The Indianapolis journal., 1895-12-08
VOICE OF THE PULPIT
THE DYING DAvID's STIRRING En-
HoRTATIoN To HIS son SOLOMON.
A strong Plea for Higher Manhood
Catholic University Of America.

take courage and be a man."-GII
What Romely. hearty force there is in
this exhortation OF the dying David 10 his
SON How Solomon's youthful heart must
have felt IL, have been thrilled by it. How
It would to-day thrill the heart OF any son
who would hear ii from the lips OF a dying
father. Surely Il would be a spur TO him
for all his life.
But perhaps not every father and son to-
day would grasp the fun meaning which
the expression had for David and Solomon.
They held the grand old ideal of what it
Is to be a man. which religion had handed
down from the very birth OF the race, the
ideal contained in the sublime utterance:
'And God said. let Us make man in our
own image and likeness And so David
felt that in placing that ideal before his
son he did all that dying father could do
20 spur his son to nobleness Of life. And
Solomon likewise understood 1t so. When
in after years he was doing his wisest and
best he felt that he was but climbing TO
that lofty ideal. And when his feet slid in
slippery ways OF folly and evil. he knew
Il was because he was proving faithless to
the ideal which his father had placed be-
fore him. he had fallen to be less than a
man.
Ideals should never degenerate. They
should hold their own, or grow higher and
more perfect As mankind progresses the
ideal Of humanity should not become lower.
lie who holds before himself a lower IDEAL
OF what Il is to be a man than David and
Solomon held does himself cruel injustice.
He who holds lower ideal before his fell
1ow-rnen and seeks to make them adopt 1t
g. fo1o 10 9of1 nj t0 M
self. Tt is our duty to spur one another up
ward. not downward.
II Is mock humility that says: 81 do not
find in me the image and likeness Of God"
Man knows but too well how many capa-
bilities and inclinations he has that are not
cody. But he also knows-or he does not
know himself thoroughly-that he likewise
has capabilities in him. If he would only
do them justice. which point upward. which
soar upward. to the pure, the generous, the
noble, the godlike.
He is capable of vices, alasl how many.
how distorting. how degrading. And too
many lives are misshapen with the un-
worthy image and likeness of vice. of
pride, covetousness. lust, anger, gluttony.
envy. sloth. But no man needs to be told
that this is wrong. He has that within him
He has that within him which signs visit
fully at shall be better some day."
And he knows he can be better. He
sees men and women around him, walk
ing in paths of virtue and peace, and he
knows that these are they who have done
Justice to their humanity, who have done
Justice to what their cleator made them ca
pable OF. No one needs to be told that he
cannot do Justice 70 his humanity without
his Creators help. But neither does any
reasonable man need to be assured thai the
creature will never be left to struggle alone
for the attainment OF It's proper level. God
Is sure to help him that helps himself.
Man is the central point in nature, COM
pendulum OF all things. a microcosm. That
IS why he has In him all lower inclinations
as well as all higher. The Creator has
placed man over all the works OF his hands.
and subjected all things under his feet
Man is the apex. All natures converge in
him. And ii is the duty OF his reason and
free-will, the splendid faculties which make
him man. 10 hold the lower animal inclina-
tions subject, to keep them indeed "be-
meath his feet" as stepping stones to the
spiritual and the divine.
And Jesus Christ is the central point in his
tory, the apex OF humanity. the archetype
according TO which man is made in the
image and likeness OF God, the SON of god
and son Of man, the Goldman. AS man he
calls US his brethren.
As God ne says: II and the Father are
one; before Abraham was made, 1 am; /
am the beginning. who also speak to you"
As the Goldman he says: mo one cometh
70 the Father but by me; l am the vine,
you are the branches; without me you can
do nothing; l am the way. and the truth,
and the life"
He calls US TO a higher life to participa-
tion in his own life, the life OF the vine,
and ne declares that man is nike a dead
thing unless he lives by that higher life.
Pointing to the lower instincts In us he
says:
Deny thyself."
Pointing to the higher. he says:
BE ye perfect. as your Father in heaven
also is perfect"
II We ask him how this can be attained
20, he answers:
Follow me-"
he has lifted up again the sublime ideal
OF man. from which heathenism has drifted
far away. and has pointed out the way to
its attainment. In following Him the ideal
Il reached.
Michael Angelo saw in the block Of mar
DtC cAAJ e-AU AAt1SC VI al dAecAs anu Ills
cunning chisel brought 1t out. Religion sees
In every human being the image and like
ness Of God, and brings Ii out by shaping
man into conformity with Jesus Christ. 1t
may require lots OF chiseling, and the CHS
cling may sometimes hurt, as cravings OF
the lower nature are Hoped on but it is
well worth while. Nobleness is sure to cost
something, is apt 10 cost much, but is well
worth the price.
The Goldman teaches humanity that only
the divine in man can make humanity per-
feet. and that the man is below his des-
tined level who does not aspire to the
divine. The heart OF man had been whis-
pering this to him from the beginning
That is why as Cicero tells US, though
there might be found races of men who
knew not what sort Of a God to look I'D to
no race could be found who did not know
that there was some God.
That is why Balbo and other historians
remark that as there never was a race
OF atheists. so also there never was .
race OF deists; mankind has ever been sure
that in some way God has made know
10 man his origin. his destiny, and tbs
way 10 reach H.
That is why ouatrefages and other scien.
lists have declared that Righteousness Is
one OF the universal, and therefore essen.
tiai. characteristics of man; for mankinc