Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1889-09-05
The Sacredness of Man.

OF all sacred things there is nothing so
sacred as man. All others are made for
him; he is not made for them. He Is the
end; they are the means. There are many
sacred things In the world. There are
holy places, holy times, holy books, holy
ceremonies. and holy Offices. These are
all appointed for mans use, to develop his
nature and TO feed his soul He Is not
sent into the world for their sake; they
are sent into the world for his sake.
II is man who makes all other things
sacred. church Is not holy place, but
only brick and mortar, till men have wor-
shipped in 1t. Bible, fresh from the
printer, is not so holy book as one which
has been worn by prayerful study, and has
passed successfully through the hands of
parents and children which has been read
In the chamber of sickness, and by the bed
OF death which has been taught by par
ents To children; and has sanctified In the
household the opening and closing of the
day. The sacredness of the Lords day
comes from the sacred human memories
and associations which hang around it;
from the memory of the Son of man ris-
ing from the tomb; from the generations
who have enjoyed and blessed Its divine re-
pose and from the millions who assemble
to their various crceds, unite In the
worship of the common Parent of Us all.
There Is no phase of human existence 10
which we may not see some trace of holi-
ness The infant In It's cradle sleeps sur
rounded by sanctity; so that when It
smiles, angels are talking with II. The
most helpless creature existing, we see In
1t q future history which surrounds IL with
wonder. There - something sacred in the
young man entering life, unstaned as yet
with vice. unsoilcd with the dust OF the
worlds crowded highway. There Is some
thing sacred in the young girl, full Of pure
hopes and inspiring thoughts; making
sunshine In her h1a.c. and wherever she
goes, refining and purifying the thoughts
Of others
And there is something holy, also.ey In
the sinner something holy in that dark ex-
perience whcTc conscience struggles unsuc-
ccssfuly With passion or selAsh will Con
science though cast down, is not destroy
cd, but continues sin in the soul as an un-
dying rcmorsc For man cannot escape
from hi- own sacredn,SS there Is a won
der and mystery which he cannot tame
down by the most hardened wOrldiness.
Let man make himself a little and as
mean A. b" Will. he j. still looked upon by
uII>l with tUHnitt compression. hUu ny
God With fsthcrly love
Mans birth is sacred for 1t is the com
ing Of a new soul % the probation Of time
and the recompcnse Of eternity And
what awe and mysterious saCredness gath
CT round the deathbed the pale motionless
body and the neighborhnod of a human
grave
OF all the holy things therefore which
God has made, the most holy is man him
self. He Is the temple of God, for the
spirit Of God dwells in him. And, wher-
ever human being stands there stands
something hoier and greater than the
Temple at Jerusalem. God has made him
in his own image with power of insight,
capacity Of affection, energy of action.
The mysterious depths and heights OF
mans nature We do not yet half under
stand. His mysterious experience in this
world has meanings and objects of which,
a. yet, we have hardly an idea His mys-
terious destiny in the other worid-the
depths of being which he shall sound, the
heights of knowledge which he shall
cltmb-eternty alone can reveal -Rer. J.
Freeman Clarke.