The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-10-03

God had provided In this promising land
The enthusiasm with which the idea OF
building a temple was grasped, and the
perseverance with which it is is now being
carried out TO It's final triumph, reveal that
| longing and yearning in the heart. that
firm and never to be shaken loyalty in the
mind of Israel which waited patiently and
hopefully for the opportunity, time and
| increase of numbers alone could bring, to
erect an edifce for the worship of the God
of the fathers.
| Ii the attainment of any object. however
| trivial in interest or questionable in value,
has for its accompaniment the natural feel
| lngs of JOY and self-satisfaction in the hui
man breast. what must be the exultation
of those who, having left home and syna-
gogue to work out their fortunes amidst
natures rugged forces, now see amidst the
| very scenes of their early toll the standard
raised to the God, the faith and trust in
whom gave them the strength and self-con-
fidence to endure the hardships and strug-
giles young and unsettled country natural
~ brings with it. The young generation
born and raised in the lap of comfort and
even luxury, surrounded by all the ini1u-
ences of civilization, which our rapidly
growing city now offers, can hardly appre-
ciate, think, the emotions which must I'LL
your hearts. you men and women OF Hell
ena, who with the undying love for the
old faith, imbibed in early childhood. came
to veritab'e desert as far as ourreliglous life
was concerned. and who now see your fond
est dream realized, the laying of an indie
structible foundation for the life of our
Judaism. This first stone of Emanuel tenn
| pie is consecrated by years of hard toll,
of self-denial, of mutual help and encour-
agement, by a sweet spirit of harmony,
magnanimous sinking of individual opln-
ion in the higher and universal interests of
Israel. The temple which. with the help
of the Almighty, will soon be reality, will
pie, which to use phrase of the rabbis,
you were carrying about in your hearts
And you, my young friends, who knew of
your faith but through tradition, you,
whose only external badge of adherence to
it was the fact of your isolation from the
your healthy and vigorous sympathies with
our endeavors; you will find join in the
chorus of our Joyous congratulations and
you will soon be able to look with pride
upon the altar erected amidst the many, to
the service OF your God, and your eyes will
no longer be cast down in shame for the
widowhood of your mother Judaism.
But the JOY of young and old of congre-
CATION and preacher is frightened and made
more durable, by the consciousness that this
foundation stone is also cemented by the
feeling of common fraternal love between
MS and our fellowmen of different religious
convictions. For have they not responded
with an unparalleled spirit of iberality and
true generosity, to the appeal which we
were compelled to make for assistance in
our undertaking? And while the material
help, 1t is true, was indispensable. yet far
more precious and lasting in it's results is |
the sentiment displayed in the act Oh, |
let it be prophetic of that spirit of genuine
humanity and broad liberality of thought
in which the doctrines to be taught in this |
temple when completed, shall always be |
conceived and carried out.
But, friends, not alone Joy fills our hearts
at the achievement OF our undertaking.
The hour demands more serious and deeper
sentiment. If i'll the life of the world. made |
up of our daily occupations, when flushed
with success and carried away by the self
of what our own prowess can |
accomplish, we are apt to lose sight of the |
truth that God works i'll the universe, and
that we are but his instruments, standing |
on this ground hallowed by the altar erected
TO Him; this truth should be the keynote of
all our exercises. A monument devoted to
religion ought not to fail to call up in US |
that thought which is the mainspring of all |
religious emotions, namely the sinking and
triumphs, in God, the all-sustainer, the all
doer. "lf God does not build the house. il,
vain work the builders God builds the
house. He builds in the stones uuarried I
from the mountains; He builds through the |
laborer's muscle. the mechanics skill the
architects BRAIN, the artists eye. He was
building it through your thoughts and
wishes, and bred dreams of mercy through
the whole plan, the earnest endeavor. the
liberal response of all here. And standing
under his broad sky, surrounded by
these heaven-kissing peaks, natures
alters, we must think it |
in US to feel so much gratifi-
cation at rendering him such petty hom-
age. Rather must we feel keenly our weak
ness and intellectual limitation, that we do
not every mortal one raise our eyes to the
tome which overspans US, feel a thrill
through our whole system at the sublimity
Of the impression, and see to it that orr
life be hymn of alteration.
IT. says Emerson, ''the stars should
appear one night in thousand years, how
would men believe and adore, and preserve
Tor many generations, the remembrance of
he city of God. which had been shown.
. sut every night come ont these preachers
81 beauty, and light the universe with their
smile.s And in this remark
le both sounds the danger of the belief
hat mere buildings, and alters, and cere-
monies can be made a substitute for the
natural perception of beauty and divine
aw in the temple of Nature, which must
ever be kept alive in us, if we are to receive
he benefits of true religious emotion, and
1t the same time he notices the truth that.
10 matter how glorious the scene, and over
powerlng the effect, yet, when we grow &C.
customed to them, the native feeling of
alteration and holy awe becomes weakened
and finally entirely eradicated, unless
mans art comes to the assistance of nature
by embodyiug his feelings in lasting monu-
ments. '-4"
1t is the privilege of the human mind tn
engreft upon the raw and chaotic materials
OF nature, its own ideals, it's lofty asnira.
Ions, the longings of the human soul for
pertection, and thus construct new world
that of the ideal which shall speak to him
IN the language of the divine voice within
MN and lead him to see in the vast exnansa
about him. that mind. and wise purpose
and beauty which unaided and absorhed in
material interests. he 80 easily loses sipht
OF. Every picture speaks the feelings of
the painter, every statue the idea in the
sculptor's mind, and every good book is the
thought purified in the crucible of the
writer's heart, SO every church and syna.
gogue speak the truth which the soul re-
curing there to worship, has grasped as its
sun. and conceived as the condition of its
salvation. In vain would the builders bnild
if God did not build. If we are not to be-
come aware in thought of the object and
purpose of the construction the temple is
but mass of stone and wood, not the real
ization of a religious idea.
10 what idea are we giving BODY in this
building Is the question which occurs to ma.
and what the practical influence which We
Gan expect from its becoming a principle in
our lives. Especially in community
where the sense of the practical is SO keen
" whetted, as in ours, the latter question
Is very important one. 1t would not re-
Qulre much argument to convince ave..