECAUSE
God is in it. To his eye, despite all ap-l
parent .discords, there is everlasting
harmony, because one wiser than he is.
sits at the helm. There is an abidingi
melody into which love translates every
diScord of the world of pain. He may
has faith in His. wisdom. He may not
always apprehend. His presence, but he!
feels
SURE THAT HE Is HERE:
and no longer, therefore, does he need
to s'lean to his own understanding" or
choose out way for himself. Rever-
emily he waits, saying: Speak, Lord,
for thy servant heareth."
The Christian believes not alone in
God; he believes alsOin man. For him,
neither himself nor his brother can ever
be anything but great. His spiritual
nature makes him not alone superior to
all outward conditions, but he questions
with himself whether he does not out.
life become small to his eyes. The prizes
of life lose their glitter. The defeats of
life are of small account. He himself is
the chosen heritage of his God, and if
ever his faith fails him he reads the
glowing, supernatural history of God
incarnate in human form, and he ac-
cepts the tremendous emphasis which
God himself has placed upon man in
that incarnation. Pain itself conceals a
sweet mystery, for has not the Christ
suffered. Tears bring with them di-
vine cOmpanionship, for were not His
eyes dimmed with SORROWS? ExaltatiOn
through suffering becomes to him the
grand and final philosophy of all pain.
nolOonCl, Ito UclicfeS III llle DIS lue
arena for God and man. Life may look
small, but small and mean it cannot be,
because it holds in it the possibility of
character and the helps to its develop
ment. With strange devices does God
toll on this earth, but He still works.
10 Him life is not thing
to be rid of, far less is it something to
be despiSed. This life of Joy and sor-
row, hope and fear, of toll and rest,
love and pain is divine process through
which man is called from nothing up to
Sainthood. This world is the birth place
of souls. The true science of life and
force, of all empires of mind and matter,
is found in the evolution of character as
the end of history and the aim of God.
He comes to see, therefore, how it is
that all things work together for good to
him who is fitted to the divine plan. He
who lends himself to aspirations for
goodness gives himself up to God. He
who is in the hands of God is forever
safe. All weakness and WEAKNESS,
ALL LACK AND PAIN,
all hunger of mind or body or heart, are
but phases in the process through which
God is leading him to likeness of Him
self. To become the true son of such a
Father, an heir of all the ages, is worth
anything that it may cost. He believes
finally that there is no explanation like
the philosophy Of love. God loves him,
therefore this is the best world for him.
and if it is, perhaps God could not have
made better. God loves him, there
fore his life is the largest, richest and
most fruitful for the bringing forth of
noble character. All things are but
ministrants to his spiritual life, whether
sickness or health. riches or poverty,
friends or enemies, ease or toll, all
things work together for good. There
are no binding tears, no bitter pangS, no
broken households, no open graves, but
come laden with blessings from the
great God. -