The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-07-27
81 SERMON. M
THE LESSONS OF DISASTER
BY MARION D. SHUTTER. DID.

was a rainbow round ABOUT the Ihfono
And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and
voices and thunders." Revelation iv,s-5
The shadow of another calamity
has fallen upon our city. At the
close of the week just ended, the
quiet of summer night was broken
by the wild alarm of fire. Men reused
themselves and beheld the lurid glare
of a confagration painting terror up
on the midnight skies. A crash OF
falling walls shook the earth; and in
moment passed the cry along the
crowd "There are fremen buried in
the ruins" The bodies of five brave
men were found, and carried to the
morgue. On the bodies of others are
wounds that will be borne to the
grave. There are homes in our city
today in which the light has gone
out; ewes that are red with weeping
for those who will come no more;
hearts that are desolate. Peace to
the dead, love to the llVlng!
Such catastrophies as these bring
up the old questions over which the
generations have puzzled: Is there
soul of goodness in the universe?
Is there one who has the power to
prevent such disasters? If he ha
the power and the goodness, if he
really cares for his creatures, Why
does he let such things happen? Why
does he permit the tempest to rage,
the cyclone to level everything in its
path, the lightning to smite, the
fame to consume? l can imagine
some one asking, eff God was in this
city on last Thursday night, why did
he not hold up that unsteady wall,
and not allow it to fall and crush the
men who were under it simply doing
their duty?" / can imagine the be-
reaved ones sending up to heaven, on
the wings of their signs, the sad ques-
ton: "Why has this awful affiiction
fallen upon us?" 1t is occurrences
of this kind that furnish the occasion
for charging the Divine Administra-
ton with crimes or blunders; that
lead men to say: "If there is SUI
preme Power in the universe, it is a
mockery and cruel falsehood to ap-
ply to that power the title "GoD is
LovEw
The text of the morning is taken
from a magnificent picture in the
Book of Revelation. Before the WIS.,
ion of the seer, a throne is set in
heaven. A figure, grand and majes-
tic, representing the Almighty him
self, is seated upon the throne. Out
of the throne,-es gencies in the
government of tie world,-proceed
lightning and voices and thunders.
But the throne itself, and all these
sterner instrumentalities, do not COM
plete the picture. There is something
more. What else does the prophet
see? "There aCds q rainbOlC round
about the throne" The symbols of
JUDGMENT are circled by the symbol
of mercy.
There is bright side to every dark
picture, however longit may take our
tear dimmed eyes to discover it; a
silver lining to the blacklist cloud
that ever rolled across the glory of
the sum- Over the lightnings that
kill and burn, the fierce voices that
rage and threaten, the thunders that
shake the heavens and the earth,-
over all these violent and terrible
things that issue from the throne,
bends forever the rainbow of the
Apocalypse, emblem OF hope and sign
of promise. Beneath that arch of
splendor, what seems the very en-
giuery of destruction must work for
peace at last; what seems wild chaos
must resolve itself into broad CONT
nents, shining seas, and smiling is
lands. Those who have studied deep
est into the secrets of the universe
behold with the prophet of Patmos a
rainbow round the throne, and in
stead of lifting their voices against
him who sits upon the throne, sing
his wisdom and goodness. Emerson
assures us that 1.-The first lesson of his
tory is the good of evil" Carlyle
asks: MAY we not say that, in the
huge mass of evil, as it rolls and
swells, there is ever some good work
ing imprisoned, working toward de-
liverance and Triumph" King Henry
V, in the play exclaimed:
'There is some soul of goodness in things evil,
Did men observingly distil it out"
|. We MUST READ THE MEANING OF
THE DARKER THINGS IN THE WORLD OF
NATURE, AND IN THE WORLD OF MANS
CONSTRUCTION ALSO, IN THE LIGHT OF
THE ONE TRUE AIM AND OBJECT OF LIFE.
We need not look far or wide to
discover at least indications of the