The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1892-08-18

soui oI man teStlueS 10 the fact that man
is born of God. The foundation of all
prayer and all religion in all nations and
all races and all times is precisely this
divine inheritance in man. The sense
of the divine in our souls is the one
foundation to which all religion appeals.
Ii man were primarily child Of the
devil there would be no basis Of appeal.
But precisely because he is born of God
and has within him the divine, there is
basis of appeal for return to God.
wAIF ON THE STREET.
We see this flashing forth from the
lowest and meanest Of men, from the
waif on the street in its love for the
beautiful, from the commoner man as
we see his aspirations for the higher
and the nobler in life all bearing testi-
mony to the great truth OF God found
by the poet of old, reaccented by the
great apostle-"We are his offspring"
This great truth therefore means much
to the world. 1t means:
First-That the key that unloclss the
mystery Of the Godhead is this key Of
the Fatherhood. Here ia the central
secret. In it all other attributes of God
are merged. We are his servant; pre-
cisely, but servant is merged in SON
| ship. We are his creature, but crea-
| ture is merged in childhood. The Fa-
| therhood Of God includes all other at
tributes of his nature and is central to
! his being. 1t explains to us therefore
a Thousand sad mysteries. 1t teaches
us that God is love, because he is a
Father. His obligations to me there
fore are even higher and holier and
more inviolable than my obligations tc
him. I have child who is under obli-
cations to obey me, but / am under
higher obligations to teach and to save
him. Because he is my child, / have no
right to wiring his neck. But / am
bound by obligations as high as the
love of Father to give to him the
highest and noblest life within my
power.
NOT JUDICIAL, BUT PATERNAL.
Such God cannot be cruel or rejoice
in cruelty or brutality. We curse the
Roman Catholic church for the deeds of
the holy inquisition, but let us remem-
Der that the God which the holy Cath
olic church worshiped in that day was O
God of infinite cruelty and brutality;
that they believed that God rejoiced in
the roast flesh of heretics, and it is SIM
ply the statement Of fact when we are
told that these men believed they were
serving God. If their God was such
God as their theology set forth, they
certainly were justified in thus serving
him.
Second-His government is not judi
cial, but paternal. The mystery of pain
is resolved in the mystery of paternal
government. Paternal government has
in it many mysteries the child cannot
understand, but its ruling principle is
love. Its method is educational. The
| end is the training of perfect character,
The way sometimes leads through pain
and denial. But the Fathers love spares
not pain or trial to the child, because he
foresees the end. God Is not remote
sovereign, then, but Father and q
friend near at hand. To him we can
bring the smallest trials of life as well
as the great trials.
FARMER AND ARCHITECT.
Two middle aged men, brothers, who
were singularly fond Of each other, were
walking the streets of the great city.
The one was farmer, the other an
architect The farmer said to the archi-
tect: my boys are noble men; thank
God for them. have prayed for their
conversion from childhood. They are
both noble Christians. But there are
some little things that worry me about
them. | cannot take them to God in
prayer. One is in business that does
not suit him. The other has o certain
domestic irritation in his domestic life
that annoys me. have no one to whom
can take these troubles"
The architect turned into his study to
attend to the details of great work he
was constructing. The brother stood by
and watched. He gave directions about
the measurement of acertain pipe in the
cellar. He gave directions about the
kind of wood to be used in the vain
Bcoting Of the dining room and several
other small details. The farmer brother
looked on in amazement and said: ''Do
you attend to all those little trifes,
George2 l supposed that you looked
after the great conception in all its
beauty and splendor. and the little
things were attended to by your subor-
dinates. No." said the architect; stthis
beauty which you SO much admire is the
result of my care in the smallest details.
Now" said he, "God who formed the
heavens and fashioned the spheres is the
same God who made the foot of the fly.
You can tako to him the smallest trife
of life as well as tho greatest" The
brother returned home with a new
thought, looking upon God as indeed
his Father.
MONKS OF ST. BERNARD.
The monks of st. Bernard, emerging
from the convent on the morning after
terrific storm, found in the snow but
few feet from the gate the frozen body
Of worn traveller. They tracked him
for miles along the road as he struggled
against the cold trying to find shelter.
He gave up and died within n feet of the