The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-05-25

biOU, uOb WIFI tHO CAPCStueo. "a -
ceiving any specific answer, not with
the feeling that any definite answer
is possible, but sincerely, instructive
ly, in their earnest, illuminated mo-
ments; pray because the attitude IS
natural, the oct helpful"
2. We all proy,but not necessarily
an acords.
Prayer is the attitude of the soul.
It is the souls real desire. Prayer is
the inward feeling. 1t does not re-
quire an articulate syllable. 1t does
not ask a sanctuary nor temple. 1t
needs no book nor ritual. Every
sentiment of worship is prayer. Every
breath of gratitude is prayer. Every
thrill of rapture is prayer. Every sky
soaring aspiration is prayer. Every
unselfish impulse is prayer. Good
will to our neighbor is prayer. The
cry of anguish and the song of glad
ness alike are prayer. They both go
out to something that is not our
selves,-all invisible presence that we
feel, after all, invests this planet of
ours with an atmosphere of compass
sion. Theodore Parker exclaims: ga
snatch of such feeling passes through
me, as I walk the streets or engage
in my work. sing prayers when |
loiter in the woods, or travel the
quiet road. Those founts of com
munion which lie so deep seem al
ways bubbling to the surface; and
the utterance of a prayer is at any
time as simple to me as breathing"
Coleridge sings:
HE prayeth best who loveth best
All things both great and small"
Old John Zundel, the organist and
composer, used to say, II pray with
my fingers" GAS soon as man is one
with God," says Emerson" "he will
not beg. He will then see prayer in
all action. The prayer of the farmer
kneeling in the field to weed it, the
prayer of the rover kneeling with the
stroke of his oar, are true prayers
heard throughout nature, though for
cheap ends" l return, therefore, to
what / said moment ago: We pray
because ace cannot help 1t. The in
stinct is within us. We had nothing
to do with putting it there; but there
it is. and there it seems likely to
abide. So long as it remains, so long
will it impel us to reach out in
thought. and will, and endeavor, to
something beyond. 1t may express
itself in thousands of ways, or it may
remain silent Montgomery has we'll
summed it all up in his oft sung
lines:
Prayer is the souls sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed
The motion of hidden fire
That trembles in the breast"
IT. Let us now take up our second
question:: "WHAT is THE ESSENTIAL
IDEA IN PRAYER" What is its real
meaning' Around this native in
stinct of the soul, many gross super
have, indeed, become twisted;
but these may be removed without
destroying the instinct itself.
l. The central idea of prayer,
aohotever ats form or expression, as
not petition.
We do not approach God in the
of beggars or of slaves. We
do not go asking to have the laws of
the universe changed, or their action
modified to favor us. l am glad to
believe that no request of this kind
was ever granted. 1t would change
our ideal of the stability of the uni.
verse and the impartiality of God.
1t was related that some years ago
two ships sailed from Liverpool in
the same direction, the South Sea Is
lands. The one had been secretly
built for a pirate craft, and was
manned by pirates. The other was
filed with missionaries. The one
went forth on a mission of pillage
and murder,-a voyage of destruc-
ton. The other sailed for the pur-
pose of carrying the message of him
who came, not to destroy mems lives,
but to save them. The pirates had
their ship in the best
possible manner. They meant that
it should ride the sea in safety. The
missionary ship was an old merch-
antman, which had probably been
donated to the "cause." 1t was in
many points unseaworthy. AS they
neared the equator, furious storm
arose, and the missionary ship went
to pieces, with the loss of all on
board. The pirate vessel, however,
rode boldly and securely through the
tempest. The missionaries did not
pay sufficient attention to habits of
sea and wind, the laws of wood and
IRON. l have no doubt many of them