The Washington times., 1894-04-29
Lay Sermons for
Sunday Reading


| the plaster of pleasing platitude. II the pull
pit could only realize the natural appetite of
man for the true and simple bread OF life the
attempt would oftimes be made to break the
few ''loaves," the few real truths they have
| with them, that their 'multitude might be
| fed." There is vast deal of thinking going
on in the pews and outside the church walls
that seldom finds expression beyond the little
| circle of intimate friends In one such circle,
composed of inquirers after the fundamental
realities OF existence, who firmly believe the
| circle of being to be infinitely larger than the
| little line drawn from the accident OF birth to
| the grave OF necessity marks the radius OF.
| and who do not believe that the DEPTHS OF
space can be accurately triangulated from
| any church spire and its accredited eccle-
! siastical mount OF vision, who believe in tine
| building power of thought and the destructive
ness of egotistical opinion. At late meet
| ing of this unpretentious circle the following
| paper was presented. The first reason for its
| publication is the fact that it was never in
| tended or expected that it would be subject to
the crucial test of type.
The definition of reverence is gradually chang
| ing as the centuries pass and the idea of God
| becomes clearer. "The world globes itself in
drop of dew" and the progress Of the race is re-
produced in the life of every human being. Do
We not all remember how, in our childhood,
| some special things of no intrinsic value were
| admired, cherished and protected? The material
| part of life very important in those early
| days So it was in the childhood OF humanity,
| which has not yet passed away. Things are con-
| founded with ideas 1t is sacrilege TO use holy
| things for secular purposes 1t is displrasing 10
| God that fairs and social gatherings be held in a
| church The place is held sacred.
| This passes into the reverence for persons
| We do not any revere the robe which
saint has worn, but We do revere that saint, so
much that not only the wise things he did ana
| said, but also the very human and foolish things
| are remembered as rule OF life and conduct
| Instead Of following his example in the highest
| way do so in Il lower. he acted according TO
| the light that in him; We do not so, but try
To fit his light, much of it we can gather, to
our own different circumstances Sun, In SO iar
| needs were his he does help u.s. and this
| kind of faith is an advance on the other. We
| have forgotten our blind belief but our -rever-
! ence is greater, because see farther into life
| Through the reverence for persons to that of
! the ideas they have embodied We pass to the
| last stage, and perhaps few OF us ever quite
reach it-that of absolute reverence for the Spirit
OF God; pure reverence, unmixed with selfish
| motives; reverence deep that we Will follow
| that Spirit wherever 1t leads; so broad and lar
| seeing that we can find that spirit III all thihSs
| and all people, and do not mock at the religion
! of Others because we count ourselves TO have at
! tanned This is a reverence not destroyed by
| knowledge but rather increased; greater rev.
| erence than any bind and narrow falth can pro
4 duce. Is not that reverence which sees and
|
| science greater than the reverence which limits
| His word to idoltxeG book and brands all
| others as forgeres will-o-the-wisp, false doc
| trines, which turns it back upon that science
| which opens the door of the universe This fash-
ion of going into the past for inspiration is ike
| man starting for distant mountain and travel
| ing backward. He will reach his destination In
| time, especially il he now and then gets glimpse
Of il over his shoulder, but he will not get there
nearly as il he followed the path and
| locked at the mountain.
Mrs Browning says, in one of her poems:
| '.And this age shows, 10 my thinking, far more
| infidels to Adam,
Than directly, by profession, simple inidels TO
God"
| The world is more and more getting to UNDER
! stand that to reverence God man must also learn
| TO reverence his felIow-man. he need not re-
/ move his shoes on entering temple but he
! should be careful not 10 cause the spiritual Ere
| in the soul OF his brother to burn dim. tie must
not spend on gorgeous churches the money he
| has wrung from the masses who toll for bare
subsistence This idea voiced by Savona-
rola when he demanded of the dying Lorenzo. not
the wealth which the tyrant could no longer use,
but that he should restore the liberty of Florence.
| The souls peace is not to be gained by bribes-
The man OF power must reverence human free
! dom.
1t seems 10 that the only way of getting
rid of d wrong belief is to forget it. just so long
! as 1t remains living idea i'll our minds, asso-
ciated with all that know of good, we SHALL do
| battle for il Just long as the battle Is kept
| Isp Goctrinal lines Will men defend their
dogmas But let in the idea of the fatherhood
be he Catholic, Presbyterian, Baptist acnOstic,
live true life and learn &c forget himself, and
| the old shackles of opinion, which is a part of
| self, will be slowed away in the garret OF his
| brain and forgotten. Ask him about them, aud
you may find they are there still, but he has
mind SO richly furnished with better things that
he does not care TO use his mquistorial chamDer
| There is no way Of driving out darkness but by
! letting in light
1t almost seems that the human mind needs
to be shocked by some great earthquake in
It's conscious being before it will Comprehend
that the variety of opinion about religion is no
more religion than disputation about the
color and proper material for bathing suit
is swimming. What man hopes to believe
or tries to believe is something Yet foreign TO
himself which he is led to think would now
or hereafter be to his advantage. What he
really does believe is what he now is; in fact,
the present evidence OF the condition OF HIM
self the real man, and what the present status
of his evolution and environment compel
him to beleve-man the animal in the
manger. Doctrines and beliefs are the swad-
ding clothes; the true child must be the
divine son born to the consciousness.
Ecclesiastical chickering's over the inerrancy
of the Bible would forever sink out of sight
under the fuller understanding OF the divine
.'word that was made flesh and dweit among
men, the divine reason that is the iadweling
power and voice OF God III man. The poet
prophet Isaiah must have felt that man is the
real link between the material universe and
the divine mind; that his consciousness ever
lies open on the one side to the deep things OF
God: that the image of God is there. or he
took more than the poets license Income,
let US reason together. saith the Lord. As
it is evident before two beings can reason to-
gether they must have the same kind of
reason. however infinitely great on the one
hand and small on the other, it must be the
same in essential quality.
"The latter klleth, but the spirit maketh
alive" Men will wrangle over a point of doc
trine. forgetful of time and duty, who each
are quite sure they know what God meant
when he said SO and SO. who would refuse
to believe each others statement in regard TO
simple matter of business.
The ab!est interpreter and commentator on
the common law was doubtless the great
Nazarene. He at least had the prime qualif-
cations OF an interpreter. He made his words
very simple and concise. Love is the fulfill
ing of the law for Righteousness. Thou
shalt love thy neighbor as thysef.' No doubt
about this. very natural religion. No
man has to be told that he loves himself So
that is all he has to do-that is the copy for
him to work by: that is the little task set be-
fore him, only that and nothing more-to so
live that it becomes the habIt OF his mind to
think of the wants, the necessities, physical,
mental, and spiritual, of his neighbor pre-
cisely as he does of his own. There is loaf
that will bear good deal of breaking up in
these days. Would it not be strange if it
should come to be seen that this very loaf
was MY body broken for you. Eat ye all
of it,"
Speaking of stones. how would the .'idea'
do for a ''smooth stone chosen from the
brook for the church militant. this young
ff,c cliyfp ut Of