Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1896-06-03
A Nondrous Truth.

A Wondrous Truth.
And Jesus knowing that that virtue WSe
;0uched my clothes MARX, ", ~.
This little incident contains the clew
to whole system of spiritual philoso-
Dhy. For many centuries we have
recognized it's pathos without perceiv-
ing the truth that lay behind it. The
time has come, however, in the world 8
enlarged experience and widening
knowledge when we have taken anoth-
er look and found with glad surprise a
revelation of heretofore unknown pos
sibilities.
Not all that Christ said two thousand
wears ago is yet understood. There
are SUBMITS still covered with mist, and
it is more than probable that scores OF
generations must pass before we can
make practical use of many truths
which are literally buried in the Scrip
lures awaiting resurrection. The light
ming has always been in the clouds, but
until the race had reached certain
intellectual strength the discovery was
impossible. You may state the prlncl
pies of algebra to a child, but he does
not apprehend them until he becomes
a man. In the Bible more is concealed
than is revealed, but little by little as
, we grow toward maturity we open new
windows and get new views.
Look at the text once more. A sick
woman pressed through the crowd.
knelt on the ground, touched His gar
ment and was healed. 1t was miracle?
Names count for nothing, but in Gods
world everything is orderly. In that
incident no law was broken, but new
law was announced. To produce re
suits in accordance with higher laws
than those generally known is appar-
emily to work miracles. Christ's ways
were simply Gods ways, and therefore
in our ignorance we find it difficult to
explain Him.
But stranger than the cure is the fact
that He Immediately knew that "vir-
tue had gone out of Him." Then He
suffered actual loss of something, and
was conscious of the loss, and that
it wrought a physical change in it's re-
cipient.
Two great laws are laid bare, and we
must needs tremble in their presence,
for they are far reaching in their posi-
BILE influence. If we ponder them they
will make for us new heaven and a
new earth.
In the first place, if the woman's at
titude had been one of doubt instead
of faith her disease would not have
been affected by contact. We are now
treading on very sacred ground, and
the truth is made clear that when you
and God are in close relations the storm
ceases and there is calm. The woman
believed, trusted, yearned for help, and
that frame of mind is the basis, the
only basis, of true religion. There
were others in that crowd who must
have touched Him also, either because
of the press or from curiosity, but
nothing unusual occurred. And the
reason why they too were not healed
is that God never goes through the
closed door of heart. If you open
the door and stand on the threshold to
welcome the guest, He comes. If you
turn your face toward the west. then
for you there is no sunrise, but if you
face the east and wait, the morning
will break on your troubled life.
In the second place, if-and l say it
reverently-if Christ had been self
seeking or worldly, no virtue would
have gone out of Him. Selfshness is
misery. 1t would haye clutched the
wondrous possession and kept it within
narrow limits for narrow purposes.
The willingness of Christ to give, be-
cause He loves with infinite compass.
sion, and the anxiety of man to receive
there, and there only, can be found
material out of which to construct a
world saving religion. Heaven reach
ing down and man reaching up-then
comes the union and the communion
which work miracles. What are your
cold and chilling statements of truths
that are merely secondary which you
gather together and call creed-what
are they when compared with these
two glowing facts? A creed is truth
frozen into glittering icicles, but
Christ's words are blazing fire on the
wintry heartbstOne which gives new
life to the benumbed traveller who
knocks at the door and asks for shell
ter.
But third fact must not be neglect
ed. Christ's love and sympathy Great
ed that something which is called
+. "Yirtue" and which He could impart
as remedy for physical and spiritual
ills. If we, too, become pure in hear
and walk in company with unseen
beings" shall not we, too, have 6
moiety of the same virtue and can
not we in our smaller way bless the
world? What vista opens before US
If we could get free from the bondage
of passion, could feel that nothing il
of value except the beautiful, the true
and the good; could literally dwell
among heavenly thoughts, do what i.
right simply because it is right, an6
regard this life as a few lines of Lref
ace to the life eternal, then our broker
heartedness and our dependency
vrny116 70 10 That's As~hf nd Inox
gentle pilgrims to the far away shore
And the poor and sorrowing and
bereaved who came in touch with oul
quiet lives would receive of the ''vir
tue" which makes one strong and glad
Religion, rightly understood, is the
staff on which we lean as we climk
toward the stars.
GEORGE H. HEPwoRTH.
The man who stands Idly by and
sees the fife fading out of his wife'l
face, sees her health going, sees bel
becoming old and faded and wrinkled
when she should still be in the perfect
enjoyment of vigorous, useful health
is either less than man or else does
not know of the one remedy which will
bring her back to health and strength
Perhaps her husband cannot persuade
her to go to her doctor, because she
naturally breads the inevitable Tex
aminations" and local treatments y
He can persuade her, if she needs per
suasion, to take DIR. Pierce's Favorite
Prescription. This truly wonderful
medicine has cured hundreds of wo.
men after the best physicians have
failed. 1t has been in constant use
and tested every day for thirty years
1t isn't an experiment, there are nc
chances about it. 1t is certain cure
for all arrangements. weaknesses, ir
Irregularities and displacements of inter
nal organs peculiar to women.
Miss Seine jackson, heiress to the
famous Belle Meade farm, in Ten
nessee, was married recently in Nash
vile to William R. Elliston, of Nash
vile.