The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-01-04

she utters the prophecy: "He is sent to bind
up 'he broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to
'he captives and 10 open the prison to them that
are oound-" And instantly they see q divine and
sacred beauty upon the face Of the slumber-
ing Infant. Now come the wise men, they have
iViioWed the star through desert and forest and
are 4eo 70 The door of q common stable. They
Iorce their way to the msnger-cradls, and 10!
.he seemingly ordinary form OF carpenters
oabs lies before them. o, irnpotent, weak con-
cAosion Tor an argument enforced by star and
shgen. But as they gaze upon the sleeping
Dapc hght breaks in upon their spirits. This
Is the star that should come out of Jacob"
lnls is the King that should reign in righteous
ness; THE Gentiles were to come to His Light
ana kings 10 the brightness OF His rising" In
SANITY sacred, divine beauty haloes the
mother and infant They recognize the Christ
aho p1ace their offerings before Him.
ANU the kneeling group we can almost
imagine we see the aged Simeon and the
prophecies Anna, enticed beyond the precincts
Oh the temple by the reported birth Of the Mes
sian. But shade of disappointment steals over
lEelr features when they behold the manger and
the babe within il! Is this the response to the
songs OF the ancient bards and the glowing pre-
oicuons OF seers and prophets? But the light
moods their souls and in its divine brightness
they interpret prediction and prophecy. They
are taught of God to see at their very feet "the
fountain opened for sin and uneleauness." The
root out Of dry ground is to become "the glory
ana beauty for all ages, and Simeon, pressing
the babe to his bosom, cries: ''Lord, now lettest
Thou Thy servant depart in peace, for
mine eyes have seen Thy salvation"
Have l spoken to you in parallel
May not hope that you have both fully
understood and can interpret It? DO you
realize that Christ can only be to you according
10 your capacity to spiritually love and appre-
Ia b~is ar nal
Christ OF the soul and heart? Or is He only
Christ of history-a dim ideal of the distant
ages? Is your knowledge a matter oil painting,
creed or history, or is Ii personal communion
OF the soul to uplift and inspire you? The
beauty and loneliness of the spiritual Christ is
that combination of intellectual vigor, moral
purity and spiritual achievement which charac-
terize1 our Savior's life and characterl On
that broad basis spirituality lowered up
toward heaven which never swerved from its
plumb amidst the storms and tempests
which ragged about Him. There is no par
allel in human history with His life and
achievements. The sole towering peak, iso-
lated in its sublime grandeur, along the noun
tain range of this earth's great ones. Victori-
Gus over temptations, calm under indignties,
kind and loving unto the wicked and SINFUL
and loving unto death even those who beat and
crucifed him. "What think ye of Christ?'
Can you explain the mystery of this divine
power and influence by the positiveness of
Compile or the protoplastic theories of Huxley?
Can you explain the mighty power of His per-
sonality upon the world by the rationalizing of
Strauss and Renan? Can you solve the prob
lem OF the worlds homage of the manger cradle
by any theories of Herbert Spencer? No; it is
only in the light which God sheds into our
hearts that the question is answered. And
Christ is for US. and for all, the Redeemer and
Savior of mankind