The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1891-01-12

- - ~. cine Is the origin OF that fam
GUS remark of the philosopher. that vo,,
VIII doubtless recall, who said that r. Co..
MS cnoice truth were presented in one
nand and the search for truth in the other
ne should choose the hand conta;nino the
search for truth. To the world IL is of
course Important that truth should be dis
covered, but the search for truth the occu-
patton with high and noble thougbts
forms character, and after all it is men of
character that the world most needs we
cannot all be philosophers. exnlorers in
ventors or scientists. We cannot add to
me worio some great truth that will clear
s sbs n .h OF ignorance and let the sun
snlne through. but we can add to the
world character. The world needs learned
men, but u also needs good men. and if we
cannot ADD to the nrst we can to the last
ana the surest way is to keep the mind
awakened TO what is noblest in life. in art.
IN literature and in the thought of men.
some ennobling idea will lift the life out
OF the dead level of ordinary thought and
.eeling and carry it for moment to the
iresn ar OF some mountain peak. whence
IL VIII return with new inspiration for the
duties OF our common lot. That the life of
the Dody may not be sufficient for Us let
US nave NE OF the mind--a life in which
We can go apart b., ourselves and live with
our thoughts, find company in their sug-
Sestlon and inspiration in their presence.
But L should do wrong il 4 should
leave you here and let YOU infer thar 7
thlnk any life of the mind, no matter how
noble, Is sufficient for all the experience of
human life. 1t is characteristic of the
mind that il is not sufficient unto itself
II cannot rest in its knowledge. because
its knowledge IS never complete. There
are conditions of the world, experiences in
me- that the mind, no matter how much
IL may know, can never reach There is a
realm ia when 1t cannot enter and whose
secrets try IN.
Is the region that religion claims for itself:
the region OF which Paul heard the words.
NY grace is sufficient for thee No human
theory or knowledge could explain TO Paul
why there should have been given him a
thorn IN the nesh and why it did not de-
part from him when he brought the Lord
thence. But the answer came to his whole
relglous nature, not explaining the attic
ton IN exact words, but saying in COM
fortlng reassurance: Ny grace is sufii-
Gent for thee: 1t is the win of thy God.
BRING your whole soul to trust in Him and
you Will ask and will need no other explain
alton. Thus 1t is that Gods grace alone
IS sufficient Tor many of the deepest expe-
rlences OF life, experiences that set us
wondering why We have been so afflicted
or why we have been so blessed. MY
grace Is sufficient for thee The hear,
can rest in that, and while the mind
searches the heavens, the land and the
sea for some knowledge which shall lay
GOD s secrets bare, the soul has already
gained that knowledge in the words. NV
grace is sufficient for thee
Men always, though sometimes but DIM
ly, have felt the power of this spiritual
view of life; they have known that men
cannot live by bread alone, and that by
searching none can ind God. The result
mas been two extremes, with all the vary
ing degrees between them. These ex-
tremes are an infallible church and abso-
lutte rationalism. The demand for an in
faiilble church, for a comprehensive and
tnai statement of all that it is possible for
man to know about God is a natural one but
It is ademand that can never be satisfied.
No church, whatsoever be its creed or its
name, can satisfy the religious nature of
man other than by teaching him to trust,
not in the church, its ministers or it's
creed, but in the ever-present God. There
is no depository of absolute knowledge in
the world; that belongs to God alone, and
to know that He exists and to trust in His
INFINITE goodness is the highest of all relig-
ious teaching.
'sThe opposite extreme of an infallible
church is that form of rationalism that
never displays the white nag of surrender,
but maintains as its authority the mind
and nothing but the mind 1t cares for
nothing, it believes in nothing that the
mind cannot fathom. 1t ignores in its
philosophy, if it cannot in its life, those
being The trust and mutual help between
fellow-men, the love that consecrates our
homes, the eye mostened by the tear of
pity, the honorable indignation at wicked
ness and sin-rationalism has no explana-
ton for these, because they are beyond the
knowledge of the mind. They cannot be
weighed aid counted, or explained by the
methods of logic, and yet they exist. Nay,
so powerful sometimes is their presence
that everything else is swept before them,
and for the time their sway is supreme
Extreme rationaiism-ifi il is to maintain
that the mind is sufficient for life and
nothing more is needed-is obliged to ig-
more large part of human experience. or
say that IL is mere deception or imagina-
ton. But the majority of men are unwill-
ing to be told that those sentiments which
they have always believed to be sacred,
and which they know have greatly emo
bled their lives, have no value beyond an
imaginary one, and are no suggestions Of
q higher and greater power than them
selves. What is it worth TO be lifted
on the wings of a pure and noble
love, only to be dashed TO the ground
again by being told that the mind cannot
explain love-therefoTe, We know nothing
about it? Why should we feel within US
possibilities that never can be fulfilled;
dreams of conservation to lofty purposes,
if in dying, they leave no hint OF some
thing better than We have ever known?
NO, tEb the Iiitllu pe bcUUu DN NI4ulSoEhCT
authority it will, or let it wander through
the universe from chaos to the end of the
world proclaiming that its knowledge
limits the experience of man. there will
still be those who will listen devoUtly to
the words: My grace is sufficient for
thee
"If I have done what wished have
shown how impossible it is for US TO rest
in any conception of life except in the re-
ligious one, and which VIII bring all our
| faculties into play. The self-indulged
man, who thinks only of his physical COM
forts is never satisfied, but Is constantly
seeking something new TO please his laded
appetite The life of the mind alone is not
sufficient because il does not compass the
whole life There is region of which il
knows nothing. but Yet in which large
part of our lives is spent. Here religion
| comes with the words: My grace is suf-
| ticient for thee With all absolute author
| itv IL saws: You need nothing but faith
! in God In that you will and rest,wh lch
nothing else can give, and a field for all
/ yonr movers How does the belief in the
! divine goodness fulfil this promise? In
/ the FIRST place, il puts no anchor upon the
I mind. but lets it sail ali seas. and when its
! sounding line fails TO fathom the depths,
! religion helps and says: All. even that
we cannot fathom, is the creation of God
/ There is no exigency in life TO which II is
/ not equal, and no mystery which II can
/ not meet When we attempt TO explain
/ why this or that is so, and put human
/ INTERPRETATION upon the ways of God,
/ such as calling the blight on the har-
/ vest Judgment for sin, or the lightning