The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-10-26

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richest blessing from the great per-
petual foundation = the maternal
heart.
In the life of Christ we see the
manifestation of love sublimer than
is expressed by the word physician,
shepherd or brother. Christ drew
near to men with a love as deep as
mothers love, and for this reason it
appears to me, he has drawn, soft
ened, moulded the wild and impul-
sive heart of nature.
l have not thus enlarged upon the
thought of unseen forces without
purpose. They are of great value to
us if we learn to look upon them as
they deserve; for it has been these
mild forces that have built us up as
race, and which now sustain and
inspire us with hope.
Language has an infallible power
within it; and gentle speech is more
persuasive than eloquence. 1t is no
difficult thing to stir up anger, but
few are skillful in the art of persua-
sion. ga soft answer turneth away
wrath, but grievous words stir up an
ger" And yet this old proverb is
three thousand years old, as familiar
to many of us as the Lords prayer
or the golden rule, and yet we fail to
act upon its practical wisdom. Man
i more prone to resentment. The
lion and the hyena are yet in our
blood to urge the rights of heredity
if evolution have a basis of truth.
The disposition of the unschooled,
the man untempered by love and self
control is to combat opposition. He
has an impulse to growl when he is
growled at; to strike when he is OPP
posed, and to overcome by brute force
because he has the power. This dis
position, so common, and seeded
more or less in us all, is even ma
tional vice. Do not nations act as
individuals? If France builds war
ship Germany builds another. If
England increases her army or navy.
France will do the same. The world
spirit enthralls the nations. We are
very far from the pathway of the
Lord.
There has never been any doubt
in my mind that Christ taught the
doctrine of non-resistance when he
spoke some of the remarkable say
ings recorded in the sermon on
the mount. He practiced this law,
for when he was reviled he re-
viled not again; when he suffered
he threatened not, but committed
himself to him that judgeth righ-
teously." Gentleness and not force,
meekness and not resistance, shall
inherit the earth. There is beauti
full thought coming from some jew
ish source which will illustrate the
value and power of the Christlike
spirit of gentleness in dealing with
all things. The Jews tell us that
when Moses was an exile from Egypt
and was tending the focks of Jethro,
lamb ran away and became lost in
the desert. Moses went after it, pur-
suing it and the little creature fled
until it became exhausted and foot
sore, and painting it fell at his feet.
Then Moses lifted it up and said,
Little lamb, didst thou think l
sought thee to hurt thee, that thou
didst fly from me? Nay, it was in
love that / went after thee, and now
in love l will bear thee home in my
BOSOM" When God beheld the ten
derness of Moses for the lamb he
saids "This man will l choose to rule
my people Israel and to lead them
out of bondage"
Character building requires us to
repeal our past actions and intentions.
The little child is like the kingdom
of God. When we first enter the
world our entrance is like the vein of
pure spring water flowing from the
heart of nature. Clear as the crystal
at first, it flows on and collects the
sediments of its early environments,
and further on it mingles with the
briar and weeds; still further on it is
colored by the surface rains and finally
all is lost in the torrent or the muddy
pool. Our effort at character build
ing then requires us to clean up the
ground before we can lay the foun-
dation. Before we can be gentle we
must cultivate the field until all the
disposition to unkindness, severity,
harsh judgment, and irritability are
weeded out. Before the work of true
Christian culture begins the world
must be reformed of many evils. So
Christ called the field the world, and
parish in which the minister of